Auto Action #1796

BUMPER BATHURST GUIDE ANNIVERSARIES, EXPERT ANALYSIS

.COM .AU

SINCE 1971

EXCLUSIVE

SINCE 1971 1

Monaro 327 GTS 1968 Hardie Ferodo Bruce McPhee/ 500 Barry Mulholland – Wyong Motors

1969 Hardie Ferodo 500 – Monaro 350 Colin Bond/Tony GTS Roberts – Holden Dealer Team

1972 Hardie Ferodo 500 – LJ Peter Brock – Holden Torana GTR XU-1 Dealer Team

LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback 1979 Hardie Ferodo 1000 Peter Brock/Jim Richards Holden Dealer Team

1978 Hardie Ferodo 1000 – LX Peter Brock/Jim Richards Torana SS A9X Hatchback – Holden Dealer Team

1975 Hardie Ferodo 1000 – LH Torana SL/R Peter Brock/Brian Sampson – Gown-Hi 5000 L34 ndhaugh

1976 Har Bob Mor

Peter and Jim won by six laps,

1979 Hardie Ferodo with PB breaking 1000 – LX Torana A9X Hatchbac the lap krecord Brock/Jim Richards – Peter – Holden Dealer on Team the last lap

1984 James Hardie 1000 VK Commodore Peter Brock/Larry Perkins Holden Dealer Team

1980 Hardie Ferodo 1000 – VC Commodo Peter Brock/Jim re Richards – Holden Dealer Team

1982 Jam Peter Brock

Victory in the last of the ‘Group C’ Big Bangers and an HDT 1-2

1983 James Hardie 1000 – VH Commodor Peter Brock/Larry e Perkins/John Harvey – Holden Dealer Team

1986 James Hardie 1000 – VK ‘Group A’ Commodore Allan Grice/Graeme Bailey – Roadways Racing

1987 James Hard

Peter Brock/Peter

McL

1995 Tooheys 1000 VR Commodore Larry Perkins/ 1990 Tooheys 1000 – VL ‘Group A Walkinsha Commodore Allan w’ Grice/Win Percy – Holden Racing Team

1997 Primus 1000 Classic – VS Commodo Larry Perkins/Russell re Ingall – Perkins Engineeri ng

Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering

1993 Tooheys 1000 – VP Commodo Larry Perkins/Gregg Hansford – Perkins re Engineering

1999 FAI 1000 – VT Commodore Greg Murphy/Steven Richards – Gibson Motorsport

Come from behind victory, last on the first lap, to a win on ‘The Mountain’

2000 FAI 1000 – VT Commodore Garth Tander/Jason Bargwanna – Garry Rogers

1996 AMP Bathu Craig Lowndes/G reg

Motorsport

2003 Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 VY Commodore Greg Murphy/ Rick Kelly Kmart Racing

2002 Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 – VX Commodore Mark Skaife/Jim Richards – Holden Racing Team

2003 Bob Jane T-Marts

1000 – VY Commodo re – Greg Murphy/ Rick Kelly – Kmart Racing

Murph’s stunning ‘Lap of the Gods’ pole position and a ‘Great Race’ win with Rick Kelly 2010 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 VE II Commodore Craig Lowndes/ Mark Skaife

2009 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 – VE Commodore Garth Tander/Will Davison – Holden Racing Team

Triple Eight Race Engineering 888’s first win at Bathurst for Holden and Mark Skaife’s last Bathurst win.

2015 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 Craig Lowndes/Steven – VF Richards – Triple Eight Commodore 2016 Supercheap Race Engineering Auto Bathurst 1000 – VF Commodo Will Davison/Jonathon MAGES: LAT/Autop Webb – TEKNO Autosport re ics.com.au /Auto Action Archives/H s olden Archives

2004 Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 – VY Commodo Greg Murphy/Rick re Kelly – Kmart Racing

2011 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 – VE II Commodo Garth Tander/Nick re Percat – Holden Racing Team

2017 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 VF Commodore David Reynolds/ Luke Youlden Erebus Motorspo rt

2005 Supercheap Auto Bathur Mark Skaife/Todd Kelly – H

2012 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 100 Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell – Triple E

A privateer team taking the glory and establishing Erebus as one of Holden’s winning teams.

2018 Supercheap

Craig Lowndes/Steven

BONUS POSTERS

PLUS

Issue #1796 Oct 8 to Oct 21 2020 $8.95 INC GST

www.autoaction.com.au

HOLDEN’S LAST BATHURST EVERY HOLDEN WINNER

CAN CAM STOP SCOTTY GOING BACK-TO-BACK AT BATHURST? FULL CAR BY CAR SCORECARD

Auto Bathurst 1000 Richards – Triple

Eig

The future in tuning software is here

VCM Suite v4.8 is now live!

Specifically designed for our new MPVI2, and fully compatible with existing MPVI units. The new MPVI2 supports more vehicles than ever. New manufactures include: Nissan, Infiniti, Mercedes, Audi, VW, Range Rover, Jaguar, Dodge 2018, GM 2019, Ford 2018 & EEC-V.

If your vehicle project needs an extra edge, visit vcmstore.com.au or call 03 9763 7599 or visit us instore at 1634 Ferntree Gully Road, Knoxfield VIC 3180 and discuss your next step in performance today.

Proud supporters of Oscar Piastri FIA F3 Champion

Image: LAT

HOT WATERS COMES TO BOIL FOR BATHURST Last-start winner says COVID crisis has helped unite and improve Tickford Racing

By BRUCE NEWTON RISING FORD Supercars star Cameron Waters has paid tribute to the Tickford Racing team, declaring the enforced evacuation of Victoria in early July has helped he and co-driver Will Davison’s victory chances in the Bathurst 1000.

Like all Victorian teams, Tickford rushed out of the state ahead of the New South Wales border closure triggered by COVID-19, ensuring the Supercars championship could continue.

Against the odds and despite the challenges, Waters has emerged as a bonafide championship star, scoring an impressive last-start first-solo win at the Bend ahead of the trip to Mount Panorama.

He qualified second in his Monster Energy Ford Mustang, made a better start than pole qualifier Scott McLaughlin to sweep across his nose at turn one and control the race through the pit stop process from there.

He exited the weekend third in the drivers’ championship, still a shot at snagging second place from factory Holden driver Jamie Whincup at the Bathurst championship grand final, if things go his way. “We’ll go there and throw everything at it,�

Waters told Auto Action this week.

Waters says he and Davison have such a strong shot at Bathurst glory, in part because of the challenges of being on the road away from home for three months. “The guys have been under extreme pressure,� the 26-year old Mildura-born driver said. “They have been away from families, and just trying to get parts back and forth from the workshop has been a logistical nightmare. It’s been crazy. “But we are working together so closely because

we are living together and we have been on the road for so long. The communication is probably up a little bit and that can’t be overlooked. “We are pushing together hard as a team and the morale is one thing that’s really improved this year.

We are really pushing together for the one thing. “COVID has really hurt our team in some ways but I think we have also gained in others. “Our development parts have been hampered a little bit, but I think our understanding of the cars has improved at the same time. I think overall it’s probably been good for our team.�

It’s also been an especially good period for Waters and his engineer Sam Potter, now in the second year of their working relationship.

They have refined and evolved their communications, enabling them to develop the speed of their car to a higher pitch.

The duo have hit an especially rich vein of form since the championship reached Townsville.

Waters has qualified in the top four eight times in 12 starts and finished on the podium six times. He has climbed from sixth to third in the championship as a result. “Mid-year we were in a bit of dead-spot with our set-up and we started to think a little bit differently and put our heads together and that’s where the pace has come from,� Waters explained.

Such is that pace Waters and Davison have been nominated as race favourite by Mark Larkham.

The TV pitlane pundit and 1999 Bathurst 1000 pole qualifier has nominated the Monster Energy Ford to put a scare into the opposition and greet the chequered flag first at Mount Panorama in 2020. “Arguably the strongest pairing right now,�

Larkham said in his exclusive to Auto Action guide

to the Bathurst 1000. “Last-start winner Waters’ form peaking at the right time, while Davison has a point to prove.

Davo is still rated highly and should be on grid full time, no question. “My top pick if Tickford can overcome ‘Covid Blues’ – which so far they have.�

For Larkham’s entire 2020 Bathurst 1000 from guide, head to pages 26-44.

Larkham isn’t walking out on a limb expressing strong views about the Waters/Davison pairing.

Betting sites also place them amongst the favourites alongside such luminaries as McLaughlin and co-driver Tim Slade in the DJR Team Penske Mustang and Jamie Whincup and Bathurst legend Craig Lowndes in the factorybacked Triple Eight Holden Commodore. “It’s pretty special having someone like Larko tag me as the favourite,� Waters said “That’s pretty cool. “It’s not going to change how I approach it. I am just going to go up there and focus on the job at hand and do what we have to do. “Hopefully that tip is right!�

If it is, Waters and Davison will be the first Tickford winners since the team was known as Ford Performance Racing and Chaz Mostert and Paul Morris won one of the craziest race of all time in 2014.

Waters would be an appropriate driver to return Tickford to the top of the step as he has been with the organisation since 2014, winning the 2015 development series and then stepping full-time into the main game in 2016.

Waters’ recipe for contending at Bathurst is pretty straight forward. “You’ve got to be fast, you’ve got to make no

mistakes and you’ve got to stay out of the trouble. “I’ve been fast and as a team we don’t usually make too many mistakes, but somehow we’ve got ourselves in trouble the last few years [at Bathurst], so I don’t know how you necessarily control that. “Hopefully a bit of lady luck will come our way and if we are fast and get away from the mid-pack battles, that will help.�

In eight starts at Bathurst Waters only has one decent result to write home about; fourth with Jack Le Brocq co-driving in 2016. However, he has shown endurance form, winning he 2017 Sandown 500 with Richie Stanaway.

In the last three Bathursts the Monster entry has managed to tangle with the Supercheap car of then team-mate Mostert, most heinously in 2019 when the Queenslander made a mess of the Chase and took both cars out of a potential podium finish.

This year Mostert has shifted to Walkinshaw Andretti United and when Waters says he wants to get clear of the mid-pack battle, he’s primarily thinking about Mostert. “You know who I was saying,� he laughed.

Waters is confident Davison will play a key role in delivering the best possible result. The two-time Bathurst 1000 winner would be the lead driver in his own Tickford Racing Mustang, if Phil Munday hadn’t pulled his entry from the championship because of the coronavirus.

The importance of co-drivers is more pronounced than ever considering the lack of practice they have had prior to the event. “Will is a massive asset over the other codrivers,� Waters said. “They haven’t been racing week in and week out and Will’s got more experience than I do. I couldn’t ask for a better co-driver.�

UP COMING RACE EVENT CALENDAR Brought to you by www.speedflow.com.au WRC RALLY ITALY OCTOBER 8-11 FORMULA 1 EIFEL GRAND PRIX NURBURGRING OCTOBER 9-11 SUPERCARS BATHURST 1000 MOUNT PANORAMA OCTOBER 15-18 $XVWUDOLDQ 0DGH 6LQFH $XVWUDOLDQ 0DGH $ $XVWUDOLDQ XVWUDOLDQ UDOLDQ L 0DGH 0DG 0DGH H 6LQFH H 6LQFH L

peedflow ZZZ VSHHGĂŞRZ FRP DX

www.autoaction.com.au

AutoActionMagazine

Auto_Action

instagram.com/autoactionmag/

AutoAction 3

LATEST NEWS

MAC ATTACK! SCOTTY SLAMS HIS CRITICS

The champion-elect opens up to MARK FOGARTY on his third title, his Ba AMERICA-BOUND SCOTT McLaughlin has delivered a parting shot to his detractors as he prepares for what will potentially be his Supercars swansong at next week’s Bathurst 1000.

Still bitter about his title credentials being questioned last year, McLaughlin declared: “It hurt. We didn’t get the credit we deserved.”

He also called out the back-handed praise of many of his peers. “I know how drivers work,” he asserted.

On top of his third straight V8 crown, McLaughlin desperately wants to go back-to-back at Bathurst before he jets off to the States for his IndyCar racing debut, which is regarded as a prelude to a full-time switch next year.

While acknowledging that this undisputed Supercars championship is more satisfying than last year’s controversial title, he still resents the questions over his success and criticism of DJR Team Penske throughout 2019.

4 AutoAction

The season was racked by rancour over the Ford Mustang’s performance advantage and DJRTP’s rule-bending at Bathurst.

An otherwise upbeat McLaughlin, who described his latest triumph as “right up there” with his redemptory first title in 2018, slammed the innuendo and outright accusations directed at DJRTP. “It hurt last year,” he admitted. “I felt like we did a good job. In ’18 there was a car that came out that was unbelievable (ZB Commodore) and we beat that car, and then we came out with a car that was even better in ’19 and we proved how good they had it and we won a lot.

“There were complaints up and down pit road, not just from one team, but also from a lot of others and it hurt as a driver. But to see a team go through that, not given the credit that they deserved, was even worse.

“They gave me a great car every week and then to get no credit for it

was quite difficult. It just wasn’t what we deserved.

“Definitely, already I feel this one has been a lot better received. I’ve had congratulations from all over the world, which is very cool.”

STILL HOLDS A GRUDGE

Clearly still aggrieved, McLaughlin dismissed the suggestion that the criticism in ’19 was not aimed directly at him, with widespread praise for his driving.

“But for me that was a back-handed compliment,” he said. “I’ve seen all the docos, people saying that ‘Oh, if I were in that car, I’d be able to do the same thing’. I know how drivers work and they’re all probably going to be saying the same thing now, but that’s the ego trip of every driver.

“We all have an ego and we all have to believe that we’re the best.

But, yeah, I definitely felt like we as a team definitely didn’t get the credit we deserved.”

Now that the title pressure is off,

the personable Australia-raised New Zealander is looking forward to Bathurst – which is the season-ender – more than ever.

“Every time you go to Bathurst, all you want to do is be successful there,” he enthused. “And I think it’s even more exciting this year because we haven’t had fuel races since Adelaide. The strategy’s going to come into it more – how to save fuel and all that. It’s something that we haven’t had, so I’m excited for that factor.

“And now, having it all wrapped up, it’s a different focus for us. I guess it takes a bit of pressure off Timmy Slade and he can just get on with the job, and for me I can just have a massive crack. If I want to have a go, I don’t have to second guess it, trying to keep the big picture in mind.

“It’s going to be cool this year knowing that it’s sown up, which is something different. We’ll probably never ever see it again. It’ll probably never be the grand final again.”

Image: LAT

COMING TO AMERICA WITH HIS IndyCar racing debut a little more than two weeks away, Scott McLaughlin’s future is undecided.

Yeah, right.

While McLaughlin swears there’s no deal to switch from Supercars to Team Penske’s IndyCar team in the USA, you wouldn’t bet against it.

Penske isn’t rushing him from Bathurst to the season-ending Grand Prix Of St Petersburg on October 25 for fun.

Just as he wasn’t given all that IndyCar testing early in the year as a pat on the head for his Supercars success.

Whatever Roger Penske’s future is in Supercars, he sees McLaughlin’s future in IndyCars.

Scotty will only admit that if Roger wants him over there full-time, he’ll be there.

“If it’s available, then I think I’d be mad not to,” he told me. “It’s always been a goal of mine to race in the States and you don’t say no to ‘The Captain’. You do what you’re told and move on.

“But right now where I sit, there’s nothing for next year. I’m a DJR Team Penske contracted driver. My plan at this present time is to continue in Supercars. But if that changes, I’m just waiting for a call if there is anything.”

Scotty feared the coronavirus crisis had ended his IndyCar hopes because it cancelled

his original schedule of races “St Pete is an opportunity,” he said. “We haven’t been able to do it this year and I never thought we’d get a chance, but when the calendar changed, I thought ‘Jeez, it might be on to get across there’.

“But then you think about other stuff like budgets and I’m just seriously grateful to have the opportunity because it’s a big undertaking to run an extra car, requiring more people and all that. It’s crazy.

“It’s a lot and I’m just really privileged to have the opportunity.”

With two state-level Formula Ford races as his only open-wheeler racing experience, he never considered IndyCar as a Penske option.

“I never thought IndyCar was realistic. I never thought they’d consider me for IndyCar. I remember Tim (Cindric, president of Team Penske) saying to me last year ‘Do you want to have a go, do you want to have a look at it?’ and I was like ‘Yeah, if you guys think I’m fit and able and can do it, bloody oath!’

“I love the cars and I think what’s really cool about it is that it’s fresh for me. It’s something completely different to what I’m used to. And that’s what I’m really excited about.

“It’s just so different and I have to learn a whole new kettle of fish. That’s what’s so exciting about this race coming up, for sure.”

MF

Image: LAT

Image: LAT

athurst plan and his IndyCar ambition BACKING SLADE

McLaughlin is confident new codriver Tim Slade will be more than up to the job.

“I think he’ll be good. He’s really become embedded in the team. He’s come to all our debriefs. He lives just around the corner from the shop, so he’s in there on the simulator a lot.

He’s getting a really good idea of the car and ergonomics and stuff.

“It’s going to be hard for him because he won’t have had many laps, but if I could ask for anyone, it’d be a guy that comes straight in off the main game and he’s the freshest of everyone bar Will Davison.

“I’m really excited to have him along.”

Despite being among the top favourites, he think’s it is shaping up as the most wide-open Bathurst 1000 ever.

“Absolutely,” he said. “You have the Waters factor – he’s going to be fast with Will. Tickford always have fast cars.

www.autoaction.com.au

“Walkinshaw always seem to pull a strategy out of their arse, so they’ll be there or thereabouts. They have car speed as well this year. Triple Eight is always going to be there and then there’s my teammate Fabs.

“I think we’re genuinely on for a pretty exciting race. With the championship done, no one is going to care about the points, especially myself, so it’s just going to be like a non-championship finale where the win is the only thing that matters.”

If McLaughlin were to win again, he’d have to forgo the traditional Bathurst champions’ media engagements in Sydney the day after because he will be flying to the States for his IndyCar debut the following weekend.

“I’ve spoken to Supercars and informed them that I’m flying out at 10.30 Monday morning,” he explained.

“They know the deal. Best case but worst case if we’ve won, I’ll probably do a media call at the airport on the way out, something like that.”

AutoActionMagazine

Auto_Action

PENSKE FUTURE

SPECULATION SURROUNDS the future of DJR Team Penske. Not in doubt is the team. The uncertainty is about Roger Penske’s continued involvement, plus whether Scott McLaughlin will be despatched to IndyCar and if Fabian Coulthard will be retained.

According to McLaughlin, who concedes there are unanswered questions, all the conjecture hasn’t destabilised the DJRTP operation.

“That speculation has been around for a year now, maybe longer,” he shrugged.

“It’s a simple thing to say, but it really doesn’t affect what we do. As a squad, we just get on with it.”

instagram.com/autoactionmag/

“Things will just fall into place as they come. You can’t predict the future. It’s a simple way to look at it and a pretty crazy time, but you can’t really look at it any differently because otherwise it’ll all just get into your head and mess with you.”

He added that everyone in the team was aware that Penske’s continued involvement was under review.

“The decision will be a big one, but it’ll be a smart one for the business,” Scotty said.

“I back them in whatever decision they make and that’s the same for everyone else at the team.

“There’s a very good morale in the team, that’s for sure.” MF

AutoAction

5

LATEST SUPERCAR

NEWS

BATHURST TELECAST WILL ‘LOOK AMAZING’

By BRUCE NEWTON SUPERCARS MEDIA says the 2020 Bathurst 1000 telecast will deliver the high quality viewers have come to expect, even though ‘frugality’ has been a factor because of the impacts of the coronavirus, Supercars Media is the category’s in-house broadcasting arm and will provide coverage of the 1000 for both Fox Sports and Network 10, as well as the race’s global audience.

“We have had to make some smart decisions and be clear and frugal on our choices with what we do, like every business in this COVID environment,” Supercars Media GM Nathan Prendergast told Auto Action.

“But I don’t believe the core product is going to look anything other than amazing, as it always does.

“It’s our biggest race of the year, we always call it the grand final and it actually is this time.

I think we are very mindful of the importance of the quality of Bathurst being maintained.”

Budget savings Prendergast revealed included the removal of several locked off cameras not essential to the coverage.

But there will still be around 155 cameras

Image: LAT

covering the action, with 180 crew members on-site to stitch it all together. Check out the full list of what’s required to cover the race at the end of this story.

“Every crucial track camera that viewers know is still there, including two extreme slowmo camera at the key points,” Prendergast said.

“The chopper is there again and that delivers some of the best shots you see anywhere of any motor sport coverage. We’ve had probably the best helicopter camera guy in the country going through quarantine to make sure he can be at Bathurst, which is amazing.”

With no crowd at the top of the mountain a roving camera will also provide some new angles, Prendergast said A new graphics feature of the telecast will

be a fuel monitor sponsored by BP that will keep viewers up to date on which car has how much fuel, when they are due to pit again, and how long it will take to refuel.

“Given Bathurst generally comes down to a fuel race at the end, I think that will be good for the viewers,” said Prendergast.

Bathurst telecast – the list

25 cabled track cameras 3 RF wireless pit cameras 5 rights holders unilateral cameras 10 locked off specialty mini cameras 8 peripheral specialty cameras (race control/ podium/press conference/commentators) 94 on board Supercars 10 with 4 cameras 15 with 2 cameras

Helicopter with stabilised RF camera Virtual graphics technology on 5 cameras 3 ENG cameras 14 support categories on board cameras 100 effects microphones 30 talent/commentary microphones 5000 metres of camera fibre cable 5000 metres of microphone and audio fibre cable 180 crew members 11 on camera talent (including rights holders) 4 x 16m outside broadcast trucks 12 video record/replay servers with 60 channels of video For how Supercars Media managed to broadcast the championship despite COVID-19, turn to page 16-17.

BLANCHARDS TO SPLIT WITH BJR CoolDrive owners want to run Will Davison in a Mustang

THE BLANCHARD family appears set to split with Brad Jones Racing as it pursues the dream of setting up a stand-alone Supercars team in Melbourne .

Auto Action understands the desire is to have Will Davison driving a Cooldrive Ford Mustang in the 2021 Supercars championship.

But much would have to go right for that to happen.

For a start, it’s a long way from running a customer car out of BJR – a team renowned for delivering maximum financial bang for buck – to going through the expense of setting up an all-new team.

The Blanchard’s decision to move on, forecast by Auto Action, is not being confirmed by any of the parties involved.

Tim Blanchard is co-driving the Cooldrive Holden Commodore underpinned by the family Racing Entitlements Contract (REC) with Macauley Jones in the Bathurst 1000 on October 15-18 and was tight-lipped when contacted by AA. “We are working on it, we probably won’t be able to talk about it until the week after Bathurst,” Tim Blanchard said.

It is understood that the Blanchard family - Tim and father John being the key players - are offering to purchase one of two Ford Mustangs owned by former 23Red owner Phil Munday.

It is said to be the spare car that has emerged several times in the hands of Thomas Randle, Chaz

6 AutoAction

Image: LAT

Mostert and James Moffat, since it was rebodied from a Ford Falcon FG X in 2019.

Munday is also understood to have completed a deal with BJR boss Brad Jones for the sale of his REC, ensuring the Albury squad continues with an unchanged four-car line-up in 2021.

The REC purchase was still to be signed off by the Supercars board as AA closed for press. Jones would not comment on the matter.

The sale of Munday’s REC means the Tickford Racing customer Mustang currently campaigned in Boost colours by James Courtney will need a replacement REC if the Melbourne team is to continue as a four-car squad in 2021.

That raises the prospect of the Blanchards and their REC potentially being wooed by Tickford to underpin the fourth Mustang in 2021, whether Courtney and sponsor Peter Adderton return or not.

A CoolDrive Mustang run out of Tickford driven

by Davison is one possible scenario. A CoolDrive/ Boost Mobile Ford Mustang driven by Courtney

is certainly not beyond the realms of possibility either, although Tickford boss Tim Edwards was downplaying it.

“That is a bit of a stretch,” he said. “We are working through all our options for next year at the moment.”

Tickford also has other distractions, like convincing Supercheap Auto to stay onboard. The auto parts distributor was mightily miffed when rival Repco outbid it for the naming rights to the Bathurst 1000.

Davison lost his full-time drive at Tickford when Munday pulled the pin on 23Red Racing during the Coronavirus lockdown. He rejoins the team as Cam Waters’ Bathurst 1000 co-driver.

Davison harbours strong and legitimate ambitions to return to the Supercars championship full-time in 2021 and the Blanchards aren’t his only option.

Davison told Auto Action he might even have his future resolved before the Bathurst 1000.

“That’s what I am pushing for and I would certainly like to think that would be the case and that’s what I aiming for.

“I feel quite good about things … I am still talking to quite few teams to get some final bits of the puzzle together.”

As previously reported he is under consideration at DJR Team Penske, which faces some potential upheavals over the off-season.

Team majority owner Roger Penske could be withdrawing from Australia and taking star driver Scott McLaughlin with him for an IndyCar program.

The future of the team’s other driver, Fabian Coulthard, is also yet to be made clear.

As previously reported, Davison is keen on a seat at DJRTP or DJR if Penske departs. Either way, the team will still be one of the best funded in the championship with one of the strongest engineering brains trusts, best crews and fastest cars.

Beyond Davison, the Stapylton squad is also being heavily linked with Erebus Motorsport’s Anton De Pasquale.

However, his manager Paul Morris told Auto Action he would first discuss De Pasquale’s future with Erebus CEO Barry Ryan.

“DJs aren’t making a decision until after Bathurst, but Barry (Ryan) has indicated he wants to sit down soon and try and work out what he wants to do with Anton,” said Morris.

“That’s the conversation we need to have first.

“I think that’s the correct thing to do. Anton’s an integral part of the team and I think there is want from both sides to keep going, so that’s the first thing to try and get locked away.”

The Erebus situation is more complicated because De Pasquale is out of contract and the team already has an agreement with Will Brown to join contracted David Reynolds at the team in 2021. BN

DJR WILL BE OK, SAYS DICK

With or without Penske or McLaughlin, Johnson tells MARK FOGARTY that his eponymous team will continue FORD FOLK hero and V8 legend Dick Johnson has lauded Scott McLaughlin as one of the all-time greats of Australian touring car racing, following the flying Kiwi’s third straight Supercars title success.

“Scotty’s one of a kind,” the five-time champion and triple Bathurst winner said.

“He’s one of the best ever.”

Amid rampant speculation that McLaughlin will move to IndyCars as Roger Penske pulls out, Johnson also pledged the team he founded would continue.

He maintains the squad is safe without both of them.

“Absolutely,” Johnson declared. “We’ve been through many ups and downs in the career of this team and we’ve dealt with every one of them, so this one’s no different.

“The team’s future is secure, without a doubt.”

He confirmed that the make-up of what is now DJR Team Penske was under discussion, from drivers to ownership.

“These sorts of decisions as to the future of anything won’t be made until after Bathurst,” said Johnson, who assured his name – or at

Image: LAT

least his initials – would remain on the front of DJRTP’s race base at Stapylton, on the outer edge of Brisbane.

“That ain’t goin’ anywhere,” he said.

Johnson is a minority shareholder of DJRTP, which is 51 per cent owned by Team Penske.

Local team boss Ryan Story is the major lesser partner.

Roger Penske bought DJR in late 2014 to promote his Australian transport and industrial powerplant interests.

Story is poised to take over ownership if Penske withdraws after six years, during which DJRTP has won three straight Supercars

drivers’ titles and last year’s Bathurst 1000 with McLaughlin.

The team’s main sponsors – led by Shell and Repco – are already locked in for at least next year.

If Penske pulls out and McLaughlin moves to IndyCars, the new-look DJR will be looking for a replacement for its superstar and also Fabian Coulthard, who has been under pressure to perform better.

Front-running candidates are Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison.

Johnson rates McLaughlin as not only DJR’s best ever, but one of the all-time greats of

Australian touring car racing already.

“He’s a bloody good all-rounder. When I say all-rounder, I mean you can put him in a board room, you can put him in front of a television camera, you can put him in a race car where he is exceptional.

“Honestly, you’d have to put him in the league of some of the best drivers this country’s ever seen.”

Dick admits losing McLaughlin to IndyCar would be a major loss.

“If that happens, yes, it would,” he said. “To lose any driver of his calibre to any team would be a huge blow. The record shows he’s won three titles, but in fact it really should be four in a row, but that’s history and you can’t change history.

“Honestly, if that’s what happens, I will give him my blessing because you can’t stop someone making a career.”

Due to existing COVID-19 restrictions, Johnson is still undecided about whether he will attend Bathurst with the famous rock that made him a national hero 40 years ago.

McLaughlin, who is impressed by the size of the stone, which is on display in DJRTP’s showroom, would love to win on the 40th anniversary of The Rock incident and also DJR. “It’s a big sucker,” he laughed. “For sure, it’d be very special.

“To be able to run the #17 and to be in that car for the 40th anniversary means a lot to me.”

Seven replaces Ten, teams said to be better off financially

By MARK FOGARTY AND BRUCE NEWTON SUPERCARS HAS confirmed a new five-year broadcast deal worth just over $200 million with Fox Sports and Seven that commences in 2021.

Fox Sports continues to provide comprehensive coverage of all events, while Seven takes over from Ten as the free-to-air partner.

Seven will televise six events each year, one more than Ten was contracted to cover. But with the championship dropping back to 12 events from as many as 16 under the current telecast deal (see separate story on page 10-11), that means FTA coverage of 50 per cent of the title fight including the Bathurst 1000.

Seven also offers a larger potential audience than Ten across its affiliates, as much as doubling the championship’s audience reach according to sources familiar with the deal.

One question mark in all this is the fate of the Supercars championship event at the F1 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park.

Ten currently provides FTA coverage of that event, but it will have to swap to Seven if the Supercars are to race for points there.

The existing six-year deal earned Supercars $196 million in cash and $45 million in kind, including such things as contra advertising.

Auto Action understands at least $160 million of the new deal will be cash. But it is difficult to pin down an exact number because revenue sharing with Seven is included.

That’s possible to do because Supercars and Seven have a direct agreement under the contract, whereas Ten did its deal with Foxtel.

Supercars insiders say the revenue return to teams under the new deal will actually improve, in part because they race less in 2021.

www.autoaction.com.au

Image: LAT

NEW DEAL FOR SUPERCARS TV An effort to trim budgets at Supercars Media is also underway to ensure more dollars make it back to the teams.

Supercars Media is the one stop shop that broadcasts the sport for Fox, the FTA partner and global audiences.

One money saving initiative has been a decision for Fox and Seven to adopt a single production model, meaning they will share hosts and reporters.

Costs being addressed also include the salaries paid to the on-air talent, with suggestions there will be reductions for many and some may not come back.

Star caller Neil Crompton is the closest to being guaranteed a new deal, but other callers and reporters are still to be decided. Understandably there is widespread unease and concern amongst them about the future.

Supercars Media has also learned a lot about ‘semi-remote’ broadcasting this year because of the Coronavirus, sending less crew to rounds and handling many production and hosting tasks from Sydney.

AutoActionMagazine

Auto_Action

Elements of this broadcast model might return to save money in the post-COVID era.

“This deal is the product of a significant body of work to ensure we have the best team possible to take us forward into the future,” Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said.

“It provides certainty for our teams, fans and commercial partners that Supercars is here to stay as the top motorsport category in Australasia.

“We’re also thrilled to welcome back the Seven Network, which helped bring motorsport to Australian living rooms way back in the early 1960s, as the original broadcast partners of the Australian Touring Car Championship and the early days of Supercars.”

Actually, that’s not true as Ten took over from Seven at the start of the Supercars era in 1997, continuing until the rights returned to Seven from 2008-14.

“2021 will be the start of a new era with some old friends and I know everyone in Supercars is excited about what lies ahead,” Seamer added.

Seven Network chief James Warburton, the architect of the sport-saving Fox Sports/10 deal when

instagram.com/autoactionmag/

he was CEO of Supercars, is also looking forward to V8 racing’s return.

“Seven and Supercars have so much shared history, so we’re excited to begin the next part of our story together with this multi-year deal,” Warburton said. “We can’t wait to bring Supercars home to Seven from next year.”

Supercars, along with TCR and S5000, will join Seven’s sports portfolio of AFL, major horse racing and the delayed Tokyo Olympics.

The new Australian broadcast deal coincides with the renewal with Sky Sports in NZ from 2021-25.

Supercars has also secured series and Bathurst sponsorship agreements with Repco for the next five years.

Other recent announcements include new longterm deals with the Queensland, Northern Territory, Tasmanian, New Zealand and New South Wales governments, ensuring the future of some of the series’ marquee events.

Ten’s final FTA telecast will be the October 15-18 Bathurst 1000.

AutoAction

7

LATEST NEWS

SUPERCARS

T8 AIMS FOR FINAL HRT WIN Images: LAT THE FINALISTS for the Pirtek Pitstop Challenge have been set, following the penultimate round of the Supercars Championship at The Bend Motorsport Park. The #8 Brad Jones Racing crew finished on top with 392 points, followed by the #17 DJR Team Penske team, the #88 Red Bull Holden Racing Team machine and the #14 BJR Commodore. These four teams will go into a knockout competition at Bathurst on Friday night for the $10,000 prize. DM

TRIPLE EIGHT Race Engineering completed a Super2 test day at Queensland Raceway for its driver Angelo Mouzouris, ahead of his Mount Panorama debut. Once again three-time champion Craig Lowndes was there to lend the reigning Australian Formula Ford series winner a hand. The seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner also got to drive some laps in the VF Commodore himself, laps that will be of some importance heading into the ‘Great Race’ this year. DM

AFTER MONTHS of talk, Matt Chanda Motorsport has confirmed that in Bathurst it will indeed run a second car. The squad had spoken about its desire to run a second car along with its usual #18 driven for Chahda, after purchasing a second ex-DJR Team Penske Falcon. The team will field Super2 rookie Matt McLean in its #17 Falcon, McLean having run in three Super3 rounds in 2019. DM

TASMANIAN LAYTON Barker will make his Supercars debut at Mount Panorama in the Super3 Series. The 40-year-old Hobart resident will drive in an expanded two-car effort for Jim Pollicina’s team, in the ex-Tasman Motorsport Commodore VE that Greg Murphy and the late Jason Richards used to finish in second place at The Great Race in 2008. Pollicina will compete alongside Barker in his ex-Greg Murphy Racing Commodore VE that won the Super2 Series in 2010. DM NEWLY ANNOUNCED Kelly Racing driver Dylan O’Keeffe has returned to Australia, where he is currently serving his mandatory 14-day quarantine in Sydney. “Thanks to technology, I’m still able to stay connected to the outside world and I’m giving myself tasks, like physical workouts to keep myself motivated. I’m also going to borrow a simulator setup, so I can turn some laps of Bathurst in the virtual world – it will get me into the zone for when I arrive at the Mountain.” He joins Kiwi Andre Heimgartner for his Bathurst 1000 debut. HM

8 AutoAction

Whincup and van Gisbergen confident they can break Bathurst losing streak

Image: LAT

By BRUCE NEWTON CAN JAMIE Whincup or Shane van Gisbergen overcome their traditional Bathurst 1000 misfortunes and win Australia’s greatest Supercars race for the Red Bull Holden Racing Team?

If either driver does greet the flag first, it will be the Triple Eight-owned squad’s first win at Bathurst since it took over as HRT from Walkinshaw Racing in 2017.

This year will also be the last chance to claim that win, as Holden is being retired as a brand and T8’s deal with Holden will expire after this year’s 1000, which is the final round of the 2020 championship.

Triple Eight will mark the end of the Holden era with a special Bathurst livery for its ZB Holden Commodores, which is set to be revealed in the lead-up to the race.

RBHRT also needs a strong result at Bathurst if it is to avoid a second consecutive year without winning the drivers or teams championships, or the 1000.

Prior to 2019, it had scored at least one of the big three every year since 2005.

DJR Team Penske leads the teams’ championship by 100 points, with 576 points still to be won. The prize is the strategically important garages at pitlane exit.

Whincup, the seven-times Supercars champion has won the 1000 four times, but not since 2012.

He is looking to add win number five this year.

“What you need in motorsport is a fast car and consistency and we feel in 2020 the pace has been there when it has needed to be,” said Whincup, who

sits second in the title behind champion-elect Scott McLaughlin headed to Bathurst, but could still finish as low as fourth depending on results.

“We made too many errors in the last couple of rounds just from being tired and run down. But with this short break we believe we can get back to full potential come the great race.”

Van Gisbergen has never won the 1000 – although he has won the international GT 12-hour - and was memorably robbed of almost certain victory in 2014, when the starter motor of his Tekno Autosports Holden Commodore failed at a late-race pit stop when he and Jon Webb held the lead.

He too has missed out since then in unfortunate circumstances. But his confidence is high for the 2020 race.

“I suppose I join everyone in saying I’ve got a car good enough to win it and I’m confident and all that sort of stuff,” van Gisbergen told Auto Action.

“On tracks where our car has not always been the best – like Eastern Creek and Tailem Bend – we were on the pace, whereas last year and the year before we really struggled on long corners and hard tyres.

“So for Bathurst we should be a lot more competitive than maybe we have been.”.

Three of Triple Eight Race Engineering’s four Bathurst wins since 2010 have involved Craig Lowndes.

He won with Mark Skaife in 2010 and Steven Richards in 2015 and 2017 (in a satellite Autobarnbacked entry). Whincup won with Paul Dumbrell –

now a T8 co-owner - in 2012.

This is Lowndes’ second year co-driving with Whincup since he retired from full-time driving. Van Gisbergen’s co-driver is Garth Tander, the Holden stalwart who last won the 1000 in 2011 for the old Walkinshaw-run HRT. Whincup’s litany of Bathurst woes have included running out of fuel on the last lap, illegally passing a safety car, and having a wheel fall off after a pit stop.

“Thanks for the reminder (that) the last eight years hasn’t been as solid as it should be,” Whincup quipped. “I don’t ponder that stuff.

“To be honest, one of the best races I have ever been involved in was 2014 when I ran out of gas and Chazzy (Mostert) got through for the win. That was an incredible day.

“What’s most important to me is I am a contributor to the race and on top of that, I’d like to win it.”

Van Gisbergen, who is fourth in the championship but could rise as high as second depending on Bathurst results, has been an agonisingly close second in 2016 and 2019, finishing fifth the two 1000s in between.

“I don’t think it as a race I need to win,” said van Gisbergen.

“It’s just another race, but I have always had good speed there; seconds, poles, a 12-hour win, so it’s a track I do well at and have had a few goes at, so it would be nice to pull it off.

“If I can get everything right and as a team we do everything perfectly, then it might go our way.”

SUPERCARS PLANS ULTRA-SOFT TEST

High-degradation tyre in the mix for 2021 championship

SUPERCARS WILL test an ultra-soft Dunlop slick tyre at Queensland Raceway after the Bathurst 1000.

The tyre is being trialled for introduction into the championship in 2021, as Supercars seeks a way to achieve more hard-fought door-to-door racing as seen at Sydney Motorsport Park and The Bend this year.

The tyre was previously tested by the championship in 2016 and offers more grip than the current Dunlop soft racing tyre, but degrades significantly after only 60-80km of running.

It is the same construction as the existing Dunlop control slicks, but a softer compound.

“Queensland Raceway is very much a low-deg circuit so if we can get the tyre to degrade faster there, then there would be a variety of circuits you would take that tyre to,” said Supercars head of motorsport Adrian Burgess.

“We have had some fantastic racing this year and it’s pretty easy to see you need degradation or you need varying car speeds, to allow an entertaining race.”

At this stage which drivers and teams are involved in the test hasn’t been confirmed, nor the specific date on which the test will happen.

However it’s fair to suggest Triple Eight and/or DJR Team Penske, as strong teams with leading cars and

Image: LAT

drivers, will get a gig.

“The data that comes off the cars won’t go to the teams,” Burgess stressed. “Supercars takes our own engineers and our own data acquisition system and the data comes back to us.”

Supercars would also like to conduct a test with the ultra-soft at Winton in Victoria, but the challenges of the coronavirus mean that won’t happen for some time.

The ultra-soft would be targeted at lowdegradation surfaces like Darwin, Queensland Raceway and Winton, where the existing soft doesn’t degrade enough during the sprint races adopted for 2020 because of the coronavirus but now favoured for most events in 2021.

The ultra-soft would not be suitable for the high loads generated by Mount Panorama and Pukekohe in New Zealand, or for the Adelaide parklands circuit

where marble build-up would be excessive at the high-speed turn eight.

Nor would the ultra-soft be needed at a high-deg circuit such as SMP. The decision to test the ultra-soft essentially confirms Supercars will not go through the expense of a VCAT aero test over the summer.

Aero wash has been a consistent criticism of the Ford Mustang and Holden Commodore and their revised aerodynamic packages after last summer’s testing.

The turbulence generated makes it hard to follow the car in front closely and make a pass difficult unless the car behind has a significant speed advantage.

Tyres also quickly overheat and lose their performance edge on the following car, also hindering overtaking.

Auto Action has been told the VCAT would cost somewhere between $250,000-$500,000, which is hard to justify during the economic downturn imposed by the pandemic.

The Gen2 formula is also supposed to only run one more year before its Gen3 replacement is introduced with a radically overhauled and reduced aerodynamic package.

“We don’t feel we need to go and do the aero package again,” said Burgess. “Aero wash is a concern at some circuits but not every circuit and at the moment we believe we have got good parity and both brands of car extremely competitive.

“We don’t won’t anything that risks messing that up.” BN

NEW SAFETY CAR RULES BACKED LEADING SUPERCARS drivers have welcomed a new safety car rule designed to keep more cars on the lead lap and allow a cleaner fight for the race win at the Bathurst 1000.

Rule 10.2.9 of the Supercars operation manual now instructs the safety car to wave by lapped cars on Conrod Straight immediately prior to the race restarting.

That means any cars one lap down would return to the lead lap. Lapped cars would also leave their place in the queue to get out of the way of a nose-to-tail race order restart for the leaders.

Almost inevitably a late race safety car sets up the final battle to the flag in the Bathurst 1000 each year. Previously, lapped cars stayed stacked in line among the lead runners.

Supercars calculates allowing the lappers past the safety car will mean they are 4550 seconds ahead of the lead pack at the restart and unlikely to be a factor again for 15-20 laps.

The new rule is a further attempt to prevent lapped cars playing a role in the result of the race.

A rule introduced several years ago that stays in force, sends lapped cars through pitlane during a safety car period within eight laps of the end of the race, allowing them to be overtaken by the field.

“We have so many times where there are lapped cars in amongst the leaders on a restart and it really does ruin someone’s day when they should really have a good crack at challenging,” explained Supercars head of motorsport Adrian Burgess.

“So it cleanses the front of the field on restarts.

“And if you’ve had an unlucky one and you’ve gone done a lap, then you’re not getting your full lap back … but you’re not completely out of the day’s running.

“So we hope we get to the end of the day’s running and you’ve got more cars on the lead lap and we have a proper show.”

Triple Eight’s Jamie Whincup, a four-time Bathurst 1000 winner who had a memorable issue with the safety car in 2015, was in favour of the new rule.

“I think it’s a good idea,” he said. “It gets more cars on the lead lap and that’s only a good thing from an entertainment point of view.”

BJR’s Nick Percat, winner of the race in 2011, welcomed the ‘lucky dog’ promotion rule after his race experience in 2019 with Tim Blanchard.

“We got a puncture on lap eight or something and went a lap down,” he recalled.

“But we qualified like sixth and were in the lead group all week, and no matter how hard we tried we could not get our lap back.

“We drove around a lap down all day. Every time a safety car came out it was at pretty much the wrong time and we couldn’t get our lap back.

“Now, it’s good to make sure the race has a lot of cars on the lead lap that can have a crack.”

Burgess said the new rule has no relationship with the ‘debriss’ controversy of 2019, when Fabian Coulthard slowed the pack dramatically behind his Ford Mustang to avoid double-stacking, also delivering DJR Team Penske team-mate Scott McLaughlin a tactical advantage.

McLaughlin and Alex Premat went on to win the race while Coulthard and co-driver Tony D’Alberto were re-classified last, the team penalised 300 championship points and fined 250,000 Euros.

But Supercars has addressed the penalty structure in the wake of ‘debriss’, handing the stewards the right to fine rule-breakers an unlimited number of teams’ championship points under Rule B7.7.2.3 in the Supercars Operations Manual.

“It gives the stewards more room to hand out a penalty,” confirmed Burgess. “They were hemmed in by the rule book (last year).

“If something else happened – it might not be the safety car – within the sport within the year, they’ve got the ability to go a lot harder.”

NO DEALS FOR HERNE

AutoActionMagazine

10.2.9 In preparation for the end of the SC [Safety Car] deployment, the SC will: 10.2.9.1 Set the prescribed speed as instructed by the RD [Race Director] on the RMC [Race Management Channel]; then 10.2.9.2 Extinguish all the flashing lights as instructed by the RD on the RMC; then 10.2.9.3 Cars one (1) or more laps behind the leader as per Rule D10.2.2.6 will be instructed via RMC and via the timing screen to pass the line of Cars including the SC when between T18 and T19.7.

•a) Lapped Cars that have not crossed the P3 timing line prior to the SC crossing the S2 timing line will not be eligible to pass the SC. • b) After passing the SC, Pit Lane will be closed to the lapped Cars until they cross the control line on the racetrack • c) If the RD considers track conditions are unsuitable, the lapped Cars will not be permitted to pass the SC. • d) Decisions made in respect of this unlapping procedure are not subject to protest 10.2.9.4 When the last lapped Car has passed the SC, the SC will accelerate away from the field as instructed by the RD on the RMC; and 10.2.9.5 Enter the Pit Lane at the end of that lap. Bruce Newton Digital Image: Peter Hughes

WOULD-BE Bathurst 1000 rookie Nathan Herne remained without a Superlicence dispensation to contest the Great Race for Garry Rogers Motorsport, as Auto Action closed for press.

In a brief phone interview on Monday evening, GRM’s Barry Rogers said there may be some news on Tuesday, but didn’t give an indication what that may be.

GRM has been threatening legal action against Motorsport Australia since the governing body refused to hand Herne a Superlicence dispensation to contest the Bathurst 1000 alongside Tyler Everingham, in a Valvoline-sponsored Holden Commodore ZB wildcard entry.

Legal letters have been exchanged between the race team and MA, but the process has not gone beyond that to the stage of a court hearing as yet.

It is believed GRM had been trying to convince MA the 17-year old TA2 driver should be allowed a trial run at Mount Panorama, to prove his suitability to contest the race.

But it’s understood MA has not moved from its ruling, which said that Herne had not accrued the experience to qualify for a Superlicence dispensation, for a race and venue this challenging.

Options for GRM include continuing to fight for Herne’s inclusion in the race, signing another driver, or withdrawing the entry. GRM staff are currently quarantining in both Darwin and Sydney ahead of the 1000.

Herne recently spoke out about the issue on the Parked Up podcast.

“To have that opportunity come, it absolutely shocked me,” he said.

www.autoaction.com.au

The new Rule 10.2.9 now reads as follows:

“I worked my arse off and we started to get closer and closer to the event, and it started to feel a bit surreal. And then it sort of all fell apart in front of me. I went from being on cloud nine to back down to ground level.

“I was a bit upset. This is what you dedicate your whole life to.

I finally thought I had an opportunity to make a career of motor sport, and it was going to be pretty big for a bloke from Lismore who’s come through TA2 and hasn’t had the budget to come through Super2 and Super3.

“To finally have the opportunity to race at Bathurst, and then have it taken away from you, is pretty hard. But I have Barry [Rogers]

Auto_Action

instagram.com/autoactionmag/

and Garry [Rogers] fighting for me in my corner, and I couldn’t ask for two better blokes to be doing it.

“It’s a kick in the guts to think if you don’t go through [Super3 and Super2] you can’t make it into main game Supercars anymore.

“That’s what we’re all fighting for at the moment. We’re not fighting to get myself into a seat. Obviously that’s the end goal, but it’s for kids like myself who don’t think they can make it, to have someone there who’s in the race and hopefully doing well, and can try and open the door for everyone else to make it through.”

BN

AutoAction

9

LATEST LATES S T NEWS

THE AUSTRALIAN Production Car Series has announced that in 2021 the category will feature as part of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships. Although both dates and locations for the season are yet to be confirmed, the COVID-19 enforced break in national motorsport will see the category change from its traditional endurance format to more sprint-based racing. DM

MOTORSPORT NEW Zealand has announced its 2020-21 calendar. It will contain six rounds, all on the North Island, with one meeting in November, December, January and February before concluding with two events in March. MNZ has said that the absence from the South Island is for 2021 only, as the sport and economy get back on their feet. Speed Works Events is currently working with categories to finalise which categories will attend each round. DM

THE MOTORSPORT Australia Targa Championship has been handed a boost, with news that the Targa Great Barrier Reef has been renewed for a further three years.

A result of the ever-growing popularity of the tarmac rally event which first ran in 2018, both state and local governments have agreed to support the North Queensland event from 2021 to 2023. DM

THE PHILLIP Island Auto Racing Club (PIARC) is aiming to host three motorsport events in November, as Victoria returns to racing. As the Victorian Government’s ‘road map’ objectives continue to be met allowing the resumption of motorsport in the state, three events are planned in November for grassroots competitors. The conclusion to this ‘Festival of Motorsport’ will be the 30th running of Island Magic, scheduled to take place on November 28-29. HM THE SHANNONS Motorsport Australia Championships will host a double-header later this year. As previously reported by Auto Action, MA is organising a Sandown meeting to take place in December for its regular categories. MA is welcoming interest from both state and national categories to take part in either on December 5-6 or December 12-13. DM

10 AutoAction

Image: Supercars

12 SUPERCARS EVENTS IN 2021 THE 2021 Supercars championship is being scheduled over 12 events with no more than two of them expected to be two-driver enduros.

The vast bulk of the meetings will retain the three-race single-tank sprint format forced on Supercars by the COVID-19 crisis, but now embraced by the category.

Other innovations, including two-day meetings, limited personnel and data would all carry-over also.

It is likely the Bathurst 500 event tipped to open the season will comprise 2 x 250km single driver races.

The Adelaide 500, which has been touted as the championship grand final, is also likely be a 2 x 250km format as is traditional at the parklands street race.

The Bathurst 1000 in October is, of course, one of the co-driver races, while the other venue is yet to be finalised.

The Sandown 500 has been the traditional co-driver warm-up for Bathurst, but in 2020 The Bend Motorsport Park was to take over that role before COVID triggered calendar chaos. The third

co-driver race, the Gold Coast 600, was cancelled for 2020.

Dropping back to a 12-event calendar is a significant cost-saving move in a financially challenging time. It reflects a desire within Supercars to prune the calendar, pushed to the fore by the coronavirus.

In 2020, 14 events were originally scheduled.

All of them were to be conducted over a minimum three days and only Albert Park didn’t feature refuelling and races at least 200km in length.

The Bathurst 500 is expected to replace the international 12-hour GT race scheduled for early February 2021.

That race is promoted by Supercars, but is the opening round of SRO Motorsport Group’s Intercontinental GT Challenge.

It will be cancelled for 2021 because of COVID-19 and the impossibility of getting overseas drivers and teams into Australia for the races. It may have already been officially cancelled by the time you read this.

It is understood the Supercars race would run on a slightly later date and would be preceded by

a mandatory championship test day at Sydney Motorsport Park.

The Adelaide 500 is the traditional Supercars championship opener, but the coronavirus has prompted a South Australian government decision to delay the works required to assemble the circuit. It has also made it clear it wants to host the championship finale.

Speaking on the Fox program Paul Murray Live, Supercars CEO Sean Seamer acknowledged the retention in 2021 of many of the innovations introduced this year.

“So next year, yeah, I think you can expect to see two-day sprint race meetings, condensed formats, more Supercars action, closer together, and crew restrictions,” he said.

“All of the things that we’ve put in place, there’s no point unravelling that now. We’ve got to that point; now it’s time to keep it and leverage that next year, but hopefully (also) for many years to come.”

The first public draft of the 2021 Supercars calendar is expected to be released in October.

Bruce Newton

THIRSTY KELLY MUSTANGS REQUIRE WORK Fuel economy could be Bathurst issue for improving Fords KELLY RACING enters the Bathurst 1000 with a fuel economy question mark hanging over its new Ford V8 engines.

The team swapped from four Nissan Altimas to two Ford Mustangs for 2020 and has had its engine development program impeded by the coronavirus.

The Melbourne-based squad has been on the road since the Victorian border closure in early July. Team boss Todd Kelly even completed a rebuild of engines for both cars at a temporary base on the Gold Coast ahead of the Bathurst 1000.

But driver and team co-owner Rick Kelly admitted fuel economy – which is a key factor in the 1000km Bathurst marathon – is a concern.

“It’s hard to know where everyone else is but I do think there is a little bit of work for us to do in that area based on what we do know,” he said.

“That’s not been such an issue at some of the rounds we have been to, but I think it will be a bit more of a consideration at Bathurst for us.”

The engine that will power the Castrol Mustang to be driven by Kelly and Dale Wood was installed before the final sprint of the Supercars championship at The Bend.

The Ned Mustang of Andre Heimgartner/Dylan O’Keeffe is having its engine swap ahead of the October 15-18 season finale.

While some engine weight reduction was achieved

Image: LAT

during the rebuild – something that was originally thought to be impossible away from the homebase engine shop – fuel economy is tougher to improve on the road.

Since 2019 a Lambda sensor control has prevented teams taking the simple but potentially damaging option of leaning out engine fuel-air mixture for maximum economy.

The engines of the KR Mustangs have been competitive during the sprint racing that’s dominated the 2020 calendar. Heimgartner has claimed two podiums and both cars performed well at recent meetings at The Bend.

But slow observation laps is a give-away the Kelly Mustangs have had to conserve every last drop of fuel in their tanks.

“The race lengths … have been right at the absolute limit for us, so that’s been a bit of a challenge,” admitted Rick Kelly.

“Going to the grid we’ve had to conserve during some events and also had to save during some races as well.”

The 2003-04 Bathurst 1000 winner predicted the team would have to wait until race-day to find out how fuel consumption rates compared across the field.

“It’s a little bit smoke and mirrors and the way we are going to know is normally the first stint runs out and you have done 21 laps and others have done 22 or 23 or whatever.

“We’ll tune that as much we can and as close to the limit as we can and we’ll do some race runs to establish what we can work on.

“But there is not that much we can do. It’s in the make-up of the engine. I think the guys have done an unreal job building the engine from scratch over the Christmas break and we haven’t really had the chance to develop it any further.

“It’s a tough one because when you build a new engine you need to keep working away at those sorts of things. It’s been a bit of a bummer. It will be in the ballpark, but how close we just don’t know.”

Meanwhile, Kelly was positive the efforts to lighten the engine had potentially had on extending tyre life.

“A fast race car is one that’s as light as you can have it with a low centre of gravity, because you have got to stop the weight and turn the weight and accelerate the weight,” he explained.

“So having the weight where you need it is quite important. Over a qualifying lap such a small amount of weight isn’t really seen on the stop watch. But in the race the aim of the game is to keep the surface of the tyre as cool as you can for as long as you can.

“I think it plays a part in helping us with our tyre life.” BN

MORRIS: I’LL GO MY OWN WAY BATHURST WINNER Paul Morris says there is no way he will re-enter Supercars team ownership via an investment with DJR Team Penske or any other existing squad.

Morris has made it clear recently that he is interested in making a comeback as a team owner, if Gen3 delivers the cut-price cut-throat racing Supercars is aiming for.

Pitlane scuttlebutt had suggested Morris would buy in to the Stapylton squad if current majority owner Roger Penske elects to end his six year involvement in Supercars after Bathurst.

But Morris, who ran a Supercars squad from 2000 to 2011, says a return to the category would be stand-alone and not in partnership with anyone else.

“I reckon a partnership is a hard ship to sail,” Morris told Auto Action.

Morris’ stance tallies with sources close to DJRTP, which say an alliance with the team’s key local investor and managing director Ryan Story, would be unlikely, because both prefer to do their own thing their own way.

Morris does have previous history with the team when it was Dick Johnson Racing. He ran a customer car out of the squad for Steve Owen in 2012 and then sold a REC to DJR for 2014.

Morris says reactivating PMM at his Norwell Motorplex in the Gold Coast hinterland would not be a major challenge.

th Luke West iith wit

AA’s outspoken columnist ponders what will play out at Bathurst Image: LAT

“I’ve got all the stuff here, I don’t need anything,” Morris said.

“If it goes to Gen3 it would be very simple to start up, just need some cars and everything else is here.”

Morris says he could return as soon as the first year of Gen3, which is due in 2022.

“From what I am hoping the car is going to be like it shouldn’t be any more difficult than getting a Carrera Cup car,” he said.

“You don’t need four months to get that going; you just unload it out of the container, check the tyre pressures, make sure everything is bolted up and off you go.

Morris says he is not yet aware of the details of Gen3, although he is a close mate of Roland Dane, the boss of Triple Race Engineering, which is playing a key role in developing the new racer.

Supercars has set a $300,000 price target for the new car, which will have V8 power, rear-wheel drive, low downforce and more control components than the current Gen2 car.

“I am getting a bit more enthusiastic as I learn more about it,” Morris said.

“I think it’s got a lot of merit, because it’s the sort of car people like to watch. If they get it right it could be good.

“If you can get all the engineering and computers out of it and get back to

basics that would be good. If the driver is coming down pitlane going ‘can I have a bigger rear spring please’ that’s what you have got to get back to.

“Not getting out of the car and downloading data and sending it back to headquarters. None of that can happen, it has to be simple.”

Morris manages Supercars star Anton De Pasquale, and future stars Brodie Kostecki and Broc Feeney and says dealing with them has also helped renew his interest in Supercars team ownership.

“I just see how good these drivers I have got around me are and I know that’s the most important thing you need to have,” he said.

“We joke about it all the time; ‘oh shit if we had our own team we’d do this’. I debrief with the drivers about what goes on in the teams and go ‘that would be a good way to fix that’ but I am not running their teams.

“We just all seem to come up with the same idea all the time, that’s what excites me about it.”

Morris predicts the Gen3 car will bring natural driving talent to the fore.

“A lot of the guys who are fast in Supercars are fast by repetition,” he said.

“They have studied the craft and worked out how to do it. Studied the data and all that sort of stuff.” BN

PERCAT PREPARES TO FAREWELL HOLDEN THE LAST Bathurst 1000 and Supercars race special moment for the sport, be it good or bad.” before the Holden brand ceases to exist will Percat had always been aware of his family’s be a significant moment for Nick Percat … close connection with Holden, but it really came and not only because he hopes to be standing into focus for him when he visited the Elizabeth atop the rostrum at the end of the day. plant after his Bathurst win.

The Brad Jones Racing driver is as “I took Mum and Dad with me and he said ‘that’s intrinsically linked to Holden as any driver on where I used to stand, where that robot is now, the grid. that used to be my job’. The execs and big wigs He has only ever raced a Holden when they realised who Dad was, they went up Commodore in Supercars; his first win was in into the storeroom and found his apprenticeship the Bathurst 1000 with Garth Tander in 2011 Image: LAT photos and records and all the time stamps. driving a factory Holden Racing Team entry “It was really cool. Then when I won in Adelaide and his first solo win came at the Adelaide in 2016 it was in front of my Dad and Grandad and 500 in 2016 driving for backmarker Lucas that was pretty cool too.”

Dumbrell Motorsport.

Percat, 32, owes the genesis of his love for racing to his In a breakthrough 2020 for him and BJR, Percat has claimed “petrol-head” father Marc, who took hm to the F1 race in the his first pole position and two race victories and lies sixth in the Adelaide parklands in a pram in 1988 when he was just a few championship. He could finish as high as third depending on months old. They also returned for the touring car races, Percat how results fall at Mount Panorama. watching for years from a tree at turn 11.

But the Holden connection goes far deeper. For a start Percat “Russell Ingall has that weird thing where he looks the is from Adelaide, where Holden was first established. opposite way to where he is trying and it always looked like he Three generations of his family – his great grandfather Paolo, was looking at us in the crowd,” Percat laughed. grandfather Nick and father Marc - all worked for Holden at Father and son also made the pilgrimage to Mount Panorama either the Woodville or Elizabeth assembly plants in Adelaide. in the 1990s and Percat suspects he’ll probably have a moment Elizabeth, where the Commodore was built, was Holden’s at Bathurst – maybe across the top of the mountain - to reflect last plant and closed in late 2017. In early 2020, Holden’s on the significance of Holden and its departure. ‘retirement’ by the end of the year was confirmed by parent “During the parade lap around to the grid it’s going to be General Motors. pretty odd with no crowd because the Holden support would While Holden Commodores will continue to race on in be absolutely crazy there. It might give us all a chance to think Supercars in 2021, the factory backing that has underpinned 33 about our fondest memories there. wins at Mount Panorama will end.

“Obviously, mine’s pretty easy. The win in 2011 is number “It has snuck up on us a bit because it’s been such a one. But it’s been great to have raced Holdens all this time and done my Dad and Grandad proud along the way.” BN whirlwind of a year,” Percat reflected. “Bathurst is a pretty

www.autoaction.com.au

AutoActionMagazine

Auto_Action

instagram.com/autoactionmag/

WHAT DRAMA does Mount Panorama have in store for us this year at the 1000?

While I don’t know exactly, I do know the racing gods who haunt the Mountain will unleash something we’ve never seen before. Of this I am certain, as every year Bathurst finds new and creative ways to derail a strong run for some hapless soul.

Dick Johnson Racing has most often incurred their wrath, from its first campaign 40 years ago when the rock stopped Dick to, well, pretty much every year except the four times the squad triumphed. Even last year DJRTP colluded with them in having the second team car back-up the field behind the safety car.

Perhaps it will be the new ‘Lucky Dogs’ rule that presents a whole new race-robbing scenario no one can foresee.

What’s the Lucky Dogs rule? It’s the new safety car procedure allowing cars one lap down to move back onto the lead lap. It’s borrowed from NASCAR’s Lucky Dog (note the singular) rule which has long gifted one lap to the first car a lap down. I can’t help thinking ‘The Law of Unintended Consequences’ will kick in with the procedures causing that unforeseen disaster for someone.

Regardless, I think the new rule rewards mediocrity. It smacks of fixing something that wasn’t broken. I reckon it’s just another way for Supercars to make its tailenders feel loved, perhaps so Dad keeps paying the bills another year to prop up the field. Seemingly everybody’s got to win a prize these days. “Hey Dad, I earned 72 points… for finishing 23rd… and getting back on the lead lap three times!” Next, Supercars will give everyone a ribbon just for competing.

With the Lucky Dogs rule’s introduction, no longer will finishing on the lead lap be an achievement worthy of merit. Ruff! Ruff!

Bathurst will be a completely different affair this year. If recent Supercars races are any indication, we’ll see more mechanical dramas as teams’ maintenance efforts have been disrupted by COVID. But with the championship wrapped up, it will be refreshing to see everyone having a redhot go without worrying about points. Win or bust. That’s all that matters.

Then there’s the fact it’s the last Bathurst involving cars officially supported

by Holden, which won’t be cheered on by fans across the top. Whatever the racing gods dish up it will certainly be a memorable and unique instalment of the Great Race. One, I guess, we should all be thankful it’s happening at all.

WELL DONE to Supercars for what looks like, from they’ve told us at least, an excellent new TV rights deal. Most certainly it’s a big win exposure-wise moving from the disinterested, lower audience TEN network to the stronger Seven, even if there’s no increase in free-to-air telecast hours. But I suspect the new ‘$200 million 5 years’ TV deal is top-heavy with self-valued contra ads/production costs other sports don’t bundle into their TV rights deal figures. If so, this won’t see cash flow to teams like previous deals. TV companies forced the AFL and NRL to accept lower FTA/pay deals midcontract this year. They are not flushed with cash to splash on fringe sports.

Seven’s James Warburton is the big winner here, getting rights for the network for a song.

THIS COLUMN examines motorsport’s changing landscape and nowhere is land being re-scaped faster than in the US of A, in NASCAR. For nearly 30 years NASCAR’s 30-plus race schedule featured just two road courses – Sonoma and Watkins Glen. Charlotte’s roval was added for 2018.

Now, three more natural terrain permanent circuits have been added to the top division’s 2021 calendar – Circuit Of The Americas, Road America and the Indianapolis roval – at the expense of Kentucky, Chicagoland and Indy’s famous 2.5 oval. Thus, the Brickyard 400 becomes a road race, on a doubleheader weekend with Indycar, another first.

Doubling the number of road courses to six represents a major shift for NASCAR, as it seeks to make its racing more entertaining and turn around shrinking (pre-COVID) spectator attendances and TV audiences.

But wait, that’s not all. Elsewhere, one of Bristol’s two regular races will be run on a dirt race in a bid to attract crowds to the level of the venue’s halcyon days. Dirt!

And a few weeks ago California Speedway’s owners announced the 2-mile Fontana oval will be reformatted into a half-mile oval to promote more action and give spectators a good view of it.

Medium and large ovals are an endangered species. Short-tracks and road courses are the future. Collectively, the changes mean a big shift towards keeping spectators engaged. Supercars take note.

Luke West wrote his first Auto Action column in 2000. Over time, ‘Reverential Ramblings’ evolved into ‘Revved Up’ as Luke surveys motorsport’s changing landscape. Contact via @luke_west & aarevvedup@hotmail.com

AutoAction

11

LATEST NEWS

MAMMOTH MONTH OF VIC RACING AFTER ACURA announced it would split with Team Penske at the end of the current IMSA Sportscar Championship, the luxury car brand has signed up with Meyer Shank Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing to run a pair of Acura ARX-05s from 2021. In other IMSA news, Mazda has announced that it is downscaling its involvement, and in 2021 will run just one car for Oliver Jarvis and Harry Tincknell, with Jonathan Bomarito again joining for the longer races. DM

HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT has confirmed its third model designed for the TCR touring car regulations, this time based on the Elantra N. Revealed at the Beijing Motor Show after three months and 5000km of testing, the Elantra N TCR will participate in marketrelevant series across the world, similar to the sister Veloster N in the US. Factory Hyundai TCR drivers have been involved during testing, led by multiple touring car champion Gabriele Tarquini. HM Image: LAT

INDYCAR ENGINE suppliers Honda and Chevrolet have announced they will remain in the series past 2023, when the new engine regulations come into effect. Due to COVID-19, the introduction of 2.4-litte twinturbocharged V6 hybrid engines has been delayed until 2023. DM

THE DECREASED COVID-19 case numbers in Victoria has spurred on plans to organise motor sport events in the state, resulting in a packed block of racing towards the end of the year.

First to announce its plans were Motorsport Australia, confirming what Auto Action revealed last issue that a double-header at Sandown is expected to take place during on the 5-6 and 12-13 of December.

It is envisioned the events will feature a mixture of regular Shannons Motorsport Australia Championship and Victorian-based state categories.

“We understand that a lot of categories won’t be able to host their Championship or Series this year, but these two weekends will allow competitors an opportunity to get out on track and dust off the cobwebs, as well as prepare for a busy 2021 campaign,” Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships Director Michael Smith said.

“The Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships regularly welcome a wide range of categories and this event will follow that well known format, with a Victorian flavour.

“Victoria has certainly been the hardest hit state

when it comes to the available opportunities to compete in 2020, so we are pleased Sandown will be able to host two weekends of action for Victorians to get their motor sport fix.”

Sandown will also host the final round of the AASA-promoted Australian Motor Racing Series on November 27-29, after it was originally scheduled in August.

However, this clashes with the Phillip Island Auto Racing Club promoted Island Magic meeting, which traditionally takes place on the final weekend of November.

It completes three events to be run by PIARC. The first will be run under its Access banner encompassing Excels, E30 BMWs, Two-Litre Sports Sedans, Victorian V8s, Superkart Victorian Championship and Porsche 944s.

“We are working incredibly closely with Motorsport Australia to adapt our events, layout and our access to ensure that we can host these three events in the safest conditions

possible,” PIARC Club President Warren Reid said.

“Motor sport plays such an important part in the mental health and wellbeing of all our members and we will do whatever is necessary to get them back beside or on track – providing the Victorian coronavirus crisis allows us to return to the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.”

A Supersprint follows before Island Magic, which celebrates its 30th year.

“Island Magic has always been the highlight of the motor sport calendar for our competitors and officials, and we are working closely with Motorsport Australia to ensure we can celebrate this milestone in a safe way,” Reid said.

“While unlikely, we are staying hopeful that due to the outdoor nature of the event, and the ability for cars to be parked around the circuit providing easy spectator bubbles, that we can work with Motorsport Australia to prove we can safely allow a limited number of spectators into the circuit for this famous event.” Heath McAlpine

FEMALE RACE SCHOOL TO BE LAUNCHED RACE CHIX Motorsport and the Australian Racing Drivers’ Club (ARDC) have announced a motorsport training school for women will be launched at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Race Chix Race School has been created to get more females involved in motorsport and compete against men on a level playing field, Rachelle Stirling, founder of Race Chix Motorsport explained to Auto Action.

“Female participation numbers are only around 10 per cent,” Stirling said.

“So, the aim of the Race Chix Race School to make it as easy as possible for women to break down those barriers and get involved in motorsport.

“I don’t think it’s general knowledge for people to get involved in grassroots racing or how to get started in grassroots motorsport, especially for women.”

Stirling believes that the seeds need to be sown before any dramatic changes are seen nationwide in the coming years.

“I think it’s a process. If you think of it as like a

pyramid, we need to broaden the base, to be able to move drivers up through that pathway,” she told AA. “We offer three different levels of courses.

“For the beginner, people that have never been involved in motorsport before such as enthusiasts who would like to get involved in grassroots.

“Then we have the Intermediate for people who have been doing track days and then want to step up to sprints or regularity.

“Then we have the Motor Sport 103 course, which is for women whot want to take that step up into door to door racing.”

Each of these courses contains both practical and theory components and is tailor-made to fit the appropriate experience level or goal.

Practical elements include braking techniques, how to cope with oversteer and understeer, and racing

lines, while the theory elements include looking at flags, car preparation, oils and tyres.

Sterling herself has done a bit of racing in hillclimbs and regularity, and is using the experience she has gained to come up with the best courses possible.

The ARDC jumping on board with the company, Sterling believes, will be very beneficial for the Race School.

“It’s fantastic that the ARDC has come on board as our major supporter for the school, (as) one of ARDC’s objectives is to get more women into the sport.

“I approached them with it and they thought it was a great program, and to have their support is amazing.

“My drive is just to get more women into motor sport across the board, in karting as well, because I think it’s the most fun you can have sitting down!”

Dan McCarthy

The Best Value in Auto Racing Safety

RaceQuip brand has built a reputation for manufacturing and distributing high quality auto racing safety equipment at affordable prices and continues to build on that reputation.

SFI rated auto racing Snell SA rated helmets, fire retardant suits, shoes, nomex gloves and SFI & FIA seat belts & harness sets.

12 AutoAction

NEW $175M CIRCUIT FOR TOWNSVILLE PLANS FOR a $175 million motorsport facility in Toowoomba have been revealed, set to be called the Wellcamp Entertainment Precinct.

Proposed by the Wagner Corporation, the new precinct adjacent to Wellcamp Airport will feature an international standard race circuit, a road safety and driver education facility, plus a major event, business tourism and event facility which will hold 40,000 people, as well as on-site accommodation.

Motorsport Australia CEO Eugene Arocca has thrown his support behind the facility, which is the second venue in Queensland to announce its plans after the DriveIT NQ circuit in Townsville earlier this year.

“Motor sport desperately needs more permanent venues in this country, and one such as that planned by the Wagner family will bring enormous social, economic and community benefits to the people of the Darling Downs and Queensland in general,” Arocca said.

“The circuit design has the potential for the venue to host international and even World Championship motorsport events, something sorely needed in this region.

“Today’s announcement of a $40 million contribution by the Queensland Government is the largest investment

with Oscar Piastri

by any government in a permanent racetrack in Australia’s history.

“The State Government clearly recognises the major economic benefits of motorsport in this country.”

It is expected more than 130 jobs will be created during construction of the venue and a further 2500 when completed.

“The Wagner family’s record of delivering world-class projects, especially in this region, is without peer,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.

“Their vision, imagination and drive to succeed has turned paddocks into an international airport and a trade distribution centre that, with the support of my Government, is also home to the Qantas Group Pilot Academy.

“Now, the Wagners are ready to take Wellcamp to an entirely to new level – a vision that the Palaszczuk Government backs.”

State Treasurer and Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Cameron Dick has called for the Federal

Government to match its funding.

“This precinct would aim to attract major events right across the performing arts, business, tourism, sport and events sectors,” Dick explained.

“We are committed to working with the community and business leaders like the Wagners in the Darling Downs, to continue looking at creating more opportunities for future growth.

“The Palaszczuk Government supports the project with $40 million and today we call on the Federal Government to match this.”

The Wagner Corporation will invest $95 million into the facility said chairman John Wagner.

“The Wagner family will invest with the state and federal governments support in the order of $95 million of our assets and funds into this project,” Wagner said.

“We are keen to start construction early next year to help kick start the economy post COVID-19.” HM

EGGLESTON A BATHURST NO SHOW LEADING SUPER2 squad Eggleston Motorsport has confirmed it will not take to the grid for the next Super2 round at Bathurst.

In a statement the team confirmed its non-participation at Bathurst, due to the requirement to quarantine for 14-days prior to the event. This proved impossible for the team as the majority of its workforce are contractors, who hold jobs outside of Eggleston Motorsport.

The Melbourne-based team currently fields Brodie Kostecki and Jack Perkins in Super2, with the former sitting third in the points after two rounds.

Egglestone statement read in part: “As a Victorian based team, we would of had to quarantine for 14-days prior to the event and some of our crew would have had to quarantine on their return leg to other states, making it 3 weeks total away from other business and jobs. The cost of this would add to an already expensive exercise is unrealistic, especially in these times.

“We are disappointed that given current circumstances outside of team’s control, Supercars reversed their decision to reinstate the event as a championship round and chose not to run it as a round for no points, i.e. non-championship. Every other major support category championship in Australia has chosen not to run championship rounds during this time, so that all teams are all on equal terms.

“We have been involved in the series since 2003 and haven’t missed a round from 2013 onwards, which is 51 consecutive Super 2 rounds, so it’s disappointing that we cannot continue that streak.

“We showed we had fast drivers and cars this year by winning the opening two races and overall round in Adelaide, and hope that the series is strong in 2021 for us to pick up where we left off.”

A 22-car entry will contest the two combined Super2/Super3 races held across the weekend. HM

LEVEL-HEADED BATHURST ROOKIES

DESPITE THE COVID-19 pandemic causing havoc with borders several drivers will make their debuts in the 2020 edition of ‘The Great Race.’

The Garry Rogers Motorsport Wildcard has sapped a lot of the attention from the other rookies, which will include race winners in Super2 Series and TCR, as well as a Super3 Series victor.

Although he made his debut in the Supercars Championship at the Gold Coast last year, Dylan O’Keeffe will be contesting his first Bathurst 1000 alongside Andre Heimgartner at Kelly Racing.

“I couldn’t be more excited to do Bathurst,” O’Keeffe told Auto Action. “I was worried that I couldn’t get home and do it. I got back in the nick of time, I’ve ended up in an okay hotel and I get out the week of Bathurst, so it worked out for the best I think.

“I’ve got the experience of the circuit, I just need to put it into work at the 1000, it’s the biggest race in Australia and it’ll be the biggest race of my career. I just have to focus on getting comfortable with the car so I can push when I need to, and be very adaptive.”

www.autoaction.com.au

AutoActionMagazine

Broc Feeney, reigning Super3 Series winner, will make his debut in the Boost Mobile Mustang at Tickford Racing, pairing with 2010 Supercars Champion James Courtney.

Feeney will be juggling Super2 commitments with the drive alongside Courtney, but feels it will be beneficial.

“It’s going to be a very hectic weekend, but I’m always up for the challenge and it’s good to get those extra laps in.

“For me it is my first time at Bathurst in a Supercar, so the first few sessions will certainly be good for me to get all the time I can in the car.”

Albury based Jordan Boys will co-drive with in form Brad Jones Racing pilot Todd Hazelwood and, like Feeney, will also be competing in Super2.

“You can never be to prepared in regards to doing laps around that joint, I think it (doing Super2) is a good little advantage to have, I’ll have definitely done a fair few miles by the end of the weekend,” Boys told AA. DM

Auto_Action

instagram.com/autoactionmag/

NO ONE could have written a more exciting or nailbiting script for the final race of the FIA Formula 3 Championship than what played out at Mugello.

My PREMA Racing teammate, Logan Sargeant, and I went into the last race equal on points, and while the title looked almost out of reach when we lined up on the grid - Logan starting fifth and me 11th - I never gave up hope.

Thankfully, as the ‘Oscar Piastri Auto Action’ issue a fortnight ago detailed, things fell our way and all the hard work we’d put in during the season paid off, by being able to claim the 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship.

Add that to last year’s Formula Renault Eurocup title, and we’ve had a couple of pretty impressive seasons.

I knew what we achieved in my rookie F3 season was impressive, but I was still surprised by the reaction, it’s been crazy the amount of support and messages we’ve received.

There were some pretty lovely messages from a few current F1 drivers, and Max Verstappen liked my tweet, while my social media went nuts – and it’s still going nuts!

For this kid from Melbourne who left home as an unknown 14-yearold almost six years ago to chase a dream, the reception has been sensational.

It’s almost overwhelming with the staggering number of messages, making it impossible to reply to each one. I have tried to read every DM and email, and I appreciate your support.

I took a week to bask in all the glory, celebrate a little, and enjoy a bit of the media spotlight, but to be honest, I’ve already moved on.

I’m pretty much back in full swing preparing for what’s next, looking ahead to 2021 and thinking about what we need to do to keep the momentum going.

Yes, it’s cool to have an F3 title to my name, and I am very proud of what we have achieved, but to get to where we want to go there’s no time for resting on our laurels, the competition for

the limited number of F1 seats is just too tough to become complacent.

For the past week and a half, I’ve been at Renault F1’s Enstone headquarters (in the UK) working in the gym from 9 am to 3 pm each day and running through a strengthrebuilding phase to prepare for the official end-ofseason F2 official test.

Because the COVIDrescheduled F3 season was so compact – nine events and 18 races in 11 weeks – it wasn’t easy to maintain physical strength.

Yes, we were all ‘race fit’, but in terms of actual physical strength, most of us finished the season weaker than we started, so these next few weeks are more about rebuilding my strength then improving on that.

F2 presents different driver challenges with heavier steering requiring more upper body training, and there’s more downforce too, so the neck will get much more of a workout.

We haven’t finalised our F2 plans yet, those will play out over coming weeks as the championship winds down. But we’ll have them in place for the official three-day post-season test in Bahrain in December.

The test’s timing and the pandemic mean it’s going to be challenging to get home for Christmas, so while I’d like to get home and spend quality time with my family at some point, it’s not that simple during these times.

We started this deal knowing there were sacrifices that had to be made and we’ll work around them to achieve what we set out to do.

Cheers, Oscar

Oscar’s next column will appear in AA issue #1798.

AutoAction

13

LATEST NEWS

LS3 V8 SUPERUTE BREAKS OUT THE FIRST of the V8 powered SuperUtes broke cover with a shakedown run at Sydney Motorsport Park on September 25.

Chris Formosa put his Ford Ranger through its paces in the leadup to the Australian Motor Racing Series meeting the following day, and reported a thumbs up to its performance over three sessions.

The unpopular turbo diesel powered utes were wound up last year and the owners within the category opted to take over the reigns and install a control petrol V8 engine, with plans to relaunch the class in 2021.

Formosa would have liked to race the ute over the SMP weekend but the only category it could have raced with the TA2s/Stock Cars, where he competed in his TA2 Dodge Challenger.

“The Chev LS3 powerplant fitted in like it was made for the ute,” Formosa said.

There was also a weight saving of around 40kg over the diesel, some of that due to replacing the wiring loom.

It has been matched up to a Tremec six-speed gearbox that the dieselpowered utes and the V8 Utes before them used, along with a Haltech management system that basically runs the motor, wipers, lights and produces data.

The SMP laps were the first outing for the new combination after three days on the dyno, where it delivered 300kW at the rear wheels.

The Chevrolet LS3 fitted to the Ford Range engine bay like it was made for it, according to Chris Formosa.

“The first thing that I encountered was the lack of diesel smoke and fumes,” he reported.

“It also has a different sound as Hume Mufflers has come up with a unique set

of mufflers.”

Formosa was also pleased with how smoothly the LS3 delivered its power, particularly in getting the ute out of the corners. He completed around 18 laps

on old tyres from Bathurst last year, and recorded the best laps in the 1min 54s range, quicker than the SuperUte tested there previously and better than the Holden Commodore V8 Ute he raced.

With the engine sitting lower in the chassis than the original powerplant, there is a change to the centre of gravity.

Formosa suggests that there is also the possibility that the ute can be lowered further at the front.

“The SuperUte has always been a great race car to drive, and they still are.

With a new Yokohama tyre and more development, it should be sunstantially faster,” he concluded. Garry O’Brien

“We changed everything in the fuel system to find the problem, which in the end turned out to be a relay.

“Since then, we took it out to Morgan Park and the Duster ran without dramas. I am now really looking forward to our first race meeting at QR on October 10,” he enthused.

It will not be the first time Bishop has raced a Chrysler product, though, as he had an outing in Ian Palmer’s Plymouth AAR Cuda earlier this year.

“The Palmers have been fantastic letting me drive the Cuda as well as helping out with the Duster.

“Although just 25kg lighter, the Duster isn’t quite as quick as yet, but we didn’t build it to win the category.

“To me as a small busines owner, to go out and race is a stress release . . . and Australian Trans-Am with its great cars and good mates is the perfect place to do it,” Bishop concluded.

GOB

BISHOP’S DUSTER FOR TRANS AM THERE WAS plenty of interest at Queensland Raceway when Alwyn Bishop unveiled his newly-built Australian Trans-Am Plymouth Duster.

For some time Bishop raced a ’68 Ford Mustang which he originally brought off Anthony Tenkate before, last year selling it while racing in New Zealand where it now resides.

He had a Duster road car and the thought of racing something different from the usual Mustangs, Camaros and Pontiacs in Trans-Am appealed.

As a Mopar fan who also owns a ’70 VF 2-door Valiant, the Duster got the nod as a new race car project.

Bishop purchased this Duster out of Bendigo and shipped it to Queensland. Brett Bull, with the assistance of Greg Driver, performed most of the other preparation included the 340 cubic inch (5.6-litre) V8.

The green livery was something of a compromise between Michael Woodcroft at Brisbane Collision Centre and Bishop.

14 AutoAction

Image: MTR Images

‘Woody’ who did the paintwork, liked a particular Holden green, while Bishop preferred the Kawasaki shade, so the mix is somewhere in between.

It did not get to race at QR because of a fuel issue in the lead up but was well-received by all those who saw it there, including within the category.

“It was a shakedown run in the car, and it really shook us down,” Bishop said, due to fuel problems.

Image: LAT

MORE TO COME FROM WILLIAMS AUSTRALIAN FIA Formula 3 driver Calan Williams has ended his debut season in the category frustrated he was not able to show his true pace.

For Williams, the 2020 season was highlighted by two top five qualifying positions in Hungary and Monza.

However, Williams was then the innocent victim of collisions at those venues, which he feels masked his true potential performance.

“It’s been a bit frustrating to see the result not reflect the true performance, because I was in really good position for four strong points finishes,” Williams told Auto Action.

“To be starting fifth in Hungary and fourth at Monza and to have a really, really strong opportunity, it was really frustrating to get hit, taken out of the races, and then have to start from the back in the second race.

“It was really frustrating because the championship position would have been a lot further up had I had the opportunity to really show myself.”

In his debut season competing in the third tier F1 world championship, Williams feels he and his Jenzer Motorsport team were able to improve over the season, highlighting the relationship with his engineer as an effective one.

“The way that I was able to work with my engineer, Mihai Marinescu, a former F2 driver was really strong. I was really happy to have him as my engineer this year,” he explained.

“The way that he communicates is very similar to the

DOOHAN SPEAKS OUT JACK DOOHAN, son of five-time Motorcycle World Champion Mick, had a tough debut season in the FIA Formula 3 Championship, just missing out on a points paying finish on several occasions.

The Queenslander said it was a challenging season mainly due to a slow start but sees positives out of the tough year.

“It was a very tough season, to say the least, it didn’t go like I was expecting due to many reasons.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get anywhere near the expectations of where we wanted to be,” Doohan told Auto Action.

“I don’t want to point any fingers or talk down on anyone or the team or anything like that.

“The first triple header, I think they caught us out quite a bit. The first three rounds were gone, and we hadn’t really gotten anywhere.

“I’ve ended up gathering and gaining a whole lot more experience that I don’t think I would have, if I had that success.”

Doohan is confident that if he faced the same challenges now, he would be able to get through them, but he felt he still had to do a lot of the work.

“I’m hoping that with the knowledge I have now it would be completely different, I wish I could have extracted that knowledge during the season,” Doohan said.

“I had to learn it the tough way and basically did all the digging myself, which obviously you should do to an extent but would have loved to have known what to do in a couple of situations.”

Doohan said his HWA Racelab machine during

way that I communicate, that is something that is also so incredibly important in the team.

“But not only between me and my engineer, but also the whole team as a group developed throughout the season.”

All nine rounds of the championship were held over 11 weeks. Rarely in motorsport does a championship occur with such frequency, however the West Australian felt he was more prepared than most.

“I think because I did the TRS (Toyota Racing Series) at the start of 2019, which is five races in a row, I sort of knew what it would be like in a sense,” he said to AA. “I was able to prepare myself well for what it would be like because of the opportunity I had to race in TRS, but it’s still incredibly busy.

“I think if you ask any driver or anyone from the teams, what it was like, they’d certainly say it’s been the most stressful, the most tiring and the most challenging season that any of them would have done.”

In recent days Williams took part in the post-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya for the Jenzer squad and is certain he will be on the F3 grid in 2021.

“One hundred per cent I’ll be on the grid for next year!” he said.

When asked if it would be with Jenzer, Williams replied: “I’m not 100 per cent sure at the moment. We need to figure out everything that’s going to happen and then we’ll know for certain what’s happening for next year,” he concluded. Dan McCarthy Image: LAT

Motor Sport Crash Incident Reporting Motorsport incident and injury reporting have always been a tedious manual task that has required written paper forms, manual review and manual submission. These forms can be forgotten, lost, or worse, deliberately not completed due to complexity.

Crashtag is a purpose built app to make the capture of motorsport incident and injury data seamless and easy to complete. In a matter of seconds, anyone including spectators at any motorsport event will be able to submit an accident report.

No connection? No problem! Crashtag will work at events with little or no cellular connectivity due to Crashtag’s smart design. Crashtag will store the report on the device and send the incident report when it has a stable connection.

The goal of Crashtag is simple - To improve the capture, the storage and the analysis of motorsport incident data throughout the world from the grass-roots level to the highest level of professional motorsport.

Motor Sport Incident Capture Crashtag incident capture is very detailed and compliant with the FIA World Accident Database incident capture standards. Information captured can include; the time, the location, the number of competitors involved, the type of accident, and much more.

qualifying at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix weekend had a great setup and resulted in him qualifying seventh, but they were unable to replicate it.

“That one very short qualifying it was good, I had confidence in the car and it was there and came together, but I struggled to replicate that,” he recalled to AA. “We were always up there in practice but qualifying was 30 degrees hotter track temp and everything had changed and unfortunately it just never came together.”

As a result of poor qualifying, Doohan felt he was involved in more accidents than he should have been, and is looking for redemption in 2021.

“That mainly stems from when you qualify at that end of the field, unfortunately those are the cons that come with it. So my focus next year is being in a better position because very easily you can be two or three tenths off and that puts you outside the top 10,” he said.

“To do this championship again would be the first time I’ve stayed in a championship for a second year. I’d have a solid foundation of the category, the tyres and the circuits.”

Since the end of the season Doohan has competed in a European F3 test with Prema Racing, before driving in the post-season world championship test with Trident.

DM

Injury Medical Data Capture Crashtag has a comprehensive medical reporting component including full injury, vital signs and other relevant medical questions.

TThis medical capture is only available to medical users such as Doctors, Paramedics and event First-Aid personnel. This data is held in a secure encrypted manner and is aligned closely to the information that the FIA captures in the medical incident reporting form.

Motor Sport Crash Incident Reporting Crashtag offers unrivalled capture of accident reporting. Crashtag h review functionality, in the case of multiple similar submissions, has an administrator or organiser can merge this data to ensure accurate reporting. To enhance motorsport incident reporting, Crashtag has export functionality to allow ASNs to send data to the FIA World Accident Database.

Your FREE Crashtag App is available from

For further information visit the Crashtag website @ www.crashtag.com

AutoAction

15

LATEST NEWS

MOMENTUM WITH LE BROCQ

TICKFORD RACING is the form team of the Supercars Championship heading to the season-ending Bathurst 1000.

Last time out at The Bend, Cam Waters took a dominant victory, while Jack Le Brocq finished just short of the podium in the opening encounter.

After taking his maiden victory at Sydney Motorsport Park earlier this season, Le Brocq has experienced a mixed season.

His fourth place at The Bend II on the West layout was followed by a disappointing Sunday run where he finished outside the top 10 in Sunday’s two events.

Despite, this, confidence is high ahead of Bathurst as Le Brocq and engineer Brad Wischusen continue to develop an overall package, which is expected to be a contender at The Mountain where he will team up with experienced co-driver James Moffat.

“At the moment we have got some really good speed so I can’t see why we can’t potentially win the thing,” Le Brocq told Auto Action.

“We’ve had some strong results and that race (the 1000) has shown us many times that anything can happen.

“It’s obviously the big dance for the year so it’d be nice to have a really strong run there for Supercheap,

it’s their big event, so if we can put on a good showing there for them it’s going to be pretty cool so fingers crossed.

“I’m looking forward to teaming up with Moff he’s a bloody good pedaller, so it should be a solid weekend.”

In recent history, the 1000 has been a final 20-lap sprint to the finish and Le Brocq aims to be there when it counts.

“You have just got to be there at the end of the race for that last stint and then just drive the wheels off it,” he said.

“I’ll definitely be going in there to be at the pointy end as everyone up and down pit lane will be doing, I’m sure.”

Despite the challenges endured this season, Le Brocq lauded his team and believes improvements are still to come.

“The guys here at Tickford have been awesome in helping me out and giving me the right bit of equipment to do the job,” Le Brocq explained to AA. “I think it is just the start of it all and we’ll keep chipping away and hopefully these results come more consistently.” DM

RENEWED TCM COMMODORE READY` THE NEWEST addition to the Touring Car Masters grid is expected to be a frontrunner when racing returns according to Gerard McLeod.

McLeod debuted the category’s first VC Commodore in Adelaide after a rushed preparation.

Its debut was troubled by mechanical issues, which McLeod put down to the late arrival of parts from America.

“The car was really rushed getting to Adelaide, which was really no ones fault – it was just a struggle to get some parts from The States,” McLeod said.

“It was literally finished the day before we arrived in Adelaide, so it turned its first wheel in practice which wasn’t ideal.

“Unfortunately had a few little issues like fuel supply and an annoying oil leak from the rocker covers which stopped us from showing the cars full potential, all of these have now been fixed.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has put a halt on the 2020 TCM season, though provided McLeod time to get on top out

the problems from Adelaide.

Before the second wave struck Melbourne, McLeod completed a test at Sandown Raceway and completing 45 untroubled laps of the Melbourne circuit.

“We did 45 laps at Sandown, and we were very pleased. Our times were competitive, and we didn’t have any mechanicals dramas or problems, we are good to go,” he said.

“Looking at the lap times, it’s right where it needs to be and we’re confident that we can be at the pointy end of the TCM field.

“We are simply just waiting for a date to go racing, and we can’t wait for that.

“The beauty is that once we get a date, we know that we can push the car into the transporter, roll it out on track and it’s ready.

“The pandemic has been frustrating, but it will be worth it when we’re all back racing.”

McLeod’s VC Commodore is one of the next generation of TCM entries, which also includes Steve Johnson’s Ford XD Falcon. Dan McCarthy

BATHURST IDEAL SUPER2 FINALE CURRENT SUPER2 Series leader Thomas Randle believes the secondtier category should align with Supercars and conclude at Bathurst as well.

It’s been a drawn out Super2 campaign in 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19, which reaches its third round at Bathurst after opening in Adelaide and Sydney Motorsport Park in July. Bathurst was originally removed from the calendar, but was later controversially reinstated.

Leading team Eggleston Motorsport has confirmed it won’t attend Bathurst due to the 14-day quarantine period required to compete.

Supercars confirmed that a series winner is to be crowned regardless of how many rounds are contested as discussions continue to run standalone

events continue to take place.

Randle is unsure of the value in adding standalone events to the Super2 season given the lack of television coverage and atmosphere surrounding a Supercars event.

“You wouldn’t be supporting Supercars, there’d probably be no TV, so I don’t really see a point in us racing, if we’re not with Supercars,” Randle continued.

“They’ll be officially crowning the Supercars champion and I think it’s kind of fitting if they were to crown the Super2 Series winner the same weekend.”

An added difficulty is the current border restrictions, which further complicate the possibility of running standalone events.

“If we try and do another round later

in the year, who knows what the border closures are going to be like.

“If Victoria is still closed off to everyone else it’s nearly impossible, because no one is going to want to quarantine again, no matter where we were to race.”

The unknown surrounding the rest of season places Randle in a unique situation as he prepares to tackle double-duty at The Mountain where he will switch between his MW Motorsport Nissan Altima in Super2 and joins Brad jones Racing co-driving alongside Nick Percat for the 1000.

“I think it’s kind of the same mentality as the way that I went into Sydney (Round 2), just thinking that this round is going to be the last round, I personally think it probably will be or should be,” Randle explained. DM

TANDER TAKING SAME APPROACH THREE-TIME BATHURST 1000 winner Garth Tander won’t approach the Bathurst 1000 any differently even though the Supercars Championship is decided.

This year’s Bathurst 1000 marks the 20th anniversary of Tander’s breakthrough victory with Garry Rogers Motorsport alongside Jason Bargwanna in a memorable wet race.

After finishing third in last year’s race, he again joins Shane van Gisbergen at Triple Eight Race Engineering to form one of the race favourite pairings.

Although, Scott McLaughlin wrapped up his third Supercars title at The Bend II, Tander is focused on ending a difficult season on a high.

“Realistically there is only one goal when you go to Bathurst and that is to win,” Tander said to Auto Action.

“It doesn’t really change anything as far as our outlook, pretty much go to Bathurst and win it or try and win it.

“Certainly, for Shane who hasn’t had success there yet, that’s certainly something that I’m pretty keen to help

him try and achieve.”

The effects of COVID-19 have been felt by the co-drivers in particular, a majority of the senior co-drivers last drove a Supercar at The Bend SuperTest in February, but Tander is confident the lack of seat time won’t be a problem.

“The last time I got in the car was the February test, it’s not ideal but for me it’s probably less concerning for guys like myself and Craig Lowndes, Tim Slade and Michael Caruso, for the guys that have done plenty of laps it’s not such a big deal, in reality,” he explained to AA. “If you’re a young guy going there having your first or second Bathurst start as a co-driver, then yes, you probably would’ve wanted some more miles, but that’s not going to happen.

“But I’ve seen they’ve (Supercars) adjusted the schedule and given codrivers plenty of miles At Bathurst this year, so I don’t think there’s really any dramas.

“For me it’s just drive the car fast and do what I’m told.” Dan McCarthy

SUPERLITE PROGRAM A SUCCESS SUPERCARS ROOKIE Zane Goddard has praised Matt Stone Racing’s SuperLite program as its maiden season comes to a close at Bathurst.

Goddard teamed with fellow full-season rookie Jake Kostecki racing the second MSR ZB Commodore by alternating driver duties during the season.

The initiative was designed to provide an easier pathway for Super2 drivers to make the step up into Supercars competition, which Goddard said it has successfully achieved.

“The SuperLite program has definitely served its purpose and that’s been really

cool,” Goddard told Auto Action.

“Working with Jake has been awesome and the whole teams been a pleasure to work with, on the whole for me it’s been a really good year.”

“I got a top 10 (in Sydney), granted, it was on soft tyres, but I was still pretty happy with that and at Tailem Bend we had a really strong Saturday, drove to 16th which was cool.”

A previous contender in the Super2 Series, Goddard speaks favourably of the program in terms of learning from Kostecki and the competition both continue to have between

themselves.

“Just little inputs here and there are really helpful,” Goddard recalled.

“When Jake was there at Darwin, it was the first time for me and the first time for him, but he did the week before, there are a few things that he could point out and at different tracks vice versa, so it’s been good working with him.

“It has definitely made the learning a little bit easier, so it’s worked out well!”

Goddard believes the program may give the duo an edge over the opposition due to the amount of driving both have completed

during the season compared to the rest of the co-driver field.

“A lot of people have done little to no racing this year,” he said.

“When it’s one of us against the normal main game drivers will be about the same as normal, we can’t really expect any different.

But when the co-drivers are in the cars that’s hopefully when we can take steps up the order in the race, hopefully we can sort of pluck away make some places up.

“I haven’t done a co-drive race before in Supercars so it’s a new experience for me, but it should be pretty cool.” Dan McCarthy

LATEST NEWS

AUSSIES BATTLE TO RETURN RECENT WTCR debutant Dylan O’Keeffe last week returned to Australian shores ahead of his Bathurst 1000 debut, but it wasn’t a simple route he took and one that many drivers overseas will have to endure.

O’Keeffe signed a deal to co-drive alongside Andre Heimgartner at Kelly Racing while competing at Zolder in WTCR, hastening his need to get back to Australia.

“I messaged my travel agent straight away and said you are going to have to find me a flight home ASAP,” O’Keeffe recalled to Auto Action.

“I wanted to get home early whether I was racing or not, but now there was a deadline to get home.

“I couldn’t be excited about doing Bathurst because I was worried that I wouldn’t get home and I couldn’t do it.

“The Kellys wanted to announce that I was racing and I said you can’t announce it until I know I’m coming home or I am home because I’ll look silly.”

As urgency grew to fly back, O’Keeffe realised he needed more help to get back.

“I messaged some of my sponsors and good friends that might’ve had a really good travel agent and got five travel agents looking for flights back,” he explained.

“None of the travel agents were coming through and I thought maybe I’m just not going to make it, one of the travel agents put me on hold for a flight in November and I was like that’s not going to work.

“A lady at Kelly Racing messaged her travel

agent and thank god she found one. She was looking at the right time on Singapore Airlines and a seat had become available and she just grabbed it.

“I left Switzerland from Zurich to Singapore, and then Singapore to Sydney, it was pretty straightforward actually,” Another driver wanting to return to his home country is FIA Formula 3 Championship competitor Alex Peroni, who completed the championship in mid-September. A lack of flights is his reasoning although he hopes to

return to his native Tasmania by the end of the year.

“Yeah god there are not many flights back to Australia are there, I’m planning to be back by Christmas,” he told AA. “I’ll have to quarantine, which is going to be a lock after the whirlwind of 11 weeks (the length of the F3 season), it’s going to be a slow end to the year.

“I think I have got one flight booked for late October, but yeah that’s it, there are none at the moment.” Dan McCarthy

LOEB ANNOUNCES 2021 PLANS NINE-TIME FIA World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb will change his focus to the upcoming Dakar Rally after Hyundai confirmed it was not renewing his contract for 2021.

The Frenchman will drive for the new Bahrain Raid Xtreme team in the Dakar, which is backed by the might of multiple WRC-winning team Prodrive.

The 46-year-old will be a part of BRX’s two car line-up in the top-tier T1 category alongside 2014 Dakar winner Nani Roma.

Loeb has previously taken part in four Dakar Rallies from 2016-2019, taking stage victories each year and securing a best overall result of second.

The first three years Loeb competed for Peugeot before the French brand pulled the pin with Loeb entering a privately run entry in 2019.

In 2020 Loeb did not take part in the first Dakar Rally to be held in Saudi Arabia, where the event will again be held next year.

After confirming his Dakar campaign, Hyundai announced Loeb’s contract to run selected WRC events was not renewed for 2021.

However, both Loeb and Hyundai WRT team principal Andrea Adamo said that the partnership may resume in the future.

“Hyundai Motorsport gave me the best WRC car I have ever driven, and I was glad I could compete at the highest level with the latest generation of WRC cars,” Loeb said.

“Now, a new chapter will open in 2021 with Prodrive in Rally Raid but who knows

for WRC. Neither Hyundai Motorsport nor I want to completely close the book for good.

“I am extremely grateful for the opportunity they gave me during these two years by offering me a partial programme, totally in line with my expectations, within a very professional team and in a pleasant atmosphere.”

The two-year partnership was capped off with a third-place finish for Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena at Rally Turkey a fortnight ago.

Two additional appearances were scheduled at Safari Rally Kenya and Rally New Zealand, but both were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We wish them all the best in their next chapter and keep our doors wide open to them should they ever wish to return,” Adamo said.

“All areas of our operation have benefited from their knowhow, directly or indirectly. Their contribution helped us to fight for – and win – the championship last season.” DM

NASCAR RETURNS TO THE DIRT NASCAR’S 2021 calendar features three new venues and a radical return to the dirt for the first time in more than five decades.

NASCAR officials confirmed the 2021 Cup Series calendar features three new circuits extending the amount of road courses on the schedule to six.

The 2021 Cup Series remains at 36 pointspaying races and kick off with the Daytona 500 on February 14 and concludes at Phoenix Raceway on November 7.

“We developed the 2021 schedule with one primary goal, continue to take steps to create the most dynamic schedule possible for our fans,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer.

“Extensive collaboration between NASCAR, the race tracks, race teams and our broadcast partners allowed NASCAR to create what promises to be an exciting 2021 schedule of races.”

Bristol Motor Speedway will host the first

dirt race since 1970 and will be temporarily converted for the event on March 28.

The last NASCAR Cup race to be run on the dirt was held at on a half-mile speedway at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, which was won by Richard Petty.

The three new additions to the calendar are the Circuit of the Americas, with NASCARs set to race there on May 23, Nashville Superspeedway on July 20 and Road America on July 4.

Chicagoland Speedway and Kentucky Speedway will not host a NASCAR race in 2021.

As it did in 2020 NASCAR and IndyCar will run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the same weekend on August 21.

Both classes will utilise the Road Course layout.

NASCAR’s All-Star event will be contested at Texas Motor Speedway, while Atlanta Motor Speedway is featured twice on the calendar. DM

BATHURST INTERNATIONAL CANCELLED THE INAUGURAL Bathurst International event has been pushed back to 2021 after consultation between the Australian Racing Group and Bathurst Regional Council resulted in the 2020 edition being cancelled.

The bill was to feature the Bathurst 6 Hour production car race, TCR Australia Series, S5000, Touring Car Masters, Trans Am, Porsche Sprint Challenge, Radicals, Heritage Touring Cars, Excel Challenge and the Holden Bathurst Revival.

With such a large range of categories it was expected 350 race cars and more that 2000 support crew and volunteers were to attend the event with ARG implementing COVID safe protocols to ensure the International’s safe running .The decision was made due to the majority of competitors being based outside of New South Wales and needing to undertake a 14-day quarantine period either prior to or post-event. This was unfeasible for a large number of competitors as many have commercial businesses and interests.

Another unknown was the re-opening of borders, especially between Victoria and New South Wales.

“It is obviously very disappointing to postpone the inaugural running of the Bathurst International,” said ARG CEO Matt Braid.

“No stone was left unturned in the attempt to hold a viable and top class motorsport event, however, the border restrictions that our competitors faced made it an impossible situation.

“We have waited as long as practical to make this decision but we needed to consider local businesses, competitors and their families, our volunteers and other service providers and provide

a timely decision so as not adversely impact their families, their plans or incur unnecessary costs.

“This event was not based around a singular product but a wide and varied motorsport entertainment package which involved over 2000 people attending before the inclusion of fans, families, friends, sponsors, service providers, event staff and broadcast personnel. To deliver an event of this magnitude required it to be delivered in the right way and in the current environment that is just not possible.”

BRC Mayor Bobby Bourke shares Braid’s sentiments as both parties focus on the 2021 Bathurst International.

“While it is disappointing this year’s Bathurst

International will not proceed, the current COVID-19 restrictions made it difficult to bring a full field of competitors together for the inaugural event,” said Cr Bourke.

“We look forward to 2021 and Mount Panorama hosting the first Bathurst International and bringing the excitement of this planned new event to Bathurst.

“Council went through an extensive process to select a new fifth event for Mount Panorama and we can’t wait to see the event come to life next year.”

Attention now turns to the 2021 Bathurst 6 hour, which will be run in its traditional Easter slot.

“ARG and its team has now turned its full

attention to the 2021 Bathurst 6 Hour, and we can’t wait to showcase a great production car race along with other exciting categories, live and free with our broadcast partner Seven, in April next year,” Braid concluded.

Refunds will be provided to anyone who purchased tickets to the event. Refunds will be automatically processed by Ticketmaster within 5-7 business days.

Refunds will be provided to anyone who purchased a campsite to the event. Refunds will be processed within 12-14 business days. If after 14 business days campers have not received a refund, please contact the Bathurst Regional Council on (02) 6333 6111. HM

INDYCAR ENGINE SUPPLIERS COMMIT AFTER THE shock announcement of the end of its Formula 1 engine program, Honda has extended its commitment to IndyCar. IndyCar confirmed that both Honda and Chevrolet had agreed to new multi-year deals to continue as the series’ engine partners.

“To be able to announce a long-term, multi-year extension with our two great partners is phenomenal,” said Jay Frye, IndyCar President.

“It’s an exciting time in INDYCAR with the innovations in the car, the new 2.4-litre engine and hybrid technology.”

The extension of the partnerships come as IndyCar announced the introduction of the 2.4-litre, twin-turbocharged V6 with hybrid technology engine will be delayed until 2023.

“Honda welcomes this step to the future

by IndyCar, action that mirrors Honda’s efforts to develop and manufacture highperformance, electrified products that will meet industry challenges and delight our customers,” said Ted Klaus, President of Honda Performance Development.

“At Honda, we race to develop our people, to innovate technologies and to engage fans. We are proud of our uninterrupted, 27-year leadership in IndyCar, and look

forward to delivering a next-generation Honda 2.4-liter hybrid power unit with more than 900 horsepower.”

The new engine, which is expected to produce 900 horsepower was planned to debut in 2021, however due to limitations as a result of the global COVID-19

pandemic the implementation has been pushed back.

“Chevrolet has enjoyed great success since joining the NTT IndyCar Series in 2012 with our 2.2-litre, twin-turbocharged, direct-injected V6 engine,” said Mark Reuss, President of General Motors.

“We are thrilled to be moving forward with IndyCar because it’s the perfect showcase for our engine technology, in the only openwheel racing series in America, a high-tech, growing series that Roger Penske and his team are absolutely taking to the next level.” RV

A R T X E S W E N

E V I S U L C X E THE SHOW MUST GO ON

How Supercars Media overcame the coronavirus to broadcast the 2020 title fight.

We are pretty much a turnkey TV station and we provide the feed direct to Fox.

WE ARE days away from the Bathurst 1000 and the completion of the most tumultuous season in the history of the Supercars Championship.

Throughout the chopping, the changing and the border closures and openings triggered by the coronavirus, the racing has continued.

And so has the broadcast so integral to the financial structure of Australia’s only truly professional category.

After 10 weeks on the road, Supercars Media boss Nathan Prendergast explained to BRUCE NEWTON how the coronavirus challenges were overcome to deliver the championship broadcast and what we can expect from the Bathurst 1000 coverage.

On what the responsibilities of Supercars Media are?

Supercars Media is an in-house department that handles the entire broadcast for the Fox coverage and also what we consider the world feed coverage, which is essentially all the race elements that end up on the 10 Network and overseas.

We were the first sport in Australia to have an in-house TV department and we make everything from all of the live content that happens at every race weekend and all of the promotional and story stuff that happens between weeks and digitally, including gala dinners and promos, even down to television commercials and corporate videos.

Tennis Australia has gravitated to an in-house TV team, they started

16 AutoAction

Supercars Media General Manager Television & Content, Nathan Prendergast. doing that a couple of years ago.

Others sports like NRL and AFL have considered it, so far they have not actually made that move.

F1 has had its own TV department for some time, but F1 just make a world feed and just cover races essentially.

They don’t do any of the commercial integration or any of that.

Where we are unique is we not only make all the raw racing and Supercarsrelated track content, but we also make what we call the unilateral content, which is the stuff between the races for the hostings and so forth and we make that directly for Fox.

On the challenges Supercars Media faced when the championship resumed under strictly controlled conditions imposed by the coronavirus.

We first had to work out who we could access. Because of the border closures we didn’t have direct access to our usual talent pool and our usual production crew.

We bring the best of the best from most places in Australia to deliver the Supercars product, but when we couldn’t get people out of Victoria or South Australia in some instances, we were forced to crew locally.

That included bringing people out of Queensland just to minimise the risk.

Therefore, we weren’t able to use a lot of our long-serving production staff. For instance, my vison switcher has done 24 Bathurst 1000s and she missed her first race meeting in 25 years. So we had to start looking at using different people for different roles and then we also couldn’t bring certain crew like Greg Murphy out of New Zealand. So we had to look at people we could access like Andrew Jones and using him in a higher capacity than we have done in the past and start moving some people around, like Craig Lowndes, into the lane to utilise him a lot more.

That was the first step and then the second step was we had to comply with the COVID-19 restrictions. Sydney was very strict, our brief was we were not even allowed to shoot into the garages, let alone walk into a garage. We pride ourselves on

unprecedented access, being able to get in and get you the stories and be there when it happens ... so that was a bit of a philosophy change on how we delivered the product. We had to change the coverage for a couple of rounds.

On resolving challenges such as working remotely from the circuit.

When it became clear not long before the second Sydney race that the borders between NSW and the Northern Territory were not going to be reopened, we had to put together a core crew in a very short period of time that was willing to travel to Queensland, stay in Queensland for the required two weeks before they could then enter the Northern Territory. It was similar to what the teams had to do.

It was unfeasible to take all the people on the road – we couldn’t take [Fox broadcast hosts] Jess Yates out of her existing commitments and [commentators] Neil Crompton and Mark Skaife – so we realised we needed to split this into a semi remote production.

So we basically had a core crew of technical people that were going to deliver the race coverage from on-site. Some of us had to multi-task including myself. I used to direct the race before becoming the GM and I went back to directing basically to save on headcount.

We did all of the hostings and commentary from Sydney, so it was a bit of a first for the sport.

We had never dome it like that and we literally had to put the plan together and organise the people who were literally

willing to stay together and stay on the road for what was then an undetermined amount of time. We did all that in two-anda-half days.

We are very grateful that we have a very strong technical partner in Gravity Media that was willing to support us with whatever it was we needed. Fox came to the party very quickly to ensure we had studio time available to us. Their technical crew worked with us to make sure we could make this happen and it was feasible.

And we were super-lucky we had some really passionate people who said ‘yep, this is really important, we need to keep this going’. They were willing to sacrifice their time and stay on the road. We said to them ‘at a minimum you would be going to Queensland for two weeks and the Darwin rounds, so we don’t know how long you will be on the road, it could be six weeks’.

For some of them it went out as far as 10 weeks and for the Victorian people they have another three to go. So there are people who have been on the road for nearly four months. The Victorian crew who came out of Victoria before the Sydney event have been really committed to it.

On stitching the broadcast pictures together.

There was still the traditional outside broadcast truck at Darwin, Townsville and The Bend. And we had track cameras out there and we did the race cut. Then we sent clean pictures back to Sydney and added graphics and commentary there.

Originally we added graphics on-site but we couldn’t keep that team on the road that long.

So we sent multiple channels of audio and different vision feeds back and we had return paths back to us in Darwin and Townsville, so I could see what the final product looked like and piece it all together.

It’s like getting different bits of the recipe all landing in the pot at once and it gets made.

On the time this complex process almost came unstuck.

There was only one time we had a bit of a moment. One of the key things in a live broadcast environment is the comms. So the communications between everyone onsite and the producer, director and Sydney.

We had all the timing data and all of the communications delivered out of Sydney, so I was getting the calls from Sydney via comms on which car was where and who was hot for qualifying. This is all delivered

by IP (internet protocol) and we had an internet outage on-site at Darwin 2 in the middle of qualifying.

I didn’t know which cars were quick or who to follow, but it was resolved very quickly when I was facetimed by [Supercars Media senior producer] Dave Tunnicliffe. I put the phone in front of me and he just yelled stuff down the phone while I was directing. That was the hairiest moment we had, but generally it was technically sound.

On the learnings from this experience that will benefit Supercars Media and its broadcasts in the future?

This has brought the timeline forward for us a little bit in terms of costs savings and trying to find smarter ways to do remote or semi-remote productions. It is something we had considered doing at some of the

www.autoaction.com.au

Supercars promises the same high quality coverage of Bathurst 2020 as we’ve become used to, though the COVID restrictions may change the faces we see on camera. Telecast innovations are promised too. Images: Ross Gibb/Supercars Media smaller rounds or some of the harder to get to events like Darwin or Perth, or Townsville, where accommodation can be at a premium and it can be challenging.

This has allowed us to consider what our moves are in future years. It has also given us the ability to react immediately if there is another breakout of COVID or anything else. We know exactly how we can approach it.

There have been some technical gains as well. We have now learned how to do things like remote graphics and be able to deliver services from a remote location that we hadn’t even considered before, but were forced to develop because of this.

So there has definitely been some gains.

On whether the efforts and sacrifices have been worthwhile.

It’s definitely been worthwhile because the championship has been able to continue and that’s been crucial for a lot of peoples’ future. From a ratings perspective it has been very solid for us, including Tailem Bend which had some pretty amazing numbers. The very first Tailem Bend, when we had a look at all the recordings and Kayo numbers, we were getting close to Adelaide numbers. So from that perspective it has been very worthwhile and it is delivering greatly for our partners and the teams alike.

The ratings have been bouncing back like other sports and we have had some interesting results with the three race formats. Has it been worthwhile and have we seen some really strong indicators? 100 per cent.

Further to that, the inability for us to have as many crowd there as we would like, we are thinking outside the square in trying to do new things.

We are always innovating, we are always trying to make this the best motor sport broadcast both locally and worldwide and it will be no different in 2020.

All up there will be about 155 cameras covering the event, which is almost exactly the same as last year. We might be a few cameras down, but they are things like locked off or unmanned cameras that aren’t vital. Every crucial track camera that viewers know is still there, including two extreme slow-mo camera at the key points.

The chopper is there again and that delivers some of the best shots you see anywhere of any motor sport coverage.

We’ve had probably the best helicopter camera guy in the country go through quarantine to make sure he can be at Bathurst, which is amazing On the potential opportunities or challenges offered by having so much of the circuit closed to the public, most notably the top of the mountain.

We can generally go where we want already because of the demarcation zones.

Not having a crowd just helps ease of access. We are going to assign a camera to rove across the mountain for a couple of hours and go places with ease that

have been more challenging in the past.

You will see some new and interesting angles from the RF (wireless roving) cameras.

On graphic and information innovations that will be part of the telecast.

The main one is with the return of fuel racing. We have developed a new BP fuel graphic which shows how much fuel cars we select have and how many laps they have got till they run out and how many seconds it’s going to take to refill the tank.

So that will be introduced at Bathurst and given Bathurst generally comes down to a fuel race at the end, I think that will be good for the viewers.

On so much of practice being devoted to co-drivers rather than the stars.

It’s good because we get more time to introduce the viewers to people that they may not know. And everyone loves the extra Supercars track time.

Twenty of the 24 combinations are new, so co-drivers are going to be a vital part of how this event goes. The co-drivers are always crucial to success at Bathurst and even more so in 2020. So having that extra time is another level of the drama and the build-up to the great race.

On the amount of resource Supercars Media will commit to the Bathurst 1000 compared to previous years.

I think the viewers will be happy that they are getting the product they expect. We have had to make some smart decisions and be clear and frugal on our choices with what we do, like every business in this COVID environment. But I don’t believe the core product is going to look anything other than amazing, as it always does.

It’s our biggest race of the year, we always call it the grand final and it actually is this time. I think we are very mindful of the importance of the quality of Bathurst being maintained.

AutoActionMagazine

Auto_Action

instagram.com/

AutoAction

17

with Dan Knutson

Images: LAT

IT HAS been confirmed that three Ferrari Academy and FIA Formula 2 Championship drivers will make their F1 practice debuts later this season. Mick Schumacher, the son of seven-time Formula 1 World Champion Michael, will drive Antonio Giovinazzi’s Alfa Romeo for the first practice in front of his home crowd at the Nurburgring in Germany. Callum Ilott will also make his debut FP1 appearance for Haas at the Nurburgring, while Robert Shwartzman will drive in FP1 at Abu Dhabi. DM

DESPITE PERSISTENT rumours, Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has said that it is not a ‘nobrainer’ that the team will sign Racing Point refugee Sergio Perez. Perez seems like a great option for the American team, but due to its association with engine supplier Ferrari, the team may run one of the Ferrari Academy youngsters next season. Current Haas driver Romain Grosjean has admitted that he is already looking at possible options outside of F1, in Formula E or the World Endurance Championship. DM

Image: LAT

HONDA’S SHOCK F1 WITHDRAWAL THE NEWS that Honda will withdraw from Formula 1 at the end of 2021 stunned the automotive and racing worlds. But Honda, which returned to F1 in 2015 with McLaren and was committed to the series through 2020, had already giving a hint of what was to come when it decided to extend its obligation only for 2021, so that it could consider its future.

And that future, Honda has now stated, is to: “Accelerate such initiatives and strive for the realisation of carbon neutrality by 2050 in order to realize a sustainable society. To this end, our current goal of electrifying two-thirds of our global automobile unit sales in 2030, will become a checkpoint we must pass before we get to the 2050 goal, and therefore we must further accelerate the introduction of our carbon-free technologies.”

F1’s expensive high-tech hybrid power units do not fit in with Honda’s future vision. Ironically, Honda has committed to remain in the IndyCar series, which will switch to hybrid engines in 2023, until the end of the decade.

FOR THE first time in over a decade, Fernando Alonso has stepped foot in the Renault factories in Enstone and Viry. Over two days with Renault, the two-time Formula 1 World Champion kept himself busy completing a full day in the simulator, a seat fitting, sat in several engineering meetings with technical staff, as well as making a visit to the wind tunnel to see progress on the 2021 machine. DM

18 AutoAction

2010 and 2013. But their relationship descended into acrimony and divorce.

The FIA’s sporting regulations state that the FIA has the right to make the power unit manufacturer supplying the fewest number of teams provide those units to a team that does not have them.

And so Renault’s Cyril Abiteboul is now on record saying that Renault would lease power units to the two squads.

There is a possibility that another manufacturer – perhaps Volkswagen – will enter F1. But, as Honda demonstrated, it takes time to create a reliable and competitive power unit.

Looking at the long-term future of F1, Honda’s decision shows how crucial it will be for F1 to get things right when it introduces its new engine rules in 2026. Those regulations will have to appeal to the manufacturers who continue to shift towards carbon neutrality.

Or does F1 opt for more of a purely entertainment angle with affordable and noisy customer engines, like the Ford Cosworth V8s that were around from 1967 into the 1980s?

HIGH EMOTIONS

MERCEDES TEAM principal Toto Wolff has admitted that he had “initial discussions” regarding the role of becoming Formula 1 CEO to replace Chase Carey. The American will step down from his position as F1 CEO at the end of the year and will be replaced by former Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali. Wolff believes that even if he had been chosen as the new CEO over Domenicali, Ferrari would have vetoed the move due to his long-term relationship with Mercedes. DM

RED BULL Racing team principal Christian Horner has reiterated his desire to re-sign Thai driver Alex Albon for the 2021 season. Since Pierre Gasly won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza for the sister AlphaTauri squad, speculation has ramped up over the future of Albon within the main team. Since Albon replaced Gasly at Red Bull he has taken one podium for the team, while in the sister team Gasly has scored a win and a further podium. DM

In the meantime, Honda remains fully committed to F1 and will create a new power unit for 2021.

But, looking ahead, Honda’s withdrawal creates challenges and problems for Red Bull and sister team AlphaTauri.

Both use Honda power units – AlphaTauri (formerly Toro Rosso) since 2018 and Red Bull since 2019 – so both teams will need a new source of power in 2022.

There will be just three engine suppliers in 2022.

Mercedes already leases power units to Williams and Racing Point; and McLaren gets added to the list next year, as it switches from Renault.

Haas and Alfa Romeo have close ties with Ferrari. Renault, which will change its name to Alpine in 2021, will be on its own.

The last time Red Bull went shopping for engines both Ferrari and Mercedes said no. Why furnish engines to a rival team that has a good chance of beating you on the track?

Renault supplied engines to Red Bull from 2007 through 2018 and they won four drivers’ and constructors’ championships together between

Image: LAT

ANYBODY WHO has been involved with a racing team – in any category from amateur levels when it is just you and a few mates, all the way up to the professional levels – knows how high emotions can broil.

So Lewis Hamilton’s mood just after the Russian Grand Prix comes as no surprise, when Sky TV asked him if he thought the penalties meted out to him for his pre-race practice starts outside of the delegated area were excessive.

“Of course it is,” Hamilton said. “But it’s to be expected. They’re trying to stop me, aren’t they?”

“They” are the stewards of the race, in this case including former F1 driver Mika Salo, and the FIA’s Formula One Race Director Michael Masi.

It is worth noting, as Auto Action has pointed out before, that Masi does not hand out any penalties. He alerts the stewards of a breach of the rules and they decide what to do. But Masi is always willing to talk to any of the drivers.

“From my perspective it’s very simple,” the Australian said. “If Lewis wants to raise something, as I have said to him before and said to all the drivers numerous times, the door is always open. I’m more than happy to discuss anything.

“From an FIA perspective, we are there as a sporting regulator to administer the regulations. We have the stewards as an independent judiciary to adjudicate those, and therefore there was an infringement

and it doesn’t matter if it was Lewis Hamilton or any one of the other 19 drivers, if a breach has occurred of the regulations they will consider it on its merits.

“And also further to that, I would say adjudicate it equitably and fairly in the circumstances, taking all of the key elements into account.”

Anybody who has been involved in racing also knows that emotions cool and rationale eventually returns after a race.

It was the same for Hamilton who did not really apologise but he admitted that he is not perfect and that he is always learning.

“I may not always react the way you want me to when tensions are high, but I am only human after all and I am passionate about what I do,” he posted on Instagram.

“I’m learning and growing every day, and I’ll take my lessons and keep fighting on to the next one. Thank you to those who continue to support and are right there fighting with me.”

F1’s motorsport managing director Ross Brawn said that Hamilton must learn from all of this.

Brawn said: “Personally, I would go away, lick my wounds and think about how I could prevent such incidents again in the future. Bad luck and mistakes happen, but it’s how you respond that matters. It’s easy to think the world is against you but there is nearly always something you could have done differently and you can learn from.”

RICCIARDO: NO REGRETS II

DANIEL RICCIARDO always said that he had no regrets about leaving the winning Red Bull squad to join Renault, which has not had a podium finish since it returned to Formula 1 fulltime in 2016.

Perth native Ricciardo made his decision to switch to McLaren in 2021, even before the delayed 2020 season began. And Renault is now making serious progress. Ricciardo has finished fourth in three races this season, and he narrowly missed snatching a third-place podium in the Tuscan Grand Prix. But he has no misgivings about leaving the team.

“It is obviously no disrespect to Renault and where I currently am, but I do not regret it,” he said.

“Am I happy to see us progress? Absolutely. If we have Renault as a competitor next year to push McLaren further, then that is good for everyone. So no I am not regretting it, but I am also not unhappy with the progress.”

Renault certainly was not pleased that the driver who was going to be the focus of the team’s future decided to leave after just two seasons.

Team principal Cyril Abiteboul says that, given the recent performance upgrades on the car and the overall progress of the team, Ricciardo jumped ship too early.

“When I announced it there were some emotions as expected at the time,” Ricciardo admitted. “The biggest thing for me was to reiterate my intention to fulfill everything for the remainder of this year and to give it all I had. At the time you say these things it is

Image: LAT

over the phone or in person, but your actions have to do the talking. You can say so much. It is all well and good saying I’m going to do my best this year and put in everything I can. But if I’m finishing at the back of the pack, it does not seem like I’m living up to it.”

After Racing Point announced that Sebastian Vettel would replace Sergio Pérez next year, the team started to withhold information about the 2021 car development from Pérez. But, even though Renault has known for months that Ricciardo is leaving, the team has kept him in the loop.

“I want to be racing at the front,” Ricciardo said. “Every

race in F1 is so important, so every chance I get to do it, the sooner the better. So I am glad that we are making progress. I feel a part of it, which is important as well for me and my growth as a driver. The team has not shut me out with anything. I have been doing the simulator and all of it, so it has been really good to work with them.

And I know for sure bittersweet especially for some guys in the team to know that I cannot continue on after this year. But I’m going to give it a red-hot crack until the last day.”

The question for Ricciardo about 12 months from now will be: Any regrets?

VERSTAPPEN’S HONDA-LESS FUTURE THE PLAN, of course, was for Red Bull, Honda and Max Verstappen to grow together and build themselves into a world championship winning team. That is what Verstappen was thinking when he signed a long-term contract to keep him at Red Bull through 2023.

There is still a chance that they can do that in 2021, which will now be Honda’s final year in Formula 1. There is even a remote mathematical chance that Verstappen could win the title this year.

Verstappen won three races in 2019 and another one in 2020 using Honda power, and Pierre Gasly won this year’s Italian Grand Prix in the AlphaTauri Honda.

But what does Verstappen’s F1 future hold now that Honda will not be part of it?

There are many unknowns for 2021, when the US$145 million per-team per-season budget cap comes into effect. And more unknowns in 2022 with the new technical regulations.

Will Verstappen be convinced that Red Bull is still the team to make him world champion? He did not make any immediate comments after Honda’s announcement.

One thing Verstappen does know is that Red Bull and AlphaTauri are obligated to compete in F1. Both teams recently signed the new Concorde Agreement, which binds them to F1 through 2025.

“As a signatory to F1’s latest Concorde Agreement, Red Bull Racing remains committed to the sport in the long term,” said Red Bull’s team principal Christian Horner, “and we look forward to embarking on a new era of innovation, development and success.

As a group, we will now take the time afforded to us to further evaluate and find the most competitive power unit solution for 2022 and beyond.”

Image: LAT

Where would Verstappen go if he chose to?

His contract certainly contains get-out clauses based on the team’s performance results and even the team’s engine supplier.

Could Verstappen switch to Mercedes in 2022? Lewis Hamilton has yet to renew his contract with Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas has a one-year deal for 2021. Hamilton wants to stay and generally does three-year deals. Plus a year or two from now Williams driver and Mercedes protégée George Russell will be fully primed to switch to Mercedes.

Ferrari has Charles Leclerc under contract through 2024, and Carlos Sainz joins for 2021 and 2022.

Fernando Alonso returns to F1 and Renault (which will change its name to Alpine) next year. He will turn 41 in 2021 and has hinted that it will be his final F1 season.

Racing Point’s decision to drop Sergio Pérez, who had a contract for the next two years, in order to sign Sebastian Vettel is a stark reminder that F1 contracts are not always binding – especially if a top driver is on the market.

Furthermore, Honda’s withdrawal after what will be its fourth stint in F1 since 1964 solidifies the fact that no manufacturer except Ferrari, which has been in F1 since 1950, remains permanently committed to F1.

AutoAction

19

Publisher Bruce Williams bruce@autoaction.com.au 0418 349 555 Editorial Director

with Dan Knutson

Bruce Williams

Editor-At-Large

Mark Fogarty

Deputy Editor

Heath McAlpine

Production

Jason Crowe

Special Contributor

Bruce Newton

Staff Journalist

Dan McCarthy

National Editor Online Editor

F1 INSIDER

Garry O’Brien Rhys Vandersyde

Contributing Writers Australia Garry O’Brien, Mark Fogarty, Bruce Newton, David Hassall, Bob Watson, Bruce Moxon, Garry Hill, Craig O’Brien, Mick Oliver, Martin Agatyn.

Formula 1 Dan Knutson, Photographers Australia Ross Gibb, Rebecca Hind, Mick Oliver, David Batchelor, Randall Kilner, Rhys Vandersyde, Richard Hathaway, MTR Images, Bruce Moxon International LAT Images Advertising Manager Bruce Williams All Advertising inquiries Bruce@autoaction.com.au (0418) 349 555 Editorial contributions may be sent to Auto Action. No responsibility will be accepted for their safety. If you require the return of any sent item or items, please attach a separate, stamped and fully addressed envelope

Auto Action is published by Action Media Partners ABN number 62976094459 Suite 4/156 Drummond Street Oakleigh Victoria 3166 Phone: 03 9563 2107 The trademark Auto Action is the sole property of Action Media Partners The website www.autoaction.com.au and associated social media platforms are wholly owned by Action Media Partners All rights reserved No part of this magazine’s content may be reproduced, retransmitted or rebroadcast without the express written permission of the Publisher and Action Media Partners.

Printed by Australian Community Media Distributed by Ovato Retail Distribution Australia

Cover Images:DJRTP/LAT

20 AutoAction

Image: LAT

FORMULA1’S THIRD BOSS

IT WOULD be difficult, I reckon, to find anybody in the Formula 1 paddock who does not like and respect Stefano Domenicali.

The Italian was last directly involved in F1 as Ferrari team principal from 2008 to 2014, so there are people who have joined the paddock fraternity since then might not know him.

But he is both liked and respected by those that do, and this bodes well now that Domenicali will replace Chase Carey in January as the new president and CEO of Formula 1.

“I know Stefano really well,” Lewis Hamilton said. “He’s one of the nicest guys that I know, so I don’t think they could have really chosen someone better to replace some big shoes with Chase (Carey), who has done an amazing job. He’s always had such a great approach.

Stefano, he’s got a great heart, good family and good morals, so the future’s positive.”

I, too, am a Domenicali fan.

And I believe that he will do a good job in his new role as F1’s new head honcho.

Importantly, the team bosses agree.

“I think it’s a very good decision,” said Haas team

principal Guenther Steiner. “I’ve known Stefano quite a long time.

He’s a very honourable guy, a very knowledgeable guy. A few years away from the industry have broadened his horizons for sure, so he’s a good pick in my opinion. He will do a good job, I’m 100 per cent convinced about that one.”

During the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix weekend I saw a changing of the guard.

“The hordes of TV crews and photographers were so intent on descending on Formula 1’s commercial boss-to-be Chase Carey in the Singapore paddock, that Formula 1’s longtime czar Bernie Ecclestone was bowled over by a TV cameraman,” I wrote in Auto Action #1694. “Somebody grabbed Ecclestone before he hit the ground. It was a telling moment of the changing of the guard in the history of the sport’s business, that Ecclestone has ruled since the late 1970s.”

Liberty Media was in the process of buying F1’s commercial rights, and in January 2017 Carey would take over running the show and business from Ecclestone.

Carey is a businessman, but

he knew little about F1 and the business of F1. I have been really impressed, as has the paddock, with what Carey has accomplished during these past four years.

In AA#1694 I questioned if Carey and Ecclestone would have the same vision for the future direction of F1. If not, I wrote, it will be Ecclestone who will be shoved to the side, or perhaps he will choose to walk away because there can be only one boss.

And that is exactly what happened as Ecclestone played no real role.

When Carey first visited F1’s HQ in London he found just a handful of people running the entire show and business of the sport, and like a true czar Ecclestone oversaw everything.

Carey hired over 100 people and then continued to add to the staff.

One of the key new people was poacher turned gamekeeper Ross Brawn, who was named F1’s managing director of motorsports. Pat Symonds, another former team technical director, became F1’s chief technical officer.

I have always said that

WHAT’S IN THE NEXT ISSUE ON SALE 22 OCTOBER

Ecclestone did a brilliant job to turn F1 into a multi-billion dollar business and a sport watched around the world. But his business model, including pretty much ignoring social media, had grown outdated. Carey, with the help of all those new staff members, moved things to the next level.

During his tenure Carey helped get the teams to agree to radical technical rules changes for 2021 and then postponed to 2022.

He also got the teams to agree on something I never thought I would see in F1: a budget cap, and then got them to agree to lowering it!

He also oversaw getting all sides to agree on and to sign the new Concorde Agreement, which starts next year. He also helped steer F1 through the COVID-19 crises and get a 2020 race season put together.

And now F1 enters a new era with a new boss.

While Carey stays on as nonexecutive chairman, Domenicali will be running the show and business his way.

It is going to be interesting to see what he does, as only the third person to run the business of F1 since the ‘70s.

Full Bathurst 1000 report & analysis; Up Front with Neil Crompton; Eifel Grand Prix from the Nurburgring; Privateer Peter Janson; Adam Garwood Young Gun; Wodonga Short Circuit; Latest news & views

with Mark Fogarty

THE FOGES FILE AA’s pondering pundit looks at the stakes for Scott McLaughlin in what could be his last Bathurst 1000 ON SO many levels, Bathurst is going to be very different. Just the lack of a big crowd – and none at the top of the track – means it will be unlike any we’ve ever seen.

The lack of atmosphere won’t kill the buzz of the race or affect the racing, but all the other changes could have a profound impact. For example, the cars have slightly reduced power and downforce this year.

Unlike the other limitations, those restraints weren’t the result the result of the coronavirus pandemic. They were imposed before the start of the season to reduce cost and improve the racing.

Cutting downforce by around 12 per cent hasn’t had the desired effect.

The cars still can’t race close without suffering grip- and tyre-killing aero wash.

What the engine and aero cuts have done is pretty much rule out new qualifying lap records this year. This is likely to be accentuated at Mount Panorama.

Supercars champion-elect Scott McLaughlin, whose secure third straight title is also a factor in how different this Bathurst 1000 will be, doubts record lap speeds will be seen even if qualifying conditions are ideal.

McLaughlin claimed “Lap Of The Gods II” in 2017 with his pole-winning two minutes 3.8312 seconds blinder in the Top 10 Shootout. The current record is Chaz Mostert’s official 2019 pole time of two minutes 3.7897 seconds.

Scotty actually started from the No.1 position with a fractionally quicker clocking, but it was scrubbed from the record book some weeks afterwards because his qualifying engine was changed for the race – which he won amid the “debris” controversy.

He doesn’t believe a sub- or very low 2:03 “Lap Of The Gods III” assault will be possible.

www.autoaction.com.au

Image: LAT

“I don’t think you’ll see the times we’ve done in the past,” McLaughlin said.

“I’m guessing we’ll be a second slower, maybe more, purely because engines have dropped in horsepower and the grip factor is lower because of the reduced downforce.

“I think you’ll see a fast race purely because the level’s so high and we haven’t seen many safety cars this year. But it could also be a slower race because there could be chaos, who knows?”

The Shell V-Power Racing Team superstar is in the rare position of going to Bathurst with the championship clinched – barring, of course, some major infraction that would wipe out his otherwise unassailable points lead.

Highly unlikely, but still possible.

McLaughlin also goes to Bathurst under the “cloud” of speculation about his future in Supercars. Most expect it’ll be his last appearance before he decamps to the States to pursue an IndyCar career.

So it may be a long time – if ever – that we see him back at The Mountain. Also in doubt, of course, is whether Penske will continue here.

In his role as Fox Sports analyst and Supercars commentator, V8 legend Mark Skaife prognosticates that Scotty will pull out all stops to erase the stain of last year and leave his mark with a likely departure looming.

AutoActionMagazine

Auto_Action

“Wrapping up the championship does make a difference to his demeanour going into this race because you can be more carefree,” says Skaife, who has been there. “You’re not going to find an extra tenth of a second or something or take more risks.

“It doesn’t manifestly change how you drive the car during the course of the weekend, but it does take some weight off your shoulders as a consequence of wrapping up the championship. So, as a superstar of our game, I think he’ll apply himself really well.

“Also, this is a sign-off weekend. This is a “I’m going to show you guys, this is my statement”. He will be emphatic about trying to finish this off well, given what we think is a US future for him.”

Skaife, a five-time ATCC/Supercars champion and six-time Bathurst 1000 winner, is in awe of McLaughlin’s overwhelming superiority this year.

“To win three championships in a row is extraordinary,” he said. “There are only four in history who’ve done it. It’s been a remarkable season for him. He’s had 15 poles, 13 wins and 21 podiums in a year when there’s been 15 drivers on the podium.

“So there’s been a lot of love across the field and he has still absolutely dominated.”

As he eyes IndyCar, McLaughlin is not looking to emulate or beat Jamie Whincup’s feats, admitting that three

titles and a Bathurst win were already beyond his dreams.

“I could’ve retired happy after my first, I reckon,” he said. “After I won the championship and then I was able to win Bathurst, that was my boxes ticked.

I just count myself lucky.

“Every time I go out onto the track, I try to do the best I possibly can and I’m just lucky I have a great race car that I’ve been able to produce some cool laps, win some races, get my starts right.

Now we’re starting right, we’re winning more races because of that.

“I’m just really proud of it all.”

He rates his improved starts, once his Achilles heel, as key to his success this year.

“In 2017, it was my big weakness,” he confessed. “I got a major number of poles, we were in a great position, but probably lost the championship because I couldn’t start.

“So I have basically worked on that over the past three years and, really, this year has been the year where I’ve really got comfortable with it all and do the same procedure each time.

“It’s consistent – nine out of 10 starts are good now and that’s what you need.”

McLaughlin’s unencumbered approach is just one of the many reasons why next week’s muted Mountain classic will be truly memorable.

AutoAction

21

THE HONOURABLE MEMBER PART TWO In the conclusion of our recollections with controversial touring car star Allan Grice, he tells MARK FOGARTY about those famous black hats and an unlikely stint as a politician IMAGES: Autopics.com.au/AN1 Images/AA Archives

IN THE 1980s, he was Aussie racing’s Cat In The Hat. Not the Doctor Suess kind, but a fair dinkum Akubra, usually black. How appropriate.

Gricey was the villain of touring cars from the mid-’70s to the late ’80s. In the decade of ‘greed is good’, he was often the nemesis of Peter Brock, who wore the whitest of white hats, particularly at Bathurst.

Gold Coast-based Grice, who turns 78 in two weeks (October 21), only beat Brock at Mount Panorama twice – famously in ’86 in the Chickadee Commodore and 30 years ago in HRT’s upset, when ‘Peter Perfect’ was past his peak.

But, then, so was Grice, according to the critics.

But he combined with English ace Win Percy and defied his age (48) to anchor the Sierraslaying victory in a purpose-built VL Commodore Group A that secured the future of the then new Holden Racing Team.

Gricey and his Akubra also

starred in Europe and the USA, but in a tip of the rabbit fur felt Aussie outback hat, the combination was most famous at the 1992 Bathurst 12 Hour.

Akubra sponsored him in a Holden ute – and therein lies a tale, which is told typically succinctly here by the man himself. Always the renegade, he doesn’t say a lot – but what he says is right to the point.

Blunt, colourful, unrepentant – just like his varied racing career and his unlikely stint as the honourable member for Broadwater in the Queensland parliament.

A less likely politician than Gricey is hard to imagine, but his fearlessness and willingness to buck the system meant he was probably an unusually effective advocate for his electorate.

We could probably use a person of his commitment and conviction in federal government right now to rise above the party machinery. Grice doesn’t mind offending institutions – and never did.

His career declined after his 1990 Bathurst glory, but the ‘former Cessnock pastry cook’ left an indelible mark on Australian motor racing and, refreshingly, remains as forthright as ever.

Allan Grice’s second Bathurst victory was an against-the-odds win for the newly-formed Holden Racing Team in 1990, sharing with team boss Win Percy. The duo backed it up with second in 1991 (above). Grice was also at the forefront of the NASCAR revolution in Australia at Bob Jane’s Calder Park Thunderdome (opposite page below), where he enjoyed great success. With Jane’s backing it led to a big opportunity in America ...

After 1988, when his Nissan ETCC deal didn’t continue, Grice semi-retired from professional racing.

That wasn’t the choice, but the fact is, if you don’t have enough sponsorship and you can’t get it, then you are semi-retired, aren’t you? It was never my intention to hang up the hat at that stage of the game. That was the end of my regular participation in touring cars, but I was still in demand for Bathurst.

Did you think at the time that was going to lead somewhere?

I knew come hell or high water, Bob would make it work in Australia. We were at the forefront of NASCAR in the early years of the Thunderdome.

Indeed he was, running Les Small-prepared NASCAR and AUSCAR entries in the glory

years of oval track racing at Calder Park’s high-banked speedway. It was a continuation of his successful ’80s touring car partnership with Small, a master engineer whose cussedness and disdain for authority matched Grice’s belligerence.

Why did that relationship work so well?

I just had confidence in his ability to think

An interesting interlude was NASCAR stock cars in the USA and Australia. He spearheaded a Bob Jane-backed, Foster’s-sponsored Down Under assault on the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1987, with Kiwi Superbike star Graeme Crosby in a pair of John Sheppardprepared Oldsmobiles. Crosby just failed to qualify, while Grice made it into the field and acquitted himself well in the 400-lap race.

Gricey’s last big hurrah at Bathurst was in 1990, when he and TWR front man Win Percy outran and outlasted the turbocharged Ford Sierra RS Cosworths in their HRT V8 Commodore.

You and Win won against the odds – and even more remarkably, Tom Walkinshaw didn’t even want you in the car.

That’s right. It only happened because Win just insisted on it. His attitude was “You asked me to come here and manage the team for you, Tom, and I’m going to manage it, and he’s the bloke I want in the car. He’s the best Australian for Bathurst.” And that was it. He stood up to Tom and I was in.

What was it like being thrown into that cauldron?

It’s such a different world to racing in Australia.

It’s so big and even back then, the scale was incredible. For a big event like Charlotte, the transporters would start arriving on the Tuesday and if 40-odd cars were going to make the race, 65-70 transporters would turn up. There were that many professional, sponsored teams trying to qualify for 40 spots. Each day they’d be culled until the final 40 was decided and each night the unsuccessful teams would pack up and leave, at the cost of hundreds of thousands.

So then you have 40 cars (in fact, 42) and I was 36th – and I was a second and one hundredth off pole.

outside the box and he had confidence in me to get the most out of his machinery. It was a mutual admiration society. He was the full nine yards. He was an engine man, a transmission man, suspension man, the lot. We were both hard nuts and didn’t cop any shit from anyone. It was a very successful partnership.

Grice contested the 1987 World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (above & here). He qualified 36th and moved forward until sidelined with diff failure.

Even for you, the manic high-speed racing must have been an eye-opener.

Oh, absolutely, but I was going all right. I was on seven cylinders and I was still coming through the field. What got me in the end was an oil leak that caused the diff to fail. [He completed, ironically, 161 laps – same number as the Bathurst 1000 – and finished 35th.]

www.autoaction.com.au

AutoActionMagazine

Auto_Action

instagram.com/autoactionmag/

AutoAction

23

You had a pre-determined plan to run the Sierras into the ground, right?

Absolutely flat-out all day. We were running the bloody thing to 8500 rpm – in 1990! [Correcting previous interviews in which he’d said they hit 7800 revs.] That was the key. They built a bullet-proof car.

(Then HRT engine guru) Rob Benson went to great lengths and sourced components from all around the world for maximum lightness and strength in all the moving parts – and that’s how we got the high revs safely, which meant more power to push the Sierras to destruction. We were at such long odds you couldn’t get on us with the bookmakers.

That win secured future of Holden Racing Team, didn’t it?

I have no doubt it did. We were at unbackable odds before the race. Nobody thought we could keep up with the Sierras, much less run them into the ground. I’m sure it made Walkinshaw a lot of money. He never thanked me, of course. It certainly didn’t change his attitude towards me. In fact, I never heard from him.

Grice’s Holden Commodore Ute entry in the Bathurst 6-Hour is fondly remembered by Grice and fans alike.

Still, he returned with Percy for two more years, finishing second in ’91 and fifth in ’92. His appearances at Bathurst from then on were sporadic, ending with a privateer drive in 2002.

You were 50 and still competitive, but you never got a big drive at Bathurst again. Did you ever wonder why?

I think it was pretty obvious. At HRT, there was a change of team management – Win went back to England – and my face didn’t fit. And, generally speaking, I guess there was this attitude that “Oh, he’s 48, he can’t be any good anymore”. But the fact was, I had the staying power behind the wheel of someone half my age because of advice given to me years before by legendary Australian batsman Doug Walters, who made 15 centuries in his Test career. ‘Dougie’ explained to me that you can’t concentrate for 100 runs, you’ll burn your head off.

And you can’t concentrate for six hours or more in a race car. You have to have spells. So from his advice, I developed a method of doing that at Bathurst. I’d relax and loosen up each lap going up Mountain Straight and then going down Conrod. It became second nature, changing gear by the rev note as you gave your mind and body a small break.

I used to run all over the top of gym junkies, the young kids who were training so hard.

would be. I pulled out and passed an M5 BMW down Conrod!

It was a great promotion, especially the PR photos with the Blue Heeler in the back.

That was a lot of fun. The ute was a really quick thing and with some more development could have done some real damage. It was light.

Understeered like a pig, but you just adapted your style to compensate. You’d push it into the corner and hit the curb to get the tail out, and off you’d go. You’d think it would have been tailey because of the lack of weight over the rear, but it was like a lead-tipped arrow. It only had little tyres on the

front holding up a bloody big V8 and nothing down the back. What brought it undone was dirty fuel out of the tank at the track – it was contaminated.

It only got used twice a year and the fuel would just lie there and be full of crap when the level got low.

The most surprising time of Gricey’s career was as a member of the one-house Queensland parliament – the Legislative Assembly – from 1992-2001. An arch conservative, he was elected as the National Party member for Broadwater on the Gold Coast, serving on the government back bench from 1996-98.

The former Sunshine State shadow police and corrective services minister (big irony!) finished his racing career in V8 Utes from 2002-05 in Falcons, which he enjoyed.

The full story of Grice’s and Percy’s upset win is on the following pages. He famously contested the 1992 Bathurst 12 Hour in a factory backed VG Holden Ute – the tray-back version of the VP Commodore – sponsored by hat maker Akubra, whose iconic Aussie headwear had become part of his image.

It was fun. It was good sport. By then, I made Methuselah look young. But it was a great category and I didn’t do badly for an old bloke. I gave it away because the time just seemed right.

There was no epiphany – it just didn’t come together for the next year and I wasn’t bothered. I think I’d had enough.

How did that come about?

I always wore a hat by choice (and because of his fair, freckled skin) and at some stage I started wearing an Akubra, which was particularly appropriate when I was racing overseas. I used to drive through Kempsey (in northern NSW), which is where Akubras are made, and one day I decided to stop in and put the hard word on them. I got to see the guy who looked after their advertising and marketing, and he recognised me. He said “Oh, yeah, I’ve seen photos of you all over the place wearing one of our hats – how many would you like?” That was the beginning of it all. And then some dollars became involved.

How good was that Commodore ute at Bathurst?

It was so much faster than anybody thought it

24 AutoAction

I’d never aspired to that, but I was always a Conservative. I thought Attila The Hun was a bit of a pinko. I was approached by a member of the National Party who knew me quite well before I was a member of the NP. This was when the Liberal Party and the National Party were separate in Queensland. Because I already had some public exposure and could put some words together, the National Party asked me if I’d be the candidate for Broadwater. I thought about it for a bit and decided to do it. And lo and behold, I was elected and did three terms. Looking back, if you asked me if I’d do it again, I would. It’s an extraordinary job in that if you want to do nothing – absolutely f***ing bludge and sit under a tree and get paid – you can, but equally, if you want to be active and achieve something, you can actually be of some use and have an impact. I chose the latter course. It’s strenuous and a very time-consuming job, but also enjoyable if you do something that makes a difference. And I enjoyed my time in parliament. Had plenty of blues, but I enjoyed it. If something came up in in the party room that I was against, I’d speak against it. I’d voice my opinion and question proposals I felt hadn’t been thought through. And if I got enough support – it didn’t have to be 51 per cent – they’d drop it or do it a better way. So you could change the system if you had the courage of your convictions. Not easy, but they didn’t want to push something through that had dissent in their back bench.

Grice shared with former World Champion Alan Jones for two consecutive years at Bathurst, finishing on the podium in 1995 (above) and leading until their Falcon suffered engine failure in 1996 (below).

His 30-year-old son Ben had a go at racing, but has dropped out after several years in Hyundai Excel and Toyota 86 racing to concentrate on his signwriting business in Sydney.

Did you encourage Ben, did you fund his racing?

No, definitely not. I don’t believe in that. But I always supported him; I helped him where I could.

But he didn’t see outside the box. The important part of my career was my willingness to move on when I wasn’t getting anywhere. I knew I had to go somewhere else. So I did. Ben would love to still be racing. He was good in the Hyundai Excels – very good.

(4 +-*‫ 'ݦ‬is proud oud to announce the launch off its new racer-focused website building and hosting service – the he only one of its kind in Australia! ralia! ews and and Showcase your latest news eam results! Spotlight yourr tteam and sponsors! Whetherr yyou’re ou’rre siness, a racer, a team or a business, p eevery very you’ll come out on top time – on a website that has at h as a racing look and feel, built uilt by by s. racing specialists.

Ѭ Ȃ*- ' ѥ .4 ѥ -*! ..$*) ' • Receive your own website within 60 seconds of .$")0+я - 4 /* 4*0- +$ /0- . ) - +-*‫'ݦ‬ Ѭ #- $Ȃ - )/ +' /!*-(. /* .0$/ '' ' 1 '. *! - $)" and budget from beginner to professional. “Racer”, ћ - -*ќя ћ - 0./*(ќ .$/ . 1 $' ' • Developed for Racers, by Racers. We have built a ‫ ݧ‬3$ ' $)/ -! /* ''*2 4*0 /* 0$' professional website your way • Super easy to upload information using fully customised dashboard • Responsive platform that works on any device Ѭ - . )/ 4*0- - $)" /$1$/$ . +-*! ..$*) ''4 ** No long-term contracts, subscriptions can be cancelled with 14 days’ notice**

Racer S ites ‫ټ‬ЦЫюЧ

Т *) then $15 ѣ*Ȃ . /0+ ! subscrip .00 per month tion or s more by ave even $150.00 paying annuall (suppor y t ed by ou partnersr advertising )

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

TIRE AUSTRALIA

BATHURST 1000 GUIDE Warm Hot

Luke Warm

Red Hot

Popular TV pundit Mark Larkham is back with his expert ratings, plus his appraisal of the impact the coronavirus chaos will have on The Great Race 1

Cool

White Ho t

2

Warm

Warm

#6 Cameron Waters/Will Davison #

Hot Luke Warm

Red Hot White Hot H

Cool

Monster Energy Racing Ford Mustang M Engineer - Sam Potter LA LARKO SAYS Arguably the strongest pairing right now. Last-start winner Waters’ fo form peaking at the right time, while Davison has a point to prove. Davo is still ra rated highly and should be on grid full time, no question. My top pick if Tickford ca can overcome ‘COVID Blues’ – which so far they have.

3

#17 Scott McLaughlin/Tim Slade #

Hot Luke Warm

Red Hot White Hot H

Cool

Shell V-Power Racing Team Ford Mustang S Engineer - Richard Harris LLARKO SAYS Champ-elect Scotty can throw caution to the wind at Bathurst, m making #17 almost unstoppable – plus his desire to make a big statement on the w way out the door. Expect aggressive driving, set up and strategy. Slade’s previous B Bathurst speed suggests he’ll hold his own against other top-line co-drivers.

4

Warm

#88 Jamie Whincup/Craig Lowndes #

Hot Luke Warm

Red Re Hot H White Hot

Cool

R Bull Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore Red Engineer - David Cauchi LLARKO SAYS Still the Bathurst dream team, but recent form a little hit and miss fo for #88. First time at bumpy/undulating/loaded Bathurst with control damper a bbig question mark. But no matter how many negatives I attempt to identify, this ddynamic duo and Triple Eight will now step up when it matters most.

5

Warm

Red H Ho Hot Cool

White Hot

R Bull Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore Red Engineer - Grant McPherson LLARKO SAYS Mega combo. Concern is the amount of change and challenge ggoing on with the #97. By T8’s high standards, just not good enough, but ttypically redeemed by strong in-race performance. Tander might be just what’s nneeded right now, another quality input. Would be foolish to count them out for tthe top step.

6

Warm Warm Hot Hot Luke Luke Warm Warm

Red RRed Hot HHot Cool Cool

#97 Shane van Gisbergen/Garth Tander #

Hot Luke Warm

White White Hot Hot

26 AutoAction

S Shell V-Power Racing Team Ford Mustang Engineer - Mark Fenning LLARKO SAYS Fabs knows a lot is riding on his performance, with conjecture aaround team and his drive. Too much inconsistency, but admire his tenacity in bbig shadow of Scotty. Keen to make a statement after 2019 controversy – and I ssuspect he will. D’Alberto is safe and familiar, with a turn of speed.

#25 Chaz Mostert/Warren Luff #

Warm

#12 Fabian Coulthard/Tony D’Alberto #

Hot Luke Warm

Red R Hot H Cool

White Hot

M 1 Appliances Online Racing Holden Commodore Mobil Engineer - Adam DeBorre LLARKO SAYS So wanted to put them near the top on facts/results, but they’re hhere on instinct/emotion. Chaz’s performance has been brilliant at times, llacklustre on others. I reckon they’ll rise in the race. Add it up: Mozzie’s incredible B Bathurst speed, WAU’s momentum, team’s traditional strength here, plus ssuper-solid Luffy. Count ‘em right in.

MOUNT PANORAMA OCTOBER 15-18 2020 IT’S LIKELY we’ll see incr increased stress, distraction, failu failure and weirdness at Bat Bathurst this year as a result of m many factors directly rela relating to the pandemic. I call the combined effect the ‘CO ‘COVID Blues’.

To succeed at The Mountain requires an extreme, elite sporting performance exe executed with precision from many months out.

Tha That preparation has been mas massively compromised.

W While all teams have been impacted, clearly the Que Queensland squads have been less disadvantage taged than their southern states brethren. Some spe specifics:

Car Preparation We’re already seeing a litany of failures since we’ve been on the road.

Steering rack mountings, shifting mechanisms, steering rack seals, input shafts, some engine issues – certainly more than normal.

The transporters and ‘workshops on the fly’ have temporarily replaced the clinically clean, well-lit sub-assembly rooms and server-held component life software. This will be the most disrupted Bathurst preparation of the modern era.

Pit Stops & People No refuelling since the Adelaide 500, now it’s back for the finale. We go from six to eight people over the line, two rattle guns to four. Who has been back at the workshop on the dummy car and rigs practising this stuff all year? Not many.

7

Co-driver Laps An extra one-hour session will help (three in total dedicated to co-drivers), but their ability to gel with car and team has been seriously compromised because of sod-all seat time. This will highlight the value of the ‘The Gang Of Five’ (see below) and a few others, and will equally highlight the risk associated with blooding a rookie up there.

‘Wanna Go Home’ Distraction Racers never stop thinking about how to go faster and how to succeed, checking and double-checking tasks and to-do’s, during and after-hours on a race weekend.

No event is more important than Bathurst. But basic human nature is such that there will be a big chunk of the pit lane that will have at the very front of their minds, all weekend that, after four months., ‘ I’m going home tomorrow’. Massive distraction – expect errors/mistakes/failures.

8

Warm Warm

Hot Hot

Luke Warm Luke Warm

Red Hot Red Hot White Hot White Hot

Cool Cool

Warm

#8 Nick Percat/Thomas Randle #

#9 David Reynolds/Will Brown #

Hot

R&J Batteries Racing Holden Commodore Engineer - Andrew Edwards R LA LARKO SAYS Percat a star this year. A bucketload of instinctive talent often not se seen for too many reasons. Maturing, he’s coming more into play. Always a fan of B BJR’s ability to think outside the strategy box. Randle, a near-future full-timer, will bbe one of the strongest, safest young guns out there.

9

Luke Warm

Red Hot White Hot

Cool

Penrite Racing Holden Commodore P Engineer - Alistair McVean LLARKO SAYS Dave’s having an ordinary year, overshadowed by Anton, who aappears to be in a happier place. Return of trusted regular engineer Alistair M McVean will lift his spirits – and speed. More than anywhere, Bathurst rewards ttalent – and this pairing has plenty. If Reynolds finds his Mountain mojo, they’ll bbe a serious threat.

10

Warm

Warm

#5 Lee Holdsworth/Michael Caruso #

Hot Luke Warm

Red Hot White Hot

Cool

Hot

Tr TTruck Assist Racing Ford Mustang Engineer - Sam Scaffidi LA LARKO SAYS A strong, dependable pairing. Holdsworth has had a ‘there or thereab abouts’ season in the shadow of Waters and about par with late-comer Courtney.

W With under-rated Caruso, two mature racers who are capable of a mistake-free da day that will get them on the podium. That’s a realistic target for this ‘sleeper’ co combo.

2

Luke Warm

#99 Anton De Pasquale/Brodie Kostecki # Red Hot

White Hot

Cool

P Penrite Racing Holden Commodore Engineer - Mirko De Rosa LLARKO SAYS Would love to rate them higher, but reservations about Kostecki.

A ADP is in a good place, punching out consistently strong results. He’ll be right on th the pace and personally capable of winning. But as competent as Kostecki may bbe, just can’t see him in the same league as the gun co-drivers.

2

OUTSIDER

PODIUM SMOKEY Warm

arm Warm

#44 James Courtney/Broc Feeney #

Hot Luke Warm

Red Hot Cool

Not Only, But Also…

Supashock – First time at the Mountain with the new Pedders-branded control shock absorber. The damper plays a massive role there. This will help some teams that needed equalisation and hinder those that were well advanced with their previous damper programs. Great.

Engines – On top of the niggling piston ring issues of some Commodore engines – and having some engine builders on the road, while others work overtime to stay on top of an ongoing freight rotation of donks – well, let’s just say the whole engine world is under pressure. Cue Team Sydney at The Bend ...

The Gang Of Five Lowndes/Tander/Davison/Slade/Caruso. There are other great co-driving assets that have full-time Supercars experience and many Bathurst starts, but I reckon these more recently retired race-winners will be the differentiator on the day.

So will all that in mind, here are the combinations that register on my meter as the Top 10 contenders and why – plus my Outsider and Podium Smokey.

White Hot

B Boost Mobile Racing Ford Mustang Engineer - Brendan Hogan LLARKO SAYS Have to say JC’s done better than expected. In fact, he’s been iimpressive since his in-season switch to Tickford. Feeney has a bright future, but jjust hasn’t done enough yet to threaten recent retirees. If the kid keeps it clean, C Courtney can get the job done. Old gun/young gun combo worth a punt on an uupset.

#55 Jack Le Brocq/James Moffat #

Hot Luke Warm

Red Hot Cool Cool ol

Wh Hot White

S Supercheap Auto Racing Ford Mustang Engineer - Brad Wischusen LLARKO SAYS JLB a bit of a revelation. He’s been too competitive, too many times in too many sessions to discount his win at SMP as only tyre strategy. Showed vvigour and aggression at The Bend that I hadn’t seen before. Moff, a strong selectition in this car, knows what he needs to do.

AutoAction

27

BATHURST 1000 GUIDE

Larko may have picked his leading 10, but there are still some contenders lurking within the rest of the field. HEATH McALPINE details how the rest of the entries stack up ahead of The Mountain 2

Bryce Fullwood/Kurt Kostecki

3

Mobil 1 Middy’s Racing Holden Commodore ZB Engineer – Rob Starr/Terry Kerr

There’s been impressive glimpses displayed by Bryce Fullwood during his maiden Supercars season, highlighted by his podium at The Bend I. On course for a top 10 result alongside Andre Heimgartner in an aging Nissan at Bathurst last year, before a late incident at Forrest’s Elbow. Co-driver Kurt Kostecki watched his brother and cousin make their Bathurst debuts last year, but now it’s his turn.

4

Jack Smith/Jack Perkins SCT Logistics Holden Commodore ZB Engineer – Paul Forgie A mix of youth and experience features in the fourth Brad Jones Racing entry. Jack Smith currently sits 21st in the points, but enjoyed a strong run at Darwin where he finished a best of 15th. It will be his second run at Bathurst, while it will co-driver Jack Perkins’ 15th attempt. Bringing in Perkins was the perfect decision; his experience will be of great benefit to the young driver.

14

Todd Hazelwood/Jordan Boys Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore ZB Engineer - Tony Woodward Race rookie Jordan Boys will have the advantage of steering his Bathurst entry at The Bend prior to the big race. He joins Todd Hazelwood, whose experience with rookie co-drivers will be invaluable at The Mountain. The race didn’t go to plan for Hazelwood last year, crashing out at the top of Mount Panorama on lap 98. The BJR package is always strong at Bathurst and his form this year dictates a possible top 10 berth.

28 AutoAction

Macauley Jones/Tim Blanchard Team Cooldrive Holden Commodore ZB Engineer – Julian Stannard Brad Jones Racing always produce a fast car at Mount Panorama and Macauley Jones is starting to hit form. Improving gradually during the season, Jones does perform well at Bathurst, finishing seventh partnering team leader Nick Percat in 2018. Co-driver Tim Blanchard moves across to partner Jones after combining with Percat last year, but a lack of driving time is a concern heading to The Mountain.

7

Andre Heimgartner/Dylan O’Keeffe NED Racing Ford Mustang GT Engineer – Dilan Talabani Learning a new car has meant an inconsistent season for Andre Heimgartner. The pace of his Kelly Racing Mustang, when on song, is one of the best on the grid, but when it’s not, the results fall away considerably. Reliability and fuel economy could be concerns. Fresh from racing against some of the world’s best touring car drivers, Dylan O’Keeffe will be learning all weekend in his first 1000, but a top 10 is within reach.

15

Rick Kelly/Dale Wood Castrol Racing Ford Mustang GT Engineer– George Commins Rick Kelly hasn’t achieved a podium finish this season unlike teammate Andre Heimgartner, but he is one of the few drivers who maintains his co-driver from 2019. Last year he equalled his best result during the Nissan-era in eighth, but the Kelly Racing Mustang is just hitting its straps this season. Dale Wood is another that hasn’t enjoyed much track action this year, but is a consistent performer at Bathurst, finishing fourth in 2016.

MOUNT PANORAMA OCTOBER 2020 Images: Insyde Media/LAT/Dirk Klynsmith

18

Mark Winterbottom/James Golding IRWIN Racing Holden Commodore ZB Engineer – Manuel Sanchez Another solid combination. Mark Winterbottom’s season started well, but he has gradually dropped away and been outshone by teammate Scott Pye. The veteran finished sixth at Bathurst last year alongside the experienced Steve Richards, however he has been replaced by James Golding for 2020. The ex-GRM driver was in contention as last year’s race drew to its conclusion, until a tyre problem forced him to pit.

Expect this pairing to be a top five or podium chance.

20

Scott Pye/Dean Fiore DEWALT Racing Holden Commodore ZB Engineer – Matthew Saunders/Phil Keed Qualifying has been Scott Pye’s bugbear, but his race pace has been among the best of any this season.

And that’s what counts at the end of 161-laps. A multiple podium winner at Bathurst with Warren Luff at Walkinshaw Andretti United, Pye has the runs on the board. Dean Fiore is a previous performer, but a new car and team with little testing completed, could be a concern.

34

Zane Goddard/Jake Kostecki Matt Stone Racing Holden Commodore ZB Engineer – Tim Newton Jake Kostecki made his debut last year alongside cousin Brodie, in what was an eventful event with the family-owned Kostecki Brothers Racing. The pair completed 111-laps before a crash for Kostecki at Reid Park ended the team’s day. He shares the Matt Stone drive with SuperLites partner and 1000 rookie Zane Goddard, who finished 10th in the Super2 race last year. A top 15 finish would be a good result for this inexperienced pair.

40

19

Alex Davison/Jonathan Webb Team Sydney Holden Commodore ZB Engineer – Chris Stuckey A late-call up earlier this season to Team Sydney, Alex Davison has performed admirably considering. Davison is an experienced campaigner at The Mountain, as is team boss Jonathon Webb, who won the race in 2016. Tekno is a different organisation compared to four years ago, and if the pair enjoy a trouble-free race, a top 15 would be a good result.

22

Chris Pither/Steve Owen Team Sydney Holden Commodore ZB Engineer – Nathan Leech It’s been a tough season for Chris Pither, as Team Sydney tries to fix its qualifying woes. A top five and an 11th are his best results, but using the soft compound tyre. Apart from those two results, he has finished towards the back end of the top 20 and sits 22nd in the points. Pither has experience on his side, as does co-driver Steve Owen, and if they steer clear of trouble, a top 15 is achievable.

35

Garry Jacobson/David Russell Matt Stone Racing Holden Commodore ZB Engineer – Wes McDougall Garry Jacobson was impressive on debut at The Mountain three years ago in the wet, partnering Jason Bright. The pair finished eighth in what was a strong display from the then rookie. Fast forward to 2020 and Jacobson has since struggled in outdated Nissan machinery but partnered with the experienced David Russell, a top 10 potentially beckons. Russell has proven to be a reliable co-driver despite a lack of seat time in recent years.

Auto Action’s so called resident experts make their Bathurst predictions ...

BW 1:#6 2: #25 3: #88 Smokey: #8

Tyler Everingham/Nathan Herne GRM Holden Commodore ZB Engineer – Richard Hollway Just to complete the race without problem would be a large achievement. Despite all the controversy surrounding Nathan Herne and his denied Superlicence application, it’s good to have Garry Rogers Motorsport on the grid again. Joining Herne is fellow debutant Tyler Everingham, who ran fifth in last year’s Super2 event. An exciting opportunity for these two young guys, which will build experience for future campaigns.

HM 1: #6 2: #88 3: #17 Smokey: #18

MF 1: #6 2: #17 3: #88 Smokey: #25

DM 1: #17 2: #97 3: #6 Smokey: #8

BN 1: #17 2: #6 3: #88 Smokey: #20

GB 1: #97 2: #17 3: #25 Smokey: #20

AutoAction

29

BATHURST 1000 GUIDE

Image: LAT

Fox Sports Supercars analyst Mark Skaife looks back at his win with Craig Lowndes and ahead to this year’s COVID-complicated race we w very easily got a deal done. We signed the agreement and off we went. I reckon I probably a drove better in 2011, to be honest, because I d was w in the car a lot more, but in 2010 I felt like I drove pretty well at Phillip Island and then the early e phase at Bathurst was really good. But that was w the race I fired off the Dipper and popped a rib out. I’ve never been in so much pain. So my m memories of it are that it was a great to join Triple Eight as I had a healthy respect for the T whole operation, and then to win with Craig and w lead le home a Triple Eight 1-2 was just fantastic.

R Roland was off his brain, he was so happy with t result. I have really fond memories of it. that It was significant because across my career, I r really only drove for three organisations: Gibson M Motorsport at the start, the HRT group in the m middle and then finished with Triple Eight, argua the three best teams in their eras. So it was ably a pretty special way to finish my driving.

Interview By MARK FOGARTY AT THE end of his Supercars driving career, touring car legend Mark Skaife finished with a flourish. After retiring from full-time racing at the end of 2008, he contested the enduros as a co-driver, first with Greg Murphy in ’09 and then Craig Lowndes in 2010/11.

This year is the 10th anniversary of Skaife’s sixth and final Bathurst 1000 win, partnering former HRT teammate and long-time Triple Eight arch-rival Lowndes.

His strike rate as a co-driver was exceptional – a fourth, a win and a second at Bathurst and two Phillip Island successes.

Melbourne-based Skaife, 53, will be back in the Fox Sports studio and commentary booth at Mount Panorama next week to end his near four-month isolation in NSW. Lowndes, his pre-coronavirus partner in broadcast punditry, will be going for his eighth Bathurst 1000 crown in his fancied pairing with Jamie Whincup.

What are your memories of that victory 10 years ago?

It was strange in a couple of ways. Firstly, Roland picking up the phone and wanting me to join Triple Eight. As teams – me and HRT and

30 AutoAction

Image: LAT

Roland and Triple Eight – we’d been fierce rivals for many years, basically since Roland arrived in ’03. We had always had a healthy respect for each other, but we were on the opposing sides when he was a Ford factory team and us as the factory Holden team. There were lots of layers to me joining them for the enduros. When I drove with Murphy the previous year, we were really unlucky because that late safety car got us –

we were about 10 seconds up the road on HRT. So that was one that got away and obviously Roland saw that I was still competitive. It didn’t really feel like I’d been away from driving full-time when I drove with Murphy. So Roland’s call basically came off the back of the ’09 drive and then the next layer of it was his sell by asking me if I’d want to join up with Craig. I thought it sounded fantastic, so

How was working with Craig? Were your driving styles complimentary?

In all the critical areas, we had very similar comments about the car. Our physical size was close enough that we didn’t have to have inserts or whatever, so from an ergonomics perspective we were able to find a happy medium. In the

MOUNT PANORAMA OCTOBER 15-18 2020 racing driver, you have to look at it in the context of a whole year’s work. And now that’s done and dusted, I think motor sport fans should rejoice because it’s going to throw up a ripping race.

There are lots of great combos. Cam Waters gets Will Davison – that has to be an A+ combination. Holdsworth and Caruso is another. So are there more than just the recognised strong teams capable of winning? I would say absolutely.

Time to put up or shut up. Who’s your hot favourite and why?

I can’t separate Whincup and van Gisbergen with their co-drivers (Lowndes and Tander respectively). Overall, I think that’s the strongest pair of cars. That does come with some problems based on team performance when they’re so equal and both in contention. It’s bloody hard to ensure that both cars are treated fairly; double stacking, for instance, just has such a huge bearing at that racetrack. So running two cars in the same garage and having that level of expectation across them is a real juggling act. It wouldn’t surprise me that something happens that affects the ability for both cars to be treated fairly. I think Red Bull HRT is the team to beat.

So, all things being equal, ahead of McLaughlin and Slade?

Image: LAT

following year, I probably moved the seat a little bit closer to the wheel for me, which obviously helped in 2011. Overall, it was great how well we worked together. I mean, Craig as a person who loves the fans and crowds and all the theatre, I think he also knew that my role was very much around trying to make the car as good as I could make it. To that end, I made sure I had a couple of days at Queensland Raceway and I worked really well Jeromy Moore, who was engineering the car, Mark Dutton and David Cauchi. And Jamie was helpful and supportive, so at the end of it, the car was fantastic and a pleasure to drive.

Did you and Craig become closer friends because of the whole experience?

For sure. When you join up and compete hard at the highest level and get success, it’s something that carries forward. Craig and I really enjoyed that time and I often laugh with Roland that I only had four drives for him and got three wins and a second. I like to remind him of that! The success rate was sensational.

It’s been a year that’s galvanised the pit lane.

Outside of all that, you have to look at what might unfold. I think the little mistakes that we’ve seen in recent times, mainly to do with the tyre regime, demonstrate that there’s a lot to play out in pit lane. And we’re going to add the complexity of driver changes, fuel stops, brake changes and all that, so after such an arduous four months, mistakes in pit stops are likely to be more prevalent than ever. The rigour and the pressure and the stress that personnel will be under will be higher than ever in terms of the sheer workload with limited people. The next layer is the lack of co-driver time in the car this year. I think the number of new pairings is roughly 20, so there’s almost no continuity from last year. I can’t remember a time in the modern era where co-drivers will have so little seat time leading into Australia’s biggest. It does throw them in the deep end very hard.

Does all this disruption help the big teams or make an upset more likely?

If you and I were debating, we could pretty easily argue a case for either side. But I think on the surface, you have to go with the bigger teams and their experience – and their combinations. I don’t think Triple Eight has ever had better driver combos. They’re exceptionally strong.

Then if you think about the currency of someone like Tim Slade, who was a full-timer, jumping in with Scott, that pairing will be formidable. What’s actually refreshing and is going to play into the hands of making it a cracker race, is that the championship’s done. I’ve been there and driven in those races when we’ve had the championship and the race at stake, and there’s no doubt that when it is a factor in the championship, as a professional racing team and a professional

I think so. Raw car pace, Scott will be the fastest and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he gets another pole position. I mean, he’s just been extraordinary again this season. As I keep saying in the telecasts, we’re watching history. Neil (Crompton) and I have run out of superlatives for how well he’s driving. His pole position ratio is just incredible – it’s 29.2 per cent, amazing.

The best in history. So I think the raw car pace is definitely in favour of Scott. But, again, in such a tumultuous season, you have to take a deep breath and say “Righto, who’s actually going to be best prepared, who’s going to rebound as well as they can, and Whincup and van Gisbergen, for instance, are they capable of taking it to him” and I think absolutely they can.

Fox Sports’ live coverage of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 starts at 8.55 am AEST on Thursday, October 15. The dedicated Bathurst channel on Foxtel 506/506 HD runs from Monday, October 12 to Sunday, October 18.

How will Craig do this year without any meaningful preparation?

He’ll be in the big fight, don’t you worry. As I’ve said for so many years, behind that big smile is an incredibly competitive man. His approach to the sport, his love of the game, his ability and flair, none of that can be questioned. If you were running a race team tomorrow and you had the whole of the field on offer as a co-driver, he’d be the one that I’d grab without hesitation.

In the wider view, given everything that’s happened, will Bathurst be more unpredictable than ever?

Everyone has done a remarkable job to make this season happen in unprecedented circumstances. The fact that we’ve made it to Bathurst is remarkable and a tribute to Supercars, the teams and governments, who’ve made racing possible under the most difficult circumstances.

AutoAction

31

BATHURST 1000 GUIDE

To honour Holden’s last Bathurst as a manufacturer, HEATH McALPINE and DAN McCARTHY reflect with a variety of the sports luminaries who played an important part in Holden’s success on and off the track.

Images: LAT/Holden Motorsport/AA Archive

JOHN CRENNAN

FOR JOHN Crennan, who divides his 50-year association with Holden into two periods, pre1986 when the “marketing” word didn’t exist at General Motors, and Post-1986 when it was the new ‘buzz word’.

So what’s significant about 1986?

It marked a change in Holden’s direction, after a McKinsey & Co review that saw sales took a backseat to marketing.

As detailed in his self-published book ‘55 years in Car Heaven’ Crennan said: “The day the sales function took a back seat to the marketing was a significant thing to me. In my first 25 years at Holden I saw first hand how the Holden sales function took the lead with dealers and customers with back up support from advertising, sales promotion, sales training and market research.

“On one day in 1986 someone flicked a different switch in Holden after the McKinsey review and all the interests and energy on the business went into marketing and decisions based on graphs and powerpoint presentations in a complete loss of what I call the face-to-face contact with dealers and our customers.

“It worked okay when exceptionally good sales executives went into marketing roles as they could always relate to the real world, but over time

virtually all marketing people seemed to occupy the key positions.

“These Uni-trained rather than field-developed marketing ‘whiz kids’ were place in positions where they had no real understanding of the sales or personal engagement with external parties, particularly with dealers and major fleets.”

This extended to motor sport, as Crennan detailed to Auto Action, explaining that management had lost its way during the previous decade by not utilising the success that it enjoyed on the track.

“I think someone lost sight of the fact of why we

were in motor sport because John Bagshaw hadn’t lost sight of it,” Crennan said. “Not for one moment did he when he was captain of the business and was passionate about motor sport.

“We were in it to promote the sales of cars.”

Crennan emphasised that he was in the passion business and that prospective customers enjoyed driving a winner, plus there was a connection between the dealer network, HRT and Holden that drove sales.

“We did it in many, many ways and we did it with a sense of passion where there was a non-stop

three of them and the Holden Racing Team had won one. Holden management were reminded of that sometimes, I might add!”

A key Bathurst success for Perkins was in 1993, when Gregg Hansford joined him in the last Holden-powered entry to win The Great Race.

“The 1993 race when I ran the Holden engine and every other team ran Chevs, they were all principally supported by the Holden Motorsport except for me,” Perkins said.

“When I made my one phone call a year to the managing director to get some special blocks made, which I could under those

flow of posters put out that the dealers put up in the showrooms and service department,” Crennan explained.

“They encouraged dealers to attend car races and hospitality. There wasn’t a dealer meeting at national or state level where a major segment wasn’t devoted to the dealers, of the importance of motor sport and what we doing in motor sport”.

And this all built up to The Great Race where Holden and HSV employees travelled to Mount Panorama to help sell the merchandise, again adding to the connection between customers and the brand.

“We had a film crew there filming our own program, we had incentives for dealers to win a trip to Bathurst,” he said.

“There were constant driver visits to dealers and assembly plants to talk to the employees. There were show cars always on display at dealerships and shopping centres, (and) motor shows where motor sport played a significant role.

“We were constantly engaging the dealer network and the fanbase, but I don’t see a lot of that anymore.”

Although, merchandise bought extra funds to be filtered throughout the organisation, it importantly groomed future Holden and HSV customers who continue to purchase cars to this very day. HM

LARRY PERKINS

LARRY PERKINS worked at Harry Firth’s Auburn workshop, fettling the Holden Dealer Teams fleet of Torana GT-R XU-1s, which contested circuit and rallying events.

“You started to get an idea of how the game was played,” Perkins remarked when reflecting on those early days.

Of course, the ambitious young driver soon jetted off to Europe, where he won a Formula 3 title and made numerous starts in Formula 1, before returning to Australia to co-drive with Peter Janson in the long distance touring car events.

Even then, Perkins’ relationships made through HDT remained intact as he formed his own team, which ultimately handled Holden’s factory efforts in 1988-89.

However, it was the 1990s when Perkins Engineering really hit its straps and when, ironically, it became a thorn in the side of the Holden Racing Team by winning Bathurst three times and challenging the factory team in the title stakes.

“I had good cooperation at some levels of Holden, certainly the upper management,” Perkins told Auto Action.

“The motor sport guys I never really got along with and I’m not remotely unhappy about that though. They were putting all their eggs in the Holden Racing Team basket.

“I remember over five Bathursts, I won

32 AutoAction

rules, the bloke said ‘Yeah, go for it. You’ve got my blessing. Just get out there and win.’

“The management of the factory and all the people behind the scenes were tremendously helpful to me and I’ll never forget that.

“The support I had was fantastic.” HM

ROLAND DANE

RED BULL Holden Racing Team’s Roland Dane reflected on representing Holden as the factory outfit and his history with the brand.

Triple Eight was the factory Vauxhall (GM) team in the UK for over a decade in the British Touring Car Championship, and that’s a relationship with General Motors which has continued Down Under.

Dane is proud to have been aligned with the brand for so many years.

“It was an honour to be able to carry the mantle for the last few years of Holden’s involvement in Australia,” Dane explained to Auto Action.

“As Triple Eight both in the UK and Australia, we’ve enjoyed a long relationship with General Motors.

“It was good, to be honest, to be the last custodian of the Holden Racing Team name, and to see us through this last chapter.”

The previous relationship with Vauxhall helped to secure a seamless move from Ford to Holden for the 2010 season.

“The fact that there was a previous relationship was absolutely instrumental in putting together the deal for 2010 onwards,” Dane said.

“But there were other key relationships that helped the tie up actually happen between Holden and Triple Eight, so certainly it wasn’t only because of the previous relationship but that helped.”

Dane started the Triple Eight venture in Australia after buying Briggs Motor Sport and continued to run Ford Falcons as Briggs had done previously.

“We then enjoyed good backing from Ford

RAY BORRETT

for a few years before it dropped away at the end of 2008, which is well documented,” he told AA. “Holden were very quick to come forward and wanted to align itself with us going forward in an official capacity.

“It effectively ran to two works teams for many years, ourselves and Walkinshaw as the two official Holden teams right through until the end of 2016.”

Since 2017 Triple Eight Race Engineering Australia has been the sole factory Holden

MANY VERY clever minds emerged from the early Holden Dealer Team days, and one of those is Ray Borrett.

A celebrated engineer with Holden and the broader General Motors business, Borrett started his career under the tutelage of Harry Firth where his loyalty to The Lion was imprinted early on.

“From being involved at that level as a mechanic in the pit crew, preparing the cars, driving them up to Bathurst and driving them back, you tend to get a bit attached to the brand,” Ray Borrett explained, recalling his involvement in HDT’s 1969 Bathurst campaign “It get’s in your blood and it’s part of your life.”

Borrett was able to take advantage of the close relationship the Dealer Team had with Holden’s top brass, through a chief engineer Ray Brooks, which sent him in a different career direction.

Studying engineering, Borrett maintained his relationship with HDT by working after hours and weekends, before taking a role within Holden.

“When I started at Holden, it didn’t take me very long before I was involved in the racing activity,” Borrett explained.

“I did the SL/R 5000s, (then) I got the A9X development project because of my role in the Radial Tuned Suspension program as a safety engineer.

“Getting the suspension geometry right so that the A9X worked okay as a road car but was

team and Dane explained what it meant to win for the brand.

“To be able to reward them for the faith that they put in us for many years was very pleasing,” he said.

“Of course, when we weren’t doing as well as we should have been or as well as we hoped, then they were very supportive. But at the end of the day, very appreciative when we were delivering results for them.”

Asked what it means to represent Holden in

its final race as a manufacturer, Dane said that he prefers to look ahead.

“Honestly for me, I’m more interested in the now and the future, than the past,” Dane said.

“At the end of the day, we can get a bit teary eyed about Holden disappearing as a new car brand and as official Holden Racing Team mantel in Australia. Seeing that disappear, yep, it’s a bit sad, but these things happen and it’s part of life. It’s the next steps that count.” DM

geared towards racing. To get the big diff in the back off it, to get the V8 engine all done in such a way that it suited racing rather than the road car, but it was still acceptable as a road car.

“After the A9X I got sent over to America and Germany for a couple of years, but when I came back I took up a technical liaison role. Between Grant Steers and I, we were really running Holden’s motor sport activities for quite some time through the 1980s.”

Working alongside Brock during the 1980s in the transition from Australia’s own Group C formula to the international Group A regulations, he supported Brock’s 1986 European Touring Car Campaign and continued in Holden’s motor sport fold until 2006.

“It was a part-time job in addition to my full-time role at Holden, but in my spare time I looked after the downsizing of the V8 engine from 5044cc to 4998cc for weight saving. To push all that stuff through the organisation was quite a challenge but we did all that to support the racing,” Borrett said.

The A9X still remains the ultimate touring car to Borrett, a development process that blurred the lines between road and track.

“All that was interesting and challenging, and that was probably one of the more successful racing orientated cars that Holden ever built,” Borrett recalled.

“Brock did some good ones, but I don’t think anything came close to the A9X.” HM

AutoAction

33

BATHURST 1000 GUIDE GARTH TANDER

A FACTORY Holden driver for many years, Garth Tander won two Bathurst 1000s for the factory Holden Racing Team in 2009 and 2011.

Tander has represented Holden ever since he first raced a V8 Supercar at Phillip Island in 1998, for Garry Rogers Motorsport.

Despite winning the Bathurst 1000 for GRM in 2000, Tander explained how he understood the true meaning of the brand when he took the Peter Brock Trophy to the Port Melbourne (Melbourne) and Elizabeth (Adelaide) factories.

“To win with the factory Holden team, it’s just like a whole new level just as far as the awareness of people of what you’ve achieved and how much it meant to the people at Holden,” Tander told Auto Action.

“After winning in 2009 and in 2011, there was a lot of visiting the manufacturing plants.

“I just remember taking the actual Peter

ROB STARR

STARTING HIS career with the Holden Racing Team in 1991, Rob Starr has achieved enviable success in Supercars competition.

Starr engineered the likes of Craig Lowndes and Mark Skaife during HRT’s golden era, when the red army dominated everywhere, including Bathurst.

Reflecting on that time, Starr explained there was plenty of blood, sweat and tears expended to achieve such a successful outcome.

“Certainly, it was a dream period to be involved in and personally, I felt we worked pretty hard,” Starr told Auto Action.

“We got the most out of the resources we had

34 AutoAction

Brock trophy into the manufacturing area at Elizabeth and having the line workers taking photos with the Bathurst trophy, just the way their faces lit up, it certainly showed that Bathurst meant a lot to them.

“The manufacturing people were just so passionate about the brand that what

we’re working for.”

Tander, like many, did not see the end of Holden coming as quickly as it did and never thought that he would be representing the brand in its final race as a manufacturer.

“Certainly not. Holden is one of those

brands that you think is made up of iron, it’s not going anywhere, it’s rock solid.

Growing up as a kid, it was Ford or Holden,” Tander said to AA. “Even when manufacturing of Commodore stopped here in Australia, you sort of thought well Holden is going to be different, but you never thought that it was going to disappear altogether!

“Then you started to get a reading, well maybe it’s true, maybe it won’t be around forever. The timing of it, I think, caught everyone by surprise just how quickly it’s come to an end.

“I think back to those tours in the manufacturing plants and the generations of people that worked for Holden over the journey, that just must be truly heartbreaking. It’s a shame, it’s a terrible shame, but that’s the world we live in today.”

Since making his debut, Tander has won three Bathurst 1000s, a V8 Supercar Championship and a Bathurst 24 Hour race, all for the red brand. DM

and clearly had the best drivers as well. It was a great period to be involved with and you’d like it to keep on going, but the sport has certainly got a lot more competitive and tougher over the years.”

Starr was one of many within the team to advance through the ranks. After his stint in engineering, he transitioned into the team manager role where Bathurst success followed with Skaife and Todd Kelly – on his birthday no less – who took victory in 2005.

“My last one when I was directly involved was 2005, when I was team manager, which was a fantastic moment,” he said.

In the midst of Lowndes-mania in 1996, Starr – the then youngster’s #1 mechanic – holds fond

memories of success at The Mountain.

“One of the favourites is 1996, it was our first win when I was there,” Starr said.

“We won the championship with Lowndesy, then the Sandown 500 and Bathurst all in one year, which was pretty special.

“Anytime you go to Bathurst and you have a win (is special). I guess you’ve probably been a bit lucky and dodged some bullets through the day, but (then) you still end up getting the results when it matters.

“Going back-to-back in 2001 and 2002 was pretty special, especially in 2002 with Skaifey and Richo [Jim Richards].”

Not only has Starr worked at a team with a

heritage that was surrounded by success, but the talented drivers he has worked with is remarkable.

“Working with the icons of the sport has been great. I enjoyed my time with Brockie and Win Percy back earlier, then Lowndes came onto the scene and Skaifey,” he elaborated.

“I’ve had plenty of good drivers in my camp and I’ve got a couple of good ones now.”

Loyalty is getting harder to find in motor sport circles, but approaching 30 years at Walkinshaw, Starr’s has never waivered.

“I’ve always been passionate about the team and what it represents, I’ve never really looked elsewhere,” he admitted.

“I’m here for the long haul.” HM

MOUNT PANORAMA OCTOBER 15-18 2020 IAN TATE

A MEMBER of Harry Firth’s Holden Dealer Team back in its heyday of the early-1970s, before spearheading Peter Janson’s efforts of the late-’70s and early-’80s, Ian Tate happily recalled what his relationship with The General and Holden meant to him.

“The good thing about General Motors was when they were in it,” Tate told Auto Action.

“Ford came into it, then out of it, then in and out, but General Motors have been there every year. They supported motor sport a lot more than what Ford did, in my opinion, and more consistently over the years.

“It has been fantastic for General Motors to win Bathurst, even from the Monaros to Toranas to Commodores, it’s been a fantastic ride and yes, it had to happen, it’s very, very sad, it’s the end of an era.”

Tate recalled some of the management who played a critical role in forming the Holden Dealer Team, despite General

Motors in America forbidding circuit racing of any kind.

“I think we’ve all been very lucky to be part of a fantastic operation,” reflected Tate.

RON HARROP

“People like John Bagshaw, who gave General Motors backing to the HDT right from the start, doing it through the back door because General Motors only had a

AN INNOVATOR. Regarded as one of the leading engineers of his era, and a pretty handy driver as well, Ron Harrop’s connection with Holden began as a window shopper at Norm Beechey’s Speed Shop in Brunswick.

He later played a part in Stormin’ Norman’s legendary Australian Touring Car Championship success in 1970 with the 350 Monaro.

Later, he moved to HDT and then through his performance parts business, provided technical components to many touring car and Supercar teams.

“I had a reasonable amount to do with building all of those Monaros, I think there was three of them in total, lots of fabrication and things like that,” recalled Harrop of the Beechey Holdens .

philosophy of rallying, not racing.

“Bagshaw got over those problems by introducing the Holden Dealer Team, which was funded by the dealers and sponsors to run the team, before it could be in the open.

“Bagshaw did a magnificent job of doing all that initially, his right-hand man was Peter Lewis-Williams, who was the connection that Harry had with General Motors.”

Tate explained the importance of Bathurst on Holden’s history, creating legendary name plates that are revered to this day.

“They produced cars to win Bathurst without a doubt,” said Tate.

“The XU-1 was refined and became a competitive car, the L34 was nearly a purpose-built Bathurst car, the A9X was a carry on of that, and then the Commodores through Brock’s connections with General Motors producing a car that would win Bathurst.

“I think everyone who has been involved with General Motors racing a Holden or a General Motors product at Bathurst, had a lot of fun doing it with a fantastic product.

“It’s been a fantastic ride.” HM

“That was my first involvement with Holden and that was when John Bagshaw was there.

“He was very passionate about it.

Just thinking about how Holden’s happened, there were a lot of passionate people who had a lot of influence at Holden, whether it be Bagshaw, Chuck Chapman or Peter Hanenberger, they all had a passion for it, but sometimes passion isn’t enough, is it?”

After Beechey pulled up stumps, Harrop demonstrated his engineering prowess by designing a Detroit locker case, which led to him joining Harry Firth and the HDT, a time he reflects upon fondly.

“I look back on it and think how fantastic it was that I had the opportunity to do what I liked doing,” said Harrop.

“I really hit it off with Harry, he’d come to the workshop and ponder over things. He was good to work with and I

thoroughly enjoyed that time.”

After departing the team in the mid-’70s, Harrop returned amidst the development of the A9X, to co-drive in 1977 and 1979, crashing out in an incident which Harrop says “Was the end of little Ronnie”. Water in the brake system was to blame.

After giving away driving in the mid-1980s, Harrop returned to the General Motors fold at the end of 1993, to be a part of the foundation of the Holden Racing Team as an engineering consultant.

Innovations in areas such as suspension, brakes and even items like the captive wheel nut, led to HRT dominating the late-1990s and early 2000s.

Harrop neverthess is shocked that The Lion will soon disappear forever.

“It’s extremely sad and I could never envision something like this happening,” he admitted. HM

PAUL ‘WALLY’ WEISSEL

STARTING HIS working life in the parts department at Preston Motors in Albury, Paul ‘Wally’ Weissel has ties to General Motors that go back to his earliest days.

A career in radio took him into the media, before he joined Advantage Racing in 1993 with Peter Brock, transitioning to HRT a year later.

Weissel watched the transformation of HRT from struggler to dominator in Australian touring car racing first hand.

“It was very different,” reflected Weissel.

“Your expectations were high because it was the factory Holden racing Team, and yet at that stage it was a very, very ordinary outfit.

“There were only probably 10 or 12 staff, (and) a ratty old transporter was pulled by a Budget ‘rent-a-truck’ to cart thing around the tracks of Australia. By the time I left in 2004, there were deals done with Freightliner for prime movers, there were three teams under the umbrella and somewhere in the vicinity of 100 staff.

“It grew a lot in 10 years.”

Not only was the team dominating on the track, but it was also replicating that success in the merchandising sales as well.

“The off-track things were so important with what Crenno (John Crennan), Marg Curtis and the crew did with merchandising, for instance,” Weissel emphasised.

“That then gave you the money and all that success to be able to purchase CNC machines, ‘I want this’ and ‘I want that’ because you had the funding to do it.

“It became growth on growth.”

Weissel described the impact of the Ford vs Holden mentality had and the expectation that a new model from The General brought with it.

“You were red or you were blue in this country,” Weissel said.

“From watching FJ Humpies race around Hume Weir circuit, to being involved in HRT, it

was just that organic factor of me looking for the next Holden.

“What was the next one to come out, seeing dealers with brown paper plastered on the windows, because a new Holden was about to be launched.

“When you launched a new Holden, particularly in a country town, it was a big thing.” HM

AutoAction

39

1983 James Hardie 1000 – VH Commodore Peter Brock/Larry Perkins/John Harvey – Holden Dealer Team

1978 Hardie Ferodo 1000 – LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback Peter Brock/Jim Richards – Holden Dealer Team

Monaro 327 GTS 1968 Hardie Ferodo 500 Bruce McPhee/Barry Mulholland – Wyong Motors

1969 Hardie Ferodo 500 – Monaro 350 GTS Colin Bond/Tony Roberts – Holden Dealer Team

Victory in the last of the ‘Group C’ Big Bangers and an HDT 1-2

1984 James Hardie 1000 VK Commodore Peter Brock/Larry Perkins Holden Dealer Team

Peter and Jim won by six laps, with PB breaking the lap record 1979 Hardie Ferodo 1000 – LX Torana A9X Hatchback – Peter on Team the last lap Brock/Jim Richards – Holden Dealer

LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback 1979 Hardie Ferodo 1000 Peter Brock/Jim Richards Holden Dealer Team

1972 Hardie Ferodo 500 – LJ Torana GTR XU-1 Peter Brock – Holden Dealer Team

1995 Tooheys 1000 VR Commodore Larry Perkins/ Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering

1986 James Hardie 1000 – VK ‘Group A’ Commodore Allan Grice/Graeme Bailey – Roadways Racing

1980 Hardie Ferodo 1000 – VC Commodore Peter Brock/Jim Richards – Holden Dealer Team

1975 Hardie Ferodo 1000 – LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 Peter Brock/Brian Sampson – Gown-Hindhaugh

SINCE 19711

.AU

Peter Brock/Peter McLeod/David Parsons – HDT

1987 James Hardie 1000 – VL ‘Group A’ Commodore

1982 James Hardie 1000 – VH Commodore Peter Brock/Larry Perkins – Holden Dealer Team

1976 Hardie Ferodo 1000 – LH Torana SL/R5000 L34 Bob Morris/John Fitzpatrick – Ron Hodgson Motors

.COM

2016 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 – VF Commodore Will Davison/Jonathon Webb – TEKNO Autosports

MAGES: LAT/Autopics.com.au /Auto Action Archives/Holden Archives

2015 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 – VF Commodore Craig Lowndes/Steven Richards – Triple Eight Race Engineering

2009 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 – VE Commodore Garth Tander/Will Davison – Holden Racing Team

2003 Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 – VY Commodore – Greg Murphy/ Rick Kelly – Kmart Racing

1999 FAI 1000 – VT Commodore Greg Murphy/Steven Richards – Gibson Motorsport

1997 Primus 1000 Classic – VS Commodore Larry Perkins/Russell Ingall – Perkins Engineering

2002 Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 – VX Commodore Mark Skaife/Jim Richards – Holden Racing Team

1993 Tooheys 1000 – VP Commodore Larry Perkins/Gregg Hansford – Perkins Engineering

1990 Tooheys 1000 – VL ‘Group A Walkinshaw’ Commodore Allan Grice/Win Percy – Holden Racing Team

Triple Eight Race Engineering 888’s first win at Bathurst for Holden and Mark Skaife’s last Bathurst win.

2010 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 VE II Commodore Craig Lowndes/ Mark Skaife

Murph’s stunning ‘Lap of the Gods’ pole position and a ‘Great Race’ win with Rick Kelly

2003 Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 VY Commodore Greg Murphy/ Rick Kelly Kmart Racing

2000 FAI 1000 – VT Commodore Garth Tander/Jason Bargwanna – Garry Rogers Motorsport

A privateer team taking the glory and establishing Erebus as one of Holden’s winning teams.

2017 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 VF Commodore David Reynolds/ Luke Youlden Erebus Motorsport

2011 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 – VE II Commodore Garth Tander/Nick Percat – Holden Racing Team

2004 Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 – VY Commodore Greg Murphy/Rick Kelly – Kmart Racing

Come from behind victory, last on the first lap, to a win on ‘The Mountain’

2018 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 – ZB Commodore

Craig Lowndes/Steven Richards – Triple Eight Race Engineering

2012 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 VE II Commodore Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell – Triple Eight Race Engineering

2005 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 – VZ Commodore Mark Skaife/Todd Kelly – Holden Racing Team

The first of two Bathurst wins for Mark Skaife’s ‘Golden Child’ HRT Chassis #045

2001 V8 Supercar 1000 VX Commodore Mark Skaife/Tony Longhurst Holden Racing Team

1996 AMP Bathurst 1000 – VR Commodore Craig Lowndes/Greg Murphy – Holden Racing Team

BATHURST 1000 GUIDE

V8 legend Dick Johnson recalls with MARK FOGARTY how hitting a small boulder in the 1980 Bathurst 1000 ruined his race but made his career OF ALL the many strange happenings at Mount Panorama over the past 57 years, none is more famously dramatic than The Rock. Those two words immediately conjure images of a heart-breaking crash that catapulted Dick Johnson to Ford folk hero status.

When the battler from Brisbane hit that lump of stone early on lap 18 of the 1980 Bathurst 1000, touring car racing – and the annual Mountain marathon – came of age. In adversity, a new star was born to rival Peter Brock and replace Allan Moffat as the Blue Oval’s blue-eyed boy.

Everyone knows what happened. Out front and running away in his Tru-Blu XD Falcon, powering out of The Cutting and cresting the rise leading into the right-hander heading towards Reid Park, Johnson jinked around the rescue truck and smashed into a rock in the middle of the track.

The impact destroyed the left side of the blue XD, which then speared into and climbed the concrete barrier on the inside of the circuit.

In the aftermath, Johnson sat on the barrier with his head in his hands, wondering about his future.

This all unfolded in front of millions watching on TV and what happened next was one of the great emotional moments in Australian sport.

Thousands of viewers jammed the Channel Seven switchboard in Sydney with offers of donations. Seven commentator Mike Raymond jumped on the outpouring of support, getting the gutted and tearful Johnson on camera when he got back to the pits.

Watching in Melbourne, Ford Motor Company scion Edsel Ford II – sent to Broadmeadows at 29 as assistant managing director of Ford Australia as part of his family firm education – rang in with an offer to match the public donations dollar-for-dollar.

It cost the company far more than Edsel

Johnson’s Falcon is trucked back to the pits (above) where Jill Johnson was always at the centre of the small family team (below). Dick blasts into the lead at Bathurst in 1980 (bottom).

II expected. Ordinary Australians pledged $72,000, which was a small fortune at the time. Ford Oz matched it, providing Johnson with a windfall of $144,000 – more than enough to build a new Falcon for ’81 and underpin the immediate future of Dick Johnson Racing, which is also celebrating its 40th anniversary as DJR Team Penske.

Johnson, 75, has clear recollections of what happened.

“There were claims made that Brock had seen the rock and missed it,” he scoffed. “But the circuit there is very blind, very steep and very narrow, and when I arrived at the Cutting, there was a white flag out, denoting that there was a slow vehicle ahead. This is back when we used to have tilt-tray trucks going around to pick up all the wounded Commodores and whatever else was lying around.

“So I’d seen the white flag warning and where you come out of the Cutting and crest that little hump, the track does a little bit of a right turn there. As I got through that right kink, I saw the tilt-tray truck. I saw the truck first, then the rock.

“Obviously, the driver had stopped to pick up this rock that was on the road and I wasn’t going to go underneath the back of the truck, so I decided I’d try to go up the bank on the right because I saw there was a rock there. There wasn’t enough room to go between the truck and the rock or the rock and the bank, so I ended up hitting the rock with the left-hand side wheels. The track there is only eight metres wide, so it’s not exactly the widest part of the racetrack.”

In the immediate aftermath, Johnson thought his racing days were over.

“Well, pretty much because I was in a situation where I couldn’t have continued on because we’d stuck every cent we had into the whole deal and we had a young family to look after, etc, etc. We had quite a successful business in the servo that we had and I said to (his wife) Jilly that to do this project with the XD, we’re going to have to put everything on the line.

“I said ‘If we do that, you’ll live with the happiest guy in the bloody world.

Otherwise, we can just concentrate on the servo and the mechanical business we had and have a good living, but you’ll be living with probably the most miserable prick you’ve ever met’.

“Fortunately, she agreed to go the way of building the new race car. All that was running through my mind straight after the crash and I thought I’d failed. I just had visions of visiting the bank manager; that’s what concerned me more than anything else at the time because we’d stuck

MOUNT PANORAMA OCTOBER 15-18 2020

The moment of truth ... having hit The Rock, Dick Johnson crashes out of the lead of the 1980 Bathurst 1000 (above). His stricken car is recovered (right) as the race goes on.

everything on the line with that car and I thought the whole thing was absolutely done and dusted. But what transpired after that was something that one could never plan or imagine.”

Indeed, the impromptu telethon raised almost four times what it cost Johnson to build the XD, which was built for around $38,000 from an ex-highway patrol car fitted with the 351 V8 and running gear from the XC Hardtop he previously raced for Bryan Burt Ford in Brisbane.

“When Mike Raymond said to me that Channel Seven’s switchboard had been absolutely flooded with calls with people wanting to donate to get me back on track, I knew then that out of adversity had come an unexpected opportunity,” he recalled. “I was overwhelmed with relief and gratitude.”

Johnson still keeps in touch with Edsel Ford, who recently emailed him to commemorate October 5, 1980.

“He recalls everything like it was yesterday as well,” Dick said. “Still to this day, I have a letter on the wall from him saying it was the best investment he’d ever made on Ford’s behalf.”

As well as Ford Australia’s matching the public donations, steel magnate Ross Palmer added his entire Tru-Blu advertising and promotion budget to the pot.

Johnson agreed that he “made like a bandit” from their combined generosity.

“Absolutely – and then some,” he laughed, adding how touched he was by the support from Aussie battlers like him. “I still have all those letters that people wrote to me and it’s quite bloody humbling when you read some of them, especially the ones from the kids who sent their pocket money in the envelope.

Johnson was the first to make the new XD Falcon a serious contender, replacing the long-lived but by then outdated hardtops.

Seen here on debut at Lakeside (right). All images: AA Archive.

It was quite unbelievable.”

The mail was delivered to him by the sack load. “It was extraordinary,” he said.

“It was enjoyable to read them all, but very emotional as well.”

The unexpected financial kick start set DJR on the path to sustained success in the 1980s and ’90s.

“It gave us a budget that we knew we could run the entire championship in 1981 and hopefully be able to pay all those people back,” Dick said. “That put a fair bit of stress on me personally because to go out there the year after and fail would’ve been, to me, catastrophic.”

He repaid them handsomely by winning the ’81 ATCC and got his revenge at Bathurst, controversially winning the crash-shortened race.

“Whether people believe we would’ve continued on to win it is another thing, but I felt we had a car that would’ve absolutely got to the end without any problems whatsoever.”

Equally, although it was very early on – in a small irony, he had led 17 laps in the #17 – Johnson felt he and co-driver John French were on course to win in ’80.

“Yeah, that was very early days, but the car was fine and it proved to be very

reliable the whole time,” he said. “We never had any major mechanical failures along the way. So it was looking good until then.”

Over the years, there have been various conspiracy theories about how The Rock rolled onto the track. Some years ago, Johnson learned the truth of how it happened from a couple who were the only witnesses.

“They were a husband and wife who were residents inside the track,” he related. “They weren’t motor racing fans, but they had nothing else to do and decided to sit down and try to enjoy some of the race. They were sitting on that part of the hill and there wasn’t

anyone near them because it wasn’t exactly a great viewing area.

“What got their attention was that these two young guys who’d obviously been out of the turps all night came wandering up the hill and sat down right in front of them, which they thought was rude.

One of them sat down on a rock and the other one was lying down with his head on another rock and was playing with yet another rock with his feet.

“He accidentally dislodged the rock and it rolled down the hill and ended up on the track. So these two guys took off at 100 miles an hour, never to be seen again.”

The Rock is on display at DJRTP in Stapylton. “It’s the actual rock,” Dick swears, given to him by then Bathurst 1000 race boss Ivan Stibbard on the day. It was famously insured for $1 million back in the late ’90s when DJR was sponsored by FAI Insurance.

Now, who knows what it is worth?

Probably a lot more. It is included in the general insurance policy covering the DJRTP factory, equipment and displays “but what value they would put on the rock is debatable,” Dick notes wryly.

If he goes to Bathurst, which he will only do if he doesn’t have to quarantine at either end, Johnson will take The Rock back for a 40th anniversary celebration.

AutoAction

41

BATHURST 1000 GUIDE

Allan Grice and Win Percy explain to MARK FOGARTY why HRT’s debut victory at Bathurst was by design, not luck AGAINST THE odds, a Commodore won the Bathurst 1000 in 1990. No one expected a V8 Holden to be successful so late in the Group A era, when the turbocharged Ford Sierras were at their peak and the turbo all-wheel-drive Nissan Skyline GT-R was on the rise.

No one, that is, except the new-look Holden factory squad. In the first season of the Holden Racing Team, a tight-knit group at Knotting Hill in Melbourne’s southeast plotted a bullet-proof Bathurst buster.

A strong V8 beast that could go hard all day and run the swarm of Sierras into the ground. Defying unbackable odds, that’s exactly what proven Mountain Man Allan Grice and English import Win Percy did 30 years ago.

Their VL Commodore SS Group A beat the blown battalion, finishing ahead of fellow Pom Jeff Allam and Kiwi Paul Radisich in a DJR Sierra.

Getting there, though, was neither easy nor uncomplicated.

The background: Post-Brock, British racing and automotive mogul Tom Walkinshaw took over the hot Holden road car business and the factory backed racing team. Initially, what was known in ‘88/89 as SV Racing was sub-contracted to Larry Perkins.

Unsurprisingly, Walkinshaw and Perkins – both strong-minded characters – didn’t get on. Walkinshaw’s TWR racing arm stepped in under the new guise of HRT. TWR stalwart Percy was despatched to manage the new operation, as well as drive. He had won for Tom in Mazda RX-7s, Rover 3500 Vitesses and Jaguar

What seemed at the time like an against-the-odds Bathurst victory was in fact the result of careful planning and development. All images: AA Archive

XJSs in the UK and Europe. Gun touring car driver, lovely bloke.

Faced with the daunting prospect of being competitive at Bathurst, Percy combined with chassis guru Wally Storey

and motor master Rob Benson to develop an unstoppable enduro racer.

Percy’s biggest hurdle, though, was to convince Walkinshaw that Grice was the best choice as his co-driver. No easy

Tom Walkinshaw’s debut Holden Racing Team victory at Bathurst ensured the team’s future.

task as the surly Scot and the aggressive Aussie had history.

Grice and Percy were friends and had previously been teammates in Europe and at Bathurst. But Walkinshaw was unimpressed.

“I phoned Tom one day about who I wanted to drive with me,” Percy recalled.

“He’d told me he wouldn’t interfere, you can choose who you like to go with you.

So I said to him that I wanted Allan Grice.

“Well, Tom’s gone off. ‘You’re not having him,” he barked. “Tom, you said…”

“You’re not having him!” He’d already cut my budget by 40 per cent on what he promised me when I agreed to go out and run the team, so I wasn’t having this.

“They’d had some run-ins when Gricey did the ETCC in ’86. They’d fallen out and he considered Allan too mouthy for his own good. When Tom had a set against someone, I’m afraid it really was quite strong.

“Gricey had been good to me in the past, but the main thing was, like him or not, he was damn good at The Mountain. Anyway, in the end, he said ‘On your bloody head be it’ and banged the phone down on me.

“So I went ahead with Grice and that was the best thing I could’ve done.”

Grice’s recollection of the resistance is similar. “Tom and I never really saw eye to eye. Tom was trying to run his three Bastos Rovers convoy (in the ’86 ETCC) and I kept sticking my nose in, (with his privateer Commodore) and they’d give me a bang and I’d give them a bang back, so he never thought that was terribly good.

“Win insisted, as the manager of Holden Racing Team, that he pick the driver and Tom said words to the effect ‘Well, on your head be it’.”

A brand new VL Group A racer was built for Sandown and Bathurst, and according to Percy, it was designed to break the pace-setting Sierra Cosworth RS500s at Mount Panorama.

“We built as bullet-proof a car as we could and we thought that we could run at a good enough pace to keep us in contention,” he said. “It surprised us that we were as far up as we were within a couple of hours of the start and then seemed to be able to stay there. And then one by one, the opposition fell by the wayside.

“That was the only way we were going to put any pressure on anybody. We had to make it as bullet-proof as we could.

Our whole program for the year was to

MOUNT PANORAMA OCTOBER 15-18 2020

develop a car that was solid at Bathurst.

“It was the biggest thing I ever took on.

There were plenty of doubters, but the small team I gathered did the job.”

Grice remembers things slightly differently, claiming the team was always confident of pushing the turbo cars to breaking point.

“It wasn’t a big surprise to us,” he said. “It appeared as though we cruised around and everybody else stopped with their turbos blowing up and we inherited it. Whereas, in fact, the car was prepared to go flat-out all day.

“It was a plan devised well before Bathurst that if we hammered them all day and kept them on their boost, they’d blow up. And they did. Also, that car had some Kryptonite brake pads on it – they hardly wore at all. We didn’t miss a brake marker all day and up until the last stint, when I was saving fuel, we hit the maximum rev every gear change all day and just hammered the bloody thing.

“I think we were running it to seven and a half, seven six or something, from memory. That was the plot, to run hard all day and make them keep the boost up – and that’s what happened. [Recently, Grice has revised his recollection, claiming the motor was actually revved out to 8500 rpm – an extraordinary, but not unobtainable figure for a five-litre V8 without a mandated limit.]

Percy confirmed the car had ex-TWR Jaguar Group C sports car brakes and that Grice had to conserve fuel in his final, unscheduled stint.

“Gricey did a great job,” he said. “The hardest thing I’ve ever done in my racing

Opposites attract. The quietly spoken Win Percy and the ‘mouthy’ Allan Grice formed the perfect Bathurst pairing in 1980.

was to give Grice the opportunity to stayy in the car for the last stint. By then, my shoulder was giving me gip (injured in a crash at Sandown) and although I’m sure I could’ve done it, he was the stronger of the two of us at the time. He didn’t need a second invitation.

“We were absolutely worried about fuel. People thought we were faking it, but we weren’t. Luckily, Gricey didn’t have to dip into the reserve tank, which gave us about two laps, and we were all right.

“The brakes were a really strong point for us. Even Gricey said he’d never had brakes like that in a car before. It could out-brake anything into the Chase.”

Percy and Grice rate their upset victory among their greatest feats. u “Oh, it was amazing,” Percy said. “You have to remember that guys like me who used to see this incredible race in Australia with the TV coverage that it had, we aspired to win that race. Tom couldn’t believe that we’d won.

“It turned out better than expected.”

Gricey rated the HRT VL among his many Commodores, including his ’86 privateer winner, “as good as any of them. I don’t remember hammering a car as hard all day as that one”.

He still smiles at the memory of being unlikely Sierra slayers.

“We certainly wore the underdog tag, but truthfully, we always thought we’d

have a chance if we could make ’em run hard,” he said.

“Essentially hem – as a plan “Essentially, we broke the them plan.

It wasn’t fortuitous. It was always how we were going to run our race.

“It was very satisfying because it was clearly against the odds. But it wasn’t just luck and we inherited it. We earned it.

“It was a tough old girl. It had nothing wrong with it at the end of the race.”

The win secured the future of the Holden Racing Team, for which Walkinshaw only had an initial one-year deal. He died in late 2010, but his organisation under son Ryan kept the factory team status until 2017.

The 1990 winner is still in the Walkins sha h w Walkinshaw collection.

There will be no black-and-white 30th anniversary tribute livery for the Red Bull HRT Commodores, as there was in 2010 for the 20th remembrance.

Grice, 77, is still apparently persona non grata at Clayton – “I’m still the outcast” – while Spain-based Percy, also 77, is unable to travel here.

The affable Englishman, who has struggled with his mobility since a fall in 2003, last visited Bathurst in 2009, when he sat in his ’90 winner for old time’s sake.

HRT’s iconic first black-and-white livery is remembered fondly by Holden fans to this day. Victory on debut set the tone for what was to come from the new outfit.

AutoAction

43

BATHURST 1000 GUIDE

BATHURST 1000 TRACK SCHEDULE Thursday October 15 8:55am - 9:15am Combined Historics 9:30am - 10:30am Supercars Championship 10:45am - 11:05am TGRA 86 Series 11:20am - 12:00pm Dunlop Super2/Super3 12:10pm - 12:30pm Aussie Tin Tops 12:45pm - 1:45pm Supercars Championship 2:00pm - 2:20pm Combined Historics 2:30pm - 2:50pm TGRA 86 Series 3:05pm - 3:45pm Dunlop Super2/Super3 4:00pm - 5:00pm Supercars Championship

Practice 1 Practice 1 (all drivers) Practice 1 Practice 1 Practice 1 Practice 2 (co-drivers) Practice 2 Practice 2 Practice 2 Practice 3 (all drivers)

Friday October 16 8:35am - 9:35am 9:50am - 10:10am 10:20am - 10:40am 10:50am - 11:10am 11:25am - 11:45am 12:00pm - 1:00pm 1:15pm - 1:35pm 1:50pm - 2:15pm 2:30pm - 2:50pm 3:05pm - 3:50pm 4:05pm - 4:45pm

Supercars Championship Aussie Tin Tops TGRA 86 Series Combined Historics Dunlop Super2/Super3 Supercars Championship Aussie Tin Tops TGRA 86 Series Combined Historics Dunlop Super2/Super 3 Supercars Championship

Practice 4 (co-drivers) Practice 2 Qualifying Qualifying Qualifying Practice 5 (all drivers) Qualifying Race 1 Race 1 Race 1 - 16 laps Qualifying

Saturday October 17 9:10am - 9:30am Combined Historics 9:45am - 10:45am Supercars Championship 11:00am - 11:25am Aussie Tin Tops 11:40am - 12:05pm TGRA 86 Series 12:20pm - 12:40pm Dunlop Super2/Super 3 12:55pm - 1:15pm Combined Historics 1:30pm - 2:30pm Supercars Championship 2:45pm - 3:10pm Aussie Tin Tops 3:20pm - 3:45pm TGRA 86 Series 4:00pm - 4:45pm Dunlop Super2/Super3 5:05pm - 5:50pm Supercars Championship

Race 2 Practice 6 (co-drivers) Race 1 Race 2 Qualifying Race 3 Practice 7 (all drivers) Race 2 Race 3 Race 2 - 16 laps Top 10 Shootout

Sunday October 18 8:40am - 9:00am 9:15am - 9:40am 9:55am - 10:20am 11:30am

Warm-up Race 3 Race 4 Race – 161 laps

Supercars Championship Aussie Tin Tops TGRA 86 Series Supercars

SUPER2 & SUPER3

SUPER2 AND Super3 will feature as a support category at The Mountain in 2020, acting as the third round of the Super2 Series and the second round of Super3. Heading into the event Matthew White Motorsport driver Tom Randle leads the Super2 Series. Second in the standings Will Brown will not take part and this means that Brodie Kostecki and Jayden Ojeda are Randle’s closest challengers, 73 and 95 points behind respectively. In the Super3 Series Jay Robotham comes into the second round undefeated after the opening two races.

TOYOTA GAZOO RACING AUSTRALIA 86 SERIES

A NON-CHAMPIONSHIP event of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia 86 Series will be held over the Bathurst 1000 weekend. It will be the first round for the Toyota 86 machines in 2020 and will consist of four races, one more than the traditional number seen in a championship round. Reigning 86 Series winner Aaron Borg will be taking part along with many of the regular competitors and many new faces also.

AUSSIE TIN TOPS

THE AUSSIE Tin Tops will support the Supercars Championship for a third time this year, after a successful debut at Townsville the race cars made their way down south to Tailem Bend before receiving another call up for a non-championship round at the Bathurst 1000. The popular category is made up of multiple support classes including Carrera Cup, GTs, Trans Am, saloon cars and Super3 machines just to name a few, keep an eye on this category to see some exciting class racing.

COMBINED HISTORICS

A COMBINED Historics category will make its debut at The Mountain, the class made up of two regular historic racing categories Group N and the Heritage Touring Cars. Group N is for historical cars built before 1973 and includes Holden Toranas and Falcon GT-HOs. Heritage Touring Cars are the cars that actually raced in the Group C and Group A eras of the Australian Touring Car Championship, from 1973 to and including 1992.

44 AutoAction

PREVIOUS 10 BATHURST 1000 WINNERS

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Craig Lowndes & Mark Skaife Holden VE Commodore Garth Tander & Nick Percat Holden VE Commodore Jamie Whincup & Paul Dumbrell Holden VE Commodore Mark Winterbottom & Steven Richards Ford FG Falcon Chaz Mostert & Paul Morris Ford FG Falcon Craig Lowndes & Steven Richards Holden VF Commodore Will Davison & Jonathon Webb Holden VF Commodore David Reynolds & Luke Youlden Holden VF Commodore Craig Lowndes & Steven Richards Holden ZB Commodore Scott McLaughlin & Alexandre Premat Ford Mustang

2020 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS Scott McLaughlin Jamie Whincup Cameron Waters Shane van Gisbergen Chaz Mostert Nick Percat Fabian Coulthard Anton de Pasquale Mark Winterbottom Scott Pye

Ford Mustang Holden ZB Commodore Ford Mustang Holden ZB Commodore Holden ZB Commodore Holden ZB Commodore Ford Mustang Holden ZB Commodore Holden ZB Commodore Holden ZB Commodore

2354 2049 1849 1795 1700 1641 1560 1469 1386 1382

AUTO ACTION’S BATHURST PUB AMMO

BY WINNING the race last year, Scott McLaughlin and Alex Premat became the first drivers to win a Bathurst 1000 in a Ford Mustang.

Steven Richards is the only driver to win the Bathurst 1000 for Ford and Holden in consecutive years, when he made the switch from the Stone Brothers Racing team to Gibson Motorsport.

Since winning the Bathurst 1000 in 2014, Chaz Mostert has not finished on the podium in the ‘Great Race.’

As a family, the Richards’ Jim and son Steven have a combined 12 Bathurst 1000 wins and an incredible 62 starts.

Despite winning the Bathurst 12 Hour, 2016 Supercars Champion Shane van Gisbergen is yet to win the Great Race.

He has finished second twice in 2016 and 2019.

To this point, no Australian has won the Bathurst 1000 in a Ford Mustang.

This year will be the first time since 1973 that neither Jim nor Steven Richards will start the Bathurst 1000.

Scott McLaughlin is looking to become only the second driver to win both the Bathurst 1000 and ATCC/Supercars Championship double two years in a row. The only driver to do this previously was Mark Skaife in 2001 and 2002.

If Scott McLaughlin wins the Bathurst 1000, he will become the first ever driver to win at least one race in every round of the championship (since multiple rounds decided the championship from 1969 onwards).

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic Frenchman Alex Premat will become the first driver since Paul Morris not to defend his Bathurst 1000 crown.

Surprisingly, the Bathurst pole sitting car has retired from the race more times than it has won the 1000.

Supercheap Auto has been the naming rights sponsor of the most Bathurst 1000s, however 2020 will be the 16th and final year of this partnership.

The Bathurst 1000 offers more points than any other race this season, with a total of 300 for the winner up for grabs.

The record number of cars to finish the Bathurst 1000 on the lead lap is 19. This has been achieved on four occasions, from 2010-2013.

The closest finish was recorded in 1977 when Allan Moffat and Colin Bond orchestrated the famous 1-2 for the Moffat Ford Dealers team, the pair separated by just 0.1s at the line.

Three legends will remain tied with 12 Bathurst 1000 podiums, Peter Brock, Jim Richards and Larry Perkins.

Only Craig Lowndes has more than this trio.

The last driver pairing to win the pre-Bathurst race before going on to take victory in the 1000 was Craig Lowndes and Mark Skaife, back in 2010.

The first pole position time was achieved by Ian Geoghegan with a 3m 03s time. Last year Chaz Mostert set the qualifying lap record, a 2m 03.7897s, nearly a full minute faster.

By winning the championship at The Bend Motorsport Park Scott McLaughlin became the first driver since Ian Geoghegan to win three consecutive titles in a Ford.

The inaugural Bathurst 500 took 7h 46m 59.1s to be completed, 1h and 45 minutes slower than the race record achieved in 2018 by Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards.

The last time that the Bathurst 1000 concluded the Supercars Championship was in 2000, a race won by Garth Tander and Jason Bargwanna.

New Zealander Jim Richards was the oldest winner of a Bathurst 1000 when he teamed up with Mark Skaife and won in 2002. He was aged 55 years and 41days.

Peter Brock holds the record for the most ‘Great Race’ pole positions with six.

With nine victories, the Holden Dealer Team boasts more wins than any other team.

Holden holds the record for the most victories at The Mountain with 33, compared with 20 wins for the Blue Oval.

The fastest 1000km was completed in 2018 when Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards took only 6h 1m to complete the full 1000km distance, an average speed of 165.9km/h.

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

Holden boasts the record for the greatest number of consecutive 1000 wins, seven from 1999 to 2005.

Ford has 24 Bathurst 1000 pole positions compared to Holden’s 23.

The biggest pole position margin was set back in 1970, when Allan Moffat out qualified teammate John French by 3s.

Allweld Manufacturing build race car transporters to your specification.

Whatever your vehicle, we can build a transporter to carry it.

www.allweldmanufacturing.com.au Our transporter builds are all custom-built to your specific needs

Options: • Sleeping Quarters • Slide-outs • Kitchens/Cupboards/ Fridges etc.

• Vinyl, Rubber Alloy, Carpet flooring • Air-Conditioners • Composite Panelling, Fibre Glass • LED Lights/Light Bars/ Strip Lighting • Tailgate Lifters • Double level car carrying • Ramps • Tool Boxes, Belly locker • Winches

Allweld also manufacturers Gooseneck Trailers and Tag-along in many sizes to suit all applications.

Are you in the market for a car transporter to get you and your car to your race meetings all over Australia?

We custom build to carry anything from race cars, bikes and classic vehicles.

The standard of commitment to our customers means that they save time and money because what we build for you is guaranteed to last.

You don’t want to give your project to just anyone and certainly not to a backyard operator who lacks the equipment needed to do the job right.

And you shouldn’t leave your expensive equipment with anyone but a trusted manufacturer like Allweld.

When you need to upgrade your vehicle or want to buy a custom made race car transporter or gooseneck trailer, you need it done by the professional team who will deliver the outcomes you want … and you will find that team at Allweld.

Customers have been putting their trust in Allweld for the past 25 years because we listen to you, we take care of your equipment and we deliver the outcomes you want at a price you can afford.

Allweld Manufacturing will build you durable, reliable, cost-effective on time designs for your business and individual needs, and you can be sure that the end result is a transporter that you are proud of and on that withstands the toughest Australian conditions and driving.

For further information call 07 4123 4244 or visit the web site www.allweldmanufacturing.com.au E: sales@allweldmanufacturing.com.au 11 - 13 Gateway Court, Maryborough QLD 4650

taking it to the

YANKS IMAGES: LAT/Nigel Kinrade Photography/Joe Gibbs Racing/AA Archives

From Supercars engineer to NASCAR crew chief, it has been a whirlwind journey for James Small since making the trip across the Pacific Ocean seven years ago. Auto Action’s MIKE BRUDENELL caught up with the Aussie prior to the business end of the NASCAR season AUSTRALIAN RACE engineer James Small took a giant punt when he moved to America in 2013 to fulfill a boyhood dream of working in NASCAR, the country’s most popular motorsports series.

Seven years later, Small is moving ever closer to fulfilling that dream and much, much more – as a NASCAR Cup Series Championship crew chief with the revered Joe Gibbs Racing team.

A former racer himself, Small, the son of legendary Aussie motorsports figure Les Small, is handling the COVID-19 challenges at home, while pointing his driver Martin Truex Jr. to the front of the Championship battle.

Auto Action recently spoke to Small in Charlotte, N.C., where the former Supercars engineer and Formula Ford race winner is based as crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing on Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, in the midst of a spirited NASCAR Cup Series playoff battle.

46 AutoAction

James Small calls the shots for former NASCAR Cup champion Martin Truex Jr as part of the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team.

What is the stress level like right now? Martin (Truex) is fourth in points after Las Vegas and will be heading to Talladega next.

You sleep a bit less, that’s for sure. But you got to take it race by race. Just try and score the most points possible and win. It’s pretty simple: win and advance.

You’ve been doing this for a bit now in America since you came across from Australia in 2013 to work in NASCAR. Good decision?

Yes, it has been. First working as a race engineer for Richard Childress Racing (RCR), then as lead engineer at Furniture Row Racing and on to Joe Gibbs Racing – it’s been a dream come true, really.

Your father Les Small is a legend in Australian motorsports – a former mechanic, team manager and owner.

You raced Formula Ford and Utes and worked at teams like Garry Rogers Motorsport, Paul Morris Motorsport, Kelly Racing and Ford Performance Racing – all top outfits.

You won a Bathurst 1000 in 2013 with Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards. Why the move to the USA when things looked so promising for you in Oz?

I did move around. I reckoned it was good for me. I learned a lot. I was happiest at FPR. I’ll never forget it. But since I was a kid, I’d always wanted to be involved in NASCAR. I loved Supercars, but my ultimate ambition was to work in the US. That was a pretty bold move, packing your bags and heading over to America. You left a pretty secure life?

In the end, I wanted to work in Formula One or NASCAR. Dad had been involved in the 1980s with Allan Grice at Charlotte in the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 effort and with Bob Jane at the Calder Park Thunderdome when they held the Goodyear NASCAR 500 race there in 1988.

The NASCAR connection was in my blood. I got my resume in front of RCR and Team Penske through a friend of my brother Ben. They were the only two places I contacted.

You had three years at RCR as a race engineer. You were then lead engineer on the No. 77 car of then-rookie Erik Jones at Furniture Row Racing, which was based in Denver. You actually took over as crew chief a couple of times in

2017 for Jones and guided him to a third-place finish at Michigan International Speedway. Of course, Truex was crowned Cup champ the same season. Were you good or just lucky?

I guess I was at the right place at the right time. I’m not complaining.

You fast-tracked it from the No. 77 car to Martin Truex’s No. 78 car at Furniture Row Racing, which was overseen by crew chief Cole Pearn, who would then move to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2019, bringing you with him as Truex made the switch to JGR. How was that?

Amazing. Joe Gibbs Racing is the best team to work for in NASCAR. I’m very fortunate.

Then Pearn decides to return to his native Canada and you get the crew chief job on Truex’s No. 19 Cup car this season. Were you born with a gold tooth or silver spoon in your mouth?

Look, I’ve been super lucky, no denying that. I worked my way up.

Cole (Pearn) and I became good friends. He was a big supporter of mine. When he decided to move back to Canada, I got his job. Very lucky.

I could have been at JGR for years and never gotten the job. So, it’s bitter sweet. I’ll miss Cole. His are big shoes to fill. But I’ve been given a great opportunity.

So, what’s Truex like to work with?

He’s awesome. Martin is a great driver. People might give him a hard time on the radio sometimes – me included – but he’s probably one of the nicest guys in the garage area. He’s a top guy and clean racer, which can be to his detriment. I love working with him.

What about his all-around skills – ovals, rovals and road courses?

He’s good on any track. Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports) and Martin are probably the best road-racers right now. Martin knows what he needs in a car. He’s been doing this for a long time. Since Marcos Ambrose came over to America, the quality of Cup road racing has become much better.

Marcos forced drivers to learn the trade. He taught Martin and many other drivers the art of road racing.

Supercars versus Cup cars – similarities and differences?

They are both cars with four wheels

AutoAction

47

Truex is currently in the midst of the NASCAR Play Offs battle (above). Small took over from Cole Pearl as Truex’s crew chief and the pair haven’t missed a beat (below).

churning around. There are similarities, but they are also very different. The electronics in Supercars may be more advanced because NASCAR is strictly mandated by rules. The biggest difference in the series is that NASCAR has much more money and resources involved.

The technology behind the scenes is high class – the most high-class outside of F1. The amount of windtunnel development, tyre modelling and simulation – it’s at extremely high levels. There is nothing even close to that level in Australia. The biggest difference: money, people and the resources we have here.

How do the Aussie and American drivers match up?

Very high quality on both sides.

Marcos (Ambrose) did an incredible job here. Honestly, running on ovals is much harder than it looks. Guys come over from other countries and categories and they struggle. Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti, two of the best open-wheel racers ever, had a tough time on the high banks of NASCAR. It is a huge learning curve.

Okay, Scott McLaughlin (DJR Team Penske) is coming to the States to run an IndyCar race at St. Petersburg in Florida in late October for Roger Penske. There may be Cup starts too in his future. How will the Supercars ace show?

I think he’s proven he is up to the task. There’s never been a teammate who has got close to him in Australia. I think he’s shown with the tests he was right on the money. Penske obviously has great equipment and drivers in America. I think IndyCar – and I may be stupid – will be a lot easier for him here than NASCAR. I believe it will be

a lot easier for him to get up to speed.

Scotty should be OK.

Small engineered Mark Winterbottom and Steve Richards to a Bathurst victory (above). This followed stints at Garry Rogers Motorsport, Kelly Racing and Paul Morris Motorsport.

What about seven-time Cup champ Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick) crossing to IndyCar in 2021 and driving for Chip Ganassi Racing? He is 45.

That’s a very good question. I think he can be competitive. He will have a great team and great cars around him. He has the best teammate and driver anyone could ask for in Scott Dixon. It might take him a bit, but I’m sure he can have some great results eventually.

How would you describe your own driving career?

It’s seems so long ago now. I think I had a few good results in Formula Ford and Utes, a few wins. I had

Small contested Formula Ford in the mid-2000s where he enjoyed moderate success.

48 AutoAction

aspirations of moving up. But the money fell over and I decided against it. My brother Ben was probably a better driver in karts and Formula Ford than me. He was probably the most naturally talented driver I’ve ever seen.

Were you aggressive enough?

Well, the stewards and I knew each other on a first-name basis. I was in their office every f...ing week.

Where did you go to high school in Melbourne?

Vermont Secondary College.

University?

Swinburne University of Technology in Hawthorn. I visited all the schools in question -- Melbourne and Monash included -- and they just came off as a pack of wankers. I told them what I wanted to do (in racing) and Monash basically said become a motor mechanic. I stormed out of there and ended up at Swinburne.

What did Dad teach you – what sort of influence was he?

I picked so many things up from him along the way. He was tough on my brother and I. He was known to be a hard-arse. We learned by watching and doing. You can’t get taught that in school.

How would Martin (Truex) describe H you yo as a crew chief?

I don’t know – I think he’d see me as pretty methodical. I try and use an e engineering approach to any decision we w make. I like logic behind it rather than th shooting from the hip. I use a process-driven approach. Just the way p I’ve I’v always done it.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devasting social and economic impact on both Australia and America. How are you getting by in Charlotte and on the job?

I haven’t been back to Australia in a couple years, but I know right now Victoria has been in lockdown, though other states are faring better. Look, I wear a mask and social distance as best I can here in Charlotte and at the track. I think NASCAR has done a really good job in getting us back to racing. All the protocols are in place.

Overall, the crews and engineers are setting up at the shop and rolling out on Sundays.

You follow any other sports?

Yes, I’m a North Melbourne Kangaroos fan. Not doing so good, right? My wife Kat is still living in Denver, mainly because of the pandemic. So, I’m a big ice hockey fan. I follow the Colorado Avalanche.

Do you have a favorite American and Aussie driver?

Dale Earnhardt Sr. was always my favorite. I tried to use No. 3 on my karts. I liked Russell Ingall, especially when he came back and was driving for Larry (Perkins). He was tough. A hard man.

Total Seal® now offers a unique piston ring design for racers desiring gas-ported performance without gas-ported pistons...

s...

Total Seal Piston Ring

RENCE. E F IF D G IN N IN W E C A R E H T GAS-PORTED FEATURE BENIFITS:

- Gas-ported performance without gas-ported pistons.

- Strategically sized and placed horizontal slots in the ring allowing combustion gas to enter through the groove and behind the ring to gas-load the ring providing greatly improved ring sealing.

- Extensively tested in virtually every form of race engine with the same increases in ring sealing time after time.

- Applications are available in both steel and ductile iron for top ring placements. When ordering simply ask for Gas-Ported on your top ring sets.

Will you ever go back to Oz to live and work?

I don’t think so. Not in the foreseeable future anyway. I finally got my green card this year. I wanted more security. I can see myself being here in the US for a long time. I still have a lot of work to accomplish in my career.

Your favorite racetrack in NASCAR? Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee. It’s a half-mile bullring. It’s the one place that if you come to America to watch a NASCAR race, you got to circle on your calendar. It’s so cool to see the cars go around so fast on the little track.

Your wife Kat is living in Denver, you in Charlotte. Works?

It works, it works fine. We rent in both cities.

I’m lucky. It’s all worked out pretty well during these challenging times.

Your mother Christine – still a big supporter of yours?

Yes, big time. She looked after my brother and I when we were growing up, making sure

we got good grades at school. No grades, no karting.

Your father Les? He was always a huge supporter of me.

He put a lot of money and time into my early racing career. I wouldn’t be here without his backing and support.

Has Martin (Truex) taken you fishing with him yet? He loves to dangle a line.

No, he hasn’t. I can’t tell you the last time I went fishing. I can’t sit down that long without doing something. Martin is always fishing, or hunting, or working on a radio-controlled boat.

You worked with the Dude – aka Paul Morris. Been in touch lately?

I follow him on social media, but haven’t spoken to him in a long time. Seems like he is helping a lot of young kids, which is pretty awesome. He is taking time to develop them and help their racing careers. Paul is a smart racer and businessman. He knows Australian motorsports backwards.

Authorised Distributor: Performance Wholesale Australia

Contact Performance Wholesale Australia for either off the shelf, or custom piston ring requirements for your application.

6 Cronulla Crt Slacks Creek QLD 4127 Performance Wholesale (07) 3808 1986 W | performancewholesale.com.au E | sales@pwa-au.com

AutoAction

49

TRIUMPHANT FINALE

To cap off his Formula 1 Championship winning season in style, Alan Jones stormed through the field to win the US Grand Prix East at Watkins Glen, recalls DAN McCARTHY. Images: LAT

WITH THE title now sewn up, Alan Jones had nothing to lose heading to Watkins Glen for the final round of the 1980 Formula 1 World Championship.

In the build-up to the season finale, there was little driver movements as Renault elected not to replace the injured Jean-Pierre Jabouille, choosing to enter a sole RE20 for Rene Arnoux.

Elsewhere, Mike Thackwell continued in the third Tyrrell.

Recently resurfaced, the 5.435km, 11 turn Watkins Glen layout threw up some surprises during practice and qualifying, highlighted by some spectacular incidents.

During Friday practice Jacques Laffite left ht into the circuit at high speed and went straight at put the catch fencing, suffering whiplash that him out for the remainder of the day.

Thackwell was dealing with engine maladies, while another suspension failure ure st’s during Saturday qualifying left Alain Prost’s McLaren sidelined for the race.

The heavy impact at the penultimate turn rn also concussed the Frenchman when hiss head hit the steering wheel.

Fastest across the two days was Italian Bruno Giacomelli, driving the throaty V12 Alfa Romeo, which loved the long straights at The Glen.

He took the Italian marque’s first Formula 1 pole since 1951 by a large margin, 0.789s in fact. he The two drivers battling for second in the World Championship, Brabham’s Nelsonn arlos Piquet and Jones’ Williams teammate Carlos Reutemann, also fought for a front-row berth but it was the Brazilian who won out.

50 AutoAction

Alan Jones stormed to victory to finish his championship year in brilliant style. But the final race of the season didn’t start well, when he made a mistake at the first corner (above) and had to t drive back through the field.

Lotus’ Elio de Angelis started from fourth, Lot the new revised suspension pickup points on o the Lotus a positive for the British team in what had been a torrid season.

Fifth was Jones, unfazed after failing to complete a clean lap. co Re Arnoux, Didier Pironi and Hector Rene Rebaque rounded out the top eight positions.

Reb Prost’s failure to start elevated Jan Pro Lamm Lammers’ Ensign to the grid, while Thackwell again didn’t make the cut due to more engine grem gremlins.

Six manufacturers placed within the top seve grid positions promised a closely seven

fought race under overcast conditions.

Even if Giacomelli felt the pressure of starting from his maiden pole, it didn’t show as he lead into Turn 1 holding a comfortable advantage.

A strength of Jones was his superb starts and he didn’t disappoint, overtaking de Angelis, Reutemann and Piquet before the opening corner.

However, that work was undone when Jones hit the marbles on the inside of the circuit , which carried him onto the grass at turn 1, dropping him to 12th.

Further up the road and in the slipstream of

1980 US Grand Prix East - Watkins Glen

Carlos Reutemann finished second to his teammate in a Williams 1-2 (above) but could have been in front, while Didi Pironi Pi i was third th for Ligier (below) but suffered tyre trouble yet again.

Didier

Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 NC Ret NC Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret DNS

Driver Constructor Alan Jones Carlos Reutemann Didier Pironi Elio de Angelis Jacques Laffite Mario Andretti Rene Arnoux Marc Surer Rupert Keegan Keke Rosberg Jody Scheckter John Watson Gilles Villeneuve Jean-Pierre Jarier Jochen Mass Bruno Giacomelli Nelson Piquet Hector Rebaque Eddie Cheever Riccardo Patrese Jan Lammers Emerson Fittipaldi Derek Daly Andrea de Cesaris Alain Prost

Laps Result Williams Williams Ligier Lotus Ligier Lotus Renault ATS Williams Fittipaldi Ferrari McLaren Ferrari Tyrrell Arrows Alfa Romeo Brabham Brabham Osella Arrows Ensign Fittipaldi Tyrrell Alfa Romeo McLaren

Final Drivers Standings’ 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10. = = = =

Giacomelli, Piquet honed in on the Alfa Romeo, looking to the outside before the Italian closed the door on the Brabham driver.

At the end of the opening lap, Giacomelli and Piquet sat nose-to-tail with a big margin over Reutemann, Pironi and de Angelis.

While one Alfa Romeo was leading, the other in the hands of Andrea de Cesaris (in just his second grand prix) crashed out of the race on lap 3.

His teammate had no such issues, Giacomelli took off into the distance which only a mistake or a reliability issue could stand between the Italian and victory.

By lap 6 the Alfa held a 3.8s lead ahead of Piquet, with Reutemann, Pironi and de Angelis rounding out the top 5.

Two-time champion Emerson Fittipaldi’s Formula 1 career came to an end on lap 15, as his final race ended with suspension failure. In a Grand Prix career spanning more than 10 years, the Brazilian chalked up 14 race victories from 144 starts.

The Brazilian legend was soon followed out of the race

by Lammers and Ricardo Patrese, who crashed into the catch fencing and needed to be cut out to free him from his stranded Arrows.

Out front, Giacomelli’s lead further increased as Piquet started to defend second place from Reutemann.

The Argentine began to wave his hands around furiously at Piquet’s driving, as Pironi and de Angelis caught up to the duo, with a charging Jones catching also.

Jones quickly dispensed of De Angelis and set about making light work of the rest of the train.

Just as Reutemann came under pressure from Pironi, Piquet made a rare mistake on lap 25, running wide on the dirty part of the road at Turn 1, spinning into the catch fencing.

Jones continued his march forward, promoted to fourth by the retired Piquet.

He then progressed into third position on lap 27 after completing a daring move around the outside of

backmarker Marc Surer and Pironi on the approach to Turn 5.

Pironi was beginning to struggle with tyre life and quickly dropped back from the Williams pair.

As he did on Pironi, Jones got a good run through the Esses and was able to overtake Reutemann in the slipstream on the approach to Turn 5.

This meant that at the end of lap 30, Giacomelli led by over 11s from Jones, Reutemann, Pironi, de Angelis, McLaren driver John Watson and Laffite.

However, on lap 32 the race took yet another twist when Giacomelli came to a stop with an electrical fault, a massive disappointment for the Italian after what had been a perfect drive up until that point.

This left Jones in the lead from Reutemann with a large gap back to Pironi.

Northern Irishman Watson ended his difficult McLaren season in the pits after displaying promise late in the season.

McLaren may have experienced a tough year, but it was nothing like that of defending champions Ferrari.

Its stats for year read eight points, no wins, no podiums and 10th in the constructors’ championship.

Ferrari’s luck didn’t change at Watkins Glen, Gilles Villeneuve crashing out on lap 50 and reigning champion Jody Scheckter finishing outside the points in his final Formula 1 event.

But it was Jones who was unstoppable, the newly crowned champion leading a Williams 1-2 with Pironi third.

“All I want is a good rest – and to go home to see my wife and my child,” Jones said after the race.

“Everything went fantastic, I had nothing to lose, so I was determined to enjoy myself.”

Fourth went to de Angelis ahead of Laffite and Mario Andretti, scoring his only point of the season, and his last for Lotus after confirming his move to Alfa Romeo in 1981.

The question remained, can Jones go back-to-back in 1981?

Alan Jones 67 (71) Nelson Piquet 54 Carlos Reutemann 42 (49) Jacques Laffite 34 Didier Pironi 32 Rene Arnoux 29 Elio De Angelis 13 Jean-Pierre Jabouille 9 Riccardo Patrese 7 Jean-Pierre Jarier 6 John Watson 6 Gilles Villeneuve 6 Keke Rosberg 6 Derek Daly 6

Grid 59 59 59 59 58 58 58 57 57 57 56 50 49 40 36 31 25 20 20 16 16 15 3 2

1h 34m 36.05s + 4.21s + 12.57s + 29.69s + 1 Lap + 1 Lap + 1 Lap + 2 Laps + 2 Laps + 2 Laps + 3 Laps + 9 Laps Accident + 19 Laps Transmission Electrical Spun Off Engine Suspension Spun Off Steering Suspension Spun Off Accident Driver Injured

5 3 7 4 12 11 6 17 15 14 23 9 18 22 24 1 2 8 16 20 25 19 21 10 13

Final Constructors’ Standings 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7. = = 10.

Williams Ligier Brabham Renault Lotus Tyrrell Arrows Fittipaldi McLaren Ferrari

120 66 55 38 14 12 11 11 11 8

Elio de Angelis started and finished fourth (above) for Lotus while Bruno Giacomelli (below) should have won easily for Alfa Romeo such was his pace but an electrical gremlin put paid to his chances.

Reigning World Champion Jody Schecktar finished outside the points in his final race, the end of a completely uncompetitive season for Ferrari, which finished last in the Constructor’s Championship.

AutoAction

51

ACTION Mart THE ORIGINAL

OFTEN COPIED - NEVER EQUALLED www.speco.com.au

THE ULTIMATE IN CALIPER PAINTS AA2

IFFerence D e h t l e e F

• High quality German made limited slip differentials • Proven in competition by winners in FIA GT, ALMS, WTCC, Targa, BTCC, F3, Nßrburgring 24 hour and Bathurst 12 hour

“I only trust Brakes Direct!�

Chris ‘Atko’ Atkinson - World Rally Driver

• Competition gearboxes, Gear sets, Driveshafts, & Wheels Hubs also available

Contact details: P: W: www.drexler-motorsport.com.au

1300 724 943

brakesdirect.com.au

www.williamsraceservices.com.au sales@williamsraceservices.com Ph:07 5502 3636

Visit our new Southport showroom!

CAMS CAMS SPEC CAMS SPEC SPEC MILD MILD MILD STEEL STEEL STEEL CHROMOLY CHROMOLY TUBE TUBE -- SHEET SHEET -- SOLID SOLID SOLID

TUBE BENDERS - DIES - NOTCHERS

PH: 02 9676 8001 SHIPPING DAILY AUSTRALIA WIDE W W W. R A C E T E C H S T E E L . C O M . A U

www.austtrans.com

02 6933 6888 0

GORDON LEVEN

www.austtrans.com

MOTORSPORT TYRES

International Products - Local Knowledge

Australian Elite TREMEC Distributor for Transmissions, Parts and Service

11 Brewer Street. Clontarf. QLD 4019 | 07 3284 3785

www.tiltatrailer.com

LATEST TECHNOLOGY IN TYRE HEAT TREATING - TYRE BUFFING - TYRE GROOVING - TRACKSIDE SERVICE

Email: motorsport@gordonleven.com Tel: 02 4735 8734 Address: Unit 6 / 133 Russell St Emu Plains NSW 2750 Website: www.gordonleven.com.au

Distributor for G Force e ‡ Transmissions ‡ Parts ‡ Service

02 6933 6888 0

PRODUCTS/INDUSTRY

Contact Bruce Williams for bookings and information on 0418 349 555 or Bruce@Overdrivemedia.com.au

MYRACEPROFILE WEBSITES

828 Sydney Rd Brunswick 3056 (03) 93865331

/HDGLQJ /6 &RQYHUVLRQ 6SHFLDOLVWV &DVWOH +HDGHUV DQG ([KDXVW FRPSRQHQWV '\QRJHQ $OWHUQDWRUV 7KH KLGGHQ DOWHUQDWRU LQ D JHQHUDWRU ERG\ +L 7RUTXH *HDU 5HGXFWLRQ 6WDUWHU PRWRUV %LOOHW +LJK 3HUIRUPDQFH $OWHUQDWRUV :LSHU 0RWRU .LWV (), &RQYHUVLRQ /RRPV DQG (&8 UHSURJUDPPLQJ &RQYHUVLRQ HQJLQH PRXQWV 7UDQVPLVVLRQ &URVVPHPEHUV &RQYHUVLRQ 6XPSV 5DFN SLQLRQ &RQYHUVLRQV

&$(3(5)250$1&(352'8&76 &20 $8 0$,1 5' &$67/(0$,1( 9,&725,$ 7

myRaceprofile is a new racer-focused website building and hosting service – the only one of its kind in Australia.

Most racers share a universal belief that there aren’t any good options out there when it comes to simple, easy-to-use website platforms. Well, now there are‌ Everyone in the racing community can upload content quickly and easily, using a template that requires no specialist knowledge to navigate.

Or if you need a custom-build, then myRaceprofile will make your website stand out.“We wanted to create a range of website options that racers can feel right at home. The result is myRaceprofile – template and custom-built platforms with designs and features specifically built for the racing community,� TA2 racer and myRaceprofile director John McLaughlin explained.

Whether you’re a racer, a team or a business, get yourself a website that has a real racing look and feel, built by racing specialists.

For more information go to: https://myraceprofile.com/home/

THE PANEL BEATER’S BEST FRIEND: HAFCO 10 TONNE POWER

Australia’s JRi agent

FACTORY FACT TORY 40/22 TO 40/2 DUNN CRESCENT, DANDENONG SOUTH, VICTORIA, 3175 AUSTRALIA MOB: 0407 951 990 ROB@RACINGSHOCKSAUSTRALIA.COM.AU

THIS HAFCO PBK-10H Hydraulic Panel Beating kit has just about every attachment needed to bend, straighten, stretch, push, spread & manipulate automotive metal frames & panels back to original shape or location.

The Hydraulic two stage fast & slow pump with hose and connector provides greater control when in use, and easily allows you to change from the 10 tonne, 130mm stroke ram, to the 0.5 tonne spreader ram.

This kit includes a 160 x 90mm base to suit ram, 110, 265, 365 and 520mm extension tubes, 78mm round rubber head, Round head, Square head, Tapered wedge head, Cylinder toeand Extension toe, and it is all neatly packed into a handy storage carry case with wheels for your convenience.

For more information on the Hafco Hydraulic Panel Beating kit or to order go online to www.machineryhouse.com.au/A366

SMOOTH CORNERING ON EVERY BEND: EFFECTIVE TUBE BENDER

THIS HAFCO TBRS-25 tube bending kit has everything you need to make smooth bends in round and square tubes up to 1.2mm maximum wall thickness. Just mount the cast iron base securely onto your workbench top or clamp it into a bench vice, then you are ready to begin your bend.

This great package is capable of bending round tubes from Ă˜9.52, Ă˜12.7, Ă˜14.29, Ă˜15.87, Ă˜19.05 and Ă˜22.22mm, and square tube from 19.05 and 25.4mm.

Everything is also neatly packed into a handy storage carry case for convenience, For more information on the Hafco Tube Bending Kit or to order go to www.machineryhouse. com.au/T055

OVER 5,000 PRODUCTS

INSTORE OR ONLINE

machineryhouse.com.au

01_AA_290420

Formula One

Round 9 Russian GP

COSTLY MISTAKES

Valtteri Bottas wins while Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes make costly mistakes Race Report: DAN KNUTSON Images: LAT

VALTTERI BOTTAS always does well at the Sochi Autodrom, so he was confident that he could win this year’s Russian Grand Prix. His Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton had won six of the season’s nine races but, just as in the Italian Grand Prix, a penalty, two this time, took him out of contention for the victory in round 10.

So Hamilton

wound up third behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and winner Bottas.

Aussie Daniel Ricciardo had another strong race, finishing fifth in his Renault.

Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez claimed fourth place, his best finish of the season.

Hamilton started from the pole for the 96th time and led the early laps. But it was his two practice starts before the race that were his undoing. Both were made outside the area designated by the FIA’s race director, Australian Michael Masi, in the event notes.

Mercedes had mistakenly told Hamilton where to make those practice starts. The race stewards gave him two five-second stop-and-go penalties.

Bottas

reckoned he could have won even if Hamilton had not been penalised.

“I knew that there would be opportunities,” Bottas said after F1 career victory number nine.

Max Verstappen split the Mercedes duo in qualifying and again in the race results, but his Red Bull just didn’t have enough ultimate pace to take the win from them.

“I knew that one of the best ones would be the race start. But I knew that even if I can’t make it there it’s not over, because obviously with the medium tyre it’s quite an advantage in terms of strategy. Of course I believed I could do it. But who knows? He got that penalty and that’s it.”

A mistake by Hamilton in Qualifying 2 – he exceeded track limits – resulted in him having to make a last gasp dash on the soft compound Pirelli tyres to make sure he would move on to Qualifying 3. Therefore Hamilton had to start the 53-lap race on those tyres. Bottas, meanwhile, used the medium compound tyres in Q2, and thus had them for the race.

Bottas was able to do a much longer stint than Hamilton – 10 laps – before pitting for tyres, which resulted in Bottas

having much fresher and faster rubber than Hamilton in the closing stages of the race. So even if Hamilton had not been penalised, Bottas could have hunted him down.

Bottas qualified third but quickly got ahead of Verstappen who had started second. The end result was the first victory for Bottas since the season opener.

“It’s been a while ago but it’s been so close many times,” said Bottas. “I feel my race pace, especially this season, has been quite a bit better than any season before. So I can’t say it’s been frustrating, but it’s been a bit annoying that it’s been close but nearly there.

Things definitely did go my way today.

I have been saying that things can’t go against you forever. So definitely really

Days after learning that he would be replaced by Sebastian Vettel in 2021, Sergio Perez raced strongly to finish fourth (above), taking the place mid-race from Daniel Ricciardo’s Renault (below centre). It was Mercedes to the fore at the start (below left) but various factors combined to give Lewis Hamilton a day of chasing back through the field to third (below right).

Carlos Sainz’s race ended early with a shunt on the opening lap (right). satisfying today to get the win. It felt like it was well earned.”

After failing to finish the previous two races, Verstappen was pleased to get second even if he did not have the pace to challenge Bottas.

“There was very low grip on the inside of the grid at the start, which cost us a bit and the first few corners were pretty interesting,” Verstappen said. “But we stayed calm. I struggled to follow the Mercedes cars on the medium tyre as I had a lot of oversteer, but once I pitted on to the hard we were more competitive. I focused on my own race which we managed well. It’s good to be back on the podium, and we can definitely be pleased to finish within eight seconds of Bottas on this track.”

Hamilton described his afternoon as uneventful.

“It wasn’t that eventful,” he said. “I started first, was in first, I came out third, so not the most eventful day.

“It was about trying to recover as much as possible. It was just one of those days, but I’m grateful that I still managed to get a podium, bag some points and didn’t lose as much as I could have done.”

As for Ricciardo, he qualified fifth and briefly jumped up to third ahead of Verstappen

at the start of the race. Ricciardo made a mistake on lap 26 when he exceeded track limits by going over the kerb at Turn 2, just after teammate Esteban Ocon let him pass.

The result was a five second penalty for the Australian who, to retain fifth place, then had to make sure he finished the race more than five seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

“The outcome was a good one,” Ricciardo said. “But there were certainly some speed bumps along the way, literally! I took full responsibility for it. I just locked up and went wide. It lit a bit of a fire under my bum and I just got on with it. That was cool, I was proud to not let it get to me.”

Ricciardo has finished in the top six in the last four races.

“Taking a step back, I’m pretty happy with my day, and the end result as we take home some good points,” he said. “The car is working well, and reliability is good, so everything has come together nicely for us.”

Hamilton, who has 90 wins, will have to wait for another day to try and match Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 victories.

Kimi Räikkönen, meanwhile, has now matched Rubens Barrichello’s record of 322 F1 race starts.

Charles Leclerc surprised even himself with the Ferrari’s performance.

RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX 53 LAPS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 -

Valtteri Bottas Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Sergio Perez Daniel Ricciardo Charles Leclerc Esteban Ocon Daniil Kvyat Pierre Gasly Alexander Albon Antonio Giovinazzi Kevin Magnussen Sebastian Vettel Kimi Raikkonen Lando Norris Nicholas Latifi Romain Grosjean George Russell Carlos Sainz Jr. Lance Stroll

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team BWT Racing Point F1 Team Renault DP World F1 Team Scuderia Ferrari Renault DP World F1 Team Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN Haas F1 Team Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN McLaren F1 Team Williams Racing Haas F1 Team Williams Racing McLaren F1 Team BWT Racing Point F1 Team

1h34m00.364s 7.729s 22.729s 30.558s 52.065s 1m02.186s 1m08.006s 1m08.740s 1m29.766s 1m37.860s 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap Accident Collision

Points: Hamilton 205, Bottas 161, Verstappen 128, Norris 65, Albon 64, Ricciardo 63, Leclerc 57, Stroll 57, Perez 56, Gasly 45, Sainz 41, Ocon 36, Vettel 17, Kvyat 14, Hulkenberg 6, Raikkonen 2 Giovinazzi 2, Magnussen 1.

Constructors: Mercedes 366, Red Bull-Honda 192, McLaren-Renault 106, Racing Point-Mercedes 104, Renault 99, Ferrari 74, AlphaTauri-Honda 59, Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 4, Haas-Ferrari 1.

AutoAction

55

RACE REPORT The Bend Races 28, 29 & 30

SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED

Report: Heath McAlpine Images: LAT/Dirk Klynsmith/Insyde Media

THE PENULTIMATE round of what can be called a chaotic Supercars season took place for the first time using The Bend’s West layout but it was still same result, as Scott McLaughlin became champion-elect at the end of the three races.

To think that Supercars made it to this point considering the difficulties of the year is a noteable achievement.

So too is McLaughlin’s in scoring a hat-trick of title wins.

Although the racing wasn’t as action-packed as that which used the more traditional The Bend layout, the West layout did provide the setting for a maiden solo win for Cam Waters, who now arrives at The Mountain as one of the favourites teamed with Will Davison.

PRACTICE – VALUABLE LAPS TO BE HAD

For the first time this season, the rookie session played host to co-drivers ahead of the Bathurst 1000.

Bryce Fullwood topped the timesheets with a 1m 15.937s ahead of Jake Kostecki by 0.368s, while Macauley Jones was next.

The first co-driver was Tickford Racing’s Broc Feeney, who set a 1m 16.520s in fourth ahead of Chris Pither, Jordan Boys in the Commodore he’ll share with Todd Hazelwood, and fellow Brad Jones Racing co-driver Thomas Randle.

Jack Smith, Garry Jacobson, Brodie Kostecki and Kurt Kostecki completed the 11-car field.

A red-flag affected opening full-field Supercars practice session was topped by James Courtney, as he set a 1m 15.482s to edge championship

56 AutoAction

Anton de Pasquale had another strong weekend for Erebus, his best a second in race 29 (above). Jack Le Brocq starred for Tickford in race 28, qualifying fourth, grabbing second at the start and ultimately finishing fourth (below).

leader Scott McLaughlin by 0.038s.

The first session delay was due to Anton De Pasquale stopping on track with an electrical problem, before Bryce Fullwood did the same with 1m 42s left, resulting in practice not restarting.

Triple Eight pair Shane van Gisbergen and Whincup were next, while Fullwood was fifth.

De Pasquale returned to the track with a new ECU and battery.

McLaughlin went fastest in the second practice session, laying down a 1m 15.201s as the benchmark.

Chaz Mostert was just 0.0920s off the pace, although his lap was not truly a reflection of his pace, after dropping the left-side off the exit kerb.

The same occurred for van Gisbergen, who also went off at Turn 11 as he struggled to 15th.

Fabian Coulthard placed third as he continued his recent good form at The Bend. Fullwood was next ahead of Scott Pye and De Pasquale.

QUALIFYING – NUMBER 72 FOR SCOTTY

McLaughlin dominated the 10-minute phases of qualifying, topping both as some big names failed to make it into the Top 15 Shootout.

A 1m 15.303s did the job for McLaughlin in the first session, 0.3s clear of the next best as Reynolds led the four drivers cut from the first phase, but he was later disqualified due to a Parc Ferme breach.The Erebus Motorsport leader was miffed by his lack of pace.

He was joined by Pither, Smith and Kostecki on the sidelines for the second phase.

In the following 10-minute session, McLaughlin

Xxx x x x Xxx x x x Xxx x x x Xxx x x x Xxx x x x Xxx x x x Xxx x x x Xxx x x x Xxx x x x Xxx x x x Xxx x x x Xxx x x x

The Bend’s West circuit was short and sweet, though ultimately the racing wasn’t quite as good as it had been on the traditional layout. Nick Percat leads the mid field pack (top) while James Courtney was a factor (above) and Shane van Gisbergen (left) challenged for the win in Race 28.

set a best of 1m 15.034s as light rain during the closing stages didn’t appear to hamper the likes of Whincup, who made the cut for the Top 15 Shootout.

Those that didn’t were Kelly, Hazelwood, Jacobson and Davison.

TOP 15 SHOOTOUT – CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR

It was a case of close, but no cigar for Tickford Racing, when all four of its drivers made the Top 15 Shootout and three ended the session in the top five.

But it was still Ford rivals DJR Team Penske that reigned supreme.

Jack Le Brocq kicked proceedings off with a clean 1m 15.595s lap that set the early benchmark and remained unbeaten until his teammate Waters lowered the mark to a 1m 15.275s as the sixth car out.

Next out Fullwood set the fastest opening sector but was unable to overhaul Le Brocq’s early benchmark, placing 10th at the end of the session.

Pye joined Fullwood and Le Brocq in 1m 15.6s zone, but fell agonisingly short to start ninth.

Percat followed, pipping Pye, but still unable to better Le Brocq to place eighth, while Heimgartner improved on his time, but a 1m 15.691s left him unmoved in 11th.

The first of the casualties to lose spots was Holdsworth as tyre warmth played havoc with many of the one-lap dashes, the veteran finishing 13th.

Waters was next and set his dazzling lap time

www.autoaction.com.au

with the fastest middle and final sectors, before De Pasquale joined Pye, Percat, Fullwood and Heimgartner in the 1m 15.6s zone.

Winterbottom complained about the grip level as he split the tight cluster to be seventh, while Courtney joined his two Tickford teammates at the top of the timesheets with a 1m 15.601s.

Coulthard was next and he struggled to throughout his lap to find grip, placing 15th, Mostert was only slightly better in 12th, while Whincup finished the session 14th, a blow to his title aspirations.

Teammate van Gisbergen followed, but fell just short of Waters’ time, leaving only McLaughlin to come.

And the reigning champion didn’t disappoint, setting up his 74th pole position in the opening sector where the majority of the other competitors struggled. Yes, it may have been McLaughlin on pole, but it was only by 0.075s.

AutoActionMagazine

Auto_Action

RACE 28 – McLAUGHLIN EDGES CLOSER

It was a lights-to-flag win for McLaughlin, but it may not have been the case if van Gisbergen had not struggled with aero wash during the closing stages.

It was a delayed start to Race 30 as the start lights failed, forcing the field to complete another formation lap and reducing the original 32-lap race by one tour.

When the race started, McLaughlin made one of his now customary swift starts as he defended from Waters and van Gisbergen, but it was Le Brocq who was challenging around the outside.

By Turn 3, Le Brocq was second and van Gisbergen third, as Waters slotted into fourth.

Starting from 14th, Whincup was making an early charge, climbing four positions on the opening lap, but dropped behind Heimgartner a lap later.

instagram.com/autoactionmag/

The anticipated chaos at Turn 6 failed to eventuate, although the field ran three or four-wide, as McLaughlin held a 0.789s advantage ahead of Le Brocq, van Gisbergen and Waters.

It was a well-behaved field through the early stages, only a collision between Kelly and Hazelwood at Turn 6 the only misdemeanour.

Further pain was to come when the veteran stalled his Mustang in pit lane, losing 15s.

Two drivers who struggled in qualifying, Coulthard and Reynolds, kicked off the pit stops with the low tyre degradation leaving teams no choice but to fit two tyres.

Le Brocq was the first among the leaders to pit, hoping to employ the undercut strategy, but this was negated when McLaughlin pitted a lap later and extended his lead to 3s ahead of the Tickford racing driver.

Van Gisbergen assumed a 2s advantage in front of Waters, who was well clear of the chasing Percat, Winterbottom and Whincup.

The true form of the undercut was on display when Coulthard overtook Pye, Holdsworth, Heimgartner and Fullwood to move inside the top 10.

Waters was next to pit on lap 13 and he exited behind Le Brocq, however an air box fire for Le Brocq delayed him exiting Turn 6 and Waters was able to slot into an effective second a lap later.

Running longer, van Gisbergen aimed to split McLaughlin and Waters, which he achieved.

Now the battle was on between the two Kiwis for

AutoAction

57

X

RACE REPORT 28, 29 & 30 Results Race 28 24 Laps Supercars The Bend Motorsport Park Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 NC

Driver Scott McLaughlin Shane van Gisbergen Cameron Waters Jack Le Brocq Anton De Pasquale Nick Percat James Courtney Mark Winterbottom Fabian Coulthard Jamie Whincup Chaz Mostert Scott Pye Lee Holdsworth Andre Heimgartner Bryce Fullwood David Reynolds Macauley Jones Garry Jacobson Todd Hazelwood Chris Pither Jack Smith Alex Davison Rick Kelly Jake Kostecki

Laps/Margin 31 laps +0.647s +6.419s +11.301s +13.015s +13.771s +20.987s +21.855s +22.898s +23.233s +23.566s +26.238s +26.574s +29.331s +29.725s +30.857s +32.103s +33.220s +33.479s +43.317s +51.065s +51.630s +51.853s 5 laps

0 ▲1 ▼1 0 ▲1 ▲2 ▼2 ▼1 ▲6 ▲4 ▲1 ▼3 0 ▼3 ▼5 ▲8 0 ▲1 ▼1 ▲1 ▲1 ▼2 ▼7 ▼1

Results Race 29 32 Laps Supercars The Bend Motorsport Park West 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 NC NC NC NC NC

Scott McLaughlin Anton De Pasquale Cameron Waters James Courtney Shane van Gisbergen Nick Percat Jamie Whincup Chaz Mostert Rick Kelly Andre Heimgartner Todd Hazelwood Mark Winterbottom Jack Le Brocq Macauley Jones Chris Pither Jake Kostecki Jack Smith Bryce Fullwood Scott Pye Fabian Coulthard David Reynolds Garry Jacobson Lee Holdsworth Alex Davison

32 laps +1.127s +1.769s +2.816s +3.144s +3.654s +3.986s +4.571s +5.706s +8.955s +9.804s +10.410s +11.416s +12.246s +12.702s +15.144s +19.960s +25.993s 31 laps 21 laps 21 laps 4 laps 2 laps

0 ▲4 0 ▲1 ▲ 10 ▲2 ▼3 ▲2 0 ▲3 0 ▼5 ▲1 ▲6 ▲6 ▲7 ▲5 0 ▼7 0 ▼ 18 ▼5 ▼3

Results Race 30 32 Laps Supercars The Bend Motorsport Park West 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 NC

Cameron Waters Scott McLaughlin Jamie Whincup Nick Percat Shane van Gisbergen Chaz Mostert Todd Hazelwood Fabian Coulthard Lee Holdsworth James Courtney Anton De Pasquale Scott Pye Bryce Fullwood Andre Heimgartner Rick Kelly Mark Winterbottom David Reynolds Macauley Jones Jack Le Brocq Jake Kostecki Garry Jacobson Jack Smith Chris Pither Alex Davison

32 laps +3.358s +4.953s +7.360s +7.703s +10.536s +11.347s +11.941s +14.247s +20.732s +21.264s +21.460s +24.164s +25.074s +27.052s +27.761s +28.578s +30.351s +30.632s +32.752s +39.064s +43.576s +47.552s

▲1 ▼1 0 ▲4 ▲ 17 0 ▲5 ▼3 ▲4 ▼6 ▼2 ▲4 ▼6 ▲1 ▲3 ▼5 ▼3 ▼8 ▼2 ▲3 0 ▼3 ▼3

Points: McLaughlin 2354, Whincup 2049, Waters 1849, van Gisbergen 1795, Mostert 1700, Percat 1641, Coulthard 1560, De Pasquale 1469, Winterbottom 1386, Pye 1382, Reynolds 1372, Holdsworth 1361, Courtney 1320, Heimgartner 1300, Le Brocq 1270, Kelly 1208, Hazelwood 1181, Fullwood 1092, Jones 848, Jacobson 833, Smith 812, Pither 752, A Davison 656, Goddard 438, Kostecki 290, W Davison 231

58 AutoAction

Fabian Coulthard looked set to back up teammate Scot McLaughlin for a DJR Team Penske 1-2 in Race 29 when an in-put shaft failed (above), bringing out the safety car. Scott Pye had problems too with a flat right front tyre (right).

the lead, but what promised to be an exiting conclusion turned out to be a false dawn, as van Gisbergen was unable to set-up an attack within the two-lap period his rear tyres were at optimum levels.

Both Coulthard and Whincup were the movers in the pack, sitting seventh and eighth respectively, but it was bad news for Holden’s title hope as Whincup could only follow his rival across the line.

McLaughlin managed a comfortable 0.6s advantage across the line to take win 12 for the season, ahead of van Gisbergen, Waters, Le Brocq and De Pasquale.

A strong run from Percat clinched sixth ahead of Courtney, Winterbottom, Coulthard, Whincup and Mostert rounding out the 10.

Engine problems hit Kostecki, dropping him out of the race, but he was back for the next day. Similar maladies hit Davison, though he was unable to start on Sunday as Team Sydney’s spare engine was back at KRE to be prepared for Bathurst.

QUALIFYING RACES 29 AND 30 – COMPLETE THE HAT-TRICK

The sharp 10-minute qualifying sessions followed the same vein as the Top 15 ping the Shootout, with McLaughlin topping times in both.

A 1m 15.450s did the job for Race 29, beating Mostert’s early benchmark mark of 1m 15.788s. Teammate Coulthard completed a DJR Team Penske front-row lockout ockout with the top 16 entries covered by half alf a second.

Waters continued his good form rm in third, while Whincup was in a better position to stymie McLaughlin’s hopes of clinching the title in fourth.

Van Gisbergen was well off thee pace in 15th, a form reversal from thee previous day.

Another to struggle was Le Brocq in 14th, while Reynolds was still amiss in 16th.

A mistake for van Gisbergen proved costly in the final sector when he appeared on course to take pole for Race 30, which he was unable to recover from. Thee result was 22nd.

McLaughlin bettered his time from the first session to take another pole, a 1m 15.343s remaining unbeaten with Waters being the closest at 0.199s off the mark.

Whincup was again in a goodd position on the second-row alongside Courtney. rtney Coulthard and Mostert completed row three as Fullwood improved dramatically between the sessions, to be seventh after qualifying 18th in the first.

Reynolds again started back in 14th, while Le Brocq was further behind in 17th.

RACE 29 – FAILURE QUELLS PENSKE 1-2

It was all set-up for another DJR Team Penske 1-2 after a textbook start by both, however this time it was Coulthard who led into Turn 1 as McLaughlin defended from Whincup and Waters down the inside.

Meanwhile, van Gisbergen was struggling in unfamiliar territory that was the midpack, and he dropped further back to 17th to join Holdsworth in a vigorous battle.

It was a robust battle that ended at the final corner of the opening lap, when Holdsworth, Jones and Jacobson tried to go three-wide, the resulting collision severely damaging the front-left corner of the

Tickford Racing Mustang as well as the Matt Stone Racing Commodore ZB. Next driver to be spun was Le Brocq, who was tagged by Fullwood exiting Turn 7, resulting in a 15s penalty.

The cause of the incident can be traced back to a Turn 1 collision between Kelly, Hazelwood and Winterbottom, which speared the two veterans wide. The resulting compression of the mid-pack resulted in a robust battle ending in Le Brocq’s spin.

By lap 8, both DJR Team Penske drivers were comfortably in front, allowing McLaughlin and Coulthard to swap positions before the pit stops.

De Pasquale was the first driver to stop and just like Coulthard, effected the undercut perfectly.

The DJR Team Penske driver was joined in pit lane by Waters on lap 9 as De Pasquale was bearing down. Coulthard managed to pop out in front, but Waters was delayed by debris from Jacobson’s Commodore caught in his air dam, allowing De Pasquale through.

McLaughlin was in on lap 11, handing Whincup the lead and a clear track for four laps before he pitted. It wasn’t a smooth pit stop at Triple Eight as Whincup hit the rattle gun line and knocked it out of a team member’s hand.

Courtney jumped him, as did Percat, while Pye ran long, but he too was hurt by a delayed pit stop, which only allowed three of the four tyres to be fitted.

It didn’t end up costing too much as a safety car period ensued after Coulthard’s run in second ended with a snapped in-put shaft, while Reynolds was stranded with a transaxle failure.

Van Gisbergen had recovered slightly from his poor qualifying, but by running long he took advantage of the safety car to be situated in the top 10 by the time the race restarted.

This set the scene for a characteristic charge from the Kiwi where he climbed to fifth, including demoting his teammate down to seventh.

Due to Coulthard’s retirement, De Pasquale took over second but was unable to mount a challenge as he finished 1.1s behind the championship leader, who edged ever-closer toward clinching his third title.

Waters finished third ahead of Courtney, van Gisbergen, Percat, Whincup, Mostert, Kelly and Heimgartner.

Pye’s race failed to improve after a puncture halted his run on the penultimate lap.

RACE 30 – FINALLY, WATERS DOES IT

A pivotal move at the start by Waters decided the final race of the weekend.

Cameron Waters finally won his first Supercars’ Sprint race with a decisive victory in Race 30 (above), the event that champion-elect McLaughlin clinched the 2020 title. Here he is congratulated by long-time championship rival Jamie Whincup (right).

He equalled the benchmark starter in the championship and instead of moving to the inside at Turn 1, swept around the outside to take the lead.

Now with a better set-up, van Gisbergen made an early charge, climbing seven positions by lap 4 before overtaking Jones and Holdsworth a lap later.

Within the top 10, Mostert was a major loser in his battle with Courtney after he was run wide at the exit of Turn 3, allowing Coulthard, Percat and Fullwood through, though his junior teammate was only ahead for a short time.

As Waters held McLaughlin at bay, Whincup was the first to pit on lap 8, being released into fresh air.

Courtney and Coulthard also pitted, but an electrical gremlin hampered the Tickford driver’s exit, forcing the DJR team Penske

Mustang to overtake in avoidance.

Next, the two leaders pitted and emerged just ahead of Whincup, but behind the trio, Hazelwood had crept up to be an effective fifth.

Courtney continued to have a rough time after a battle with Coulthard sent him into the dirt on the outside of Turn 5, only dropping position to Fullwood.

Again, van Gisbergen ran long until lap 20, re-joining among the battle for fifth where Hazelwood was holding off Mostert and Coulthard.

This battle started to hot up as van Gisbergen demoted Coulthard, just as Mostert did the same to Hazelwood at Turn 6, before the Kiwi passed the BJR driver at Turn 1.

A concertina was starting to appear led

by Whincup in third and completed by van Gisbergen in sixth.

However, positions remained the same heading into the final lap, with a Mostert mistake at Turn 6 allowing van Gisbergen through to fifth and that’s where he stayed.

For Waters, it was a lonely race as he took the flag by 3.358s ahead of McLaughlin and Whincup.

Percat followed in fourth with van Gisbergen, Mostert, Hazelwood, Coulthard, Holdsworth and Courtney completing the 10.

With second, McLaughlin clinched the 2020 title as he holds a 305-point margin approaching Bathurst, where there are just 300 points of offer to the winner.

The manufacturer’s crown is also the Blue Oval’s now, leaving the Team’s Championship as the only one to play for at Mount Panorama.

Just 100-points separate DJR Team Penske and Triple Eight.

SUPPORTS The Bend

JOHNSTON DOMINATES EXCELS Report: Dan McCarthy Images: Insyde Media ASHER JOHNSTON dominated the nonchampionship Excel Shootout round at The Bend Motorsport Park, by taking pole and all three races.

Competing around the shorter West Circuit layout, Johnson took pole position by 0.69s from Jayden Wanzek and Lee Stibbs.

At the start of Race 1 Johnston and Wanzek made an even jump and ran side by side into Turn 1. Stibbs made a move on Wanzek as the pair ran side by side for much of the lap, with Stibbs coming out on top.

At the end of lap 1 Johnston led Stibbs, Andrew Hobby and Wanzek but this soon changed. On lap 2 Wanzek retook third position and set about overtaking Stibbs, as Daniel Errigo joined the fight and made it a four-way battle for second.

By lap 9 Wanzek and Errigo had pulled away and began to fight tooth and nail for second position, exchanging the position on multiple occasions in the closing laps.

Out front Johnston was unchallenged and took the win by 5.7s, Wanzek took second position by a slender 0.26s from Errigo, with Stibbs in fourth.

www.autoaction.com.au

Race 2 was very much the same as the opening race, Johnston taking a comfortable victory as his opposition fought hard for second position.

At the start Stibbs was able to overtake Errigo around the outside at Turn 1 but did not hold the position for long, as the #22 Excel blasted back past.

While Johnston again pulled away, a heated two car tussle for second place took place between Wanzek and Errigo, more fierce than the pair’s Race 1 encounter.

On the penultimate lap Wanzek retook second position into Turn 1, only for Errigo to fire back up the inside at Turn 3. The pair made considerable contact with Wanzek lucky to remain facing the right direction.

Undeterred Wanzek caught and past Errigo on the pit straight and held onto second position, Errigo was third with Stibbs again in fourth.

The final race was much calmer as the field spread out early on, Johnston in his Check It Out Racing Excel again unchallenged taking first in both the race and round ahead of Wanzek.

Stibbs overtook Errigo on the opening lap and held onto third until the chequered flag flew, nevertheless in finishing fourth Errigo took third for the round.

AutoActionMagazine

Auto_Action

SEB AMADIO TAKES TWO

Report: Dan McCarthy Images: Insyde Media IN THE South Australian Sports Car Invitational category at The Bend Motorsport Park, on his car racing debut Sebastien Amadio took two out of three races.

Race victories were shared between Amadio and Michael Almond but as both also suffered retirements, it was the consistent Makris who took the overall win.

It was the first time this combination of sports car categories had run as a class at a Supercars Championship round, and it threw up three frenetic and exciting 35-minute races.

For Race 1 Mark Laucke took pole position from long-time rival Makris. In the opening laps the race was fought between the pair, that were both disadvantaged by long compulsory pit stop times.

Late in the race a safety car was called for a collision between Tim Cook and Michael

instagram.com/autoactionmag/

Whiting, and the timing of it immensely benefited Amadio.

As a result, he went on to take the win on his car racing debut by 55s from Makris and Laucke.

In Race 2 from the back of the grid - after the man he shared the car with, Garth Waldon, retired in Race 1 - Almond charged through the pack to take an unlikely win ahead of Blake Purdie. Makris bagged crucial points in eighth.

After retiring from Race 2, it was Amadio’s turn to fly through the field and at the conclusion of the compulsory pitstops, the Superkart graduate found himself at the head of the field.

Despite their best efforts experienced Sports car drivers Makris and Laucke were unable to close down the gap in time, allowing Amadio to take his second win.

Makris finished second to take the round win.

He had closed the gap down from 21s to 7.7s in the last three laps, but it was too late. Behind, Laucke crossed the line in third.

AutoAction

59

MOTOGP AND WORLD SUPERBIKE WRAP

QUARTARARO BOUNCES BACK AS DOVI CRASHES

Reports: DAN MCCARTHY Images: LAT FLYING FRENCHMAN Fabio Quartararo has bounced back from a poor run of results, to reaffirm his position at the head of the MotoGP standings after victory at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

It is a venue that has brought Quartararo great success in the past, and where he took his sole Moto2 pole and race victory in 2018 and first MotoGP podium last year.

His third race victory of the season came off the back of a five-race podium drought, which saw him lose the championship lead.

Aussie Miller again performed strongly in qualifying and in the race converted it to a solid fifth place finish.

However as he did one-week prior, Miller had to fight his way through Q1, at the expense of some notable names including Alex Rins who would start 13th, Francesco Bagnaia (who nearly won one week prior) in 14th and championship leader Andrea Dovizioso, who could only manage to qualify 17th.

Fabio Quartararo returned to form for Yamaha, winning the Catalan Grand Prix (top) to re-take the title points lead. The Suzukis qualified poorly again, but Joan Mir (above left) grabbed second on the last lap and Alex Rins (above right) third.

In Q2 it was the Yamaha quartet that fought for pole position and for the first time in his premier class career, Franco Morbidelli took pole by 0.21s from his Petronas Yamaha teammate Quartararo.

Veteran Valentino Rossi also qualified on the front row for the first time all season.

Miller managed to pip the Yamaha of Maverick Vinales to fourth despite only having one new set of soft tyres left.

In the race Quartararo drove maturely and smoothly and held on to take the race win from the two Suzukis of Joan Mir and Rins.

On the opening lap Quartararo fell to third behind Rossi, but not for long.

He overtook the factory Yamaha rider on lap 6 and then Morbidelli on lap 9.

Pushing hard to keep up with the Frenchman, Morbidelli made a mistake at Turn 1 on lap 14 running well wide under brakes. He was lucky to stay on the bike, losing multiple seconds in the process and falling to third.

Now in second ‘The Doctor’ tried to keep pace with the man half his age, but pushing too hard Rossi crashed out at Turn 2 on lap 16.

From that moment onwards, Quartararo was never directly challenged but had to be careful of the ever looming Suzukis.

It was a historic day for the Japanese brand as for the first time since 2007 with Australian Chris Vermeulen and John Hopkins, Suzuki had two riders on the podium.

Qualifying once again proved to be the bikes Achilles’ heel, with tyre life late in the race the machines’ forte.

Mir qualified in eighth with Rins down in 13th, however the pair scythed their way through the pack to both finish on the podium.

Mir made his way up to fifth on

ROSSI SIGNS FOR 2021 IT HAS finally been confirmed that MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi will race for the satellite Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team in 2021, with factory support.

The nine-time World Champion officially signed a one-year contract renewal for 2021 as a factory Yamaha rider for the Petronas squad, with full support from Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd. The deal essentially sees a straight swap between current championship leader and Petronas rider Fabio Quartararo and ‘The Doctor.’

The 41-year-old Italian decided on his future before the COVID-19 delayed 2020 MotoGP season began, and is happy that the agreement has been reached.

“I am very happy to continue riding in 2021 and to do it with the Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team,” an elated Rossi said.

“In the first half of the year I made my choice and I talked with Yamaha, who agreed with me,” he said.

“They told me even if there was no place for me in the factory team, the factory bike and the

60 AutoAction

factory support were guaranteed.

“I am very happy to move to Petronas Yamaha SRT, they are young but they‘ve shown to be a top team, they are very serious and very well organised.

Rossi is looking forward to continuing with new engineer David Munoz and sharing the same garage with his VR46 academy rider and good friend Franco Morbidelli.

“For this year I also changed my crew chief.

I‘m very happy with David, and I think we haven‘t reached our best yet,” Rossi continued.

“This was one of the reasons why I chose to continue, because the atmosphere in the team is something I like a lot.

“It’ll be nice to have Franco as my team-mate, as he‘s an Academy rider, it‘s going to be cool. I think we can work together to make good things happen.”

Rossi’s departure from the official factory

Yamaha team sees the end of a 15-season relationship that included four world titles, 142 podiums, 56 victories and 251 races.

Yamaha managing director Lin Jarvis is pleased that Rossi will remain with the brand for at least one more season.

“We are delighted that Valentino will be staying in MotoGP for another year, and we are sure the fans of the sport feel the same way,” Jarvis said.

“I previously stated that this COVID-19 influenced MotoGP season would not be the appropriate year for such a legendary rider to close his career. Hopefully the fans will be allowed back into the tracks next year, to savour watching the GOAT in action again.

“I would like to thank the management of the Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team for their enthusiasm and full collaboration to welcome Valentino into their team.” Dan McCarthy

the opening lap, the #36 rider then overtook the retired Rossi and Miller on lap 16 before making light work of Morbidelli on the penultimate lap.

Rins had many more bikes to overtake but also made his way past Morbidelli on the penultimate lap, both Mir and Rins finishing within 2s of the race winner.

Morbidelli came home fourth ahead of Miller, the Queenslander fighting off his teammate Bagnaia and Nakagami on the final lap.

After that came factory Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci, who was lucky to stay on his bike after a moment on lap 1. Directly behind, Johann Zarco fell in avoidance and took out an infuriated Dovizioso, who saw his championship lead disappear.

The previous week’s race winner Vinales had no pace at all in the early laps, the Spaniard falling to 16th at one point before recovering to finish ninth, just ahead of Cal Crutchlow.

STANDINGS Quartararo 108, Mir 100, Vinales 90, Dovizioso 84, Morbidelli 77, Miller 75, Nakagami 72, Rins 60, Oliveira 59, Binder 58

DUCATI RIDERS CONFIRMED AFTER MONTHS of waiting, Ducati has announced that Australian Jack Miller’s teammate at the factory team will be Francesco Bagnaia, as well confirming its two riders at Pramac Racing.

As speculated for many months, Italian ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia will make the move up to the factory Ducati team along with his current Pramac Racing teammate Miller.

This leaves two vacancies at the satellite Pramac Ducati squad, which will be filled by current Avintia Ducati rider Johann Zarco and 2018 Moto3 champion Jorge Martin.

Bagnaia has had a rollercoaster season to date which has seen him take his maiden podium finish, suffer an injury that had him miss three races, and crash out of the lead of the Emilia Romagna and Rimini’s Coast Grand Prix.

GARDNER RETURNS

REDDING KEEPS HOPES ALIVE

AFTER BREAKING a thumb and fracturing his left foot in three places, Australian Remy Gardner returned after missing two races to Moto2 action at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

It was a difficult weekend for the #87 SAG Racing Team rider. In Friday practice Gardner was handed a grid penalty for crashing under yellow flags, and as a result he started from 16th after qualifying 10th.

Gardner overcame a long-lap penalty for exceeding track limits but was unable to make much progress through the field, with a highest race position of 13th.

At the end of the race Gardner finished where he started in 16th which leaves the 22-year-old 12th in the standings. DM

Report: Dan McCarthy Images: LAT DESPITE JONATHAN Rea’s best efforts, the World Superbike Championship is now going down to the final round, after an exciting and very wet event at Magny-Cours.

Over the weekend, Rea took the honours in the opening two races, with Scott Redding taking victory in the final race.

In the wet qualifying session, it was the factory BMW pair of Eugene Laverty and Tom Sykes that locked out the top two positions, however this did not last more than one corner in the race.

Around Turn 1, American Garrett Gerloff went up the inside and bumped Sykes who fell down and clattered into Laverty, eliminating both BMWs on the spot.

Gerloff would also later crash out of the race.

After being threatened mid-race by Loris Baz, Rea was able to pull out a lead and take the win by 3.34s from the Frenchman, with Alex Lowes in third ahead of the factory Ducatis of Chaz Davies and Redding.

The Superpole Race was won by Rea,

However, Ducati is confident it has seen enough potential in the 23-year-old to promote him to the factory Ducati Corse squad.

“Today I am the happiest person in the world,” Bagnaia said.

“For me it is a dream come true, being an official Ducati rider has always been my ambition and I have succeeded, together with all those who have always believed in me even when things did not go right.

“Special thanks to Claudio Domenicali, Gigi Dall’Igna, Paolo Ciabatti and Davide Tardozzi

www.autoaction.com.au

FORES TO DEPART PUCCETTI RACING the 99th of his WSBK career, by beating his Kawasaki teammate Lowes by 2.38s.

Redding came home in fourth after failing to make a successful pass on Michael van der Mark.

Rea knew heading into the final race that he only needed to finish third to secure his sixth consecutive title. However, he led the early laps before fading to fourth in the midsection of the race.

Redding went onto take a controlled 2.5s win over former MotoGP rider Baz. In the closing laps Rea caught back up to

the rear of Davies and threw everything at the Welschman in the closing laps but was unable snatch back third.

Rea came home in fourth ahead of van der Mark.

Heading into the final round Redding must win all three races to have any chance of taking the title.

STANDINGS Rea 340, Redding 281, Davies 222, van der Mark 203, Lowes 179, Razgatlıoglu 175, Rinaldi 166, Baz 135, Bautista 99, Haslam 91

for their trust, to the Pramac Racing Team who welcomed me like a family, and to the VR46 Riders Academy which has always supported me over the years.”

Frenchman Zarco has been awarded for his efforts throughout the season with a promotion to Pramac Racing.

After leaving the factory KTM team before the season concluded last year, the two-time Moto2 World Champion was thrown a lifeline by the Avintia Ducati squad for 2020.

Zarco proved he still has the pace by taking a pole position and a podium finish on the satellite

bike and earn himself a ride with Pramac Ducati.

An elated Martin will step up from Moto2 to make his debut in the premier class in 2021, the Spaniard having a breakout season in the secondtier series with a win and two other podium finishes.

“It’s official! Next year I will be racing in MotoGP with the best riders of the world,” Martin said on Instagram.

“I cannot thank enough, all the people that helped me during all my career, thanks Ducati Corse and Pramac Racing for the opportunity!”

Pramac Racing team owner Paolo Campinoti is delighted to welcome the two new riders to the team.

“We are happy to have reached the agreement with Johann and Jorge,” Campinoti said.

“We want to continue an important project that is giving us great satisfaction. The sporting qualities and the winning mentality of the two riders are extremely well known, expectations are therefore high.

“We know Johann well and we have a very positive feeling with him: the same will be with Jorge.” Dan McCarthy

AutoActionMagazine

Auto_Action

instagram.com/autoactionmag/

SPANISH FIM World Superbike World Championship rider Xavi Fores has announced he will depart the satellite Kawasaki Puccetti Racing team at the end of the season.

It has been a torrid sole campaign with the Italian team to date which has yielded just one top 10 finish for the multiple time WSBK podium finisher.

Fores made the announcement on his Instagram page, stating that he was disappointed the partnership with the team was unsuccessful.

“I would like to inform all of you that next season I’ll not continue with Puccetti Racing in WorldSBK,” Fores said.

“It was a shame that this project couldn’t be as successful as we all expected, they were expecting more from me and me from them.”

Despite the sudden announcement, Fores was grateful for the opportunity and says his 2021 plans will become clear soon.

“I would like to thank all the crew for their efforts and wish them all the best for the future,” he continued.

“My plans will be clearer in a couple of weeks. Let’s finish the season in the best possible way.”

After finishing seventh in the 2018 standings collecting five podiums on the Barni Racing Team Ducati, Fores was left without a ride for the 2019 season.

Kawasaki Puccetti Racing offered Fores a lifeline to return to the series in 2020, replacing outgoing factory Yamaha rider Toprak Razgatlioglu.

In 2020 the Puccetti Kawasaki team hasn’t enjoyed the success it did with Razgatlioglu last year, when the combination worked together to achieve two wins and 13 podiums. DM

AutoAction 61

INTERNATIONAL

WRAP

Images: LAT

CAMMISH FIGHTS BACK

AN EXCEPTIONAL weekend at Silverstone has seen factory Honda driver Dan Cammish work his way back into British Touring Car Championship title contention, scoring top four positions in all three races.

The #27 machine took victory in Race 1 after an epic battle with Tom Ingram, who finished second ahead of Rory Butcher with Colin Turkington and Ash Sutton rounding out the top five.

Reigning champion Turkington won Race 2 from Cammish, while championship rivals Ingram and Sutton both had issues and both failed to score.

Race 3 saw Ford Focus driver Ollie Jackson take his first BTCC race win from Tom Olliphant and Sutton. DM

THREE IN A ROW

FORMER INDYCAR star Helio Castroneves and American Ricky Taylor have taken their third straight IMSA Sportscar Championship victory of the season, and now sit firmly in title contention after a slow start to the season.

The Team Penske duo took the win in Mid-Ohio by just 0.607s from championship rivals Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr, while series leaders Aussie Ryan Briscoe and Renger van der Zande crossed the line in third.

Porsche withdrew from GTLM after positive COVID-19 tests were taken within the team at Le Mans.

As a result, Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor led home Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner in a Corvette 1-2 finish, while the BMWs rounded out the four cars in class.

Aaron Telitz and Jack Hawksworth took the class win in GTD. DM

WET NORDSCHLEIFE

FRENCHMAN YANN Ehrlacher has taken early control of the WTCR series with two podiums on a wet Nurburging Nordschleife circuit.

Heading into the weekend Hyundai withdrew all four of its cars from the grid, as it felt it was being unfairly treated with the Balance of Performance.

The first race was won by Esteban Guerrieri after a memorable pass around the outside of veteran Yvan Muller.

From there, the Munnich Motorsport Honda driver led home a Lynk & Co 2-3-4 with Muller beating home his nephew Ehrlacher and Thed Bjork.

Lynk & Co improved to take the top spot in Race 2, with Ehrlacher leading home Bjork and Honda driver Attila Tassi. DM

62 AutoAction

POWER WINS INDY - ROAD COURSE!

After leading 29 laps, on much older tyres Herta faded to finish the race in fourth ahead of Felix Rosenqvist, who scored his first top five finish since taking his maiden win at Road America.

After winning at the venue in July, Dixon had a race to forget. Running down in seventh on the penultimate lap, the New Zealander made a mistake under pressure from Graham Rahal, running off the track at Turn 7.

The American veteran finished second ahead of Jack Harvey, Dixon and Marcus Ericsson, who rounded out the top 10.

The following day Power dominated proceedings by leading all 75 laps, though he didn’t cruise to victory having to fend of a late race attack from Herta.

With 10 laps to go Power held a 1.5s lead but this was quickly trimmed, the Aussie having

to use all his experience in the final five laps to take the win by 0.893s.

“The tyres were going away,” Power said. “It was a very tough battle. I had to work very hard to keep him (Herta) behind.

“I’m over the moon to get another win, especially at this place. It was good not to get caught by a yellow or something strange like that.”

After a terrible start to the season, Rossi claimed his fourth straight podium finish in third behind young teammate Herta.

Newgarden came home in fourth to further trim the deficit to Dixon, with Pato O’Ward rounding out the top five.

Dixon could qualify no higher than 15th on the grid, and during the race itself he made contact with Ryan Hunter Reay which damaged his car.

Nevertheless, Dixon limited the metaphorical damage to finish the race in eighth position.

This now means that in the final race Dixon needs to finish in the top eight to take the title, something he has done just once in the last four races.

STANDINGS Dixon 502, Newgarden 470, Herta 401, Power 388, O’Ward 376, Rahal 354, Sato 328, Pagenaud 311, Rossi 305, Rosenqvist 294 .

A late race safety car benefitted Busch, who took the opportunity with both hands to win.

Hamlin led a race best 121 laps but came home in third position ahead of Martin Truex Jr. and Alex Bowman.

Harvick finished the race in 10th, a disappointing result in what has been an uncompromising season until that point.

A week later at the legendary Talladega Superspeedway, Hamlin took the win in the third overtime by just 0.023s from Matt DiBenedetto.

However post-race DiBenedetto was penalised for forcing William Byron below the yellow line at Turn 4 on the final lap, demoting him to 21st position.

Hamlin started the race from pole position as he was the new championship leader and went onto take his seventh win of the season by simply staying out of trouble.

“We just played the strategy and the numbers game to run in the back until we were locked in, Hamlin said.

“Just things worked out, we finally got one back, this one was unexpected to say the least.”

Behind him Erik Jones was promoted to second, with Ty Dillon third.

Both Harvick and Brad Keselowski comfortably finished outside of the top 15 but still collected points, unlike title rivals Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola and Kurt Busch, who was brought back down to earth.

Report: DAN MCCARTHY Images: LAT TEAM PENSKE’S race wins on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course means that the 2020 IndyCar Series is going down to the final race of the season.

The first race of the double header was won by Josef Newgarden, with his Aussie teammate Will Power taking victory in the second race.

The strong set of races saw Newgarden close to within one race victory of the once runaway championship leader Scott Dixon, and as a result keeps the title alive heading to the streets of St. Petersburg.

In the opening race of the weekend Newgarden took the lead on lap 60 after forcing Andretti youngster Colton Herta into a mistake at Turn 1.

From there with 25 laps to go the reigning champion pulled away to take his third win of 2020 and first at the IMS by a comfortable 14.29s over former Indy500 winner Alexander Rossi.

Rinus VeeKay scored his maiden IndyCar pole position and converted it to a first podium finish in third, driving for Ed Carpenter Racing.

HAMLIN TO THE TOP Report: DAN MCCARTHY Images: LAT FOR THE first time in many weeks we have a new leader at the head of the NASCAR Cup Series, with Denny Hamlin taking the reigns from Kevin Harvick after victory at Talladega.

Two vastly different races took place within a week, Kurt Busch winning in Las Vegas and Hamlin winning at Talladega.

Incredibly, Kurt Busch’s win was the first for either of the Busch brothers this season with reigning series winner Kyle remaining winless in 2020.

Kurt’s victory in Las Vegas was the first he has ever taken in his home town and after scraping through into the Round of 12 playoffs, he became the first automatic qualifier into the next stage after holding off Matt DiBenedetto by 0.148s.

Images: LAT

AUSSIES OFF TO ITALY

TWO AUSTRALIANS will take part in the Ferrari Driver Academy later this month, as part of its new partnership with Motorsport Australia.

James Wharton and Marcos Flack will represent the Asia Pacific and Oceania region when both head to Fiorano on October 21 to 27, to compete against other drivers from around the world for a place in the Ferrari Driver Academy.

Flack, 14, began his motor sport at the age of 5 and has since karted in Australia for the CRG team, which also gave him the opportunity to race overseas.

Last summer, Flack worked as a mechanic in the highly competitive Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand, to gain knowledge in the technical side of motor racing.

“I am just so happy and honoured to have this opportunity to go over to Italy to represent Australia,” Flack, now 14, said.

“I just want to enjoy the opportunity and learn more about my driving as part of the next step in my racing career.

“I certainly look up to Ferrari drivers like Michael Schumacher and Charles Leclerc, who has come in to Formula 1 and been fast straight away, so I am really looking forward to being part of the Ferrari Driver Academy.”

Fellow 14-year-old Wharton is already in Europe and has starred internationally on the karting stage, in FIA-CIK level events including the Karting World Championships.

“I feel proud to be able to honour Australia,” Wharton said.

“There haven’t been many Australians involved with Ferrari and I am looking forward to being able to represent Australia and represent myself with such a big name in world motorsport.

“I have an amazing opportunity to achieve some of the goals that I have set for myself, but I know there is still a long way to go and I will be putting in a lot of work and maximum effort.”

Motorsport Australia CEO Eugene Arocca congratulated the duo on their selection.

“We are delighted to have James and Marcos representing Australia alongside some of the best drivers in the world, at this year’s Ferrari Driver Academy program,” Arocca said.

“James and Marcos presented very well in their interviews through this process and showed they have the talent to match it with the best in the world, and we wish them all the best at Fiorano.” HM

MURH JNR COMPETING IN the United States Ronan Murphy, son of four-time Bathurst 1000 winner Greg, has hit a strong run of form in the highly competitive USF4 Championship.

Two rounds have taken place over the last two weekends. In those six races, Murphy finished in the top 10 on three occasions having previously only finished one race in the points.

In the fourth round of the season at the Sebring International Raceway, the New Zealander scored two top 10 results in a field of 23 cars.

For the opening race of the weekend Murphy struggled to string a lap together and qualified in 15th position.

Driving the #91 Crosslink/Kiwi Motorsport machine, Murphy found himself caught up in an accident on the fourth lap and forced to retire.

Race 2 was Murphy’s drive of the season to date, from 23rd on the grid he shot up the order, overtaking 14 drivers in just 13 laps to finish ninth.

He continued that form into the final race of the weekend in which he was classified in eighth position, his best result of the season.

“Decent weekend overall at Round 4 of the F4 US Championship at Sebring,” Murphy posted on Facebook.

“Huge thanks to everyone at Kiwi Motorsport NZ for all the hard work and to Hunter McElrea for all

his help and support over the weekend.”

On the Homestead-Miami Speedway road course Murphy qualified eighth but was unable to convert it, finishing the first race in 17th.

Murphy then retired in the closing laps of Race 2, but again rebounded well to take yet another eighth-place finish.

The final round takes place on October 23-25 at the Circuit of the Americas. DM

FORMER AUSTRALIAN Carrera Cup Series winner Nick Foster leapt from his LMP2 at Le Mans to a Mercedes GT3 machine just days later, to contest the GT World Challenge Europe Series round at Zandvoort. Foster drove alongside Valentin Pierburgin in the #20 car as the German’s regular co-driver Dominik Baumann was competing in the Nurburgring 24 Hour. In the two races, Foster achieved two Pro-Am class podium finishes. In Race 1 the pair finished 14th outright and third in class, and backed this up the following day with another third placed finish. DM

AT SILVERSTONE Christian Mansell took two more Rookie Cup class victories in the British F4 Championship. Coming into the weekend Mansell’s closest rival for the rookie honours was Frederick Lubin. In the opening race both Mansell and Lubin retired but bounced back in the second affair. Mansell finished seventh and sixth overall in the final two races respectively, to take the honours in the Rookie Cup. DM

IN THE Japanese Super GT 300 class, Aussie Jake Parsons alongside regular co-driver Ryo Michigami looked set for some points until the final laps at Fuji. After starting from 23rd, the pair had a great run and by the end of the race were fighting for a top 10 finish. However, with five laps to go Parsons collided with a GT 500 machine and was spun. He recovered the Honda NSX quickly but crossed the line in 13th. DM

AUSSIE AIDAN Read has continued the progress shown in recent rounds of the ADAC GT Masters series, along with his co-driver Joel Eriksson in the Schubert Motorsport BMW M6. Qualifying 25th for Race 1 at Sachsenring, the pair hit trouble and finished the race five laps down, but still classified 30th. Race 2 the pair qualified 24th and showed great race pace, making their way through the competitive field, bagging a point by coming home in 15th. DM IT WAS a difficult round of action for Joshua Car in the US Regional Championship. Round 4 took place at Sebring and started on a positive note when Car finished the opening race in fourth, only 5.3s behind the race winner. In Races 2 and 3 his fortune turned for the worse, being forced to retire in both. DM

AutoAction

63

p ra w S L A NATION

64 AutoAction FEATURE

CLUCAS CLAIMS CLOSE THREE SPRINGS 360

SURVIVING A mechanical drama in the latter stages, Jake Clucas held on for his first career win in the Inland Mechanical Three Springs 360, round two of the West Australian Off Road Racing Championship on September 26-27.

His single seater Prolite Chenoweth/ Toyota dropped onto four cylinders, but he was able to hold on to the lead and finished 1min 36s ahead Brad Cooper and Arron Smithson (Pro Buggy Bat Racing/Chev LS2), with third place going to Jason Galea and Kiera Mann-Piercy (SXS Turbo CanAm Rotax).

Over 40 teams were there for the start but the event took its toll, with just 25 able to finish at least one section.

Clucas placed sixth in the 14km prologue behind Harleigh Uren (Extreme 2WD Pro2 Trophy Truck/ Chev LS2), Phil Shepley and Kyle Smit (Extreme2WD Pro2 TT/Chev LS2), Adam and Craig Trewhella (Pro Buggy Rimco/Chev L98), Keith Rance and Luke Candy (Pro Buggy Magnum Slingshot/Chev) and Galea/MannPiercy.

But Clucas was able to charge to the lead on the first of three twolap sections and showed the way Image: Alice Springs Off Road Racing Club

64 AutoAction

to Colin Bevan and Michael Dodds (SXS Turbo Can-Am) and Cooper.

Uren was leading but fell out due to a split power steering line. Shepley had dropped to eighth, the Trewhellas were out with gearbox issues, and Rance/Candy were ninth.

Clucas increased his advantage in section two with Cooper, who was third for the section behind Rance, able to relegate Bevan to third overall.

Over the last section Cooper was fastest by a good margin, but not by enough over Clucas to change the outright position. The victory gave Clucas the overall drivers’ points lead.

Meanwhile, Galea was just 34s adrift of Clucas which enabled him to take third outright ahead of his class rivals and fellow Can-Am buggies crewed by Sean Fitzpatrick and Brett Funneman, Bevan, and Mat Birnie and Rochelle Funneman.

Other class winners went to the ninth placed Bernard Holt (Goose Racing/ Kawasaki) in Sportslite.

The Extreme 4WD winners were Peer Horn and Trinity Stacey (Mercedes G-Wagon) who finish 13th outright, one spot ahead of Performance 2WD winners, Sean Beck and Daniel Fahey (Holden). Garry O’Brien

Image: Brett Sandells

www.autoaction.com.au

AutoActionMagazine

FEATURE AutoAction 65

Auto_Action

DAM BUSTERS AT ST GEORGE

GERAGHTY TAKES JANGA LONG COURSE THE JANDA Long Course took place on September 26-27 and was won by Patrick Geraghty. The Sportslite Tiny Built/Suzuki driver was victorious by 7mins 8.5s over Lochy Weir (ProLite Jimco/Toyota) with Adam Murrihy (Extreme 2WD) a further 1min 31.8s behind.

The Northern Territory off road event was staged 32km down the Old South Road at Mt Ooraminna. It ran from mid-afternoon on Saturday until late into the evening, before resuming on Sunday morning and going through to the early afternoon.

Geraghty won the first 44km section ahead of Weir, Alex Heinzel (ProLite Southern Cross/Nissan) and David Bird (Extreme 2WD Bennett TT/Chev).

On the second leg it was Heinzel who was best ahead of Geraghty and Weir.

Heinzel had been the fastest in the prologue but he was out early with a failed wheel bearing, which left Geraghty unchallenged through the remaining three sections. On each

of those Murrihy was second fastest ahead of Weir but not sufficiently enough to alter the outright placings.

Fourth outright went to Jack Weir (Super 1650 Holeshot/Toyota) ahead of Harry Weckert (SXS Sports Yamaha YXZ 1000). Bird lost time with punctured tyre on night leg at the 4.0km mark, which made steering difficult.

Next was Zach Gunstone (SXS Turbo Can-Am Rotax) ahead of Darren Wright (Super 1650 Southern Cross/ Mitsubishi), Brad Geraghty (Yamaha) and 10th placed Jason Flavell (CanAm).

The Pro Buggy class went to Jacob Booth (Porter/Chev) who placed 12th outright behind Rick Chambers (Yamaha). Booth was in the top five on four sections but delayed by almost 30s on the second with a fuel issue.

Several others had issues too. Tim Button had clutch problems and then a rear main seal failure, while Leighton Surr (Ford Ranger/Chev) had transmission dramas. GOB

THE INAUGURAL CMS Enterprises Dam Buster 250 off road racing event took place at St George on September 26-27 and was comfortably won by Brett Comiskey and Dan McKenzie.

In their first time racing at the venue, the Pro Buggy Jimco Aussie Special/Nissan V6 Turbo pilots finished just over three and a half minutes ahead after five laps of the short 14km track and eight laps of the longer 22km course.

Held in three dry dams near the Queensland township, the event drew 33 entries.

Second place went to Justin and Jamie Montesalvo (Extreme 4WD GET Performance Trophy Truck/ Chev), while Ben Duff tackled the event on his own and placed third in his Sportslite Ausco MC-Lite/ Kawasaki.

Twenty crews completed the entire 13 laps with Kye Floyd and Aaron Holland (SXS Turbo

Can-Am Rotax) finishing fourth ahead Myles Newbon and Ashley Nicholls (Extreme 2WD Ford F150/ Chev V8).

Usually seen at the state rally rounds in Queensland and New South Wales, Glenn Brinkman and Steven Richardson tried their hand at off road racing and came home sixth outright in an Extreme 4WD Isuzu D-MAX. They finished ahead of Ben Proelss and John Price (Can-Am), Chris and Ashton Montesalvo (Polaris), Mark and Sharyne Biggar (Rush RT05/Chev LS2), and Jarrad and Mervyn Vanderhor (Can-Am).

Jan and Hendrik Kraaij (Pro Buggy BAT Spec/Nissan Turbo) were also strong contenders but failed to finish the last section.

The other class winners were Matt and Josh Halpin (Yamaha YXZ 1000) in SXS Sport, while Rickie Swain and Nicholas Fielding snared Performance 2WD. GOB

Images: Terry Hill

AutoAction 65

p ra w S L A NATION

66 AutoAction FEATURE

QUICKFIRE QR

ANOTHER QUICK-FIRE two outings of the QR Drivers Championship took place at Queensland Raceway, with rounds six and seven on September 27-27 respectively.

QR SPORTS & SEDANS

IMBIL OPENER TO MENZIES/MCGOWAN THE OPENING round of the Queensland Rally Championship was held on September 19, with the Inspirations Paint Capalaba Hinterland Rally taken out by Ian Menzies and Robert McGowan.

Held on the forestry roads of Imbil in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, the winners showed the way throughout the eight stages. They took their Mitsubishi EVO 9 to a 2min 42s victory over the Stewart Reid and Anthony McLoughlin (Ford Escort), with Clay Badenoch and Catriona Kelly (Toyota Celica RA40) a further 30s behind.

The event was scheduled to be run over 10 stages, but stage six was stopped midway through due to a non-car related fire. That stage would be re-run as stage nine later, while the delay meant the cancellation of stage 10.

Menzies and McGowan were fifth at the completion of the first stage and then headed every ensuing stage apart from stage seven, which went to Glenn Brinkman and Richardson (EVO 9).

Stage one was won by Erik Johnsson and Larisa Biggar (Subaru Impreza WRX STi) from Tristian Carrigan and Neill Woolley (EVO 6) with Brinkman third. Menzies was fifth before his win on the next stage

elevated him and McGowan to the top of the leader board, which they would not relinquish.

Brinkman scored three second places in a row and trailed Menzies after seven stages, before he pulled up short with mechanical dramas.

After stage results in the top five, Johnsson was second on stage five and third outright but he too struck dramas, a fire from a damaged exhaust after hitting a rock.

Gerard McConkey and Ben Logan (WRX) were handily placed in fourth spot until they hit a stump on final stage, just 1.5kms from the finish.

Others to fall by the wayside were Marius Swart/Alan Stean (VW Polo S2000, oil pressure) and Carrigan/ Woolley with a rear diff failure.

It was a great event for 2WD competitors as besides finishing second and third outright, Tom Dermody/Chris Hamilton (Ford RS 1800) was fourth.

They finished ahead of Richard Galley/John Andreatidis (EVO 8), Rod Reid/Ray Priest (Mitsubishi Lancer), Conner Oldham/Colin O’Brien (Mazda Familia GTX), Dan Ross/Jay Davidson (Mitsubishi Starion), Adam O’Brien/ Matt Sosimenko (Familia GTR) and Marco Jansen/Cameron McIntosh (Volkswagon Polo). Garry O’Brien Images: John Stewart

SAM COLLINS took all four wins but he was very lucky to get race two in his 6.0-litre Chev V8 Nissan Silvia. He had a first-up win over Brian Smallwood (Holden Commodore VL) and Jamie Furness (Ford Falcon AU).

Fourth placed Zayd Tones (BMW 318) had contact at Turn 2, which put Scott McLennan (Mitsubishi Mirage) out for the day.

Collins speared off the road at Turn 6 of race two and resumed in last place.

Fortunately for him that race was red flagged due to a Turn 3 crash where Martin Smith (Nissan Pintara) forgot they were on the

AUSTRALIAN TRANS-AM

CONSISTANCY PAID for Anthony Tenkate who was the overall winner. The Ford Mustang driver finished third to Geoff Fane (Chev Camaro) and John English (Pontiac Firebird) in races one and two, before taking out the last two.

Fane suffered a jammed gearbox while English was also a retiree with a broken axle.

TITLES TIGHT IN TASSIE THE CORONAVIRUS pandemic has caused major dramas for the reduced Tasmanian Circuit Racing Championships but made for one of the closest series for many years.

The third and penultimate round of the shortened series was held at Pepsi Max Baskerville Raceway on September 20, with the final wash-up leaving titles undecided in every category.

The final round is scheduled for Symmons Plains on October 25, also celebrating the circuit’s 60th Anniversary meeting.

FORMULA VEES

IN THE closest championship, Wade McLean (Elliott) has a three-point lead over reigning champion Callum Bishop (Gerbert).

The pair swapped track position and race leads all day, with Bishop eventually coming out on top by winning the double-points final, to close the gap to the series leader.

HQ HOLDENS

A GREAT day of racing saw a different winner in every event.

Phil Ashlin won the double points final, but in a hectic day lost valuable points in heat two after an opening lap incident also involving reigning champion Otis Cordwell.

Ashlin recovered best to work his way back to fourth.

66 AutoAction

Clubman circuit and ploughed into the innocent Furness.

Second in the re-run was Smallwood ahead of Jamie Manteufel (Holden Commodore) before a similar result in race three. Tones was second in the last, in front of Manteufel, who was second overall ahead of Lars Lofgren (BMW M325i). The Production Utes class was won by Daniel Ford in a Holden.

Cordwell made a strong run from his start down the grid in the final to finish third and eventually win the round by a narrow margin from Andrew Toth, who did enough to maintain his slender championship lead.

Images: MTR Images

IMPROVED PRODUCTION/ HISTORIC TOURING CARS

WHILE NOT as close, the category provided arguably the best racing of the day, with three different winners and plenty of great racing throughout.

Defending champion Matthew Grace (Nissan 200SX) was the top qualifier, but was unable to follow up with a race win.

He recorded a second, fourth and third, to finish third overall and maintained his championship lead.

Former speedway sprintcar racer Jason House came to grips with his BMW 135i more so as the day progressed, and won the double-points final and the round.

House would have won the second heat but for a last lap error when in front. That allowed Brad Chick (Holden HSV GTS) and Jared House (Holden Torana A9-X) to get through.

Chick finished second overall and while he and Jason House are not championship contenders as they missed earlier rounds, they will likely play a role in the eventual outcome.

www.autoaction.com.au

AutoActionMagazine

FEATURE AutoAction

Auto_Action

67

CHAMPS Justin Anthony (Camaro) was another casualty after he placed fourth twice. He finished second in race three but engine dramas brought an early fourth race retirement. Ian Palmer (Plymouth AAR Cuda) had two fifths and a second before a battery failure.

The anticipated debut of Alwyn Bishop’s Plymouth Duster was short lived due to fuel pressure issues.

Meanwhile the 5.0-litre class was taken out by Ron Prefontaine over fellow Mustang driver Patricia Chant.

EFS 4X4 ACCESORIES EXCEL CUP

NASH MORRIS not only won his first race but also the round. He was second to Zak Hudson in the three races but because of a shortage of the Dunlop control tyre for the 41 entries, Hudson was allowed to run on another brand and was not eligible for points.

Brett Parrish and Darren Whittington were third and fourth in the opener, which was red flagged and restarted after a mid-race multi car crash saw Ian Harvey out. Whittington was third in race two with James Simpson and Parrish just in arrears.

The third outing saw Simpson third from a tight quartet that consisted of Josh Richards, Ryan Casha, Jackson Faulkner and Holly Espray. Parrish finished ninth while Whittington went out with a broken throttle cable.

In the dark Hudson was a close second in the last, with Whittington right on his bumper following a storming charge for the back. Just behind were Parrish and Richards. This race also had its share of carnage, with several cars contacting at Turn 3.

night and it was dominated by BMWs. Karl Begg (M4) battled with Tristan Ellery (M3) until lapped traffic played its part and the latter lost out. Beric Lynton (M3) was well back early and forged his way through to second while Lindsay Kearns (Ford Mustang) placed third.

Behind Brad Carr (M3 E92), Ellery finished fifth ahead of Gerry Murphy (Holden Commodore SSV).

A lap behind were Chris Begg (E92) in front of Andrew Wilton (Toyota 86), Paul Keefer and Robin Lacey in Volkswagen Sciroccos, Frank Mammarella (Hyundai I30N) and Tim McDonald (M3 E36). Wade Scott (Mitsubishi EVO 9) and Jake Camilleri (Mazda 3 MPS) ran in the top six until both had issues.

Earlier Begg won the opening sprint race ahead of Lynton with Kearns third before Ellery, Lynton and Begg made it a BMW trifecta in the second 10 lapper.

QLD PRODUCTION CARS

QLD TOURING CARS

THE FEATURE 20-lap race was held on Saturday

Images: MTR Images

TWO OUTRIGHT and Group A1 put Stuart Walker

(Holden Commodore) in good stead with Holden Monaro drivers Dean McMahon and Murray Kent the winners in others.

McMahon and Robert Bellinger (BMW E46 M3) filled the minors in the first, with Kent taking second in race two ahead of Walker and Bellinger. The latter pipped Kent for second in the third before Commodore drivers Leo Meiers and Matt Haak were close together, behind the winner in race four.

Lee Gravolin (Monaro) was the initial winner in A2 before reclassified to A1. That paved the way for Simon Winters (Commodore) to win A2 three times.

Group B laurels went with Andrew Knight (BMW E36) over Matt Devitt (BMW E46).

HQ HOLDENS

OVER FOUR races Brandon Madden was unbeaten.

Two were won ahead of Brock Mitchell and the other two over Dion Cidoni.

The minor place getters had a good battle with just over 0.3s between them in race three. Nathan Locke

scored a couple of fourths before Jake Madden took the other two. It wasn’t a great day for series leader Joe Andriske with his best result a fifth in the last.

FORMULA VEES

ALL FOUR encounters were tight affairs. Alex Hedemann (Rapier) won the first barely in front of Alex MacDonald (Jacer), Tim Alder (Rapier) and David Hedemann (Bee Cee Jabiru). Alder scored in the second as he just held off David and Alex Hedemann, before the latter took the last two. He headed Alder and David Hedemann in both.

FORMULA RACING CARS

OVER THREE races Roman Krumins was untouchable in the Dallara F308 Formula 3 with Marcus Flack second each time aboard the Mygale Formula 4. The remainder of the small field was made up of Formula Fords, where Tim Hamilton (Stealth) showed the way to Jack Hotter (Van Diemen) in each. Garry O’Brien

John Talbot topped the Historics in his Ford Mustang to slightly extend his championship lead over Michael Cross (Holden Torana XU-1).

The latter placed second in every race with Phillip Triffitt (Mazda RX2) third each time and remains third in the championship.

SPORTS GTs/SPORTS SEDANS

IN THE GTA mix were Adam Garwood (Ford Capri Perana), Roger White (Nissan Skyline), reigning champion Stephen Noble (Nissan 350Z), and Rob Van der Neit (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 2).

Garwood’s V8 was clearly the fastest car earlier in the day, but whatever Roger White’s crew did after the first heat, worked in spades.

A brilliant start converted to his first ever GTA victory ahead of Garwood in heat two.

White backed up the effort in the doublepoints final after an early tangle with Garwood, who recovered to finish third behind new series leader Noble.

Further back, the racing was a bit more processional with David Wrigley (Ford Mustang) winning two of the three races for GTB, including the final. Wrigley took over the series lead from David Walker (Datsun 200 Ute) who was second in every race.

Steve Gangell (Holden VX Commodore) won the first heat and followed up with two thirds, to move up to third in the series, with only 13 points covering the leading trio. Of the Sports Sedans, John Douglas (Holden Gemini) was the best in each, and second outright in the last.

Images: Angryman Photography

HYUNDAI EXCELS

REIGNING CHAMPION champion Josh Webster is well on his way to back-to-back titles. He dominated with victories in every race, including a new lap record in the second heat. Webster scored a massive 17s win in the final, to maintain his perfect record for the season, unbeaten in every event to date. Jeremy Bennett was second in each race but the margin was far closer over Callum Mitchell each time. Adrian Jones was right behind them in the last two.

Martin Agatyn

AutoAction

67

p ra w S L A NATION

68 AutoAction FEATURE

AMRS BACK AFTER 30 WEEKS

IT HAS been 30 weeks between outings for the Australian Motor Racing Series, with a return to racing at Sydney Motorsport Park for round two on September 26-27. Current pandemic restrictions meant the TA2 Muscle Cars and Mazda RX8 Cup were joined by several NSW-based categories, some in enduro mode.

PROMAXX EXHAUSTS TA2 MUSCLE CARS/STOCK CARS

HUGH McALISTER was the fastest on track and that resulted in him winning the post-COVID non-series round in his Mustang.

McAlister and fellow Mustang steerer Michael Coulter were one and two in the first race. However the victory was taken away from McAlister with a start line penalty that dropped him to third.

In their wake Andrew Fisher led home the Camaro brigade ahead of Zac Loscialpo and Graham Cheney, while Mark Crutcher (Challenger) edged out Ian McAlister (Camaro). Best of the Stock Cars was Stephen Chilby (OzTruck Silverado) eighth behind Chris Formosa (Challenger).

It was a tightknit foursome in race two where Coulter held sway over Fisher, Hugh McAlister and Loscialpo, before McAlister worked his way through to take the victory.

Loscialpo climbed to second

68 AutoAction

Andrew MacPherson/Ben Porter (top) had to park the Lamborgini Huracan after a rule infraction in the Production Sports enduro, Jack Winter (above) dominated the Production Touring enduro but lost the win to a penalty. Wayne Seabrook won three (below) but then hit brake problems in Group S. Images: Riccardo Benvenuti/AMRS with Fisher and Coulter next, and then followed Cheney and Chilby.

A first lap safety car interrupted race three, which was won by Hugh McAlister.

The race was put on pause when Mark Crutcher (Challenger) and Craig Scutella (Camaro) tangled at Turn 1. Following the resumption Fisher held second until contact with Zac Loscialpo (Camaro) at Turn 11.

Michael Coulter (Mustang) passed Cheney to finish second as Loscialpo

salvaged fourth ahead of Formosa, Fisher and Ian McAlister. Brett Mitchell (OzTruck Maloo) was the best of the Stock Cars ahead of Danny Burgess (Silverado), after Chilby and Robert Marchese (Silverado) were penalised for restart infringements.

McAlister wrapped up the weekend with victory in the last. He finished just ahead of Coulter and Fisher. Cheney was fourth ahead of Loscialpo who lost places after the restart, Ian McAlister and Chilby.

MAZDA RX8 CUP

OVERALL HONOURS across four races went to Justin Barnes ahead of Shannon McLaine and Steven Devjak.

The first went to Barnes after he was beaten away by Brad Harris.

Barnes was able to regain the premier spot and go on to a 0.4s victory. Third went to McLaine ahead of Devjak, Paul GrantMitchell and Aidan Riley. The race had two safety cars, one for Brien Place crashing and

another for a nasty shunt by Jason Galer.

Barnes also took out race two. Initially it was Devjak in second before he was passed by Harris and then both succumbed to McLaine before race’s end.

Grant-Mitchell and Riley finished fourth and fifth as Harris had fuel dramas on the final lap and DNF’d.

Race three was led by Barnes ahead of McLaine, Devjak and Harris, who stormed through from the rear of grid. Shortly after Harris was second, but when he challenged for the lead there was contact between he and Barnes.

Barnes spun and Harris was issued a drive-through penalty. That left McLaine to hold off Devjak for his first win. GrantMitchell was third clear of Jackson Noakes and Riley, while Harris was seventh.

Another great start in race four had Harris to second place at the end of the first lap. He soon passed McLaine and went onto to win. McLaine would succumb to both Barnes and Devjak shortly after, and ultimately finished ahead of Riley and Noakes, who continued their close battle right to the end.

MRF NSW PRODUCTION TOURING

CLASS A1 teams took out the top four places in the one-hour enduro.

Jack Winter (Mitsubishi EVO 9) dominated, only losing the lead at the Compulsory Pit Stop. But he had to settle for second as a 35s post-race CPS penalty relegated him to second behind Hadrian Morrall and Tyler Mecklem, who shared an EVO 9.

Third went to Dimitri Agathos (Subaru Impreza WRX STi) ahead of the Alex Bryden/Ryan Godfrey, who shared Mercedes AMG A45. Fifth were Simon Hodges and Jayden Ojeda in their Class X BMW M4 ahead of Edan Thornburrow (Class D Toyota 86), David Krusza (B1 BMW 135i), Graeme Shaw (B1 EVO 6.5), Ollie Shannon (Toyota 86) and Daniel

www.autoaction.com.au

AutoActionMagazine

FEATURE AutoAction

Auto_Action

69

Michael Coluter leads the TA2 field with Andrew Fisher challenging (above), a big field of Mazda RX8s were evenly matched throughout with honours shared (right), while Layton Crambrook took the HQ enduro by less than a second (bottom).

D’Aquino (B2 Holden Commodore SSV).

Winter won both lead up races. Second went to Krusza and Bryden was third, after a mid-race misdemeanour. Morrall qualified third, but contact on the opening lap forced his retirement.

In their second outing Ojeda battled with Bryden for second, as Agathos chased them throughout.

PRODUCTION SPORTS/SUPER GT

TEAMED UP in an Audi R8 LMS Ultra, Nick Kelly and Bart Mawer took out the one-hour enduro, finishing comfortably ahead of Scott Fleming and Iain Pretty (Roaring Forties GT40), as they just held off the advancing Vince Muriti (Mercedes AMG GT3).

Fourth place Sergio Pires led home a brace of Porsche Cup Cars, where it was particularly close for fifth spot between his team mate Marcel Zalloua, Drew Hall and Indiran Padayachee, the three covered by less than a second.

The race had a lengthy safety car period which was brought about by Geoff

Morgan and Caspar Tresidder crashing near the pit lane entry. Paul Bassett was the leading Porsche until a gearbox issue retired him.

The Andrew Macpherson/Ben Porter Lamborghini Huracan was parked after officials deemed that it hadn’t performed it CPS within the window, while Richard Gartner was a non-starter due to clutch issues with his Lamborghini Gallardo.

In the first sprint race Fleming overtook predominant race leader Muriti less than two laps from the end. Kelly was third and clear of the battling Bassett and Pires, while Macpherson held off Morgan.

Porter was unchallenged in race two, the Driver B outing. He won easily as Mawer wrestled second from Muriti, while fourth went to Morgan ahead of Pires.

HQ HOLDENS

AFTER ONE hour, 30 laps and compulsory pit stops, there was just 0.17s between race winner Layton Crambrook and second placed Matt Baxter. Third spot went to Luke Harrison with team

mates Duane Cambridge and Chris Molle following. Next was John Baxter ahead of David Proglio, who was slotted back behind Shaun Boland with a 5s penalty for a starting infringement.

For much of the opening stanza, five drivers ran nose-to-tail with several others not far behind.

Baxter headed that que from Crambrook but lost out in the pitstops before coming back to a very close second.

There was less than a car’s length between Molle and Cambridge at the end of the opening sprint race. Third went to Matt Baxter who won his tussle with Crambrook. Jack Harrison was fifth and

heading the quartet that included Proglio, Boland and James Flett.

In the second sprint race, there was an early safety car as Crambrook warded off Molle and then headed Baxter to the finish. Molle and Cambridge duked it out for third, but the pair was pipped by Luke Harrison as they raced three-wide to the finish.

GROUP S

WINNING HONOURS among the Sports Cars went to Terry Lawlor. He could never match the starting prowess of the surrounding Porsche 911 Carreras, but the power of his Shelby GT3350 delivered three second places.

Those three races were clearly the domain of Wayne Seabrook, however his Porsche had a brake caliper issue that meant he wouldn’t start the last race, which was won by Lawlor.

The opening race was red flagged after Damien Meyer (MG Midget) went off the track, and there was a problem with the safety car.

Doug Barbour finished with three thirds and a second. Fellow Porsche driver David Cunneen scored one fourth before problems spelt his end, while Mikki Piirlaid missed the first with an oil leak and subsequent penalties cost him spots to Simon Meyer (MG Midget).

Garry O’Brien

AutoAction

69

We take a look back at who & what was making news in the pages of Auto Action 10, 20, 30 & 40 years ago

Testing your Williams knowledge

1980: MOVES WERE underway to hold eight events for Series Production cars in Victoria and New South Wales in 1981. Competitor interest was strong, however there was resistance from CAMS, which left the possibility the proposed plan may not pass the National Council.

Holden Dealer Team manager Noel Richards resigned from his post, long-time lieutenant John Harvey took over the role.

Testing your motor sport knowledge on Bathurst

1990: MORE THAN 35,000 people witnessed the opening meeting of the new season of AUSCAR/NASCAR at Calder Park Thunderdome. It was a fiery affair after Jim Waring’s HQ was spun and hit, before bursting into flames, which gutted the car before crew were able to put out the fire. The war continued around the IndyCar race on the Gold Coast after FISA refused to add the event onto its international calendar.

2000: FORD’S V8 Supercar losing streak was ended after Dick Johnson Racing’s Paul Radisich took the round win at Sandown, the first time the Blue Oval had won for more than a year. Another drought was broken in Formula 1 as Michael Schumacher crossed the line in Japan to give Ferrari its first title in 21 years. Champ Car rookie Jason Bright was preparing to make his debut on the Gold Coast.

ACROSS

2. Steve Owen returns to the Bathurst 1000 grid in 2020 after a year’s absence, who was his co-driver in 2018? (surname) 5. What model car did Holden take its first Bathurst victory with?

6. Who is the only driver to win the Bathurst 1000 in a Ford Sierra and a Holden Commodore? (surname) 8. Who has competed in a record 21 Bathurst 1000 shootouts? (full name) 9. Who won the Super Touring Bathurst 1000 with Jim Richards in 1998? (surname) 10. What was the first sponsor of ‘The Great Race’ from 1963-1965?

12. Which team won the Bathurst 1000 the last time that it was the season finale? (abbreviation) 17. Steven Richards pipped which driver to pole position in 2004 by just 0.0012s? (surname only) 20. Who set the fastest lap in the Bathurst 1000 for three consecutive years, from 2016-2018? (full name) 21. Who was the last driver alongside Will Davison to convert first position on the grid to a Bathurst 1000 win? (surname) 22. By how many laps did Peter Brock and Jim Richards take victory in 1979?

24. Who was the first driver to take three Bathurst pole

70 AutoAction

positions in succession? (full name) 26. Who is the most recent Australian born driver to win the Bathurst 1000? (surname) 28. Who took pole position for the 2000 Bathurst 1000? (surname) 29. Chaz Mostert was the last driver to win the Bathurst 1000 in a Ford Falcon in 2014, who was his co-driver? (full name)

DOWN

1. What team most recently won the Bathurst 1000 in consecutive years? (abbreviation) 3. Which former full-time Supercars driver will co-drive alongside Scott McLaughlin in 2020? (full name) 4. The first Bathurst 1000 was won in what model Ford?

2010: IT WAS a ‘fairytale’ victory for Craig Lowndes and Mark Skaife at The Mountain, leading a Triple Eight 1-2 in its first attempt as a Holden team. It was the fourth victory for Lowndes and Skaife’s sixth. Will Davison was firming as the key driver in the V8 Supercars silly season amid speculation he was off to Ford Performance Racing.

7 Bob Jane won the first two Bathurst 7.

5500s, who was his co- driver in 1964? (full name) (f 111. Who was Jamie Whincup’s co-driver when he most recently won the Bathurst w 11000?

113. Who was the last driver to win back to back Bathurst 1000s with a different cco-driver? (full name) 114. Who took pole position last year after SScott McLaughlin was disqualified from qqualifying after the event? (full name) 115. Allan Grice and Graeme Bailey won ‘The Great Race’ in 1986, what was the ‘T title sponsor on the VK Commodore?

16. Peter Brock has won the ‘The Great Race’ more times than anyone, how many has he won?

18. How many times previously have Fabian Coulthard and Tony D’Alberto been teammates?

19. What is Scott Pye’s best placed finish in the Bathurst 1000?

23. Who won the 250km Super2 Series race at The Mountain in 2019? (surname) 25. James Courtney has never won the Bathurst 1000, but how many times has the 2010 Supercars champion finished on the podium?

27. How many times has Jaguar won the Bathurst 1000?

# 1795 Crossword Answers 1 down – nine 2 down – fifth 3 down – Goodyear 4 across – Alain Prost 5 down – Piers Courage 6 down – third 7 down – Lance Stroll 8 across – Keke Rosberg 9 down – Ralf Schumacher 10 down – Nico Rosberg 11 down – Coulthard 12 down – Formula E 13 down – Chadwick 14 down – Venezuelan 15 across – Patrick

Head 16 across – Boutsen 17 across – Canada 18 across – Jacques Villeneuve 19 down – Simon Roberts 20 down – Walter Wolf 21 down – Canadian 22 across – seven 23 down – Damon Hill 24 across – Nissany 25 across – two 26 across – Regazzoni 27 across – Silverstone 28 across – Schenken 29 across – Mercedes 30 across – Renault

Australia’s No.1 Motorsport Marketplace

Over 600 ads available online right now. Find your next race car with my105.

Pro Lite Class 10

996 Porsche Cup Car For Sale

Ex London To Sydney Ford Capri

1982 Historic Formula Ford

� ˆˆ � � ‡ˆ ‹ Œ � ‡ ˆˆ �  Ž‘ˆ ’  “ ‡ ” � „  � � ˆˆ Ž ˆ ­ ˆˆ • € � �

­

Â?

� „… � † ‡ˆˆ‰ … � † � Š �  � �

 � † � ‡ˆˆˆ „ �

Â? Â?

Â?

 � �

 Â? Â

Â?

Â? Â Â?

­ € � �

� �  ‚  ‚ � ‚ � ‚ ƒ �  ‚ ‚ � �

 ‚ ‚

Â?

For contact details, more information and pics:

For contact details, more information and pics:

For contact details, more information and pics:

For contact details, more information and pics:

www.my105.com/20455

www.my105.com/22551

www.my105.com/22538

www.my105.com/22562

Get it seen! Get it Sold! From just 29.50*

ACP-155 Automatic Centre Punch

RFM-1500 Rubber Anti-Fatigue Mat

• Ø6mm hardened steel centre punch • Ergonomically shaped plastic body • Curved end to fit into palm • Automatic single hand operation

• 1505 x 905mm (8mm thick) • Workshop or ute 6 .* :(,*+ • Tapered edge

Order Code: P368

Order Code: M800

$

$

27.50

49.50

MPV-12 Cast Iron Multi Purpose Bench Vice • • • •

125mm jaw width 150mm max. opening Swivel head & base Includes anvil & pipe jaws

• Drop forged, heat treated steel • Dollies: utility, curved, heel, double ended hand • Hammers: Crown face + pick, Flat face + straight pein, Double ended shrinking

• Includes 8 formers • 3/4" & 1" square • 3/8" 1/2", 9/16", 5/8", 3/4", 7/8" round

$' ,1* +( 527$7 (/ %$6( ,9 : 6

2&. :,7+ /

198

121

9 +26( $

1(: ( 5(/($6

297

HS-2S Throatless Hand Lever Shear • • • •

5281' $1' ( 648$5

UB-100 Workshop Manual Bar Bender

1.2mm mild steel capacity Cast steel construction Tool steel quality blades Gear drive shearing action

• • • •

Order Code: S184

319

25 x 3mm flat bar cap. Ø5mm round bar cap.

Hardened & knurled rolls Weighs 6kg

Flat: 100 x 5mm Square: 16 x 16mm Round: Ø18mm dia.

Includes additional bending plates

Order Code: B043

363

$

RR-5G Manual Section Rolling Machine • • • •

Hydraulic pump with hose 10 tonne long ram 0.5 tonne spreader ram Includes 11 various attachments Complete in carry case

$

319

Ideal for non-flammable fume extraction Ø300mm diameter 7 60 cubic M/min $/ '8& 520W 240V motor 237,21 $,/$%/(

• • • • •

Order Code: A366

$

AF-30 Industrial Axial Flow Floor Fan

',<

$

Order Code: T055

$

PBK-10H - Hydraulic 10T Panel Beating Kit - 15 Piece

Order Code: H885

TBRS-25 Manual Tube Bender

Order Code: V075

â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢

ABR-7 Auto Panel Restoration Kit

$

STT-4W Service Tool Tray

HC-1T Hydraulic Engine Crane â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢

â&#x20AC;¢ 740 x 510 x 20mm top tray â&#x20AC;¢ 860~1200mm adjust. tray height â&#x20AC;¢ 34kg tray load capacity

' 3$''($/ 9(57,& 57 68332

1T lifting capacity Double action pump Fold up legs 2300mm lift height 6 cast steel swivel wheels

www.machineryhouse.com.au

Order Code: F050

Order Code: S680

165

Food grade stainless steel 1800 x 700 x 900mm (LxWxH) 78mm sub-frame bench top support Reinforce bench top with 15mm MDF

330

$

RSS-4WS Industrial Steel Shelving â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢

Order Code: A350

165

$

SSB-18WS Stainless Steel Work Bench â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢

Order Code: T758

132

$

$

BS-7L Metal Cutting Band Saw

1955 x 610 x 1830mm 364kg capacity per shelf Adjustable shelves Interlock design, no tools required

â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢

SBC-990 Industrial Sandblasting Cabinet

305 x 178mm capacity Mitre cuts to 45º Built-in coolant system 1hp, 240V motor

â&#x20AC;¢ Heavy-duty steel cabinet â&#x20AC;¢ 1175 x 885 x 625-845mm blast area â&#x20AC;¢ Includes vacuum system, LED light, tempered glass screen, gloves, gun & ceramic nozzle

/ 6:,9( 9,&( Order Code: S014

Order Code: F298

495

1 5(785.

00 %$& + 6 $ / 63

$

STEVE

Staff Member

$// 7+,6 025( ,1 6725( 21/,1(

UNIQUE PROMO CODE

AACT1020

Order Code: B006

319

Order Code: S305

1,529

$

2,189

$

$

ICRLC-24D Industrial Series Tool Box Package Deal

HP-45P - Workshop Hydraulic & Pneumatic Press

â&#x20AC;¢ Ball bearing slides â&#x20AC;¢ Protective drawer liners â&#x20AC;¢ Key lockable drawers & lid â&#x20AC;¢ Includes wheels ICH-8D â&#x20AC;¢ 8 drawer tool chest â&#x20AC;¢ 1051 x 445 x 552mm IRC-7D â&#x20AC;¢ 7 drawer roller cabinet â&#x20AC;¢ 1067 x 458 x 1007mm ISC-7D â&#x20AC;¢ 7 drawer side cabinet â&#x20AC;¢ 430 x 460 x 845mm ISL-2D â&#x20AC;¢ 2 drawer side locker â&#x20AC;¢ 425 x 460 x 1390mm Order Code: K005B

1,914

$

SAVE $198 off RRP

ONLINE OR INSTORE!

â&#x20AC;¢ 45 Tonne â&#x20AC;¢ Pneumatic or hand operated â&#x20AC;¢ 190mm ram stroke â&#x20AC;¢ Spring return ram â&#x20AC;¢ Includes pressure gauge & blocks

1(: ( 5(/($6 Order Code: P147

30.8cfm, 871.8l/min.

160psi max. pressure 200 litre air receiver Cast iron cylinders 5.5kW / 7.5hp, 415V motor 3 year warranty on Italian pumps

Order Code: C525

1,639

3,993

$

COMPETITIVE

RATES!

â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢ â&#x20AC;¢

Australian Built

$

FREIGHT

K30 Industrial Pilot Air Compressor

Simple & Quick Online Freight Rate Check! *DELIVERED TO YOUR

DOOR!

Specifications & Prices are subject to change without notification. All prices include GST and valid until 22-10-20

www.machineryhouse.com.au

NSW (02) 9890 9111 QLD (07) 3715 2200

VIC (03) 9212 4422

1/2 Windsor Rd, Northmead 625 Boundary Rd, Coopers Plains 4 Abbotts Rd, Dandenong

WA (08) 9373 9999

11 Valentine Street Kewdale

08_AA_081020

*Remote areas may require depot collection in your town