Auto Action #1782

GEN 3 LATEST ON SUPERCARS’ FUTURE SINCE S INCE 1971

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GREAT RACING HOLDENS REMEBERED

W O L L E Y W O BELL R A O R N IO L E H T E D A M THE BEAST THAT

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PANDEMIC PUTS RACING ON HOLD

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WHINNING MACHINE Jamie speaks out

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A FLUID SITUATION

Image: LAT

DAN KNUTSON looks into the ramifications of cancelling the Australian GP and other F1 races AUSSIE MARK Webber used to say that “it is easy wearing 20-20 hindsight goggles.�

That certainly applies to the last-minute decision to cancel the Australian Grand Prix. The race should have been called off many weeks ago, long before over 100,000 fans travelled to Melbourne for what was supposed to be the season-opening race of the 2020 Formula 1 season.

The fans will be reimbursed for the tickets they bought, but they are stuck with their travel expenses – and some travelled halfway around the world.

But the problem was that the situation surrounding the worldwide Covid-19 crises was changing not only by the day but by the hour.

During a press conference at the race track in Albert Park on the Friday morning of the (non) race weekend, Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey used the word “fluid� many times to describe the situation leading up to the decision – which had finally been made at about 2:30 that morning – to cancel the race.

The question now is, where does F1 go from here?

Auto Action asked Carey during that press conference if the Bahrain GP scheduled for the weekend after Melbourne would go ahead. He declined to answer, saying the focus was on Melbourne. A few hours later an F1 team member told AA: “We are packing up to go back to the UK, not to Bahrain.�

The F1 circus, of course, was never going to travel to Bahrain. And now the FIA and F1 have officially announced that the April races in Bahrain and Vietnam have joined China as being not cancelled but postponed.

That terminology is important financially because the promoters of the first four races would have paid a total of US$200 million (A$324m) for the privilege of hosting a grand prix.

Sixty-two per cent of that is divided unevenly between the teams.

As this provides the majority of their income, they cannot afford to not race.

How long can the opening of the

F1 season be delayed? Currently it is due to start in the Netherlands on May 3, but with Europe now being the epicentre of the Coronavirus crises, there is a good chance that that event along with the May races in Spain and Monaco will be cancelled.

Azerbaijan very well might host the season opener on June 7.

The Concorde Agreement stipulates that there must be a minimum of eight races with 14 cars for a year to be an official world championship season.

But the teams and commercial owner Liberty Media will want as many races as possible in order to make as much money as possible. If the teams stay home, they don’t get paid but they still have to pay their staff, and wages constitute the vast majority of any team’s budget.

China would have paid US$50 million for its race this year, so it is more profitable to have events such as China and Vietnam slotted back in, than the European races which fork out a measly US$20 million.

The strategy now will be to scrap

the three-week August break, have some two-day race weekends, have some triple headers, and extend the season well into December. “I think by freeing up the August break we give ourselves several weekends where we can have a race,� Ross Brawn, F1’s managing director of motor sports told Sky TV. “I think we can build a pretty decent calendar for the rest of the year. It will look different, but it will still preserve a good number of races.�

The hope is, of course, that the Covid-19 pandemic will be over in the second half of the year. But will it still linger in countries that have new race dates?

It would not be fair to the fans to pay to travel to a country only to have the race cancelled at the last minute.

So, where does F1 go from here?

Using the hindsight googles and looking at the Melbourne fiasco, it will be important to not make the same mistakes later in the year.

But for now, the situation remains fluid.

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LATEST NEWS

Supercars and ARG determined to race, possibly without fans

LOCKED OUT!

By BRUCE NEWTON SUPERCARS AND the Australian Racing Group (ARG) will – if possible - push ahead with their major championships and events as scheduled, but without live spectators.

The message coming out of Supercars as Auto Action closed for press is Australia’s premier professional motorsport is determined to run a full 14 events in 2020 despite covid-19 potentially wreaking havoc with its championship calendar.

Unless circumstances deteriorate further it is expected Supercars will press ahead with its next outing at Symmons Plains in Tasmania as scheduled on April 3-5, albeit behind locked gates to comply with the nationwide ban on non-essential mass gatherings of more than 500 people agreed on by Australian state and federal governments last Monday.

But the logistical challenges posed by the Anzac weekend championship event at Hampton Downs in New Zealand means it is likely to be postponed to the second half of 2020. Potentially, this is a weekend that Supercars could use to race in Australia.

On Monday, as the deadline for this issue of Auto Action closed, Supercars CEO Sean Seamer declined an invitation to update motorsport fans on the situation, citing the fluidity of the situation.

Instead, Supercars offered a statement making clear postponement of events was an ongoing option: “While discussions are currently taking place, Supercars has not made any decisions about upcoming events. We are continuing to monitor the situation and will comply with the latest government health advice as the Coronavirus situation continues to evolve.

“Should we need to postpone an event, we are fully prepared to adapt our calendar to deliver a complete Championship in 2020.

“The safety of our people and fans remains our priority, we will provide further event information when it becomes available.”

The problems for Supercars is most acute among Australian motorsports because it draws the most spectators and has the most commercial stakeholders with big bucks invested in the show going on.

Over at the Australian Racing Group, which promotes the TCR Australia Series and the Shannons Australia Motor Racing Series, the determination is also to press on if possible. It too has a major new stakeholder in the Seven Network which is its telecast partner for 2020.

ARG is signalling it wants the opening TCR Australia

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Image: TCR Hub

Australia has announced a similar 14-day s self-isolation period on all arrivals. If both r restrictions are still in-place late April, Supercars te teams would be caught out travelling both ways – which is clearly untenable.

Next up for Supercars after NZ is the May 1517 1 Perth Supernight at Barbagallo Raceway in Western Australia and then the June 5-7 Winton W Super400.

S The opening round of the TCR Australia Series and a the S5000 Gold Star are the highlight acts on o the Shannons program at SMP, supported by Trans Am, LMP3 Cup, Touring Car Masters, V8 T Image: touring cars and Porsche Sprint Challenge. to Bruce Williams The Shannons series is a co-promotion of Motorsport Australia and ARG. M “At ARG we are all racers as are our Series event to happen at Sydney Motorsport Park on competitors, we want to go racing,” said ARG S S March 25-27, as well as the Bathurst 6-Hour on April CEO Matt Braid. “Any way we can get out on the track 10-12. Both events would be run with spectators. and hold race events to be televised and followed in The stance by both Supercars and ARG is more some way shape or form would be ideal.” bullish than many major motor racing championships In a statement issued Monday afternoon, ARG said it that have already cancelled and postponed many would be taking guidance on its racing plans from MA, events. as well as consulting with governments, regulatory Supercars has already committed to finding a new bodies and health experts. date at a new venue for last weekend’s cancelled Albert In a letter to members, MA CEO Eugene Arocca Park championship outing. said “a number of Motorsport Australia sanctioned Most likely that would slot into the long winter break events will continue with our support, in line with in July-August originally created to avoid a clash with any government restrictions and also with suitable the Tokyo Olympics. Queensland Raceway is the precautions in place”. favourite to rejoin the calendar.

Those precautions include social distancing (standing “Luckily, our calendar gives us quite a lot of scope 1.5m apart), providing drivers’ and officials’ briefings for running events later in the year,” Triple Eight Race electronically, urging participants to stay at home if Engineering boss Roland Dane told Auto Action. they feel unwell and the provision of hand sanitisers “And, certainly, the feeling amongst the teams and and hand washing facilities at events.

Supercars is that we want to run all the races that One major Aussie domestic motorsport event that’s we’ve scheduled and if that means running an extra already been postponed is the opening round of the event instead of the grand prix, which it does, then Australian Rally Championship scheduled for Canberra that’s what we would be planning to do.” next weekend.

Ahead of the Tassie event, Supercars is understood to Supercars drivers aren’t just being impacted in be clarifying if there are any caveats in relation to the Australia but overseas as well. Chaz Mostert was 500-person maximum for gatherings, as team member due to drive for BMW in the World Endurance numbers are likely to top that.

Championship round at Sebring, but the 12-hour race One issue that hasn’t been publicly clarified yet is was cancelled. what happens if an attendee at one of these locked Meanwhile, Scott McLaughlin’s IndyCar debut gates meetings is diagnosed with covid-19. Will it be remains on the calendar for now – but only just. called off as the Australian Grand prix was?

Every championship race up until the May 9 GMR If Tassie looks challenging for Supercars, New Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway where Zealand looks impossible. The NZ government has he will drive a fourth Team Penske entry have been instituted mandatory two-week self-isolation for all cancelled. visitors out to at least March 30 and – as AA closed for At this stage there’s no indication the plan for press – had announced a limit of 500 people for nonMclaughlin to race at Indy has changed.

With Mark Fogarty essential mass gatherings.

ARG’s John McMelland and Supercars’ Sean Seamer in discussion at Adelaide. They both have big decisions to make for the future of the sport.

STOP PRESS WEDNESDAY MARCH 18 UPDATE NZ and Perth events until later in the year. The opening two rounds of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships which features the Gold Star S5000 Championship, TCR Australia Series and other high profile categories have been postponed.

The first is a round at Sydney

Since this story was compiled on Monday to meet the deadline of the print edition, Supercars and ARG have announced postponements of their respective forthcoming rounds.

Supercars has suspended racing until at least early June, postponing the Symmons Plains,

Motorsport Park for which a new date has not been found at this stage. Round 2 set to be held at Mount Panorama over the Easter weekend and has been rescheduled to coincide with the Bathurst International event in November.

There have been widespread

postponements and cancellations across all branches of local and international motor sport since Monday on top of those already announced.

For the latest motorsport news including the growing list of racing shutdowns, including Supercars’ plans, go to autoaction.com.au .

Image: Imag age: ge LLAT AT

ON OR OFF? Here are the major local and international events we know have been postponed or cancelled so far: SUPERCARS

THE NEXT three rounds at Symmons Plains, Hampton Downs and Wanneroo have been postponed until later in the year.

Supercars has stressed that these events have not been cancelled and will be rescheduled until later in the year retaining a 14-event calendar.

The schedule has room to add a replacement for the AGP and delay others to later in the year.

However Supercars has said the Bathurst 1000 will not budge and will go ahead from October 8-11.

The championship intends to resume at Winton which is scheduled for June 5-7.

TCR/S5000

Opening rounds at Sydney Motorsport Park on March 28/29 is still going ahead at this stage along with other Motorsport Australia Championship categories.

The Bathurst 6 Hour weekend set to take place over Easter will now run in conjunction with the Bathurst International in November with more details to come.

The schedule will be determined by Motorsport Australia reaction to government guidelines/mandates.

AMRS

AUSTRALIAN OFF-ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP The opening round has been cancelled.

VICTORIAN STATE CIRCUIT RACING CHAMPIONSHIP

The second round to be held at Winton March 28-29 has been cancelled.

NEW ZEALAND

Remainder of domestic 2019/20 season going ahead, but Hampton Downs Supercars may be ruled out if government extends 14-day quarantine of all overseas arrivals.

FORMULA 1

AGP cancelled, impractical to reschedule to later in the year.

Bahrain, Vietnam and China GPs postponed, others likely amid growing isolation measures in Europe.

Big calendar rejig to accommodate season not starting till June or later.

NASCAR

NASCAR has postponed all of its races until at least May 3.

INDYCAR

Round 2 at Morgan Park to go ahead without spectators.

AUSTRALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

This weekend’s National Capital Rally postponed.

Subsequent rounds under review.

WORLD RALLYCROSS

TARGA TASMANIA.

FORMULA E

The opening two rounds in Hungary and Germany have been axed.

At the Portuguese, Spanish and Austrian rounds, additional races will take place to compensate for the cancelled races.

BTCC

The British Touring Car Championship has postponed the start of its season until mid-may.

DTM

The pre-season DTM test at Hockenheim has been cancelled.

Series suspended for at least two months.

competitors are reliant upon our industry operating for their livelihood. We also recognise and appreciate the fans, spectators and sponsors that support our sport.

Australian Racing Group (ARG) will be guided by Motorsport Australia (as the governing motorsport body) and other regulatory bodies coupled with our own risk assessments in any determination as to

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Ready to postpone the start of the series until June while remaining committed to running 10 rounds.

Second half of the year scheduling of remaining Spa, Suzuka, Indianapolis and Kyalami rounds may keep it intact.

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS

The Belgian circuit has closed its doors until April 3.

Opening round in Spain postponed.

ARG STATEMENT

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WORLD TOURING CAR CUP

INTERCONTINENTAL GT CHALLENGE

SPEEDWAY

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Sebring 12 Hours postponed to November; with the Long Beach round called off due to IndyCar cancellations.

The following round at Mid-Ohio has also been cancelled.

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

Round at Sydney Motorsport Park cancelled.

AS YOU are all very much aware, the Australian response to COVID-19 is rapidly and constantly evolving.

We are currently taking advice from the government, various regulatory bodies and also health experts.

The Prime Minister said Australians should continue to be Australians and we are well aware that many of our teams and

IMSA

GT WORLD CHALLENGE EUROPE

WORLD TIME ATTACK CHALLENGE

For the first time in it’s history, the world renouned evet is off.

1000 Miles Of Sebring cancelled due to USA’s ban on travellers from Europe. Next month’s Spa Six Hours in doubt.

Big question mark over Le Mans 24 Hours in mid-June.

First four rounds called off. Aiming to begin with Indianapolis GP in early May, followed by Indy 500 – but contingency plans to delay further

Rally Mexico cut short, next month’s Rally Argentina postponed. Targeted to resume at Rally Portugal in late May.

Sydney Speedway has suspended racing until further notice.

WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP

CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS

Circuit closed indefinitely due to COVID-19 as around half of the staff have been laid off.

when and where it is regarded as safe and operationally feasible to race.

In the interim we would ask that you please be patient, understand that updated information comes to hand daily if not hourly and the reality is that as a result the decision making process remains fluid.

ARG understands that there are many questions and decisions that you need

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to make as part of this process and rest assured we will communicate any relevant information or decisions as regards events and categories with you at the earliest possible opportunity.

ARG thanks you for your support and understanding as we, like everyone else, continue to work through this challenging and unprecedented situation.

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LATEST NEWS

COURTNEY COVID-19 DELAY

By MARK FOGARTY JAMES COURTNEY’S bid to rejoin the Supercars championship is being hampered by the outbreak of Covid-19.

Courtney is being linked heavily to a third Erebus Motorsport entry with the backing of his long-time personal sponsor Boost Mobile.

Courtney started the year at Team Sydney with Boost joining the effort just prior to the Adelaide 500.

But both driver and backer made a shock departure from the squad within days of that event.

Courtney has since all but confirmed the split was over money issues.

The Erebus deal was one of number Courtney and Boost were said to be investigating, but was thought to be at the top of the list.

It is understood to involve wildcard entries to single driver sprint rounds and an attack on the Pirtek Enduro Cup in an Erebus Holden Commodore ZB. But with the coronavirus expected to force the postponement of several Supercars rounds, as well as wreaking havoc on the economy and travel logistics,

Image: LAT

Courtney admits his search for a new seat have been hampered.

“There’s a bit going on with a lot of things at the moment in the world,” Courtney told Auto Action. “Stock market is falling, coronavirus is going crazy, Supercars can’t race anywhere.

“So there is a bit going on at the moment. Once we are in a position where we can say something we will.”

One other thing that may hurt a three-car expansion

proposal for Erebus is workload if the calendar suddenly becomes compacted with postponed rounds being squeezed into the calendar later in the year.

Courtney refused to comment on the Erebus link, but it is known Boost has previously been in discussion with the team about a possible sponsorship..

Erebus boss Barry Ryan wouldn’t offer any comment on a potential tie-up.

GEN3 DRIVE CONTINUES AMID CRISIS

By MARK FOGARTY WORK IS continuing on the crucial next generation of Supercars despite the disruption and uncertainty thrown up by the coronavirus pandemic.

In the wake of last month’s announcement of Holden’s impending demise, there has been renewed focus on the planned Gen3 major update from 2022.

As Supercars seeks an IP deal with General Motors to allow the Camaro to replace the Commodore, the Gen3 working group is resisting pressure to be rushed.

Headed by Supercars senior executive John Casey, the working group met on February 26 – scheduled before the Holden news – and was due to gather again on Wednesday (March 18).

There has been much debate about bringing forward elements of Gen3 to next year, especially lowering the height of the front of the roll cage to more easily accommodate low-line coupes like the Chevrolet Camaro.

There have been suggestions a so-called Gen2.5 would be introduced for 2021 as an interim step to an all-new control chassis for 2022 and beyond.

However, the prevailing thought among the teams is to resist any major change before Gen3’s scheduled introduction.

WAU chief Ryan Walkinshaw has been campaigning for a relaxation of the roll cage rules, warning that the longer the move is delayed for next year, the more designing a new model will cost.

Although logically linked to the Camaro, Walkinshaw is

6 AutoAction

Graphic: Tim Pattinson Design

adamant he has two other manufacturers interested in joining Supercars as soon as next year if the rules are modified to facilitate new two-door coupes without compromising their shape.

Others counter such a concession would not only add unnecessary cost as existing cars would also need to be modified, but also that it is too late to make such a major change for next season.

“Camaro or any other similar car for next year would be near impossible,” a senior team figure suggested.

It has also been pointed out that changing the roll cage would require re-homologation to comply with FIA safety rules, as well as creating a forward vision issue for a Camaro-shaped Supercar.

Ford and its teams, led by DJR Team Penske, are known to be opposed to a change before 2022 after going through the homologation hoop with the Mustang.

Auto Action understands DJRTP, as the Ford homologation team, originally petitioned for a reduction of the height of the front of the roll cage for the Mustang, but it was rejected.

The stated aims of Gen3 are to encourage more manufacturers by making it easier to adapt two-door body shapes without Mustang-style corruption and to significantly reduce build and running costs for the teams while retaining the

category’s “loud and fast” appeal.

The Gen3 working group is project leader Casey, Supercars head of motor sport Adrian Burgess, homologation team bosses Roland Dane and Ryan Story, and Commission members Tim Edwards and Brad Jones, who is also on the board of directors.

The team representatives are leaving it to Supercars to comment on what recent progress has been made with the Gen3 discussions.

“I don’t want to side-step the thing, but I think it would be wrong for me to comment on Gen3,” Dane told AA. “There’s a lot of work going on, but I don’t want to get into the specifics of it because I don’t feel it’s the place of the individuals to comment on it at the moment.”

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, Gen3 has taken a short-term back seat, with teams reportedly not receiving a recent update.

However, as another team principal commented: “The clock’s ticking. There are other pressing issues, but we can’t take our eyes off the ball.”

Auto Action has also learned that Supercars has been trying to secure an IP agreement with GM to allow the Camaro to race as soon as next year.

This would be a similar arrangement to the one that Supercars has with Ford for the Mustang.

In contrast, the Intellectual Property rights for the ZB Commodore racer are reportedly held by Triple Eight, with Holden’s approval.

HOLDEN SUPPORT STILL TO BE DECIDED

By MARK FOGARTY HOLDEN’S BACKING of Triple Eight hasn’t been resolved due to the escalating coronavirus crisis.

The factory backed squad last year renewed its deal as the Holden Racing Team for 2020-21.

Ima Triple Eight supremo Roland Dane Image: LAT confirmed that arrangements to end the association hadn’t been finalised because of the intervention of the global COVID-19 at the Australian Grand Prix, but bigger events intervened. pandemic.

“What I actually said at Adelaide was that I’d be happy Although committed to this season, Holden will cease to talk about it once we knew where we were going – operations by the end of the year following General whether it was hopefully before the grand prix or whether Motors’ decision to withdraw from the market. it was after,” Dane told Auto Action. “But the reality is that The fate of remainder of Triple Eight’s two-year renewal things around the world have caught up with us and we was one of the many questions raised by Holden’s just haven’t been able to conclude everything. impending demise.

“So, as I said, when there’s something to talk about, I’m Dane met with senior Holden executives in Melbourne happy to talk about it.” just before last month’s season-opening Adelaide 500, The discussion presumably centres on Holden owner without an agreement on how the doomed marque’s support would be handled.

GM honouring the contractual commitment through next year, paying Triple Eight to race regardless of branding.

There were suggestions he would explain a settlement

URGENT TIMELINE FOR 2021

By HEATH McALPINE AFTER CONFIRMING in Adelaide his team will not campaign the Holden Commodore next season if it can be avoided, Walkinshaw revealed at Albert Park there was interest from multiple manufacturers in aligning with his team for a Supercars campaign next year.

But he made it clear time is running out to gain manufacturer commitment.

“Yeah, two months ago,” Walkinshaw responded when asked about deadlines.

“Supercars are aware of the manufacturers that we’re talking to and their timelines.”

After WAU’s 2018 bid to enter the Chevrolet Camaro into Supercars competition were scuppered by the unsuitability of the Supercars control chassis for the two-door coupe’s body shape.

Walkinshaw believes a simple change to the design will open up the series to a new range of models making it attractive to manufacturers.

“We’ve made no secret because we’ve been pushing a change on the chassis for a while. It’s a relatively simple change in our opinion, which we should have been focused on doing earlier, but we are where we are,” he said.

“I think Gen3 is obviously a great program that we need to be pushing hard on, but my personal view is that it would be nice to have some form of change for next season, particularly with the roll hoop.

“If we did that very small change -admittedly there are some costs with it and lots of complexity with getting everyone along for the ride - … (that) would open the door to a variety of different body shapes, which would allow manufacturers to race

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cars that they actually have budget to go racing with; performance and hero cars not just four-door sedans, which we know are a declining market in Australia.

“Most brands don’t really want to go and spend money racing those kinds of products.”

Walkinshaw acknowledged that aall stakeholders - be they manufacturers, teams and Supercars technical department - need to be comfortable with any regulation change.

But he is very conscious further delays of the design and development process of any future program. It’s a situation Walkinshaw wants to avoid as it hampers any dealings he has with potential manufacturer partners.

“We’ve been doing a lot of work on that [Gen3-specification chassis] for a while, but it’s hard to be able to cement anything in without full understanding of what the regulations are going to be,” Walkinshaw explained.

“We’re waiting with anticipation from Supercars coming back to us with what this class is going to look like and that’s for the manufacturers as well.

“They want to know what the regulations are before they commit, which is perfectly fair and reasonable.”

According to Walkinshaw, the body shape

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While a reduced settlement is possible, the most likely outcome would be that Triple Eight is paid out and races Commodores next year without Holden branding or running under the HRT banner.

“We’re still talking about it, but, unfortunately, there are much bigger things going on than our on-going arrangements with Holden,” Dane said.

Asked if he expected to still be running ZB Commodores in 2021, Dane enticingly replied: “I don’t know yet. That’s up in the air. There’s obviously a chance we will be, there’s a chance we won’t.

“I honestly can’t give you a straight answer on that.”

Walkinshaw Andretti United co-owner Ryan Walkinshaw has concerns about the rapidly shrinking timeline to implement the proposed Gen 3 Supercars regulations for the 2021 season.

is the critical component that manufacturers are concerned about, rather than developing their own engines.

He suggested a control crate engine as a way of cutting costs.

“Some manufacturers that we have spoken to are not bothered about the engine, it’s just the body shape they’re interested in,” Walkinshaw said. “They don’t see our current engines as something that would turn them off.

“It would be nice if we could start having conversations in the future about a crate engine for the category that we can have, a centralised engine that we can have that anyone can just pull off the shelf because

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engine development costs a lot of money.”

“I think the V8 is important for the integrity of the category and I’m open to other manufacturers wanting to run other engines, but for us, even our fan-base I think, our preference is to continue with V8.

“I think it’s important for the category and so far the conversations we have had with manufacturers have all been around a V8 engine, either their version or our own in keeping what we have currently.“ WAU has a long and successful history developing Chevrolet 5.0-litre puhrod V8 engines for Supercars. Obviously, t would drop straight into the Camaro if it were to get the go ahead.

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LATEST NEWS Image: LAT

Image: LAT IT HAS been announced that Kelly Racing has found a replacement for former team manager Scott Sinclair. The Ford squad has confirming that Matthew House has become the new team manager for its 2020 Supercars Championship campaign, House has taken over from Sinclair who left the team to spend more time with his family.

Since leaving Sinclair he took a position on the Supercars Commission late last year.

SEVEN-TIME BATHURST 1000 winner Craig Lowndes wants to race in Carrera Cup Australia Series again later in the year after his debut round was cut short at the Australian Grand Prix. .

Lowndes started the race in 11th, however lost positions early with a spin at Turn 9. He recovered and sat as high as sixth before a puncture forced him into retirement.

Image: LAT DJR TEAM Penske have decided to temporarily close its Gold Coast workshop and museum to the general public due to the coronavirus. Access to the facility will be restricted since the prime minister brought in a banning of non-essential gatherings of over 500 people. The facility opened back in 1998 and contains many legendary Dick Johnson Racing cars and since the famous American squad Team Penske bought into the team a number of its cars are also on display.

Image: Insyde Media

SUPER2 DRIVERS have supported the initiative to share footage and data from the fastest lap of each race weekend session to all teams. The Supercars Commission voted the concept in and was introduced to support and assist the development of new teams and drivers, it was brought in for the opening round in Adelaide and was well received.

Drivers were given access to the judicial camera vision from the fastest car along with basic driver input data which included steering, brake and throttle traces.

Image: LAT KELLY RACING has elected to postpone its open day event due to the ongoing threat of the COVID-19 virus. The Ford team delayed the open due to the risks involved in holding large public events and decided it must take all precautions.

The event was due to take place on Saturday March 21 at the Kelly Racing headquarters.

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SMITH CONFIDENT OF SUCCESS DESPITE a tough initiation as a Supercars regular in Adelaide Jack Smith insists his confidence level remains “good”.

Smith, 20, was in the news regularly on the streets of Adelaide for a variety of reasons; he missed the annual driver’s photo on Friday, hit the notorious Turn 8 wall on Saturday and was handed a 15 second penalty on Sunday for blocking Rick Kelly in at a pit stop.

There were other issues, but in the end Smith managed to finish 20th and 18th in the two 250km races in his family-owned SCT Logistics Holden Commodore ZB, which is run out of Brad Jones Racing.

Smith stepped up to the main game full-time in 2020 after four wildcards and the Pirtek Enduro Cup in 2019, three years in Super2 and winning the V8 Touring Car Series in 2017.

“The confidence is good,” he told Auto Action.

“Obviously good results bring confidence and everyone would agree in this game your confidence level has got more twists than a roller-coaster. One minute you’re on top of the world and next minute you’re wondering why you are doing this.

“It’s something you are constantly battling with. But I am trying to keep it steady and keep everything at a focussed realistic level.”

Smith said he “definitely” had what it takes to succeed in Supercars: “If I felt I was wasting my time I wouldn’t be doing it.”

Smith still isn’t prepared to talk about the photo no-show in Adelaide – for which he copped a $2000 suspended fine and five hours community service: “I want to leave that in the past,” he said.

But he does admit his on-track efforts frustrated him in SA. “I felt disappointed with my results, I didn’t do the best job I could at all,” he said. “I didn’t feel satisfied at the end of the weekend whatsoever.

“I know I can do better, I was a bit disappointed and I don’t really know what was going on to be honest. I just didn’t really feel myself.

“It would be nice to do a better job for the team and the people who have supported me for a long time … I would really like to do them proud.”

A particular issue Smith has identified out of Adelaide is decision-making in the car during the races. It was particularly frustrating because he

felt he was on-top of that process during practice and qualifying.

“It’s a weird one to be honest,” he said. “Things are so obvious when you are sitting around … yet they don’t seem to be coming to me when I am driving. It’s just something I have to work on.

“As soon as I get out of the car I can’t believe I didn’t think of things when I was in there.”

Smith has had veteran engineer Paul Forgie assisting him throughout his time in touring car racing and acknowledges the help the former Supercars championship winner (with Marcos Ambrose in 2003 and 2004) has been.

“Paul’s great, he’s been my engineer since I started racing cars in 2016,” Smith said. “He’s probably the most competitive guy I know. He would do anything to get the best result possible and so would I. He’s great to learn from.

Like the rest of the field, Smith missed out on a drive at Albert Park last weekend and potentially faces missing more racing over the next few weeks or months as the Covid-19 situation sorts itself out.

“I am sure someone knows what is going to happen, we’re just waiting to see,” he said.

Bruce Newton

ALEX DAVISON REPLACES COURTNEY

ANNOUNCED DURING the lead up to the Australian Grand Prix was Alex Davison’s planned return to the Supercars grid, however the cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix prevented that from happening.

Davison replaced James Courtney at Team Sydney after the 2010 Supercars Champion announced after Adelaide that he was leaving the squad.

Confirmed to compete for the rest of the season, Davison was supported by Local Legends beef jerky and meat snacks, a company owned by motor sport enthusiast Tony Quinn. The deal is also for the full complement of rounds, reuniting Quinn with the team he sponsored in its previous guise.

An eager Davison was enthusiastic to return to the Supercars grid.

“I’m excited to be back in the Supercars championship full time with Team Sydney,” Davison said.

“I’ve missed racing Supercars a lot and am still as passionate and motivated as ever to go racing. I am looking forward to working and growing with Team Sydney throughout the year.”

The new deal marks a return to the full-time grid for the elder Davison brother, who last completed a full Supercars season in 2013 through Charlie Schwerkolt Racing’s satellite program with Ford Performance Racing. He finished that season 13th in what was his fifth full-season campaign after debuting with Perkins Engineering in 2005.

An experienced Pirtek Enduro Cup driver, he has recently shared the 23Red Racing Ford Mustang with younger brother Will where he finished 10th last year. He has been replaced by Jack Perkins for 2020 allowing him to take the opportunity at Team Sydney.

Team owner Jonathan Webb said in a statement that Davison was

Image: LAT

already on its radar as a Pirtek Enduro Cup driver for this season.

“Alex was in the forefront of our endurance cup drivers list, we’d been communicating prior to James’ departure from Team Sydney, so when the opportunity arose for Alex to take a full-time seat in a Team Sydney Supercar, it was an easy decision to place him in Car 19 for the remainder of the season,” explained Webb.

“We’re grateful for the opportunity to partner with Local Legends for the 2020 season.”

“The Team is focused on the long haul; we know that the restructure our team has undertaken this season was not going to be easy. We are committed to the project and providing benefit to our Sydney base, our sponsor parties and followers.” Dan McCarthy

CHANGES A BREATH OF FRESH AIR Image: LAT

SANDOWN SET FOR NEXT THREE YEARS

By MARK FOGARTY

SANDOWN IS locked in for at least another three years despite renewed reports that it will be sold for residential development.

A local newspaper revived speculation about Sandown’s future with claims by a disaffected councillor that the metropolitan horse/car racing venue was set for sale.

The assertion was based on a rezoning application by owner Melbourne Racing Club for part of the site at Springvale in southeast Melbourne.

However, the application is more than a year old and would only affect a small sector of Sandown, which has been running car and horse

races since 1962.

“Nothing’s changed,” Sandown manager Brendon Stewart told Auto Action.

Stewart confirmed the motor racing track’s future was secured until at least 2022 or ’23 following a threeyear renewal with Supercars from this November’s Sandown 400.

The deal is for 2020-22 plus on option for a further event in ’23.

MRC spent around $1 million last year upgrading the safety of Sandown, adding a hard run-off at Turn 6 at the end of the fast back straight.

Further safety improvements and resurfacing are scheduled for this year’s twin-race event.

Sandown has been dropped from the Enduro Cup, replaced by

The Bend, and adopted the new Super400 format of two 200 km races.

Last year, Sandown’s Stewart told AA that the track was good for another “five to seven years” – possibly until 2027 – under MRC’s outlook.

While some of Sandown may be sold off to help finance the $300 million revamp of MRC’s showcase Caufield racecourse, the motor racing circuit – and the entire horse racing facility – looks to be safe now until at least 2025.

It is likely a section of the prime property will be sold off, but without a short- or even medium-term impact on the facilities operations, which include lucrative track and manufacturer drive days.

FISICHELLA PLANNING S5000 RETURN ALTHOUGH BRIEF, Giancarlo Fisichella very much enjoyed turning laps in his Garry Rogers Motorsport run S5000 car and is planning to return to the Australian championship in the near future.

The 2005 Australian Grand Prix winner returned to the scene of his second Formula 1 race victory at Albert Park and competed against an accomplished list of drivers including fellow former Ferrari Formula 1 driver Rubens Barrichello and current Williams reserve driver Jack Aitken.

Fisi as he is commonly known, told Auto Action that he wants to return to the Australian VHT S5000 Championship later on this year.

“I hope to come back probably for Bathurst and I’m looking forward for it,” he said.

The Bathurst International event is scheduled to take place in November at the famous Mount Panorama

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Image: S5000 Daniel Kalisz

Circuit, in which Barrichello has already entered.

When AA asked Fisichella if he is looking at doing more S5000 events he said that he would like to as long as it doesn’t clash with his World Endurance Championship commitments.

“I’m looking forward to doing some other (S5000) events but it depends on the organisation and it depends on my races in Europe,” he explained.

The three-time race winner told AA that he enjoyed his

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time behind the wheel of the new V8 powered open-wheel series but would have liked some more testing prior to the event.

“It would be nice to have a bit more testing before doing an event like this, because coming here and doing 20 minutes of free practice and then straight away 20 minutes of qualifying it’s quite tough,” he said.

Early on in practice Fisichella ran off the circuit and lost a front wing flap, this caused him to suffer from understeer

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for the rest of the session.

The nose was fixed for qualifying and he ended the session ninth only 1s off pole, considering the limited running the former Renault and Jordan driver was pleased with the time.

“I know I still have a lot to learn with the car, the feeling with the car wasn’t 100 percent and it wasn’t easy but I think I did a quite good lap time (in Qualifying) with some issues, not too bad.”

Sadly the event was called early due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus, although the Italian feels it was the right decision.

“It is disappointing, but the problem is quite serious in Italy and everywhere in the world now, it is getting worse and worse so I think this is the right decision to stop everything,” he said.

“Maybe it was better to think about it before we came here but anyway that is life and everything is done.”

Dan McCarthy

WALKINSHAW ANDRETTI United co-owner and McLaren Racing CEO Zac Brown believes the Supercars team will reap the rewards of changes during the off-season when the championship kicks off again.

Brown identified similarities between the changes at McLaren last year and WAU this season after visiting the team during the early stages of the Australian Grand Prix last week.

McLaren Racing made a dramatic improvement during last year’s Formula 1 season to lead the midfield runners after recruiting Carlos Sainz and rookie Lando Norris. This season, it’s a near-replica situation at WAU with the experienced Chaz Mostert and Super2 Series winner Bryce Fullwood being new additions changing the vibe within the team.

“I think there is a good vibe in the garage not to talk too much about McLaren, obviously we have two drivers there and I can see the two new drivers, the similarities between changing some stuff up brings a fresh outlook,” said Brown of the changes.

“Chaz has good experience and has got good insight in what areas we need to improve so he’s a bit of team leader in that sense.”

The changes that Mostert and race engineer Adam De Borre have bought to the team are noticeable according to Brown.

“He’s been great,” Brown remarked. “I got to know Chaz last year, obviously he did the 24 Hours of Daytona as well so we’ve seen him in multiple disciplines, he’s got a lot of energy, his feedbacks great and mega quick so he’s been a great addition to the team.”

This was demonstrated during the first race weekend in Adelaide when Mostert finished second to reigning Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin at the end of the second event. The challenge is to sustain that success said Brown.

“Well we had a really good boost first race, but that’s only one race in a long season so I’d like to think we can maintain our competitiveness and get back to winning,” Brown explained.

“We’ve got one really experienced fast driver and obviously one rookie, who’s got to learn his way around Supercars and some of the tracks such as Melbourne, so that’s never easy.

“We got to improve every race weekend with a strong start, but we have to maintain through the course of the year.” Heath McAlpine

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THE SCHEDULE for the 2020 Bathurst 6 Hour event has been released with the TCR Australia Series set to run a different race format. A TCR Australia series weekend usually consists of a qualifying and one single race on Saturday, with two back to back races on Sunday. As usual the pocket rockets contest a 20 minute qualifying session on Saturday morning, however two races will follow in the afternoon. The third and final TCR race will take place early on Sunday morning with a half an hour race from 8:45am-9:15am.

THE DECISION has been made to cancel the second round of the Australian GT Endurance Championship but not due to the Coronavirus.

According to Australian GT category rights holder Jim Manolios the decision came about to save money for teams and provide better value to sponsors. The event which had been scheduled take place at Phillip Island from March 20-22.

The original plan for 2020 had been to run two four hour races at the MotoGP venue however the round in August is set to be extended from four hours to six to compensate for the cancelled event.

Image: LAT ALL INDYCAR races will be available to watch on Fox Sports this year, this includes the Indianapolis 500 and the debut of reigning Supercars Champion Scott McLaughlin. It means that the country will also be able to follow the progress of Australian Team Penske driver Will Power who won the series in 2014 and in 2018 took the Indianapolis 500 victory. The series was set to begin on the 16th of March but was postponed due to the Coronavirus.

THE AUSTRALIAN Rally Championship has signed a new naming rights partner for the 2020 season.

What will be known at the RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship, the partnership was revealed two weeks out from the scheduled opening round, the Netier National Capital Rally.

However, this event has now been cancelled due to the Coronavirus.

THE AUSTRALIAN Motor Racing Series (AMRS) and MARC Cars Australia have agreed to jointly manage a newly rebranded Super GT Australia Championship. The category effectively replaces GT-1 Australia with its owners Rod Salmon and Paul Taylor transferring their management rights to the AMRS.

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S5000 EARNS GOLD STAR

THE GOLD Star has returned to Australian open-wheel motorsport in Australia with the winner of the VHT Australian S5000 Championship earning the title of the Australian Drivers Championship.

The championship is a historical prize that dates back to 1957 however the last time it was awarded was in 2014 as part of the Formula 3 Championship.

Since then the award has not been handed out, S5000 category manager and creator Chris Lambden was thrilled with the announcement which was made on the Thursday of the shortened Australian grand Prix weekend.

“It is a terrific acknowledgement by Motorsport Australia of where we have got to in a fairly short time with S5000,” Lambden told Auto Action.

“It (the Gold Star) is top award in openwheel racing or even motor racing in Australia, so the fact that our championship now carries

the Australian Drivers Championship crown is fabulous.

Lambden feels that the Gold Star award will entice more capable drivers to the V8 powered category.

“I feel it will encourage even more people to look across at what we are doing and getting involved,” he said.

“It is just another accolade that means this is serious motorsport category, it is seriously recognised by Motorsport Australia so whoever wins that this year has got a certain amount of kudos and recognition that has increased with having that award attached to it.”

The kudos comes a result of previous winners, the first winner in 1957 was Lex Davison, legendary Australian open-wheel driver and grandfather to Will and Alex Davison.

Other winners include Stan Jones father of Alan Jones, Kevin Bartlett, Leo Geoghegan,

John Bowe David Brabham, Mark Skaife, Jason Bright just to name a few. More recently the honour has been won by Rick Kelly and Australian Indy 500 winner Will Power.

Super2 Series and S5000 Championship driver Tom Randle feels the Australian Drivers Championship that it is a great incentive to drivers.

“It is great for the category, the S5000 class has taken off since Day 1 so it is just an added bonus for all drivers doing this championship, it is a great incentive and spectacle” he said.

“I think it is fantastic to have this (S5000) in Australia, I wish we had it three years ago or even longer ago, but it is great that it is hear now and that it has got such great drivers in the category.

“Ninety eight percent of comments that I read are all positive, I haven’t seen any negative comments for this championship all the fans are really on board with it.” DM

AITKEN IMPRESSED WITH S5000 FIELD WILLIAMS FORMULA 1 Reserve Driver Jack Aitken was one of many high profile names who joined the S5000 grid for the first Image: LAT championship round of the V8 open-wheel category, however he was impressed with the quality of the Australians competing.

Image: LAT Aitken was full of compliments when he was asked what he thought of the new VHT Australian S5000 Championship.

“It is great, there are some really good drivers here, being teammates with Rubens, I watched him on TV as a kid it is pretty awesome,” Aitken said to Auto Action.

“Tom (Randle) himself is a mega lad, he is a quick driver as well, Zane (Goddard) is quick so the quality of the field is pretty decent for what is effectively a national series.”

Aitken and Australian Tom Randle competed against each other in the European based Formula V8 3.5 Series in 2016. Since then Randle made the return trip to Australia to pursue a career in the Supercars Championship while Aitken competes in the FIA Formula 2 Championship.

It was though this friendship that Aitken first found out about the series, however the drive came about due to a friendship between category manager Chris Lambden and well known F1 personality Peter Windsor.

“I knew of it because I knew Tom from when he was racing in Europe, we have had some chats about it briefly,” he said.

“To be honest I haven’t been following it (S5000) too much I had a call from Peter Winsor who is a friend of Chris Lambden and they were just asking if I wanted to get involved and I was pretty keen.”

Aitken ran in two 20 minute sessions on Thursday before the event was cancelled, the 24-year-old finished fifth in the practice session just 0.55s of the pace. In qualifying however Aitken caught traffic on his fastest lap but was still able to qualify in sixth.

The Anglo-Korean driver enjoyed driving the V8 powered car, but for him getting used to the lack of downforce was something he had to get work on.

“It was pretty much how I expected it, Aitken told AA. “It was just lacking a lot of downforce and obviously it is a bit heavier than what I’m used to as well, so I’m just bringing my expectations back a little bit on what the car can do.” Dan McCarthy

EXPANSION OF BARBAGALLO MOOTED PROVISIONAL TCR BOP RELEASED Image: LAT

PLANS TO extend Barbagallo Raceway have moved positively after Wanneroo Council gave the draft master plan the green light for wider community consultation.

Last week, Council voted to endorse the draft master plan and proceed with plans to seek feedback from the public and external stakeholders starting on March 30 and ending on May 10. This is when the draft can be viewed on the City of Wanneroo’s website.

The major overhaul of the circuit includes, but isn’t limited to improved and expanded infrastructure, grandstands, paddock areas, pit buildings and an entirely new FIA Grade 2 circuit.

City of Wanneroo Mayor Tracey Roberts has invited residents, ratepayers and motor sport fans to have their say on the proposed plans during the 42-day consultation period.

“Since opening in 1969, Wanneroo Raceway has become the home of motorsport in Western Australia,” Mayor Roberts said.

“I would encourage those interested in the future of

this iconic WA sporting venue to have their say when the consultation period opens later this month.”

The development of the master plan included consultation with a number of stakeholders including the Edith Cowan University, the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, and Motorsport Australia.

President of the Western Australian Sporting Car Club, Russell Sewell is excited by the long-term plans for the venue, which for the first time held a Supercars SuperNight event.

“The WASCC has been delivering motorsport to the state in events, big and small, for over 90 years, and has maintained and operated Wanneroo Raceway for over 50 years,” Mr Sewell said.

“The history of cooperation and the excellent current relationship between the Club and the City of Wanneroo can achieve synergies in the execution of the strategy.”

Copies of the draft will be available to view on the City of Wanneroo website at www.wanneroo.wa.gov.au/ yoursay. HM

THE GOVERNING body of TCR racing worldwide, the WSC Group have released a provisional Balance of Performance measures ahead of the 2020 season.

These settings remain provisional as the tests and checks have been suspended due to the current worldwide health emergency, but will resume once permitted by Governments’ decrees.

The only major changes to the last update, which occurred during October 2019 were to the Audi RS3 LMS TCR sequential and both Hyundai TCR models, the i30 N and Veloster N. The Audi received a weight break of 10kg going down -30kg to -40kg for a minimum racing weight of 1225kg.

The Hyundais have had an additional 20kg imposed after both models’ performances in TC America and TCR Malaysia. This brings its BoP ballast to 40kg making the total minimum racing weight 1305kg, whilst the maximum boost pressure was also revised.

The recently revealed Cupra Leon Competicion is also not on the list as it awaits BoP testing. Heath McAlpine

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ONE OF the first motor racing events to be cancelled due to the Coronavirus was the Sydney Motorsport Park round of the World Time Attack Challenge (WTAC). After speaking to key stakeholders in regards to the general public’s health and safety it was decided by the category to cancel the 2020 edition of the popular event. The cancelation was due to it being an international series with the travel and freight restrictions possibly hindering its ability to provide the event on time.

Image: TCR Hub

WTCR TEAM Lynk & Co Cyan Racing has announced that it will again enter four cars as it did last season. The Chinese-Swedish manufacturer Lynk & Co will continue to field four of its 03 TCR cars throughout the season with two cars running as part of the ‘Cyan Racing Lynk & Co’ team while the other two will race as the ‘Cyan Performance Lynk & Co’ squad. In 2019 Yvan Muller and Thed Bjork secured the teams’ title, at this stage it is unknown if Muller, Bjork, Andy Priaulx or Yann Ehrlacher will return.

THE 2020 edition of the FIA Motorsport Games is set to grow significantly, with 15 motorsport disciplines confirmed for the second edition of the event to be run in the city of Marseille and the Circuit Paul Ricard circuit from October 23-25. Drivers competing in the event represent their country competing for a gold medal. In the first edition 49 countries entered in a total of six disciplines. New events for 2020 include a GT Sprint for pro drivers and four rallying events.

DUTCH RACER Tom Coronel has announced that he will once again race in the WTCR series this year. The 47-year-old has been a part of the WTCR/WTCC championship since it was revived in 2005 and this year looks to make his 500th touring car race start. The popular and charismatic driver will continue to race for Belgian team Comtoyou Racing, however in 2020 he makes the switch from a Cupra Leon to an Audi RS 3 LMS TCR car.

YOUTUBE SENSATION Ken Block has announced that he will contest the New Zealand round of the FIA World Rally Championship in September. The American will enter in a Ford Escort RS Cosworth with the livery of car revealed in California.

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Image: Gary Clarke

FIRTH’S SHOP FACES DEMOLITION

THE WORKSHOP integral to the many Ford and Holden motorsport successes in the 1960s and 1970s is under threat of demolition.

Situated at 33-35 Queens Avenue Hawthorn, the site was the headquarters of legendary racer and team owner Harry Firth and was later taken over by renowned engine builder Ian Tate.

Firth was running the Ford’s Australian factory team when he bought the site in the early 1960s, but was relieved of those duties

at the end of the 1968 season.

He was quickly signed up to run the Holden Dealer Team and headquartered it in the same Hawthorn building until 1978, when John Sheppard took over and it moved to North Melbourne.

It was at Queens Avenue that Peter Brock got his start in professional motor racing. But many other famous Australian motor racing drivers, engineers and mechanics have been associated with the site.

The building’s origin was said to be as a

Cobb & Co station in the 19th century.

A six story commercial development, plus two storey basement, has been proposed for the site. The estimated cost of the work has been put at $7 million.

There are no historical overlays for the building, which means no elements of the original design such as the façade needs to be retained.

Any objections to the development have to be lodged by March 25, with a decision due within a couple of months. Bruce Newton

Image: LAT

EVERINGHAM SET FOR S2 RETURN ANDERSON MOTORSPORT’S move from Super 3 last year to the Dunlop Super 2 Series this year was delayed to the second round due to a budget shortfall.

Tyler Everingham won the final race of 2019, driving for Matt White Motorsport in a Nissan Altima and winning the Mike Kable Young Gun Award. The 19-year-old from Dubbo was expected to drive an ex-Walkinshaw Holden Commodore VF run by Michael Anderson at the Adelaide opening round until a heavy shunt and the subsequent repair bill at the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

Everingham’s supporters have responded and he is expected to be on the grid at the second round, getting behind the wheel of the chassis James Courtney won with at Adelaide in 2016.

“To get everything back together and in a direction where we want to head is pretty relieving, especially after how stressful it has been for the start of 2020 after the 12 Hour crash and just trying to make a deal happen,” said Everingham.

Last year Anderson ran Jayden Ojeda the Kumho Tyre Super 3 Series, piloting an-Prodrive Ford Falcon FG with the team finishing second overall. The year before Everingham won that series, and then known as the V8 Touring Car Series.

The Falcon was the car that Chaz Mostert made his Supercar debut in and was the same one that Cam Waters won the 2015 Dunlop Series in.

“We had technical support with springs and setup from Chaz and (his engineer) Adam De Borre at Prodrive/Tickford and we hope to continue that relationship now they are WAU,” Anderson said.

The team still has the Falcon which Anderson plans to compete in rounds of this year’s Kumho Tyre V8 Touring Cars Series which is part of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships.

“Unfortunately we will miss the first round (on March 27-29) as it is only a week before Tasmania,” Anderson reflected.

Garry O’Brien

YOUNGSTERS STAR IN S5000 THE QUALITY within the S5000 Championship is strong, take out international visitors and you have a very competitive and noticeably young field of talent.

When the S5000 Championship was first announced a large number of fans expressed their views that the category would only contain old gentleman drivers, the two sessions at the Australian Grand Prix proved this would not be the case.

Category manager and creator of the series Chris Lambden explained that the series is heading in the direction he wanted.

“I always wanted it to be what it looks like it is going to be a premier open-wheel class for top young guys,” he said to Auto Action.

“To be fair we did have a couple of more experienced people pop up and show interest and we have managed to convert a couple of them into car owners which is a great thing, so that the young guys get the benefit of it. I’m really thrilled how that element of it is coming together and hopefully it will grow.”

Qualifying for the wings and slicks category was dominated by the new generation of drivers with five of the

top six drivers all under the age of 25.

Pole position was taken by Supercars co-driver James Golding who despite winning the feature race at Sandown Raceway last year surprised himself.

“I didn’t have any high expectations coming into this race, there are a lot of good drivers to compete against so to claim pole, I’m really happy with that,” Golding said to AA. Golding pipped Tom Randle while former European Le Mans Series driver Ricky Capo qualified third and was happy to see three youngsters up the pointy end.

“It is quite exciting we all raced each other growing up, Jimmy (Golding) Thomas (Randle) and I,” Capo told AA. “To see us in the top three especially against people who have been doing it a lot longer than us was really cool.”

With other full-time series competitors Luis Leeds and Zane Goddard inside the top 10 the inaugural S5000 championship is a category will be fought out between the youngsters. Dan McCarthy

AUTO ACTION CONTINUED COVERAGE

WHILE HILE WE had h d a minor i setback tb k with ith thi this iissue going on sale, Auto Action is fully committed to continuing its extensive coverage of motor sport throughout the difficulties created by the Covid-19 pandemic.

With regular events in doubt, we will be bringing you extensive features and interviews every fortnight along with race coverage as it happens.

It’s a great opportunity to catch up on some of the back stories that make our sport great, as

wellll as ttaking ki a llookk att more th than 100 years off history.

As ever, we’ll be out to entertain, inform, educate and share our enthusiasm for the sport we all enjoy.

Please note the next issue of Auto Action will go on sale April 9th and then fortnightly as usual thereafter.

Don’t forget if you want to keep up to date with all the latest news, as well as lots of great features you can visit Auto Action’s web site

www.autoaction.com.au t ti We also have plenty of updates on our social media platforms which include facebook, instagram and twitter.

Auto Action is also available as a full digital version, featuring exactly the same content as the printed publication and is available on the Wednesday night before the printed magazine goes on sale. Links to purchase the digital magazine are on our web site, or you can find our digital store here https://issuu.com/me8674

TCR ASIA-PACIFIC SETBACK PLANS FOR for an Asia-Pacific TCR Series have received a setback because of the coronavirus-driven cancellation of the Australian F1 Grand Prix last weekend.

The cancellation included all support races including the TCR Asia Pacific Cup, which local promoter of the hot hatch category, Australian Racing Group, had hoped to parlay into a series as early as 2021.

But without the races going ahead, some momentum has been lost, admitted ARG CEO Matt Braid.

“It was disappointing from an opportunity perspective,” admitted Braid.

“This was going to be a test round to see what the interest was and also to highlight it,” said Braid.

The coronavirus had already impacted by stopping representatives of the global right-holder of TCR, WSC, making the trip from Europe to

view the race.

Braid suggested an A-Pac series could initially involve Australia and New Zealand, where it promotes TCR racing, and an Asian venue.

“That would be the ideal scenario, but where it would be in Asia we don’t know. That would be the subject of discussion.”

Braid admitted the 22-car field for TCR cars was less than originally hoped for.

But he said the target of a 26-28 car field was hurt by a combination of factors. Some local drivers and teams elected to save their budgets for the points-paying Australia series race, whole some internationals were put off or thwarted by the coronavirus.

“To have over 20 cars in the end, we were quite happy with,” he said.

Any objections to the development have to be lodged by March 25, with a decision due within a couple of months.

Bruce Newton

Image: TCRHUB

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Image: TCR Australia/Daniel Kalisz

LATEST NEWS

AUSSIE AIDAN Read will return to the ADAC GT Masters Series in 2020 in which he will build upon his debut season. This year the 21-year-old moves to Schubert Motorsport into a customer BMW M6 GT3 alongside BMW works driver Joel Eriksson, the Swede finished as runner-up to Lando Norris in the European Formula 3 Championship in 2017. The season begins at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben from 24-26 April.

Image: LAT TEAM PENSKE co-driver Tim Slade has announced that along with partnering with Scott McLaughlin in the Pirtek Enduro Cup and contesting the Le Mans 24 Hours, he will race in the remainder of the Intercontinental GT Challenge.

Slade entered with HubAuto Corse in the first round of the series in the Bathurst 12 Hour, however he didn’t start the race after one of his co-drivers crashed heavily in practice. The next round is the 24 Hours of Spa which takes place from July 23-26.

AUSTRALIAN SHAE Davies will rejoin the GT World Challenge Asia series this season alongside his old teammate Sandy Stuvik in an Audi Sport Asia Team X Works’ car, the pair forming up to compete in the Silver Cup. The duo previously joined forces to drive for Craft-Bamboo Racing in the 2018 series in what was a season of mixed results. The pair finished the year 16th in the standings driving a Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes but did record a second place finish at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan.

INTERNATIONAL PORSCHE driver Jaxon Evans has announced that as well as contesting his second full season in the global Porsche Supercup he will also be entering selected round of the French Carrera Cup Series. The New Zealander has also confirmed that he has made the switch from the Fach Auto Tech squad to Lechner Racing in the off season and will compete for his new team in both series’. The 2018 Australian Carrera Cup Series winner moved overseas to compete in the series last year, Evans scored two podiums on the way to sixth place in the standings.

THE CAR in which Australian open-wheel ace Oscar Piastri drove to win the 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup title has arrived in Australia. With the help of family and sponsors, Piastri secured the Tatuus (chassis FR049) from the R-ace GP team after he claimed the prestigious title at the final round of the series in Abu Dhabi last November.

The 18-year-old won seven races in the car during the 20-race season.

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AUSSIE ALLEN TESTS INDYCAR AUSTRALIAN SPORTS car specialist James Allen is the most recent rookie to test an IndyCar after Dragonspeed gave him the opportunity at Sebring on March 3-4.

The Elton Julian-owned team missed the open test at Indianapolis as it had not received its aeroscreen with the same plight nearly derailing the teams planned run at Sebring before one was acquired.

Meanwhile back in Australia, Allen was preparing to test an Ash Seward Motorsport Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR, which he plans to contest several TCR Australia rounds in this year. He cut the test day short to catch a plane to Indianapolis where he underwent a seat fitting at Dragonspeed’s workshop before heading to Sebring.

“It was a bit of a shock because they called me either Monday or Tuesday morning before the TCR Australia test day at Winton,” Allen explained.

“I had to book a flight for midnight Wednesday to go first to Indianapolis for a seat fitting, then onto Sebring for the IndyCar test. It was a mad panic,

but a pleasant surprise.”

Allen enjoys a strong relationship with Dragonspeed after contesting World Endurance Championship LMP1 races in 2018 at Fuji and Shanghai, which was then followed by a pole setting performance from the Aussie in LMP2 at the 24 Hours of Daytona.

Some of those crew members are apart of the IndyCar program making the transition easier for Allen, although his preparation was limited “There were quite a few people from the LMP1 and LMP2 crews there, it was quite easy to settle in with them,” Allen explained.

“A friend of mine let me play iRacing at his work just to test Sebring, but for the IndyCar test there was nothing official. I didn’t go to the Chevrolet simulator or anything like that.

“I didn’t really have any real time to prepare since it was such a last minute call up.”

Allen completed the test alongside regular driver Ben Hanley, who will complete a limited IndyCar program. It was a jump in the deep end for 23-year-old, but an enjoyable experience that may

provide a step towards IndyCar. “The car was a real beast to drive, it has no assists at all, which is definitely not what I’m used to in LMP2 or LMP1,” Allen said of his experience.

“It’s obviously a very fast car, it’s lighter than prototypes and similar horsepower. It was really a big car to drive. Ben was there helping and running me through the procedures for the car and also what to expect when I was out on track. He was very helpful the whole day.

“It was a baptism of fire really, jump in a car that I had never driven before, on a track that I hadn’t driven before with the top teams.”

Before the test, Julian told Racer.com “James has enormous potential, raw pace and is an attacking racer when the flag drops. This test is a first step towards creating that opportunity.”

In what is the Aussie’s “busiest year in quite a while”, he will also contest selected TCR Australia rounds that don’t clash with his European prototype commitments, one of these is Le Mans where he will drive with Graff Racing.

Heath McAlpine

PIASTRI WILL BE CHALLENGED BY TEAMMATES AUSTRALIAN DRIVER Oscar Piastri was a man in demand during the considerably shortened Grand Prix weekend, nevertheless the Victorian found the event very worthwhile in the lead up to the FIA Formula 3 Championship season.

Piastri will enter in the thirdtier F1 series for the first time competing for last year’s teams’ champions Prema. The Australian feels that it will be a very competitive year in his rookie season, but he believes that the championship is possible.

“I have of lot of different surroundings this year but I feel the championship is definitely achievable in the position I am in,” Piastri told Auto Action.

“I’m still pretty confident I have got the reigning champions in Prema and I had a successful year myself in Renault Eurocup so I think I am up for the challenge. It is certainly not out of the question obviously coming into F3 as a rookie it is going to be a massive challenge.”

In 2019 Vesti drove for

the Prema team winning the Formula Regional European Championship while Sargeant will return to the F3 championship after racing with Carlin Buzz Racing last year.

“I think it will be really even, I have raced Logan for two seasons in F4 and Formula Renault, in F4 we were very close in the championship, in Formula Renault in his first season he beat me in the

championship” Piastri said.

“Throughout testing it has been very tight between all of us, Prema is going to have the luxury of choosing exactly what they want, I think we are all there based on our talent and I think it will be a very equal challenge.”

(A full F3 season preview can be found on pages 24-25) A big weekend for Piastri at the Australian Grand Prix weekend was made more busy by the

fact that he has signed up to the Renault junior programme.

“I had a busy couple of days with some interviews and doing some hot laps with Renault in their Megane which was pretty fun, I got to do my first laps of Albert Park,” he told AA. “Not very often you get to say I did more laps around the track than the whole F1 field did.”

“I was pretty busy but it was a lot of fun, it was a new experience for me experiencing a little bit of the media obligations that the F1 drivers have.”

Piastri recalled to AA how things were within the team up to the moment the event was canned.

“Up until that point it was really good, there were some measures being taken following the advice of handshakes being optional and trying to be as hygienic as possible basically,” he said.

“In terms of how the team were, everything was fine, I enjoyed the brief time I had with the team obviously a bit disappointed not to experience the full weekend with them but not much I can do about that.” Dan McCarthy

Image: MTR Images

VIRUS CREATES EVENT UNCERTAINTY SEVERAL STATE-BASED events did take place as the Melbourne Grand Prix was cancelled and ahead of the Federal Government’s empowering no public gatherings of over 500 spectators due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

At this stage, it appears that most small state and club permits issued by the likes of Motorsport Australia, AASA and RACERS for the near future remain intact. While the situation is monitored on a daily basis, there should be no postponements or cancellations, but access would be denied for those wishing to attend as spectators.

Circuit race meetings took place at Sydney Motorsport Park, Lakeside Park and the Collie Motorplex as well as an off road event at Mt Ooraminna in the Northern Territory and the Twilight Tarmac Rallysprint at Sydney Dragway.

The HRSCA Historic Autumn Festival at Wakefield Park on March 21-22 was still scheduled to go ahead at the time of writing but limited to race, official and club personnel only. In an issued statement the HSRCA stated the government’s advice on gatherings of more than 500 people has been carefully considered. It would also support anyone wishing to withdraw from

the meeting due to the current circumstances.

The second round of the Victorian State Racing Championship which included the opening rounds of the national Formula Ford and Sports Sedans series’ that was scheduled for the same dates has been cancelled.

John Tetley from Queensland Raceway stated that they would look at a spectator ban from their QRDC round in early May while the sprints and roll racing programs would go ahead as planned.

Key personnel at the Australian Racing Drivers Club met Monday of last week to discuss their upcoming events, the first of which is the second round of the NSW State Motor Racing Championships in early April.

Most daily experiences at Sydney Motorsport Park have under 500 people and the site sits on 90-odd hectares, so the ARDC suggests low risk events and experiences will go ahead. Any events near or over 500 attendees in the next 60 days will be restricted to competitors only/no spectators, or be postponed or cancelled, though the situation will be reviewed on a week to week basis. The only event of this type to be cancelled is the PCRA Festival of Speed on March 20-22.

The latest word regarding round one of the SA State Motor Racing Championships was that it still going ahead at. The SA Sporting Car Club was complying with all Government directives and would make suitable adjustments if anything changes.

The opening round of the NSW Rally Championship was scheduled to run alongside the Australian Rally Championship at the National Capital Rally but that has been called off. Meanwhile the Victorian Rally Championship at Mitta Mitta has been postponed although there was a majority support from competitors, officials and community to proceed.

The Lake Mountain Tarmac Rally out of Mitta Mitta was also scheduled to go ahead. The AASA stated that it took the view that most competitors and officials would be separated sufficiently and practice “social distancing” as far as accommodation and dining is concerned.

As far as the national Off Road Racing Championships are concerned both the Motorsport Australia and AASA events are off. The St George 399 (April 3-5) is postponed due to the CONVID-19 situation while the calling off of the Sea Lake long weekend event is due to the loss of the venue.

GOB

MCELREA CONTINUES RISE THE 2018 Australian Formula Ford Series winner Hunter McElrea will have a delayed debut in the Indy Pro 2000 Championship after the first four rounds were cancelled in-line with IndyCar. McElrea finished runner up to Braden Eves in the USF2000 title last year after a final race duel that went against the young Kiwi. He re-joins Pabst Racing as he continues the Race to Indy elevation process and displayed his potential during the Chris Griffis Memorial Test sat Indianapolis where he scored the fastest time across the two-day event.

The 20-year-old, though disappointed to not have made his debut at St Petersburg this weekend is eager to continue his rise towards a career in IndyCar. “I am thrilled to be on the 2020 Indy Pro 2000

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grid, and step up into the middle step of the Road to Indy,” McElrea said. “After getting my first taste of an Indy Pro 2000 car at the Chris Griffis Test last year, I was hooked. I am very grateful for the opportunity that Pabst Racing has given me, along with my backers, sponsors, and Team HM members for getting me on the grid.

“I cannot wait to get back into the car!”

Team owner Augie Pabst is ready to kick off the biggest season for his team, which expands into Pro 2000 this year.

“We’re extremely happy to have Hunter move up to Indy Pro 2000 with us for 2020,” said Pabst. “His pace in testing has been impressive, and it’s obvious how well he’s acclimated to the Tatuus PM-18.”

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Joining McElrea within the team is Colin Kaminskey.

McElrea’s former Formula Ford rival Cameron Shields returns to the US as well with Legacy Autosport in USF2000 where he was a race winner last year before his season was cut short.

Both contested practice sessions at St Petersburg, but IndyCar have delayed the start of the season. Heath McAlpine

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DYLAN YOUNG SEALS SECOND

CONTESTING THE 2019/220 MRF Challenge Formula 3 Drivers Championship during the Summer months, Dylan Young has walked away with second place overall.

The MRF Challenge takes in rounds that are held in the Middle East and India, where the series concluded. Across a packed sixrace weekend, Young finished four on the podium, but fell 24-points short of series leader Belgian Michelangelo Amendola after the final round in Chennai.

He did complete the season with a dominant race victory from pole position, this came after he was hit from behind during the penultimate race, nursing a damaged car home to sixth.

His previous results were second, fourth, second and third, but Amendola took victories during these events to prevent the Aussie from snatching the title.

“I’m really proud to finish 2nd in such a competitive international category,” said Young post-race.

“I gave it my all to win the title but unfortunately, we just fell short. That said, I’ve beaten drivers with much more resources and support and that gives me a huge confidence boost that I can fight at the front in any category if I can have the opportunity from companies to support my 2020 season.

“It was a tough fight with Michelangelo all season and overall getting taken out whilst in third in Dubai and then going from 1st to 3rd on the last lap in Bahrain have proved costly as without those blips in the season I would have taken the Championship win by a point. But that’s racing and I’m so happy to have bagged 9 podiums across the 15 races and importantly take a win at each venue as I felt we were really consistent and that’s also thanks to my mechanics and engineers.”

Young hopes to tackle Europe this year in prototype racing. HM

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AUSTRALIAN GP CANCELLED NOT POSTPONED NEVER SAY never, but there is virtually no chance of the cancelled 2020 Australian Grand Prix being rescheduled on a weekend later this year.

It is worth noting that the Chinese Grand Prix scheduled for April 19 was officially “postponed” due to the coronavirus crisis. And there is already a considerable problem trying to fit that race back into the schedule that ends in Abu Dhabi on November 29.

“It’s important to say that we used the word cancellation because of the immediacy of the timing of it,” Australian Grand Prix Corporation Chairman Paul Little said. “It was important to make sure the fans who were here in Melbourne, some of the fans who were at the gate, knew that it wasn’t a postponement or didn’t get the impression it was a postponement for some period of hours or days or something. So the word cancellation was used deliberately here.

“I’ve learned in the world of Formula 1 that you never say never. We clearly had been working on the here and now with Chase Carey and the FIA and Formula 1. We’ll work through matters, but we haven’t started to think about future staging or anything like that. It’s clearly a normal topic of discussion that will happen in the fullness of time.”

To further compound the problem of rescheduling the Australian Grand Prix is that the track facility cannot be left in place for months.

“One of the things we respect here is there are men and women’s football teams; there are sporting activities here,” explained AGPC CEO Andrew Westacott. “We recognise that one of the privileges we have is to occupy a beautiful park in the CBD of Melbourne, so we want to minimise the impact of the build and the dismantle.

“Clearly this changes the way we dismantle the circuit and return it back, but we can’t be leaving it here for days and weeks. We would expect to be dismantling and removing the infrastructure and returning it back to the sporting clubs of Albert Park and Melbourne.”

Furthermore, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation would have to absorb the considerable cost of building and dismantling the facility twice in one year. This was supposed to be the 25th edition of the Melbourne F1 race, but now that will happen next March.

CANCELLATION COUNTDOWN THE DECISION to cancel the Australian Grand Prix was made, after a series of meetings, at about 2:30 a.m. on the Friday of the event, and the official announcement released at 10:06 a.m. that day.

While the gates were supposed to open at 8:45 a.m., fans were kept outside until being told at about 10:20 a.m. that the event was cancelled.

In the leadup to the weekend, eight F1 staff members had coronavirus symptoms (four from Haas, one from McLaren and three from a supplier). Tests showed that seven were negative, but the McLaren man tested positive.

On Thursday evening McLaren announced it was pulling out of the Australian Grand Prix and a meeting with the 10 team principals was called.

In that meeting the majority of the teams voted against the race going ahead and duly informed FOM (Formula One Management/Liberty Media), the FIA and the race organiser. Only Red Bull, AlphaTauri and Racing Point wanted to go out for practice on Friday. The FIA and the FOM then had

16 AutoAction

emergency talks and both decided they wouldn’t cancel the event without the agreement of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, as they didn’t want to be financially liable.

At 7 a.m. Friday there was another meeting, with representatives of the FIA (president Jean Todt was not here), the FOM (Chase Carey had yet to arrive in Australia) and the AGPC to make a decision.

While that was happening, the Victorian Federal Government announced that spectators wouldn’t be allowed to enter the circuit.

On Friday morning McLaren, Renault, Ferrari and Mercedes sent skeleton crews to the track to start dismantling and packing everything, but the other six teams carried on as normal. Red Bull, Racing Point, AlphaTauri, Alfa Romeo, Haas and Williams continued with their normal Friday preparations, the crews having breakfast on the circuit at 9 a.m., doing pit stop practices and checking all the systems.

At 10 a.m. Franz Tost called the entire AlphaTauri

crew into the hospitality unit to tell them the race was cancelled.

At 10:04 a.m. Mercedes announced that it had sent a letter to the FIA and F1 requesting the cancellation of the 2020 Australian Grand Prix. “In light of the force majeure events we are experiencing with regards to the Coronavirus

pandemic, we no longer feel the safety of our employees can be guaranteed if we continue to take part in the event,” Mercedes said.

Two minutes later the FIA, Formula 1 and Australian Grand Prix Corporation issued a joint statement regarding the cancellation of the 2020 FIA Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.

DEVASTATED DAN DANIEL RICCIARDO was gutted not to race in Melbourne.

“I’m devastated I can’t compete at my home GP here in Melbourne & get the season started,” the Aussie tweeted.

“Ultimately though the right decision has been made & I think everyone can understand this is something we’ve never seen before. Sorry to all fans who came out for the support. Much love.”

Other drivers felt the same. Here are some of their reactions to the race being canceled.

Lewis Hamilton: “Sadly, this is the right decision. No one wants this, we all want to get in our cars and get racing, but we have to be realistic and we must put health and safety first. The reality is, this is really serious with people dying every day, lots of people ill and even if they are not ill, many people being affected financially and emotionally.

“No one really knows the extent of what we are dealing with, but we should all take precautions to keep as many people as safe as possible. I know it’s disappointing, as sport unites us when times are tough, but it’s the right call.

“Listen to the advice everyone, keep safe. Hope to be back racing soon but in the meantime look after yourselves. We are all in this together whether you like it or not. This is affecting all of us around the world, our families and friends.

“We are all the same. I’m so sad to be faced with the reality that we will not be racing but this decision will save lives.

For the fans who saved up and came all this way, I’m so sorry for you. Please remember you can’t put a price on health. Take care of yourselves.”

George Russell: “Can’t remember ever being more excited for a race weekend than this one - but cancelling was absolutely the right call. Everybody’s safety has to come first. Stay safe people.”

Kevin Magnussen: “Was so pumped to go racing this weekend, but the safety, health and wellbeing of everyone is by far the most important thing and this was the right thing to do. Stay safe everyone and look after each other.”

Esteban Ocon: “Will have to wait some more days to get officially back racing. Of course, very disappointed but this is the best decision for us drivers, teams and fans. Hopefully the whole situation will get better soon.

Stay safe.”

Pierre Gasly: “Stay safe everyone, and let’s hope this whole Covid-19 situation gets better soon. Shame we can’t race here in Australia, but keeping everybody health & safety is priority.

Was really looking forward to start the season, but we will have to wait. Let’s hope for better news soon.”

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS CANCELING THE Australian Grand Prix means that many questions that would have been answered during the course of the weekend will now remain unanswered for many weeks.

For example: Which team would come out on top of the midfield battle?

“We have more or less an idea of where we could be,” McLaren’s Carlos Sainz said, “but we do not know exactly where – just like every other team. There are only 24 hours left to know more or less where we really are. By FP2 everyone will start to know where they are at, the long runs, the qualifying runs, as we will run more or less similar fuel loads, and we know more or less how the picture is. So 24 hours and maybe I can answer you.”

That was at a McLaren press conference attended by Auto Action in the Albert Park paddock. Because McLaren

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wanted to protect Sainz due to the Covid-19 crises, the journalists were kept at least two metres away from him.

Other teams took similar precautions with their drivers, and the teams also did not let their drivers go to any TV ‘scrums’ where they would be surrounded by TV crews.

The drivers never got out on the track on Friday, of course, as the entire event was cancelled the following morning.

Sadly, one McLaren crew member tested positive for the virus, and 14 more were put into quarantine.

Another question that went unanswered was just how fast would the Ferrari be?

Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren, Renault, Racing Point, Williams and AlphaTauri are still angry that that the FIA and Ferrari reached an agreement regarding Ferrari’s power unit, that was kept confidential.

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Ferrari teams Alfa Romeo and Haas side with their supplier. It is believed that Ferrari found a loophole in the rules last year regarding fuel flow to the power unit.

That loophole has now been closed, so it would have been interesting to see just how competitive the Ferraris were.

Fans and drivers and teams will also

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have to wait to see just how competitive the Red Bull is after Max Verstappen said that the car needed to be improved “everywhere – it’s never perfect.”

The teams will now have many weeks to work on their cars – no track testing is permitted – and in the meantime the questions will go answered.

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F1 INSIDER

with Dan Knutson

CASH IS KING: LEWIS HAMILTON CRITICAL THE DAY before the Australian Grand Prix was cancelled, Lewis Hamilton had been sharply critical that the event was going ahead as scheduled.

“I am really very, very surprised that we are here,” said the six-time world champion. “I think in motorsport it’s great that we have racing, but I think it’s really shocking that we are all sitting in this (press conference) room. There are so many fans here today, and it seems like the rest of the world is reacting, probably a little bit late. But we have already seen this morning that (U.S. President) Trump has shut down the borders with Europe to the States, and you are seeing the NBA being suspended, yet F1 continues to go on.”

Hamilton gave a blunt answer when asked why he thought that the race was still going on.

“Cash is king,” he stated.

“I don’t know,” he added.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t feel like I should shy away from my opinion. The fact is we are here, and I just really want to be as careful as we can be in touching doors and surfaces, and I hope everyone has hand sanitiser.

“Really for the fans, I really hope they are taking precautions. I was walking through and everything is going ahead as normal, like it is a normal day, but I don’t think it really is. I just hope all the fans stay safe, and I hope we get through this

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weekend and we don’t have any fatalities or things in the future.”

Not having a race means that the F1 teams and commercial owner Liberty Media will lose a lot of revenue that they would have earned, from things such as the US$45 million race hosting fee paid by the promoter, television rights, advertising, hospitality and more.

But there are complications in this particular case.

If the promoter cancels the race, then the promotor forfeits the fee. If Formula 1 pulls the plug, then it forfeits the fee. But this time the decision to cancel the Melbourne event was a joint decision between the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, Liberty, the FIA and the Victorian government.

The parties involved will now have to sit down and discuss an equitable compromise.

Sebastian Vettel also questioned the Australian Grand Prix being staged.

“You realise that a lot of sport competitions get postponed and cancelled,” Vettel said, “and it’s fair, like Lewis said, to ask the question why. Obviously, we have to trust the FIA and FOM to take precautions as much as they can, but I think the answer that nobody can give you at the moment is how much you can control what’s going on.”

A day later (Friday) after the race had been officially called off, F1 CEO Chase Carey

Image: LAT

responded to Hamilton’s “cash is king” statement.

“If cash was king we wouldn’t have made the decision we did,” Carey said.

“In hindsight obviously things look different, events evolve, situations change.

“We made a decision, given the lead time, to come here and hold the event when major events were being held here, and it was a different situation in the world. As the situation changed day to day, and in some days, hour to hour, we continued to evaluate that and make the appropriate decisions

going forward. We were trying to digest a lot of different information to make the right decision at the right time and I think we did that.”

The problem for the teams is that if more races are cancelled this year, and they will be, their income is going to drop off dramatically. True, they won’t have to spend money on travel and freight costs going to races around the world, but they still have to pay their employees.

“In most teams the wage bill is the largest proportion of the monthly expenditure,” said Williams deputy team

principal Claire Williams, “and you’ve still got to pay wages.”

And in some teams such as Mercedes and Ferrari, the wage bill is sky high not only because they have many hundreds of employees, but also because drivers like Hamilton and Vettel command retainers of more than 40 million euros a year.

Interestingly, the drivers’ salaries are not reduced if a race is dropped. But they do lose the chance to make bonus cash paid for things such as wins and podiums.

And Hamilton and Vettel get plenty of those.

AA’s pugnacious pundit thinks we will get through this crisis – but not without considerable social and economic cost

Publisher

THE WORLD as we know it has changed – perhaps irrevocably. Isolation, panic buying, travel restrictions, national lockdowns, sporting suspensions or cancellations, looming global recession.

We have never known such an allencompassing crisis in our lifetimes.

Black Monday (1987) and the Global Financial Crisis (2008) potentially pale into insignificance.

The coronavirus pandemic challenges everything we’ve ever experienced. It has shutdown motor sport worldwide, along with every other major sport and the entertainment industry.

In our own backyard, Supercars and Motorsport Australia were still grappling with the ramifications of COVID-19 on Monday night, when we went to press.

Can’t imagine the situation has got any better since.

Unfortunately, this is bigger than racing.

Much, much bigger.

Our whole way of life is threatened.

Undoubtedly, within months, the pandemic will come under control.

But until then, the economic impact and social disruption will be profound.

Economically, possibly more devastating than The Great Depression of the late 1920s/early ‘30s.

It took World War 2 to truly end that mega-recession – at considerable cost.

The 1950s boom rode on the back of millions of deaths.

Hopefully, world conflict won’t be the consequence of COVID-19. After all, humanity has lived through a health crisis like this before.

Back in 1918, as World War 1 – the so-called War To End All Wars – wound down, the world was afflicted with the Spanish Flu. Killed millions until authorities got a pre-anti biotics handle on it.

We survived then and we will this

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time. But at what cost? Calling off events, banning social gatherings, shutting entertainment venues and other restrictions of movement will almost certainly result in more economic casualties than the virulent virus itself.

Racing as we know and enjoy it is over until the middle of this year – at the earliest. The cost is incalculable.

Even holding events without spectators is only a partial solution that costs major sports many millions.

We’re all going to take a big hit and all we can do is seek support where we can.

Of course, this all came into stark relief for motor racing fans with the cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix.

It was the right call at the wrong time.

It had to happen, but the decision should have been made two weeks earlier, not on the second day of the event.

Now, you might say it’s easy to be wise in hindsight. In this case, though, there were clear signs the AGP couldn’t – and shouldn’t – go ahead at the beginning of the month.

Back then, the COVID-19 virus was already rampant in Italy, calling into question the advisability of Ferrari and Pirelli staff coming here.

The spread of the outbreak was only going to get worse, so why tempt fate by corralling hundreds of foreign nationals in the close confines of the Albert Park paddock?

Plus the risk of thousands of international visitors among the big crowds.

Ironically, it was a member of a British team – McLaren – testing positive to the virus that triggered the crisis that made calling off the race the only course of action.

How the event was called off was a lesson in communications mismanagement. It was a complete farce.

It was the only responsible decision in the circumstances – or was it?

With the whole F1 circus already there, plus Supercars and the other support categories, why not go ahead without spectators?

That would have reduced the public health risk to an acceptable – and reasonable – level.

Bad for the fans who wanted to be trackside, but good for the sport. A public lock-out would also have saved F1, FIA, AGPC and the Victorian Government the embarrassment of the last-minute cancellation.

The cost of this is going to be enormous. Even if the multi-million dollar sanction fee is refunded – good luck with that! – Victorian taxpayers are going to have to foot a bill of at least $100 million for a non-event.

Think about it. The AGP costs Victoria around $60 million once costs are offset by ticket sales and other revenue.

That will all have to be refunded – plus administrative costs – while the circuit setup and pull-down expenses remain. Plus, possibly, the F1 sanction fee, depending on the terms of the secret deal.

What determines force majeure will be

critical to the size of the loss.

Why it took so long to call off the AGP is simple.

As Lewis Hamilton so succinctly observed, “Cash is king”.

The AGPC would have been under enormous pressure from Spring Street to ensure the event went ahead, against mounting medical advice, to mitigate the cost to the public purse.

If it had been called off at the start of the month – or even a week before – the losses would’ve been relatively limited, not to mention the PR value of being seen to be decisive amid a growing crisis.

Now motor sport worldwide is in lockdown, just like all major sports, and Supercars and ARG have to carefully consider scheduled events for at least the next few months With the Federal Government’s ban on mass gatherings, the choice is to follow the AFL’s lead, running events without spectators, or postpone meetings until later in the year.

For Supercars, it is an invidious dilemma. Race at Symmons Plains and perhaps Perth without crowds or cancel?

In between is the ANZAC weekend round at Hampton Downs in NZ, another puzzler.

Motor racing – and the world – has been changed forever by the coronavirus, which may or may not be an enduring global crisis.

For the foreseeable future, though, it will have a profound impact, likely shutting down racing as we know it until the middle of the year.

We take a look back at what was making news 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago 1980: THE NEW Holden Commodore starred at the opening round of the Australian Touring Car Championship at Symmons Plains. It was significant event as it was the first round for the new regulations and Kevin Bartlett sent a warning to Peter Brock, finishing second in the Channel Nine Chevrolet Camaro. Meanwhile, CAMS made a decision on the Mazda RX-7 placing it as a class contender in the three-litre class, not outright as Allan Moffat wanted.

1990: AUSTRALIA’S YOUNG drivers were given the opportunity of a lifetime to compete in the ‘Peter Jackson Search for a Champion’ program. Developed

by Allan Grice, more than 1000 drivers were contending for two spots on the Bathurst 1000 grid sharing a Holden VL Commodore Group A. Just like at the Phillip Island Classic this issue, Sierra RS500s dominated at the ATCC round with Dick Johnson taking victory.

2 2000: AUSTRALIA’S NEXT IndyCar hopefull JJason Bright was well on track to reach hhis goal, after signing a deal to contest the IIndy Lights Series with Dorricott Racing.

TThe 26-year-old took a major risk when hhe left Stone Brothers Racing in pursuit oof a ride in Indy Lights and was relieved tto finally get the deal across the line. The GMC 400 was launched to much fanfare, G tthe race in Canberra revealed as Round 6 oof the V8 Supercars Championship on a ccircuit partly designed by Mark Skaife.

2010: ADELAIDE AGAIN provided the first opportunity to witness the Supercars in the flesh on local shores, though it was not the opening round as the season started in the Middle East weeks prior. The construction off Supercars’ Car of The Future concept was starting to come together, with the COTF blueprint expected to be signed off by midyear. The new regulations were aimed to broaden the competition and reduce costs.

Jason Crowe

Special Contributor

Bruce Newton

Staff Journalist

Dan McCarthy

National Editor

Garry O’Brien

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WHINNING MACHINE Jamie speaks out

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Cover Images: LAT/AA Archive-Autopics. com.au/Tim Pattinson Design/B Williams

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WHINNING

E N I H C A M

The seven-time champ opens up about his decision to continue through 2021 and reveals how he juggles racing with his off-track workload Images: LAT/RBHRT

THEY CALL him The GOAT. In Supercars circles, he is the Greatest Of All Time.

And statistically, Jamie Whincup is by far the most accomplished driver in the history of Australian touring car racing.

Seven V8 crowns, 119 race wins, 209 podiums and 83 pole positions. All ATCC/Supercars records (following the seasonopening Adelaide 500) that will stand, if not forever, then at least for a very long time.

And there is more to come. Whincup, 37, will continue racing full-time in Supercars until the end of 2021 – at a minimum – after considering his future beyond the end of this season.

His renewal with Triple Eight for another year means he has shots at two more titles and will almost certainly add to his other marks.

Whincup is uncomfortable with The GOAT tag, but

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st statistically, it’s undeniable. However, in that other measure of greatness – po popularity – he is some distance behind Pe Peter Brock and Dick Johnson.

W While J-Dub undoubtedly one of the alltim time greats, public adoration is missing.

He is seen as too clinical and too res restrained. His measured and methodical app approach is the key to his success.

Yet he should appeal more because he is open and honest – sometimes disa disarmingly and controversially.

His application extends to taking on aw workload and responsibilities that are atypical of a leading professional driv driver. He runs a car wash/café on the Gol Gold Coast, is a minority co-owner of Tripl Triple Eight and sits on the rule-making Supercars Commission.

Overshadowed in the past two seasons by Scott McLaughlin and his mercurial teammate Shane van Gisbergen, Whincup is more determined than ever to be a title contender this season, especially as he feels parity between the Commodore and Mustang has been achieved.

Whincup got his bid for an eighth title off to a winning start in the first race of the Adelaide 500. He thinks this season will be a much closer fight with Scott McLaughlin because the Mustang’s advantages have been pared back following last year’s parity row.

What led you to even think about possibly retiring at the end of this season?

for the team. It’s important they have the best person available to showcase one of the cars.

Well, that’s the nature of the beast when you get older. Unfortunately, you have to ask yourself the question: Can you dig deeper? Because to perform at the same level, you almost have to give about 10 per cent more and you have to ask yourself the question, can you give 10 per cent more than what you already have? When you start your career, you have to work bloody hard to get to an adequate level and in the middle of your career, you’re still working hard, trying to get better, but it’s happening a lot more naturally and it’s basically organic.

It’s growing and it’s a rolling stone. But near the end of your career, you have to work harder. You have to go back to how you were at the start of your career and really dig deep just to maintain your performance. So I asked myself the question and, luckily for me, the answer is yes, I can give 10 per cent more than last year.

So you never really came close to deciding not to continue beyond this year?

I don’t think so, no. I didn’t go through the pros and cons, and I wasn’t fighting something in my head to say stop or “oh, gee, what if, what if?” It was just asking yourself the question and d it all pointed in the direction of let’s go again.

It did cause a bit of excitement when you just dropped it on us that you hadn’t decided about next year and beyond.

I wasn’t trying to create my own press.

I just like to say it as it is and that was just the truth. I didn’t want to just push it under the table, either. I just told the honest truth and that’s how it rolled out.

You’ve re-committed for how long?

Did it take much deliberation? Did you have to think about it a lot?

Not really. Like my gut feel had the answer already, but I wanted to properly stop at the end of last year, ask myself the serious question and not kid myself, go through everything and then make a proper decision, not a “Oh, it’ll be right, let’s go”. I wanted to do it properly – mainly, not for myself, but out of respect

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One more season. I signed for one more, but that doesn’t mean that’s the end.

Was Roland relieved that you decided to continue?

Roland did his job as team principal and made sure the decision I was making was the correct one for all involved, for me and the team. So he asked the question

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also and he just made sure it was the right call.

I asked because he said to me – and he may have been slightly tonguein-cheek – that he’d like you to retire from full-time racing to take over the running of the team from him.

I’m not really sure whether he was serious about that, but RD just did his job. He made sure that I put in the time and effort to think about what I wanted to do, to ask myself the question, which I was going to do anyway. He did a great job.

So what’s the aim now? Have you set some goals for the next two seasons?

Not performance goals. The obvious goal is to drive the car as well as I ever have. This sport is unique. There are so many people involved and it’s a game of engineering cars and then you put someone behind the wheel and then they have to showcase that engineering.

It’s a huge job for the person put behind the steering wheel. There are

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massive rewards and there are massive i h iit d i h Y ’ negatives when doesn’t’ go right.

You’re responsible for the work that 50 people have put in over a three-week period and you’ve been the weakest link. It’s not all about results for us. It’s about creating an environment and getting together people who love going racing and love being competitive and love pushing the limits, and exploring – trying to step outside the square with a racecar and see if we can innovate better than anybody else. That’s our motivation. We’re not just looking at a number at the end of the day. We’re looking to not be scared of failure and to push on, have a crack.

But you must be aware that there are some potentially big numbers involved. By the time you leave, you could have numbers in terms of race wins and championships that will take a long time to beat.

I always cringe when someone says a record can never be beaten. Well, it’s happened, so of course it can happen again. Honestly, I’m not in it for the

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Whincup’s epic battle with McLaughlin in the Volvo’s debut at Adelaide in 2014 established the Kiwi as the next big star.

McLaughlin snatched second place out of the final corner, with his excited reaction on TV sealing his popularity.

numbers. I’m sure the numbers will mean something to me at some stage, but that’s not what motivates me right now.

As you say, records are there to be broken, but you can extend them to a point where it takes a long time to exceed them. And it doesn’t get any easier – the competition gets stronger.

It’s as strong as it’s ever been in Supercars. In fact, I believe it’s tougher now than it’s ever been. But in saying that, one guy dominated last year – won so many races and so many poles in what’s the toughest competition we’ve seen. So anything possible. And, to be honest, once I finish up, I hope somebody does break my records. I’m not greedy. I’m not here to go “Oh, I hope that never happens”. I want someone to come along and set new records. That’d be good.

It’s been a tough couple of years by your standards…

Yeah, but only by my standards, compared with the previous results.

I’ve been completely realistic.

You can’t stay at that level forever.

We were in a unique situation like Scotty’s

been in the past couple of years where the whole package has really gelled and was better than most. But that doesn’t go on forever. Another package comes along and creates a bit of a storm, so to speak, and does some damage as far as results go.

I’m realistic. I realised that couldn’t happen forever.

when it hasn’t been right. Where are all the storylines after Adelaide. Gee, Supercars has done an amazing job.

From how it looks so far, it looks like the closest competition we’ve ever had. It looks like they’ve done a great job – and after Tassie will really tell the story. But from what we’ve seen so far, it’s as even as it’s ever been.

But you must be looking at this year more positively because, to put it simply, the playing field has been levelled, hasn’t it?

Of course, the big shock going into Adelaide was that the Holden brand is disappearing. We don’t quite know yet how it’s going to evolve, but one way or another, it’s going to be very different next year, isn’t it?

I believe so. I think Supercars has done an awesome job. We’re so quick to criticise them

Yes. That’s all we can really say, isn’t it? I don’t think anyone fully knows where the future lies, but change is inevitable. Which creates opportunity.

I don’t see that as a negative. I don’t see change as a negative, which we all do as human beings. Change creates opportunity, so it could be a fantastic opportunity for not only us as a team, but for the category as well.

Like anyone of your generation, all you’ve really ever known is Holden versus Ford.

Yeah, but we don’t run the sport – and we certainly don’t run our team – on what the people that have been around forever believe in. Of course, their experience is important and I think it’s in the Supercars motto, understand where you come from. We’re all for that, but we want to appeal to the 18-24-year-old that’s interested in following a sport and Supercars is the right sport for that. We don’t want to stay old and unrelated. We want to keep evolving.

Well, you’re actually going to have a bit of a say in all that as a member of the Commission.

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I’m going to try. The team owners have elected me to make a difference. They haven’t just put me in for the sake of it.

They’ve put me in to make a difference.

Now, it’s going to be hard for me to make a difference because the people who’ve been there for a long time do a bloody good job. It’s a really strong Commission, so if I can help bring something to the table, I’m all for it and I’ll do absolutely everything I can. You’re never going to please everyone. If you want to please everyone, you don’t be a leader – you sell ice cream. That’s how you please everyone. But if you want to be a leader and make some change, then a few people are going to be disappointed along the way, but that’s the way it goes.

The Holden announcement has very much put the focus on Gen3. What’s your understanding of where it’s heading?

Well, we haven’t had a Commission meeting since the announcement. We have one in a couple of weeks (before Symmons Plains). So we haven’t actually discussed it as a group yet. The problem is, commenting too much now is mostly speculation and I hate speculating. That’s silly. We may as well just wait until we get some facts (from the Gen3 working group) and comment more on it then.

I’m looking forward to sitting down at the Commission in a couple of weeks and seeing what we feel our plan of attack is. Also, the Commission doesn’t make these big decisions. A lot of this is board decisions. It’s above the Commission.

Hopefully, we can provide the support to the board to work out where our opportunities lie.

How has it been working on the Commission? Has it been a bit of an eye-opener for you?

In some ways. It’s a non-paid position – and I’m not getting paid by an employer to sit on the Commission for the day. It’s

all my time, my own personal time. So it has created extra workload, but I’m really enjoying it. I’m not one to steer away from hard work and I’m really enjoying the experience and having the opportunity to be able to contribute.

Have you learned a lot about the inner workings of the category?

There’s a common thing in pit lane – everyone’s quick to blame the Commission. A lot of people are saying it’s up to the Commission to make sure the sport is healthy. But it’s not up to the Commission. It’s up to everybody involved in the sport to come forward with their ideas and ways they believe the sport can grow, and then it’s up to the Commission to vote on what’s good and what’s not, basically. Anyone within the sport can come up with the ideas and present them to the Commission. So don’t not come up with any ideas and sit back and then criticise when somebody does have a go at trying to improve the sport. Don’t sit back and criticise if it doesn’t go as well as it should have.

The Commission assesses submissions that come from everyone – come from the teams, basically. Mainly the teams, but they can come from anywhere. We don’t create our own questions. Well, we can at times if nobody else has submitted. I’ve heard the criticism from being outside of the Commission and, to answer your questions, has it opened my eyes, it has. It’s opened my eyes to the fact that there’s a misunderstanding about what the Commission’s all about and the good work they do. There are so many elements. I was a victim of it in New Zealand last year (safety car confusion). Yes, there was a mistake made in race control, but I’ve been involved in the sport for more than 20 years and I haven’t understood the actual difficulties that race control goes through running a race. It doesn’t matter whether

its 100 km or 1000 km, it’s bloody involved. So having sat in race control for a Super2 race at Bathurst really opened up my eyes to what’s involved. (Former Kelly Racing Team manager) Scotty Sinclair, who just joined the Commission as the independent member, he did the same thing. He spent a race in Adelaide in race control and he was like “Wow, I can’t believe how involved it is”. So I feel further guilty about criticising them in race control at Pukekohe. I should have put my effort into trying to help them make the situation better.

It seems like you have a lot of balls in the air. Professional race driver, car wash/café proprietor, Supercars Commissioner and Triple Eight team co-owner. How involved are you in the running of the team?

I’m trying to learn as much about how the team operates as I can. When I do stop driving, I’d love the opportunity to be able to have some sort of management role within Triple Eight.

So I’m using these next couple of years minimum – could be more than that – to learn the business as much as I can. It all requires time, but we waste a lot of time as humans as well. If you run through your week, we actually spend a lot of time on bullshit that we don’t need to. So I worked really hard to minimise all the rubbish and use my time for things that are important. While it looks like there’s a lot going on, there is, but I try to avoid all the bullshit in between, which frees up a fair bit of my time.

Is the aim ultimately to take over from Roland?

Well, we have Dutto (team manager Mark Dutton); we have Tom Wilson, the commercial manager; we have Jess (Dane); and we have the other directors as well in Tim Miles and Paul Dumbrell.

So, like I’ve always said, there’s not one person that’s ever going to replace Roland – certainly not in the short-term.

It’s going to require a big effort from a lot of people and I’m hoping I can be one of those to fill a hole if Roland decided to invest more of his time in other areas of his life.

Have you also learned a lot about running a team from this involvement?

It confirmed what I thought. Being around it, being so ingrained in it, for so long, you do have a fair idea of how it operates -and, hey, Roland’s always been good at sharing information about what’s going on in the team even well before I was a shareholder.

So it’s just confirmed what I previously understood.

Getting back to this season, as you said, it’s looking promising in terms of the competition being a lot closer.

Scott McLaughlin is the man to beat, and you and he have had an interesting rivalry, which really kicked off with that epic battle at Adelaide J-Dub celebrates his opening Adelaide win with Scotty and SVG, his most likely rivals for the championship.

He is not surprised McLaughlin starred in his IndyCar tests.

back in 2014. So I’d be interested in your thoughts on his growth as a driver who is seemingly on the verge of an IndyCar career.

Scotty was quick in the development series (which he won in 2012), so we knew he had the skill; it was just a matter of him being in a good car.

Now, the Volvo was good, so he’s had some great cars, especially since he joined Penske (in 2017). Just the resources they have there, and Ludo (Lacroix) and the other engineers, combined with his driving, it’s just been a powerful combination that they’ve developed. It makes sense that they’ve had unbelievable results because of that awesome combination. The good thing for anyone involved in Supercars is that one of the biggest motor sport companies in the world is looking at Australians/New Zealanders to drive their cars in the States. We all knew Scotty was going to be competitive in his IndyCar test and we know if he does get an opportunity and decides to go down that path, he’ll be fast because we in Supercars feel this category is competitive as any other anywhere else.

You contributed to his stardom with that race in Adelaide (2014). We forget it was for second place, but that dramatic battle with you at the end put him on the map.

There were 10 laps to go and I was a couple of seconds behind and I asked myself should I settle for third, that’s a podium, or do I just go all out and try for second? So I give it everything I’ve got and it didn’t quite pay off. Got past, but by then the rear tyres were absolutely smoked and I actually thought he tagged me going into the last corner (on the final lap).

I had so little rear grip, I didn’t think it was possible to have that little rear grip without another car pushing from behind. That race certainly did his brand favours, but more so the fact that he got out and swore on camera and used the “gave it some jandal” line.

Rarely has a second place been so lauded.

We all forget that Lowndesy won the race.

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OUR NEXT F1 STARS

Oscar Piastri leads the four-pronged Aussie challenge on the FIA Formula 3 Championship.

Four young Australian Formula 1 hopefuls will contest the 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship. DAN McCARTHY analyses their chances ALEX PERONI, Oscar Piastri, Jack Doohan and Calan Williams will give Australia its best representation in Formula 3 ever, while New Zealander Liam Lawson keeps the Down Under links strong as all aim to progress to motor sport’s holy grail.

It is only the second season of the FIAendorsed F3 category after rival categories the GP3 Series and FIA European Formula 3 Championship merged at the end of 2018 to create a simpler and more effective pathway for drivers to achieve the dream to become an F1 driver.

This season 10 teams contest the championship with each running three cars, every squad will run an identical Dallara F3 2019 chassis the next evolution of the GP3/16 chassis.

Each car is powered by the same naturallyaspirated V6 engine developed by Mecachrome Motorsport that was fitted to the GP3/16.

Australian Peroni returns to the series after his 2019 campaign was cut short after he suffered a broken vertebrae in a crash at Monza. His car flipped through the air and into the catch fencing after running over a sausage kerb.

The 20-year-old scored points twice and collected Campos Racing’s only championship points, the Tasmanian should have finished higher than 20th in the standings but luck never seemed to fall his way.

“I’m looking forward to starting the new season, it was a very tricky one last year,” he said.

“We showed good potential in places but something always happened to prevent us from achieving top results. But we learned a lot and

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Alex Peroni made an impressive comeback in testing.

that’s the main thing as that knowledge can be carried over to the new season.”

Another returnee is Lawson, the Red Bull Junior drove for MP Motorsport in 2019 taking two podiums on the way to finishing 11th in the standings.

This year the former Toyota Racing Series winner will drive for Hitech Grand Prix, a squad that finished second in the teams’ standings last year and assisted Yuri Vips and Leonardo Pulcini to race wins.

Piastri is a name regular Auto Action readers will be familiar with makes the leap into the series after winning the Formula Renault Eurocup series.

“I think it’ll be an exciting season, whenever we actually start the season,” Piastri said to Auto Action. “I’m really looking forward to getting out there, obviously it is going to be a big challenge this year, expecting it to be more difficult than this

year.”

Since taking the Formula Renault Eurocup title the 18-year-old has been signed up as part of the Renault Junior program, did a deal with Mark Webber’s agency Jam Sports Management as well as inking a contract that will see him race for the Prema Powerteam.

The Italian squad dominated the category in 2019 locking out the top three positions in the drivers’ standings and scoring double the points of the next best team Hitech Grand Prix.

Piastri knows that the level of competition that he will face this season will be tough as he has raced many of them previously.

“There are a lot of people that I have raced against in the past in this field all together on the grid, the quality of the field is good and also I feel the depth of the field is very strong.

“I’m still pretty confident, I have got the reigning champions in Prema and I had a successful year

myself in Renault Eurocup, so I think I am up for the challenge.”

Since taking that title the 18-year-old has been signed up as part of the Renault Junior program, did a deal with Mark Webber’s agency Jam Sports Management as well as inking a contract that will see him race for the Prema Powerteam.

The Italian squad dominated the category in 2019 locking out the top three positions in the drivers’ standings and scoring double the points of the next best team.

“Prema have been superb integrating me into the team, it’s a real family environment,” Piastri told AA. “I’m going to be pushing really hard for the championship and I think you can guess that Renault want me to win the championship.

I’m certainly going to be pushing hard and I don’t think there is any reason I can’t win the championship.”

Jack Doohan arrives in Europe after a successful Asian F3 campaign

Two other Australians join the grid, Doohan the son of five-time 500cc Motorbike World Champion Mick Doohan, who like Lawson has been signed as a Red Bull scholar. The Queenslander will race for HWA Racelab a team which claimed one race victory last season. Williams joins Jenzer Motorsport after graduating from the Euroformula Open Championship.

The official Formula 3 pre-season test took place at the Sakhir Circuit in Bahrain and our local juniors left an early impression.

Campos Racing’s Peroni set the fastest time over the three day test showing that the crash and injury has not affected him but also that the Campos car is a more competitive package this season.

Lawson sat towards the top of the timesheets throughout the three days of testing and was fastest on Day 2.

Piastri was not up at the pointy end in every session but he completed a large amount of running and like

Piastri enters F3 after his Eurocup success.

Lawson will be expected to be a regular podium finisher during the course of the season.

Doohan cannot be ruled of podium contention, the Queenslander not only finished the testing third on the leader board but he is one of few drivers who has a race winning teammate to learn off this season.

After a slow start Jenzer Motorsport finished the 2019 campaign with a run of podiums, if the Swiss team continues this momentum Williams will no doubt be a regular point scorer.

The Formula 3 Championship schedule has increased from eight rounds to nine it will see a total of 18 races held across the year, each event consists of a Saturday feature

race and Sunday sprint race.

The longer feature race uses the F1 points system handed out to the top 10 finishers. The grid order for the sprint is a reverse top 10 with the tenth place finisher put onto pole position leaving the race winner to start from 10th. In the sprint race the top 10 are rewarded with points however a maximum of 15 points are awarded rather than the usual 25.

Two points are awarded for fastest lap in each race as well as four points for the feature race pole position.

The 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship was set to begin on March 20-22 in Bahrain but sadly the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 virus. It is unknown at this stage when the series will begin.

Kiwi Liam Lawson enters his second season in FIA Formula 3 (left), while Western Australian Calan Williams is another of the Aussie challengers (above).

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JONES’ FLYING START

This season marks 40 years since Alan Jones became Australia’s second World Driver’s Champion. DAN McCARTHY chronicles his 1980 title winning season, which kicked off in Argentina.

Images: LAT AFTER DOMINATING the last half of the 1979 Formula 1 season, Australia wondered whether its own Alan Jones could keep this momentum going into the new decade and be the second Aussie to win the Formula 1 World Championship.

Part way through the previous campaign, the Williams driver became a regular contender when four the FW06 was replaced with the FW07 four races into the season, proving to be instantly competitive but unreliable.

By the end of the eighth race, Jones had scored just seven points, however heading into the British Grand Prix Williams’ chief designers Patrick Head and Frank Dernie had worked on the car so that the vital ‘skirts’ never left the ground and as a result aerodynamics were always at a premium.

At Silverstone, Jones took pole by 0.6s and controlled the race until a water pump failure robbed him of victory, instead the first Williams victory was taken by his experienced teammate Clay Regazzoni.

The Aussie bounced back from the gut-wrenching retirement to win four of

the final six races and finish third in the championship just behind the two Ferraris of new champion Jody Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve.

The 1980 season was set to be a competitive one, Ferrari was set to be challenged not only by Jones but his new ruthless teammate, former Ferrari and Lotus driver Carlos Reutemann.

After the departure of Niki Lauda before the end of 1979, the Brabham team was be led by young Brazilian Nelson Piquet who was quickly thrust into the number one position.

Renault with its unique turbocharged V6 engine appeared to be a threat in the hands of Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Rene Arnoux. After starting the season very strongly in 1979 Jacques Laffite in his Ligier was aiming to start the 1980 season in a similar vein and was joined at the French squad by youngster Didier Pironi.

The new decade got off to a rocky start in the blazing heat of the Argentinian summer forcing drivers to attempt to boycott the race due to poor track conditions. The protest led by Emerson Fittipaldi did result in officials attempting to fix the track, however this proved Despite a couple of spins Alan Jones started the 1980 season by winning the opening race (above). Nelson Piquet (below) and Keke Rosberg (right) both earned their first F1 podiums.

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unsuccessful and come race day parts of the circuit had completely broken up.

The below average Buenos Aires Municipal Autodrome track conditions resulted in many unforced mistakes throughout the 53-lap encounter in what was an event of attrition.

Jones took pole position ahead of the two Ligiers of Laffite and Pironi with Piquet rounding out the front two rows.

Villeneuve qualified down in eighth but was still ahead of Williams newbie Reutemann in 10th, reigning champion Scheckter only qualified 11th just ahead of Formula 1 debutant Alain Prost driving for McLaren.

As the race began, Jones and Laffite made an even start but the poleman held the inside line and the lead into Turn 1.

As the drivers settled into a rhythm on the opening lap, Jones pulled away from the Ligiers as Piquet overtook both in pursuit of the Australian.

Early on, Jones comfortably led from Piquet, Laffite and Reutemann after charging to fourth, while Pironi was forced into an early retirement due to an engine

failure.

On lap 6, with Jones off in the distance the Ligier in the hands of Laffite began to show its speed and the Frenchman was able to swing passed Piquet and into second position on the approach to Turn 12. The two exchanged positions a multiple times before Laffite was able to pull away.

Piquet then came under threat from the superior Williams of Reutemann, Piquet defended on the inside into Turn 4 and in an attempt to overtake around the outside, the Argentine ran off the circuit and through the grass. The two radiators were

T

b blocked by grass, Reutemann was forced into the pits to clear w tthem, he rejoined the race in ffourth however the damage had aalready been done.

At the end of lap 13, Jones lled Laffite, Piquet, Reutemann, Villeneuve, Scheckter and Keke V Rosberg in the Fittipaldi.

R However, soon after Jones llocked his brakes and trickled off tthe track, the leader was forced iinto pits like his teammate to rremove debris from his radiator.

In that time Reutemann’s engine let go, the Williams driver robbed of solid points scoring finish in his home country, he was devastated and sobbed next to his motionless FW07.

Jones re-joined the race on lap 18 in fourth position behind leader Laffite, Piquet and Villeneuve, setting about fighting his way back to the front.

The determined Aussie quickly caught and cruised past Villeneuve to take third position before spinning at Turn

Jones was greeted at the finish by team owner Frank Williams, who waved the Union Jack (below). The 1979 championship runner-up Gilles Villeneuve ran second until his suspension failed late in the race (right).

10 allowing the Canadian back through. Jones made the move eventually stick on lap 25 when Villeneuve ran off the circuit on the exit of Turn 5. On the following tour Piquet made an identical mistake to the Ferrari driver and allowed Jones to close up on his tail.

With better traction out of the deteriorating Turn 11, Jones took second and was soon followed by Villeneuve demoting the Brabham driver to fourth.

Lap 30, Jones got in the tow of Laffite traveling down the long straight before Turn 4 and was able to slingshot his way back into the lead. Worse was to come for Laffite, retiring a lap later when the Ligier’s V8 Ford Cosworth engine blew. This left Jones out front ahead of Villeneuve, Piquet, Scheckter and Rosberg.

Villeneuve was pushing hard to try and keep with Jones but suspension failure on lap 37 forced the Canadian to veer into the Turn 13 wall and into retirement. This promoted Piquet

into second and Scheckter into the final podium position, this was however short lived as the South African’s engine expired just a few laps from the finish.

Jones remained out front and was first to greet the chequered flag waved by five-time champion Juan Manuel Fangio taking his sixth career F1 race win by 24.5s.

“I guess it was just luck I won,” Jones said after the race, before reflecting on the unscheduled pit stop, which saw the temperatures climb to over 130 degrees.

“I stopped and my pit crew got it out quickly, then they force fed the car with coolant and got me back out on track.”

Piquet finished second ahead of Rosberg with both future world champions taking their first career podiums.

Derek Daly in a Tyrrell was the last driver to finish on the lead lap in fourth ahead of Bruno Giacomelli in an Alfa Romeo with rookie Prost scoring the final point in his McLaren.

On his Grand Prix debut Alain Prost scored a point (below). Before the race attempts were made to fix the deteriorating track by spraying it with

1980 ARGENTINE GRAND PRIX

Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ret Ret NC NC Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ

Driver Alan Jones Nelson Piquet Keke Rosberg Derek Daly Bruno Giacomelli Alain Prost Ricardo Zunino Patrick Depailler Jody Scheckter Clay Regazzoni Emerson Fittipaldi Gilles Villeneuve Jacques Laffite Riccardo Patrese Marc Surer Mario Andretti Jochen Mass Carlos Reutemann Elio de Angelis John Watson Jean-Pierre Jabouille Rene Arnoux Didier Pironi Jean-Pierre Jarier David Kennedy Stefan Johansson Jan Lammers Eddie Cheever

Drivers’ Standings 1. Jones 2. Piquet 3. Rosberg 4. Daly 5. Giacomelli 6. Prost

Team Williams Brabham Fittipaldi Tyrrell Alfa Romeo McLaren Brabham Alfa Romeo Ferrari Ensign Fittipaldi Ferrari Ligier Arrows ATS Lotus Arrows Williams Lotus McLaren Renault Renault Ligier Tyrrell Shadow Shadow ATS Osella 9 6 4 3 2 1

Laps 53 53 53 53 52 52 51 46 45 44 37 36 30 27 27 20 20 12 7 5 3 2 1 1

Result 1h 43m 24.38s + 24.59s + 1:18.64s + 1:23.48s + 1 Lap + 1 Lap + 2 Laps Engine Engine + 9 Laps + 16 Laps Suspension Engine Engine Fire Fuel System Gearbox Engine Suspension Gearbox Gearbox Suspension Engine Collision

Grid 1 4 13 22 20 12 16 23 11 15 24 8 2 7 21 6 14 10 5 17 9 19 3 18

Constructors’ Standings 1. Williams 2. Brabham 3. Fittipaldi 4. Tyrrell 5. Alfa Romeo 6. McLaren

9 6 4 3 2 1

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27

FAREWELL HOLDEN MOTORSPORT 1948-2020 - PART TWO

Founding father: 50 years ago, the first Holden to win the ATCC was Norm Beechey’s iconic Monaro GTS350. It is one of Australian racing’s most revered cars.

THE FOUNDATIONS OF SUCCESS In part two of Holden’s motor sport history, BOB WATSON reflects on the formation of the Holden Dealer Team, how the mighty Monaro became a race winner, the development of the Torana GTR XU-1 and the success that came with it across multiple disciplines.

IMAGES: AA Archive/Autopics.com.au/Australian

Motor Sport/Bob Watson/Dave Bennett Collection

THE ENTREPRENEURIAL John Bagshaw was appointed Director of Sales and Marketing at GM-Holden’s in 1972. During his 12 years in the sales and marketing organisation, he was responsible for establishing the Holden Dealer Team and through his Sales Department helped to create iconic models such as HQ SS and GTS models as well as the Torana GTR XU-1 and SLR/5000.

Up until the end of 1968, Holden had been running a rally program under the guise of the Holden Dealer’s Trials Team. Although the competing cars sported leading Holden dealer’s names, the cars were prepared in the service garage at Fishermen’s Bend.

However, two things conspired to end the arrangement, the service garage mechanics were often called upon to service on long distance rallies and were paid rates complying with the current awards. Because of the overnight nature of rallying, this meant time and a half, then double time and even triple time as the hours stretched out. One service

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garage mechanic, who later joined Harry Firth’s crew, earned enough overtime money during one BP Rally of South Eastern Australia to purchase a brand new Monaro!

This was untenable for the company on a long-term basis so Holden looked to subcontract the motor sport programs to an outside organisation. This occurred first with a three car entry by Holden in the 1968 London to Sydney marathon.

Motoring writer and successful track racer David McKay was given the job of running the marathon effort, which was not particularly successful. The Holdens were convincingly beaten by their Ford Falcon opponents.

Then came the release in mid-1968 of Holden’s Bathurst contender the Monaro GTS 327 and McKay was again entrusted to run the Holden Dealer Racing Team in the Great Race. It was the first time factory supported teams of Ford and Holden V8s raced against each other, setting a pattern that continues to this day in Australian touring car racing. McKay hired a top class international team of drivers including Kiwi Jim Palmer, Brian Muir and Paul Hawkins.

However, it was not one of the factory cars that won. The race was won by the Wyong Motors entered Holden Monaro driven by Bruce McPhee. Unimpressed by McKay’s results, Holden searched elsewhere for someone to manage its motor sport programs.

Former Ford motor sport manager Harry Firth achieved immediate Bathurst success for the Holden Dealer Team, with Colin Bond and Tony Roberts winning the 1969 HardieFerodo 500 in a Monaro GTS350 (top right).

The 1968 Monaro in it’s original GTS327 variant was an instant racing success in privateer hands, winning the Sandown 3 Hour with Tony Roberts and our author Bob Watson at the wheel (right).

The GTS327 Monaro delivered the first outright Bathurst 500 win for Holden in 1968 when Bruce McPhee and co-driver Barry Mulholland beat home the Ford factory cars and the multi-car effort of the David McKay run Holden Dealer Racing Team (bottom left).

Although not the first Holden to find its way to the drag strip, arguably one of the first Monaros to race was Dyno Dave Bennett’s Warwick Yellow HK “Bathurst” GTS 327. The Monaro appeared at Calder Raceway on August 11, 1968, and running in almost stock condition and on standard Dunlops, Bennett managed a 14.92 seconds for the quarter mile. This car went on to win many races over the next 18 months, delivering Bennett a national points championship in 1969. Dave Bennett’s Perfectune organisation would go onto play an important role in the development of cylinder heads for Holden homologation specials and racers.

The 1970 Ampol Trial delivered the Holden Dealer Team Monaro GTS350 a podium result, with the ‘69 Bathurst 500-winning combo of Colin Bond and Tony Roberts joined

by Brian Hope. They beat home the Ford factory effort. Bond and George Shepheard would go onto become the 1971 Australian rally champions, driving the Torana GTR XU-1 for the Holden Dealer Team (below right).

Harry Firth had been sacked as Ford’s motor sport manager at the end of 1968, and spent most of 1969 in limbo until John Bagshaw secured his services as motor sport manager. This masterstroke, plus the tacit agreement of the Holden Board of Directors to support a motor sport program, opened the doors to a phenomenal success story.

Firth’s organisation with supervison by the GMH Marketing Department rekindled the ‘Dealer Team’ concept with serious financial sponsorship from Marlboro cigarettes and Levis Jeans among other sponsors. Firth set about recruiting promising young drivers (definitely not being paid industry award rates on weekends!) and built up a highly talented team of drivers and mechanics including Peter Brock,

Colin Bond, Tony Roberts, Peter Lang and Wayne Negus, then later joined by y Frank Kilfoyle and Barry Ferguson on the rally side..

The line-up of mechanics was exceptional – Ian Tate, Matt Philip, Ray Borrett, Frank Lowndes, Peter Byrne and others was as good a team as you could wish for.

In contrast to McKay, Firth achieved immediate success, Colin Bond and Tony Roberts won the 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500 using a 350 cubic inch version of the Monaro GTS327.

John Bagshaw. Father of the Holden Dealer Team HUGELY ADMIRED and respected in every corner of GM’s global organisation, John Bagshaw (centre right, between Harry Firth and Colin Bond) enjoyed an extremely successful 42-year career with General Motors holding senior executive roles in Australia, the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States.

After serving in the Royal Australian Navy, Mr Bagshaw joined Holden in Western Australia in 1948, following his father, a dealership sales manager in Perth, into the auto industry.

He moved to Holden’s headquarters in Melbourne and held management roles in sales and distribution before being named Director of Sales in 1972.

During his 12 years in the sales and marketing organisation, Mr Bagshaw was

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responsible for establishing the Holden Dealer Team and invigorating the Holden brand with hero cars such as HQ SS, GTS models, Torana GTR XU-1 and SLR 5000.

His appointment of Harry Firth to organise Holden’s motor sport activities saw the establishment of one of Australia’s most successful teams and with sponsorship from Marlboro, saw the emergence of Colin Bond and Peter Brock as drivers who would inspire a legion of young fans.

Leaving Australia in 1978, Bagshaw worked overseas for nine years in corporate international marketing and for the Pontiac brand in Detroit, Michigan, as well as senior leadership positions with GM’s Vauxhall and Opel brands in Germany, eventually becoming Managing

Director of Vauxhall in the UK. After turning around Vauxhall, he returned home applying his skills for motivating and inspiring employees and marketing the brand and its products at Holden, becoming Managing Director of what was then called Holden’s Motor Company in November 1987 (his title changing to Managing Director, General Motors-Holden’s in 1988).

Affectionately known as ‘Bags’ in lighter moments, he was a great Australian business leader, global automotive industry executive and champion of motorsport

leaving an indelible mark on Holden and its people.

John Bagshaw was the last Australian Managing Director of Holden, serving between 1987 and 1990.

Harry Firth was highly motivated to prove his previous employer wrong. After being sacked by Ford, hee set up the Holden Dealer Team, signing talented young drivers Colin Bond, Tony oice in mechanics preparing the team cars also made the difference. They included Ian Roberts and an exciting prospect in Peter Brock, who delivered many results for “The Fox”. Firth’s choice Tate (in discussion with Brock, above right), Matt Philip, Ray Borrett and Frank Lowndes.

Harry Firth guided the Holden Dealer Team to many great results, including two ATCC titles, two Bathurst 500s and four Australian rally championships. A highlight was Peter Brock’s first Bathurst win in 1972 -- the last solo victory (right).

The pair won several other long distance races during 1969, however rally success did not come as easily as the Renault team led by Bob Watson took the 1970 Australian Rally Championship. It was not until 1971 that the Marlboro HDT won the title with Colin Bond.

During this time, Norm Beechey made history by taking his Shellsponsored Holden Monaro GTS 350 to the Australian Touring Car Championship, the first for a locally built model.

Beechey sealed his second ATCC crown with victory at the penultimate round Lakeside after a season-long battle with Jim McKeown’s Porsche

911S. A year of development meant he was able to defeat the well sorted Ford Mustangs of Ian Geoghegan and Bob Jane, as well as the new Trans Am variant of Canadian Allan Moffat.

A lap record at Calder, despite many laps down due to contact with a backmarker were followed by two wins at Bathurst and Sandown, followed by second at Mallala with a slipping clutch. A lost rear wheel cost Stormin’ Norm a second at Warwick Farm, while the win at Lakeside proved critical as Beechey’s season ended in disappointment with engine failure at Symmons Plains leading to a DNS. The mighty Monaro had launched Holden successfully into motor sport spawning

Colin Bond was always competitive in the LJ Torana GTR XU-1, seen here at Amaroo Park in 1973. The mighty HDT XU-1s were soon to be replaced with the LH Torana SLR5000, followed by the L34 homologation version that took Bond to the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1975.

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an unbeaten record at Bathurst and an ATCC title, but Firth’s leaning towards smalller more nimble cars saw the teams efforts turn to the Torana. Although only using a 3300cc (202 Cu in) six-cylinder engine the Torana GTR XU-1 became a giant killer, due to its lighter weight, lower fuel consumption and better brakes making it competitive against Ford’s V8 4952cc (302 Cu in) used in the Falcon GT-HOs. GM was giving Firth full technical support, I recall being present in a meeting with Holden engine engineer Fred James, Harry Firth and others to discuss widening the tolerances on the XU1 camshaft drawing so that Firth could get the grind he wanted.

The Toranas suffered valve train problems in the 1970 Bathurst race, the first for the GTR XU-1, and Ford’s V8s swamped the smaller Holdens in 1971, Colin Bond being the best HDT car in fourth place. It was not until 1972 that the Torana was first to the finish s line e

Bob Jane’s Torana sports sedan, seen here in its early days of development with the 4.4-litre Repco-Brabham V8. It was one of Bob’s favourite race cars and would ultimately be powered by a five-litre Repco-Holden Formula 5000 V8.

with Peter Brock behind the wheel, kickstarting his phenomenal string of successes at The Mountain.

For 1973, the existing Production

Touring regulations were replaced by the new Group C Touring Car ruleset allowing upgrades to seats, lubrication systems, camshafts, carburettors, suspensions, brakes c and wheel rim sizes. In 1973 Holden a campaigned upgraded XU-1s and c Ford unleashed its new XA model F ““hard top” coupe Ford Falcon GT. While not designated as a GTW HO, race prepared Hardtop GTs H incorporated most of the still born in GTHO Phase Four’s componentry.

G When the flag dropped for the start of the 1973 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 the o Goss Falcon hardtop powered away G from pole position. At the end of lap fr one Fords held the first four places o with Toranas fifth, six and seventh. w When the Fords started pitting for fuel Brock inherited the lead, he and fu c co-driver Doug Chivas had opened up

a handy lead when a miscalculation in fuel caused the Torana to run out of fuel at the top of The Mountain.

By the time the XU-1 was refueled, Moffat was well in front and claimed another Falcon victory, his third in only four years. Co-driven by Ian (Pete) Geoghegan the winning Ford was the only Falcon classified as a finisher.

During the 1974 Australian Touring Car Championship the Torana GTR XU-1 was gradually superseded by the wider bodied SL/R 5000. The Holden Bathurst contingent for this year included 13 SL/R 5000s, 7 XU-1s and one HQ Monaro While the main focus was on the Great Race at Bathurst, there were several side shows going on in other branches of motor sport.

Rallycross, which had been born in the UK as the result of an outbreak

H Harry Firth was always looking for opportunities to race the Holden product. In 1970, R Rallycross took off in Australia and he built a supercharged Torana GTR XU-1. It was cchristened “The Beast” and delivered great success for Peter Brock and later Larry Perkins.

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Under the guidance of Harry Firth, the Holden Dealer Team became a powerhouse of Australian touring car racing.

Peter Brock and Colin Bond would win many races in the XU-1 Toranas in both sprint and endurance events. Brock is seen here (left) in his LJ GTR XU-1 attacking the Dipper on his way to a solo winning drive in the 1972 Hardie Ferodo 500. Bond won the ‘71 Sandown 250 in his HDT LC XU-1 (right).

Torana – the small Pommy car that became an Aussie legend H Holden versus Ford: the classic battle lines had well and truly been drawn when N Norm Beechey made history by taking out the 1970 Australian Touring Car C Championship. Seen above in battle with Mustang-mounted Ian Geoghegan, B Beechey’s Shell-sponsored Holden Monaro GTS 350 became the first locally built m model to win the ATCC - but not the last as many more Holdens would go on to w win the title.

o foot and mouth disease, of was inaugurated at Calder w Raceway R in 1970. Harry Firth built b a supercharged sports sedan s Torana GTR XU-1 christened c “The Beast” for Peter P Brock and later Larry Perkins. Bob Watson ran a lightweight Renault R8 Gordini, Ford put Allan Moffat and later Frank Kilfoyle in a Lotus Cortina and British Leyland fielded Evan Green driving the ex-London to Sydney marathon Austin 1800 in which Rauno Aaltonen had finished fifth.

Rallycross was very popular, receiving sponsorship from Coca Cola and later Motorcraft. Three hours of live television coverage on

Sunday Afternoon gave sponsors good value for money. The course was a mixture of tarmac and gravel and there were some stirring battles between Brock and Watson, with the wins divided approximately 50/50. if the track was dry the power of the Holden ruled, but in wet conditions the Renault had good traction, so in typical fashion Firth fitted twin rear tyres to the Torana.

Similar televised meetings were held at Catalina Park, the old motor racing circuit at Katoomba in the NSW Blue Mountains, where NSW rally stars joined in to compete.

Larrry Perkins won the only CAMS (Motorsport Australia) National Rallycross championship at Tailem Bend in 1979, but by then the sport was in decline and slowly faded away.

THE ORIGINAL Holden Torana was developed from the UK designed HB Vauxhall Viva. It started life with a four cylinder 1100 cc engine, but soon morphed into a six cylinder car with many body modifications to accommodate the larger engine and Australian road conditions. These changes resulted in the LC Torana, the word being Aboriginal for “to fly”. Very apt! The changes were done by stylist Leo Pruneau, who later was responsible for the design of the HQ Holden.

The six cylinder Torana was very successful, the XU1 sporting version having great success in both race and rally cars. The triple carburettored six cylinder engine took on the mighty Ford V8 GTHOs at Bathurst and came out on top.

The following model, the LH Torana was totally designed in Australia and was one of the rare cars able to accommodate four, six and eight cylinder engines. When the following model, the LX was introduced in 1977 it became the fastest car ever built

by Holden, its five litre V8 engine and four wheel disc brakes giving it total dominance on race tracks.

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ELFIN’S LAST F5000

The MR9 never had a chance

The Elfin MR9 was the only Formula 5000 designed and built as an original ground effects car anywhere in the world. It was a modern car for its time and only raced from November 1980 until March 1982.

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When Garrie Cooper was disturbed by the new MR9’s unpredictable handling at Sandown in 1981 and not knowing whether it was a genuine engineering problem or his imagination, he stepped out of the car and asked John Bowe to drive it.

As part of the 50th Anniversary of Formula 5000 in Australia feature series, Auto Action looks at developments in the final days of Australia’s premier open wheel category. DAVID HASSALL presents an edited extract from Elfin: The Spirit of Speed which details the design and development of Garrie Cooper’s Elfin MR9, the very last Formula 5000 built in Australia.

THE WORLD was closing in around Elfin Sports Cars. Between 1980 and 1982 only 11 cars were built. The end of Formula 5000 was imminent, owner/constructor Garrie Cooper was at loggerheads with CAMS over the direction of Australian motorsport, and there was the loss of the racing team’s Ansett sponsorship with which to contend.

It was hoped that trading conditions would improve and that Elfin would see better days. They never came.

Nevertheless, Garrie set about planning and designing two new Elfin ground effects cars, for Formula Two and Formula 5000. Garrie had begun plans for the new F5000 car before his Sandown accident in 1978. The project was delayed, however, due to the seriousness of his injuries.

In 1979 Garrie left for the US in a bid to learn more about ground effects development, and to study the latest in racing car design. The trip took in visits to several potential suppliers and the United States

Grand Prix West at Long Beach in Los Angeles.

After returning home, Garrie took his repaired MR8-C to Adelaide International Raceway – with potential new owner, Chris Middleton in tow – where he took the opportunity to drive some fast laps after his forced seven-month convalescence.

His best time of 53.6 seconds was some way off Larry Perkins’ fastest lap of 50.6 seconds set during the Rothmans International Series earlier in the year in the same car. He was keen to complete his new creation, the MR9, but even then he must have given serious consideration to his continued competitiveness as a driver at the highest level of Australian motorsport.

Garrie re-applied for his CAMS competition driving licence, which had been revoked after his 1978 Sandown accident. After corresponding with various doctors, Garrie’s competition licence was eventually reinstated, after some initial difficulty.

Meanwhile, Garrie’s thoughts were never too far away from the new MR9 ground effects car, and it was Chris Middleton’s wife, Mary, who played an important role in opening doors for Garrie, which enabled him to refine his understanding of the still murky world of aerodynamics. But things began comically.

“Garrie and Lorraine Cooper asked Chris and I over for dinner.

Garrie wasn’t a drinker. We heard he liked apple cider, so we bought some. But it was riddled with alcohol.

“We walked into the lounge room and I nearly tripped over. Garrie said,

‘This is my latest project’. It was a piece of string nailed into his lounge room carpet floor. It was measured out and it looked like you were looking down on the car. I stepped into the middle of it and Garrie announced that it was the MR9.

“Garrie was sitting on the carpet.

The next moment he was on his side, drunk as a skunk. He was absolutely pissed. We had got him drunk and we didn’t know. He was just sitting there giggling. It was absolutely hysterical.”

Meanwhile, Mary Middleton’s position at the Department of Defence, Science and Technology was to prove significant in the Elfin story.

“I performed some advanced searches online for Garrie, in the days before the internet became popular. I could get some pretty technical documentation for him and help him to understand aerodynamics.

“In the early stages of the MR9 design, I was able to get him a book called The Theory of Wing Sections.

Every aerodynamicist needed a copy and that really helped him understand what was happening with the car.

“When the MR9 was being finalised, Gaz rang me up and said he was in trouble. He couldn’t get the back end to hang together. He didn’t know what the hell was going on.

“I spoke to a couple of acquaintances at work that ran the aerodynamics section out at Weapons Research Establishment; they were in charge of the wind tunnel out there. They went down to see Garrie at Conmurra Avenue – they did that illegally – and had a look at the MR9.

“They came back to work and said, ‘My god that is a work of art’.

They couldn’t believe the level of craftsmanship in it and that it was done to aircraft standards. They

helped Garrie with it, and they in turn got some guy in Queensland – who charge about $500 an hour – to help do the last little bit of design.”

The MR9 first appeared in the Australian Grand Prix at Calder Park Raceway on 16 November 1980, with Garrie driving his first race since regaining his licence. Circuit promoter Bob Jane convinced CAMS to allow international F1 cars and engaged newly crowned World Champion Alan Jones to compete in his championship-winning 3.0-litre Cosworth V8-powered Williams FW07. Other international drivers signed by Jane included Italian Bruno Giacomelli, who drove a V12-powered F1 Alfa Romeo 179, and Scuderia Ferrari driver Didier Pironi, who was in need of a competitive car. As with the James Hunt promotion, Ansett Team Elfin was the obvious place to go.

John Bowe was to drive Reg Orr’s MR8-C and, as Garrie was not prepared to allow Pironi to drive the unproven MR9, Chris and Mary Middleton, the new owners of Garrie’s MR8, were asked to lease the car back to Ansett Team Elfin for the race weekend.

Mary Middleton: “Pironi had been contracted to drive the MR9, but it wasn’t finished in time. Garrie said, ‘I can’t have anyone else drive it. I need to be the first to drive it’. I said to him, ‘Don’t give me that crap. You just want to be the first one to drive it’, and he said, ‘Hell, yeah! I built it’.”

Plans were set to enter a three-car team for the event. It was to prove a challenging initiative.

With Bowe’s car still at the Adelaide factory undergoing preparation, he completed mid-week practice at Calder in Pironi’s car. When Bowe’s MR8-C did arrive, he crashed it into a fence after aquaplaning over a puddle of water.

Pironi arrived in Melbourne on the Friday morning, in time for the first official practice session. Mary

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The Elfin MR9 made its competition debut at the 1980 Australian Grand Prix held on the tight Calder Park circuit. Cooper brought his brand new car home in seventh postion. He’s seen here driving through the old Gloweve corner onto the front straight.

Mary Middleton: “Pironi drove in at one stage and said, ‘This car is a pig’. In the end he liked it, but he didn’t at the beginning. He said the Elfin was really agricultural compared to the Formula One cars he was used to.”

During a break in practice, Mary caught Pironi in a small act of deceit.

“He was sitting in our MR8 and he was putting a Ferrari sticker on the boss of the steering wheel of the ‘8’. He looked really guilty and he said, ‘For good luck’. I said ‘congratulations’. I’d just heard that he had been contracted to drive for Ferrari for 1981.”

Meanwhile, preparations continued apace.

Mary Middleton: “I was in the grandstand with Bruno Giacomelli.

Garrie was out in the MR9 and Pironi was in the MR8 and so was John Bowe; just the three Elfins on the track.

Oh, it was a glorious sight.

“Bruno was absolutely keen to see where Pironi was braking. So he and I sat there and timed them and that was when Garrie dumped the tub on the track when his upright broke. All you could see was sparks flying down the track.

“They got little Jonny Porter to fly back to Adelaide with the broken uprights. They worked all night and got the parts back on the Sunday morning and off they went.”

With the reigning World Champion on pole position, the best Ansett Team Elfin could manage was eighth on the grid, with Pironi 4.1 seconds slower than Jones on the very short Calder circuit. Bowe was one place behind the Frenchman in ninth, and Garrie

36 AutoAction

would have to start twentieth and last, having not registered a qualifying time.

Tim Slako, driving the aging Elfin MR6, managed fourteenth position, almost six seconds off the pace.

Despite their poor qualifying efforts, Pironi and Bowe performed well in the race, moving up to third and fourth behind the two international F1 cars, before Pironi and Giacomelli touched wheels, sending the Italian driver off the circuit. Giacomelli recovered to finish second while Pironi made the podium in third.

Garrie managed to complete the race in seventh spot. Bowe, meanwhile, was black-flagged when his car’s exhaust was damaged. After pitting for temporary repairs, he rejoined the

race to finish eleventh and last of the finishers.

Garrie had his renewed CAMS competition licence, and the MR9 appeared as though it might be very competitive in 1981, but it was to be an even more difficult season. Early in the year came the devastating news that Ansett was cancelling its 10-year sponsorship of the Elfin team at the close of that financial year. The news was only revealed in June, one month after the team’s final appearance.

To compound the misery, Garrie was disturbed by the new MR9’s unpredictable handling at Sandown.

Not knowing whether it was a genuine engineering problem or his imagination – having been confronted with the circuit that could have claimed his life

two years earlier – he stepped out of the car and asked John Bowe to drive it.

Bowe had struck up a friendship with Didier Pironi at Calder in November and had left for Europe in late 1980 in the hope of breaking into Formula One. Confronted by the financial reality of the situation, he returned to Australia and accepted a drive in Bryan Thomson’s 4.2-litre Chevroletpowered Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC Sports Sedan, having learned with some disappointment that Garrie would campaign the sole MR9 during the 1981 season.

Despite this, Bowe accepted the challenge and subsequently experienced the MR9’s undesirable handling attributes, losing control during a fast practice lap at Sandown.

John Bowe proved the potential of the Elfin MR9 when he took over the driving duties. After some scary moments and some tuning of the car’s rear suspension, he drove it to a solid second place behind the Alfie Costanzo driven McLaren M26 (modified with ground effects). It all came too late for the MR9 to show it’s true potential, as within a few months Formula 5000 was canned as Australia’s premier open wheel class.

An examination of the car’s rear end led to overnight changes to all the suspension arms.

Bowe drove the MR9 the following day to second position behind Alfredo Costanzo, despite a one-minute penalty for jumping the start. The car was clearly competitive.

Garrie was back in the MR9 at Adelaide International Raceway in May, finishing fourth. Costanzo was again victorious in his Alan Hamiltonentered McLaren M26, which had been converted to Formula 5000 with ground effects sidepods.

Already harbouring the secret Ansett directive, further disturbing news arrived in the form of a CAMS decision that Formula 5000 would be axed and replaced by Formula Pacific as the country’s premier racing category in 1982. Preempting this was a sudden change of mind to run the 1981 Australian Grand Prix that November for Formula Pacific cars. The Formula 5000 era in Australia was over. Garrie was devastated.

He told Auto Action in June 1981 that he was “surprised, shocked, disappointed and annoyed, in about that order” by the CAMS decision. He added that Elfin Sports Cars would

Garrie Cooper steps out of the MR9 at Sandown, a venue that had almnost cost him his life two years previously.

build a Formula Pacific car, but clearly his heart was not in it. Those who knew him best knew that too.

Six New Generation Formula Vees had been built in 1981, and that was all. At the end of 1981 there were no orders, no new models planned, and no Ansett sponsorship. It was a new low.

There were attempts at reviving Formula 5000 through a well-funded series in 1982 backed by a new local distributor of ARCO graphite oil, and Garrie continued to campaign the MR9.

He had a good performance at the third round of the ARCO graphite Series at Calder Raceway, where he qualified second and finished third behind John Wright’s Lola and Bruce Allison in his only drive of Reg Orr’s Elfin MR8-C. In what proved to be his last motor race, Garrie finished fifth in the fourth round of the ARCO graphite series at Oran Park on 20 March 1982, where a disappointing grid of only nine cars was assembled. Garrie died while preparing the MR9 for what would prove to be the fifth and final round ever of the ARCO graphite series.

The Elfin MR9 was the only Formula 5000 built as a ground effects car anywhere in the world. But it competed

in only seven races over a 16-month period, from November 1980 until March 1982. Its full potential was never realised.

On 24 April, Garrie was preparing his MR9 for an upcoming AIR race when he collapsed in the workshop. He died on the operating table early the following morning. Garrie Cooper was just 46 years old.

ELFIN: The Spirit of Speed Elfin: The Spirit of Speed is available in three editions to suit most budgets: Standard Edition features a hard cover and French-fold dust jacket; Limited Edition is limited to 350 signed and individually numbered copies featuring a ribbon bookmark with Elfin wheel blueprint, and an embossed slipcase; the Ultimate Edition includes a special display case and a selection of body-making tools used by John Webb when making the aluminium-bodied cars at the Elfin factory. All books are 704 pages.

Standard Edition $195 Limited Edition $425 Ultimate Edition $2750 Website is: https://elfinspiritofspeed.com.au/

James Hunt’s final victory JAMES HUNT aficionados may not be aware that the F1 World Champion’s last win was in Australia… driving an Elfin.

Hunt travelled to Victoria in late 1978 to drive an Elfin MR8-C Formula 5000 in the Rose City 10,000 a few weeks after the season-ending Grand Prix in Canada on 8 October. His Formula One season that year had been disastrous, with just a single podium, many retirements and one disqualification, leaving him with only eight points and 13th in the championship.

Despite his declining F1 star it was a big coup to attract Hunt, who was still a major international drawcard, popular with spectators… and the ladies.

Multiple Australian Touring Car Champion and Elfin factory driver John Bowe was in attendance: “Hunt was awesome. (In) between practice sessions he would have a different girl in (his) caravan. I thought, ‘This life is for me’.”

For Hunt, fly-blown Winton Raceway was a long way from the glamour of the Monaco GP and this proved humorous for the Elfin crew, which was used to making do with humble resources. At one stage his Chevrolet V8 had a misfire and Hunt demanded the engine be changed. Elfin didn’t have one.

They did however set the car up to suit his large frame, with a seat fitting and personalisation of the gear lever, pedals and steering column.

Hunt said the Elfin “seems a very good car, it is very forgiving”, and noted it was a lot easier to drive than the Eagle he had raced in the US in 1974, his only previous F5000 experience. Taking a swipe at his Marlboro McLaren F1 team, which he was leaving after a miserable 1978 season, Hunt added: “It’s good to have a competitive car for a change.”

Hunt qualified fastest with a best lap of 55.0 seconds, seven-tenths faster than local John McCormack in his ex-British GP-winning McLaren M23. Elfin founder Garrie Cooper wrote that Hunt was “very impressive right from the start, being very smooth and precise and getting the power on noticeably earlier than the others”, yet was only pacing himself to the opposition and “could have gone quicker again”.

The race was a procession, with Hunt winning by 40.5 seconds from Alf Costanzo, driving a Lola T400. McCormack claimed the fastest lap of the race after losing almost a lap in the pits, but Hunt seemed to have plenty in hand.

Hunt’s win in the Elfin MR8-C was his last race victory. He retired suddenly mid-season the following year after his new Wolf F1 car proved uncompetitive.

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Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships After a breakthrough year in which crowd attendance hit all-time highs HEATH McALPINE previews the upcoming Shannons Motorsport Australia Championship season Image Motorsport Australia/Speed Images: Shots Photography

The addition of S5000 bought the crowds back in droves at Sandown.

It’s hoped the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships will continue to grow in interest and spectacle.

NEW NAME,

NEW ERA

38 AutoAction

THIS YEAR is one of consolidation for the SShannons Motorsport Australia Championships after the rejuvenation Cham of 2019 20 where crowd attendances hit record recor highs, entries began to build and attention grew off the back of the introduction intro of first TCR Australia, then S5000.

Both Bo these new classes, backed by the Australian Racing Group have elevated what formally was known as the Shannons Nationals in both coverage and recognition. Just like last season, the second-tier series will take in seven rounds, kicking off at Sydney Motorsport Park on March 27-29 and ending on September 11-13 at Sandown.

Two racetracks join the

Shannons Motorsport Australia Championship this season in the form of Mount Panorama Bathurst and Morgan Park based in Warwick, Queensland. This also means that no circuit will be visited twice this season after The Bend Motorsport Park hosted two rounds in 2020.

The second round supports the traditional Bathurst 6 Hour production car event that occurs during the Easter weekend, then heads south to Winton on May 1-3 before heading to The Bend Motorsport Park in mid-June.

Morgan Park hosts the fifth round with the final two rounds being held in Victoria at Phillip Island on August 21-23 and Sandown. The penultimate round also will be the first-time a national series will travel to the historic Phillip Island circuit this season Shannons Motorsport Australia Championship director Michael Smith is excited by the momentum the second-tier series has built heading into its 15th season of competition.

“We were thrilled to be honest,” Smith reflected on the growth

TThe Australian Production Car Series has bbeen a staple of Australia’s second-tier se series since the beginning (above left).

Tr Trans Am is an exciting addition to the pprogram (above) as is Touring Car Masters (l (left).

witnessed in 2019. “We adopted a deliberate strategy to try and bring some top line categories for the Shannons, which last year I think we were able to deliver.

“As a consequence of that was an increased entry, crowds, broadcast numbers and so on.”

New categories including Trans Am and LMP3 are scheduled to take place under the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships banner, adding further interest to that generated by TCR Australia and S5000. If fans can’t get to the racetrack, a new broadcast deal is guaranteed to provide improved coverage.

“It’s a year of consolidation, we want to evolve it a bit more this year,” Smith explained. “You’ll see an improvement of television production, p , there

Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge is a proven pathway towards a professional motor sport career as demonstrated by the likes of Jaxon Evans, Matt Campbell and last year’s winner Harri Jones.

Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships director Michael Smith is excited by the new television deal on 7mate with production from Supercars TV.

is a new broadcast partner, we’ve also got some additional content, which we’re really pleased about.

“Touring Car Masters and Trans Am join us this year, but also categories such as Aussie Racing Cars are racing for a round. But at the same time, we’re very conscious of making sure we provide a home for those categories that we’ve always provided a home for.

“The real philosophy for the Shannons is providing that home for all of our national series and championships so we want to make sure whilst we’re delivering a top line product and increased interest, we’re at the same time catering for the needs of our other categories as well.”

Categories that will continue on the program include the newly named Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia, Australian Production Car Series, Australian Prototype Series and the V8 Touring Car Series.

In addition to these core categories, a variety of state-based classes including improved Production, Hyundai Excels, Alfa Romeos and Sports Sedans accept guest slots at a number of rounds

throughout the season, something that won’t be changed for this year.

“A number of our rounds including Morgan Park, which is a new round this year for us will have Improved Production and Hyundai Excels, but also this will happen at a few rounds as well,” Smith explained.

“It’s a really good opportunity for the state categories to step up onto a national platform and we try to make sure that we put on a great show for them, while doing it in an affordable way. From time to time we’ll bring in other categories, the 944s will run at Winton.

“Where opportunities arise and where there’s “W interest inte from those categories, we’ll certainly do our best to try and accommodate them.”

Returning Re to Morgan Park for the first-time since 2011, Motorsport Australia has dedicated the round ro to the local community, which has dealt with tough weather conditions during the past few f years.

“They’ve “Th had it pretty tough in Queensland for the last few years, a combination of drought and fires,” Smith recounted. ”We have a charity partner there, which is the Country Woman’s Association and we’re working with the council [Southern Downs Regional Council] to focus on making that a community round.

“We want to make a big effort to give back to the community and make sure it is i a real community type event.”

There will be a number of activations throughout the year with the aim of t bringing more attention to the Shannons b Motorsport Australia Championships and M creating a family-orientated atmosphere. c “We’re going to start looking at what we can ca do from a fan experience and getting more m engagement with them so you’ll see things at certain rounds a long the way that we’re trying to do just to increase the fan and family engagement,” Smith told Auto Action.

Leading the charge with planned activations are manufacturers involved in TCR, a motor show at the race track for prospective customers is just part of the future for the Shannons Nationals.

“There has been a lot of interest from the TCR associated manufacturers and that’s one of the elements that attracted us to TCR in the first place,” Smith said.

“It has got a lot of manufacturers involved in the series, it’s really good for the sake of broader motor sport to have them involved.

“At some of our meetings there will be opportunities to have customer experiences in those cars, that’s one of the areas we’re really looking forward to this year.”

SHANNONS MOTORSPORT AUSTRALIA CHAMPIONSHIPS 2020 Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Round 7

Sydney Motorsport Park Bathurst Winton The Bend Motorsport Park Morgan Park Phillip Island Sandown

March 27-29 April 10-12 May 1-3 June 12-14 July 3-5 August 21-23 September 11-13

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TCR PREVIEW 2020 0

TURBO-CHARGED

WARFARE The inaugural season of TCR Australia was full of action. The upcoming season promises even more with new drivers, new teams & new cars. HEATH McALPINE previews the action to come.

The man with a target on his back, reigning TCR Australia Series winner Will Brown.

Images: TCR Australia/Daniel Kalisz REFLECTING ON last year’s inaugural TCR Australia Series, just reviewing the results it appeared to be a Will Brown and HMO Customer Racing benefit, but that was not the case. Although Brown took the most wins, consistency was where the rising star really won the title with his opponents befallen by incidents and unreliability.

Brown made a swift start to the season, taking the flag in two of the first three races during the maiden round at Sydney Motorsport Park. A further five wins followed, but the key to his success was making the most of the few bad rounds he had, particularly at Queensland Raceway and Sandown.

His rival for a majority of the season, Dylan O’Keeffe suffered from the poor reliability from his Ash Seward Motorsport Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR. This was compounded when he failed to take the start in the final two races of the season, which dropped him to fourth in the standings by the conclusion of the final event.

It was a four-way shootout for the runner up slot between O’Keeffe, Tony D’Alberto,

Aaron Cameron and Brown’s Hyundai teammate Nathan Morcom heading to The Bend.

Cameron appeared to have the edge halfway through the final race, but a mechanical malady put pay to his pursuit.

Third nonetheless was an impressive result considering his entry into the series was quite late.

The experienced D’Alberto won the shootout for second, despite not winning a race in his factory supported Wall Racing Honda Civic Type R. The Hondas struggled for outright pace, the only exemption being Sandown where Argentine World Touring Car Cup driver Nestor Girolami dominated the weekend.

A chaotic start to his campaign in the end cost Morcom a higher position in the title, but he was duly rewarded for his rapid improvement with a race win at The Bend as he ably backed up teammate Brown.

Changes are few at HMO Customer Racing, Brown will defend his title with Morcom remaining alongside. The only noticeable change to the team is the addition of former Hyundai Motorsport Expanded backing from Renault Australia for James Moffat puts him in good stead to take his maiden TCR victory (left).

40 AutoAction

engine Benson, engi gine ine man man Rob Robb B enso en sonn, so n, who was in charge of developing the Korean marque’s World Rally championship engine program, prior to this he worked in V8 Supercars.

Adjustments are also limited at Wall Racing as D’Alberto will again be joined by TCR Australia race winner John Martin featuring Mobil 1 sponsorship, while the team permanently expands to three entries with the addition of Paul Ip. The founder of Hong Kong-based racing team KCMG, Ip has extensive experience with the Civic Type R TCR and will be a welcome driver to the grid.

The other title contenders from last year were a major feature during the silly season, Cameron and O’Keeffe will be teammates of sorts at Garry Rogers Motorsport, though driving different marques.

Renault Australia has upped its support of GRM after tasting TCR Australia action last year, the team has been renamed Renault Sport GRM with James Moffat remaining and being joined by O’Keeffe. Currently the

Aaron Cameron finished third in last year’s title, but changes to Peugeot for 2020.

team are aiding TCR homologation team Vukovic Motorsport in its development of the Renault Megane R.S. with an Evolution model due to debut during the early stages of the season.

The newly launched GRM Customer Racing will prepare four-cars initially, split between the Alfa Romeo and Peugeot brands. Cameron will spearhead the Peugeot attack moving from the Melbourne Performance Centre Volkswagen Golf GTI to pilot a new 308 TCR alongside racing returnee and 2000 Bathurst 1000 winner Jason Bargwanna, plus a further example is believed to be available to run for the season.

A major signing during the off-season was

Michael Caruso, who will return to full-time competition in a GRM Customer Racing Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR. Jordan Cox remains with the team he ended the season with last year after surprising many with his early pace, finishing on the podium twice in a part-season.

Ash Seward Motorsport will also represent the Italian marque on the grid, young Formula Ford driver Jay Hanson makes the step up to TCR and he is joined by James Allen, who depending on clashes with his European sports car commitments will compete at a majority of rounds. Third Alfa Romeo is also in the team’s possession.

Hanson’s former foes in Formula Ford, Michael Clemente and Zac Soutar have also joined the TCR grid, but as privateers with family-run teams in Honda Civic Type R TCRs. Production Car racer Michael King also joins the privateer field with a DashSport-run Hyundai i30 N TCR. Some drivers used the Asia Pacific Cup as an audition to garner support for the upcoming season. Chelsea Angelo is just one after driving an MPC-prepared Volkswagen Golf GTI, as did Alexandra Whitley with both aiming to take the grid if budget allows.

After taking five podiums in nine starts

last year, Garth Tander will return for a full campaign driving a Jamec Racing Audi RS3 LMS TCR, joining Kiwi driver Jack Milligan in representing the marque on the grid fielded by Track Tec Racing.

The third Golf GTI was run by another hopeful at the Asia Pacific Cup in the form of Toyota 86 Race Series winner Declan Fraser run by Milldun Motorsport, again budget constraints are holding him back.

Milldun Motorsport is expected to have both of the troubled Subaru Impreza WRX

STis on the grid with Matt Simmons believed to be in the frame for one of the seats.

One of the former Kelly Racing Holden Astra TCRs has ended up under the MPC banner, while the Cupra Leon TCR, which debuted at The Bend last year with Garage1 is currently up for sale.

The new additions, the new updates, the new models have opened up the field so don’t expect Brown to have it all his own way in 2020. Get set for a spectacular season ahead.

A tale of two Michaels. Making his return to GRM Michael Caruso will be a contender in 2020 driving an Alfa Romeo (left). Former Excel racer Michael Clemente enters the series in a family-run Honda Civic Type R TCR (below).

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OPPOSITES ATTRACT

After challenging multiple Sports Sedan champion Tony Ricciardello throughout last year, seasoned Hyundai Excel campaigner Jordan Caruso caught the attention of many. Auto Action’s DAN McCARTHY spoke to him about his career to date Images: Rebecca Hind/Neil Hammond/Supplied FROM HYUNDAI Excels to Sports Sedans, anything that Jordan Caruso races in he is found at the pointy end fighting for victory.

Caruso was a successful karter and established Hyundai Excel driver, but it wasn’t until he pushed multiple-time National Sports Sedan Series winner Tony Ricciardello to the 2019 title that many stood up and took notice of the young Victorian.

The motor sport bug caught Caruso and his father after watching his cousin race at the local go kart track and from that moment on both were hooked.

“Nobody else in the family was really involved in motorsport except my cousin,” Caruso recalled to Auto Action.

“One day dad asked if I wanted to go and watch him race go karts at the local go kart club and from there me and dad were both really keen on it.”

“Not long after, dad bought a go kart and we were out testing. My first drive in a go kart was at the age of seven and I did that until I was 15.”

Although success didn’t come instantly, Caruso worked hard to make it to the front of the field, by the end of his karting career he had amassed multiple state titles and finished second in the KA

42 AutoAction

Caruso was a regular front runner in the Victorian Hyundai Excel Series.

Junior National Championship in 2015.

Without a big budget the next step was making the climb into cars, choosing the Victorian Hyundai Excel Series.

“At that time it was the only thing we could afford, but the appeal of cheap cars, close racing, the competition and how easy it was to get into,” Caruso told AA. “They are a very momentum based car because they have such low power and are front-wheel drive, so carrying maximum corner speed, braking as deep as you can, I think with any car

that is really important.

“It also teaches you race craft, because there are so many cars on track you always have to be aware of your surroundings.”

He almost instantly clicked with the car, which he believed was mainly due to hard work early on.

“I think they suit my driving style but I really worked on what I needed to do to get faster, I was watching on boards of other drivers and was trying to figure out why they were fast,” he explained.

The Victorian Excel Series has grown

to be one of the most competitive in the country, but Caruso excelled finishing in fourth and fifth during the past two seasons.

“It is tough especially amongst the top few when you are really fighting for wins it gets pretty intense,” said Caruso. We had bad luck throughout the year (2019), I never really got to show the true pace that we had.”

As well as contesting the Excel series in 2019 Caruso made the bold move to race a 550kw Audi A4 in the National Sports Sedan Series, the car very different to the Hyundai.

“It (the Audi) was completely different to anything I had driven, it was pretty scary at first because you really want to try and find the limit and go as quick as you can, but at the same time you know it is not your car and it is expensive, so you have got to keep it out of the wall,” he said.

“Jumping into the Sports Sedan was a big step up, I adapted to it pretty quickly, I was happy with how fast I got close to the pace, but it is so different, heaps more power, aero, rear-wheel drive, just everything about it, they couldn’t be more different.

“My mentality was to run at a level I was comfortable with and keep building on it, don’t try and push myself too hard too fast and I think it worked out well.”

It was a seamless transition for Caruso when he stepped into the wild John Gourlay-owned Audi A4 (above, left).

The John Gourlay-owned Audi A4 was a series winner in the hands of Darren Hossack before Jack Perkins took over. A connection with Hossack through karting led to Caruso getting the opportunity with Gourlay.

“We’d been involved in go karting together when I drove for the company he (Hossack) worked for,” Caruso recalled.

“When I got into Excels he helped me out a bit trying to get on top of things with car racing in general.

“Dad saw the opportunity to drive the Sports Sedan and contacted Darren.

Darren and John were looking for a driver to race it and Darren put my name forward. We did a test day and I think John was pretty happy with how it went.”

The Uni student feels that driving the Audi is an art, because you have to push it hard but be smooth at the same time.

“The sports sedan rewards you for pushing as hard as you can because it seems to react well when you are on the limit,” he said.

“You have to be confident to drive it fast, but at the same time you have to be smooth, getting on the power smooth, all your transitions have to be smooth and because it is so fast st you have to be on it all the time, you ou never really get a break.”

A challenging start to the season for Caruso after two DNFs opened his account at Sydney Motorsport Park, though he felt confident he could challenge Ricciardello.

“At the start of the year at Sydneyy Motorsport Park I was a fair bit off Tony but I had the pace for second, I was pretty happy with that, basically throughout every race throughout last year I was really trying to build my confidence,” he said.

Success came at the second round Caruso won the final race and from that moment onwards failed to finish outside the top two during the remainder of the season, earning another race win in the final round at Sandown.

After finishing runner up last season, Caruso is hoping a sole focus on Sports Sedans can aid in his pursuit of the title.

“I think there was a few things we

definitely could have done better with the car in terms of tyres which could have helped me get a little bit closer to him,” he said.

“I will be in the Sports Sedan again which I’m really happy about, we can hopefully take it to Tony from the start.

I just have to get my head around setup and adapting to the tracks a bit quicker.”

With a small budget Caruso just wants to do the best he can and see where the performances take him over the next few years in his motor racing career.

“From where I am now it is hard to progress without money, so for me it is just trying to do the best I can in the car that I am in, hopefully something comes of it but I understand how hard it is,” he concluded.

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AGP REPORT Albert Park

LOCAL ACTION CUT SHORT ALTHOUGH THE Formula 1 drivers failed to hit the track, the support cast of Supercars, TCR Asia Pacific Cup, Australian S5000 Championship and Porsche Carrera Cup Australia hit the track for a sole day of action, covered across the following pages.

SUPERCARS – BULLS SPLIT THE POLES IT WAS business as usual in Supercars with Triple Eight Race Engineering continued its unbeaten of pole positions in 2020 at Albert Park.

The unique format of supporting the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix means two practice sessions are followed by the short, sharp 10-minute qualifying components to decide the start positions for the opening two races. Not only that, but a mix of compounds promised to also spice the grids up.

Problems for Anton De Pasquale kicked off Erebus Motorsport’s

46 AutoAction

campaign after a disappointing Adelaide, but these issues were resolved and the young star was fastest in second practice.

Jamie Whincup demonstrated the pace Triple Eight had around the Lake by topping the timesheets at the end of opening practice, a 1m 56.4196s bettered teammate Shane van

Team18 Holden Commodore stopping with a battery fault.

Scott McLaughlin was 13th, but set his fastest lap on hard compound tyres to finish second of those runners behind Walkinshaw Andretti Racing’s Chaz Mostert in ninth.

Holdens certainly held the edge as Erebus Motorsport recovered from its earlier problems to replicate Triple Eight’s 1-2 in a shortened second practice. A 1m 56.8579s set early by De Pasquale failed to be toppled by teammate Reynolds and early pacesetter Whincup.

Anton De Pasquale experienced The session came to an abrupt a mixed Thursday. A technical issue hampered practice 1, but end when Macualey Jones he then topped the next. arrived at Turn 1 with a lack of rear brakes, sending him across the sand trap and into the tyre Gisbergen’s earlier time by 0.1884s. wall at the end of the run off. The 16G Lee Holdsworth was best of the rest impact snapped the bonnet in half and 0.0164s off the pace ahead of new ruled him out of qualifying. teammate Jack Le Brocq and Kelly Racing’s Andre Heimgartner in what Heimgartner didn’t set a demonstrated improved form upon representative lap time, experiencing a Adelaide’s impressive performance. long pedal. There were also concerns An interruption during the mid-part of for Garry Jacobson, who was making the session was caused by Scott Pye’s a comeback from ankle surgery and

Carrera Cup Melbourne Round 2 Cameron Hill won the only race to be contested during the opening day.

Images: Porsche

Jamie Whincup (left) and teammate Shane van Gisbergen led the way during qualifying for Races 4 and 5. Chaz Mostert (above) was again competitive for Walkinshaw Andretti United but it was pack up time by Friday. Images: LAT

was feeling the after effects, though qualifying proved a different story.

The short 10-minute qualifying format caught Coulthard and Reynolds out, who were to start within the mid-pack, the 2017 Bathurst winner in particular had to complete another run, but to avail.

Kiwi van Gisbergen clocked a time of 1m 55.2240s to pip teammate Whincup 0.0890s, while Davison was lead Mustang in position three ahead of McLaughlin, who highlighted post-session the distinct lack of aero compared to the respective event last year.

Heimgartner recovered to fifth from his earlier fault with De Pasquale, Nick Percat, Cameron Waters, Lee Holdsworth and Mostert completing the 10.

Whincup turned the tables in qualifying for Race 4 of the season, finishing the session atop with a 1m 55.2809s. Waters continued his rise taking second ahead of Davison, van Gisbergen, McLaughlin, Reynolds, Holdsworth, Heimgartner and Coulthard.

The surprise of the session was Jacobson in 12th.

The Supercars Championship heads to Tasmania next, but there is much doubt in those plans with the current pandemic situation. HM

HILL IN CONTROL

THE SOLE Porsche Carrera Cup Australia event ran as support to the Australian Grand Prix rewarded a clean run, in which Cameron Hill did and took the victory.

Dale Wood held sway in qualifying, securing pole position ahead of Hill by 0.17s. Nick McBride and championship leader Cooper Murray made up the second row with 2017 series winner David Wall starting from fifth.

Polesitter Wood was in trouble as a slow puncture occurred as he was gridding up and despite this made a great start and led into Turn 1 from Hill. Murray had a big look at McBride into Turn 1, which allowed Wall to swing around the outside and snatch fourth.

Wood pulled out a comfortable margin after the opening two sectors before running through the gravel at Turn 13 due to the tyre finally crying enough, not pitting until lap 4.

On lap 2, both Murray and Aaron Love made their way by Wall, however the former series winner

tried to fight back at Turn 3 on lap 3.

Under braking, Wall and Love made contact forcing the former onto the grass, which pitched him into a spin.

A safety car was deployed when Pro Am contender Indiran Padayachee got beached in the Turn 1 gravel trap on lap 9.

McBride went immediately defensive on the restart to hold second position ahead of Murray, resisting the young gun’s pressure. A little further back Craig Lowndes making cameo appearance in the series was running sixth when a puncture forced him into retirement late in the race.

Hill held on to take a controlled victory from McBride who just held Murray at bay, the mid-race safety car benefitted Wall, who recovered to finish a remarkable fourth ahead of Love. With Wood clawing his way back up to eighth. In the Pro Am class it was Stephen Grove who took victory honours. DM Points: Murray 217, Wall 194, Love 159, Hill 148, Wood 140.

Brake failure sent Macauley Jones for a wild ride at Turn 1 and ended his second practice session early.

Image: Insyde Media

Dale Wood took pole, but a puncture spoilt any chance of victory.

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S5000 Round 1 Albert Park James Golding was the pacesetter in S5000 again.

S5000 MAKES BIG IMPRESSION THE INAUGURAL championship round of the VHT Australian S5000 Championship became a non-event, with no races taking place across the weekend.

Despite this two sessions did take place on Thursday before the events well publicised cancelation, a 20 minute practice session which opened the Australian Grand Prix proceedings was followed in the afternoon by a 20 minute Qualifying session.

Former F1 stars, Bathurst 1000 winners, IndyCar drivers and Supercars’ personalities all took to the Albert Park track in what was a highly competitive field.

It was a tight opening practice session in which Supercars co-driver James Golding edged out Australian Tom Randle 0.007s. Five-time Indy 500 starter James Davison was third ahead of Zane Goddard and Formula 1 Williams reserve driver Jack Aitken in fifth.

Former Australian Grand Prix winner Giancarlo Fisichella made his S5000 debut but made a mistake in the first session locking up and running off the road at Turn 9 early on. This broke off one of the flaps on the front wing and resulted in him suffering from understeer for the remainder of the session in which he finished 10th on the timesheets.

In practice the returning Rubens Barrichello was suffering braking issues as he had in the test at Winton Raceway a couple of days prior.

Former Australian Formula 4 Championship driver Antonio Astuti suffered a blown engine and was forced to skip qualifying.

The track had rubbered in by the

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time Qualifying got underway, however pushing to set a lap early in the session 11-time Grand Prix winner Barrichello, still suffering brake dramas locked the rears and rotated into the Turn 3 gravel.

The Brazilian could not get the red #111 car out resulting in a red flag, Barrichello could take no further part.

Reigning Bathurst 1000 winner Alex Premat sat on top of the time sheets for a portion of qualifying, but was demoted to fourth by the end.

James Golding claimed pole by 0.12s ahead of Randle, a great lap by former European Le Mans driver Ricky Capo put his car third alongside Premat.

Luis Leeds, Aitken, Davison, Goddard, Fisichella and Tim Macrow rounded out the top 10, sadly due to the event cancelation the points awarded in qualifying will not count towards the championship. Dan McCarthy

Thomas Randle delayed his chemotherapy to contest the opening round, qualifying second (left).

Ricky Capo was impressive in third (above). Images: Daniel Kalisz/S5000

Asia Pacific Cup TCR

TANDER TOPS AS HMO PARK UP FORMER SUPERCARS rivals Garth Tander and Michael Caruso led the way after qualifying for the inaugural Asia Pacific Cup TCR event.

The ex-Garry Rogers Motorsport driver was a late entry, but it didn’t affect him in the debut of the Jamec Racing Audi RS3 LMS TCR. Recently imported, Tander set a 2m 04.3614s lap to top GRM Customer Racing driver Caruso by 0.5011s also having his maiden run in the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR. HMO Customer Racing duo Nathan Morcom and Will Brown were next fastest, filling out the second row of the grid in their Hyundai i30 N TCRs. The team, however sat one-two with a handful of minutes to go and parked up.

Featuring enhanced support from Renault Australia on his Renault Megane R.S. TCR, James Moffat was fifth, edging the lead Peugeot 308 TCR driven by Aaron Cameron as he headed Peugeot Sport driver Julien Briche, who was first international.

Arriving direct from an IndyCar test with Dragonspeed, James Allen finished behind the Peugeot duo in eighth driving the lead Ash Seward Motorsport Alfa Romeo as Dutchman Stan Van Oord headed Kiwi team Track Tec Racing’s Audi RS3 LMS TCR attack in ninth.

The second Renault driven by Dylan O’Keeffe was 10th, which led the two privateer teams in Honda Civic Type Rs. Formula Ford runner up Zac Soutar and former Excel racer Michael Clemente just missed the top 10 in impressive TCR debuts, while Jason Bargwanna followed in 13th.

Japanese driver Takuya Shirasaka was 15th after being a late replacement for Paul Ip and WTCR team owner Rene Munnich finished 22nd.

The next round will be held at the opening round of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships at Sydney Motorsport Park on March 27-29, if it takes place.

Garth Tander took the spoils being announced as a driver the day before the event (top), edging Michael Caruso (below) and reigning series winning team HMO Customer Racing (above). Images: Daniel Kalisz/TCR Australia/Insyde Media Heath McAlpine

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

OGIER WINS SHORTENED RALLY MEXICO Ogier won again, this time for his new team, Toyota.

Report: Heath McAlpine Images: LAT/Red Bull Content Pool SEVEN-TIME WORLD Rally Champion Sebastien Ogier has won the third WRC event of the season in Mexico, eclipsing reigning title holder Ott Tanak by 27.8s after it was cut by a day due to the world’s current pandemic situation.

After gaining the lead during the event’s second morning, Ogier kept out of trouble to equal compatriot Sebastien Loeb’s Rally Mexico tally of six and take his first as a Toyota Gazoo Racing driver.

“A victory is a victory of course, but this one feels different from any other. I want to thank my team - they have done a fantastic job,” Ogier said at the finish.

Hyundai man Thierry Neuville led early, taking both stage wins ahead of Toyota driver Elfyn Evans, teammate Tanak, surprise packet Teemu Suninen in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta and sixth was Ogier.

Suninen’s teammates Esapakka Lappi and Gus Greensmith both kissed a wall during the opening Reigning World Champion Ott Tanak made an impressive recovery to second after a rare mistake.

test, then had warning lights display on their dashes.

The next day provided plenty of drama as Tanak made a rare mistake after the reigning champion snatched the lead off teammate Neuville during the morning runs. The Estonian ran off during the El Chocolate stage and emerged at the end of it with damaged rear suspension, handing the lead to Ogier.

Electrical gremlins ended the earlier rally leader’s event, Neuville’s retirement wasn’t the only one for Hyundai as Dani Sordo also encountered technical problems as well.

Suninen moved ever closer to the lead of the rally, tailing the Frenchman by 13.2s heading into the final day, however as he shone M-Sport team leader Lappi failed to finish the day after his Fiesta was engulfed in flames, completely burning the car out.

Evans finished the day third ahead of a recovering Tanak, who stormed up four positions in one stage alone.

Ogier took a measured approach to the final day, but Tanak’s impressive recovery nearly

came off, climbing to second to finish ahead of Suninen and Evans.

Neuville ended the rally with five stage wins on the final day after coming back from retirement.

“It’s been a good weekend,” Ogier said. “ “We had a good feeling straight from the start and we took our chance to take the lead on Friday morning. Today we had a better starting position and we pushed straight away and increased the gap, and then we tried to control it until the end.

“It’s a strange victory and it’s hard to celebrate in these circumstances. But thank you to the team, they’ve done a fantastic job this weekend. The car has been faultless all weekend. It’s been really reliable and fast, and these are good points for the championship.”

Ogier takes the lead heading into an unknown future as WRC organisers have postponed Rally Argentina due to the worldwide circumstances.

Points: Ogier 62, Evans 54, Neuville 42, Rovanpera 40, Tanak 38, Suninen 26, Lappi 24, Tidemand 8, Loeb 8, Katsuta 8.

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Tilton’s wide range of products spans across metallic, cerametallic and carbon/carbon racing clutches, hydraulic release bearings, racing clutch disc packs, racing flywheels, racing pedal assemblies and master cylinders, the renowned Super Starter series, and the accessories that make them all work together.

LOGANO PIPS HARVICK

WEEKLY USA TILTON AIR FREIGHT DELIVERIES

Report: Dan McCarthy Images: LAT

AROUND THE Pheonix Raceway tri-oval Team Penske’s Joey Logano held back a hard charging Kevin Harvick to take his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season.

A safety car was called late in the race and resulted in a two lap of overtime sprint to the finish. Logano made a great restart attempting to break away, however Harvick closed the margin down as they began the final lap. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver was close, but not close enough to make a successful move finishing the race second in second.

“I knew racing Kevin was going to be hard. I thought he was going to give me the bump n’ run, which I expected, I wouldn’t blame him for that,” an elated Logano said.

“I couldn’t be prouder of this team, two wins already in the books and we have to keep this thing rocking.”

It wasn’t plain sailing for Logano, during the race he

received a penalt penalty for a loose wheel heel in pit lane and was hampered by a broken jack, however he still fought to the front and took the win.

Kyle Busch finished third ahead of Kyle Larson the highest placed Chevrolet driver, with Clint Bowyer completing the top five. Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola, Cole Custer and William Byron rounded out the 10.

A week prior the Cup Series visited the Auto Club Speedway in California, on that day Alex Bowman dominated proceedings to take his second career victory.

Ryan Blaney was set to finish second but with three laps remaining he was forced to pit with a shredded tyre allowing the Busch brothers to round out the top three, Kyle beating Kurt home to the flag.

DA COSTA TAKES THE LEAD Report: Dan McCarthy Images: LAT ANTONIO FELIX da Costa controlled the Marrakesh E-Prix and in doing so earnt his first win with DS Techeetah.

As it always is in Formula E it was a dramatic and frantic race, championship leader Mitch Evans started from the back of the grid after a miscalculation by his Jaguar team resulted in him falling to set any lap time in qualifying.

Starting from pole da Costa made a strong start and led BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Max Guenther and MercedesBenz driver Nyck de Vries.

Reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne started eleventh but by the end of lap 3 had moved up to eighth. He was promoted another position soon after when third placed man de Vries was handed a drive-through for power overuse.

This left Porsche’s Andre Lotterer in third but just after the half way stage he was overtaken by his former teammate Vergne.

The battle for the lead intensified and with 19m remaining Guenther slipped into the lead before da Costa used his final Attack Mode to reclaim the top spot six minutes later.

Vergne’s charge continued, with six minutes remaining he fired up the inside into Turn 1 to take second off

Antonion Felix da Costa scored his first win for DS Techeetah.

G Guenther, however the Frenchman hhad noticeably less battery life re remaining and immediately turned at attack into defence.

This allowed da Costa to romp away to a commanding victory, Vergne fo fought strongly but Guenther pulled off a well-executed move into the penultimate turn on the final lap to re-take second place.

Vergne came home third just ahead of Lotterer, Venturi’s Edoardo Mortara and Evans who recovered to finish sixth.

“I’m super, super happy with that pole position and race win today, it was amazing! We are definitely on a run,” da Costa said.

TILTON - CHOSEN BY WINNERS SINCE 1972 For the full range of Tilton products call the Australian distributor Racer Industries 07 5546 2040 or visit www.racerindustries.com.au

Standings: da Costa 67, Evans 56, Sims 46, Guenther 44, di Grassi 38, Vandoorne 38, Mortara 32, Vergne 31, Rowland 30, Bird 29

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VHRR PHILLIP ISLAND CLASSIC 2020

A CLASSIC WEEKEND

Report: Heath McAlpine Images: John Lemm/Rebecca Thompson/Bruce Moxon/Bruce Williams

BIG FIELDS and a large crowd descended on Phillip Island for the annual Classic Festival of Motorsport held on the Labour Day long weekend on March 6-8.

The star attraction of the weekend was Event Patron Larry Perkins, who returned to the race track for the first time since his final Bathurst start in the very chassis that he contested that race in. An eight-year restoration by son Jack was completed just prior to the event and Perkins joined the 5-Litre machines as an invitational entry due to his Castrol Commodore being a Project Blueprint machine.

In the pit garage next door was another Bathurst star in the form of Kiwi Greg Murphy driving the BMW M3 E30 that Gianfranco Brancatelli and Johnny Cecotto drove to seventh place in the 1987 Bathurst 1000 in the Heritage Touring Car races. He

finished on the podium on four out of the five races, but Murphy failed to stop the Ford Sierra RS500 onslaught as Bryan Sala took two wins in his exBenson and Hedges example and the ex-Colin Bond Ford Sierra RS500 Chris Stillwell also took a couple of wins.

Competing against Murphy was another Kiwi Bathurst legend, Jim Richards was again driving the Group C JPS BMW 635csi he drove in 1984 alongside Tony Longhurst, while Charlie O’Brien also returned to the race track in another BMW 635csi, but in Group A specification.

Former Australian Touring Car Champion John Bowe was also competing in an

ex-Brabham BT31 Formula 1 car driven by Jack Brabham in MO and Invitation Racing, winning two races and finishing on the podium in a further two events.

Brabham’s dominated the class with Andrew Robson (Brabham BT30) and Sean Whelan (Brabham BT30) split the remaining three races.

Tom Tweedie gave the Chevron Formula 5000 plenty (above).

The beautiful Elfin 360 Repco of Steve Webb (left). Jonathan Miles held sway across the five Formula Ford races (below left), while the two Porsche Group C sports cars made for quite a sight (below). Greg Murphy also had a great weekend racing the BMW M3 and never stopped smiling (below right).

A huge change from his McElrea Racing Carrera Cup Porsche, Harri Jones charged to a clean-sweep in the mighty McLaren M8E.

Larry Perkins enjoyed his return to the track nearly 17 years since his last drive in this car (above right). Wayne Seabrook was unstoppable in Group S

In another dominating display, Jonathan Miles (Van Diemen RF89) completed a clean-sweep of all five Formula Ford races, defeating Andrew McInnes (Van Diemen RF89), Simon Fallon (Van Diemen RF86), Ray Stubber (Van Diemen RF89) and Dutchman Jaap Blijleven (Reynard FF89).

It was Paul Stubber that greeted the flag in all four Group N Historic Touring Car races, fending off fellow Chevrolet Camaro drivers Aldo De Paoli and Andrew Taite, while Craig Allen and Adam Walton upheld the Ford Mustang’s honour.

Wayne Seabrook was the class of the field in his Porsche 911 Carrera in Group

S, but he had to fight the Shelby GT350 driven by Terry Lawlor across all four races. James Constantinidis remained an ever-present threat as well, his Chevrolet Corvette was well suited to the fast-flowing Island layout, but still failed to topple Seabrook.

Plenty other stars were in attendance including 1970 ATCC winner Norm Beechey, Allan Moffat, Fred Gibson, successful chassis manufacturer Adrian Reynard and John French. Many star cars also made appearances such as the Ferrari 156/85 and Haas THL1 Alan Jones drove during his Formula 1 comeback in 1985.

Results

Group A & C Touring Cars Race 1: Bryan Sala (Ford Sierra RS500), Duncan MacKellar (BMW M3), Greg Murphy (BMW M3) Race 2: Sala, MacKellar, Bill Cutler (BMW M3) Race 3: Chris Stillwell (Ford Sierra RS500), MacKellar, Murphy Race 4: Stillwell, Tony Karanfilovski (Ford Sierra RS500), Murphy Race 5: MacKellar, Stillwell, Murphy Formula Ford Race 1: Jonathan Miles (Van Diemen RF89), Simon Fallon (Van Diemen RF89), Richard Tarling (Quest FF86) Race 2: Miles, Andrew McInnes (Van Diemen RF89), Fallon Race 3: Miles, Jaap Blijleven (Reynard FF89), McInnes Race 4: Miles, Ray Stubber (Van Diemen RF89), Blijleven Race 5: Miles, McInnes, Blijleven Group N Race 1: Paul Stubber (Chevrolet Camaro), Aldo De Paoli (Chevrolet Camaro), Adam Walton (Ford Mustang) Race 2: Stubber, De Paoli, Walton (a nonevent) Race 3: Stubber, De Paoli, Andrew Taite (Chevrolet Camaro) Race 4: Stubber, Craig Allan (Ford Mustang), Walton Group S Race 1: Wayne Seabrook (Porsche 911 Carrera), Terry Lawlor (Shelby GT350), James Constantinidis (Chevrolet Corvette) Race 2: Seabrook, Constantinidis, Lawlor Race 3: Seabrook, Constantinidis, Lawlor Race 4: Seabrook, Lawlor, Stan Adler (Porsche 911 Carrera)

Group M & O, Sports & Racing, Formula Junior Race 1: Andrew Robson (Brabham BT30), John Bowe (Brabham BT31), Nicholas Bennett (Elfin 600) Race 2: Robson, Bennett, Bowe Race 3: Bowe, Sean Whelan (Brabham BT30), Bennett Race 4: Bowe, Whelan, Bennett Race 5: Whelan, Bennett, Robson Groups J, K, Lb, Formula Vee & Invited Cars Race 1: Nick McDonald (Repco Holden Monoposto) Shane Bowden (PRAD 5 Sports), John Bowe (Allard J2X) Race 2: McDonald, David Reid (Faux Pas), Bowe Race 3: McDonald, Reid, Bowe Race 4: Reid, Bowe, Conor Ryan (Elgaram Jaguar) Race 5: Ryan, Reid, Phillip Aitken (Vauxhall Special) Q & R Racing, F5000, F1, IndyCars Race 1: Tom Tweedie (Chevron B24/28), Guido Belgiorno-Nettis (Ferrari 156/85), David Hardman (Hardman JH-1) Race 2: Tweedie, Hardman Grant Doulman (Shrike NB89H) Race 3: Tweedie, Hardman, Doulman Race 4: Tweedie, Hardman, Belgiorno-Nettis Race 5: Tweedie, Belgiorno-Nettis, Hardman Q & R Sports & Invited Race 1: Harri Jones (McLaren M8E), George Nakas (Porsche 962), Russell Kempnich (Porsche 956C) Race 2: Jones, Nakas, Kempnich Race 3: Jones, Daniel Nolan (Nola Chev), Nakas Race 4: Jones, Nolan, Nakas Race 5: Jones, Nolan, Nakas

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p ra w S L A N NATIO

AMRS FIRES OFF AT WINTON WITH A new livestream and TV deal with AVE, the Australian Motor Race Series kicked off at Winton on February 29-March 1. John McLaughlin, Stephen Chilby, Blake Purdie and Steve Howard celebrated with outright wins in their respective categories.

TA2 MUSCLE CAR SERIES

John McLaughlin debuted in TA2 with victory at Winton (above) and Steven Cilby also had success (below).

ccasualties with engine and axle problems respectively.

C Cotton was done for the weekend whereas White bborrowed an axle from Cotton to win the final three ra races.

UNDER TWO LITRE SPORTS SEDANS U

CATEGORY DEBUTANT McLaughlin emerged the overall winner after two wins and two seconds in his Ford Mustang. Second and third went to Chev Camaro drivers Murray Kent and Michael Kulig ahead of a brace of Ford Mustang piloted by Michael Coulter, Brett Niall, Graham Smith and Peter Herd.

Wright qualified on pole and held off McLaughlin by 0.49s in an enthralling race one. Kent grabbed third when Kulig miscued at Turn 10 on the second lap, and they were followed by Coulter. There was one safety car when Christopher Formosa crashed his Dodge Challenger at Turn 2.

In race two, Wright led McLaughlin until encountering the Jason Hassett Camaro with a blown engine. Oil on the circuit caused McLaughlin to spin into Wright forcing the latter out.

McLaughlin went on to take victory ahead of Kent, Kulig, Coulter and KTM off road biker Graham Cheney (Camaro).

Race three was declared early when Tim Tritton spun at Turn 10 and collected Anthony Tenkate, putting both Mustangs out. At that stage it was Kent leading after a fast start from McLaughlin, Kulig, Coulter and Cheney.

McLaughlin was a comfortable winner in the longer race four, scoring by 12.2s over Kulig and Kent. From starting tenth, Smith climbed to fourth ahead Wright, Mark Crutcher (Challenger) from starting last, and Warren Trewin (Camaro).

Coming back from an earlier spin, Cheney retired after coming together with Brett Niall (Mustang) at Turn 1. Coulter placed well down the order as he laboured with a power steering leak.

TH WEEKEND started with Craig Lindsell (Mini THE Cooper S) taking out race one ahead of Howard (Toyota Co Corolla) Co and Vince Mcnair (Honda Prelude). Howard hit back ba after a poor start to down Lindsell in race two with Iain McDougall (Cooper S) third. A lose by Mcnair at Turn Tur 1 dropped him to last, before finishing sixth.

Race R three was a trifecta for Cooper S drivers with Images: Neil Hammond Lindsell Lin ahead of McDougall and Linda Devlin. Howard was second until a last lap spin dropped him to fourth.

THUNDER SPORTS CUP In the th last it was a four-way battle for victory which went ABOARD HIS Chev OzTruck Stephen Chilby scored a clean sweep to Luke McPherson (Ford Escort) just in front of Howard with of victories, including the final reverse-grid race. Second in each McDougall and Wade Reynolds (Toyota AE86) next. outing was reigning champion Mark Tracey (BMW E36/LS2) Among the Pulsars, Lee Nuttall was the best in the first before ahead of third placed Sam Collins (Nissan Silvia/LS2). a tyre issue put him out of the second race calculations, won Glen Postlethwaite (Holden Commodore) and Cory Gillett (Nissan by Chris Hales. Nuttall won the next two encounters but DNF’d Silvia/LS) were fourth and fifth in race one. The former blew the the last where Robert Pepper was first, and Josh Gay was best overall. engine in race two where Gillett also had dramas and finished 16 th. But the latter did fight back with an ensuing third and second.

Like Class A, Damien Hunter (Renault Clio) was unbeaten in VICTORIAN SEDAN SERIES Class B, topping the points ahead of Daniel Van Der Heyden BEFORE A fire issue Ran Maclurkin Snr (Nissan 350Z) was a two(Holden Commodore) and Josh Dowell (Ford Falcon AU). race winner as fastest qualifier John Hickey (Holden Commodore) had issues. Race three went to Josh Dowell (Ford Falcon AU) and MINIATURE RACE CARS then Mark Sutherland (Commodore) took out race four before Hickey came through in the last.

WITH ONE race win and three top places, Blake Purdie (Aussie Despite no results in two races, the Super Class (worked out Racing Car) secured the outright honours ahead of BJ Lemon on lap times) went to Maclurkin. In Sports it was Sutherland (Future Racer). The final set on the podium went to fellow Future over Wayne Williams (Falcon Ute) and Dowell while Mick Pettit Racer driver Craig White.

(Falcon) took out Standard from Wayde Griffiths (Falcon) and Ran Chad Cotton (Future Racer) won race one comfortably ahead Maclurkin Jnr (350Z). Garry O’Brien of White and Lemon. In the next race Cotton and White were

“Coming up at the nation’s action and spectator tracks” Wakefield Park

www.wakefieldpark.com.au March 21-22 HSRCA Autumn Festival March 23 Andrew’s Track Day March 24 PR Tech April 6 WPM Trackschool Track Day – Open Pit Lane April 7 Wakefield Park Track Day – Previously SOS/T&T

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Winton

www.wintonraceway.com.au March 20 OLT Day – Observed License Testing March 21 TTT’s Test Tune & Timing March 23 Performance Test Day March 25 Walkinshaw March 28-29 Vic State RaceSOS/T&T

RX8S, HQS AND U2L IP STAR TWO ONE-MAKE series showcased the opening round of the Motorsport Australia NSW Motor Racing Championships at Wakefield Park on February 29 and March 1.

MAZDA RX8s

SPEEDWAY DRIVER Ryan Gorton is a likely star in the making following his circuit racing debut. He qualified fastest, won three of the four races. Two seconds and two thirds earned Matt Butters second overall while Justin Barnes notched three fourths and was third overall.

Lachlan O’Hara was second in race one before contact from Jake Lougher caused a spin after Turn 4. Gorton started poorly in race two where O’Hara rebounded to win but he failed to finish the third after a couple of off-road excursions.

Lougher suffered an engine shutdown after the incident yet came through to seventh in race two, improved to second in the next, and finished with another runner-up spot.

Race three saw a third of the field fail to go the distance with the most dramatic incident involving Ben Silvestro and Jackson Noakes at Turn 8 which caused both to expired and deposit copious amounts of oil.

HQ HOLDENS

WITH TWO races taken out by Brett Osborne kicked off the season with a round win. Chris Molle led the most laps and won the last race for second overall.

Osborne led the first race throughout. Molle challenged all the way, and then produced a better THE OPENING round of the Australian Production Car Series was held at Sydney Motorsport Park on March 7-8, alongside Australian GT Trophy, New South Wales Production Touring Cars, Australian Prototype Series, Radical Australia Cup and NSW Pulsar Racing Championship

start in race two to have the lead for 70 percent of the journey before Osborne’s persistence paid off. In race three, Molle again was away better, and struck out to a near 3s lead. Overall third went to Jason Molle with two thirds and a fourth. He was close to the leaders in race one, but a couple of slipups from a clutch problem cost him.

The battle for fourth in race one went to David Proglio over John Baxter, Luke Harrison, Layton Crambrook and Matt Barker. In race two Baxter was third ahead of Jason Molle, Proglio, Harrison and Barker. Baxter held off Proglio and Harrison for fourth in the last.

IMPROVED PRODUTION

THERE WERE three different winners in Under 2-Litre where Ryan Jagger won two and Kurt Macready and Justin McClintock scored one each.

Macready (Nissan Silvia) the first race pole sitter temporarily dropped to fourth while Jagger (Holden Barina) led. A miscue by the latter allowed Macready to take the win while McClintock (Honda Civic) was a close third in front of Graham Bohm (Civic).

Jagger won the next race ahead of Macready and McClintock and Bohm and race three produced the same result. In the last Jagger was also a poor starter and McClintock was able to hold off Macready.

Jagger was some way back in third and well ahead of Bohm.

Scott Tutton (Mitsubishi EVO 3) scored four easy Over 2-Litre race wins. He beat fellow EVO racers Steven Engel and Darren Herbert in race one. In the next outing Engel retired with an oil pressure dilemma.

Peter Hennessy (BMW E36 M3-R) finished second, avoiding a melee at Turn 2 where David Worrell spun his Holden Commodore just after he moved to second. Behind Hennessy, Herbert and Andrew McMaster came together with the latter’s BMW E30 almost rolling when it rode up the side of the EVO. Hennessy and Herbert filled the minors in the remaining races.

SPORTS SEDANS

THREE WINS were the perfect championship start for Grant Doulman in his Chev-powered Ford Falcon EL ahead of the Chev Camaros piloted by Steven Lacey and Birol Cetin.

Doulman was the pole man but lost out to Lacey in the first race start. Lacey led for three laps before Doulman passed him at Turn 2. Cetin held third throughout while Brad Shiels (rotary turbo Fiat 124) was fourth ahead of Warren Millett (Holden Commodore).

Cetin spun at turn two on the opening lap of the next where Doulman led all the way ahead of Lacey. Cetin was able to work his way back to third, helped when there was safety car to retrieve the Mazda/Nissan Turbo of Nick Smith, ignition issues for Shiels and a spin by Millett.

In the last Doulman was again an all-the-way leader.

Lacey had second but was ultimately relegated to third

by Cetin and finished ahead of Shiels, Mick Bullis (Chev Corvette) and Millett

WEATHER THROWS A CURVEBALL

HISTORIC TOURING CARS

FORD MUSTANG drivers were first across the line on each occasion. David Stone headed Ben Wilkinson in race one with Tony Land (Ford Capri) third well ahead of David Gray (Mini Cooper S).

Jamie Tilley failed to finish in his Mustang, plague with brake issues all weekend.

Stone had a poor start to race two and ultimately finished second to Wilkinson with Land third in front of Jason Foley (Ford Falcon XY) and Gray.

Wilkinson failed to finish race three which went to Stone over Land, Tilley and Gray. Just three cars started the last where Land notched a win after Stone was hit with 5s penalty. Gray was third.

SUPERKARTS

THE CONTEST was between the 125cc class karts where race one went to Mark Robin (Avoig Elise) over the similarly-mounted Aaron Cooper, with Adam Stewart (Anderson Mirage) a close third.

Tony Moit in the only 250cc machine was a first lap casualty when the carby fell off.

Lee Vella (Avoig Elise) spun out at Turn 8 on lap four and was out, but he came back to win the next three races, beating Robin in the next before third placed Cogger scored a pair of seconds. Moit finished third in race three but DNF’d the fourth.

Garry O’Brien Craig wrestled a win back in Race 3. Although, Osmond grabbed the lead on lap 2, Craig took it back as Osmond dropped to fourth as the Inwood father and son team demoted him back after a laterace safety car.

AUSTRALIAN PROTOTYPE SERIES

AUSTRALIAN PRODUCTION CAR SERIES

BERIC LYNTON and Tim Leahey combined to win the opening round sharing a BMW M3.

In mixed conditions, four-wheel-drives well placed across the weekend led by Cem Yocel and Iain Salteri (C1 Volkswagen Golf) in second, and Dimitri Agathos (Class B1 Subaru Impreza WRX STi).

Much of the first event, which also included NSW Production Touring was conducted in the wet.

Agathos excelled despite firing off at Turn 2 on the opening lap, bouncing back quickly to regather the lead, only losing it at the mandatory pitstop.

Agathos’ winning margin was 1m 19.5s back to Matthew Holt (A2 HSV Clubsport R8), Yucel and a struggling Leahey.

The second (APCS-only) one-hour, Salteri and Agathos continued to dominate, the Volkswagen led as the Subaru was demoted by Lynton, Duane West (A1 HSV GTS) and Lindsay Kearns (Ford Mustang), but the big HSV was out with ABS problems.

Reigning series winners Grant and Iain Sherrin were plagued with limp mode problems in their BMW M4 during the first two races. Kearns caught and passed Agathos for second while Sherrin salvaged fifth.

Race 3 (for APCS cars) began under safety car as Agathos won comfortably ahead of Yucel and the Mini of James Keene.

The final race was a combined event and Leahey dominated, taking a solid 27.7s victory ahead of Salteri with Leahey’s teammate Shane Smollen third after Matthew Holt speared off at Turn 1 on the last lap with a right front tyre failure.

Agathos retired early with rear suspension failure.

Kearns (and Coleby Cowhan) and the Brad Carr/

Images: Sportz Foto s

Images: APCS/Speed Shots Photography

Ashley Jarvis BMW M3 were withdrawn from the meeting due to tyre regulation issues.

AUSTRALIAN GT TROPHY

THE AUDIS of the GT Class dominated round two of the GT Trophy Series which was part of the NSW CUE Production Sports first round at SMP. Matt Stoupas (Audi R8 GT3 LMS) led throughout, only surrendering the lead at the mandatory 60s pitstop. Second went to Nick Kelly (Audi R8 GT3 LMS) while Nathan Antunes brought the Gary Higgon Audi home to third.

Taking over from Higgon after the mandatory pitstop, Nathan Antunes brought the shared Audi home an 18.9s winner in the second one-hour ahead of Geoff Taunton (MARC II) while Vince Muriti (Audi R8 GT3 LMS) was third after starting last, following a spin on the warm-up lap.

Stoupas fought back from 18th after a puncture.

NSW PRODUCTION TOURING CARS

DAVID KRUSZA produced a superb performance to finish highest-placed in the opening round.

Classes went to Stephen Thompson (A1 Mitsubishi EVO X), Matthew Holt (A2 HSV Clubsport R8), Reece McIntosh (B1 VW Golf GTi),

Daniel D’Aquino (B2 Holden Commodore SS) and Zac Loscialpo (D Toyota 86).

The best state finisher in a wet opener was second outright Holt, followed by McIntosh in fifth.

The standalone sprint race was delayed when John Fitzgerald (BMW 130i) stopped on the out lap.

Holt led from the outset as Muller secured second from Thompson and Alex Holzl (BMW 1M).

Holt was third outright in the next combined race, but a tyre blowout forced him out on the last lap giving the win to fourth outright Crusza ahead of Thompson.

In the non-championship sprint, McIntosh won ahead of Alex Bryden (Mercedes A45 AMG), who lapsed to fourth before charging back to grab second ahead of Thompson and Garth Walden (BMW M3).

NSW PULSAR RACING CHAMPIONSHIP

THREE VICTORIES gave Josh Craig the first round win. Craig led all the way in first outing, winning over Michael Osmond who had Harri Inwood in close company. Matt Boylan finished fourth after he passed Tim Colombrita.

Osmond led from the outset over Craig in Race 2, third was Colombrita ahead of Harri Inwood, before

A MAIDEN win in Race 2 was followed by round success for Michael Naguib. Race 1 victor Jason Makris finished on equal points for second outright while Peter Paddon won the Radical class and completed the outright podium.

It was a tight Race 1 finish between Makris and Mark Laucke with 0.5s between the Wolf Tornado drivers. Phil Hughes debuted his Radical SR8 by crossing the line third, but he was handed a 30s post-race penalty for a restart infraction elevating John-Paul Drake (Wolf GB808 CN) to third ahead of Naguib (West WR1000).

The wet second leg had a delayed start due to Drake’s brakes locked on and stopped on the circuit. Makris was the initial leader until passed by Paddon who led until overtaken later by Naguib for the win. Paddon held onto second, barely ahead of Jonathon Canavan (SR3).

RADICAL CUP AUSTRALIA

THERE WAS no better way for Chris Perini to kick off the new season than winning the opening round, and that is just what the reigning title holder did.

Perini was a clear winner of the first 50-minute leg, winning by more than 40s. Second in what turned out to be a tight finish was three-time title holder Peter Paddon just headed of the Stephen Champion and the rapidly closing Carmel Bonaventura.

The field began the second 50-minute leg all equipped with wets as the big decision was whether to make the change to slick tyres as the track dried.

Making two stops did little to deny Perini a huge win, some 42.8s ahead of Paddon with Kostinken Pohorukov taking over from Brad Shiels to secure third. GOB

AutoAction

55

p ra w S L A N NATIO

compiled by garry o’brien

NEW WEAPON OUTLASTS FAVOURITES

IIImage: Bruce Moxon

BATES FROM BATES

THE DEBUT of the new Porsche GT2 RS for Jeff Morton and Daymon Nicoli could not have gone better with a resounding victory in the Mt Baw Baw Sprint, the third round of the 2019/20 Australian Tarmac Rally Championship on February 22-23.

They won all five Sunday stages to finish a comfortable 9mins 49.2s clear of first timers Jason and Fiona Wright in their Nissan Skyline GTR R34. Meanwhile Michael Nordsvan and Marty Holden were just 18.7s adrift in third, piloting their Classic Mazda RX7, and hold the outright points lead heading to the final round.

The winners’ job was made easier when day one pacesetters Danny Traverso and Steve Glenney (Mitsubishi EVO IX) and John and Janet Ireland (Dodge Viper) dropped out. With three stage wins the EVO crew led at the overnight but had a fuel pump issue that put them out for day two.

The Irelands also had three stages victories and were second going into Sunday. They completed three stages in the top three before succumbing to a mechanical issue.

Two stages were downgraded after Steve Bowen and Cheryl Dominguez crashed into a tree at around 120kmh in their EVO II. Both suffered compression fractures to their lower spines and spent a night in hospital.

Fourth place went Allan Hines and David McMillan (EVO X) ahead of Peter Gluskie and Samantha Winter (BMW 325e), and Greg Boyle and Mechelle Sahyoun (Subaru Impreza WRX STi).

Adam Spence and Lee Challoner-Miles (Renault Clio) picked up seventh when Keith Morling along with replacement navigator Jaidyn Gluskie went off road in stage 15 in their Ford Escort RS. Eighth went to Mark Clair and Ray Farrell (Porsche 911 RS) from David Blunden and Rob Sheppard (Skyline GTS R33), and Hugh Zochling and Dennis Neagle (EVO VIII) completed the top ten.

Heading to the final round at the end of March, the championship title is wide open with double points on offer. Another in the Classic class, Gluskie/Winter is second ahead of Clair/Farrel by 69 and 80 points respectively. Garry O’Brien

NEAL BATES and Coral Taylor took their Australian Rally Championship-winning Celica GT4 to the narrowest possible win at round four of the Whiteline Suspension Twilight Tarmac Rallyspirnt Series on February 13.

Held at Sydney Dragway on a hot and humid night, the surface was affected by heavy rain beforehand, with damp patches, areas of mud and even a couple of streams running over the road.

Phil Heafey’s recent domination in his Mitsubishi EVO had come to an end, as he has relocated to Western Australia, leaving a win up for grabs.

Two probable contenders were Michael Caine and Tom Vadouklis (Mazda RX7) and David Isaacs and Aeron Napper (EVO). Caine was hampered by having only 2WD and a couple of spins put him back to fourth, still a very good result on a surface that put a premium on grip.

Isaacs had a miserable night. His first two runs were

hampered by engine woes and on his third he crashed heavily into a gutter, severely damaging the car’s suspension.

Bates was fast from the start.

In fact, he was fastest on three of the four runs he did. He’d taken off his driving suit after run three, thinking it was in the bag. But a fast run by Caine meant he wanted another one for insurance.

Bates shared the car with son, Harry and co-driver Hayley Walton. “Harry hadn’t driven the car before today – and all he got was a couple of runs up the road outside the workshop.” Harry was fastest on the second run of the night, second-fastest on the first and third and fastest again on the last, to finish just 0.1s behind his dad.

Josh and Matt Redhead steered their EVO to third, ahead of Caine, who was also first 2WD from Ben and Glenn Dudley (Porsche). Best Junior was Tom Donohue with Dale Moscatt coaching, in a Hyundai i30N. Bruce Moxon

FIRST RUN ENOUGH FOR MINAHAN AT BRYANT PARK DESPITE VERY limited opportunities Bruce Minahan posted the fastest outright time at round two of the Up & Go Emergency Tyre Repair Victorian Hillclimb Championship.

The wild weather that plagued the opening round was back for the second at Bryant Park last month, but abated for a period where the track dried sufficiently enough for a late start to the twilight meeting. Rain did return and most were not able to better their first runs.

The Formula Libre drivers with a gentleman’s agreement to only run on slick tyres could only do one run on the clockwise track configuration. Only Peter Minahan took on the wet conditions. He had a close call with the wall which made him see sense and settle for his first run

56 AutoAction

and fourth outright.

Brother Bruce Minahan’s best was a 49.39s in their shared Hayward 07 with Dereck Foster (White) took second outright while championship leader Mike Barker (Hayward 06) completed the podium to retain his points lead.

Wim Janssen competed in his Radical instead of the Wimp to allow for suitable tyres and snared fifth place. Terry Selwyn seems unphased by any conditions and was happy going sideways in his Datsun 1600 wet or dry to finish fastest tin top.

Mini Cooper driver Ian Grinter maintained his Improved Production lead and finished tenth outright. Warren Heath (Ford Laser Rallye) took the class second ahead of Maurice Harper who beat his wife Linda in the shared Toyota Corolla. Heath also

Image: Jim Jones

entered the Laser in Sports Sedans which he won, albeit with a much slower time with the return of the rain.

Quickest Historic and eighth outright was Larry Kogge (Holden Torana) while Cull Tyson (Ford Falcon) was best of the Non

Log Booked entries with ninth. Also in the class was 16-year-old Daniel Leitner, back in his rebuilt Subaru WRX for the first time since an accident last year. He took things easy for a creditable 14th outright.

Gary Hill

Brought to you by: E 1 M C E 8 B

racefuels.com.au TAS Circuit Racing Championship Rd1, Baskerville TAS, Feb 29-Mar 01 WA Off Road Championship Rd1, Perenjori WA, Feb 29-Mar 01 WA Circuit Racing Championship Rd1,

Image: Craig Houston

Barbagallo Raceway WA, Feb 29-Mar 01

FIRST RUN ENOUGH FOR MINAHAN DESPITE VERY limited opportunities Bruce Minahan posted the fastest outright time at round two of the Up & Go Emergency Tyre Repair Victorian Hillclimb Championship.

The wild weather that plagued the opening round was back for the second at Bryant Park last month, but abated for a period where the track dried sufficiently enough for a late start to the twilight meeting.

Rain did return and most were not able to better their first runs.

The Formula Libre drivers with

a gentleman’s agreement to only run on slick tyres could only do one run on the clockwise track configuration. Only Peter Minahan took on the wet conditions. He had a close call with the wall which made him see sense and settle for his first run and fourth outright.

Brother Bruce Minahan’s best was a 49.39s in their shared Hayward 07 with Dereck Foster (White) took second outright while championship leader Mike Barker (Hayward 06) completed the podium to retain his points lead.

Wim Janssen competed in his Radical instead of the Wimp to allow for suitable tyres and snared fifth place. Terry Selwyn seems unphased by any conditions and was happy going sideways in his Datsun 1600 wet or dry to finish fastest tin top.

Mini Cooper driver Ian Grinter maintained his Improved Production lead and finished tenth outright.

Warren Heath (Ford Laser Rallye) took the class second ahead of Maurice Harper who beat his wife Linda in the shared Toyota Corolla.

RALLY GONE RETRO

Win & Record for White/Brooks

Images: Bruce Keys

THE SECOND running of the Historic Rally Association’s Rally Retro Festival was held at the METEC driver training complex in North Bayswater on February 29.

A wide variety of historic rally metal was in attendance representing ti different diff t eras off rallying from across the world. Three-time Australian Rally champion Neal Bates bought to the event the 1992 Toyota Celica GT4 that delievered him the 1993 title with Coral Taylor alongside, the similar example that took the duo to the 1993 and 1994 championships and his replica 1980 Toyota Celica RA40.

Other entries representing Australia’s rallying past included the ex-Greg Carr BDA Ford Escort now owned

by John Hadden, the Volvo 244 GT Ross Dunkerton, Peter McKay and Geoff Jones took to fourth in the 1979 Repco Reliability Trial, so too the sole surviving factory Ford Cortina from the same event and a newer 1989 Mitsubishi Galant Group A driven by Dunkerton and Ed Ordynski.

International rallying accomplishments were acknowledged through the representation of an ex-Tony Fall Morris 1800 that competed in the 1968 LondonSydney Marathon, also representing that rally was John

Heath also entered the Laser in Sports Sedans which he won, albeit with a much slower time with the return of the rain.

Quickest Historic and eighth outright was Larry Kogge (Holden Torana) while Cull Tyson (Ford Falcon) was best of the Non Log Booked entries with ninth. Also in the class was 16-year-old Daniel Leitner, back in his rebuilt Subaru WRX for the first time since an accident last year. He took things easy for a creditable 14th outright.

Gary Hill

Hamilton’s Hillman Hunter, the Ham sister car to Andrew Cowan’s sis winning machine. win Rarities included Andrew White’s Volvo Competition W Department-built 122S, DMA De Motorsport’s ex-Tony Pond Mo 160J Violet driven to TTriumph i h TR7 V8, V8 a Nissan Ni fourth by George Fury in the NZ Motorgard Rally, a factory Toyota Celica GT4 driven by the likes of Carlos Sainz and Freddy Loix, and the ex-Graeme Wise Ford Sierra Cosworth, which he guided to two Victorian championships.

Many replicas took to the course including Audis, Lancias, Mitsubishis, Subarus and Porsche, while historic Renaults and Peugeots were strongly represented.

As a tribute to the sad demise of Holden, Mark Abela brought along the FJ Holden that was driven by Jim Reinders in the 1979 Repco Trial and completed a recent re-run of the same event. A great tribute to Holden’s motor sport history.

Harry Bates was also on hand to take some of rallying’s past for a spin before winning the Peter Brock Trophy at the Motorsport Australia awards later that evening.

Bob Watson

SHARING THE same billet block Subaru Impreza STi, Jason White and Craig Brooks finished onetwo in round one of the Must Love Cars Tasmanian Hill Climb Series at Highclere on February 22.

As reigning Tasmanian champion Stephen Mott wasn’t competing at the North West Car Club hosted event, the pair dominated the fastest times with White ultimately quickest and scored a new outright record of 29s dead on his final run.

Brooks’ best was just under a second slow while Sheridan Budsworth was third in his Nissan Skyline GTR nearly 3s further away. The latter edged out Nathan Oliver (Mazda RX8) on his sixth and final run by a mere 0.06s.

Another to go with a best on the final run was Mitchell Munday (Subaru) but he had already been quicker than sixth placed Gary Van Der Drift (Nissan 200SX).

Seventh was Sam Phipps (Skyline) ahead of the Datsun 240Z in the hands of Adrian Hodgetts while Danuel Whiteway (Nissan Silvia) and Scott Wyman (Honda Integra Type R) rounded out the top ten of the 30 entries.

Garry O’Brien

Qld Hillclimb Series Rd1, Mt Cotton QLD, Feb 29-Mar 01 Short Course Off Road, Mulgowie QLD, Feb 29-Mar 01 Interclub Challenge Hillclimb Rd1, Rob Roy VIC, Mar 01 Targa Albany Sprint, Albany WA, Mar 02 NSW Hillclimb Championship Rd 1, Esses Mt Panorama NSW, Mar 07 Vic Off Road Club Shield Rd1, Rainbow VIC, Mar 07-08 Vic Off Road Champs Rd1, Rainbow VIC, Mar 07-08 NSW Hillclimb Championship Rd2, Mt Straight Mt Panorama NSW, Mar 08 NSW Twilight Rally Series Rd5, Sydney Dragway NSW, Mar 12 Lakeside Tribute, Lakeside Park QLD, Mar 13-15 Motor Racing Australia Rd2, Sydney Motorsport Park NSW, Mar 14 WA Circuit Racing Championship Rd2, Collie Motorplex WA Mar 14-15 NT Off Road Titles Rd1, Mt Ooraminna NT, Mar 14-15

AutoAction

57

Friday morning atb the Australian Grand Prix ... empty stands, unhappy fans and crews packing up. Images: LAT

EERIE SCENES NORMALLY, THE Last Lap puts the spotlight on the lighter-side on the sport we know d love, l b t with ith the th recentt goings i ith COVID-19, COVID 19 there th h ’t been b l t off that. th t and but on with hasn’t a lot What’s been left is the eerie atmosphere of empty stadiums, frustrated fans and competitors, unpacked containers and a tough situation encountered.

While we look on at the empty stands of last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, we want to wish everyone in the motor sport industry all the best during this period of uncertainty and to assure you Auto Action will continue to produce editions even as events are postponed. Heath McAlpine.

Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships Crossword

Across

2. James Golding won the first non-championship feature race at Sandown Raceway last year what number is he running this season? 5. Who won the inaugural TCR Australia Series in 2019 (full name) 7. A former Bathurst 1000 winner joins the grid in TCR this season, who is it? (surname only) 8. Two non-series TCR rounds will be held in 2020, one was at Albert Park but in which town will the other be held?

10. In the 2019 National Sports Sedan Series who claimed two race wins in an Audi A4? (full name) 13. Who won the Radical Australia Cup in 2019? (surname only) 14. Who won the GT3 Cup Challenge title in 2019 before stepping up to race in Carrera Cup this season? (full name) 15. Who won the Australian Prototype Series in 2019? (surname only) Created using the Crossword Maker on TheTeachersCorner.net

Down

1. Anton de Pasquale and which other driver took a pole position in the two 2019 non-championship S5000 events? (full name) 3. How many events will TCR compete at The Mountain in 2020?

4. Once again Tony Ricciardello won the National Sports Sedan Series, but what number title was it?

58 AutoAction

Image: Porsche

Image: TCR Australia

6. With what brand of car did Iain Sherrin win the Australian Production Car Series in?

9. Who finished as runner-up to Broc Feeney in Super3 last year? (full name) 11. Who will drive the #33 Renault in the TCR Australia Series this year? (surname only) 12. How many championship rounds does the 2020 S5000 Championship consist of?

Holden Highlights Crossword answers from #1781 1 down – VR 2 across – Caruso 3 down- Sampson 4 down – Peter Lang 12 down – four 5 down – Beechey 13 across – Colin Bond 6 down – Monaro 14 across – seven 7 across – five 8 across – Brock 9 across – twenty one 10 across – Harry Firth 11 across - ten 11 down – Todd Kelly

A letter from the CEO, Eugene Arocca – 16 March, 2020 I would like to take the opportunity to write to you to provide an update on COVID-19 and its impact on motorsport more broadly.

As you would no doubt be aware, the situation is constantly changing and evolving and an internal working group at Motorsport Australia is regularly meeting to monitor the situation. We plan to send out regular updates to you, our members, as necessary to provide any important information.

While some larger events have been cancelled or postponed, at this stage, I can confirm that a number of Motorsport Australia sanctioned events will continue with our support, in line with any government restrictions and also with suitable precautions in place.

Some of these precautions are expected to include, but will not be limited to: Encouraging social distancing (standing 1.5m away from others) ● Providing drivers’ and officials’ briefings electronically ● Communicating to participants at all levels that if they are unwell, they must stay away from the venue ● The provision of hand sanitisers and hand washing facilities at events ●

In times like these, it is important that we can enjoy our sport in a safe and practical way, while ensuring good hygiene and social distancing practices are maintained. We will also contact our clubs, event organisers and promoters with key information that will help protect those participating in events in the coming weeks and months.

Motorsport Australia encourages all participants, whether officials, competitors, licence holders and event organisers to remain extremely vigilant and practice good hygiene, including the use of hand sanitiser.

Some helpful resources include the Department of Health’s COVID-19 site, which can be accessed by clicking here. https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) has also prepared some informative content for those involved in sport, which can be found by clicking here. https://ais.gov.au/health-wellbeing/covid-19#covid-19_and_sport_faq If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via our membership hotline or via replying to this email.

Regards, Eugene Arocca Motorsport Australia CEO

www.motorsport.org.au 1300 883 959

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