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EVER E L T T A B T S E G IG B IN N E D L FORD VS HO

BROCK’S BATHURST BLITZ 40 YEARS ON: INSIDE HIS MOST DOMINANT WIN

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HOLDEN AERO CONFLICT BRUCE NEWTON reveals that rival Commodore teams are not happy amid allegations of an ‘unfair advantage’

TRIPLE EIGHT has rejected the belief of other Holden teams that insider aerodynamic knowledge has vaulted it back to the front of the Supercars grid.

The beleaguered super team has also dismissed veiled allegations that it sandbagged at the Tailem Bend event in August to ensure a new aero package was approved by Supercars ahead of the Bathurst 1000. “There is no way we are ever going to turn up to a racetrack and not put our best foot forward, that’s not in our DNA,� declared Red Bull Holden Racing Team team manager Mark Dutton. “I’d rather not turn up than do that.�

Such is the feeling among Holden teams about the supposed ‘secret’ aero map for the ZB Commodore that Triple Eight possesses, Auto Action understands at least one is threatening to take the grievance to Holden.

They are also hoping that a new round of VCAT aero testing at the end of the season for all cars will free up more critical set-up information.

While every Holden team approached by AA expressed concern – and in some cases, anger – none was willing to speak on the record, considering the political sensitivity of starting an intra-Holden team public stoush.

However, Penrite Racing’s David Reynolds did allude to the issue on his podcast postPukekohe, where the RBHRT Commodores matched the Mustangs. “They (Triple Eight) have a better aero map of their car, I assume, than everyone else,�

Reynolds said. “Because we have nothing like that. I think there is some push from the

littler teams like us to get more information.�

The new aero package – a front undertray extension, a gurney flap across the boot lip and the removal of the HMSL bulge on the leading edge of the hatch – delivered more downforce, and therefore more cornering grip, and was used by all Holden Commodore ZBs at Pukekohe.

Triple Eight, which is the official Holden homologation team and races as RBHRT, qualified on pole for both Pukekohe 200 km races, with Shane van Gisbergen winning the Saturday race and finishing second on the Sunday to secure his second Jason Richards Trophy.

It was dramatic turnaround for RBHRT in a season where it has not always been the leading Holden team – something frequently blamed on the mandatory shift from trapezoidal to linear springs and its struggles to find compensating mechanical grip.

At Tailem Bend, where the Ford Mustangs dominated, van Gisbergen was sixth and third Commodore home on the Saturday, while teammate Jamie Whincup was fifth and second Commodore home on the Sunday – although he would have been top Holden in fourth if not for running off the track.

Rival Holden teams are concerned the ZB ‘aero map’ delivers Triple Eight a knowledge advantage, providing crucial guidance about such critical set-up areas as ride heights.

As there was no testing beforehand and limited practice time at Pukekohe, rivals believe RBHRT were able to roll their cars out for first practice closer to the ideal set-up than any other Holden team could hope to achieve.

But Dutton rubbished the claims, pointing

out it was Supercars, not Triple Eight, that performed the critical computational fluid dynamics (CFD) research to establish whether the changes it requested as the homologation team were appropriate. “We proposed a 10 mm gurney, we proposed lengthening the undertray extension as much as we could,� he confirmed. “Supercars actually spoke about the high-mount (brake light) because they were the only one to have the knowledge to say ‘The Mustang has this much (downforce), the Nissan has this much and Holden has this much’. “They did the study; we don’t have inhouse CFD capability. When we did the (original ZB) aero package (in 2017), we used a consultancy firm to do it for us (Wirth Research in the UK) and they don’t even do motor sport anymore. “The thing is, what do they think is the extra information we are going to have?

Around (bumpy) Pukekohe, your ride height is somewhat dictated by how many splitters you have and everyone has to bring the same amount. “You don’t put the car in the ideal aero window. You make sure you don’t tear the car to pieces over the bumps. If you look at the cars – ours in particular – on the racetrack, they are somewhat different to what we want to make them.�

Instead of a confidential aero map, Dutton maintained RBHRT rebounded to the front of the field because the upgraded aero package provided downforce the Commodore had lacked all year.

More aero grip also improved the performance of the development parts that

have been going into the team’s cars all season.“That’s why we came out so strong, because we were fighting with one arm tied behind our back by not having enough downforce,� Dutton explained. “We were over-achieving even when it didn’t look like we were.�

Added to that, Dutton argued – and this will annoy rival Holden engineering groups no end – RBHRT simply did a better job of adapting their cars to the challenging Pukekohe track in the time provided. “You don’t have the magical info, you just go ‘Look, this is where we rolled out last year, this is what we think works for us, this is what we have learned at other rounds this year that are similar, that we put this one in the same basket as. “And then you strategically plan amongst the two cars what each of them is going to test and the two engineers worked well together, because they nailed their testing. “That’s all work done that had nothing to do with prior knowledge because we didn’t have the prior knowledge. We don’t have the CFD data for the components on the cars.�

The closest anyone came to openly suggesting RBHRT had purposely underperformed to gain more downforce came from a team owner who posted photos of sandbags – without any comments – on social media. “It’s funny when people say that,� Dutton mused. “Could you imagine any of us (at Triple Eight) individually thinking we would accept to do that, let alone as a team?�

Despite his vigorous protestations, other Holden teams clearly do think Triple Eight has an ‘insider’ advantage.

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RECORD-BREAKING

BATHURST! TIMES SET TO TUMBLE AMID UNCERTAINTY

Among the many unknowns of being the first enduro, one likelihood is that it’ll be the fastest Great Race ever, as detailed by MARK FOGARTY DRIVERS AND experts are tipping next week’s Bathurst 1000 will be the most rapid on record, with new lap and race speed records likely to result from big aero improvements.

The Mustang’s pace-setting package and the Commodore’s recent upgrade, along with general gains from intense development, are expected to drive a significant reduction in lap times.

In dry weather, Scott McLaughlin’s 2017 qualifying lap record is set to be beaten and with minimal safety car interventions, the first sub-six hours total race time is also on the cards.

Auto Action has canvassed the opinions of leading contenders and expert observers ahead of the October 10-13 Bathurst 1000, which could also defy form as it is the opening endurance race for the first time since 1967.

In a special 20-page preview guide beginning on page 23, TV analysts Mark Larkham, Mark Skaife and Craig Lowndes give their views on who and what to watch for in what they all agree is shaping up as a fascinating contest.

Lowndes is also competing as the defending Bathurst champion and outlines his high hopes for an eighth victory alongside Jamie Whincup,

Scott McLaughlin is confident the Mustang can deliver him his first Bathurst win.

reuniting the 2006-2008 race-winning super-pairing.

As well as record pace at Mount Panorama, there is a widespread belief the race will be one of the most unpredictable ever due to the lack of a warm-up event.

Co-drivers will be under huge pressure without the traditional 500 km lead-in race to prepare for Bathurst, putting a premium on the experience of justretired Supercars regulars Lowndes and Garth Tander.

Going into the Bathurst 1000 ‘cold’ will test all teams and reveal any weaknesses in preparation.

Along with faster cars, the leading teams are operating at a higher level than ever before due the increased rivalry between DJR Team Penske, Triple

The Jamie Whincup/Craig Lowndes 2019 RBHRT Bathurst livery celebrates the 1971 Bathurst 500 HDT Colin Bond/Torana GTR-XU1.

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Eight Race Engineering and Tickford Racing.

Ford’s Mustang has lifted the technical game this year with superior aerodynamics that several parity adjustments have only just managed to contain.

Triple Eight appears to be back in contention to challenge DJRTP and Tickford at Bathurst, following crucial concessions introduced at Pukekohe that seem to have improved the aerodynamic balance of Holden’s ZB Commodore.

MCLAUGHLIN BETTING ON RECORD THE MAN to beat remains runaway Supercars championship leader McLaughlin, who has won a

record 17 of 24 races so far this season and leads the title by 598 points – an advantage just shy of two full rounds with just four remaining.

He is also hot favourite to lead the charge on a new sub-two minutes three seconds qualifying lap record, undercutting his 2017 pole-winning ‘Lap Of The Gods II’.

McLaughlin is convinced his mark of two minutes 3.8312 seconds for the 6.213 km circuit will fall in the right conditions.

“I’m almost close to putting my house on it that someone will beat that record if the track is dry for the whole weekend,” he told Auto Action. “Last year we were two tenths off it (David Reynolds’ 2m 4.0589s pole-winner in the Top 10 Shootout) after it had rained all bar qualifying.

“The cars are faster, the drivers and teams are better, so I think it’s going to be a really interesting and fast week, and I think the race is also going to be record pace. I’m really excited for it.”

While McLaughlin wants to add another

PEDAL DOWN. PERFORMANCE UP.

Last year, the Falcon FG-X was nowhere near a match for the ZB Commodores at Bathurst. Images: LAT/ RBHRT

record-breaking pole to his season tally of 14, he’d willing trade it – and his stunner two years ago if he could – for a first Bathurst win.

“It would be unreal,” he said. “That place is electric on the Shootout lap and pole around there is very cool. But, look, I’d happily give my Shootout lap in 2017 for a win.”

The other marks under threat are Reynolds’ race lap record of 2m 6.2769s set last year and Lowndes’ and Steven Richards’ record race time of six hours one minute 44.8637 seconds.

With the championship pressure off, McLaughlin is going all out to win.

“I worked very hard coming into the season on the one-per-centers and then throughout the season to just capitalise on our pace,” he said.

“That’s why it’s been so pivotal to capitalise on it early, because we have the 600-point margin where we can basically go ‘See ya’ to the championship for one race and have a massive crack and I’m so excited for that.”

TRIPLE EIGHT COMMODORES ARE BACK THE FLYING Kiwi also expects the pace-setting Shell V-Power Racing Mustangs will be closely rivalled by the rejuvenated Red Bull Holden Racing Team Commodores.

“I think things are certainly going to be even,” he said. “I still think we have a really good car that we can have a real crack with. The Pukekohe track is so different to Bathurst with the bumps and stuff. There are parts that are very similar, but Bathurst is a smooth track, high-grip surface and very fast.

“So the jury’s still out for me in regard to what their speed’s going to be like. I’m very confident with where we’re at and, hopefully, we can have a massive crack in the biggest race of the year.”

Certainly, he expects the Mustangs to be more competitive than last year, when he was the top Ford finisher in a distant third place. There were seven ZBs and just three FG Xs in top 10.

“Dutto (RBHRT manager Mark Dutton) came out said it would’ve been a non-event if nothing had been changed (with the ZB’s aero), but from my point of view, it was a non-event last year,” McLaughlin said. “It was 70 per cent Holdens in the top 10, so I’m excited about going back with a better weapon. I think it’s going to be interesting pacewise.”

Lowndes/Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen/Tander are rated as the strongest driver combinations, with question marks over DJRTP’s lightly raced co-drivers Alex Premat with McLaughlin and Tony D’Alberto with Fabian Coulthard.

However, McLaughlin has full confidence in Premat’s pace.

“I do,” he declared. “Every year he comes back and he’s on it. Everyone says the same things, but I absolutely have faith in him.

“You have a little level of anxiety, but he’s coming out early and he’s doing a ride day and a test day and a few other things, so he’ll be fine.”

WHINCUP FEELING GOOD FOLLOWING HIS struggles this year, Jamie Whincup is encouraged post-Pukekohe that the Triple Eight Commodores will be serious contenders.

“I think so,” he told AA. “I think Dutto nailed it by saying we were at risk of not being competitive enough at Bathurst, but while it’s still going to be a grind to have as good a pace as anyone up there, we certainly have an opportunity now.

“We’re quick to criticise, but I think we really have to congratulate the Supercars technical team. They’ve recovered from quite bad decisions last year. They’ve recovered from it in a relatively short period of time.

“And teaming back up with Lowndesy, hopefully, he can bring the experience and knowledge of what it takes to be there in the last hour on Sunday.

“But you can never count on anything at Bathurst. It’s a hard race to win, easy race to lose. You have one little $2 part fail or one little mistake and, boom, your week’s over. That’s why the satisfaction if you actually do stand on the top step of the podium is so great, knowing the competition and how much effort’s gone in and that only one team can be the winner.

“I enjoy the fact that it’s so hard to win because that adds to the joy if it does come off.”

Triple Eight supremo Roland Dane is also feeling much better about his team’s prospects following the ZB’s aero upgrade.

“We certainly think it’ll be a help at Bathurst,” he told AA. “I think it’s very difficult to take an absolute data point from one race weekend, but Pukekohe has some pretty quick bits on it and everything, and we certainly feel that it’s a good step in the right direction.

“Whether it’s 100 per cent, whether it’s 80 per cent, we’re not sure, to be honest. I don’t think anyone can say that yet, but we feel a lot better about going to Bathurst with this than we would’ve done without it.

“From the Pukekohe performance, it certainly looked like the Commodore and Mustang are much more evenly matched. It was encouraging.”

MASSIVE BATHURST 1000 GUIDE STARTS ON PAGE 23>

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WATERS’ NEW TICKFORD CONTRACT New multi-year deals keep Cam and Monster in Mustang

By BRUCE NEWTON RISING STAR Cameron Waters has shown his faith in Tickford Racing by committing to a new “multi-year” contract that could see him complete a decade’s service with the team.

The 25-year old from Mildura in far north-west Victoria could have served out the option the team had on his services for 2020, but instead both parties agreed to scrap that and negotiate a new long-term agreement.

While neither Tickford nor Waters would confirm the details, it is understood to be up to four years, with at least one year of that an option – potentially tying him to the Ford squad through 2024.

The new deal was announced a week out from the Bathurst 1000 alongside a “multi-year” renewal by Monster Energy, Waters’ primary sponsor since he graduated full-time to the main game in 2016.

Waters told Auto Action that Tickford’s concerted efforts to rebuild since a horror 2018 helped convince him to significantly extend his stay at the team.

“I would probably be in a different position if we were back again in the position we were in 2018,” he said. “But credit to Tickford, they have done an awesome job to turn it around.

“I am happy here at Tickford, obviously the cars are going much better this year and they are getting better and better.

“My intentions were to stay and they were pretty keen to keep me as well, so there was no need to look elsewhere.”

Waters now heads to the Bathurst 1000 with new co-driver Michael Caruso, looking to improve on his previous best finish of fourth in 2016 with Jack Le Brocq.

“I’m absolutely pumped to go to Bathurst,” he

said. “It’s a place where I usually drive pretty well and go pretty well at. We’re going up there to give it our best shot and try to win it.”

Beyond that, he is determined to become a championship contender and regular winner in the years ahead.

“I don’t do this just to drive around and make numbers up, and neither does the team nor my sponsors,” Waters declared. “We are going out there to try and challenge for wins and podiums and, hopefully, championships in the future.”

Snaring Waters long-term is important for Tickford in terms of continuity as 2014 Bathurst winner Chaz Mostert is moving to Walkinshaw Andretti United, with Le Brocq replacing him.

The Bottle-O Mustang driver Lee Holdsworth’s future is also uncertain for 2020, with Tickford Super2 driver Thomas Randle his potential replacement.

“Retaining Cam and Monster Energy have been key priorities for us this year, so we’re extremely happy to tick those boxes,” Tickford Racing CEO Tim Edwards said. “Cam’s been with us since 2014 and has risen from a pretty raw youngster to the regular podium challenger he is today, and we know he’s a fighting chance wherever we go, so we’re ecstatic to keep him in our camp.”

If the deal is four years and is fully activated, Waters will race for Tickford until at 2023 and bring up 10 years’ service. He spent two years in the Dunlop Super2 Series driving for the team – winning the title in 2015 – before stepping up to the main game full-time in 2016.

He has scored one win so far – the 2017 Sandown 500 with Richie Stanaway. This year in the new Ford Mustang, he has scored one pole and two other front row starts and six podium finishes. He is seventh in the drivers’ championship, but is within 200 points of fifthpositioned Jamie Whincup.

Waters’ strong showing followed his worst season when he finished 16th last year as Tickford struggled to extract performance from its four ageing FG X Falcons.

The team underwent a significant pit lane personnel reshuffle for 2019. Among other changes, Waters’ engineer Brad Wischusen was promoted to look after the engineering department and Sam Potter took over the Monster Energy Mustang after working with the departed Stanaway in 2018.

Waters has been publicly vocal all year, rejecting suggestions in all forms of media that Tickford’s lift has come from the arrival of the Mustang alone.

“It’s not just been a body over the top that’s given us the speed in 2019, it’s been a massive raft of changes which has got us where we are,” he asserted. “You saw the back half of 2018, I qualified in the top 10 most races and finished there, and that’s when things started to happen for us.

“We have carried that momentum into this year and they are continually improving and just chipping away at it. It won’t all just happen overnight, but they are moving in the right direction and that’s all you can ask for.”

APOLOGY TO CAMS

CAM WATERS has escaped punishment from CAMS after apologising for calling race 24 at Pukekohe an “embarrassment” and urging zero points be issued in the wake of the safety car fracas.

Waters was one of the victims of the decision to pick up effective leader Jamie Whincup rather than on-track leader Scott McLaughlin when the safety car was called to control the field on lap 14.

After qualifying third, Waters finished only 14th, one position ahead of teammate and front row qualifier Lee Holdsworth and two positions in front of pole-sitter Whincup, who was penalised for passing the safety car when it had orange lights displayed.

“They (CAMS) sent me a letter and I just went into CAMS and sat down with them,” Waters explained. “I went through it with them and my comments were probably raw and to the point – maybe a little far.

“But that’s all resolved and I apologised to the people I needed to and we’ve moved on. They are also looking into what happened as well, so we’ll see what happens with that in the future.”

Whincup was also pulled up by CAMS for his “red wine” comments on the telecast, but avoided punishment as well.

BN

INTERNATIONALS SET FOR S5000 INVASION A SUCCESSFUL debut for S5000 has stirred interest from overseas drivers after Rubens Barrichello competed in the inaugural event at Sandown.

Australian motor sport stalwart and manager Greg ‘Peewee’ Siddle was instrumental in bringing the Brazilian former Formula 1 star to the event, which brought significant interest to the category and meeting.

An international driver is doubtful to take to start at The Bend for the category’s second event, but Siddle told Auto Action that interest for the Australian Grand Prix was incredibly high, though was coy when asked about who.

“The Bend no, the Grand Prix absolutely, there are discussions underway already,” Siddle explained.

“I’ve already had one from outside Australia.”

The interest surrounding Barrichello’s S5000 weekend was further enhanced when he appeared on the AFL television coverage spruiking the event, which proved successful as records were broken in attendance for a Shannons Nationals event. Siddle further explained that Barrichello not only enjoyed

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his time, but is eager to compete at the Grand Prix next year.

“We went to Rubens and he was interested from the outset, so he’s here,” Siddle continued. “From the people who are running the show and organising it, it was the right thing to do it at the first race, not just for the mainstream motor sport journalists but also it’s been picked up by other media outlets.”

Reflecting on the inaugural S5000 weekend, Siddle complimented S5000 category manager Chris Lambden on his determination and drive to get the series off the ground, predicting a big future for the class.

“In a word, positive,” Siddle summed up.

“I ran into Chris in New Zealand probably three or four Greg ‘Peewee’ Siddle is a big fan of the S5000 concept as he tells Garry years ago and he had all this stuff in folders telling me Rogers, S5000 car constructor. Images: S5000-Daniel Kalisz/LAT about his vision, which I recorded. In the middle you had this infighting, which we generally tend to do in this business, but On a sidenote, Alex Davison’s chassis which hit the wall heavily that all stopped, common sense prevailed and it’s where we’re at after contact with Matt Brabham in the Feature Race at Sandown now.” is set to be repaired. HM

CRITICAL COMMODORE AERO TESTS REFINING THE new Commodore ZB aerodynamic package has been a priority for Holden Supercar teams in this week’s pre-Bathurst 1000 testing.

The controversial package has created angst in the way it was signed off – see last issue – and, as we report this issue on page 3, among Holden squads convinced homologation team Triple Eight Race Engineering has inside knowledge about the best way to extract performance from it.

But politics aside, the racing reality is the addition of more downforce has produced a car with more grip to fight the dominant Ford Mustangs.

But with only the Pukekohe event and as little as one test day to try and figure out the new package, Holden teams do face the prospect of arriving at Mount Panorama still with much to learn.

And that applies to Triple Eight - which races as the Red Bull Holden Racing Team - as much as any other team insists David Cauchi, one of the key engineering

leaders at the squad.

“To be honest we still have a lot to learn,” Cauchi told Auto Action ahead of the test. “We did a reasonable job (at Pukekohe), two poles, a race win and a second and obviously we are pretty happy with that.

“There is still a lot more to learn with what we can do with it (the new aero pack) basically.

“I think we had a solid weekend considering we’d only had it for five minutes, but in terms of extracting the most out of it, there’s some work to be done.

“Hopefully we can sort it out at the test day.”

Apart from being Jamie Whincup’s race engineer, Cauchi is a key source of understanding when it comes to the ZB Supercars, as he ran the development program for the car ahead of its introduction to Supercars in 2018.

At Pukekohe the feedback from drivers was added downforce produced more understeer – a trait the circuit is known for anyway – while Shane van Gisbergen said the Commodore was faster but more difficult to drive.

Cauchi acknowledged both issues.

“This car with the aero balance we have, understeer’s probably exaggerated a bit more now,” he said. “But it’s the tool we have got now and we just have to extract

the most out of it.

“Is it going to be able to compete with the Mustang? That’s yet to be determined.”

He said he was confident the car would become easier to drive as development continued.

“It’s just the way the car behaves in the different phases of the corner and we fine-tune the cars a lot … it’s just a matter of time before we get our heads around it basically.

“It’s certainly far from refined, so

while the drivers aren’t struggling, they are still having to get used to the characteristic the car is giving.

“When the car is difficult to drive it’s difficult for the drivers to extract the most every single lap, whereas once the car becomes a little bit easier then you can be a lot more consistent with your laptime, the driver gains confidence and it is just this big virtuous circle.

“That is what we are looking forward to.” BN

SPEAK UP, SUPERCARS! DJR Team Penske boss says fans deserve better explanations of changes

By BRUCE NEWTON SUPERCARS RISKS alienating its core audience if it doesn’t do a better job of explaining in-season technical changes.

That’s the strong view of DJR Team Penske managing director and co-owner Ryan Story, who has watched the Ford Mustang slowed several times this year.

“We continue to have to earn our place in the sporting landscape and we alienate our supporters at our peril,” Story told Auto Action. “We do that when we make changes without explaining how and why, and without demonstrating the validation and decisionmaking behind those processes.

“I think sometimes we try to be too politically correct and a little too nice, and a little too concerned about saying it how it is.”

The dominance of the Shell V-Power Racing Ford Mustangs of Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard this year prompted the introduction of a centre of gravity rule for all cars after the Australian Grand Prix, an aero reduction for the Fords before Perth, plus two aero modifications for the Holden Commodore ZB and one for the Nissan Altima.

The changes have been met with plenty of fan outrage on social media. The first Commodore aero mod was rolled out leading into the Darwin Supercars event in June and was not confirmed by Supercars until after the fact.

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“With some of these changes, we’ve seen across the year what we have failed to do is sensibly explain how we have ended up where we have ended up to our supporters,” Story claimed. “Whether that be Ford supporters or Holden supporters, whether that be Shell V-Power Racing Team supporters or Red Bull Holden Racing Team supporters, that is irrelevant “We haven’t told the story of why we have needed to make adjustments, why we have made adjustments, why things were equal in December and not equal in May.” Those periods are a reference to the VCAT aerodynamic test in December for the new Mustang, Commodore ZB and Nissan Altima, which was declared to be the closest ever. But by May, the Mustang was getting its rear wing, endplates and undertray clipped.

All changes made by Supercars have been in search of technical parity, the category’s underpinning racing requirement, designed to make all cars relatively even in basic spec, with the talents and skills of teams and drivers making the performance difference.

“We live and die off the back of those who attend our races and watch our races on the telly,” Story observed. “When we misfire on that communications side and we equally misfire on the communication to key stakeholders up and down pit lane, we

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need to have a good hard look at how we approach some of these processes and how we manage them “I think that has been a sad indictment of the sport this season.”

Story’s reference to stakeholders is significant because Ford, which returned to Supercars this year, has been shocked both locally and at global level by the vociferous opposition to the Mustang, the way it was reported by the media and the changes the car went through despite being approved by Supercars.

“When you think about how some of

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these things have been written about, when you look at the scrutiny we have faced, whether it be as individual teams or as a sport across social media and all the various outlets where we can receive direct communications from the punters that pay to come through the turnstiles and change it to the right channel on racedays, it’s been pretty damning,” Story lamented.

“So I think we need to do better and I think that the sport needs to do better in explaining where it is we are going and the direction we are taking.”

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PERCAT AIMS FOR BATHURST VICTORY

TEAM KIWI Racing has decided against fielding a Wildcard entry for Jaxon Evans and Chris van der Drift in this year’s Bathurst 1000. TKR has now switched its intention to next year and the opening round of the 2020 Supercars Championship in Adelaide. The team is planning to either buy a REC and enter the full series, or join the grid at multiple rounds as a Wildcard entry.

DJR TEAM PENSKE co-driver Alex Premat had a accident during a pre-enduro test at Queensland Raceway. It was reported that the Frenchman suffered brake failure on the approach to Turn 4 at 200km/h when his brake pedal went to the floor.

The car came to rest nearby at Turn 2 with the front spoiler ripped off.

WALKINSHAW ANDRETTI United has confirmed that the #27 wildcard entry featuring IndyCar stars Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe will use the car that was raced by James Courtney and Jack Perkins at The Mountain last year. The duo will be engineered by former Walkinshaw employee Mark Bryant.

MULTIPLE BATHURST winning team manager Rob Crawford will lead Kostecki Brothers Racing’s wildcard entry throughout the Pirtek Enduro Cup. Jake Kostecki will join his cousin Brodie on the sidelines of the corresponding Super2 rounds, as the pair put full focus into their Bathurst 1000 debuts. Crawford is best known for leading K-Mart Racing to its Bathurst wins in 2003 and 2004.

SUPERCARS HAS announced a pathway for young Kiwi drivers to follow in the footsteps of Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen, with the announcement that the BNT New Zealand V8 Series will join the Supercars Junior Development Program. Van Gisbergen and McLaughlin will join Supercars CEO Sean Seamer on a selection panel to identify young talent through various Championships including the BNT V8s and Karting New Zealand.

THE EREBUS Motorsport Holden Commodores will run the iconic logo of Rock’n’roll band KISS to promote their Newcastle show and the band’s ‘End of the Road’ Australian Tour in November.

8 AutoAction

BJR engineering program all about turning on pace at Mount Panorama

By BRUCE NEWTON NICK PERCAT believes he and co-driver Tim Blanchard Images: LAT can finally deliver victory for Brad Jones Racing at the Bathurst 1000.

He’s not basing that on his recent run of strong performances alone, but a huge engineering effort going into improving the frontset on Mount Panorama, where end performance of the team’s he triumphed on debut with Garth Holden Commodore ZBs. Tander in a Holden Racing Team “There’s a lot going on behind Commodore in 2011. the scenes here at BJR, which is BJR first entered the Supercars exciting,” Percat told Auto Action. Bathurst marathon in 2000 “They’re not just laying back and and has twice finished on the saying ‘fifth is good enough’. supporting steps of the podium.

“We want to be challenging Jones himself has finished on the Tickford and Triple Eight and podium seven times including Penske and judging by the last second and third in the 1997 and few events we are getting there, 1998 Super Touring races. which is good.”

Percat and Macauley Jones Percat finished a strong fourth finished seventh in 2018 at in race 24 at Pukekohe and race Bathurst despite a power steering 22 at Tailem Bend. In between he failure. In 2017 in his first year was taken out of a potential result at BJR, Percat and Jones fought in race 23 in New Zealand by back onto the lead lap after an Jamie Whincup. early drive-through penalty.

Spun to the back of the field, he The duo even led the race late, raced his way through to a 12th but crashed out on the very last place finish. lap.

He currently sits eighth in the “The (BJR) cars are fast there championship. and Brad’s due a result up there,” Now the 31-year old has sights said Percat.

Image: Ross Gibb

“When we sat down a couple of years ago to sign my deal we agreed we wanted to win Bathurst together, so everything we have been doing is all gearing towards Bathurst.

“We have sat down as a group and highlighted our weaknesses and tried to fix them, which is good.”

A key focus for the Andrew Edwards-led technical team at BJR has been developing the front-end of the Commodore.

In a formula where many components are control items, the double wishbone front suspension and upright are one of the most important areas of technical freedom left in Supercars.

“There’s been a few specs of front-end coming through that thing (his Commodore) … because I want to win Bathurst

and we need the front to work a bit better for us,” Percat said.

“We arrived in New Zealand with something, we changed it for qualifying on Saturday, we raced with that and then changed it again after qualifying on Sunday and raced a different spec.

“We wanted to see the differences and overlay that.”

Percat said each change made was an evolution of the design in some form.

“We are not going back and forth, always forward,” said Percat. “It’s not uprights, it’s different generations and specs of front-end parts.

“That stuff is really exciting and cool because it shows me that Brad is here to get a fast car and put in. The engineers put in and we are spending the time and money to have fast cars.

“It excites me to go to Bathurst.

TICKFORD DRIVERS ENCOURAGED TO RACE HARD THERE WILL be no change to the rules of engagement for Tickford Racing drivers, despite the clash between Cam Waters and Chaz Mostert in race 23 of the Supercars championship at Pukekohe Raceway.

Waters and Mostert engaged in a last-man-standing braking duel at the end of the back straight that ended with damage for Mostert and last place in the race for the Supercheap Auto Ford Mustang.

Waters and the Monster Mustang went on to finish second, admitting afterwards that Mostert might be somewhat unhappy with the situation.

But Tickford boss Tim Edwards said such clashes reflected how hard the drivers were pushing.

“It’s on that knife edge,” said Edwards. “You want these drivers to drive as hard as they possibly can, no matter who they are racing.

“I expect my drivers to still fight as

Image: LAT

hard as they can and unfortunately it was their team-mate they came together with, but that could easily be a competitor.

“So you want them to show respect to each other but they were both racing hard and the fact it was a team-mate next to them probably didn’t even register, they were just fighting hard for a position.”

Edwards made the point that

while they are team-mates, Mostert and Waters do race for different sponsors.

“Chaz is out there trying to do the best he can for Supercheap and Cam is out there trying to do the best he can for Monster.

“So we are not in the position where we have the same (sponsor) and so it doesn’t matter which way around they are.”

Edwards said the clash was dealt with in the hours after the race by the team.

“There were some discussion and airing of opinions on Saturday night and we all arrived at the track on Sunday morning and … we moved on and looked forward.

“Everybody cleared the air, everybody had a different opinion about what went down there. We can’t change it, the drivers are fine, I’m fine and everyone’s fine.”

Amusingly, Waters revealed postrace that collisions with Mostert happen away from the racetrack as well, even during a holiday in Queenstown, New Zealand, before the Pukekohe event.

“We managed to take each other out on the luge as well, we just push each other way too much every time we are together,” he said.

“I think the team needs to strategise and get us apart.” BN

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Image: TCR Australia-Daniel Kalisz

BROWN UP FOR ANOTHER CRACK NEWLY CROWNED TCR Australia Series winner Will Brown is ecstatic to have sealed his third national title with a round to spare, and has signalled his intention to defend the crown next year.

“Pretty exciting to wrap up the inaugural Australian TCR Series, it’s pretty cool,” Brown said. “I can’t thank the boys at HMO Customer Racing enough it was great.

“Hopefully we will come back stronger next year and give it another crack!”

The success comes after a lean period in the second tier Super2

Series, where he has taken a solitary win in three seasons. But success in the Australian Formula 4 Championship and the Toyota 86 Racing Series first bought the Queenslander attention in 2016.

Driving the HMO Customer Racingprepared Hyundai i30 N TCR, Brown has taken six victories and finished 12 out of the 18 races on the podium, showing incredible consistency.

Despite winning the series with a round to spare, Brown was disappointed to take the title with a seventh-place finish after spinning into the wall at Turn 3 on the opening lap of

the final race at Sandown.

“I completely ballsed it up, it is a bit bittersweet,” he told AA. “I lost the rear all by myself and spun, but we were able to get back up to seventh and that secured us the championship.”

Brown performed double duty at Sandown Raceway, transitioning from his normal front-wheel-drive 2.0l turbocharged TCR car to the rearwheel-drive 5.2l S5000 open-wheel monster.

“We had the pace, it was just disappointing what happened,” he said. DM

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HAZELWOOD: NOW FOR BATHURST! A CAREER-BEST fifth place has given second-year Supercars star Todd Hazelwood and Matt Stone Racing an important confidence boost leading into the Bathurst 1000.

Hazelwood was a beneficiary of the safety car fracas that artificially dumped a group of competitive cars to the back of the field in race 24 at Pukekohe last time out.

Image: LAT But the Holden Commodore ZB driver isn’t letting that take any of the shine off the result, pointing out it was an overdue reward for a season of strong pace from his and the team.

“We are ecstatic,” said Hazelwood. “We made the most of the situation and there’s been the situation a few times this year where we have been on the bad luck side.

“It was finally good to get a step-up and make the most of the opportunity.

“At the end of the day it was up to the team as to what strategy rolled out and we were able to leapfrog a couple of key players, which brought us prime track position on that safety car restart.

“It’s a credit to everyone involved to maximise the opportunity we had.”

Hazelwood goes into the long distance races with Brad Jones Racing Super2 driver and regular 2019 main game Wildcard entrant Jack Smith as his co-driver.

“Bathurst is going to be strong round for us,” declared Hazelwood. “We’ve shown all year we have good results on the hard tyre.

“We won’t go in there too confident but I genuinely believe we have something to look forward to.”

Hazelwood, who is on the driver market for 2020, gave a warning about what was to come in race 24 at Pukekohe when he missed the top 10 shootout by a mere 0.0132 sec. His previous best finish had been 10th on Sunday at the Adelaide 500 in the opening event of the season. He now stands 18th in the drivers’ championship.

“There have been three or four races this year where we have been comfortably inside the top 10 and had a result taken away from us, so that’s been frustrating.

“It’s been a long time coming considering the pace we’ve shown. We are both relieved and ecstatic.”

Team co-owner Matt Stone missed the race to be at home with wife Nina, who gave birth to their daughter Sallie Anne on September 16 – the day after the team’s great result. BN

BROCK AT BATHURST A NEW book celebrating the 50th anniversary of Peter Brock’s first race at Bathurst is now on sale.

With the help of teammates, racing rivals and friends, the late legend’s long-time partner Bev Brock relates his rise to undisputed King Of The Mountain in Brock At Bathurst.

Brock finished third in his Bathurst 500 debut in 1969 and established his stardom with the first of his record nine wins in 1972 (after which it became the

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Bathurst 1000).

An exclusive extract from the book appears in our giant Bathurst 1000 preview guide to mark the 40th anniversary of Peter Perfect’s most dominant win in 1979 (see pages 36-39).

Bev Brock’s take on his career at Bathurst is an interesting inside view, aided by recollections from others closely associated with PB’s career.

The publisher claims the book contains never-before-seen photos and previously untold

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Brock At Bathurst by Bev Brock (Affirm Press, RRP $38) is now available.

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LATEST NEWS

Image: LAT

Holden homologation team boss says VCAT tests should wind back the clock

KALI MOTORSPORT’S new Holden VC Commodore build is well advanced with fabrication all but finished as the team remain on track to debut the car for the opening round of the Touring Car Masters Series in Adelaide next year. The Lucas Dumbrell-owned Commodore is expected to be one of five Commodores entering the series next year in the hands of former V8 Ute racer Gerard McLeod. HM

CAMS HAS officially revealed the Australian representatives for the inaugural FIA Motorsport Games that will take place in Rome from November 1. The Aussie team will compete in three categories, Stephen and Brenton Grove will compete in GT. Reigning Australian Formula 4 champion Luis Leeds will go up against the best the world has to offer in F4 machinery and Cody Nikola Latkovski will represent us in the Esports category.

By BRUCE NEWTON HOLDEN HOMOLOGATION team boss Roland Dane has welcomed this summer’s VCAT aerodynamic re-test and called for it to cut downforce back to 2013 levels.

The new VCAT aero evaluation is also backed by Ryan Story, managing director of DJR Team Penske, the Ford homologation team.

Supercars announced earlier this month that all cars contesting the 2020 Supercars championship will be subject to aerodynamic testing at the end of the year with the aim of removing a “small amount” of downforce.

There are several key aims of the testing process: restore aerodynamic technical parity between the Commodore ZB, Mustang GT and Nissan Altima – if it races again in 2020 – and reduce the increasing aero ‘wash’ that is making it impossible for drivers to follow and pass each other.

The current estimate is that a car needs a 0.5 second lap speed advantage to have a hope of overcoming the aerodynamic turbulence created by a car ahead.

The other key objective is to make changes that don’t cost significant money, which means the focus of changes will be on trimming and tuning the front undertray and rear

LET’S RACE LIKE IT’S 2013! wing rather than making body panel changes.

The Ford Mustang has won 20 of 24 races so far this year, but all three cars have been subject to aerodynamic changes since the VCAT test last December that was declared the closest-ever at the time.

But Dane, the team principal and coowner of Triple Eight Race Engineering which races as the Red Bull Holden Racing Team, is scathing about that test.

“The worse VCAT we ever had was the one at the end of last year and we need to correct it and we need to do a better job collectively,” he said. “I wasn’t there last year and I can only go on what my guys told me, but it just wasn’t overall well done.

“Hopefully, this year it will be and I have far more faith in the people doing it this year.”

That’s a reference to Adrian Burgess, who joined Supercars in the newly created position of head of motorsport in 2019. His

chief technical lieutenant is veteran Supercars engineer Campbell Little.

“The cars don’t have to be exactly the same, they just have to be in the same window and they haven’t been,” Dane said. “We need to get them back in the window and if they have strengths and weaknesses, so be it. But they just need to be in the same window.

“It would be nice to be back to where we were in 2013 with (the initial equalisation of) Car Of The Future for the next year or two.”

Dane has nominated 2013 downforce levels because that was when the COTF technical regulations were introduced. He argues that since then, there has been a steady upward climb in downforce levels.

“We’ve crept up on it here when the (Ford Falcon) FG X was homologated and then trying to match the ZB to that and then the Mustang came along and reset it as well,” he said. “We’ve had this creep that shouldn’t have been there.”

Meanwhile, DJRTRP’s Story asserts

that Supercars was “heading in the right direction overall” with VCAT testing, which will include new adaptive ride height testing tools as part of the traditional – and often maligned – straight-line testing.

While the in-season changes made this year were all been based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies with inputs from Supercars’ British partner D2H, Story maintained there was still a place for straight-line testing.

“I’d much rather see a straight-line test that captures more data than a reliance on a CFD model that doesn’t have any real-world correlation and I think that’s really important,” he said. “[Straight-line testing is] not as comprehensive as we would all like to have, but we can’t rely on the other tools short of putting all the cars in a shipping container and running them in full-scale wind tunnel somewhere.”

Wind tunnel testing has been ruled out as too expensive as there are no suitable facilities in Australia.

AUSSIE WRC RETURN LIKELY FOR 2021 ENTRIES FOR the 2020 Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour have officially opened, a total of 130 different vehicles are eligible to enter the race with some new interesting options including the likes of the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro and Kia Stinger. The race also contains Class X for ultimate performance for the first time, the class will see cars such as the BMW M4 and Holden VF MY14-HSV.

10 AutoAction

THE AUSTRALIAN Round of the FIA World Rally Championship has been left off the 2020 calendar in favour of New Zealand.

However the Australian rally is expected to return in 2021 as the WRC plans to rotate it yearly with the Kiwi event.

The Australian event has been a staple on the calendar since 2013 but is not the only long standing event missing on the radical new 2020 schedule, as the popular mixed surface Spanish rally and French tarmac rally have also disappeared and are also subject to the rotation policy.

In 2020 WRC will return to Japan and

Kenya, which will see the series visit six continents in a season for the very first time, as the championship attempts to spread to other countries around the globe.

Rally Australia Chairman Andrew Papadopoulos was disappointed to miss out on a 2020 event, but says that is will use the year to grow the event for 2021.

“The new rotation policy involving Rally Australia and two other established rallies is a reflection of the fast-growing popularity of the FIA World Rally Championship and pressure on the FIA and organising company WRC Promoter GmbH to accommodate more

countries in the series,” Papadopoulos said.

“We’re extremely proud of Rally Australia’s standing as one of the best-run WRC events over 27 years.

“The WRC is unquestionably one of the most exciting series in motorsport, the competition is incredibly close and the action and drama unmatched, and we’ll be ready to take our place again on the world stage from 2021.”

Rally Australia concludes the 2019 World Rally Championship, which will take place at Coffs Harbour in New South Wales from November 14-17. DM

“BIDDING WAR” FOR AGT RIGHTS TA2 IN ADELAIDE SUPPORT STORM

By MARK FOGARTY & BRUCE NEWTON SUPERCARS is reportedly trying to block the inclusion of TA2 on the Adelaide 500 support race program.

It is the latest shot in the escalating war with Australian Racing Group, which has taken over category management of TA2 in addition to Touring Car Masters.

While Supercars wants the popular classic-look TCMs on the Adelaide undercard and some of its other events, it is believed to be objecting to TA2 – which features V8-powered Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro “silhouette” racers.

While the Adelaide 500 is one of only two championship events not promoted and run by Supercars, it has some veto rights over so-called rival categories.

It exercised that right in blocking ARG from staging the opening round of the TCR Australia Series at the Adelaide Parklands circuit in what would have been a double touring car season-opener.

And in an added twist, Supercars is playing the Intellectual Property (IP) card as its main objection to

TA2, claiming the cars’ body shapes and branding are not approved by Ford Australia and GM Holden.

There have been suggestions that Broadmeadows supports Supercars’ opposition to TA2s running at the Adelaide 500.

However, Auto Action’s enquiries have revealed that neither Ford nor Holden are concerned about the TA2 Mustang and Camaro lookalikes.

Without specifically referencing Adelaide support races, Supercars supremo Sean Seamer admitted that there were IP concerns about TA2.

“We are in discussions with ARG about all their support categories and we are in discussions with them about the IP of their TA2 cars,” Seamer said. “Obviously, we have very strong and important relations with GM and Ford in the main series, so we have to be protective of that.

“But we are talking to ARG about TA2 and all of their categories, and those conversations have not finished.”

In the Adelaide 500 contract, Supercars is the exclusive touring car category allowed on the program. Supercars then extends an invitation to Super2 to compete,

as it is allowed to invite a couple of categories on to the program.

Asked if the exclusivity clause had been invoked in relation to TA2, Seamer hedged: “No, it’s an IP discussion.”

He agreed the issue was about TA2 racers being identified as Ford Mustangs and Chev Camaros, and claimed Ford and Holden shared the concern.

“We all do,” Seamer said.

He added: “It’s a bit hard to talk about IP and commercial discussions with manufacturers. I am not stonewalling you. There is a category that runs Mustangs and Camaros that needs to get their IP approvals.”

Seamer also denied there were frictions with ARG, which has expressed an interest in buying Supercars. “[The relationship is] not difficult at all,” he said. “Everyone here is friends with those guys. I still catch up with James (Warburton, ARG non-executive director and Seamer’s predecessor as Supercars CEO) and have a beer with him.

“We are not treating them any different to anyone else. James is still a mate.”

SUPERCARS AND Australian Racing Group are vying to take over the Australian GT championship amid deep concerns about the category’s management.

Auto Action has been told that Supercars and ARG are “in a bidding war” for AGT, which is rapidly losing the support of key competitors.

Supercars wants to secure the rights to GT racing to bolster its support race program and also compliment its ownership of the Bathurst 12 Hour, which is one of the world’s most important GT races.

ARG is eying it to add to its growing portfolio, which already includes TCR, S5000, TCM and TA2, plus the Bathurst 6 Hour and the new fifth event at Mount Panorama.

Current AGT rights holder Trofeo Motorsport, which took over from Tony Quinn, is struggling to keep the national series alive.

As well as losing the support of leading GT3 competitors like Scott Taylor Motorsport and Melbourne Performance Centre, Trofeo has lost the confidence of CAMS, which controls the rights.

It is belived CAMS has sent a letter to Trofeo boss Jim Manolios voicing

its concerns about the running of the Australian GT championship. Category manager David Vervaat has also received widespread criticism.

With very poor fields at recent rounds, AA understands the Gold Coast and Sandown rounds are in jeopardy, while the traditional season-opener as support to the Australian Grand Prix will not occur next year.

Competitors also have concerns about high insurance costs, while they were further alienated by the proposed changes to the driver classification system.

This will be changed for next year, as announced at The Bend.

It’s belived there was to be a survey sent out to all current and previous competitors to gauge what can be fixed, but it is unclear whether this has occured yet.

There are also reports of in-fighting among stakeholders about the future direction of GT racing in Australia.

Supercars previously made an unsuccessful bid to buy the AGT rights from Quinn, but the move was blocked by CAMS in a sanction fee dispute.

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KIWI MITCH Evans has re-signed with the Panasonic Jaguar Formula E team for 2019/2020, the sixth season of the all-electric open-wheel series.

It will be the fourth season that the multiple time GP2 race winner will drive for the British based team. Last season he scored his and the squad’s first win, in Rome, and finished fifth in the drivers’ standings.

Image: F5000-Daniel Kalisz

IT HAS been a good couple of weeks for Nico Muller. The Swiss driver currently sits second in the DTM standings heading into the final round and has already signed on to remain with the Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline team next season. It has also been announced that he will drive in Formula E next year for Dragon alongside Brendon Hartley. This will be his debut season in the electric series.

Andretti Autosport and Harding Steinbrenner Autosport have announced that they will join forces in 2020 to create a fifth entry run out of the Andretti stable, in the Indycar series. The new collaboration has confirmed that it has signed rookie sensation Colton Herta, who claimed two race victories in his debut 2019 season and narrowly missed out on the rookie of the year honours.

IN WHAT was probably the worst kept secret in Formula E history, Antonio Felix da Costa has been officially announced as the driver of the second DS Techeetah car for Season 6 of the fully-electric series. The Portuguese driver has departed the BMW Andretti team to race for the reigning teams’ champions and will compete against teammate and two-time driver’s champion Jean-Eric Vergne.

IT IS a new look DTM calendar for 2020. Misano has been replaced by an Italian round at Monza and the first-ever Swedish round will take place in June, at Anderstorp Raceway. Hockenheim will not kick off the season or host two rounds for the first time since the series was relaunched in 2000. However, the German venue will still round out the calendar. DTM has confirmed that one “exciting” addition is yet to be announced.

A NUMBER of DTM drivers have been announced for the combined Super GT and DTM races in Japan later this year, headed by Alex Zanardi.

12 AutoAction

POSITIVE START TO S5000 JOURNEY

THE GENERAL opinions that came out of the maiden S5000 event at Sandown were overwhelmingly positive, even though it wasn’t the dream ending everyone was hoping for.

New Zealand racing legend Ken Smith attended the meeting as mentor to driver Tom Alexander and had driven the car in its previous incarnation at Pukekohe. The racing veteran, who still competes in historic F5000 on a regular basis, was impressed by its pace and strength.

“This is strong. If you saw how big the shunt was and the driver was safe, it’s a good class and I’m a an open-wheeler lover,” he told Auto Action.

“When you see a shunt like that you know you wouldn’t want to be in an F5000 car, gee the car is strong. They’re relatively quick, it’s a heavy car, but they are good.

“It’s just great to see Australia’s got a decent single-seater class at long last.”

Smith said he was keen to see S5000 head across the Tasman and maybe jump behind the wheel himself, if the stars align.

“I’d be eager to get into one of these,” Smith enthused.

“We definitely want to see them come over there, there are definitely Kiwis that will jump into one.

You could do a couple of rounds there and a couple here.”

Category manager Chris Lambden was thrilled by

the response from the general public and is excited by the potential shown by the category at such an early stage.

“I can’t believe it. At one point the (spectator’s) cars were backed up over the bridge, this is getting up to a reasonable Supercars crowd,” Lambden told Auto Action.

“From all those measurements it has been a terrific success. The whole week has been really good, having Rubens here was just brilliant because he is such a super guy and relates so well to the public.

“I think most people were here to see him.

“The one thing we have discovered is our aim to have a car where you can follow nose to tail without losing grip, is right. They were running nose to tail and that is what makes racing and those first two races were fantastic, so that is a big tick in that box.

“For the first time out I really couldn’t be happier other than that crash.”

Barrichello was the major drawcard and did not disappoint, racing strongly in among Australia’s best, finishing with a well deserved podium in the shortened Feature Race. The Brazilian was in awe of the cars and hopes to be back for the Australian Grand Prix in March.

“I had a great time, I really did,” said Barrichello.

“I’m sorry the race finished a little earlier than what we thought but the thing wasn’t just one race it was

the whole thing and I think it was a good start of a new series.

“I felt like a teenager again driving these cars and hope to be back!”

Garry Rogers Motorsport team manager Stefan Millard was one relieved man after the weekend. Mechanical problems were sparse and James Golding led the team to two wins over the course of the weekend.

“No real failures to talk of at all, I’m super stoked with the work that the guys have done to get the cars here, prepped and no failures on 13-cars has been pretty impressive,” Millard lauded.

“We have got a bit of work to do to fix [Alex] Davison’s car up after that crash, but again that has held up really well to that kind of impact, so we will get that fixed up.”

The general public also lapped up the sound and racing provided by S5000, with one stating to Auto Action: “A lot of us have got very sick of watching Supercars and to me they are hot rods, the Holden isn’t a genuine Holden.

It is great to see a breath of fresh air. I haven’t been to a race meeting in about three years. This to me is going back to how it used to be in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s.”

It is an opinion shared in the Auto Action office.

Although Dan and myself weren’t on this earth when F5000 was around, S5000 bucks the current motor sport trend of hybrid technology and appears set to reinvigorate Australian motor sport. This can only be a good thing!

Heath McAlpine & Dan McCarthy

PEUGEOT JOINS TCR AUSTRALIA! THE FINAL round of TCR Australia will have a French flavour, when Peugeot Sport’s official factory sponsored team enters the final round of the inaugural series at The Bend Motorsport Park on November 15-17.

Peugeot Sport currently competes in TCR Europe and will field a sole Peugeot 308 TCR for factory pilot Aurélien Comte, who will be supported by the team’s mechanics and engineers for the campaign.

Director of Peugeot Citroen Racing Shop, Mayeul Tyl, is excited to be participating in the Australian series and is confident Comte will be right at the front of the field.

“We are looking forward to our

participation with Peugeot Sport for the Tailem Bend round,” said Tyl. “Our driver will be Aurelien Comte. Aurelien is driving the latest model 308 TCR in TCR Europe this year. Last year he drove a 308 TCR in WTCR and was our development driver for the 308 TCR. He is a very accomplished driver with lots of experience.

“We have watched the Australian TCR series with a lot of interest. The Australian series generates a lot of attention in Europe, it is really great to see lots of different car brands and is a very professional series. We are very excited to bring our Peugeot 308 TCR to Australia.”

Australian Racing Group director

Matt Braid is eager to find out how the Australian competitors compare to a fullyfledged European works team.

“It will be fantastic to have Peugeot Sport compete at the final round of the carsales TCR Australia Series at The Bend Motorsport Park,” said Braid.

“This will be a serious entry – a fully-fledged factory run car by the team at Peugeot Sport, including the team’s current works driver.

“Peugeot has been one of the quiet achievers in global TCR competition over the past few

years, so we’re looking forward to seeing how they stack up against our Australian entries.”

Peugeot is the ninth make of car to compete in this year’s TCR Australia season. The 308 TCR will remain in Australia after the event, ready to compete in the 2020 series, which kicks off at the Australian Grand Prix on March 12-15. HM

HEIMGARTNER TAKES ON THE WORLD KELLY RACING Supercars pilot Andre Heimgartner will get behind the wheel of a very different type of Nissan at this year’s World Time Attack, held at Sydney Motorsport Park on October 18-19.

The 1150bhp MCA Suspension Nissan S13 Silvia ‘Hammerhead’ with Heimgartner at the wheel tested at Queensland Raceway recently, with team chief and rallying legend Murray Coote impressed by the Kiwi’s adaption to the new car.

“Considering the laps he hasn’t done in this car, he’s fit into it really well, and to do a sub-record time is a sign of good things to come,” said Coote.

Heimgartner eclipsed a 20-year-old lap record after only six laps in the car, sending an ominous warning to the opposition. The Kiwi, who has contested dual campaigns in Supercars and TCR Australia this season, was shocked by how the ‘Hammerhead’ handles despite the power it has.

“The car is a lot different to what I thought. I’d heard all these stories about how fast it was … 1150HP, all that sort of stuff … I was a little bit freaked out to be honest, but

once I hopped in the car it’s so steady, so controllable,” Heimgartner said.

Coote is keen to get back to the winner’s circle after being defeated by the PR Technology Racing Porsche RP968 last year, and feels the combination the team now has will be hard to beat.

“I just enjoy motorsport and I particularly have enjoyed the knowledge learnt. It’s important not to focus on a lot of little things, you’ve got to focus on the whole car,” says Coote.

“We won it two years in a row and I guess you get a bit casual. With the rainy event we didn’t get the sessions – it

was just one of those difficult events and we weren’t on top of our game. The Porsche [RP968] had to get there sooner or later, because it was so well-credentialed and well-built.”

Heimgartner also shares the same attitude and is looking forward to taking on the new challenge.

“I’ve only seen the event from afar. The fact I get the privilege to drive a car that’s capable of winning is really exciting and I’ve heard when you go there, this car is like royalty,” said Heimgartner.

“If we can be around the mark we were at today [during testing], at World Time Attack, I think we’ll be on!” HM Image: LAT

Image: F5000-Daniel Kalisz

ARG TO STAGE FIFTH

BUMPER CROWD FOR SHANNONS THE PENULTIMATE round of the Shannons Nationals has proven to be a hit among fans, with more than 11,000 spectators attending to witness the debut of the S5000 category.

The official attendance was 11,820, while streaming was a hit with viewership of 164,275, doubling the previous record set by a Shannons Nationals meeting.

The live SBS coverage, which encompassed both TCR Australia and S5000 events, also had steady viewership with 60,198 watching Saturday’s action and 58,770 on Sunday.

CAMS CEO Eugene Arocca reflected on the growth of the Nationals and expects it to build into a strong 2019 season.

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“We’re absolutely delighted with the growing audience watching on both SBS and via our two day live stream,” Arocca said.

“Our team has put in significant work in taking the Shannons Nationals and its broadcast to the next level in 2019, and we are extremely proud of everyone who worked on this event, including the production and broadcast crew.

“It’s certainly encouraging that we witnessed more than 11,000 people at Sandown over three days. This shows how far the Shannons Nationals program has come in recent years “To see the grandstand so full on both Saturday and Sunday was certainly an indication that

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the Shannons Nationals has a strong future.

“Obviously there was significant interest in the debut of the S5000 category and speaking to fans and stakeholders, everyone was certainly impressed with the show they put on over the course of the event.

“Matt Braid and the entire team at the Australian Racing Group (ARG) should be extremely proud of the debut of S5000, as well as the continued success of TCR here in Australia.

“There was also strong interest in the other four categories which were exclusively part of the live stream, and they provided some excellent racing across the weekend which captivated viewers online and at the track.”

HM

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THE AUSTRALIAN Racing Group has been awarded the tender for the fifth event by the Bathurst Regional Council.

The ARG proposal promises to be an exciting event with new classes TCR and S5000 expected to be joined by Touring Car Masters at the Mount Panorama circuit.

“We expect the event to be up and running in December 2020 and we’re excited about the prospect of seeing new cars and drivers lining up to tackle the challenging circuit.

“Council undertook a detailed tender process to select the successful bid and we’re confident the fifth event will bring dedicated motorsport fans to the circuit in December each year, as well as attract new fans to the sport,” Mayor of Bathurst Cr Bobby Bourke said.

“Australian Racing Group, together with CAMS, is extremely honoured to be awarded the fifth Bathurst event.

“Mount Panorama is an iconic racing circuit that is revered in Australia and throughout the rest of the world. We look forward to bringing a significant international focus to Bathurst with competitors coming from all over the world, to race in S5000, TCR, Touring Car Masters, LMP3 and TA2 categories in what will be the grand finale of the global motorsport calendar each year,” ARG’s Matt Braid said.

The agreement between ARG and the Bathurst City Council is for five years.

No specific event details have been revealed, but a TCR endurance event has been touted. HM

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IN BRITISH F4 Bart Horsten struggled for luck in the two most recent rounds at Knockhill and Silverstone. Up in Scotland the Australian qualified on pole but in the three races was awarded a grid penalty, a false start penalty and suffered a broken front wing resulting in him finishing sixth, ninth and 10th respectively.

At Silverstone he retired from Race 1, but recovered to score a top five finish in Race 2 before the Arden driver finished the final race in third.

Image: Insyde Media

16-YEAR-OLD SUPER3 VICTOR

BATHURST 12 Hour winner Matt Campbell recorded a pair of solid results in the Blancpain GT World Challenge America Series. Driving a Wright Motorsport Porsche around the Road America circuit alongside Anthony Imperato, the pair finished in fourth place outright in the first race, second in the Pro-Am class. It wasn’t such a good day on the Sunday the #91 Porsche pair finishing seventh overall, but it was still enough to see them climb onto the Pro-Am podium in third.

THE AUSTRALIANS in Euroformula Open had mixed results in England and Spain, Calan Williams scored two top 10 results at Silverstone, finishing 10th in Race 1 and an impressive seventh in Race 2. Fellow Australian Jack Doohan returned to the series for the round at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya, however both struggled. Williams and Doohan came home 14th and 15th respectively, things improved little in the second race with Doohan scoring a point in 10th while Williams again finished 14th.

THE FINAL two rounds of ADAC GT Masters at Hockenheim and the Sachsenring yielded some solid results for Australian Aiden Read and his co-driver Marvin Dienst. Driving a Schutz Motorsport prepared MercedesAMG GT3 the pair finished the first race at Hockenheim one lap down in 23rd but recovered the following day to finish 14th. At the Sachsenring the duo performed strongly recording their third top 10 finish of the season in eighth, backing it up on Sunday with a 14th place finish, coming 20th in the standings.

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IN A VERY hotly contested Super3 Series it was young Queenslander Broc Feeney who came out on top taking the title in the final race of the season at Sandown Raceway.

The former Toyota 86 Racing Series driver was ecstatic when he spoke to Auto Action just moments after becoming the youngest winner of a Supercars’ title at the age of just 16.

“I only moved into cars last year, we made the decision to move up to Super3 and I’m over the moon with the choice we made, and to end up as Super3 champion is absolutely out of control,” Feeney said.

Throughout the year the Paul Morris Motorsport driver recorded only one race victory, but great consistency saw him finish on the podium at every round.

“We are standing on top at the end of the day, that is what people remember and that is the main thing, I’m so ecstatic I cannot believe it,” he said.

“It’s my first championship win in cars and full credit to my whole family behind me they have put in such an effort over my whole career.

“Paul and the whole team this year have believed in me the whole time and it shows in the result.”

In the final race the Ford driver knew if he stayed

out of trouble and towards the front the title would be his, he spoke about his emotions when approaching the chequered flag.

“On the last lap I was in third I knew if I stayed in the position I would win the championship, but I had Hamish (Ribarits) coming behind me and I had a lot of pressure,” he told AA. “It only really hit when I came out of Dandenong and I thought I’ve got two corners to go and that’s it.”

“I was so ecstatic, I’ve put in so much hard work for this and I can finally say I’m Super3 champion which is just crazy.” Dan McCarthy

MERCHANICAL FAILURE ROBS MCELREA NEW ZEALANDER Hunter McElrea has narrowly missed out on the USF2000 championship after leading the series heading into the final race of the season.

The double header weekend at the famous Laguna Seca circuit proved difficult for McElrea after a qualifying session mechanical failure cost him the title.

The opening race of the round went reasonably well for the 19-year-old who started the race alongside his title rival Braden Eves.

Eves used two brand new sets of tyres in Qualifying, although this gave him pole position it compromised the first race when he had to use one of his used sets.

After the first couple of laps the American was overhauled first by Christian Rasmussen and then by McElrea.

Rasmussen was untouchable, McElrea recorded a string of fastest race laps but the damage had been done.

The Danish driver crossed the finish line to record his third victory of the season ahead of McElrea while further back Colin Kaminsky took third of Eves.

In Qualifying for the second race McElrea was crippled by a broken throttle position sensor and therefore had to start down in 18th position,

PIASTRI PEGGED BACK Eves started from third.

Within the first lap of the race Eves charged through to the front of the field, but soon came under fire from the cars behind him, first Eduardo Barrichello, then Kaminsky and finally Rasmussen. The Race 1 winner could not find a way through allowing Eves to take the victory.

McElrea recovered to finish seventh but it was not enough, Eves winning the title by five points.

“It’s hard to put into words, I’m so disappointed,” McElrea said.

“My team and I did our job, the only thing that didn’t go our way was luck.

It doesn’t take away from the kind of year we had, we dominated the second half of the year.”

“I love being in America, chasing my dream, racing in IndyCar events.

I’ll do everything I can to be back next year.”

IT WAS a challenging weekend for Australian Oscar Piastri, who had his Formula Renault Eurocup championship lead sizably cut at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Piastri recovered from a first lap incident in Race 1 to finish fifth and claimed third in the second race, while his championship rival Victor Martins closed the gap with two race victories.

At the start of Race 1 Martins held the lead after starting from pole position and broke away early, further back Piastri spun after making contact with Petr Ptacek, the Aussie re-joined down in 17th.

Piastri charged through the field making his way back inside the top 10 on lap 11 of the race.

Ptacek finished the race third but was handed a 15s post-race penalty for the incident with Piastri promoting the Victorian to fifth.

Things ran smoother in the Race 2 for Piastri who started from sixth, once

again Martins in his MP Motorsport car led away from pole position.

On the opening lap the Australian jumped from sixth to third position overtaking the slow starting Alexander Smolyar as well as Alex Quinn and Caio Collet, the leader meanwhile started to pull out a small lead on the field.

Martins was never threatened throughout the 30 minute encounter and took a 7s victory ahead of Ptacek who held Piastri at bay.

“We knew coming in that this weekend would be more competitive than the last few, but we had the potential to compete for the pole,” Piastri said.

“Small mistakes prevented us from optimizing it, but the race was really positive. I got a good start, maybe my best of the year.”

Piastri now holds a slender 12.5 point lead with 100 still up for grabs, four races remain in the series remaining, the next round is at Hockenheim on October 5-6.

POWER UNIT RAMIFCATIONS THE TORO Rosso team will change its name in 2020 to AlphaTauri if the other teams approve the request. The junior Red Bull team has been on the grid since 2006 when it bought out the Minardi Formula 1 team, since when Toro Rosso has been a breeding ground for young stars to make a name for themselves including Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.

RED BULL motorsport advisor Dr. Helmut Marko has said that Daniil Kvyat has signed a deal to drive for Toro Rosso in 2020, meaning that the fight for the second Red Bull Racing seat alongside Max Verstappen is between Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon. The latter replaced the Frenchman at the top team from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards as the squad wanted to evaluate its 2020 options.

ROBERT KUBICA may remain in and around the Formula 1 paddock next year, despite his departure from the Williams team. The Pole is unlikely to remain on the grid as most spots have been filled for 2020, however Haas boss Guenther Steiner says his team would be interested in working with Kubica as a simulator or development driver if he wished to remain in the sport.

THE APPEAL from Alfa Romeo from the German Grand Prix was dismissed by the FIA’s International Court of Appeal. Thirty second times penalties were added post-race to both drivers’ race times due to irregularities with the measurement of torque at the start of the race.

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MCLAREN’S DECISION to switch from Renault to Mercedes power units in 2021 creates ramifications for all three companies.

Renault will now be on its own while Mercedes will lease power units to three teams: McLaren, Racing Point and Williams.

Mercedes engines have dominated since the hybrid turbo formula was introduced in 2014, and the works team has won every drivers’ and constructors’ championship since then. But the woeful performance of Williams proves that just having a Mercedes guarantees success.

However, McLaren’s new team principal Andreas Seidl said Mercedes power units are the “benchmark” and will give McLaren the best chance to win again for the first time since 2012.

Ferrari’s recent power gains are indicating that the Mercedes reign is finally being challenged and may even be over. But there never were any thoughts of a McLaren-Ferrari considering the conflict of interest with their super car sales.

Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo heard the news just a few hours before it was made public. The Aussie was asked if there were any concerns within the team that it would now be on its own.

“As far as I know they are not concerned,” he replied.

“The team seems pretty relaxed about it.”

Ricciardo’s contract with Renault runs through 2020, so this latest development will influence his decision-making process for 2021.

The fact that Renault will have no customer teams is not good news because it means it will glean development data from its power units from just two

cars, rather than four or more.

Furthermore, customer teams generally cast the same votes as their manufacturers when it comes to determining rules changes, and now Renault won’t have any allies.

Renault team principal Cyril Abiteboul wanted to expand the relationship with McLaren

to include collaboration on other technical developments besides the power unit. But McLaren was not interested.

“We would have been stronger together on the basis of our approach to the partnership,” Abiteboul told F1 reporters in Sochi.

“So obviously without that we are weaker than what we

ONLY TWO 2020 SEATS LEFT ONLY TWO seats remain open for 2020 – one each at Williams and Alfa Romeo.

Haas has confirmed it will retain Romain Grosjean who has been with the team since it started in F1 in 2016.

Unfortunately for Nico Hülkenberg, who was in contention for the Haas drive, that means it looks like the veteran will be without an F1 ride when the Silly Season music stops.

He was left out in the cold after Renault decided to bring in Esteban Ocon to be Daniel Ricciardo’s teammate next year.

Hülkenberg began his career with Williams in 2010, and his experience would really benefit the team in 2020.

But he is missing one vital asset: money. Williams is banking on Nicolas Latifi earning enough points in F2 this

year to qualify for an F1 super license. His father, billionaire Michael Latifi, would then pour millions into the team.

Hülkenberg would also be a benefit at Alfa – he drove for the team when it was Sauber in 2012 – and he could bring in more points than Antonio Giovinazzi has been. But now that Alfa is closely associated with Ferrari, the latter wants to use the team to try out its junior drivers. And Ferrari wants to retain Giovinazzi.

“It’s not done yet,” Hülkenberg said in Russia when asked about getting his future sorted. “I think it’s a matter of another few weeks.”

His representatives have in the

meantime been talking to Formula E, DTM and WEC teams.

While this year’s Silly Season has been a relatively subdued one, things will get crazy next year as contracts expire: Ricciardo, Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen and Kimi Räikkönen.

DRIVERS AGAINST MINI RACES

could have been. It’s a lost opportunity. But it’s not like it’s something that is putting us massively in a different position to where we are in today.”

McLaren will be strictly a Mercedes customer team, so there will be no collaboration between them.

On the positive side, supplying engines to McLaren cost Renault money and manufacturing capacity that can now be redirected back into the team. It is a different scenario for Mercedes which has a huge facility to produce its customer engines.

At the moment there are no opportunities for Renault to hook up with a satellite team such as Alfa and Haas are with Ferrari.

“We are not desperate,” Abiteboul said. “We will only jump on one opportunity if it’s a real opportunity or a possible strategic partnership.”

THE FORMULA 1 drivers are almost universally against the idea having a mini race on Saturday that will determine the starting grid for Sunday’s main grand prix event.

The opposition began to swell during the Singapore race weekend where, when asked about the concept, Sebastian Vettel said: “I think it’s complete bullshit.”

A few days later, after the F1 circus had reconvened in the Sochi paddock for the Russian Grand Prix, it remained a controversial topic.

F1’s commercial owner Liberty Media is considering various ways to spice up the show and to make the racing less predictable.

One proposal is to have a mini race on Saturday instead of the usual qualifying.

The grid for that race would be set in reverse points order. So the championship leader would start last, and the driver who is last in the standings would be on pole position. The results of that race would set the grid for Sunday’s race.

Those opposed to the concept point out that the major rules changes for 2021 are supposed to spice up the show and create closer racing.

“If 2021 promises what it should, then there is no reason to change anything in the format,” Aussie Daniel Ricciardo said when he met with reporters in the Sochi paddock.

“It would then dilute a lot of the weekend. We are already doing 22 races, imagine having 44 races. I love to race, don’t get me wrong, the idea of racing is great, but you dilute the product.

“You have costs as well, twice as much maybe, and then the potential of accident damage. I don’t know how teams would financially survive. I am against that because in 2021 there is enough changing. So the timing would not be right. That is a bit desperate and we are not in a desperate time at all.”

While Lewis Hamilton does not think the mini race is “a good idea,” he is not entirely opposed to the concept.

“Maybe in some places where there’s a massive deficit between first and last, maybe that’s not a bad race if it’s a track where you can actually overtake,” he said. “Would it make it more exciting? I don’t know.”

One thing Hamilton does support is juggling the format.

“I am not opposed to changing the weekend format because it can be very boring, the same format every weekend for 21, 22, 23 races,” he said.

Formula 1’s managing director of motorsports Ross Brawn wants to try the Saturday races at about three grands prix in 2020.

“I understand that the purists might be concerned,” he said, “but we should not be afraid to conduct an experiment otherwise we cannot progress. We don’t want change for the sake of change; we want to improve our sport, because, rather like the development of the cars, if you stand still you risk slipping backwards.”

The teams were due to vote on the concept after this issue of AA went to press.

TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR 2021RULES LIBERTY MEDIA has been working with the FIA and the teams to create a new vision of Formula 1, but now time is running out for the teams to agree on the major technical regulations due for 2021.

All this was supposed to be finalised in June but it was postponed to October. And now the absolute final deadline for the new rules to be announced is October 31.

The technical regulations are aimed at creating closer racing by allowing the cars to follow each other closer than in the past.

Ferrari, to name one team, is against some of the concepts being suggested for 2021. Team principal Mattia Binotto insists there must be a larger degree of freedom on development of the car.

“Especially if we think on the aerodynamic regulations which we believe are too restrictive,” he said, “plus the degree of freedom of other parts of the car where some restrictions have been set. We are more focused really on trying to collaborate and address what we believe is fundamental rather than simply say that we’ve got the veto right.”

There are also plans to spice up the show with experimenting

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with concepts such as qualifying races. But here, too, the drivers question the direction things are taking.

“The fact that now they are trying the reverse grid and all that feels like an excuse for not doing a good enough job,” Lewis Hamilton said. “And there is absolutely no reason to make the cars heavier. It’s not safer; it’s not better for racing. We are going slower as well. Why does F1 want to go slower? We are supposed to be moving forward with technology and innovating. We should be going faster. But we are moving to worse tyres, heavier cars, more sluggish. When you speak to these guys (those creating the rules) they just don’t understand. Pretty much all of them haven’t raced ever before or even been in an F1 car.”

While they may not have raced F1 cars, the people creating the new rules – like former technical bosses Pat Symonds and Ross Brawn – have vast F1 experience. The drivers were somewhat mollified after Brawn and Liberty Media’s Chase Carey gave

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them a briefing about 2021 during the Russian Grand Prix weekend.

Some detractors of the rules changes insist that the best way to create closer racing is to leave the regulations alone, and that history proves that when this is done then the team’s performance levels converge.

But time is running out.

Whether people like its contents or not, the basic rules package will be finalised at the end of the month.

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F1 INSIDER

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with Dan Knutson

KUBICA DEPARTS ... BUT AS A REAL WINNER A HEADLINE on a cover of a 2009 edition of Autosport magazine summed it up perfectly: Robert Kubica, the driver Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton fear most.

We all know what happened. Hamilton and Alonso went on to win a total of seven world championships and over 100 F1 race victories, as of this September.

Kubica had just one F1 victory and a pending Ferrari contract, when he had that horrific rally accident on 6 February 2011 that partially severed his right arm and caused other serious injuries.

The fact the Polish driver made it back to race at all in F1 in 2019 is truly remarkable.

Unfortunately, things have not worked out.

Rather than wait around until December to see if Williams will retain him in 2020, Kubica has decided to leave the team at the end of the season, and he has a firm offer to race in Germany’s DTM series next year, as well as be a test/reserve driver with Racing Point.

Many people wrote Kubica off after looking at his F1 race results in his comeback year. He has scored a single point for his 10th place in Germany, and he has been consistently outpaced by his rookie teammate George Russell.

But a quick scan of the results does not reveal the true picture.

Some say that he lacks physical strength. Yes, his right arm is not 100 per cent, but he makes up for that with a stronger left arm. And he says he is actually in better physical shape overall than he was 10 years ago.

Kubica could not display his innate driving skills this year – the ones that Hamilton and Alonso feared – for a variety of reasons, starting with the 2019 Williams being a diabolically bad car.

Russell is a very talented driver – in the junior categories he beat Lando Norris and Alex Albon who are having outstanding rookie seasons in F1 this year.

Image: LAT

Russell is the future of Williams – as long as the team can retain him because he is a Mercedes protégée and very likely will eventually replace either Valtteri Bottas or Hamilton – so it is only natural that Williams is focused on its junior driver rather than Kubica.

Scuttlebutt in the F1 paddock says that when Williams had only one set of updates for its car, those always went to Russell first. Russell also allegedly was given different engine modes. He and Kubica might come out of a corner at the same speed, but when they reached the end of the straight, Russell had a higher top speed.

Kubica did also struggle to dial in the Pirelli tyres which he had virtually no

experience with, whereas Russell ran Pirellis in GP3 and Formula 2.

So all this was stacked against Kubica.

Then add that maybe Kubica, at 34, no longer has the knack of finding that last tenth of a second, and Russell, 21, comes out as the better driver.

Orlin, Kubica’s sponsor, did contribute funds to Williams. But not the amounts Canadian billionaire Michael Latifi could if his son Nicolas raced for the team. Nicolas is racing in F2 this year and at the moment has yet to accumulate enough points to qualify for a F1 super license. If he does get the license, he will almost certainly get the Williams race seat.

Kubica, unhappy about the Williams situation in general, wasn’t prepared to

wait around to find out his fate. And so his amazing F1 return is coming to an end.

“Robert’s one of the most talented drivers I’ve competed against,” Hamilton said. “From the beginning I already saw the talent that he had, and when he got to F1.

“What’s remarkable is the strength and determination he’s shown. Particularly through the incident he had. Not a lot of people can come through those circumstances and come back, make it back into the sport and deliver against others who don’t have the same situation that he’s been in.”

I agree with Hamilton. The track results from this season don’t show it, nor does his F1 CV, but Kubica is a real winner.

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OPINION WHINCUP RELUCTANTLY REPENTANT

By MARK FOGARTY Editor-At-Large IN FOOTY, you do the crime, you do the time – even if you’re GWS gouger Tom Green. In motor racing, you do the crime, you get a slap on the wrist.

Even big fines are rare in racing, much less suspensions from races for major transgressions.

Of all big sports, motor racing is most averse to banning drivers or teams.

Jamie Whincup escaped sanction for his attack on the race control officials after the Pukekohe safety car shemozzle. A belated apology got him off the hook, despite all the tough talk from CAMS. The whole incident was swept under the carpet with a soft-soap joint statement from CAMS, Supercars and Whincup. All is forgiven, we’re all still mates.

And still no word a week out from Bathurst about investigations into the safety car stuff-up.

It was also clear that Whincup was forced to unreservedly apologise for his stinging sledge despite maintaining that his outburst wasn’t offensive.

Roland Dane confirmed to Auto Action that he “read the riot act� to the seven-times Supercars champion following his rogue behaviour on and off the track at Pukekohe on Sunday.

Whincup remained adamant before the ‘summit meeting’ in Melbourne between Supercars supremo Sean Seamer and CAMS chief Eugene Arocca, that his post-race ‘red wine’ jibe about senior race officials wasn’t meant to impugn individuals.

But he was forced to climb down from his stance under the threat of a heavy fine or even a

race suspension for his outburst, which was regarded as explosive by outsiders and “disgraceful� by Arocca.

After admitting that overtaking the safety car when it’s orange lights were flashing was wrong, Whincup was encouraged – if not ordered – to issue an unreserved apology by Dane, who also counselled that CAMS and the race control officials should admit they botched the regrouping behind the safety car.

I spoke with both Dane and Whincup at the launch of Fox Sport’s dedicated Bathurst channel on the day before the big meeting in Melbourne.

Asked if he had read the riot act to Whincup over his behaviour, Dane replied: “The answer is, yes, I have.�

He added: “It’s important to understand that two completely unrelated things went on – connected, but unconnected, if you know what I mean – at Pukekohe in that Jamie broke a rule and the referee (race control) stopped play. “The referee didn’t get it right – play shouldn’t have been stopped in that way – and I feel that in those circumstances, both the officials – whether they’re CAMS, Supercars, whatever – and Jamie would be both well-served to come out, apologise, show some humility and move on. “But it applies to both of them.�

Whincup’s incendiary comments were as follows: “The problem is you’ve got all the drivers, you’ve got everyone here, this is our life, you know, and we’re pushing bloody hard and you’ve got people making decisions that are just cruising back, just having a few glasses of red each night, and rocking up to

the track and brains not with it. “They’re not operating at the same level as what the teams are operating at.�

While he didn’t name veteran and internationally credentialled race director Tim Schenken or former Supercars technical director David Stuart, his outburst was clearly aimed at them and widely understood to be so by those in the sport and close followers.

However, when tackled about sledging the officials, Whincup was defiant and defended his pointed words. “Hey, I didn’t shame anyone, I didn’t name anyone,� he declared. “I was bloody frustrated and I thought my industry colleagues could’ve done a better job that day, and that’s my whole point. “I don’t think anyone should be offended by what I said. I made a comment, but no one should be offended. It’s not like I’m saying people are doing something illegal or anything. “I’m just saying I feel like a better decision could’ve been made or the job could have been done better. Plenty of people tell me that I can do a better job and that’s OK, isn’t it?�

Whincup did admit, though, that his rage was ill-judged given that he had broken the rules, which he regretted. “Was it the right forum to bring up something I think CAMS could do better at that time?� he said. “No, probably not. But I’ve been around a while and there’s still more passion there than ever. “Microphone under my nose and I don’t regret anything I said.

I certainly regret passing the safety car from a point of kids watching on. If the ref blows the whistle, everyone stops. Doesn’t matter if you think it’s right or wrong. That’s not the way sport’s played. “I made an error of judgement. I shouldn’t have passed the safety car and I won’t do that again.�

Whincup’s assertion that he didn’t offend anyone was disingenuous. He is a decent bloke who knows better.

Sometimes, though, his passion and commitment inside and outside the car blind him.

He saw sense in the end and offered an apology that was deemed acceptable.

What concerns me is the sport’s administrators lacked the courage of their convictions.

They espouse the sanctity of officials, yet they let Whincup off without so much as an official warning.

At the very least, he should have received a suspended fine of a substantial amount or a suspended event ban for bringing the sport into disrepute.

The clear message being that if he did it again, there would be consequences.

And, of course, administrators should also admit mistakes were made and outline a plan to improve the system.

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Bruce Williams 0418 349 555 Associate Publisher Mike Imrie Editor-At-Large Deputy Editor Creative Director/ Production

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We take a look back at what was making news 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago 1979: BROCK BY six laps! A crushing win for the Holden Dealer Team at The Mountain was the centrepiece of the cover, as was the special expanded 40-page Bathurst issue. Was there a chance the reigning Australian Touring Car Champion going to switch brands? Bob Morris with sponsors Breville and Channel 7 was aiming to run one of the new XD Ford Falcons in 1980. Breville were also believed to be sponsoring the ATCC, which included prize money.

1999: 1 JOHNNY BE good! It was a surprise victory v for veteran Johnny Herbert and the maiden m win for the Stewart team. In what was one o of the most eventful races in Formula 1 history, h title contenders Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard, C Eddie Irvine and Heinz-Harald Frentzen F all had terrible races, especially for the th Ferrari driver as Irvine finished out of the points. p Jim Richards and Volvo were the favourites for the Bathurst 500 Super Touring fa event. e

1989: THE BATTLE lines were set.

Teammates Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were in the midst of a fierce rivalry after tangling in Japan. A hearing at the FIA International Court of Appeal failed, though Ron Dennis and McLaren signalled intentions to pursue the matter through the French civil courts, after stewards disqualified Senna for cutting the circuit when he and Prost collided.

2009: TEN YEARS ago, it was the Holden Racing Team vs Triple Eight for the Bathurst crown. There was plenty of anticipation as Mark Skaife joined Greg Murphy in what was a dreamteam of sorts, although Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup were the form men having won the last three Bathurst 1000s. Will Davison was extremely confident of taking victory in the famed race, being the best prepared he’d ever been with HRT.

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.

Printed by Fairfax Media Distributed by Gordon & Gotch E RANKINGS THE LARKOMETER IS BACK! EXCLUSIV M AU COM .COM.AU

SINCE 1971

ACE GREAT RACE UL GUIDE TO THE U FULL F FU

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BROCK’S BATHURST BLITZ 40 YEARS ON: INSIDE HIS MOST DOMINANT WIN

Issue #1771

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PLUS

ENFORCER UNLEASHED More Ingall bombshells

Images: LAT/AA Archives/Ray Berghouse-Chevron

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RAW

T N E M E C R O F EN

IInn tthe he ffinal inal iinstalment nstalment ooff aann eexplosive xplosive eexchange, xchange, R Russell usselll IIngall ngalll goes all ‘Enforcer’ Supercars iis ffailing E f ’ on where h S ili andd why h V8 racing i iis vulnerable l bl tto a TCR challenge for touring car supremacy CONTROVERSY IS never far from Russell Ingall.

Uncompromising on the track, he also doesn’t hold back on his opinions. Ingall has been more outspoken than ever this year, unshackled from having to tow the Supercars line after four years as a Fox Sports pundit.

Axed in favour of Craig Lowndes, he has returned as an independent agitator, co-hosting an online show with friend and fellow straighttalker Paul Morris. Their fortnightly Enforcer And The Dude web cast has become popular for its tell-it-like-it-is dissection of Supercars and racing in general.

They don’t mince words and Ingall has added spice to his self-appointed role as agent provocateur by coming out of retirement to race in TCR. A V8 legend defecting to the enemy and proclaiming that the racing and economics of

TCR are better than Supercars is a combustible combination.

Ingall, 55, has been competitive in the Castrolbacked MPC Audi RS3 LM and, to add insult to injury, freely espouses TCR’s long-term potential as he highlights the underlying flaws of Supercars.

His views carry the weight of one of the most colourful, controversial and successful characters in Supercars. As well as two Bathurst wins and a V8 crown, plus four times runner-up, he has figured in some of Supercars’ most memorable moments as the hard-as-nails competitor renowned as ‘The Enforcer’.

In the final instalment of a pull-no-punches interview, Ingall lets loose on his fears for the future of Supercars as TCR looms as a long-term threat.

I would summarise that you think Supercars has become way too expensive and too soft.

I think one leads into the other. Problem is, teams will whinge and moan as soon as things get too heavy handed on the track because the cars cost so much to repair when they do get trowelled. So it’s a flow-on effect. The sponsorship dollars are just not there anymore. And I know better than most. I’m one of the biggest hustlers of sponsorship there is. I’m like the Arthur Dailey (wheeler-dealer in the classic early ’80s British TV series Minder) of motor sport and I know how tough it is out there. I’m still out there hustling around and it is as dry as a desert out there. So to not react to that as a category and to drip-feed everything – “We’re changing this on the car” and it’s such a minute, useless thing – is a nonsense. If you’re going to do it (make the cars substantially cheaper to build and run), bite the bullet and say “This isn’t working, manufacturers are gone and they’re not coming back to the sport” and get on with it. Let’s face it, the Ford thing (return with Mustang) is pretty much a token thing, really.

How many teams are they sponsoring?

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Ingall says Ford got the best deal in the world with the Mustang.

Ford funded some of the development of the Mustang, but in terms of hard cash into the teams, very little.

They have the best deal in the world because it probably cost them buggerall and they’re getting plenty of airtime.

So for them it’s been fantastic. And at least they’re engaged, I’ll give them that. But you can pretty well say there is no manufacturer support in Supercars.

OK, Holden’s still there, but it’s certainly nothing like the old days and they’re not really engaged. So forget the manufacturers. Now’s the time to decide which way are we going to go? If we have to bite the bullet and make a whole new car, we have to do it; if we need new engines, we have to do it. But they won’t.

They’ll just keep drip-feeding for the next five years and I don’t think it’ll survive the next five years at its current trajectory.

OK, so now you’ve experienced TCR, is that the future?

It’s a different animal. The Supercars brand is still very strong, but I reckon the product isn’t very good. 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 – the sound, the spectacle – that that hangover’s going to last a while. But once it starts getting out of peoples’ heads and they go “Geez, look at this over here”, it could all change. They’ll see a shiny new toy over there that will have 30-plus cars on the grid and unbelievable racing.

All of a sudden, the noise factor isn’t so important – the fans might decide they’d rather see a good contest. I’d still rather see a good contest than the noise and flash and fanfare. 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.

So you can see it as the future of toplevel touring car racing in Australia?

You know the motor industry as well as I do and it’s changing at a rapid rate.

Look what’s happened with electric vehicles. I never would have thought that EVs would have so much momentum so quickly and all the manufacturers are having big spends on them. So I think you have to go with what’s relevant in the market because the new audience is coming through. Supercars is relying on the audience they have, but it’s not growing. It’s declining and it’s aging.

They’re not enticing the new fans.

There hoping to add to the number of followers; they’d be lucky to replace the aging audience. So if something else comes along that is more market relevant -- that is cool and hip, more recognisable and, more importantly, bloody good to watch – then Supercars is in trouble. TCR’s not at that stage yet.

The races 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.

Are you going to keep racing in TCR? Will you see out this year’s series and be up for coming back next year?

I like the category. I also like the fact that they ask me for my opinion on things. I’ve had long chats with the big bosses of Australian Racing Group and it’s nice that, after 35 years as a driver, someone’s actually sought my opinion on the racing side of it. I like the fact that ARG aren’t approaching it thinking they know everything – maybe unlike others – and they’re actually seeking opinions from people who might have half a clue.

That’s where you can see the division between the two. One is getting opinions from people who don’t know or have self-interests, the other is canvassing informed opinions from people who have no agenda. So that part of it I like and if it leads to something further – whether it be on or off the track – then, yeah, I’d like to get involved in it. 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 get on it hard and fast, they can short-cut the process.

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It’s different racing, but are you still The Enforcer?

There’d be no difference to when I raced 15-20 years ago to now in what I would do on the track – and how I’d approach it if it meant winning a race. There’d be no difference. If I had to fix someone up to get in front, I’d do it. The only thing that’s changed is that I probably have more respect for the people that own the car and the equipment itself and the mechanics that work on it. So bringing it back in a smouldering heap, I never worried about it in my early Supercars days. Not my car, as long as I got to the front, it could have every panel hanging of it, I didn’t care. So I have more respect for the equipment, but as far as racing hard, if they say “We don’t care, you can bring it back in a skip bin”, then it’d be roll back 20 years and it’d be on. It’d be arguments back in the pits, up to the stewards afterwards, same old.

Ingall is enjoying his TCR racing and that ARG is seeking his views on the direction of the category’s future.. were just a handful and you were smoking the front wheels and had torque steer. It doesn’t feel like that. Most of the time, it feels like a normal racing car.

It’s affordable for youngsters, isn’t it?

And how about racing a front-drive car? It looks like you’ve adapted pretty well, especially considering the last time was back in the Super Tourer days.

They have a lot of lateral grip and I think that’s why I’ve come to grips with it. To me, it feels like I’m in a Formula 3 car with a roof. The lateral grip’s actually blown me out. Now, some people say “It’s only a roadie”, but it’s been modified a reasonable amount more than a road car. When you look at the billions of dollars these companies spend on their road cars, they must be half reasonable.

They’ve advanced so much since the Super Tourer days that your base is bloody good. A road-going Audi RS3 is a bloody good thing. It has a ton of grip and would probably be faster than the old Super Touring front-drive Audi A4s. So hot-rod that even more and it’s actually really surprised me. At The Bend, it really surprised me how much grip the thing had. Even at Ipswich. To run in the 1m 12s

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Two generations and TCR combatants: Will Brown and Russell Ingall. there in qualifying, that’s not bad. That’s only a few seconds off Supercars race pace. And all the speed comes from the lateral grip, which is probably why I’ve adapted so well because I feel like I’m in an open-wheeler again. I did so much open-wheeler racing before I came back here, all of a sudden it’s all come back to me. It’s about leaning on it through the corners and having trust that the grip’s there. With some of the young guys, they’re not sure where the edge, whereas as I’m going “I can feel where the edge is”. The only thing I

haven’t really got my head around is that the braking is a lot different.

You’re relying so much on the front – the back brakes are as useful as bicycle brakes. And if you lock the front brakes, you’re pretty much gone. It’s hard to recover. The other aspect is that the (Michelin) tyre is so good. It’s been a long while since I’ve raced on that style of tyre. The wet tyre at Tailem Bend was sensational. I thought I was on dries. Mind you, on cold rear tyres in the first couple of laps, these things are diabolical. You really have to be mindful of how little grip there is at the rear until they warm up.

The Th car itself has really surprised me and it gets better as the race go goes on. The only thing is the lack of power. Going from a Supercar is llike night and day. I really notice that. There’s not much there, but tha it’s like a Formula Ford. It means you just have to hustle it harder. And when you make a mistake, it really whe punishes you big time. Which is a puni good thing. It’s a good thing for the racing because if someone makes a racin cock-up in a corner, all of a sudden cockthree will go past them. Whereas when you have a ton of grunt (in a Supercar), you can make a mistake Super and p pull yourself out of trouble. So there’s a lot to it, but I don’t think being ffront-wheel drive hurts training for you young drivers, either. It’s not like the old front-wheel drives where they

It’s affordable and if the worst happens, it’s not the national debt to fix the things. Like I say, once the teams get their heads around these cars, the racing will get even better. I don’t think the gap at the moment between the front-runners and the rest is the cars so much as the discrepancy among the teams. When you watch the European TCR racing, they’re all together. There’s not much between them. I think it’s the teams that are the gaps here. So once that changes and you have 20 cars nose-to-tail, you’re going to have a decent show.

It’ll be interesting to see them at Bathurst, with ARG planning a 500 km enduro at Mount Panorama.

It’d be pretty impressive. Like I said, it’s just a matter of the public getting used to the fact that TCRs aren’t physically as fast or as loud as Supercars. 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. It’ll work if they (ARG) keep pushing it. They’re going to have to keep pumping money into it. ARG has the big backing and they seem committed to it, so watch out. And the support categories they’ve acquired (S5000, TCM, TA2) will be a big part of it because when you go to a race meeting, you want to be entertained for the whole day. The next thing is the television, which I think you’ll find will step up next year.

The only real criticism that I have is that the Sunday races are too close together.

I understand that’s because of the broadcast deal they have at the moment (live on SBS), but if they get a better TV deal where they can space those Sunday races out, I think that’ll be better. It’s too tight if you have any problems. And they really only need to be two-day events, a lot of them. I think you could have maybe one practice session on the Friday, but I’d rather they cut back to two days and have more race meetings.

ntenders co p to s te ra it nd pu t Pi – er et om rk The La eight The Defence – Lowndes going for The Runaway – Brock’s blitz in ’79 n The King – Bev on Brock’s coronatioedictions The Experts – Skaife & Lowndes’ pranniversary The Revolution – RaceCam’s 40th

t: s e g g i b e h t f o Battle DJR Penske vs Triple Eight

Full event and TV schedule Full car-by-car ratings Pub ammo - Bathurst fast facts

BATHURST 1000 GUIDE

THURSDAY 10 OCTOBER 7:20am - 7:40am 7:50am - 8:10am 8:20am - 8:40am 8:50am - 9:40am 9:55am - 10:55am 11:05am - 11:25am 12:45pm - 1:45pm 1:55pm - 2:15pm 2:25pm - 3:05pm 3:15pm - 3:35pm 3:50pm - 4:50pm 5:05pm - 5:35pm

TOYOTA 86 RACING SERIES TOURING CAR MASTERS SUPERUTES SERIES PORSCHE CARRERA CUP SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP TOYOTA 86 RACING SERIES SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP SUPERUTES SERIES SUPER2 SERIES TOURING CAR MASTERS SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP PORSCHE CARRERA CUP

FRIDAY 11 OCTOBER

7:20am - 7:40am SUPERUTES SERIES 7:50am - 8:10am TOURING CAR MASTERS 8:25am - 9:25am SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP 9:40am - 10:00am TOYOTA 86 RACING SERIES 10:10am - 10:50am SUPER2 SERIES 11:05am - 12:05pm SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP 1:40pm - 2:25pm PORSCHE CARRERA CUP 2:40pm - 3:10pm SUPER2 SERIES 3:25pm - 3:45pm SUPERUTES SERIES 4:00pm - 4:40pm SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP 4:55pm - 5:15pm TOURING CAR MASTERS

SATURDAY 12 OCTOBER

8:00am - 8:20am TOYOTA 86 RACING SERIES 8:30am - 8:55am SUPERUTES SERIES 9:05am - 9:20am SUPER2 SERIES 9:35am - 10:05am SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP 10:15am - 10:40am TOYOTA 86 RACING SERIES 12:10pm - 12:30pm SUPERUTES SERIES 12:45pm - 1:15pm SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP 1:25pm - 1:45pm TOURING CAR MASTERS 1:55pm - 2:20pm PORSCHE CARRERA CUP 3:00pm - 4:45pm SUPER2 SERIES 5:05pm - 5:50pm SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP

SUNDAY 13 OCTOBER

7:45am - 8:05am TOYOTA 86 RACING SERIES 8:20am - 08:40am SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP 8:55am - 9:15am TOURING CAR MASTERS 9:25am - 9:55am DRIVERS & LEGENDS PARADE 10:05am -10:30am PORSCHE CARRERA CUP 11:30am -18:30pm SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP

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Practice 1 Practice 1 Practice 1 Practice 1 Practice 1 Practice 2 Practice 2 - Co-Drivers Practice 2 Practice 1 Qualifying Practice 3 Qualifying

20 mins 20 mins 20 mins 50 mins 60 mins 20 mins 60 mins 20 mins 40 mins 20 mins 60 mins 30 mins

BATHURST 10 1000 TV TIMES THURSDAY

Fox Sports 506: Live from - 7.20am

FRIDAY OCTOBER 11

Fox Sports 506: Live from - 7.20am Ten - Free to air 1.00pm - 5.00pm

SATURDAY OCTOBER 12

Fox Sports 506: Live from - 8.00am Ten - Free to air 11.30am - 6.00pm

SUNDAY OCTOBER 13

Fox Sports 506: Live from - 7.30am Ten - Free to air 7.30am - 6.30pm Qualifying Race 1 Practice 4 Co-Drivers Qualifying Practice 2 Practice 5 Race 1 Qualifying Race 1 Qualifying Race 2- 6 laps

20 mins 6 laps 60 mins 20 mins 40 mins 60 mins 16 laps 30 mins 6 laps 40 mins

Race 1 Race 2 Warm Up Practice 6 Race 2 Race 3 Practice 7 Co-Drivers Race 4 Race 2 Race 1 Top 10 Shootout

6 laps 6 laps 15 mins 30 mins 7 laps 6 laps 30 mins 6 laps 9 laps 41 laps 45 mins

Race 3 Warm Up Trans Tasman

6 laps 20 mins 6 laps

Race 3 Race 25

9 laps 161 laps

BATHURST 1000 TICKET PRICES General Admission

Adult 4 Day (Thursday-Sunday) $138.00 Adult 2 Day (Saturday & Sunday) $123.00 Adult 1 Day (Sunday only) $111.00 Kids 12 & under are free to enter the venue

GRANDSTAND

Grandstand ticket prices from All Paddock Passes

$317.00 $41.00

Tickets can be purchased online at ticketek.com or at the three Ticket Sales Offices located at the circuit. Grandstand seats will more than likely be sold out before the event begins.

MOUNT PANORAMA OCTOBER 10-13 2019 Fan favourite Craig Lowndes tells Mark Fogarty that reuniting with Jamie Whincup is his best chance to get closer to Peter Brock’s Bathurst record AFTER A popular victory with fellow V8 veteran Steven Richards last year, Craig Lowndes is returning to racing at his beloved Bathurst in an even stronger combination.

Paired with Jamie Whincup for the first time since 2009, Lowndes has a great opportunity to win his eighth Bathurst 1000, which would put him just one behind his late friend and mentor, Peter Brock.

Lowndes, 45, is excited to be getting back behind the wheel of a Red Bull Commodore just as Triple Eight appears to be returning to form following the ZB’s latest aero adjustment.

You must like your chances of winning another one, don’t you?

Well, the only reason I’m comfortable where we are is because, yeah, the chances are higher than driving with anyone else. Jamie and I have a great record in the past. He’s been unlucky at times in the last five years and he probably should have a couple more to his name. Hopefully, we can get him over the line for another one.

Part of your job is going to be keeping him under control, isn’t it?

Well, it is, but by the same token, for me, basically, it’s going to be let him focus on getting the car set up for qualifying. And, to be honest, as a main driver, that’s going to take a lot of load off his mind because I can focus on a race set up. I’m not going to be out there with an ego, trying to put it on the top of the time sheets when I’m out there.

I’m going to be focusing on a race car. My end goal is the race. So for me, hopefully, it’s going to relieve him of some pressure, let him focus on qualifying and I’ll worry about the rest of it.

Hopefully, he doesn’t go ‘off reservation’, as he’s been known to!

Well, that’s also the team’s responsibility to make sure that he sticks to the guidelines.

But I think if we can bring a bit of calmness to him, that will leave him to focus on what he wants. He’s a different operator. I see him very much like a Mark Skaife in the sense that he loves the data, he loves getting his head buried into all of that side of it. He’ll look at every nth degree for a tenth of a second here or there – which I do, but he’s just more methodical. His commitment is exceptional.

So it’s a very different role for you. Are you comfortable taking a back seat, as it were?

Yeah! I’m actually looking forward to it.

Everyone kept saying to me Adelaide would be the telling factor – if you see the cars drive out onto the track and you have an urge to be out there, you’re missing it. The urge to race is still there, but I don’t at all miss the day to day pressure of a race weekend, not really. But now knowing that we’re coming into the best part of the year – the part of the year that I only really enjoy – I’m looking forward to it.

GREAT GOES FOR EIGHT

Craig Lowndes has won Bathurst an incredible seven times, astonishing for the modern era. Lowndes and Jamie Whincup rekindle a partnership this year that has already yeilded three wins. Craig’s most recent victory came last year, with Steven Richards. Images: LAT/Fox Sports

Not rusty at all?

No, I don’t think so. We’ve been inside the car a couple of times this year. The ergonomics of the car are exactly the same. Yeah, I would’ve liked to have done a bit more racing this year, but, unfortunately, it just didn’t come off. Not for lack of trying, though.

I just asked because in any sport, but particularly racing, the more you do it, the better you are.

You’re right. Nothing keeps you sharper than racing. But at this stage, it all comes back pretty quickly as soon as I get behind the wheel of a Supercar.

It’s interesting, isn’t it, that recently retired regular drivers retain that race sharpness for at least a couple of years?

Yes, you do. And Roland and I have had that conversation and he has that same sort of outlook about that side of it. But definitely going into next year, we want to be doing more racing than what we have done this year. This year, the team have also been very helpful with my transition into the TV world, realising that was also very important.

So they’ve allowed me to do that, but now these next three events are going to be hugely important not only for me, but for Jamie in the sense of the championship.

And you have adapted very well to the TV pundit role. Has that been something of an education

for you because now you’re watching every race and scrutinising what happens?

Oh, yeah. It’s added to my bank of information. But also, take for example what happened with Jamie at Pukekohe. He made a mistake, but even though I’m his co-driver, I had to call it – call it out for what it was. And I said from the start that I’d talk about what I see. I’m not going to blow wind up Red Bull just because they’re the team I’m contracted to. If they make a mistake, they’re no different to anyone else.

And Roland has accepted that?

Yes. There’ve been a couple of times where Roland and I have looked at each other and he’s commented. He would definitely tell me if I’ve crossed the line – but it hasn’t got to that point. You know how blunt he is, but he hasn’t told me I’ve crossed the line yet.

From what you saw in NZ, do you think that Triple Eight is well and truly back in the game for Bathurst?

Oh, yes. And I was more keen than anyone to see what the aero change had done and it seemed to be a gain. We haven’t seen the full potential of the car yet. Pukekohe is a very unusual track in the sense of its bumpiness. But it definitely showed that the ZB can match the Mustang when it’s right and it’s a good thing knowing that going into Bathurst.

The other thing for me now as a co-driver is

understanding the importance of the Enduro Cup. It means you’ve been part of that process of the year and contributed to a greater cause. The Enduro Cup now for co-drivers is such a big part of their year, knowing that you’ve done your job.

You must be feeling confident that win number eight is at least well within your grasp?

It’s there. We still have to do our job, but, yeah, I think I’ve put myself in the best position to be able to put another notch on the belt. But, again, we just have to do our job and make no mistakes. We know what can happen at Bathurst. Look at last year. Davey Reynolds was the fastest car and he succumbed. In ’06, MS was the fastest car and had issues at the start. You don’t need to have a fast car there to win the race.

But last year, you and Richo were right there when the opportunity opened up.

I have my theory about where I want to race and what I want to do during the race this year, but you definitely want to be at the front of the pack with 40 laps to go. And that’s exactly what we planned to do last year and we managed to do it, and I think that’ll be the plan again this year. If I can hand over the car to Jamie in the lead, I’ve done my job and then it’s up to Jamie to bring it home.

Lowndes and fellow Fox Sports panellist Mark Skaife on what it will take to win 2019 Bathurst 1000 – see pages 30-35

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BATHURST 1000 GUIDE

Warm

The

LARKOMETER Who’s hot and who’s not

Back by popular demand, TV pit lane pundit Mark Larkham’s expert ratings of the top contenders

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#17 Scott McLaughlin/Alex Premat #

Hot Luke Warm

Red R Hot Cool

White Hot Hot

Shell V-Power Racing Ford Mustang LARKO SAYS: Barring misfortune, on paper I can’t see strong evidence that the LA combination of McLaughlin, Premat, Mustang, guru engineer Ludo Lacroix and co DJRTP’s current culture can be beaten. Scott has a better than 70 per cent win D rate so far this season and the faster the corners, the better his ‘Stang likes it. So ra think an average across the top of near 200 km/h. Having said all that, just one th caveat: this is Bathurst… ca

Red R Ho Hot Cool

Warm

Luke Warm

Red R Ho Hot Cool

White Hot

Supercheap Auto Racing Ford Mustang LLARKO SAYS: What’s not to like about Mostert/Mustang/Mountain? Year-onyyear, on the pace, and with a Mustang at his disposal, Chaz must be considered ra race-winning potential if anywhere near front in last stint. Moffat continues racing, kkeeping his hand in and proving a solid choice. If the team can push through nniggling 2020 distractions and challenges of a tougher fiscal environment – and th think they can at Bathurst – #55 in the hands of Chaz is a genuine contender.

Red Re Hot Ho Cool

#9 David Reynolds/Luke Youlden # Red Hot

White Hot

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Penrite Racing Holden Commodore ZB LLARKO SAYS: Would love to have them higher up the order – they should be.

Reynolds is simply incredible on the Mountain when he is in the zone (and hydratR eed). But I haven’t felt the full Dave mojo this year and ain’t quite sure why. Walkin inshaw engine had best economy/speed combo last year, so will be negatively aaffected by new lambda (fuel burn) rule. Youlden remains a top co-driver choice, aand if Dave fires and the car is in the window, they’ll get another shot.

White Ho t

Red Bull Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore ZB LAR SAYS: The dream driver combination in the most successful team – what’s not LARKO to llike? Mustang. Irrespective, I cannot ignore the value of the combination of speed, wisdom, experience and a class team. Turn of speed very encouraging at Pukekohe wis with wi th latest parity tweak. First visit to Mountain without twin spring still worrying; expect early practice sessions will be totally consumed chasing car balance. New gurney ear induced drag may have just given away a small straight-line advantage.

#97 Shane van Gisbergen/Garth Tander #

Hot

White Hot

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Luke Luke Warm Warm

Cool Cool

White Hot

Luke Warm

Warm Warm Hot

Cool

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#55 Chaz Mostert/James Moffat #

Hot

Red Hot

#88 Jamie Whincup/Craig Lowndes # #8

Hot Luke Warm

Luke Warm

Hot

#12 Fabian Coulthard/Tony D’Alberto #

Hot Luke Warm

Red Hot Cool

White Hot

Re Bull Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore ZB Red LARKO SAYS: Another mega combo of driver and team, even if not the best car this LA year. Who wouldn’t want Tander at Bathurst? He will contribute in and out of the car ye and keep it where it needs to be to hand back to SVG to take a shot. Guaranteed to an be fast all day and strategically strong. If DJRTP not as superior as expected, true winning potential. w

Shell V-Poewer Racing Ford Mustang L LARKO SAYS: If Coulthard can put his car in the sweet spot – and it’s a big if – there’s no reason he can’t win (aside from car #17, of course). D’Alberto will be th ccompetitive alongside other co drivers and hand back a sound car on the lead lap.

D DJRTP will ensure the #12 has everything the #17 has – except, of course, the M McLaughlin Factor. Have the resources and, importantly, team discipline to roll out a ppair of race winners – or finish 1-2.

d

MOUNT PANORAMA OCTOBER 10-13 2019 Images: LAT/Supercars YET AG AGAIN, I’m really challenged this year. My M head says Bathurst is going to Mustang territory in 2019, while my be Mus heart says sa the Mountain will still be conquered by a combination of wisdom and experience – bringing Commodore right experie into play back in from just 12 months ago Big changes ch turned this both around and upside have tu no Sandown warm-up; down. Specifically, S Mustang introduction, feeding into the the Mus already existent McLaughlin factor; the deletion of twin springs hurting those that had ma mastered it the most (Triple Eight); and the introduction of the regulated lambda sensor numbers (how lean you can run the engine to save cost) means that tea teams like Erebus and Walkinshaw won’t get g the same impressive power and fue fuel efficiency as in previous years – critical ffor opening fuel windows and the last two stints.

Triple Eight’s pace at Pukekohe post

the latest Holden parity tweak was encouraging, but I still did see a lot of springs and dampers being thrown at the Red Bull cars to get there.

I’ve predicated my selections on the improved Commodore performance we saw a snapshot of in NZ, but I’m still going to predict Bathurst 2019 will be the year of the Mustang. With genuine speed and capability, there’s a big chance to take all podium positions – and it’s a long time since I could say that about Ford up there.

But without the traditional Sandown 500 to ‘bed’ drivers, machines and teams, the might of the Mustang at Bathurst can be tempered by the experience, savvy and racing pedigree of Triple Eight – or the uncanny, quirky pace of Penrite Racing So, in varying degrees, who registers on my meter? Here are my top 10, plus my pick of the young guns and a couple of ‘smokies’.

As well as the drivers, I’ve plugged the three makes into the Larkometer.

Here are my readings and overall comments for each model: Ford Mustang – White Hot

DJRTP benefits from new fuel burn lambda rule. Mustang aero package loves fast cornering – average speed across the top will be close to 200 km/h.

Mustang is capable, tuneable and responsive around a full range of rake and yaw values that can’t all be measured – something it will see all day, in infinite connotations, dynamically on this circuit.

Summary: Bathurst is a lot about aero and Mustang is a lot about aero…

Holden Commodore – Cool to Warm

Walkinshaw/Erebus lose fuel advantage.

New rear gurney gains downforce, but generates drag, taking away slippery advantage over Mustang. Twin spring removal has bugged Triple Eight, the benchmark ZB team, and they haven’t been to Bathurst on a single spring for a long time…

Summary: We said last year you needed a T8 Commodore to win – and it did. This year, not so. Holden teams will be more reliant on experience, savvy set up and strategy to win the day.

#6 Cam Waters/Michael Caruso #

Hot Luke Warm

Red Hot White Hot

Monster Energy Racing Ford Mustang LA LARKO SAYS: In the right car and with the right co-driver, Waters now has sufficie i Bathurst experience to nail a big result on merit, dragging him up my order. cient W With Mustang and Caruso, he has both. Cam’s frequent genuine speed this year aand Caruso’s experience make them short odds for a podium, and better if chips an fa fall their way. But a big ask for any team to keep four cars trouble-free all day.

Hot Luke Warm

#23 Will Davison/Alex Davison # Red Hot

Cool

White Hot

23Red Racing Ford Mustang L LARKO SAYS: Will Davo strapped into a Brendan Hogan-engineered Tickford Mustang makes his last few years look like they didn’t exist. Like many of the M eexperienced co-drivers, brother Alex will be solid, but this year will be challenged bby the pace of Lowndes, Tander and Premat. Using SCs, if he can hand over to his ccompletely reinvigorated brother in sight of the lead pack two stints out, they are in the game.

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#8 Nick Percat/Tim Blanchard #

Hot Luke Warm

Red Hot Cool Cool oll

Sadly, no fault of the team. I think the game has moved on too far with the newer generation Mustang and ZB Commodore, particularly at an aero sensitive circuit like Bathurst, which requires high downforce, minimal drag and confidence inspiring balance.

Ouch.

Summary: I’d love to see what Rick Kelly and Andre Heimgartner, in particular, would do up there in a Mustang. Maybe.

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Cool

Nissan Altima - Stone Cold

White Wh Hot

Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore ZB LLARKO SAYS: Gotta slide BJR into the list, constantly punching above their weight. Slade could surprise, but quirky Nick, a previous winner, has an X factor w tthat I’ve always enjoyed. Tim did a 6.0 in qual last year, so capable and safe with hhis bit. Not going to smoke the field, but throw in a bit of typical Bradley influenced B BJR strategy, and they could be one out, one back and pop out in the lead group aat the right time.

#18 Mark Winterbottom/Steve Richards #

Hot Luke Warm

Red Hot Cool Cool ol

White Hot Wh

Irwin Racing Holden ZB Commodore L LARKO SAYS: With five wins and 10 podiums between them, how do you disccount this pair of skilled operators on a day of strategy, safety cars, weather and ppatience. Won’t win on outright pace or drive through the pack to the front, but will bbe strong and solid just behind the lead battle pack, ready to pick up when/if that m mob drop the ball. The real pressure will be on the small team, not the drivers, to ddeliver the result.

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BATHURST 1000 GUIDE

#2 Scott Pye/Warren Luff Walkinshaw Andretti United

Holden ZB Commodore IT’S THE third straight year for Scott Pye and Warren Luff in 2019. And in the last two 1000s the experienced pairing has finished runners up, so could this be their breakthrough year? This season both Walkinshaw Andretti United cars have struggled for outright speed, but at Bathurst in 2018 this pairing had the pace to beat home the best Penske entry. However, this was the last time Pye stood on the podium. Luff has one of the best records in the 1000 in recent years, recording five podium finishes in his last six starts. DM

#3 Garry Jacobson/Dean Fiore

#5 Lee Holdsworth/Thomas Randle The Bottle-O Racing Team

Ford Mustang THE FIRST thing that springs to mind with this pairing is that both are driving for their careers. Lee Holdsworth is having a purple patch results-wise and if it wasn’t for the safety car in Pukekohe, his name may well be among the race winners this season. But his drive is under threat, ironically from his co-driver Thomas Randle whi has demonstrated race winning pace in Super2, though not always converting. The inexperience of Randle is the major question mark, while Holdsworth has the experience and the car to aim for the podium or even victory. HM

#7 Andre Heimgartner/Bryce Fullwood

#14 Tim Slade/Ashley Walsh Brad Jones Racing

Holden Commodore ZB TIM SLADE has been having a tough time of things of late in the Supercars Championship. However, Bathurst experience can shine through and both he and co-driver Ash Walsh have that in spades. Ash Walsh came into the 2018 Enduro Cup low on miles, this season however he has kept himself fresh in the Super2 series.

Brad Jones Racing are known for their diverse strategies, so the pair may pop up in the thick of the action late on. DM

#15 Rick Kelly/Dale Wood

#19 Jack Le Brocq/Jonathan Webb Truck Assist Tekno Racing

#21

Holden ZB Commodore UNFORTUNATELY FOR Jack Le Brocq, this year hasn’t been a good one but that is more due to things outside his control rather than his driving skill. The exodus of experience at the end of last year in the form of Adrian Burgess and Campbell Little hasn’t helped, neither has the car which hasn’t been updated to current ZB specification. There was also added speculation around his drive with the team earlier in the season, all of which has made his sophomore year a tough one. Team boss Jonathan Webb has made mistakes in recent years and the combination of all these factors makes even a top 10 unlikely. HM

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Kelly Racing Nissan Altima IT HAS been a tough debut Supercars Championship campaign for Garry Jacobson, but the driver from rural Victoria has had a great run at Bathurst over the past two years. In 2017, Jacobson was one of the quickest during the inclement conditions at Bathurst and last year he finished just shy of the top 10. This year, the experienced Dean Fiore joins him after long-time partner Michael Caruso lost his main game seat and joined Tickford Racing as a Pirtek Enduro Cup driver. Nissan’s recent aero upgrades haven’t changed Jacobson’s fortunes thus far with a top 10 result at Bathurst the best this team can hope for. HM

Plus Fitness Racing Nissan Altima THE KIWI has saved face for Kelly Racing this season, finishing on the podium once and being a consistent top 10 finisher while his teammates have combined for a mere five podiums between them. Andre Heimgartner’s Bathurst form isn’t much on paper – a ninth is his best result – but a podium result isn’t out of the question. He’s joined this year by runaway Super2 points leader Bryce Fullwood, who debuted in the Pirtek Enduro Cup last year with Matt Stone Racing under difficult circumstances. The Territorian and Kiwi enjoy a strong relationship, which should work in the pair’s favour at The Mountain. HM

Castrol Racing Nissan Altima THE DUAL Bathurst winner has had a less then impressive this season compared to last. He sits 17th in the championship and has never been in contention for victory, failing to find the speed he had shown last year.

Rick Kelly will be keen to muster a good result at Mount Panorama and with Dale Wood he has a driver that can look after the car and help get it home. Wood finished fourth two years ago and currently leads the Payce Porsche Carrera Cup title by a comfortable margin. HM

Macauley Jones/Dean Canto Team CoolDrive Holden ZB Commodore LUCK HAS deserted rookie Macauley Jones so far this year but he brings hot Mountain form to the table after finishing seventh partnering Nick Percat in last year’s event. This year he is paired with the most experienced driver on the grid, Dean Canto. The former Tickford Racing go to co-driver is a reliable partner to have, one that brings the car home and with his years of experience should be a valuable source of guidance for young Jones. Although Canto hasn’t raced much this year, that’s a regular occurrence and he performs when it’s needed. HM

MOUNT PANORAMA OCTOBER 10-13 2019

#22 James Courtney/Jack Perkins Walkinshaw Andretti United

Holden Commodore ZB THE FORMER Supercars champion James Courtney announced he is on the move at the end of the year. The veteran himself is struggling for form but will have experienced co-driver Jack Perkins to lean on, as they share the #22 Commodore for the fourth straight year. Last year the pair’s race finished early when their engine expired on Mountain Straight, indeed Courtney has not had much luck success in recent years, with his last podium at the 1000 in 2008 when he drove for Stone Brothers Racing. DM

#27 James Hinchcliffe/Alexander Rossi Walkinshaw Andretti United

#33 Richie Stanaway/Chris Pither Garry Rogers Motorsport

#34 James Golding/Richard Muscat Garry Rogers Motorsport

#35

#56

Holden Commodore ZB A NECK injury has hampered Richie Stanaway’s 2019 Supercars Championship, resulting in him missing seven races. His co-driver Chris Pither was subbed in for couple of those rounds and has also been competing in the inaugural TCR Australia Series, so is not short of racing miles. Garry Rogers Motorsport has had a challenging season in the Supercars Championship but the team has begun to pick up better results in recent rounds. Pither is a capable, reliable co-driver and if it rains, watch the Kiwis appear towards the front of the order. DM

Todd Hazelwood/Jack Smith Matt Stone Racing Holden Commodore ZB IN HIS second season Todd Hazelwood is having a solid year in the Supercars Championship. He has recorded a number of top 10 results in qualifying but has struggled to finish the job in the races. The South Australian now comes to Bathurst after recording his first top five Supercars race finish. His co-driver during the Pirtek Enduro Cup will be Jack Smith, who has been a regular Wildcard entrant in the series in 2019 but has no prior experience of the ‘great race.’ DM

#78

Simona de Silvestro/Alex Rullo Kelly Racing Nissan Altima THIS YEAR the Nissan Altimas have struggled more than ever for pace compared with the Mustangs and Commodores. De Silvestro is having her best year in the championship and recorded her best-ever Supercars race finish, at the safety-car affected final race in New Zealand. The Swiss driver always lifts her game when she arrives at ‘The Mountain’ and will once again be paired with experienced young gun Alex Rullo for the Pirtek Enduro Cup. In the 1000 last year the pair stayed out of trouble and recorded a 14th placed finish, they will be looking to do the same in 2019. DM

Holden ZB Commodore THESE TWO IndyCar stars are an unknown quantity. James Hinchcliffe raced on the Gold Coast back when international drivers were invited to contest the endurance races held there, but these cars are very different now than back in 2012. His was also an inauspicious debut as the Canadian stalled and caused a multiple car pileup. He and Bathurst co-driver Alexander Rossi are both experienced in endurance sports car events, though The Mountain is a far different to Daytona. Rossi did just fail to take the IndyCar title this year, but internationals have generally struggled here so it’s a wait and see proposition. HM

Holden Commodore ZB IT’S A consistent line-up for car #33 in 2019 as James Golding will once again pair up with Richard Muscat.

Last year the young pair drove maturely together and as a result finished eighth. The GRM cars have lacked pace throughout this year but Golding comes off a top 10 finish in New Zealand and a surprise two race victories in the new S5000 series. Muscat is lacking miles, only racing this year in selected rounds of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Series. If they stay out of trouble the pair are capable of a solid result. DM

Brodie Kostecki/Jake Kostecki Kostecki Brothers Racing Holden ZB Commodore DEBUTING THIS year as Wildcards at Bathurst cousins Brodie and Jake Kostecki have had mixed seasons in Super2, although for Brodie his was a partial contest as the car the pair will drive is his Super2 chassis upgraded to latest ZB specifications. The upgrade has been handled in-house by Kostecki Brothers Racing, though Brodie has been deeply involved. The Boost-sponsored team will have to get used to the new aero package, while experience and composure will be an issue. HM

#99 Anton De Pasquale/Will Brown Penrite Racing #

Holden ZB Commodore LA LARKO SAYS: Cannot emphasise enough the difficulty for young chargers to perform m mistake-free at Bathurst. Enormous pressure to perform at the biggest game because yo your career is on the rise. Anton has really started to find his feet, on occasion the fa fastest ZB driver taking it to the Mustangs, and Will is an impressive talent. Conceivab able this could be the lead Penrite car, with absolute upset potential. If strategy and sa safety cars fall his way, would be no surprise to see Anton leading the final stint.

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BATHURST 1000 GUIDE

THE VIEW FROM THE STUDIO AUTO ACTION moderated a pre-Bathurst 1000 conversation between the V8 legends and former teammates who’ve been partners in punditry this season.

Lowndes joined the broadcast team as an expert analyst following his retirement from full-time racing. He’s grown into the role, providing extra insight enhanced by his active co-driver status. CL will juggle his track commitments with regular appearances during the Bathurst broadcast, with Fox Sports’ live coverage from Mount Panorama beginning on Wednesday afternoon, October 9.

We spoke with Skaife and Lowndes over dinner in Sydney, with the discussion lubricated – Jamie Whincup will be pleased to know – by moderate amounts of an excellent Pinot Noir.

What are going to be the main factors at Bathurst this year?

Mark Skaife: Well, I think, unusually – and Craig and I have been talking about this through the course of the year – there will be a massive difference in the way that people will approach Bathurst based on not having Sandown as a lead-up. I’m a firm believer that a lot of those mistakes and almost silly errors that we’ve seen, and almost been accustomed to seeing, at Sandown will

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Fox Sports Supercars analysts Mark Skaife and Craig Lowndes weigh up how the absence of a lead-up race and the Commodore’s aero upgrade will influence the outcome raise their head at Bathurst. And we know mistakes are higher, we know that there’s a lot of difference in the way the pit area configuration is and there are lots of reasons for some of the mistakes we see at Sandown, because it’s bit more of a hustle and bustle event than Bathurst.

It’s a harder pit stop. It’s more difficult in terms of the garage layout and from an organisational standpoint, it’s a lot different to Bathurst. So I can’t see that not being a factor. I think it will alter the course of the race.

Craig Lowndes: Oh, I think so. And I also think the other thing is, an Alex Premat and other international drivers who had a lead-in to what the car was like, get their head around all the ergonomics and everything else, now they’re just going straight into an Indianapolis 500 blind. So it’s going to be a massive factor.

So how important overall is it going to be that, unusually, we’re going

into Bathurst cold without a warm-up enduro?

CL: Oh, I think experience will play a major part, understanding the event as a whole and, like Davey Reynolds last year, making sure you don’t get burned out, getting carried away with all the excitement and all the functions that you need to do. So I think experience will play a big part. But by the same token, without having a lead-in, I think that’s going to be a massive factor.

A massive factor. Why? The experienced guys should just fall straight in, shouldn’t they?

CL: Yes, the experience will come to the top, no doubt about it, but still, I haven’t done any racing this year. Richo’s done a little bit, as has Dean Canto and, of course, Michael Caruso. So the experienced ones will definitely have an advantage over the ones that don’t do anything, but there’s still the enormity of what we’re walking into.

MS: And that’s a really important aspect of what the real preparation is. So we talk about separating the event and the mistakes that I would call are driven by the team or the mistakes driven by the driver and the experience. And there’s no doubt, that at the end of Sandown, every co-driver is driving the car better.

So whatever the precursor is – it used to be Phillip Island, it’s been Ipswich, Sandown – by the time you finish the 500 km race, you’re driving the car better. This year, you just won’t have that. As a consequence, for hard heads like Lowndes and Tander, that plays into their hands.

It’s just another bit of randomness to add to an event where anything can happen and normally does.

MS: Totally!

CL: There are also the pit crews. I know they’ve been doing stops during the year, but how many times have we seen Erebus screw up a pit stop – and it’s cost either Davey or Anton almost a podium?

OK, the aero update for the ZB Commodore. Does that get Triple Eight back in the game at Bathurst?

MOUNT PANORAMA OCTOBER 10-13 2019 MS: Yep. I think Pukekohe was the first time I’ve seen that the aero performance of the Commodore is actually good enough to take it to Mustang. I think that actually the first time from a genuine speed perspective that we’ve had as close to proper parity as possible. And I find that really disappointing.

I know that through the course of the year we’ve tried to play it down, but there’s clearly been an advantage. Now, one of the things that has been against historic parity adjustments is that we’ve chosen to slow the faster car, but throughout the course of this year, what we’ve done is we’ve offered upgrades to other vehicles to improve their performance. In essence, that just continues to raise the stakes and that, for me, from a policy and strategy perspective, that’s actually the wrong way to do it. I know there are reasons why we’ve done it like that, but when you do that, you end up with too much aero. And there was a lot of comment at Pukekohe about the level of aero performance that clearly continues to just raise the stakes. It’s made certain corners too easy. There were corners at Pukekohe that used to be challenging – and even the better drivers were commenting on it throughout the course of the weekend – that aren’t so difficult anymore. Specifically, turn 10, with the bump and the slide through the left-hander to get to the righthander, that used to be really skilful and difficult. But when you continue to put more downforce onto the cars, that section of road becomes flat, especially in qualifying.

So it takes away some art, some technique, all the beautiful things that we love about our game, it takes some of that way. So taking a helicopter view, it’s been an arduous, difficult season and we probably haven’t able to approach it the right way for lots of reasons, but out of the back of it, what we did get was a Commodore that’s genuinely able to take it to the Mustang.

And without that, they would not have had a real go at beating Mustang at Bathurst.

Pressue will be on Alex Premat (left) to help deliver Scott McLaughlin’s first Bathurst win.

CL: I think that’s right. It’s exciting to see the balance now between both of them because it wasn’t all the Commodores – it was literally only the Red Bull cars. And we’ve seen also with the Mustang, it hasn’t been all the Mustangs, but most times we’ve seen all the Mustangs in the top 10.

The true effect of the aero change, I think, hasn’t really been seen yet because of the nature of Pukekohe and you have to run the car so high (for the bumps). Yes, I think we have an understanding of the rear of the car, but to understand how much that front undertray extension has now given them, we probably don’t know yet until we run the car lower and get the full effect of it.

Is your impression from within the team positive? A new spring in their step, as it were?

CL: All the Holden drivers I spoke to over the weekend (at Pukekohe) all had the same comment, that the rear of the car’s much more stable. They think that it is a step forward in bridging that gap between the Mustang and everyone else, but they now need to re-engineer everything to

optimise the balance of the car. It’s given it more rear, but they’re now all suffering reduced front grip. But whether that’s the same at Bathurst, where you’re able to run the car lower and stiffer, that’ll be the real test.

But the clear feeling is that Triple Eight and the other leading Holden teams are back in the game for Bathurst?

CL: They have a vehicle that can match the Mustang and be up the front now.

MS: I totally agree and I think that really bodes well. I’m really looking forward to it. I think Craig’s point is 100 per cent right – we won’t really know until we get to Bathurst – but I think there’ll be a little bit bigger gain. I actually think you’ll get another step because you weren’t able to have amount of rake on the car at Pukekohe. You couldn’t run the front of the car as low as you’d like, given the bumps, so I think there’s a bit more work to be done in terms of how that’s actually going to roll out at Bathurst. And probably only to the betterment of what might happen with the Commodore.

Are McLaughlin and DJR Team Penske still the favourites, though?

MS: On raw pace, they have to be. I mean, their pace this year has just been unbelievable. As we’ve been saying a lot through the course of the season, it’s an historic year. At Pukekohe, Craig’s record for the numbers of wins in a season was broken

by McLaughlin and that demonstrates to me the level of dominance that they’ve had.

And I think outside that, it’s not just that number (17). It comes from his qualifying performances, it comes from the lack of mistakes. He’s evolved as a race driver.

Since he snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in 2017 at Newcastle, he became a better driver in ’18 and he’s certainly a better driver again this year. So, overall, you’re watching history – you’re seeing someone who’s Lowndes-like. You have to dip your hat and say “Hey, this kid’s really cool”.

CL: And I think if you look at the two DNFs he’s had this year, they potentially could have been race wins. The first one at Albert Park (formation lap collision with Cam Waters) wasn’t his fault and it was a racing incident (first lap crash with David Reynolds) at Townsville, but he was on the front row for both those races and potentially could have won them. He’s driving extremely well. You can have the best car in the world, but you still need someone to drive it to its capability and he’s doing that very well.

So he’s the one you and Jamie are looking to beat?

CL: Well, on pace, yes. I think they will be hard to beat on pace. It’s a matter of whether the combination of he and Alex (Premat) is going to be strong enough over the course of the day. And that’s where I think not having a lead-in race is going to be very valuable for the more experienced combinations.

Triple Eight looks to be back in the game following aero upgrade. Images: LAT/Fox Sports

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Reynolds again a chance if he prepares properly, unlike last year’s meltdown.

the waiter pours our wine, prompting a cheeky toast. “To Jamie!” we cheer, raising our glasses of red to him in a mock salutation amid laughter.]

You both still rate Reynolds and Luke Youlden as a big chance?

CL: Oh, 100 per cent.

Interesting point. Premat could be the weak link. Is he a risk?

CL: It’s our first time together since 2009.

Who was the lead driver back then?

CL: Oh, I suppose all co-drivers are risks.

I think he’s only done one of the co-driver sessions, so there’s definitely a question mark over him. Not a question mark over his ability; it’s a question mark over his ability to adapt to the Mustang and understand what it is now.

A lot of pressure on him, isn’t there?

MS: Huge. And that’s why McLaughlin’s big moment (in qualifying at Pukekohe) was so big. Under any normal circumstance, nine out of 10 times you’d write that car off. So it’s not the 150 points you lose on Sunday morning, it’s how you repair that car from a flyaway event, how you get that car ready for Bathurst, how it rolls out on a 300-point weekend. I mean, that could result in a 450-point swing. So that’s why that moment was so mad. It was a really wild incident that could have gone so wrong. It was a get out of jail free card.

My point is that a simple crash can derail everything. Scott was lucky to get away with at Pukekohe and there’ll be immense pressure on Alex not to make a mistake at Bathurst.

Who else are we looking at as major contenders? I’d suggest the strongest combination is you and Jamie.

CL: Thank you. I think either myself and Jamie or Garth (Tander) and Shane (van Gisbergen) are the strongest combinations. If you look at all the cars in the field, they’re the only two cars that technically have two lead drivers in them.

So, yeah, I think that’s probably a fair point.

MS: I agree. I normally go through the field and rate them from A+ down and to me they’re two A+ combinations, given their experience and their records. So, yeah, I think that’s fair judgement.

They’re basically back to the good old days of pairing the regular drivers.

32 AutoAction

CL: I was!

I asked because by then he’d really started to assert himself as a championship contender.

CL: That was his fourth year with Triple Eight and he’d really started to develop, yes. But I qualified the car and I think he got to the point where he wanted to start the race. I think it’s only now that he understands the significance of the 2006 win. For him back then, it was just a win.

Now he understands what it stood for (first awarding of Peter Brock Trophy).

Who else do we like? Can David Reynolds come back from the despair of last year?

MS: Totally, absolutely. They will have learned a very, very valuable lesson. I was quite critical. I thought the team played a significant part in that whole drama. It’s Skaife and Lowndes agree that Chaz Mostert is among the leading contenders.

probably the first time that we’ve actually seen a serious personal exertion issue with fatigue that you go “Wow!” And I think for Australian sport and for people in their lounge rooms, it actually gave our sport a different perspective. Often, we see the way fatigue affects NRL and AFL players at the end of a game, but I don’t remember really seeing someone dehydrated in racing. OK, we seen that happen at lots of street races, but not in the enduros and certainly not a frontrunner. I had lots of people from all walks of life comment to me afterwards “Gee, it’s much more physical than I thought”.

And it was a realisation because we do get a lot of fringe viewers who tune into Bathurst who don’t normally watch other races, so it brought a new perspective to how hard that event is.

CL: Yes. I also think the other thing is, on the other side of that garage, you have Anton (de Pasquale), who’s shown great form with Will Brown. That combination will be very strong.

[There’s a pause in the conversation as

MS: You have to look at all the leading Holdens and go “Righto, clearly they’re going to go better, the latest parity adjustment has been a gain for them”.

Red Bull have not always been the fastest Holdens, so with the spring change the performance across the year has been inconsistent. They look like they’re getting better – their performance at Ipswich was good, their performance at Tailem Bend was appalling, but they were fantastic at Pukekohe. All of a sudden, they’re back to being what is expected of the Holden factory team. And Dave was actually quite good at Pukekohe. Car speed was actually much better than it showed. So I expect he and Luke will be contenders again, while Anton and Will could be the big surprise. They’ll be the young Turks having a crack. I think the engine performance for Walkinshaw will actually serve them quite well. They normally go better there than other places. Courtney’s and Pye’s record up there is quite good, so they’ll be stronger than you think. It’s probably just not the ones we expect. I think there is probably a bit wider group of competitors that are going to be strong.

CL: I think the Walkinshaw cars will be very strong. If you want to win a race and salvage your year, Bathurst is the one.

MS: Like Allan Moffat back in the day, I think Bathurst is the emphasis for Walkinshaw Andretti United.

Tickford. Essentially nowhere last year, but they’re back in it, aren’t they?

MS: They are [ominous pause]. But. Look, clearly, the Mustang has been a serious tool of improvement and they’ve been involved in that process. They worked with DJR Team Penske to get all that done, so there’s been a level of collaboration and that’s served them well.

MOUNT PANORAMA OCTOBER 10-13 2019 Pukekohe was one of the first times that I’ve seen that their cars could actually match the Shell cars. I thought the way they rode the bumps, how stable they were at the rear and the number of Tickford cars that were genuinely competitive was a very strong sign.

They were setting the pace – or close to it – throughout practice and qualifying.

To me, that was a real indication that they’ve made ground.

CL: I think so. It’s the first time this year we’ve seen the ride quality of the cars better than the Penske cars. And also for the first time we’ve seen Scott and the team scrambling throughout the weekend to find pace. We hadn’t seen that before this season.

Speaking of co-drivers, do you not think that for a race of the status of the Bathurst 1000, the lead drivers should start? After all, it’s the biggest moment of the race apart from the finish. So shouldn’t the lead driver be starting?

CL: No, not really. I think the viewers like the mix of co-drivers and main drivers going toe-to-toe. The start is definitely important, but if you break it down stint to stint, and depending on how many you have, it works better for the overall strategy to have the co-driver start.

I’m talking about the optics, not strategy.

So Mostert, especially, a big chance?

CL: I like the mix.

CL: Definitely, 100 per cent. He and (James) Moffat will be very good. And I think the other guys will be right there.

Will (Davison) has won Bathurst (twice), he knows what it’s all about. I think at the end of the day, the Mustang will prove to be a good thing around there.

MS: I do, too. I started in my two years with Craig (2010/11) and there’s a lot of pressure on the codriver to do that. I think there are three main things on the weekend.

There’s the Top 10 Shootout, which the lead driver does because he’s the main man. And then there’s the start and I don’t think people in their lounge rooms would worry whether it was Craig Lowndes in the car or it was Jamie Whincup, especially with that quality of the combination. But I know what you’re saying. If you had Neville Nobody on the front row of the grid, that would be hard to cop.

But otherwise, I don’t think it makes much difference, really.

As they say, it could be on for young and old, couldn’t it?

CL: Like every year, it’ll come down to the last 30-40 laps. Once the pit stops are done, it’ll be handed over to the main guys and it is going to be on for young and old, yes.

MS: I also think that what’s going to happen is that there will be a day – and we haven’t really seen it as much in recent times – that the co-driver will deliver a 10 or 15-second gap and there won’t be a safety car near the end. There will be a time in the history of this event where you don’t get the late-race safety car. I’m not saying it’s going to happen this year – I’m not trying to be Nostradamus – but it could and that’s why the co-driver is so important. There will be a day where the co-drivers are against each other and if you’re able to get a gap at the front, you’ll get a yield. And that’s why I think without Sandown, that’s a bigger issue. There could be a lot more pressure on the co-drivers.

CL: Also, I think the strength we’re going to bring is like what Mark and I had. Jamie’s going to be able to focus on a qualifying car, just purely that, and I can focus on the race car, and that will allow him to get his head right for that one lap.

Fox Sports’ live coverage of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 starts with Supercars Trackside at 4.30 pm AEST on Wednesday, October 9. The dedicated Bathurst Channel on Foxtel 506/506HD runs from Monday, October 7 to Sunday, October 1.

Bathurst facts ■ The fastest 1000 ever was 2018’s when Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards took only 6h 1m to complete the full 1000km distance with an average racing speed of 165.9 km/h.

■ Red Bull Holden Racing Team driver Craig Lowndes has the record for the most number of podiums with 14.

■ Only two drivers have ever won the Sandown 500, Bathurst 1000 and the championship in the same year.

Craig Lowndes did it in 1996 and Peter Brock did it twice in 1978 and 1980.

■ In 2005 Todd Kelly, driving for the Holden Racing Team alongside Mark Skaife, won the Bathurst 1000 on his 26th birthday.

■ In total cturers have won seven manufacturers the Great Race: Holden, Ford, Nissan, Volvo, BMW, Jaguar and Morris.

■ The race has not gone the distance on two occasions. In 1981 the race was called after 120 laps due to a multiple car crash which blocked the track and in 1992 it ended after 143 laps due to torrential rain.

■ In 1973 the race distance was changed from 500 miles to 1000 kilometres.

■ The best result for a manufacturer was achieved in 1966 when Morris Cooper S cars locked out the top nine finishing positions.

THE RINGMASTER As well as keeping Skaife and Lowndes in line, Fox Sports Supercars host Jessica Yates is an astute follower of the sport CONTROLLING THE banter between friends and former competitors Mark Skaife, Craig Lowndes, Neil Crompton, Greg Murphy and Mark Larkham is among the challenges Jessica Yates deals with so calmly.

Yates is the unflustered host of Fox Sports’ Supercars telecasts, presenting from the trackside studio desk alongside Skaife and Lowndes. She is the ringmaster of the preand post-race analyses, as well as linking to crosses with Crompo, Larko and Murph.

She is a skilled presenter who also covers and hosts rugby league and cricket matches and shows. What viewers may not realise is that she is a keen follower of motor sport and knowledgeable despite her primary role as the face and anchor of Fox Sports’ coverage of V8 racing.

“I am really passionate about it and it’s very different to the other sports that I work across,” Yates said. “I love going to the track – it’s so dynamic, it’s such a sensory experience – and I feel like that really adds to the quality of our broadcast.

“I really enjoy being able to relay what’s happening, when, how, why, and the emotional part of all of it.

“The challenge for me is just trying to stay across everything that’s unfolding – in the pit lane, what’s going on behind the scenes and then also making sure that we’re telling that story on television and making sure that it translates for our viewers at home.”

Sydney based Yates is looking forward to an especially unpredictable Bathurst 1000, despite Scott McLaughlan’s marauding in his Mustang.

“I think this year, more than ever, it’s hard to know what to expect given that we won’t have a lead-in event,” she said. “Not having Sandown beforehand is going to make a massive difference to everyone, including the commentary team. I think we’ll all be coming in pretty cold.

“We’ve seen from Scott this year that they have great pace anywhere they go. Doesn’t matter what sort of track it is, what the conditions are, they’ve been another level above everybody else. So I’m excited to see what he and Alex Premat can do, particularly in qualifying.

“I think we might see something special from Scott again in the Top 10 Shootout – he’s sure to be there.

“I’ve been really impressed by how Tickford have come on in the second half of the season so far. Guys like Will Davison – I think we’re seeing the best of him. He seems to be in vintage form and he’s really hungry, and he’s spoken about having the maturity and experience to really know how to direct his desire to win.

“So I think the Davison brothers on the

Mountain will be pretty exciting to watch.

“But Lowndesy and Jamie together again is such a great story. There’s so much history there and they make such a strong team. And for David Reynolds, too, I think redemption will be a really interesting story.

“I think everyone (at Erebus) is focused on that. Speaking to Dave, he’s going to try a few different things this year just to make sure that he’s ready and raring to go because it’s such a long race and so taxing.”

While Yates thinks the ZB Commodore’s recent aero upgrade will enable Triple Eight to take the fight to DJR Team Penske, she argues that speed isn’t everything in the lottery that is often the Bathurst 1000.

“It’s very hard to use the rest of the year as a form guide for Bathurst because, as we’ve seen time and time again, the fastest car doesn’t always win,” she observed. “You need much more than car pace to be there at the end of that race. So I think it’s still wide open.

“Anybody can win. I think it’s going to come down to who does the most in terms of their mental and physical preparation – and last year was a testament to that.

“Anything can happen. Who knows what the weather will be doing at that point? We’ve seen snow on Mount Panorama in the past few weeks. There’s still lots to play out before we’ll have a really good guide on who’s going to be there at the end.”

She is also excited about Fox Sports’ more than four days of live coverage from Mount Panorama.

“Our broadcast is extensive,” Yates said.

“We’ll do 45 hours of live television on The Mountain. I don’t know that there are too many other sports that can offer that same sort of access and breadth.

“We’re giving our viewers access to all the really cool stuff that goes on that, in most previous years, we haven’t had time to cover.

Now we can do all that.”

Most of all, Yates enjoys the camaraderie of the Supercars commentary team.

“Look, I’m so grateful and lucky to work with such really accomplished broadcasters in Mark Skaife, Neil Crompton, Mark Larkham and Greg Murphy, and Craig coming on board this year, he’s been really, really committed to what we do,” she enthused.

“The best part of my job is getting to work with the great team that we have. Larko’s so much fun – we have a good laugh. Trying to keep him to time is probably my biggest challenge.

“Greg Murphy is fantastic and I think he’s just become such a great broadcaster. He really does a fantastic job for us down in pit lane and you can see the trust all the teams have in him, and the access he gets makes a massive difference.” Mark Fogarty

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33

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BATHURST 1000 GUIDE

BROCK’S BATHURST

BLITZ

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of an historic win, MARK FOGARTY talks to famed team boss John Sheppard about how it happened so easily SIX LAPS. It’s a victory margin unimaginable in a modern era when winning Bathurst by six seconds is regarded as a runaway and by fewer than six tenths is not unusual. Add leading all the way and setting a record pace on the final lap, and the feat is even more inconceivable.

Today, such a smothering success would be decried as boring and condemned as a crisis for the sport. But four decades ago, Peter Brock scored the most crushing win in the history of the Bathurst 500/1000 – and was lauded for his overwhelming domination.

It is etched in Australian motor sport folklore that Brock and co-driver Jim Richards led the 1979 Bathurst 1000 from start to finish in their Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Torana A9X, winning by six laps. Just to add insult to injury, Brock broke the touring car lap record on his final, imperious tour of what was then a much more perilous Mount Panorama circuit.

It was the biggest display of domination, even exceeding Allan Moffat’s and Colin Bond’s demoralising Falcon 1-2 in 1977, but they only finished a lap ahead of the bestplaced trio of Toranas.

Whether it was the greatest Bathurst victory ever is questionable. On balance and in hindsight, almost certainly not. Even Brock didn’t rate it as the best of his record nine wins, despite it cementing his status as King Of The Mountain.

But at the time, it was huge and hugely popular. Brock’s fourth and most decisive Bathurst 500/1000 triumph was memorable and unmemorable. Recalled for its dominance, the race is remembered for nothing else.

It was Brock at his best – and racing at its worst. The Ford Falcons and the other front-running Toranas – even that of ATCC

Bathurst 1979’s victory was the high point of John Sheppard’s career as MHDT boss.

winner, Bob Morris, who beat Brock to the title – either fell by the wayside or just couldn’t keep up.

The man who orchestrated the Brock/ Richards rout was John Sheppard, the fastidious, sharp-tongued MHDT boss.

Sheppo took over from Harry Firth in 1978, guiding Brock to the ATCC/Bathurst double.

Brock was paired with Richards for the first time at Bathurst – and they won by only a lap.

Talking with ‘Sheppo’ 40 years after Brock’s blitz, two things strike you. Firstly, at 85, he is still as quick-witted and sardonic as he was in his heyday. Secondly, the ’79 win was so routine, so undramatic, that he also remembers little of the race itself. It just happened.

It’s a story that’s been told and retold over the years, but Sheppo still has some new insights. The extraordinarily unfussed weekend at the very end of September ’79 was a testament to his meticulous approach to preparation.

In summary, the Brock/Richards A9X was bullet-proof, had a powerful but fuel-efficient five-litre V8, grippy tyres that were also longlasting, was easy on its brakes and was in the hands of the very best driver combination.

The main key, Sheppo recalls, was Bathurstfocused preparation during the ATCC. “What we did all year, anything we ever put on the car, it had to stay there for 1000 kays,” he said. “You’d imagine that’s what everybody would have done, but not necessarily so. If it didn’t last 1000 kays, you got pretty worried about it because that’s what we were looking at, Bathurst.

“Our whole year was pretty much geared towards Bathurst. We obviously wanted to win the touring car championship, but nowhere near as much as we wanted to win Bathurst, so that was the general focus.

“I used to wonder why you’d detune a car for Bathurst. If you can’t make a car that’ll last 1000 kays, you shouldn’t be building racing cars.”

A big factor was MHDT engine guru Neil Burns, who tuned the factory team motors to perfection, extracting power, fuel efficiency and reliability.

Sheppard revealed that the team’s extensive dynamometer testing had revealed a harmonic vibration problem. At 5500 rpm the crankshaft flexed, which manifested itself in the fan belt all but jumping off the pulleys.

By avoiding the danger rev zone, the drivers could run the engines to 6800 rpm with impunity.

“We just said stay away from 5500 rpm,” Sheppo recalled. “The attitude was, if you were going to be near five-five, go through it as quick as you can. We’d rev them out to 6800, that was the optimum point.

“As much as anything else, that was the secret to our success.”

Engines were a point of contention with Brock, who – much to Sheppard’s chagrin – monitored dyno testing and claimed a motor he thought was especially strong for Bathurst.

While Sheppard is adamant there was no favouritism over the John Harvey/Charlie O’Brien MHDT entry, he allowed that he indulged Brock’s whim.

“He did minimum laps with it and Jim was only allowed minimum laps because he reckoned he had this magic engine,” Sheppard said. “I mean, it was a good engine, but it wasn’t exceptional.

“Sometimes you just have to fight bullshit with bullshit.”

Under his reign, the A9X’s racing output was increased from 375 to 400 horsepower at Bathurst in ’79 – the gain attributable to a new sump design he brought with him in addition to Burns’ fine-tuning. Crucially, driveability was vastly improved.

Sheppard’s mantra was to prepare a fast, reliable car that needed little pre-race testing, and minimal practice and qualifying laps.

Peter Brock on his way to a momentus win at a perilous Mount Panorama.

Images: Auto Action archives/Ray BerghouseChevron/Autopics.com.au

MOUNT PANORAMA OCTOBER 10-13 2019

‘Captain’ Peter Janson and Larry Perkins (far left) were the best of the rest, finishing an incredible six laps behind Brock/Richards. It delivered Janson and Perkins their second Bathurst podium in three years. Jim Richards, seen here in a classic Bathurst image (left), was the perfect co-driver for Brock, delivering very similar lap times while creating no waves.

“It was a racing car, which sounds obvious, but some people went up there with a cruising car because they didn’t want to wear it out,” he said. “Certainly, anything that went into the car was designed to survive 1000 km flat-out.

“We would take very serious steps if something did break before 1000 kays.

That was the yardstick. We were focused on Bathurst and what it required.”

The team’s other big advantage was Bridgestone tyres that had superior grip without wearing. Unbelievably, Brock and Richards did the whole race on one set of

tyres and also brake pads.

“The boys weren’t using the brakes all that much because the tyres were that good, they could slide into the corners and wash the speed off,” Sheppo confirmed.

He also paid tribute to Richards, whose contribution was under-estimated.

“Jim was doing very similar lap times to Brock,” he said. “One had an ego and one didn’t. Jim was smart enough not to talk about his lap times then, but now, if you can drag it out of him, he’d tell you he did similar times, which he did.”

The race went so smoothly that Sheppard

recalls that the team had no idea Brock and Richards had won by six laps until afterwards.

“You only look at the lap scoring when and if there’s something that needs to be thought about,” he said. “We were outlasting people on a tank of fuel and all the rest of it, so we didn’t take any notice of how big the lead was.”

He also had no forewarning that ‘Peter Perfect’ would unleash record pace on the final lap.

“I wasn’t even aware he was going to and it’s not the sort of thing he’d talk about beforehand,” Sheppo remarked. “He was

an interesting character in his own way. He certainly had a big ego and I don’t mean that with any disrespect.

“I think it was just a case of ‘I’ll show ’em’ sort of thing. And he did. If I think about it, it might have been an unnecessary risk. But my attitude then was ‘Well, you didn’t hurt the car’, even though it probably was a risk.

“I suppose, upon reflection, you’d say it was an unnecessary risk, but nothing succeeds like success. Peter did it and that’s all that matters now.”

Overall, Sheppard remembers his last Bathurst triumph as leader of MHDT as being as unremarkable as it was crushingly dominant.

“It was just a routine day at the races,” he shrugged. “As it’s anniversary time, people are studying it, but what else can you say?

“Veni vidi vici. We came, we saw, we conquered.”

It was the last, greatest hurrah for the Torana A9X, perhaps the toughest looking race and road car of the golden age of the Aussie homologation special muscle cars.

By the time it won Bathurst for the second time, Sheppard and Holden were already developing a Group C Commodore for 1980.

In a big shift, Brock would take over HDT and go on to greater success – and, ultimately, infamy.

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BATHURST 1000 GUIDE In an extract from her new book Brock At Bathurst, Bev Brock goes behind the scenes of the win 40 years ago that crowned Peter Brock as the monarch of Mount Panorama PETER WOULD truly make the Mountain his own in the late 1970s. The 1978 win with Jim Richards heralded an era of utter PB dominance at the Mountain, featuring two hat-tricks within seven years. Peter could do no wrong, it seemed, but for all his success on the track, it was the dynamics behind the scenes that were moulding his career trajectory.

For so many reasons, 1979 was to prove an enormous year. Holden had been developing the new Commodore, so everyone in the sport was aware that this would be the last year that Toranas would appear on the track for the touring cars. It was also the last year that Ford would back any of their teams, which left Allan Moffat without factory backing. What we didn’t know at the beginning of the season was that Holden would follow suit, so John ‘Sheppo’ Sheppard was unaware that this would be his last year at the head of HDT. It proved a very successful and competitive year for HDT throughout the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) until the final race of the season, when Bobby Morris beat Peter at Adelaide International Raceway to take out the championship.

There was an undercurrent of discussion suggesting that Peter’s concentration had slipped on the championship, and that he’d instead focused his attention on the upcoming Repco Round Australia Trial – an event that Sheppo wanted no part of. Holden and Peter, however, had a very different mindset, as this event was the perfect way to launch their new family car onto the market. It didn’t mean that Peter did not value the Adelaide race; he was never one to give anything but his very best. He was, however, completely confident in Sheppo’s ability and commitment, which is why Peter left the preparation for Sandown and Bathurst completely in his hands. After all, they were already at the pinnacle of the 1979 race season, on the back of other successful years – except that this year in particular presented an even greater challenge, and one that was proving so enticing.

While preparation for the Round Australia Trial was gaining momentum, the ARDC was spending big dollars improving the track at the Mountain.

The club poured $100,000 into a new pit entry off Mountain Straight, safety fencing, better pits and a three-storeyed tower at Skyline. The police had seen fit to build a concrete blockhouse up at the top to protect against possible

38 AutoAction

KING OF THE MOUNTAIN

Images: Ray BerghouseChevron/Brock At Bathurst

Peter Brock’s popularity with race fans was unrivalled.

riots. The prize money at Bathurst had increased to what was then seen as a massive $92,800, with another $8000 for pole position and $100 for the race leader at the end of each lap. There was also a conditional prize pool of $37,250.

I have to tell you that even though we won everything that was on offer, it still did not cover our costs!

The Round Australia Trial had been run and won, with Peter overcoming all the naysayers to lead the Commodores home in an incredible one-two-three finish. There were those who had seen Peter’s entry into the event as purely a means of garnering publicity, and they believed he had no chance of beating the world’s best rally drivers.

After all, this event was seen to be the toughest test of man and machine in the world. They underestimated his determination to show them all what he was really made of. By this point, the Bathurst race was seen to be owned by all of Australia, and not just by the ARDC and New South Wales. Times had altered with the increase of interest in motorsport, buoyed by extensive media coverage over recent years, so

MOUNT PANORAMA OCTOBER 10-13 2019 scrutineering began on Wednesday with untimed practice being conducted on both the Wednesday and Thursday before the race.

On Friday, there were two official timed sessions. These times were used to sort the top ten competitors, who would clash on the Saturday afternoon in the one-lap Hardies Heroes Shootout, an extremely popular event to determine pole position for the main race. The concept had grown exponentially since Peter Janson had created it some years earlier. That year, light rain had begun to fall in the final practice before the shootout, and this always created some mayhem. Nineteen Toranas and twelve Falcons were entered in the leading class, so the Wednesday and Thursday practice events were close. Peter’s 05 car did as much as was necessary to qualify, but there was no need to wear the car out before the race.

Unfortunately, Allan Moffat’s car had sprayed some oil on the damp fast line of the track for some two laps early in the timed Friday session. Peter put in a blinder given the conditions, and managed a time of 2 minutes 26.8 seconds, but Allan’s problems saw him post a time of 2 minutes 43.0 seconds, which put him in twenty-second position. The officials exercised their discretion to alter the top ten, given that several teams had chosen their lead driver to qualify their practice car instead of their race car, just in case they decided to swap vehicles. This was valid under the existing rules.

Track conditions had improved in time for the shootout, which saw Peter on pole, 21.41 seconds ahead of Bobby Morris, who had just clinched the ATCC. The officials decided that John Harvey would be dropped from his ninth position so that Moff could feature in the top ten. John, ever the gentleman, didn’t complain. Peter was once again driving with the reliable, calm and incredibly talented Jim Richards while the second car was in the hands of John Harvey and Ron Harrop. They had a one-two finish in the lead-up race at Sandown a few weeks earlier, so there was a feeling of quiet confidence within the team.

Several other teams decided that

Peter Brock’s most famous Bathurst victory came in 1979 when he won by six laps.

they needed overseas drivers to give them added media exposure, a move they hoped would boost their chances on the big day. That tack had certainly been tried before, but had met with little podium success. Media coverage did tend to focus on the new talent, but this strategy also meant that some very experienced local drivers were without a drive.

Peter’s victory at the Round Australia Trial elicited a request from the Bathurst organisers for him and his navigator, Noel Richards, to do a lap of honour in the rally car before the race got underway. Sheppo was not happy about this, but Peter chose to do it anyway, as it gave him the opportunity to check out the condition of the track, which was covered with mud and slush following some heavy overnight showers. Perhaps it was the confidence of knowing just where he needed to avoid mud or dirt on the track that saw him some three seconds up by the end

Bathurst facts ■ Peter Brock still holds the record for the most Bathurst 1000 victories with nine. Jim Richards and Craig Lowndes are next best with seven wins apiece.

■ Jim Richards holds the record of the most starts with 35, while his son Steven sits highest of the active drivers with 26 Bathurst starts.

■ The 1987 race was the only time the winners have not stood on the top step of the podium. Peter McLeod, Peter Brock and David Parsons finished the race in third position, however they were promoted to first when the top two cars were disqualified months later.

■ The largest winning margin came in 1979 when Peter Brock and Jim Richards

beat home Peter Janson and Larry Perkins by six laps.

■ New Zealander Jim Richards is the oldest winner of a Bathurst 1000 when he teamed up with Mark Skaife and won in 2002, aged 55 years and 41 days.

■ Peter Brock holds the record for the most pole positions with six at The Mountain.

■ With nine victories, the Holden Dealer Team boasts more wins than any other team.

■ Holden holds the record for the most victories at The Mountain with 33, compared with 20 for Ford and two for Nissan.

of lap one, five seconds by lap two and seven seconds by lap four.

By lap twenty-three, John Harvey had made it to second position and all was looking good. Sadly, it was not to last; not long after the first driver change on lap fifty-seven, Ron Harrop found himself without brakes at the top of the Mountain because of pad knockback, having forgotten to tap his brakes as he entered the brake markers. Ron found the concrete wall, went over the fence and his and John’s race was over. Jim took things a bit easier when he got behind the wheel of 05, as he and Peter were well in front, but the opposition was determined to close the gap. By lap seventy, Allan Grice had got within forty-seven seconds.

The laps were ticking away when the engine of Moffat’s Falcon died on lap 136. By this stage, Jim and Peter were already four laps up on Janson and Grice – a lead the size of which was unheard of. I was in our pits and, like everyone else in the crew, was oblivious to the enormity of the situation. Peter refused to ever focus on what the opposition was doing; he preferred to give his all to do the best he could with the existing circumstances. The field behind was suffering from the enormous challenge ahead and cars were limping along with one problem or another. That was of no concern to us!

Sheppo would have liked to see Peter take the circuit more easily, but instead he was storming ahead, knowing full well that the car was running as sweetly then as it had at the start of the race. In fact, he decided to prove to everyone just how remarkable

it was, and went for Allan Moffat’s existing lap record on the last lap.

Peter posted a time of 2 minutes 21.1 seconds, a fittingly triumphant finish for the last time the Torana would run in the leading class at Mount Panorama. This meant that he had placed his muchloved Torana in the record books for all time!

Jim, the crew, the manufacturer, the sponsors, the crowd and the media all went wild – so much so that Peter was declared the undisputed King of the Mountain, a title that sticks to this day.

The prize money was great, so Jim got to take home more than the $5000 he was originally offered to drive. He was more than entitled to his share of the prize money. The crew also did well out of the week and they deserved every cent they received. It was a magnificent effort from everyone involved.

Sadly, soon after this, Holden announced that they would withdraw their support for the team, as it didn’t serve them well to be seen beating all the privateer Holden teams so soundly.

Ford also pulled out, leaving Allan no choice but to sell his cars just to stay afloat. Strange as it may sound, despite the record-breaking six-lap victory – one that would never be repeated – for us at HDT, the task was set to find the money and support necessary to going. It was a case of keep the team g one door closing and o another opening when a an exciting new future emerged: HDT Special em Vehicles came into Ve existence. Could the new ex Commodore, that had Co proved its worth on the pro back roads of Australia, ba tak take centre stage?

Extracted from Brock At Ext Bathurst by Bev Brock Ba (Af (Affirm Press, RRP $39 $39.99), out now.

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39

BATHURST 1000 GUIDE Sydney Toyota dealer Peter Williamson (right) became a national name with the advent of RaceCam.

40th anniversary of RaceCam, the Aussie invention that changed how we watch racing Legendary commentator Mike Raymond was there when the Bathurst 1000 inspired the greatest revolution in TV sports coverage, explaining how it happened to MARK FOGARTY THE MOST memorable thing about the 1979 Bathurst 1000 wasn’t Peter Brock’s six-lap victory. What captivated the record TV audience was a little-known driver in a class car.

Brock was the hero of the race, but the star of the show was Sydney car dealer Peter Williamson. His gift of the gab endeared him to viewers as he described the action from inside his screaming twolitre Toyota Celica.

Willo babbling, shouting and cursing from the cockpit in full vision was a revelation and a revolution. It was the debut of RaceCam, the world-first incar live vision that changed the way we watched racing – and, ultimately, all sports.

Invented by Sydney TV station ATN 7 – the anchor of the national Seven Network – RaceCam revolutionised inrace broadcast coverage and profoundly influenced intimate camera coverage of every other sport.

Think cricket’s Stump Cam – and every other close-in vision and eavesdropping audio live feed. It all started with RaceCam. In racing, the technology – refined, miniaturised and extended – has become the staple of Supercars, Formula 1, NASCAR, IndyCar and MotoGP. In fact, every kind of motor sport at every level.

40 AutoAction

RaceCam was the brainchild of then ATN 7 director of engineering, Geoff Healy. Legend has it that he was inspired by his son mounting a video camera on the dashboard on the way to school one morning.

The in-car vision got Healy thinking and he put his chief engineer John Porter onto the job of developing an in-car camera that could feed live pictures and sound via a microwave link from car to helicopter to outside broadcast truck and into the main feed.

Remarkably, it worked.

RaceCam debuted at Bathurst in ’79 in Williamson’s Celica, which harried the V8s mercilessly in the run down the hill from Skyline to Forests Elbow. Racing coverage has never been the same since.

Speedway spruiker-turned-Seven shrieker Mike Raymond, who was also the producer and later director of the network’s touring car telecasts, and a

Commentator Mike Raymond (above) embraced RaceCam. It took on many forms in the early days, like this PeriscopeCam on the JPS BMW 635CSi.

MOUNT PANORAMA OCTOBER 10-13 2019

Peter Williamson’s Celica debuted RaceCam in 1979 ... it became a Bathurst fixture with the likes of racer turned commentator Neil Crompton (above) and the colourful Allan Grice (below). Images: AA Archives/Mark Fogarty

commentary game-changer in his own right, embraced RaceCam from the start.

“The first time that we discussed RaceCam, Geoff Healy said to me ‘Come up and have a look at something, I want to see if you think it will work’,” Raymond recalled. “We went for a drive in a company car and he had this little camera set up. It was raining and we came back and had a look at it, and he was all excited about it.

“And I said to him ‘Do you really think it will work in a race car?’ and he said ‘There’s no reason in the world why it can’t’. So many different broadcasters around the world had tried to make it work.

“Geoff was an engineering genius. It worked and just took off from there. Then we had PeriscopeCam, HeadlightCam, BumperCam and TrackCam. It launched the idea of using cameras everywhere on the cars and all over the tracks. It’s been fascinating to follow its development.

“I was sold on it from day one.”

Raymond also credits Healy with coming up with the name RaceCam, which became the generic term for in-car cameras.

At Bathurst in ’79, Williamson’s Celica was fitted with a large fixed camera to the left of the driver that looked straight out the windscreen. Willo was miked up with a one-way audio link and his entertaining running commentary was available throughout the race.

Although crude by today’s standard, the vivid – if sometimes static-impaired – pictures and scratchy sound were ground-

breaking. Never before had viewers been taken inside a car live during a race.

“It still looks OK now, but back then, it was astonishing,” said Raymond, who revealed that Williamson was chosen because he was low-risk and highentertainment.

“Peter Williamson Toyota in Liverpool was a big advertiser and he had a reputation as a talker,” he said. “Willo was Johnny-onthe-spot with RaceCam. “We didn’t need the pressure of having RaceCam in a car with Peter Brock or Dick Johnson and having it break down. That would have been the worst thing in the world. The small car versus the big cars thing actually worked very well.

“Just before the race, Geoff Healey said to Williamson ‘We’ve fixed up an audio link and any time that you want to talk, feel free – although we’re not sure if that part of it will work. But if it does work, well, we know you have the charisma and everything else’.

“So Peter Williamson spoke for seven hours non-stop. His commentary was always there, whenever we wanted it. We didn’t have talkback to him, but he was always talking if we crossed him.

“He dropped some choice words. You could get away with a lot worse today, but back then, bloody was a bad word.

“It was a huge rater because everyone was talking about the camera in the car and that mad-cap commentator.”

Raymond credits RaceCam with turning Brock’s boring blitz in ’79 into a mustwatch telecast.

“There’ve been far more memorable races,” he said. “It’s memorable because what was happening up front wasn’t as exciting as watching on TV what was happening down the back with Peter Williamson.”

Complicating RaceCam’s debut was industrial action by Seven camera operators.

“We had cameramen who’d been doing the telecast for years all standing at the front gate when I arrived there one morning, shouting and screaming ‘You scab!’, everything under the sun,” he remembered. “They said ‘Bathurst will never run without us’. Well, you had people in the network who were quite resilient…

“Anyway, they stayed out and we went to Bathurst and Geoff Healy, through his contacts, rounded up a skeleton crew and it all went well. The viewers never noticed any difference.

“There were hardly any cameramen of note, but as it turned out, it was the highest rating Bathurst telecast ever (till then). And that was mainly due to RaceCam.”

Dick Johnson’s laconic humour and natural charisma made him a RaceCam superstar. And many would argue, it was RaceCam that made him a household name.

Bathurst facts ■ Rick Kelly is the youngest winner of the Great Race. He was aged just 20 years 268 days when he paired up with Greg Murphy in 2003.

■ In 2006, 48 out of the 161 laps were run behind the safety car, a Bathurst record.

■ Holden has the most number of consecutive race wins, with seven from 1999 to 2005.

■ Chaz Mostert and Paul Morris are the only pairing to win the race from last place on the grid, doing so in 2014.

Also significant was the presence of American racing broadcast legend Chris Economaki, who saw the significance of RaceCam for NASCAR and Indycar.

In February 1980, RaceCam featured in American network CBS’s coverage of the Daytona 500 and within two years, the ABC network incorporated it in its Indianapolis 500 coverage.

“We took RaceCam to the Daytona 500,” Raymond said. “Cale Yarborough was carrying it and he got upside down at 200 mph (322 km/h). The viewers were just fascinated. That launched it in America.”

The next big development was remotecontrolled cameras in multiple cars that

could move, changing the view from inside, and live banter between the commentators and drivers.

Dick Johnson, Peter Brock and Allan Grice became exponents, while mild mannered George Fury surprised with his expletive-ridden in-car commentary as he battled to pass backmarkers in his Nissan Bluebird Turbo. Then there were epic moments like watching Glenn Seton and Brock dancing in the downpour in 1987.

It also revealed Allan Moffat’s weird hand position on the steering wheel when he co-drove Bob Morris’s ill-fated XD Falcon in 1980.

“Dick was perfect for it,” Raymond said.

“Some guys were very, very good at it, others it just didn’t sit with them.

“George Fury was a lovely guy, but he dropped the magic word in the first two laps of the race! We all had to apologise.

“Dick was the best, without doubt. Brock was excellent and Gricey was a natural.

Those guys had charisma and colour rather than just being racing drivers.

“Brock didn’t particularly want RaceCam in his car, but he saw the value and went along with it. He dropped the odd expletive, too.

“The best thing was how guys like Gricey reacted to incidents and their colourful language. The public at home thought it was terrific. We don’t have that now, unfortunately.”

Ironically, apart from sponsorship revenue, Seven didn’t make a lot of money from RaceCam, essentially giving the technology away. Engineer John Porter and associates relocated to the USA and sold their expertise to American networks – and beyond.

Raymond, 77, retired from his distinctive, American-style TV commentary in 1995 following a heart attack. He returned to Bathurst for the first time in 23 years in 2018 to be inducted into the Legends Lane honour roll.

He is also in the Australian Speedway and Australian Motor Sport Halls Of Fame.

His voiceover catchphrase “Be There!” is still prominent in speedway advertising.

Raymond joined the Seven Bathurst commentary team in 1977 and with his hyper delivery, in stark contrast to the formal ABC-style tones of Evan Green and Will Hagon, he changed the way the sport was called and covered on TV. He also mentored Neil Crompton, the voice of V8 racing, and maintains a close relationship with Supercars TV boss Nathan Prendergast.

“I think they do a marvellous job,” he said of the Prendergast-directed Fox Sports coverage of Supercars.

But it is RaceCam and its enduring legacy of which Raymond is most proud.

“They use Go-Pros now,” he said. “But 40 years ago, in-car cameras were a big technical challenge.

“RaceCam has had a storied career ever since.”

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41

BATHURST 1000 GUIDE

BATHURST MAY have changed through the years, but it still bites hard. One lapse in concentration, one small mistake, can lead to any driver’s downfall. The world’s best have experienced the great heights and gut wrenching disappointment that this 6.213km circuit throws up.

Although it is a concrete jungle these days, the essence and history of the circuit is still

entrenched on The Mountain, which makes it that extra special.

Bathurst has defined careers and still after all these years provides the biggest challenge, the largest triumphs and the lowest failures.

The goosebumps start to show, the tingles go down the spine with the first sight of The Mountain.

OD NR CO

Conrod Straight is the longest straight in the country at 1.916 km long, where Supercars are The track length was extended slightly in nudging 300 km/h.

1987 with the addition of The Chase. This sequence of corners begins with the fastest in Australia, taken flat out at 300 km/h. The slowest part of the Chase is the left handed turn, at 120 km/h.

THE CHASE MURRAY’S CORNER

The elevation between the highest and lowest points on the Mount Panorama circuit is a staggering 174 metres.

FORREST’S ELBOW

THE DIPPER

HT AIG R T S

The Dipper is taken at 80 km/h in second gear and is a spectacular place where cars can get up on two wheels.

THE ESSES

MOUNT PANORAMA

Supercars travel at 210 km/h on the approach to Skyline.

SKYLINE MCPHILLAMY PARK

The average speed from The Cutting to Skyline is around 200 km/h, while the average lap speed is over 170 km/h.

REID PARK GRIFFIN’S HT AIG BEND R T S IN A T UN Mountain Straight is 1.111km long MO and cars reach speeds of around 260 km/h before slowing down to 130km/h for Griffins Bend.

PI FINISH LINE T STR AIG HT START LINE

HELL CORNER

Getting a great exit out of here is the key to a fast run down the famous Conrod Straight.

Hell Corner is the first turn. It’s taken in second gear and is all about getting a good run up Mountain Straight.

THE GRATE

THE CUTTING

Get it wrong through The Grate and you are going to have a serious accident. It catches out even the greats, Mark Skaife, Russell Ingall and Jason Bright all crashed here on the same lap in 2007.

Overtaking into The Cutting is certainly difficult, as Marcos Ambrose and Greg Murphy proved back in 2005 when they came together famously late in the race. The slowest point around this left hander is 100km/h.

■ The circuit is 6.213 km, the longest on the Supercars calendar.

■ The highest gradient point on the Mt Panorama circuit is 1 in 6.13.

■ Garth Tander and Will Davison were the last pairing to win the Bathurst 1000 from pole position back in 2009.

■ In 2016 Will Davison and Jonathon Webb won the Bathurst 1000 despite not leading a single lap of the race, when Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell received a post-race time penalty for causing a collision on the exit of The Chase.

■ The top two drivers in the standings currently, Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen, have never won The Great Race.

■ The biggest gap between pole position and second position was back in 1970 when Allan Moffat out qualified John French by 3s.

■ The closest qualifying session for the 1000 was back in 2004, when Steven Richards scored pole by 0.0012s from Jason Bright.

■ Only two rookies have taken pole position, Klaus Ludwig in 1987 and Marcos Ambrose in 2001.

■ The most safety car periods in a Bathurst 1000 is 13, set in 2000.

■ Between 1970 and 1979 the fastest lap dropped by 31.9s. In 1970 the XW Falcon driven by John Goss and Bob Skelton set a time of 2m 53s, while in 1979 Peter Brock did a lap time of 2m 21.1s.

■ The closest ever Bathurst 1000 finish came in 2016 when Will Davison and Jonathon Webb edged out Shane van Gisbergen and Frenchman Alex Premat by just 0.1s at the line.

■ The General and the Blue Oval each have 23 pole positions apiece, while Nissan has three.

■ The last time a driver won both the championship and The Great Race in the same year was Jamie Whincup in 2012.

The seven-time champion took victory in his beloved car ‘Kate,’ which he now owns.

■ The Hardies Heroes, now known as the Top 10 Shootout, was first run in 1978 and has remained a staple of the Bathurst 1000 weekend since then.

PREVIOUS 10 BATHURST 1000 CHAMPIONS

2009: Garth Tander & Will Davison 2010: Craig Lowndes & Mark Skaife 2011: Garth Tander & Nick Percat 2012: Jamie Whincup & Paul Dumbrell 2013: Mark Winterbottom & Steven Richards 2014: Chaz Mostert & Paul Morris 2015: Craig Lowndes & Steven Richards 2016: Will Davison & Jonathon Webb 2017: David Reynolds & Luke Youlden 2018: Craig Lowndes & Steven Richards

42 AutoAction

Holden VE Commodore Holden VE Commodore Holden VE Commodore Holden VE Commodore Ford FG Falcon Ford FG Falcon Holden VF Commodore Holden VF Commodore Holden VF Commodore Holden ZB Commodore

BATHURST 1000 RECORDS

2019 CURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS 1. Scott McLaughlin Ford Mustang 3008 2. Shane van Gisbergen Holden Commodore 2410 3. Chaz Mostert Ford Mustang 2327 4. Fabian Coulthard Ford Mustang 2317 Holden Commodore 2140 5. Jamie Whincup 6. David Reynolds Holden Commodore 2084 7. Cameron Waters Ford Mustang 1975 Holden Commodore 1894 8. Nick Percat 9. Will Davison Ford Mustang 1811 10. Lee Holdsworth Ford Mustang 1704

■ The fastest-ever Bathurst 1000 race lap was set in the 2018 event by David Reynolds with a new record time of 2m 06.1492s in his Erebus Motorsport ZB Holden Commodore.

■ In terms of time duration, the longest-ever Bathurst 1000 took place in 2014, when the race was stopped for over an hour due to track repairs at Griffins Bend. It lasted for a total of 7h 58m.

■ The fastest ever lap of Mt Panorama in a Supercar was set by Scott McLaughlin, with a time of 2m 03.8312s in the Top 10 Shootout for the 2018 race. It remains the only ever lap in the 2m03s.

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Formula One

Round 15 Singapore GP

THE UNDERCUT Ferrari employed an undercut pitstop strategy that gave Sebastian Vettel the win

Race Report: Dan Knutson Images: LAT SEBASTIAN VETTEL’S first Formula 1 victory in 392 days – the last being the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix – came as a result of a last minute strategy call to have him dive into the pits for new Pirelli tyres, and thus ‘undercut’ not only his teammate Charles Leclerc, who started from the pole and was leading, but also Lewis Hamilton who was running second in his Mercedes.

This initially infuriated Leclerc – he calmed down later after being debriefed – and also left the Mercedes engineers outfoxed. Hamilton ended up finishing fourth behind Leclerc, Vettel and Red Bull’s Verstappen.

While Leclerc had just scored victories on the high-speed low-downforce tracks of Spa and Monza, Ferrari was not expected to be competitive in Singapore given its previous weaknesses on high downforce circuits.

But the Scuderia’s latest aero upgrades have cured some of those handling imbalances, and Leclerc put his car on the pole for the third consecutive race and the fifth time this season.

Qualifying is crucial given how difficult it is to overtake on the Singapore streets. And sure enough the drivers

46 AutoAction

The pits was where Sebastian Vettel took the race victory from teammate Charles Leclerc. at the front ran the early laps in their qualifying order: Leclerc, Hamilton, Vettel, Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes).

Leclerc kept the pace slow so that the others lined up behind him. That’s the way to play it at Singapore because it prevents the field from stretching out and opening gaps for a driver to drop into after trying the undercut and pitting early.

When a gap finally appeared, Ferrari

told Vettel to pit at the end of lap 19 of 61, and then had Leclerc pit a lap later.

By this time the Pirelli soft compound tyres that the front runners had had to start on were worn out. Vettel’s new set of hard compound Pirellis were worth a whopping 3.9 seconds a lap over the worn softs, and he came around ahead of Leclerc.

“The undercut was effectively more powerful than expected, it was 3.9 seconds,” Ferrari team principal

Mattia Binotto said later. “We were not expecting such a big number. As a matter of fact, when we stopped Sebastian, we thought when Charles stopped the lap after, he would be ahead of Sebastian. Sebastian drove well, got the undercut of 3.9 seconds, that’s the difference.”

Said Vettel: “I knew before the race that as soon as I got my call to box, that’s when I can try and make something with this race. So that’s what I tried to do. It was very late, last corner before the pit entry, and I pushed as hard as I could on the out lap.”

Leclerc certainly was steamed at the time.

“To be completely honest with you I don’t understand the undercut, but we will discuss after the race,” he radioed.

“My head is down and it will be down until the race (is over). I just want to let you know my feelings.”

Mercedes did not figure it out either.

The team left Hamilton, now in the lead, out for seven more laps. In theory, he was supposed to make up time while the Ferraris had to work through the midfield cars, which had started on the medium tyres and had yet to pit.

In fact, Hamilton was fourth after his stop behind Vettel, Leclerc and Verstappen.

“I knew that we should have undercut,”

A disappointed Leclerc was frustrated by a team strategy that cost him the win but he still headed home Max Verstappen and the Mercedes pair.

RESULTS ROUND 15: SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 -

There were contrasting fortunes at Renault. The Hulk scored points with ninth but it was another disappointing Grand Prix for Aussie Dan, as a puncture dropped him down the order. George Russell was also in trouble, below. a rueful Hamilton said. “I knew it this morning as well in the brief; I was like I should take the risk, but they (the engineers) didn’t.”

So, Hamilton wasn’t happy with fourth, nor was Leclerc with second nor Verstappen with third.

“It was not good enough,” Verstappen said. “We came here to win and we clearly didn’t.”

Meanwhile, Aussie Daniel Ricciardo was also riled after he was disqualified from qualifying. He had posted the eighth fastest time in his Renault, but was then disqualified after his power unit’s MGU-K minutely exceeded the power flow limit permitted.

Allowed to start at the back of the pack, Ricciardo got as high as third by passing other drivers and holding off on his own pit stop to change tyres. But

Driver Sebastian Vettel Charles Leclerc Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Valtteri Bottas Alexander Albon Lando Norris Pierre Gasly Nico Hulkenberg Antonio Giovinazzi Romain Grosjean Carlos Sainz Jr. Lance Stroll Daniel Ricciardo Daniil Kvyat Robert Kubica Kevin Magnussen Kimi Raikkonen Sergio Perez George Russell

Car Ferrari Ferrari Red Bull/Honda Mercedes Mercedes Red Bull/Honda McLaren/Renault Toro Rosso/Honda Renault Alfa Romeo/Ferrari Haas/Ferrari McLaren/Renault Racing Point/Mercedes Renault Toro Rosso/Honda Williams/Mercedes Haas/Ferrari Alfa Romeo/Ferrari Racing Point/Mercedes Williams/Mercedes

Laps 61 61 61 61 61 61 61 61 61 61 61 61 61 61 61 61 61 49 42 34

Gap 1h58m33.667s 2.641s 3.821s 4.608s 6.119s 11.663s 14.769s 15.547s 16.718s 27.855s 35.436s 35.974s 36.419s 37.660s 38.178s 47.024s 1m26.522s Collision Oil leak Collision

Points: Hamilton 296, Bottas 231, Versatppen 200, Vettel 194, Gasly 69, Sainz 58, Albon 42, Ricciardo 34, Kvyat 33, Hulkenberg 33, Norris 31, Perez 27, Stroll 19, Magnussen 18, Grosjean 8, Giovinazzi 4, Kubica 1.

Constructors’: Mercedes 527, Ferrari 394, Red Bull-Honda 289, McLaren-Renault 89, Renault 67, Toro Rosso-Honda 55, Racing Point-Mercedes 46, Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 35, Haas-Ferrari 26, Williams-Mercedes 1.

Alex Albon again showed good form for Red Bull.

then he and Alfa’s Giovinazzi tangled while fighting for position. Both had to limp to the pits and then, after they rejoined the race, the safety car came out for a separate incident. The net result was that Ricciardo finished 14th in what he called a fun and frustrating race.

“The first part of the race was as much fun as I’ve had all year,” he said. “That

was awesome trying to pick through the field. I felt confidence on braking, and if I was close enough, I could get back a little of what I’ve showed in the past with the late moves and the confidence on the inside of the apex.

“With Giovinazzi I didn’t feel that either of us did anything wrong. It was tight but it is a street circuit, so any overtake

you make is going to be tight. It all came undone with that incident and the puncture meant our race was more or less over.”

Vettel, of course, was happy and more than a little relieved to have finally won again, even if it took the power of an unexpected undercut for him to get back on the top step of the podium.

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Formula One

Round 16 Russian GP

FERRARI FLOUNDERS Ferrari had the fastest car in Russia but floundered in the race, which allowed Mercedes to win the grand prix for the sixth consecutive time Race Report: Dan Knutson Images: LAT “THOSE GUYS have some serious pace,” Lewis Hamilton said of the Ferraris in the early laps of the Russian Grand Prix. He was running third in his Mercedes and chasing hard after Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc, who were first and second in their fleet Ferraris.

It was Ferrari’s race to lose, and ironically the team managed to engineer its own defeat, which gave Hamilton his fourth victory at the Sochi circuit.

“It’s just incredible to have this result considering how quick they were off the

start,” Hamilton said. “Just keeping up with them was an incredibly hard task.”

Leclerc qualified on the pole, Hamilton was second and Vettel third. Ferrari’s plan was for Vettel to get a tow from Leclerc on the long run down to Turn 2 in order to get ahead of Hamilton. But the plan wasn’t required as Vettel got a fabulous start and sliced into the lead prior to the bend, while Leclerc slotted into second ahead of Hamilton.

Then the plan was for the Ferrari drivers to swap positions, but when the team asked Vettel to do so, he decided that it was not a good idea because Leclerc was too far behind.

“Seb was quite fast and gained some

track advantage on Charles,” Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said. “So we knew that we could decide to do it later on.”

The Ferraris started the race on Pirelli’s soft compound tyres whereas Hamilton and his teammate Valtteri Bottas were on the medium compound slicks.

Leclerc pitted after 22 of the race’s 53 laps to switch to the medium tyres.

Vettel did the same four laps later, and he returned to the track behind his teammate.

But Vettel never competed that lap as he was forced to park the Ferrari with a power unit issue. That triggered the Virtual Safety Car which allowed

Hamilton and Bottas to make their own tyre stops and come out first and third.

Next, George Russell crashed his Williams and that brought out the actual safety car. Leclerc, second, pitted for the soft compound tyres and dropped to third. The idea was that with fresher tyres he could attack the Mercedes duo,

RESULTS ROUND 16: RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Daniel Ricciardo had a weekend he’d rather forget.

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Driver Lewis Hamilton Valtteri Bottas Charles Leclerc Max Verstappen Alexander Albon Carlos Sainz Jr. Sergio Perez Lando Norris Kevin Magnussen Nico Hulkenberg Lance Stroll Daniil Kvyat Kimi Raikkonen Pierre Gasly Antonio Giovinazzi Robert Kubica George Russell Sebastian Vettel Daniel Ricciardo Romain Grosjean

Car Mercedes Mercedes Ferrari Red Bull/Honda Red Bull/Honda McLaren/Renault Racing Point/Mercedes McLaren/Renault Haas/Ferrari Renault Racing Point/Mercedes Toro Rosso/Honda Alfa Romeo/Ferrari Toro Rosso/Honda Alfa Romeo/Ferrari Williams/Mercedes Williams/Mercedes Ferrari Renault Haas/Ferrari

Laps 53 53 53 53 53 53 53 53 53 53 53 53 53 53 53 28 27 26 24 0

Gap 1h33m38.992s 3.829s 5.212s 14.210s 38.348s 45.889s 48.728s 57.749s 58.779s 59.841s 1m00.821s 1m02.496s 1m08.910s 1m10.076s 1m13.346s Withdrew Mechanical Power Unit Accident Collision

Points: Hamilton 322, Bottas 249, Leclerc 215, Verstappen 212, Vettel 194, Gasly 69, Sainz 66, Albon 52, Norris 35, Ricciardo 34, Hulkenberg 34, Kvyat 33, Perez 33, Raikkonen 31, Magnussen 20, Stroll 19, Grosjean 8, Giovinazzi 4, Kubica 1.

Construtors’: Mercedes 571, Ferrari 409, Red Bull-Honda 311, McLaren-Renault 101, Renault 68, Toro Rosso-Honda 55, Racing Point-Mercedes 52, Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 35, Haas-Ferrari 28, Williams-Mercedes 1

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Ferrari should have had a 1-2 but inteam fighting cost them dearly.

Carlos Sainz was ‘best of the rest’, ultimately finishing sixth for McLaren. but the plan didn’t work out and Leclerc finished third.

Daniel Ricciardo’s race didn’t go to plan either. The Aussie qualified his Renault 10th, and then at Turn 4 on the opening lap he got caught up in a collision as Antonio Giovinazzi tried to poke through a gap between Ricciardo and Romain Grosjean.

Ricciardo limped back to the pits with a puncture, continuing for 24 laps before finally retiring.

“We had floor damage and a puncture,” Ricciardo said. “We tried to continue but I had too much damage to have any pace.

So the race was pretty much over from the start. I will try to look at it from the perspective that if I qualified better, then I am less in the bad stuff. So I will take some responsibility, but in the accident itself I was just a passenger.”

Meanwhile, Renault’s rival for fourth place in the constructors’ championship – McLaren – picked up 12 points thanks to

Carlos Sainz finishing sixth and Lando Norris eighth.

“Today’s result is frustrating,” said Renault team principal Cyril Abiteboul said. “Since the summer break we’ve been strong in qualifying with both cars in the top 10. But, in three races out of four, things haven’t gone our way and that was the case again today. We simply need to do a better job and offer our drivers even better starting positions and straightforward races. The car has the pace, we need to focus ourselves on achieving that.”

After the race, of course, much of the talk was about Vettel’s refusal to immediately follow team instructions. But he was not inclined to explain things.

“I think on my side it’s best if I don’t say anything,” he said.

How damaging would it be to the relationship of the Ferrari drivers if one of them openly didn’t follow a team order?

“I think the trust doesn’t

change,” Leclerc said, “and we need to trust each other, Seb and myself, because it’s usually important for the benefit of the team in some situations to know that you can count on the other car, and vice versa. It’s very important but yes, the trust is still here.”

The other topic of conversation was whether Ferrari can carry its speed into the upcoming race in Japan.

“We’ve been quick in Singapore,” Leclerc said. “We’ve been quick in Monza, and both of them are the complete opposites.

It shows that we are doing some progress, so there are no reasons for us to be very slow in Japan, but it doesn’t mean that we will have an easy life. I’m pretty sure that Mercedes and also Red Bull will be very strong there.”

Ferrari will no doubt have some serious pace around Japan’s Suzuka circuit, but the team will have to be careful that it does not flounder again.

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INDYCAR NEWGARDEN TAKES SECOND INDYCAR TITLE THE FINAL round of the 2019 IndyCar Series saw Josef Newgarden claim his second title and Colton Herta his second race victory in the American open-wheel category.

The deciding race saw a return of IndyCar racing to the legendary Laguna Seca Raceway after a 15 year absence from the Californian circuit.

Newgarden finished the race in eighth which was enough to clinch his second IndyCar Series title with Team Penske in just his third year with the squad.

Herta dominated the race from pole position, leading 83 of the 90 laps. After a tough middle half of the year, it was a very positive way for the 19-yearold to end the season with the Laguna Seca win.

Herta only lost the lead when he made scheduled pit stops during the race. Australian Will Power had pressured the Harding Steinbrenner Racing driver in the closing laps, but the American held his nerve and took the win by just 0.587s.

“Whenever you win an IndyCar race, it has to be a perfect race,” Herta said.

“You can’t really make mistakes and get away with it just because there’s always two or three other guys on that day that can win.

“For sure there was a few guys that could win today, and we just outdid them, we had the pace on them, we were definitely the best today, so we deserved to win.”

Colton Herta dominated the Indycar grand finale and has now signed Andretti Autosport. Images: LAT

Power in the #12 Team Penske car came home second ahead of outgoing series winner Scott Dixon who rounded out the podium.

Simon Pagenaud finished the race in fourth, only 0.3s behind New Zealander Dixon as the chequered flag fell.

Swede Felix Rosenqvist finished the race in fifth which was just enough to hold on to the Rookie-of-the-Year title, beating Herta by just 5 points.

“Today was exciting with Colton starting P1 and us in 14th for the Rookie battle,” Rosenqvist said.

“I think I used a lot of anger from yesterday to move forward. It was a great way to finish the season and I can’t wait until next year with this team.”

NASCAR

CRASH AND WIN FOR ELLIOTT CHASE ELLIOTT survived a late race accident to take the Charlotte Roval race victory, his third of the season.

After a restart on lap 65 of 109, Elliott threw away the lead when he locked up his brakes and hit a tyre barrier. But after pitting for repairs, the Hendrick Motorsports driver drove back from 37th position.

After a number of opportune cautions, Elliott took the lead again on lap 104, passing Kevin Harvick after the final restart, going on to take the victory by 3s from teammate Alex Bowman.

“Oh, my gosh, what a mistake, holy moly,” Elliott said.

“What a day. Such a fast NAPA Camaro ZL1, and honestly that was the only reason

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we were able to get back in it. I pretty well blew it and got the cautions at the right time and brought it home.”

Harvick finished third followed by Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr and Ryan Blaney.

The race was the last opportunity to make it into the Top 12 Playoff races.

Bowman and Ryan Newman were locked in a tight battle for the final spot before Newman made a mistake with three laps left and dropped to 32nd at the finish. Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Erik Jones also missed out on the top 12 playoffs.

The first of three races in the next stage takes place this weekend at Dover International Speedway, with just seven races remaining in the 2019 series

Andretti Autosport driver Alexander Rossi was unable to snatch the title off Newgarden finishing the race in sixth position, ahead of Sebastien Bourdais, Newgarden, James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay, who rounded out the top 10.

Marcus Ericsson returned to action this weekend after sitting out the last round due to commitments to the Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team, and finished just outside the top 10.

Tennessee born Newgarden was overcome with emotion after winning his second series crown.

“I’m just happy it’s done with, to be honest with you. I’ve been dreading the last couple weeks,” Newgarden said.

“It’s just such a stressful deal with double points, I hated it. I hated thinking about it, and I know we didn’t build up enough of a gap to make it super easy on ourselves.

“The most important thing was for a Team

Penske car to win the championship, just really proud of everybody. I’m just so thankful to have the opportunity.”

The 28-year-old gave team owner Roger Penske his 16th series crown and fourth in the last six years.

“Josef, a great champion. You can see it in his eyes, you could see it the first time he won with us,” Penske said.

Pagenaud leapfrogged Rossi in the final race to give Team Penske not only the Indy 500 crown but a 1-2 finish in the series to round of a perfect year for the team.

Rossi finished third in the championship ahead of Dixon and Power, who after a disappointing start to the season, bounced back to win two of the last four races.

STANDINGS: Newgarden 641, Pagenaud 616, Rossi 608, Dixon 578, Power 550, Rosenqvist 425, Herta 420, Hunter-Reay 420, Sato 415, Rahal 389

INGRAM LAUNCHES INTO TITLE CONTENTION IT WAS a very dramatic weekend of the British Touring Car Championship in mixed conditions at Silverstone, in which Tom Ingram took two race victories and Jack Goff the first win for Team HARD. The fight for the championship also intensified, with the series leader Colin Turkington having a challenging weekend but able to slightly extend his lead in the series.

Dan Cammish jumped Andrew Jordan to take second place in the points chase with three races to go.

It was a good return to form for Jason Plato, who took pole position for the opening race of the weekend. The two-time champion led early in greasy conditions but by lap four he was caught by and quickly overtaken by Tom Ingram in the Toyota Corolla. Ingram then held on to beat Plato by 4.2s with Chris Smiley finishing third.

“It was fantastic. I’m really pleased as I love those conditions! What we’ve found with the Corolla is that on the faster circuits it’s just so, so good,” said Ingram.

Ingram then went back to back, taking the win in a shortened Race 2. Ingram and

BTCC

Plato had made contact early in the race which allowed Tom Oliphant to sneak by both and take the lead. But as rain began to fall heavily, Oliphant ran wide at Turn 1 and lost positions allowing Ingram back into the lead. The race was eventually red flagged as conditions worsened, giving Ingram the win ahead of Turkington and Cammish.

The final race started in the dry but as rain fell Matt Simpson flew off into the gravel causing a safety car. A number of drivers then chose to switch to wet tyres including Jack Goff, who on the restart flew through the field to take the win ahead of Aiden Moffat and Matt Neal.

The final round of BTCC takes place at Brands Hatch from October 12-13.

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S5000 Round 1

S5000’S BIG, BAD, SANDOWN DEBUT

Report: Heath McAlpine Images: S5000/Daniel Kalisz

A TERM coined in the 1970s, the height of the Formula 5000 era of openwheel racing, returned at ‘the home of horsepower’ when the rumble of V8 open-wheelers once again graced a race track in Australia.

The debut of S5000 was deemed a success, and rightfully so. The action was spectacular, the cars were exciting and the crowds came, with the mounds and Sandown’s historic grandstand packed for the debut of the Australian-built beasts.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello added further interest and expected to be a frontrunner on the weekend. But it was the driver who had been involved in the development of the S5000 who was expected to give the former Formula 1 star a run for his money in the form of Tim Macrow.

Open-wheel specialists John Martin, Ricky Capo, Matt Brabham and Barton Mawer were also expected to put on a good show, while leading the unknown quantities were Garry Rogers Motorsport Supercar driver James Golding, 23Red Racing Pirtek Enduro Cup driver Alex Davison and TCR driver Will Brown, as were Kiwis Tom Alexander and Taylor Cockerton.

The inaugural field was completed by historic F5000 driver Tim Berryman and Micheal Gibson, nephew of Bevan, who was tragically killed in a sports car accident at Bathurst in 1969.

Macrow set the tone early in the weekend by clocking the fastest times in each of the two practice sessions, but it was Martin that set a best of 1m 05.1207s to win pole position for the first of the

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James Golding was all smiles after his Race 2 victory. Tim Macrow (below) had been the pacesetter for most of S5000’s debut event.

qualifying races.

It had been a hard fought, old school duel between Martin and Macrow, the pair trading fastest laps for the duration of the session with the latter falling an agonising 0.0133s short.

Barrichello was third fastest ahead of Capo and surprise packet Golding, who

had Brabham in close company for sixth.

In a convoluted practice/qualifying/grid format, the top 10 drivers then selected their grid slots for the two qualifying races.

Martin picked pole for Saturday’s race as rain started to lash the circuit, which meant he started from 10th in the second qualifying race, scheduled for Sunday

morning. Macrow selected second, meaning he was ninth and when the process was over, it meant Brown was to start from pole in the second event.

Combined points from qualifying and the two races then set the grid for the 24-lap feature race.

Off the prime starting position, which was actually the dirty side of the circuit on the inside, former international openwheel driver Martin made a poor jump to start the first-ever S5000 race, while Macrow on the other hand made the perfect start and headed into Turn 1 in clean air.

Another to make a superb leap was Golding, a driver that hasn’t had the best results in Supercars this season but was in form driving the big, powerful monster, followeding Macrow into Turn 1.

Barrichello, like Martin, made a tardy start and was punished when he was elbowed wide by Barton Mawer at Turn 1.

Macrow led the opening lap, but had a massive moment at Turn 2, both Golding and Martin expressing disbelief postrace that the former Australian Gold Star champion managed to save it and continue.

That moment closed the front trio up, leading to an exciting slipstreaming battle down the back straight and into the newly re-constructed Turn 6, where Martin managed to move into second. It was then a tug-of-war between the lead duo, Macrow extended a considerable 5s advantage, before Martin dramatically closed, setting a 1m 05.1210s in his pursuit of the leader.

The closing stages were thrilling, Martin unable to find a gap to overtake, the lack

S5000’s debut drew the biggest Shannons Nationals crowd in memory.

Alex Davison’s crash during the Feature Race was a graphic demonstartion of how safe the new S5000 racer is, while all eyes on track were on former Ferrari F1 driver Rubens Barrichello. of aero providing great racing as this battle for the lead demonstrated.

Third was also a great contest as Golding held out Brabham and Brown, but this delayed the trio.

Macrow held on by 0.7s and set the fastest lap of the race with a 1m 05.0191s, some 0.6s faster then the outright Sandown lap record held by Tom Tweedie in an historic F5000.

In a dramatic Race 2 on Sunday, Brabham made a strong start but Golding got a flyer to follow the former Indy 500 starter into Turn 1. Polesitter Brown had a shocker and dropped back, aiding Macrow from ninth on the grid, who was third by the time the field filtered through the opening stanza of corners.

Martin wasn’t as lucky and was buried in seventh, but the race was about to be turned on its head.

Golding had fallen off the back of Brabham and was defending from Macrow, while Martin meanwhile had progressed to fifth by lap 4.

Then Brabham made a mistake when he pinched a brake into Turn 9 and hit the outside armco with enough force to bend the rear suspension, putting him out of the race.

Golding now led from Macrow, then clean air. Alex Davison was the cork in the bottle of a four-car train chased by Martin, but that didn’t last. In what was an exceptionally brave move, the former A1GP driver was the last of the late brakers into Turn 6 and pulled off a move around the outside of the former Porsche Carrera Cup winner, to snatch third.

What followed was a stunning set of laps which further lowered the record set by

Barrichello was a popular headliner at Sandown, and loved the S5000s.

Macrow the previous day.

Martin went ballistic. First a 1m 05.0164s, followed by a 1m 04.7756s and to conclude a 1m 04.5533s.

The margin between the lead duo and Martin was too much to peg back, with Golding taking a narrow victory ahead of Macrow and Martin.

Barrichello snatched fifth with a super move around the outside of Brown at Turn 1, while Davison fended off any challenge to hold fourth.

The combined results from qualifying and the two races made up the grid for the 25-lap Feature Race with Macrow off pole and Martin beside, though the second row was the one to watch. Fast starting Golding and Barrichello with a point to prove promised an exciting finale

to S5000’s maiden outing.

Martin again made dreadful start, while Golding continued his perfect jumps by snatching second, Barrichello as well moving past the AGI Sport ace to take third.

Brown was another making moves, taking Davison at Turn 6 before clipping the kerb and nearly losing it through the back esses, saving it at Turn 9.

But the race then came under the control of the safety car when Ricky Capo sustained front and rear damage in the braking approach to Turn 10, leaving his car stranded on the infield.

The saying goes ‘safety cars breed safety cars,’ but a big shock was the cause of the next one.

The very first corner after the restart,

Macrow hit an oily section on the approach to Turn 1 and it sent the MTEC S5000 into the gravel trap, meaning the safety car didn’t get a rest. Mawer also fell victim to the slippery conditions and spun in sympathy.

The restart on lap 9 was the last for the weekend when, exiting the Turn 5 kink, Brabham touched the rear of Davison, sending the latter into the inside armco, from which it bounced back across the track giving the outside fence a tickle as well.

The damage was extensive to both car and fence, but fortunately Davison emerged uninjuried.

The race was red flagged and wasn’t restarted, called after 10 laps.

Golding had again taken the lead when Macrow went off and therefore took two-from-three, a surprise for many, but a deserving result after his weekend.

The podium was rounded out by Barrichello and Martin in a weekend that really excited the motor sport fraternity.

Long may it continue.

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TCR Round 6

No one was catching Argentine Nestor Girolami who dominated the weekend for Honda.

BROWN SEALS THE DEAL Report: Heath McAlpine Images: TCR Australia/Daniel Kalisz/Insyde Media/Peter Bury

PLAYING AN undercard is not what this category is used to, but at Sandown the thunderous debut of the S5000s stole the limelight.

Nonetheless the TCR action came thick and fast as usual, though for the first time we witnessed a clean sweep of all three races.

Will Brown not only had the pressure of completing double duties racing an S5000 and his TCR Hyundai, but if things went well he could also wrap the inaugural TCR Australia Series a round early.

It was predicted that the Alfa Romeos led by title rival Dylan O’Keeffe would have the straight line speed at Sandown to combat the handling of the Hyundai. Then, take into account Honda bringing its World Touring Car Cup star Nestor Girolami to the table, and Brown was up against it.

Girolami set the pace from the outset, a class above as he took pole, 0.3510s clear of Andre Heimgartner, demonstrating the improved fortunes of the Kelly Racing Holden Astra TCR. John Martin was riding off the Girolami wave and secured third ahead of Brown, Will Brown thought his chances of wrapping up the title early had evaporated with this spin in Race 3.

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but where was O’Keeffe?

The Victorian in the Ash Seward Motorsport-run Giulietta Veloce TCR was off the mark, set up issues leaving him ninth.

Melbourne Performance Centre had the added workload of handling the two Alliance Autosport Volkswagen Golf GTI TCRs this weekend alongside its own four entries.

Jason Bright continued his strong form in fifth, which contrasted the other entries’ fortunes with the returning Garth Tander sitting best of the rest in 12th.

Damp conditions greeted the field for Race 1, leading to every driver fitting a mix of dry and wet tyres for the race, a concept Girolami hadn’t experienced.

It didn’t worry the Argentine, though, as he powered away from the start with Brown and Martin in tow. Heimgartner was left behind and dropped to eighth.

A margin of 2s between the top trio and the rest was quickly created, but Girolami was comfortably in front despite Brown’s pursuit on Sandown’s long back straight.

The HMO Customer Racing driver was now under pressure from Martin, and so

it became a Honda 1-2 as the race winner from The Bend demoted the series leader a spot.

While his Alfa Romeo stablemate was struggling, Jordan Cox was in flying form.

He started sixth and disposed of Bright along the front straight, before setting his sights on Brown and Martin. At this stage, the circuit had dried considerably with each driver searching for water, Martin the first to show signs of tyre problems as Brown began to heap on the pressure.

He didn’t need to though; Brown was well on his way to securing the title as rival O’Keeffe was languishing in 12th and instead had to turn his focus to locking away second.

The MPC Audis were experiencing contrasting

races. Tander was flying in fifth, bringing young teammate Liam McAdam along for the ride, while Russell Ingall wasn’t as lucky.

The Enforcer was struggling in last, far from the podium placing he scored in Winton’s Race 3.

After a few rounds where unreliability has plagued the yellow and black side of the garage, Garry Rogers Motorsport’s Renault Megane RS TCRs hadn’t shaken the troubles off earlier in the weekend. Chris Pither’s Megane had problems on Friday, with the team completing an engine change to rectify the issue, but to no avail.

The sister Megane was enjoying a trouble-free run, James Moffat demonstrating the pace of the car as he battled among the back of the top 10, overtaking Bright.

Cox continued to be on the move, catching up to Brown and Martin by the halfway point, but the bigger concern was Tander. The former Supercars champion was catching at a rapid rate, which

Brown celebrates clinching the title with one round to spare.

Jordan Cox and James Moffat, left, were both among the podium place getters.

was aided by the battle between Brown and Cox, as both swapped positions.

Martin was still in front of the trio, but continued to struggle with his tyres. Brown was first to pass, then Cox, before Tander followed. The battle between the two was vigorous as the Audi and Alfa Romeo traded positions through Turns 3 and 4, but Cox held on.

Meanwhile, Girolami looked after his tyres and finished 1.5s clear of Brown and Cox. The start of the second race was a replica of the first. Girolami had a flyer but the driver next to him again missed the jump. This time it was Brown.

The series leader dropped to sixth, leaving Cox to take up the Australian battle against the

international. The straight line speed of the Alfa Romeo was clear to see as he drew alongside the Honda, but he was unable to complete a pass.

Ingall and Bright started off the back after problems in Race 1, but were forging a way through the field. Both were deep within the top 10 by the close of the opening three laps.

Moffat was able to take advantage of Brown’s poor start to be fourth. Behind the Renault, Tander was struggling as he dropped to seventh behind Brown and Ingall, before a safety car was called when the Astra of Bryce Fullwood hit Nathan Morcom’s Hyundai at Turn 9, beaching the latter.

Ingall’s charge came to a sudden halt as the Russell Ingall had a torrid time at Sandown, spinning in Race 2 and failing to start the final.

safety car boards came out, he locked up the rears at Turn 1 and spun into the outside wall and into the sand trap.

The safety car was good for Cox as he closed on Girolami and was all over him on the restart, but the WTCR star defended ably as Cox’s attention soon turned to Martin in third. Tander was on the comeback trail and was pressuring Martin, later passing him at Turn 1 after contact between the two drivers in front allowed Moffat into second.

The battle between Cox and Tander was willing, the two colliding at Turn 3, which was detrimental to Martin’s race as the recovering Audi damaged the right-front steering.

Another safety car stipulated proceedings when the second Alliance Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR driven by Alexandra Whitley had an earth wire short and stopped exiting Turn 4.

The restart was poor for second placed Moffat, which held up the rest of the field and made it easy for Tander to take second.

It wasn’t a race for the series leaders. O’Keeffe was best placed in sixth, while a mistake at Turn 1 of the restart dropped Brown to 12th, but fortunes reversed when O’Keeffe went off at Turn 2 and dropped behind his title rival.

Cox continued to run third, but Heimgartner clawing his way back from his bad start the previous day, though it hurt Cox after he was spun by the Kiwi at Turn 4.

Out front, 1.5s separated Girolami and Tander as Moffat took third.

It was another perfect start from Girolami to kick

CARSALES TCR AUSTRALIA POINTS AFTER ROUND 6 Brown 625, O’Keeffe 481, D’Alberto 473, Cameron 454, Morcom 436.

off the final event, as teammate D’Alberto got the jump on Tander.

Brown was another to make a great start, but that ended when he lost it at Turn 2 and backed his i30 N TCR into the tyres. The Hyundai was undamaged and he recovered to finish in seventh, to secure the title.

O’Keeffe was having another one of those weekends. After damaging his car in the second race, the front splitter was disconnected from the Alfa and he struggled in the final race to 11th.

Tander moved into second, quickly leaving D’Alberto to defend from Fullwood, Bright, Heimgartner and Cox. The leading Audi quickly made a break and attempted to chase down Girolami, but it was to no avail.

Behind the lead pair, Heimgartner moved up to third, but was later penalised for passing Bright under yellows, caused by Whitley’s stranded Golf again.

Cox found the going tough in his recovery drive as he toured the Turn 2 and 3 grass two laps in a row and ran wide at Turn 1 on numerous occasions, but a tyre came off the rim on the final lap, leaving him stranded at Turn 4.

With the title over and done with, the battle for second now heats up as D’Alberto sits just eight points in arrears of O’Keeffe heading to The Bend finale in November.

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SHANNONS

Sandown

THRILLING SUPER3 FINALE Report: Dan McCarthy Images: Insyde Media THE 2019 Super3 Series went down to the wire with Broc Feeney edging out his opposition to become the youngest ever Supercars’ winner across its three tiers.

Jayden Ojeda, Hamish Ribarits and Zak Best were all in contention to take the title but 16-year-old Feeney emerged victorious.

Holden driver Josh Fife won the final round of the Super3 Series, to give ‘The General’ its only round win of the year, while Feeney finished second overall ahead of Ribarits.

In the Kumho Cup class Matt Stone Racing driver Bradley Neill took the title, while Dean Lillie claimed the round honours.

The opening race of the weekend started behind the safety car due to heavy rain, but the caution quickly ended and the action kicked off with Feeney leading away.

Brad Jones Racing driver Fife made a move into Turn 9 on Ojeda, the two making contact and Ojeda ran through the gravel trap

dropping him down the order.

In the wet conditions Feeney struggled Josh Fife out front and was first overtaken by gave BJR its Ribarits then by Fife a couple of laps first Super3 later. win of the That was the way it remained until the year. chequered flag dropped with Ribarits taking the win from Fife and Feeney, while Ojeda limited the damage coming home jumped to second ahead of Feeney, Ribarits fifth. and Best.

In the Kumho Cup class Steven Page took Rain began to fall and increased in the closing stages, Ojeda struggled late on and the honours finishing ahead of Lillie.

When the lights went out to start Race 2 both dropped behind both Feeney and Ribarits.

Fife was able to cruise to his first win in the Ribarits and Feeney lost positions, Feeney fell as far back as seventh during the opening lap. series by 2s over Feeney, Ribarits and Ojeda.

Heading into the final race Feeney knew if The race settled into a rhythm in the early he finished in the top five the title was his, only stages before the battle for second lit up midOjeda could stop him. way through the race as Best, Ribarits, Ojeda On the approach to Turn 1 the leaders went and Feeney scrapped it out. four wide with Fife leading Feeney, Ribarits It took a couple of laps to sort out and gave and Ojeda at the end of lap 1.

Fife a considerable lead over Ojeda, who

On lap 6 Ojeda overtook Ribarits and made a move on Feeney at Turn 9, and with the series title on his mind Feeney stepped aside and allowed his sole remaining title challenger through.

The race calmed down in the final laps allowing Fife to take his second victory and the round, Ojeda came home second ahead Feeney.

Kumho Cup also went down to the wire though when Jim Pollicina spun on lap 1 of the final race it handed victory to Neill. Lillie took the third race.

LOVING SANDOWN Report: Dan McCarthy Images: Insyde Media

AARON LOVE took out the penultimate round of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge at Sandown Raceway after taking two of the three race victories.

Series leader Harri Jones took pole position after edging out South Australian Max Vidau in qualifying.

Vidau made a poor start in Race 1 and fell to fifth, while Jones was able to hold the lead.

Stalked by Ryan Suhle, the pair overtook Tom Taplin and Christian Pancione. However, on lap 8 heading into Turn 9 Suhle shot up the inside, the two made contact, and Vidau ran through the gravel trap.

Love overtook Jones but could not gap him as the rain began to fall. Suhle was a man on a mission and caught up to the leading pair on the final lap. Jones touched the rear of Love on the exit of Turn 4 which compromised his own exit and

allowed Suhle to overtake him into Turn 6.

Suhle then tried to take the lead at Turn 11, he and Love made side-to-side contact on approach, which flicked Suhle into a spin at Turn 11.

Love took the win from Jones and Pancione, Suhle fell to fourth, while Vidau came home fifth.

In the second race Love and Jones made poor starts which resulted in the cars going four wide on the approach to Turn 1.

Into Turn 4 Taplin fed Vidau wide onto the grass and was handed a drive through penalty for the incident. Vidau fell to the back of the top 10.

By the end of lap 3 the field sorted itself out, with Pancione ahead of Suhle, Love and Jones.

Despite leading, Pancione did not have the pace of the other drivers behind. On lap 5, Suhle fired up the inside of Pancione into Turn 1 but ran wide

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and dropped to third.

Within the space of a lap Pancione was demoted to fourth behind Love, Suhle and Jones.

Love held the lead until the chequered flag, defeating Suhle, Jones, Pancione and the recovering Vidau.

Vidau made a great start, leaping from fifth to second in the final event, as Jones fell to fifth.

Further back at Turn 1, a multiple car incident involving a number of Pro Am and Class B contenders brought out the safety car.

After the race restarted, Suhle and Pancione battled hard for third, which allowed Jones to slip

by the pair.

Vidau also put pressure on Love who cracked, locking up and running wide at Turn 9, putting the South Australian into the lead.

Vidau held onto take the win ahead of Love and Jones, who took out the 2019 Jim Richards Endurance Trophy.

Brett Boulton took Am honours in the opening race but Sam Shahin bounced back to take the final two victories in the class and with it the class honours for the round. David Grieg’s two wins and second were also enough to see him win the round in class B.

AUDI PAIR TAKE ENDURO TITLE

MUSTERING MUSTANG ALTERNATING DRIVES in the four legs of the penultimate round of the Australian Production Car Series brought Coleby Cowham, Lindsay Kearns and their Ford Mustang a maiden victory.

Rounding out the weekend’s podium were Iain Sherrin (Class A1 BMW M4) and points leaders Chris Lillis and Nathan Callaghan (Class AM1 HSV Clubsport R8).

The opener was won by Rick Bates (Class A2 Mitsubishi EVO X) from Cowham and Sherrin. But alleged boost discretions disqualified the EVO and elevated Callaghan to third. The race was delayed 20mins when Alf Senese fenced his Class C Hyundai i30N on the out lap. Sherrin led until his compulsory pitstop. The only safety car was brought out when James Goldsborough (Class C BMW 130i) and class rival Jake Camilleri (Mazda 3 MPS) stopped on track.

Kearns had a tentative lead in Race 2 until spinning on the penultimate lap, which

Aaron Love feels the pressure from Max Vidau.

handed victory to Sherrin. Klae Eckhardt (BMW 135i) finished third, but was relegated two grid spots after contact with Robert Coulthard (Clubsport). The incident dropped the latter to fifth behind Lillis. Bates charged to 10th before pitting to check boost, and electing not to continue.

Race 3 started behind the safety car due to a downpour and oil on the circuit. It was a 4WD benefit with Dimitri Agathos (B1 Subaru Impreza WRX STi) leading, only to succumb to Bates. Cem Yucel (Class C VW Golf R) finished third.

Bates proved too strong in the dry of Race 4, although he lost the lead to the charging Sherrin early. After the compulsory pitstops, Bates was not troubled to the flag. Kearns came out in second, but was overtaken by Sherrin late to finish third. GOB

THE UNIQUE format of the final round of the Australian Endurance Championship delivered Peter Hackett and the Eggleston Motorsport Mercedes-AMG outright honours, while the title went to Geoff Emery and Garth Tander in their Audi Sport R8 LMS. Meanwhile GT4 race honours and the championship went to Glenn Wood and Justin McMillan (KTM X-Bow).

Hackett held a 9s margin ahead Fraser Ross (McLaren 720S), with Joseph Ensabella (Lamborghini Huracan) 7.3s further adrift at the end of the first leg.

Hackett led at the outset, until passed by Ross on lap 17.

Emery held third through the opening laps and finished the leg in sixth behind Dale Paterson (Chev Camaro) and Brendon Woods (Daytona Coupe).

The second stage started behind the safety car in road order with the lapped cars intermingled with the leaders. Hackett held

a tentative lead over Ross before the next round of pit stops, where Ryan Simpson took over the McLaren and the lead.

Simpson had a handy lead at the end of the hour, from Hackett, while Liam Talbot was a lap back having taken over from Ensabella. Tander was next from Paterson.

Woods and Ben Schoots (Sin R1 GT) were non-starters for the final leg which was led home by Hackett with a lap’s advantage over Tander and a further lap back to Talbot.

Simpson led through to the final pitstop but the McLaren was soon back with a holed radiator and out of the event. Paterson also suffered a similar fate after a data spike threatened engine life. GOB

s w e n Y A D E E SP

Speedway legend Garry Rush was a top 10 finisher at The Mountain in 1987 alongside Tony Noske. Images: Nakita Pollock/Full Throttle Publishing/AA Archive

The transition from speedway to circuit racing isn’t new. Here Geoff Rounds reflects on some of the more successful drivers to have been successful in both.

FOR DECADES the Bathurst 1000 has attracted some of Australia’s best speedway racers.

So, is it hard making the transition from dirt to bitumen and vice versa?

The most famous driver to successfully tackle both was Sir Jack Brabham, who set a record that is likely to never be beaten in winning three Formula 1 World Championships and was also a triple Australian Speedcar Champion between 1949-1953.

The Mountain wasn’t as kind to him, however, when infamously the Holden Torana L34 he shared with British motor sport legend Sir Stirling Moss got stuck in gear on the start line in 1976 and was hit from behind.

The next year Brabham raced a Ford XC Falcon Hardtop with eldest son Geoff, finishing 18th, before saving his best result for last, a sixth partnering Brian Muir in a Holden Torana A9X. Max Dumesny is no stranger to contesting both disciplines, either, having competed in the 1996 Australian Touring Car Championship in a John Sidney-prepped Ford EL Falcon. Sharing with Sports Sedan champion Kerry Bailey, he finished 12th at Bathurst and has vivid recollections of the day.

“I remember it was raining that year at Bathurst,” Dumesny told Auto Action.

“We ran a few races and had a few motor problems so it wasn’t smooth sailing and we didn’t get a whole lot of racing in beforehand.

“We’d didn’t do as much racing as I would’ve liked to before getting to Bathurst. It all went pretty well once the rain settled down, we got into a rhythm and we ended up the first privateer home in the whole field, that was a highlight. Racing the NASCAR helped, we had done quite a few laps and that helped getting an international license. It’s a different deal totally, really. It’s just knowing your limits, how much brake can you use and how much grip do these cars have.

Speedway is a totally different feel in your arse, you can feel the car.”

During 1974 multiple Bathurst winner Jim Richards ran a fuel-injected 350 Monaro V8 at Auckland’s Waikaraka Park Speedway, while Perth businessman Geoff Kendrick joined Dumesny as one of 46 entries on the grid in ’96 in a Holden Commodore VR. He completed 99 of the 161 laps and finished 26th with teammate Geoff Full.

Garry Rush is iconic in Speedway and a 10-time Australian Sprintcar Champion, and he also branched out to tackle Mount Panorama on four occasions.

“I first went to Bathurst in 1970, then 1971, then after that it was 1987, it was totally different to anything I had done.”

He’d teamed up with Damon Beck in ‘70 who crashed the Baldwin Ford GTHO Phase III 13 laps from the finish, leaving them classified 11th in Class E. “The average guy could drive one of those cars fast for a few laps but by then the brake pedal would go down so far that the best you could say was that it retarded the car rather than stopped it. You then had to scrub off speed by putting the car sideways, which would wear the tyres out and make you go sideways even more.

“Bathurst is a demanding track, you don’t race the other guys, you race the track.”

A connection with Tony Noske from the early 1980s saw Rush in later years grab what he craved – a top 10 finish.

“I was running the Sprintcar at Warrnambool,” recalls Rush, “when someone asked me if it was

www.autoaction.com.au

SPEEDWAY CONVERTS Max Dumesny raced a full season of touring cars, while also being highly successful on the dirt. Today, Tickford driver Cam Waters goes the other way, taking to the dirt when he can.

true that I was co-driving with Tony. A week later he asked me to drive an ex-Larry Perkins Kalari Transport Services VK Commodore. It was my best result at Bathurst after a couple of Sierras were disqualified we were bumped up to ninth,” he said in Garry Rush The Master Blaster book. Rush had his final fling at Mount Panorama in 1990 when he joined Terry Shiel to co-drive with Ray Lintott in a Ford Sierra. The turbocharged four-cylinder RS500 was, according to Rush, “the second time I was nervous in a race car.”

John Harvey is synonymous with Bathurst but he was also a top Speedcar driver during the 1950s and 1960s. He won the NSW Championship for three successive years and the Victorian Championship twice, before turning his skills to road racing where he had a long and successful career until his retirement at the end of 1988.

Despite being regarded as one of the best Speedcar drivers in Australia, Harvey switched from Speedway to road racing in 1964 and made a short-lived comeback to racing Speedcars in 1974 at the Liverpool Speedway.

He last drove the legendary #13 Holden Special built in 1945 around Sydney Showground in 2007 in an exhibition drive.

“That was extremely special. It was possibly the most successful car I’ve ever driven in race wins. It was just a car that was very special to me, let’s face it, it’s a Holden,” Harvey said that night.

Long-time V8 Supercar driver Paul Morris holds the unique distinction of being the only driver to win on both Speedway and grab victory on the mountain.

He teamed with Chaz Mostert in 2014 to take the top step of the Bathurst podium.

Morris is somewhat of a warrior in motorsport and the only person to have won all three major car racing events at Mount Panorama; the Bathurst 1000, Bathurst 6 Hour and Bathurst 12 Hour.

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He has competed mainly around the Queensland region in his Sprintcar and is best friends with the world’s best Sprintcar pilot, American Donny Schatz, who races in Australia each summer.

“Stepping into a sprintcar has been a learning experience but I have picked it up pretty well,” Morris said.

“It’s like with everything else, the more experience you have, the better you become. Sprintcars are a whole new ball game and totally different to anything else I’ve ever driven. They’re short, fast and wild and I love driving them.”

Terry Wyhoon and Bruce Williams were both racing side-by-side with each other in the now defunct but very popular AUSCAR championship in the 1990s.

They have both raced at Bathurst and competed in Speedway at various times while Frank Gardner, Ron Wanless, Gene Cook, Peter Gazzard and Barry Lawrence also join the select group that’s raced on both the dirt and asphalt.

Tasmanian sedan racer Greg Crick was the inaugural winner of Targa Tasmania and a strong privateer Supercars campaigner in the 1990s, and also a regular on Australian Speedways. He also notched up three top-10 finishes in the Bathurst 1000 and can count himself among those dirt drivers to have qualified for a Supercars Top 10 Shootout.

There’s also been some of Touring Car’s best get behind a 850 horse-powered Sprintcar including Larry Perkins, Russell Ingall, Steven Johnson, Wayne

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Gardner, Steven Richards, Greg Murphy, Jason Bright, Garth Tander and Jamie Whincup.

Tander loves nothing more than being on the crew for longtime friend and neighbour Mike Van Bremen, a multiple state champion who drives for Dave Challons.

On his annual pilgrimage to race at the 2017 Bathurst 1000, Tander made a stop at Sydney’s Valvoline Speedway and fulfilled a lifetime dream. The three-time Bathurst champion took up the offer of a drive in Marcus Duemsny’s Sprintcar, gaining some valuable tips from past ex Garry Rogers Motorsport driver - Max Dumseny.

“That was cool. It was everything I expected it to be and more for sure. I’ve got a few mates that race, so I think I’ll go watch them,” Tander said. ““My father was on a crew in Perth at Claremont in tthe late 1970s. I started in dirt karts alongside the Krikke family from Bunbury. My friendship with them Kri and their son Shane began and I stayed hooked on Speedway.

Spe “The difference is the power and I don’t think I got “T past half throttle. The thing that stood out for me is pas how direct the steering is.”

There will again be a Speedway flavour in this year’s Th Great Race with sometime dirt racers Cam Waters, Richie Stanaway and Garry Jacobson all competing.

During 2018, Waters of Mildura won the National Modified Sedan Title at Horsham in regional Victoria in a FGX Ford Falcon, marking his biggest achievement in Speedway.

Earlier this year Waters had his first drive of a Sprintcar around Northline Speedway in Darwin and is currently building a Mercedes Benz for his upcoming 2019-20 Speedway season with his brother Jarrod.

“The Sprintcar is different to the Mustang and it gives you a very different driving style. The fundamental of driving a car is car control and discipline and Speedway teaches you that quite well I feel,” Waters told Auto Action.

“The Speedway has a different element in the fact that you’re always reading the track and setting the car up for the track. It teaches you to adapt a lot and in the Supercar once you have a line and what the car likes, you don’t try to change it too much, certainly nowhere near as much as you would in a Speedway car.

“It’s cool and there’s a lot more finesse with driving the Supercar with so much heel and toe so you don’t lock the rears, whereas on the Speedway it’s a lot more raw. You don’t really use the brakes a whole lot but in the Supercar it’s probably based around that (braking). That’s probably the biggest difference I guess.”

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p ra w S L A NATION

compiled by garry o’brien

BLAST FROM THE PAST AT BASKERVILLE

IT WAS a weekend for anniversaries at the SRT Logistics-Penrite Baskerville Historics Blast from the Past in Tasmania on September 20-22.

Not only was it the 10th Anniversary of the second biggest event on the Tasmanian motorsport calendar, the popular three-day meeting also celebrated the 60th Anniversary of the Mini and the 50th Anniversary of Elfin.

Now a staple of the Baskerville Historics, the Muscle Car Cup was again a highlight, as was the Chris Ellis Memorial Minis-Only race.

Minis led the way in Group Nb under 3.0-litre and Group Nc under 2.0-litre as well, with South Australian Jason Armstrong winning all four races in his Mini Cooper S, and also claiming the

Magnificant ‘Humpy’ Holdens are a Tasmanian institution.

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John Talbot was unbeaten while Camaro rival Darren Pearce was spectacular .

Images: Angryman Photography

Peter Williams in the pretty Brabham BT21A.

Chris Ellis Memorial Trophy as icing on the cake.

A passing shower on the second lap of the Chris Ellis Trophy made things interesting for much of the field, but didn’t deter the leaders with Armstrong taking a close-fought victory over fellow South Australian Justin Elvie and local Jeremy Bennett. They also finished second and third respectively in the Nc class for the weekend.

On track performance had nothing to do with engine capacity, with the under 2.0-litres showing the way over Nb. Those honours went to Lachlan Thomas (Ford Escort) who chased the leading Mini trio all weekend, to finish fourth overall with a class victory.

The Elfin Anniversary saw almost half the grid of Historic Sports and Racing Cars made up of the Aussie-grown marque.

Multiple Formula Vee champion Noel Clark showed he was equally as capable with plenty more horsepower, dominating in his

Scott Cordwell leads Michael Cross in a Torana battle.

Adam Garwood won all five races in the spectacular Capri TCM racer.

Elfin marque curator Bill Hemming demonstrates the spectacular MR8C F5000.

Elfin 700 AF2, also setting a new class lap record in the third race. Completing an Elfin clean sweep of the podium was Victorian Laurie Bennett (Elfin 600B) and NSW’s Malcolm Boyd (Elfin 792 F2).

The Muscle Car Cup was dominated

by Adam Garwood (Ford Capri Perana), winning all five races. Fellow young gun Adam Williams (Holden Torana SS Hatchback) was able to take the fight up to Garwood on occasions, but couldn’t keep the pressure on for an entire race.

Jared House (Holden Torana L34) finished third for the weekend after some interesting battles with Leigh Forrest (Toyota Celica Turbo), who recovered from a broken turbo boost hose to finish fourth. Kim Barwick (Holden Commodore) was also in the mix until a major off track excursion at the end of the back straight in the final race cost him valuable points, dropping him to sixth overall.

One of the more entertaining classes over the weekend was Nb over 3.0-litre and Nc over 2.0-litre. While John Talbot (Ford Mustang) was unbeaten, the entertainment was all happening behind him with Darren Pearce (Chev Camaro), adopting a “win it or bin it” philosophy on the Sunday.

After breaking two throttle cables on the Saturday and blasting through the field to finish second in races three and four on Sunday, all eyes were on Pearce with some spectacular, at times sideways, driving. In the fifth and final race, Pearce overcooked it on the opening lap, ending his weekend ignominiously, to be placed seventh overall. A trio of Toranas also entertained with some great battles for third involving John Douglas, Michael Cross and Scott Cordwell.

In Group S and Invited, Queenslander Stan Adler had a great weekend, winning all five races in his Porsche 911 Carerra, ahead of Lincoln Spurr (MGB V8) and Michael Byrne (Lotus Seven S4). Martin Agatyn

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NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie

ARC Round 5 ADELAIDE HILLS

Report: Heath McAlpine Images: Wishart Media/CAMS

BATES TAKES ARC TITLE IN ADELAIDE THE AUSTRALIAN Rally Championship title is now decided with one round still to go, after Harry Bates and John McCarthy guided their Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia Toyota Yaris AP4 to victory in the Adelaide Hills Rally.

Changeable weather conditions played havoc with set-up and tyre choice, but that didn’t worry Molly Taylor and Malcolm Read in their Subaru do Motorsport Subaru Impreza WRX STI, as the duo won the opening two stages of the event.

The Subaru led for most of the rally before a spate of stage wins late in the heat continued Bates’ unbeaten streak this season. Taylor and Read pushed hard in Heat 2, but just missed breaking Bates and McCarthy’s stranglehold by a mere 0.2s.

Victory for Bates and McCarthy comfortably gave the pair this year’s ARC title, the second-generation rally driver now joining father Neal on the honour board.

“Absolutely, I’m completely lost for words

Luke Anear finished just off the podium in fourth.

Harry Bates extended his unblemished run to 10 heat wins in a row.

at the moment, I can’t quite believe it,” Harry Bates said.

“It was an incredible day and our team were here to see it and yeah it was all very special.”

McCarthy was equally pleased to finally win a title.

“We should be pretty proud of ourselves.

Molly Taylor fell agonisingly short of snarring a heat win in Adelaide, 0.2s to be exact.

I think we’ve done a pretty good job managing everything this year,” McCarthy added.

“Everyone speaks very highly of the talent we have in Australia. We’ve got a good championship and it deserves to grow.”

Taylor was pleased by her performance in the Subaru, giving her plenty of confidence heading to the final round at Coffs Harbour.

“We really wanted the heat win and coming so close leaves the fire burning even more for Coffs Harbour and the battle for second in the Championship is on,” Taylor said.

“We really want to finish the season strongly.

“I know 0.2s, you look back in car and ARC - ADELAIDE HILLS RALLY RESULTS

you can see that everywhere and it’s torturing. Overall it was a great day, we fought hard and it’s the first time this year we’ve been able to be in that position where we could potentially get a heat win.”

Rounding out the top three was the second Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia Yaris AP4 of Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin, while fourth was a great result for the AGI Sport Ford Fiesta R5 of Luke Anear and co-driver Andy Sarandis, after rolling the car at the previous round.

Fifth overall were John O’Dowd and Toni Feaver in their Skoda Fabia R5, while ARC 2WD honours went to Trevor Stilling and Larisa Biggar in a Nissan Slivia.

The final round of the ARC takes place at Coffs Coast on November 15-17.

1st H. Bates/McCarthy Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia Toyota Yaris AP4 2nd Taylor/Read Subaru do Motorsport Subaru Impreza WRX STI P5 3rd L. Bates/McLoughlin Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia Toyota Yaris AP4 4th Anear/Sarandis AGI Sport Ford Fiesta R5 5th O’Dowd/Feaver Truck Wholesale WA Skoda Fabia R5 ARC Points: H. Bates/McCarthy 284, L. Bates/McLoughlin 178, Taylor/Read 176, O’Dowd/Feaver 124, Anear/Sarandis 113

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Ange An gelo lo Mouzouris Mou ouzo zour uris iss Angelo won the national Formula Ford title.

MOUZOURIS TAKES TITLE AT THE ISLAND Race Report: Dan McCarthy Images: Rebecca Hind/Revved Photography THE FINAL round of the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championship encompassing the concluding round of the Australian Formula Ford Series, took place at Phillip Island last weekend. Solid grids and close racing were the highlights over the course of the event as Angelo Mouzouris won the national title.

FORMULA FORD

ANGELO MOUZOURIS claimed the national Formula Ford championship after an intense season of racing. The Sonic Motor Racing driver finished the round off the podium but was able to clinch the title. In the state series it was Benjamin D’Allia who took the honours. He struggled in the final round against the national series, but came into the final round with a big margin and it was enough to see him take the crown. In the Kent Class, Brendan Jones took the Victorian title and Tim Hamilton took the national crown. It was a good day for Hamilton who also won the final round. The race victories in outright National Formula Ford were split, with Zac Soutar winning Race 1, Mouzouris winning in a wet second race, and Jay Hanson won the final race, his first in national level Formula Ford. It was the consistent Soutar who earnt the round victory from Hanson and Callum Hedge. In Kent, Hamilton won Races 1 and 3 with Jarrod Costello taking out the second race.

HYUNDAI EXCELS

A STAGGERING 58 Hyundai Excels took to the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit which saw the cars stretched back around the final corner. When Auto Action went to press the round results had not been posted, due to an ongoing investigation into a controversial collision in the final race of the weekend. In the first race Ben Grice took the race victory ahead of Copper Webster by just 0.17s, with Adam Bywater in third. In Race 2 Grice and Webster both broke the lap record, but again it was Grice who edged out Webster by an even smaller margin of under 0.05s with Nathan Blight 0.7s back. The third and final race finished under safety car due to John Thorn rolling on the exit of Honda, fortunately without injury. Webster was leading at the time the safety car was called and therefore took the victory ahead of Grice and Liam Gretgrix.

1 was won by Jamieson, but Beare fought back to win the second, the pair fighting hard in the final race with Jamieson taking it by 0.18s.

Rick Newman won the final race & the round.

FORMULA VEE

IMPROVED PRODUCTION

IT WAS a superb title defence for Luke Grech-Cumbo in Improved Production driving his HSV Senator, however he did not have the pace to match Adam Poole who won all three races in the final round.

Holden Monaro driver Poole controlled the opening two races beating home Nathan Robinson and Grech-Cumbo. The champion did fight back in Race 3 getting the better of Robinson, but was still no match for Poole, who took the round ahead of Grech-Cumbo and Robinson.

SPORTS SEDANS

IT WAS a tie on points in Sports Sedans between the Ford Falcon driven by Rick Newman and the Chevrolet Corvette of Dean Camm. As Newman won the final race the round victory was awarded to him, with Francois Habib rounding out the podium.

Camm dominated the opening race, but was kept honest in Race 2. The final was a thriller with a three way fight up front, this time Newman led home Camm and Ian Cowley, the trio separated by just 1.1s at the line.

HISTORIC TOURING CARS

THE GRID may have been small but the racing in the Historic Touring cars was action packed. It was Darryl Hansen who took all race victories in a weekend dominated by Ford Mustangs. Hansen took the round honours from Michael Miceli and Andrew Clempson.

HQS

THE HQS drivers put on a show at The Island with Andrew McLeod taking the round victory. However it was the other Andrew, Maglilton, who beat him by 0.02s in Race 1. McLeod bounced back in Race 2 to lead home Magilton and Ryan Woods. it was the same order in the third race but a superb battle throughout had the trio separated by 0.7s at the line.

SALOON CARS

TRAVIS LINDORFF won the Saloon Cars series in his VY Holden Commodore, but it was South Australian visitor Shawn Jamieson who won the round from Anthony Beare and Lindorff. Holden dominated the weekend with Ford taking just one podium finish. Race

JAKE ROWE won the Formula Vee state series while Nicholas Jones won the final round. The top four were separated by just 0.04s in the opening race, Heath Collinson leading home Adam Slattery Jnr, Jones and Rowe. It was much the same in Race 2 and 3 also, Jones beating Slattery and Collinson in Race 2. Jones backed it up in Race 3 taking the win by 0.01s from Davin Field with Collinson third. The round results saw Jones on top from Collinson and Field.

SPORTS CARS

THE 2019 Sports Car series was dominated

by Joseph Ensabella, however the Porsche driver struggled to match the pace of Wayne Mack in his Ferrari 458 who dominated all three races. Mack won the race by 12s from Ensabella in the opening event and won by a similar margin in Race 2. Ensabella did not it to the grid in the final race, allowing Mack to lead home Manny Mezzasalma and Brandan Woods in both the final race and round results.

PORSCHE 944S

CAMERON BELLER dominated the Porsche 944 Series in 2019 and it was fitting that he clean swept the final round, however he did not have things his own way. Beller won Race 1 but had to fight for the victories on Sunday, John Kennedy finished just 0.14s behind Beller in the second race. Race 3 featured a three car scrap with Beller, Kennedy and Tony Westaway. Again it was Beller who came out on top, from Kennedy and Westaway which was the also order of the round.

“Coming up at the nation’s action and spectator tracks” Wakefield Park

www.wakefieldpark.com.au October 3 Speed Off The Street/Test & Tune October 4-6 26th Cobra Nationals October 7 Circuit Club October 10 PR Tech October 12-13 PCRA

Winton

www.wintonraceway.com.au October 4 Test & Tune – Cars & Open Wheelers October 6 Champions Ride Day October 7 Lotus Club October 10 Test & Tune – Cars & Open Wheelers October 12-13 AROCA 12 Hour

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p ra w S L A N IO NAT

n compiled by garry o’brie

CHAMPS EXCEL AT THE BEND CIRCUIT EXCELS were the stars of the show at round four of the South Australian Motor Racing Championships, which returned to The Bend Motorsport Park on September 14-15.

CIRCUIT EXCELS

THE USUAL protagonists Asher Johnston and Michael Clemente were upstaged by Ben Grice, who won all five races and lowered the lap record twice. Johnston had to settle for best of the rest but did spend some time at the front of the pack and made Grice work hard for his victories.

Clemente’s weekend was punctuated by minor clutch problems, which required a quick pit stop in race two to rectify.

That left him outside the top three overall before a strong drive from 33rd in race three to finish eighth, a highlight for the young Victorian.

James Benford was never far from

HEINRICH TAKES ANOTHER

the leaders and was rewarded with third for the event.

FORMULA VEES

THREE WINS to two ensured Joel Oliver (Jacer V2K) battled hard with Adam Newton (Sabre 02) to take top spot in the 1600s with Peter Hood (Jacer V2K) a lonely third. The score sheet was the same in 1200s with Rob Surnam (Stag) showing the way to Matthew Bialek (Spectre) and Frank Chessell (Elfin Crusader).

IMPROVED PRODUCTION/SALOON CARS

MAKING HIS first series appearance for the year, Adam Poole (Holden Monaro) carved his way from the back of the grid to place third in race

Images: David Batchelor

one. He then made a clean sweep of wins in the remaining races to be best overall. Victorian Robert Braune (BMW E30) claimed the opening win and then spent the next two days fending off tough opposition from Grant Maitland (Nissan Silvia), and that was the way they ended in the points. Peter Holmes grabbed the Saloon Car win after fellow Holden Commodore VT driver Shaun Jamieson’s demise on Saturday.

PRODUCTION SPORTS/ SPORTS CARS

PORSCHE 911 driver Nicholas Paul had Panayot Boyaci (Porsche 991) piling on the pressure throughout the event with the pair both taking their share of race wins. Paul just edged out his rival for the overall win. Paul Mitolo (Ferrari 458) was never far behind the duelling Porsches and claimed third.

With four wins out of five, Daniel Gonzalez (Wolf Tornado) was victorious over Mark Laucke (Wolf)

before the latter gained the upper hand in the last. West WR100 pilots filled the minors with Michael Naguib initially and then Paul Trengrove in the other four.

FORMULA FORDS/ HISTORICS

MAKING THE most of Paul Di Biase’s (Spectrum 011B) misfortune, Matthew Roesler (Spectrum 011C) took out the Formula Ford Duratecs , well clear of Matthew (Mygale SJ09A) and Sam Woodland (Van Diemen RF06).

Cameron Walters (Van Diemen RF86) won at will in Historic Formula Fords, well clear of Sean Whelan (Reynard F84), while Lyndon Arnel (Lola T440) had to work a little bit harder for his third place.

Simon Gardiner (Lola T560) looked set to whitewash the Historic Racing & Sports but didn’t front in the final outing, handing the win to Andrew Ford (Birrana 274) with Jim Doig (Motorlab Asp) trailing into third.

David Batchelor

ADDING ANOTHER title to a growing list, Joel Heinrich is the 2019 HQ Holden Nationals Champion after winning the ADA/Tyrepower final at The Bend Motorsport Park on September 14-15.

Taking out the Saloon Car Nationals at the same venue last year, the 2018 Aussie Racing Car Series winner qualified fastest despite breaking a gearbox. It was changed before race one which he then won, followed by wins in races three and five.

Brett Osborn got the jump on the 48-car field at the start of the final with Heinrich glued to his bumper for the first two laps. Heinrich made his move on the next lap and after a safety car to retrieve Jack Harrison’s stranded car, set about extending his lead which he held to the flag.

Osborn fell back into the clutches of Andrew Magilton who had shown good pace in the heats. Magilton went on to take second ahead of Osborn, Brandon Madden and Chris Molle.

Osborn had won races four and six which was a 10-lap epic against Magilton. Madden blew two head gaskets over the weekend, a fate shared by many others, and managed to take the win in race two.

Bruce Heinrich probably made the most passing moves over the two days, coming from last in race three to finish sixth, and then coming from 15th in the final to cross the line seventh.

Scott Goding led from start to finish in the repechage, with Michael Woodbridge giving chase in the early laps. The latter was overrun

by Darren Parker and Shaun Boland, who went on to fill the minors. DB

SEASON WINDING DOWN FOR MRA WAKEFIELD PARK hosted the penultimate round of the Motor Racing Australia Series, taking a number of the supporting categories for round eight on September 15.

SUPER TT

TODD HERRING was looking a likely Super TT champion but had a character-building day.

First, in qualifying, he had to take to the dirt to avoid a slower car, launching his Mazda MX5 high into the air and breaking the rear suspension on landing. Herring didn’t record a time and started race one from the back, yet quickly made his way through the traffic. He was holding second behind Ashley Slavkovic (Nissan Silvia) after four laps, before the Mazda’s battery fell out of its mount, damaged in the earlier incident.

Slavkovic went on to win from Scott Williams (Silvia) and Dave Masing (2WD Mitsubishi Lancer).

Herring started from the back again and put in another fine demonstration of passing to finish behind Slavkovic in race two, this despite the rear suspension still not being right – the

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upper mounts were damaged too.

Masing was third again.

In race three, Herring took the lead from the start with Slavkovic close behind in second. And that’s how they ran out, with Masing third again.

The championship went to the very consistent Parry Anastakis in his Peugeot 205.

HYUNDAI EXCELS

BATTLING HARD and close all day were Paul Quinn and Wil Longmore, sharing the honours. Longmore took pole and won the opening race, with Quinn taking the second and third.

Longmore led early in the final, Quinn finding a gap after seven laps and

holding on for the win. Preston Bruest netted two thirds and Jessica Martin the other.

SUPERKARTS

AFTER TAKING pole Aaron Cogger (Avoig) won the first three of four races.

Cogger was leading the final, set for a clean sweep before a mechanical issue stopped his run after seven laps.

Adam Stewart (Stockman) had taken three second places and was perfectly placed to swoop when Cogger stopped.

The two had raced closely together all day and Stewart’s win was welldeserved. Shane Varley (Arrow) took second from Warren McGrouther (CRG).

Images: Bruce Moxon

MX5s/ALFA VELOCE

FOLLOWING ON from the successful blending of the two classes earlier

in the year, the two marques joined forces again, though it was the moredeveloped Mazdas that held sway.

Curran Brennan took pole, but Tim Herring took the first two races and was leading the final, before a mechanical issue stopped him after four laps.

Brennan took the final win, from Stuart McFadyen and David Lawler.

Daniel Gatto (GTV6) had been best of the Alfas all day, but a couple of spins kept him from the top spot in the final, that going to David Capraro (Alfa GT).

Bruce Moxon

PACE THERE IN THE END FORMULA VEES featured on a packed round five program of the QR Drivers Championships with its annual National Challenge at Queensland Raceway on September 14-15.

The 2019 winner was Simon Pace in his Checkmate. He didn’t get the lead until after the last corner on the final lap and won by a mere 0.025s. In doing so he ensured Dylan Thomas (Stinger) was runner-up for a third year in a row, and denied third placed Michael Kinsella (Jacer) a third straight title.

The 12-lap event saw a number of lead changes with Stephen Butcher (Stinger) in front earlier before race one winner Thomas took over. Butcher resumed in front on lap three as the team mates looked to hold sway. However on the penultimate lap race two victor Kinsella grabbed the front running until he and Thomas were run down in the charge to the flag.

Just 1.7s covered the top nine with Craig Sparke (Jacer) fourth in front of Butcher, Darren Williams (Sabre), Curtis Porter (Jacer), Wade McLean (Jacer) and Alex Hedemann (Checkmate). Aaron Pace (Jacer) won race three and finished the last in 10th. The 1200s’ title went to Mathew Pearce (Lepton) for the fourth time, on this occasion ahead of Chris Neil (Spectre).

QLD PRODUCTION CARS

IT WAS a big weekend with the final round of the Sprint Cup and the opening round of the Massel Endurance Cup, which started with a night race.

Justin Anthony (Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG) won the first sprint race ahead of Wade Scott and Robert Gooley in their

respective Mitsubishi EVO 8 and EVO X. Anthony was also first across the line in the second but copped a 30s penalty that relegated him to fifth. Scott finished just behind Anthony and took the victory, clear of Gooley with Gerry Murphy and Daniel Clift next in their Holden Commodores.

Scott was the series A1 winner.

Anthony took A2 with the other classes going to Nathan Townsend (B1 Ford Falcon), Murphy (B2), James Hay (C, VW Scirocco), Andrew Wilton (D, Toyota 86 GTS) and Adam Talbert (E, Mazda 6).

Under lights, Anthony and Karl Begg appeared to have the first of the one-hour endurance races, until a puncture forced them to pit with four laps to go. Wade Scott and Taylor Hurford took over and won ahead of Murphy and Mark Caine, while the Mercedes drivers held on to third. Gooley and Maika Terhost were fourth, finishing on the lead lap while David Homer and Lindsay Kearns (Ford Fiesta) were next best, one lap behind.

Begg and Anthony came back to take out the second enduro, winning comfortably from Scott/Hurford and Gooley/Terhorst. Clift and Ashley Heffernan (Commodore) teamed for fourth ahead of Murphy/Caine. Murphy won the earlier Driver B race ahead of Heffernan and Terhost. Scott won the Drive A outing from Anthony and a close finish between Clift and Gooley.

TRACK ATTACK EXCEL CUP

THE ONE-MAKE category would also have an endurance race, which followed the sixth round sprint races and featured many drivers who generally compete in other categories.

Broc Fenney won the first sprint race

A strong field of Vees headed to Queensland Raceway for the annual National Challenge (above). Steve McFadden and Wayne Hennig battled hard (left) in Production Sports.

Images: MTR Images repositioned to second ahead of Elliott and Hargraves. Meanwhile Scott Tamati (Ford Falcon) was the best of the Production Utes each time. from Darren Whittington, with Scott Green heading a close contest that involved Brett Parrish and Seiton Connor-Young.

The latter proved successful in race two, just holding off round winner Darren Whittington and Parrish. Then it was Whittington’s turn, edging out ConnorYoung with Jaylen Robotham third.

Fenney teamed up with Declan Fraser for the 54-lap enduro, which finished under lights and was at the wheel when first to the chequered flag. The duo beat Parrish and Jayden Robotham by just 0.27s, with Jake Camilleri and Matt Wells finishing third.

Connor-Young and his father Trent Young were a close fourth and were followed by Jordan Boys/Chris Board, Chelsea Angelo/ Ashley Izod, Brendon Strong/Corey Willis and the pole sitters and early pacesetters Will Brown and Whittington.

PRODUCTION SPORTS

PORSCHES DOMINATED the fourth round with Wayne Hennig comfortably accounting for class rival Steven McFadden in the opening two races. The

second pair of outings was a different story with McFadden eclipsing Hennig 0.3s in both.

Third in every race was Tomas Gasperak in the best of 2F Porsches from Lachlan Harburg on three occasions and Joseph Barbagallo once. Kevin Vedelago scored three fifths over Todd O’Brien (Ginetta) before Graham Lusty (Mosler) got ahead of them in the last. Best of the 2Fs was Blake Ulyate (Mazda MX5) who was unbeaten.

QR SPORTS & SEDANS

IT WAS a marquee weekend for MARC Cars with the V8s taking first and second in each of the four races. Geoff Taunton and Adam Hargraves in their MARC IIs were first and second in both Saturday races. Bayley Hall (Focus V8) had a third first-up but had a pitstop in the second where Grant Elliott (BMW E36 M3) was third.

Hall won the next encounter ahead of Taunton, Elliott and Hargraves, and scored in the last after Taunton who was first across the line, was docked 30s and

MCKENZIE IS KING OF B SERIES THE LAST round of the Warwick District Sporting Car Club B Series Super Sprints was held at Morgan Park on September 21-22. It featured yet again an exciting contest to crown the champion, conducted on the 3km K layout.

There was some intense competition between Geoff Noble, Bruce McKenzie, and Stephen Faulks, who all had a chance to be standing on the top step of the Champion’s rostrum.

At the end of the weekend, McKenzie was the overall victor in his Dallara F304 Formula 3 car, two-points ahead of Noble’s Lotus Exige and Faulks rounded out the podium driving his Subaru Impreza WRX STI time attack weapon.

Once again, the Warwick weather was perfect and the event ran very smoothly with very few break downs or incidents. As always, a massive thankyou to all staff and volunteers who make these events so great.

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.

AUSTRALIAN TRANS AM

WITH THREE out of four race wins, Ian Palmer (Pontiac Firebird) was the overall winner of round four. He finished clear of John English (Firebird) and initial leader Anthony Tenkate (Ford Mustang), while Sean Evans (Mustang) retired with a loose accelerator cable.

The latter fought back to fourth behind Palmer, English and Tenkate in race two before winning the split-grid race ahead of Ron Prefontaine (Mustang) and Palmer.

Palmer took the last from Tenkate, English and Evans.

SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP

OVER SIX races it was Dave Barram all the way in his Chiron. West drivers were the best of the rest with David Rodgie (WR 1000) and Chris Purvis (WX10) sharing the second place honours at three apiece.

Grant Green, Adam Gino Beesley and Brilley each had turns at being the best of the Radical SR3 exponents.

GOB Adam McKenzie is B Series Champion after the final round.

Images: Trapnell Creations

The C Series is next for its final round for 2019 and will be held on October 12-13.

This will wrap up the WDSCC Super Sprint Series for the year, however there is a State Championship Super Sprint held on November 16-17 and will be open to all competitors.

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 Bruce McKenzie Geoff Noble Stephen Faulks Matt Plowman Trent Laves Saxon Moyes Paul Buccini Jackson Halloran Rob Bellinger Clive Wade

174 172 158 145 145 135 110 108 106 104

Proudly presented by Warwick District Sporting Car Club Inc for more information visit www.morganparkraceway.com.au

Next Round: Round 4 C Series October 12-13 AutoAction

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NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie

SMITH SITS SECURE IN SUPER TRUCKS CONSISTENCY PAVED the way for Shannon Smith to not only win round three at Winton Raceway on September 14-15, but to also consolidate a handy points lead in the Super Truck Nationals Series.

Robbie Fern and Frank Amoroso finished equal second while Barry Butwell and Marcus Prillwitz were equal fourth. Six time series winner Steven Zammit looked set to dominate after setting sizzling times in practice, but a cracked block ruled his Kenworth out before qualifying.

Butwell (Mack Superliner) kicked off with victory in races one and two, ahead of Smith (Kenworth T900) and Fern (Volvo), who were split by just half a second. There

was a similar margin between Amoroso (Kenworth W900) and Lachlan Fern (Isuzu SBR) as they scrapped for fourth in race one.

Prillwitz (Mack) and Mark Schutz (Isuzu) followed ahead of Anthony Tringali (International Transtar) and the Young Guns Isuzu entry driven by Harvey Dale. In race two Prillwitz nabbed fourth by 0.1s over Amoroso and they were followed by Tringali, Lachlan Fern, Schutz and Dale. Robbie Fern retired with a wheel drama.

Image: Neil Hammond

The third race finished under a safety car after a red flag on the opening lap. Tringali and Prillwitz clashed out of turn 2 with Butwell was also caught out in the incident.

After the restart Tringali had the bonnet come adrift, forcing him to park, which triggered the safety car. Lachlan Fern and Amoroso were both disqualified for passing after the flag.

Butwell was missing from the final race after losing a harmonic balancer in the accident. Amoroso charged from row two to lead after a couple of corners and was never headed from there. Lachlan Fern was second and Robbie Fern held off Smith for third. Then followed Schutz ahead of Marcus Prillwitz, Mitchel Prillwitz in the Young Guns Isuzu, and Tringali. GOB

BIG MIX AT TRUCK MEETING WHILE THE trucks used the older, short Winton Raceway layout, the support categories raced on the more frequently used 3.0km layout on September 14-15.

VIC V8s

ALTHOUGH THEY finished with equal points, Mark Kakouri (Holden Commodore VH) was proclaimed the fourth round winner over Craig Eddy (VH) with Mark Houeix (Commodore VY) third.

Kakouri qualified on the front row for race one, alongside Brian Finn (VT) but was away poorly. While Finn won ahead of Victor Argento (Ford Falcon XB) and Houeix, Kakouri struggled with a fuel pickup issue that relegated him to last.

Finn followed up with a win in race two, ahead of Argento who held off a charging Kakouri. There was no Finn for race three, due to an electrical issue that saw him start out of the pre-grid area and manage just half a lap.

Agento won ahead of Kakouri and Houeix, and lead the last until a spin off at turn 7 left him stranded and allowed Finn to win from Kakouri and Houeix.

THUNDER SPORTS CUP SERIES

NEW TO the category Matt Sears took out round three in his BMW E46/Chev with two race wins, a fourth and a second. Cory Gillett (Nissan S13/Chev) finished as runner-up with a trifecta of second places and a third. Also in a LS-powered S13 was Peter Ryder, who was third overall with a couple of thirds and fourths.

Series leader Mark Tracey (BMW E36/ Chev) was the pacesetter. He qualified fastest but shunted at the end of the session. After missing the opening race, he broke the gearshift in race two and was locked in third.

It was all good for the final outings which

he won and finished fourth overall, ahead of Jon Lawson (Subaru Impreza) who missed qualifying due to a steering issue, and debutant Josh Dowell in his Ford Falcon AU.

U2L SPORTS SEDANS/APRA PULSARS

A WIN in race three of the penultimate round was the key to Shane Brown (Holden Gemini) taking the weekend honours in Sports Sedans and outright. Second went to Craig Lindsell (Mini Cooper S) and third to Steve Howard (Toyota Corolla).

Lindsell was dominant in races one and two, winning both ahead of Howard and Richard Gay (Toyota 86). With a downpour before race three and the sports sedans in the main on slicks, apart from Brown and Simon Hales (Nissan Pulsar) who were first and second, the slick-shod cars were well down the order.

Coming through from the back Howard took out the fourth encounter ahead Brown, Lindsell and Iain McDougall (Cooper S) who missed the first race due to a dead battery.

Among the APRA Pulsars for round four of the Victorian series were several NSW visitors including Josh Haynes, who won the opener ahead of Lee Nuttall and Brad Connelly. It was a one-two in race two for visitors Haynes and Connelly ahead of Nuttall, who surrendered second with an off at the sweeper towards the end.

In the wet race three Connelly not only took the win but finished third outright, in front of Ian Joyce and Greg Dufficy. Haynes was fifth behind Josh Gay while Nuttall was seventh.

Joyce took the last, his first victory, while Connelly crossed second before a 5s penalty

Images: John Doutch Image: Neil Hammond

pushed him to third behind Nuttall.

TIN TOP RACING

OVER THE four races John Hickey and his Holden Commodore VE were victorious.

Running in the Over 2.0-Litre Slick Tyres class, the combination was comprehensive in taking races one and two ahead of Lachlan Granger (Mitsubishi EVO 6). Paul Cornell (Subaru Impreza WRX STi) on treaded tyres and Joshua Dowell (Ford Falcon AU) each netted thirds.

Cornell was second in race three, ahead of the battling Commodores piloted by Cooper Cappellari and Mark Sutherland. Granger took the fight up to Hickey in the last, missing victory by just half a second while Dowell was third.

CLUBMANS

THE WEEKEND started perfectly for James Dick (PRB Widebody) with two wins on the Saturday. In both he was well clear of Malcolm Lee (PRB Clubman) and Peter Gates (Widebody).

Sunday was a different story with a wet track for race three and a very tight result with Lee getting the victory over Dick by 0.42s and Peter Nowlan (NRC Bullet) overcoming Saturday issues for a distant third. The latter then came through for a win in the final race on a dry track, clear of Dick and Lee. GOB

MAVERICK SEWS UP AVALON SHORT COURSE AFTER FOUR seven-lap heats in the Nomad Upholstery Short Course Avalon, Tim Bower and Ben Lugg were comprehensive winners in the fourth round of the Victorian Off Road Shield last month.

The event was originally slated to run in May but was moved in a juggle of races and venues, due to the cancellation of the Sea Rally Mallee Rally. This short course event was held at the Geelong Motor Sports Complex on a 2.5km

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track, starting under blue sky and ending with rain.

In their Class 6 Can-Am Maverick, Bower and Lugg won by 59.09s ahead of David Davis in his Class 10 EMS Saber/Suzuki, with another 5.8s to Class 6 rivals Brett and Christy Jorgensen.

Glenn and Lachlan McIntyre finished fourth and the best of the Unlimited class in their Nissan Turbo-powered PRM03 while other classes

Image: Show & Go

winners were Jason and Chris Cachia (Class 2), Darren and Kayleen Gill (Class 7), Lawrie Teunissen and David Lawrence (Class 3), and Garry Teunissen and James Amerena (Class 5) in their Holden Commodore V6. GOB

WHEEL NEARLY COST SAFARI WIN ALTHOUGH THE last day nearly derailed an otherwise dominating performance, Glenn Owen and Matt Ryan still had enough time in hand to win the 13th Sunraysia Safari Cross Country Rally that ran out of Wentworth on September 11-14.

They won the three sections of day one, the four of day two, and day three’s four. Then on day four their Jimco Aussie Special/Nissan V6 Twin Turbo lost a front wheel when the wheel nuts fell off on the first section. They lost around 15mins and finished ninth.

For most of the event, John Purshouse and Murray Hynes (Ford Ranger) headed the chasers and ultimately placed second, some 13 and a half minutes adrift. Over 11mins away in third spot were Josh Wilson and Adam Bensch (Get Performance/ Chev).

As Owen and Purshouse showed the way on first day, Wilson held third despite being locked in third gear after the selector broke in section one. Last year’s winner Michael Denham suffered two flats and drove off with the jacks under the car at one stage.

Denham along with co-driver Daniel Adam (Holden Rodeo) still managed fourth, ahead of Warren Denham and Aaron Topliff (Mitsubishi Triton) and Tony Quinn and Damian Roach (Rodeo). John Hederics and Paul Edwards were out in sight of the finish line when the Jimco’s Nissan engine blew.

The next day Michael Denham was third ahead of Luke Olham and Gordon Trigg (Century CR6), Warren Denham, Jason Noonan and Sam Sappuppo (Jimco Special/Nissan V6) who started third, but lost time with brake issues while Quinn suffered a clutch failure.

There were four different section winners on day three in Owen, Noonan, Wilson and Purshouse, while overall Wilson was second ahead of Olham, Noonan and Purshouse. Several had navigational issues including Michael Denham who ran into Olham, causing too much damage to the radiator to continue.

After winning the final day’s opening section and taking a wrong turn on the next, Noonan took the last day honours ahead of Wilson, Purshouse, Quinn, Richard McNay and Aaron Blacksell (Holden Commodore) and the closely following Jake Freckleton and David Burford (ThorneBuilt Wasp/ Chev). GOB

CLASSIC WIN DECIDES CHAMPIONS WHEN THE fancied runners fell out of contention, Ryan Smart and Hugh Reardon-Smith took a surprise win in the Paint Capalaba Hinterland Rally in their Datsun Stanza on September 14.

It was fourth and final round of the Queensland Rally Championship, held in the Imbil State Forest over eight special stages covering 116km.

Braydon Wilson won the drivers’ title in his Mitsubishi EVO 9 after an anxious wait, and codriver Blake Wilson finished second for the year in the navigators’ championship.

Smart and Reardon-Smith won the event over fellow Classic entrants Nathan Quinn and Ray Winwood-Smith (Mazda RX2), and Jack Monkhouse and Dale Moscatt (Datsun 180B SSS).

Braydon Wilson held a comfortable points advantage before the finale, basically only needing to finish to secure the title. But the Wilsons had several mechanical issues that started with a failed

clutch in the first stage which would eventually put them out.

Melinda Bergmann and Larisa Biggar were also in contention, until their Mitsubishi Lancer was sidelined after the second stage.

That left Glenn Brinkman as the only driver that could snare the title. But he and Harvey Smith (Mitsubishi EVO 9) had to win.

They were equal fastest time on the opening stage along with Garry Yeomans and Kam Baker (EVO 5), second through stage two and won the third stage.

But on the fourth stage they were only 15th which dropped them to sixth outright.

By recovering to fourth, Brinkman finished the drivers’ championship second in front Smart and Bergmann. Despite not competing on the weekend,

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Image: CH Images

Alan Stean was declared the navigators’ champion.

The Hinterland Rally fifth spot went to Clay Badenoch and Catriona Kelly (Toyota Celica RA40) ahead of Gerard McConkey and Russell Hewett (Subaru Impreza WRX STi), Craig Aggio and Megan Benson (Toyota Corolla), Cahal Carey and Ronnie Bustard (EVO 9), Ian Reddiex and Mike Mitchell (Datsun 1600 SSS), and Cameron Henry and Tony Best (WRX) 10th of the 42 entries. GOB

GETTING THE CROWN ON THE RIVER A BIG field of 37 cars and large number of bikes took part in the augural Don River Dash on September 1415, where Billy Geddes and Jamie Ward were crowned King of the River.

Run by the Whitsundays Regional Council out of Bowen each day, the 320km event started on bitumen, using a closed public road to race to the Don River.

The track then entered a 50km loop in the mainly dry river bed three times before again taking the road section back to the event’s HQ. Geddes and Ward covered the course with a total time of 2hrs 44mins 23s in their Class 4 KRE Chev V8-powered Geiser Bros Trophy Truck. They had a 48.41s advantage over the second placed pair of Tony Fehlhaber and Gary Howell (Class 1 Chenowth/Nissan V6 Twin Turbo). Third place went to Craig and Doug Barnett (Unlimited Southern Cross/Chev) another 4.8s behind.

Placed second at the end of the first run, Talbot Cox

Image: Show & Go

and Craig King (Unlimited Racer Engineering/Toyota V8) didn’t take part on Sunday, prepping instead for the following weekend’s Pines Enduro.

Neither did the fifth placed Clayton Chapman and Adam McGuire (Razorback/Toyota Turbo), with combination opting to do the second leg on bikes.

Michael Marson and Chris Colborne (Unlimited Racer Engineering/Ford Windsor) who were third after the opening leg, didn’t figure either after breaking a throttle cable.

Fourth outright ultimately went to the Class 10 victors Rohan Merchant and Shannon White (Southern Cross/Honda K24) ahead of Nev Taylor and Matt Berry (Tatum AK47/Cadillac V6 TT). Meanwhile there was just 51s on combined times between Brett Milton and

Shane Whelan (Class 4 Bennett Truck/Chev) and the Class 6 best, Robert and Scott (Can-Am Maverick X3 Rotax) in the race for sixth.

In the other classes the winners were Katelyn and Les Long (Class 66 Polaris RZR XP 1000), Rob and and Courteney Stieber (Class 2 Southern Cross/ Mitsubishi), and Mick Adams and Kelvin Richardson (Invitation Ultra 4/Holden V6) in positions 13, 15 and 18 respectively. GOB

Image: Off Road Racing Tasmania

TAS OFF ROAD TITLE TO GO TO THE WIRE BOUNCING BACK from a poor second round, Andrew Giffard (Super 1650 Rivmaster/Toyota) won the Cambridge 300, the fourth round of the Tasmanian Off Road Championship on September 14.

After a not so impressive start, Giffard took some time to work his way to the pointy end of the field. After qualifying sixth-fastest in the prologue, he finished fourth in heat one and second in heat two before scoring his first win in the third of eight heats.

Championship leader Stalker (SXS Sports Yamaha XYZ) was the secondfastest qualifier, but dropped off the pace in the heat two, finishing two laps behind heat winner Mike Males (SXS Turbo Can Am X3). However, Males’ joy was short-lived as he also struck problems in the third heat, dropping five laps. Males was able to overcome his setback in the very next heat and went on to win the remaining five heats in style.

Stalker and Giffard fought as hard as they could and managed to finish on the lead lap with Males in every remaining heat, regularly swapping second and

third places. With the event decided on laps completed, the dropped laps in heat three not only cost Males the outright victory, but also second place.

Giffard’s consistent performances saw him taking the overall win ahead of Stalker, with Males third.

Four drivers are still mathematical chances to claim the title. Stalker needs to finish third or better in the final round to either tie or win. If he fails to finish the final round, then the door will be open for several others to pinch the title Stalker had held a one-point lead in the championship heading into the Cambridge 300 over reigning Tasmanian champion Chris Branch, who was on the pace in the first two heats. Branch dropped back in the third heat with issues with his ProLite Hornet/Nissan V6 and missed the fourth heat altogether, before rejoining in the next heat, to eventually be classified fifth.

Branch still sits in second in the championship, but the margin has now slipped to eight points, with 20 points available for the win in the final round.

Martin Agatyn

Image: ASORRC

MOWLES’ ZAGLAS MEMORIAL WIN WINS IN the opening two sections were enough to see Andrew Mowles come home first in the TJM Dennis Zaglas Memorial Short Course off road event at Mt Ooraminna, on September 14-15.

ProLite buggies took all three positions on the podium as Mowles (Razorback/Nissan) won by 7.9s over Alex Heinzel (Southern Cross/Nissan), with Jesse Schembri third in the Hayabusa-powered machine.

Mowles jumped out the blocks with wins in the first two three-lap sections and had established a sizable lead of over two and a half minutes. But then Heinzel rallied, winning the next three sections and greatly reducing the margin.

Schembri consolidated a distant third with strong thirds on the last two sections to beat Jack Weir (Super 1650 Holeshot/Toyota) and Locky Weir (ProLite Jimco/Toyota).

Just 5s behind on combined times was David Bird in his Performance 4WD Chevpowered Bennett Trophy Truck.

In seventh place was Leighton Surr (Performance 4WD Ford Ranger/Chev) ahead of class rival Aaron McArthur, Jacob Booth and 10th placed Wayne Foley in their ProLites.

Tim Burton took out Production 4WD and placed 11th in his Holden Ute, while Zac Gunston was inside the top 10 in his SXS Turbo Can-Am Rotax until failing to finish section four.

GOB

racefuels.com.au Ricciardo’s Racers Level 3, One Car Sprint, Luddenham Raceway NSW, Oct 04 State Circuit Racing Championship Rd5, Symmons Plains TAS, Oct 05-06 Australian Motorkhana Champs, Bendigo Livestock Exchange VIC, Oct 05-06 Motor Racing Australia Rd9, Sydney Motorsport Park NSW, Oct 05 Daryl Turnbridge Trial, Forests near Lexton VIC, Oct 05 Broken Hill Rally, Broken Hill NSW, Oct 05 Club Challenge Hillclimb, Mt Cotton QLD, Oct 05 Multi Club Hillclimb, Lake Barrington Access Road TAS, Oct 05 Club Autocross, Bunbury Autocross Circuit WA, Oct 05 Multi Club Supersprint, Sydney Motorsport Park NSW, Oct 05 Multi Club Supersprint, Collie Motorplex WA, Oct 05 Multi Club Khanacross, Cataract Scout Park NSW, Oct 05 Multi Club Khanacross, Powranna Dragway Complex TAS, Oct 05 Mattara Hillclimb, Ringwood Park NSW, Oct 05-06 Club Khanacross, Nomie Quarry SA, Oct 05-06 Multi Club Khanacross, Reef and Rainforest Track QLD, Oct 05-06 Vintage Hillclimb, Collingrove SA, Oct 06 Adelaide Rallysprint, Adelaide Hills SA, Oct 06 Multi Club Khanacross, Bryant Park VIC, Oct 06 Multi Club Hillclimb, Rob Roy, Oct 06 Club Autocross, Jack Chisholm Reserve VIC, Oct 06 Club Motorkhana, The Quarry Bathurst NSW, Oct 06 Multi Club Motorkhana, Geelong Motor Sports Complex VIC, Oct 06 Infinite Time Attack, Club Supersprint, Barbagallo Raceway WA, Oct 10 Supercheap Autos 1000, Supercars Championship Race 25, Super 2 Series Rd5, Porsche Carrera Cup Rd7, Touring Car Masters Rd6, Toyota 86 Racing Series Rd3, SuperUtes Rd6, Mt Panorama NSW, Oct 10-13 Multi Club Supersprint, Sandown Raceway VIC, Oct 12 Multi Club Hillclimb, 239 Boisdale-Newry Road VIC, Oct 12 Ricciardo’s Racers Level 1&2, Motorkhana, Baskerville Raceway, Oct 12 State Off Road Championship Rd3, Nth Qld Off Road Series Rd5, Chargers Towers QLD, Oct 12-13 Great Tarmac Rally, Tarmac Rally Championship Rd4, Marysville VIC, Oct 12-13 Alfa Club 12 Hour Relay Regularity, Winton Motor Raceway VIC, Oct 12-13 Multi Car Supersprint, Broadford Motorcycle Complex VIC, Oct 13 World Time Attack, Sydney Motorsport Park NSW, Oct 18-19 Australian Motor Racing Series Rd5, Mazda RX8 Cup Rd5, GT-1 Australia Rd4, Formula 3 Rd5, Wakefield Park NSW, Oct 18-20 State Hillclimb Championship, Collingrove SA, Oct 18-20 State Off Road Championship Rd6, Nabiac NSW, Oct 19-20 NT Titles Off Road Rd6, Mt Ooraminna NT, Oct 19-20 Radical Australia Cup Rd6, Highlands Motorsport Park NZ, Oct TBC State KCF Short Course Rally Rd3, tba QLD, Oct 19 Monaro Stages, State Rally Championship Rd6, Cooma NSW, Oct 19 Rally North East, State Rally Championship Rd5, North East TAS, Oct 19 Akademos Rally, State Rally Championship Rd7, Alexandra VIC, Oct 20

AutoAction

65

IT IS fair to say we always know what 2015 NASCAR Cup Series winner Kyle Busch is thinking. He always wears his heart on his sleeve, he says what he thinks, and he punches who he disagrees with!

Some fans enjoy seeing the raw emotions of Kyle Busch. They feel they can relate to him, they find him endearing, while others feel he comes rude and arrogant.

His latest spat came at the end of the first round of the play-off series and once again it got people talking about the one and only Kyle Busch.

Busch was not having a good day.

He hit the wall on lap 11 but was able to continue, and worked his way forward looking set to limit the damage until he came to lap the #52 Garrett Smithley.

Busch was told Smithley was going to use the outside lane, so committed to the middle lane and ran into the back of Smithley.

Shortly after the race Busch was interviewed by the media and it’s fair to say he wasn’t in the best of moods. With his testy, short replies he made Kimi Raikkonen look like a University Lecturer.

Journo: What happened with the #53 there late?

Busch: #52 get it right! Don’t know Journo: How did that impact your car?

Busch: Killed it Journo: Were you happy that you were able to come back after the early damage to your car?

Busch: No Journo: What happened there at the beginning of the race?

Busch: I’m just here so I don’t get fined Journo: What about the heat? What effect did it…

BEAT AROUND BUSCH

Busch: It is all great Journo: You felt fine out there the whole time?

(Busch ignores question)

Journo: You are now going to a place where you won last time, last year, Richmond.

Busch: Can’t pass there.

Journo: Do you feel okay about your

chances overall at Homestead?

Busch: Don’t care Journo: Does it help that you had the bonus points coming in here?

Busch: I’m just here so I don’t get fined Journo: Do you feel if you were able to get a top 10…

[Busch turns around to a couple NASCAR media officials] Busch: I’m answering the dumbest (expletive) questions over and over again, am I good.?

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver then just walks away leaving the media just standing there.

The fallout from the exchange was then dissected on social media and although he acknowledged the frosty post-race interview, Busch didn’t bother to apologise.

DM

Bathurst in the ‘70s

How much do you about the 1970s at Bathurst?

Across

1. Jacky Ickx was one of two European drivers to win the Great Race in the 1970s. Who was the other? (surname only) 2. How many Bathurst 1000 races did the Holden Torana win?

3. In 1976 the Toranas locked out the top seven finishing positions, but which model Ford finished eighth?

9. Aside from Holden, which brand finished highest in 1975?

10. In which driver’s car was RaceCam famously debuted? (full name) 11. How many times did Jacky Ickx

race in the Bathurst 1000?

13. How many Bathurst 1000s did the XC Falcon win?

14. What was John Harvey’s highest finishing position in the Great Race in the 70s?

Down

1. How many miles was the race before it changed to 1000km in 1973?

4. The famous Ford 1-2 finish in 1977

66 AutoAction

saw Allan Moffat and Jacky Ickx beat home Colin Bond and who? (full name) 5. Who won the race with Peter Brock in 1975? (full name) 6. Who is the only person to win the Great Race as a solo driver more than once? (full name) 7. Driving alongside Rod Coppins, who made his made his debut in 1974? (full name) 8. Which company was the sponsor of the Great Race throughout the 70s?

12. How many different Falcon models won the race in the 1970s?

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