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IS THE BIZ INJURY UNLIKELY TO STOP TITLE CHARGE

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MARK FOGARTY explains why SVG’s Bathurst domination sets the scene for this season SUPERCARS TITLE favourite Shane van Gisbergen celebrated his new extended driving deal with a blitz at Bathurst.

Despite a mountain bike injury that could compromise him at Sandown next week, van Gisbergen’s Mount Panorama 500 sweep confirms he is the man to beat in the absence of Scott McLaughlin.

Before his winning return to Bathurst, SVG secured a two-year contract extension with Triple Eight, tying him to the team until the end of 2023.

Triple Eight supremo Roland Dane confirmed the new deal, as forecast by Auto Action last issue. Dane also revealed that SVG’s existing contract was to the end of this year.

It has now been renewed for two more years, coinciding with Triple Eight’s switch to the Gen3 Chev Camaro and seven-time V8 champion Jamie Whincup’s retirement.

From next year, van Gisbergen will be racing alongside a new as-yet-undecided teammate as Whincup takes over from Dane as team principal.

SVG firmed as title favourite after winning both 250 km legs of the season-opener at Mount Panorama, only to break his left collar bone in a mountain bike crash just days later.

He underwent surgery the same day and should be fit for Sandown across March 20-21.

As a precaution, he withdrew from Triple Eight’s entry in the opening Australian GT round at Phillip Island this weekend, replaced by Whincup.

Although SVG and his team are confident he will be fit for Sandown, his performance could be compromised by his injury.

Triple Eight has a back-up plan if he can’t continue in his Red Bull Ampol Racing Commodore, with Bathurst 1000 co-winner Garth Tander on stand-by.

Otherwise, with a new long-term deal and his scintillating form at Bathurst, scoring comfortable wins in both 40-lap sprints, van Gisbergen is primed to win his second V8 title.

His main challengers look set to be Cam Waters, who resumed his end-of-2020 pace in his Monster Energy Racing Mustang, and Chaz Mostert, who was on the podium in both races in his WAU Mobil 1 Commodore.

New DJR Shell V-Power Racing pair Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison, plus surprise packet Tim Slade, could also be threats.

Slade shocked in his return after a year out with brand new outfit Blanchard Racing Team, starting the first race at Bathurst from the front row.

He was a strong podium chance until crashing out of fourth late in the race, with damage to his Mustang too extensive to continue.

Slade will switch to BRT’s spare car for Sandown –

a change that will tell where he and the debutant team are really at.

His Mustang is the ex-Davo, ex-James Courtney car that performed so well in 2019 and again last year.

There is a suspicion it is one of those rare ‘sweet spot’ cars that excels. It was also competitive in Davo’s hands as an FG X Falcon.

The performance of the well-worn spare – also leased from former REC owner Phil Munday – will be a test of both Slade and the Blanchard Racing Team, which may have been flattered by their performance at Bathurst.

But if Slade is achieving his unfulfilled potential with the well-funded tight-knit team, the Gold Coast-based South Australian star could become SVG’s most unexpected rival.

After a summer of racing, including his astonishing from-the-pit lane win in the New Zealand Grand Prix, van Gisbergen was in peak form at Bathurst.

His mountain bike crash, resulting in a bad collar bone break, is likely to strain team boss Dane’s tolerance for his daredevil extracurricular activities.

Once his injury heals, SVG is set to dominate.

He was triple champion Scott McLaughlin’s main, if inconsistent, rival last year and in ’19, and with his nemesis gone, trying to break into IndyCar, van Gisbergen is odds-on title favourite.

His contract extension through 2023 ensures he will be a front-running force in the foreseeable future.

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NEW SUPERCARS ENGINE TES MARK FOGARTY reveals the V8s that are being developed for Gen3 TESTING OF the new low-cost V8s to power the Gen3 Camaro and Mustang has started, with more details of the engines emerging.

As Supercars remains committed to introducing the cheaper next-gen cars next year, Auto Action has confirmed which American ‘crate’ motors the Gen3 engines will be based on.

The basis of the Camaro’s powerplant will be the GM Performance’s LS series V8s and the Mustang’s will be a variant of Ford Performance’s Coyote-derived ‘Aluminator’.

In conjunction with the engine suppliers for the homologation teams Triple Eight and DJR, Supercars has begun dyno testing of each to decide parity measures.

They need to be equalised because the Ford V8 is 5.4 litres and DOHC, while the GM motor is 6.2 litres with push rod valve actuation.

While the testing is being overseen

by Supercars engine consultant Craig Haystead, AA has learned the testing and development is being done by Triple Eight supplier KRE and DJR motor builder Mostech.

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Ford’s 5.4 litre Coyote ‘Aluminator’ V8 is used in S5000 and is now also the basis of the Gen3 engine for the Blue Oval. Development is being done by DJR engine supplier Mostech and testing is being overseen by Supercars’ engine consultant, Craig Haystead.

The aim is to develop cratebased Gen3 V8s that, according to Supercars supremo Sean Seamer, cost $50,000-60,000 with a life before rebuilds of 10,000 – instead of the current $100,000 engines that last 4000 km.

Seamer revealed the motors would be limited to around 600 horsepower and paritised by the existing measurement system that enforces a maximum limit by tuning.

Seamer also didn’t rule out varying the capacities of the base Ford and GM V8s to achieve equal performance.

While the 5.4L Ford Coyote ‘Aluminator’ crate engine – also used as the basis of S5000’s V8 – is well established, there is conjecture about which GM motor is being trialled.

The existing five-litre GM V8 used in the Commodore is a bespoke variant of the NASCAR truck engine no longer available.

BALANCING ACT FOR 5.4L FORD & 6.2L CHEV

SSTING UNDERWAY Tripe Eight engine supplier KRE is developing the GM LS1 for Gen3, though suggestions are that a hybrid of the LS1 and LT1 is also being considered.

GM Performance offers several versions of the 6.2-litre LS1 and newer LT1 V8s.

Supercars insiders nominate the test engine as an LS, but an informed team source claims LS1 and LT1 versions are being tested.

The strong suggestion is that the Camaro’s pushrod V8 will be a hybrid LS/LT version with a possibly slightly downsized capacity – from 6.2 litres to 6.0L. “Supercars is evaluating two GM options,” our

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informant said. “A combination of LS and LT components, plus a capacity adjustment, is the most likely outcome.

“They’re not special parts – they’re all available off the shelf.”

Whatever their final capacities and tune, the control-spec GM and Ford V8s will be cheaper to buy and maintain than the smaller existing engines, developed to an expensive peak for more than 20 years.

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GEN3 STILL ON TARGET FOR 2022 Supercars supremo rejects calls to delay switch SUPERCARS IS committed too Gen3 going ahead next year despite teams’ concerns about ut delays and cost over-runs.

According to Supercars supremo Sean Seamer, the next-generation Mustang and Camaro will be delivered on time and on budget.

“Full steam ahead,” Seamer declared. “It’s not going to be easy, but we’ll get it done.”

He maintains that the prototypes of the new cars will begin private testing by the middle of the year.

The tests will be secret, with the first public appearance of the Triple Image: Motorsport Images Eight-developed Chev Camaro and DJR-built new-look ok Ford Mustang planned for demonstration runs at October’s 1000. ’ Bathurst B h 1000 Supercars is due to switch to Gen3 from the start of the 2022 season, with the new cars aimed at dramatically cutting build and running costs.

As revealed by Auto Action, teams have expressed scepticism that the targets will be met, fearing a costly rush to make the grid for the first race.

Some have called for Gen3 to be delayed until 2023 to ensure an orderly and cost-effective transition.

But short of an iron-clad guarantee, Seamer is adamant the new cars will be introduced at the start next season.

“That’s what we’re working towards,” he said. “As I sit here today, it’s happening. Within the things that we can control, Gen3 is happening next year.”

Seamer met with team bosses at Bathurst on the Thursday before the Mount Panorama 500 to assuage their concerns.

He admitted that making the deadline would not be easy.

“Everyone’s going to be in an uncomfortable position to deliver the project,” he said. “But that’s no different to any other change management. Comfort will peak and trough on the way through, but we’ll get it done.”

Seamer confirmed the teams will receive financial assistance from Supercars to help cover the cost of the changeover.

“It’s not all being dumped on the teams,” he said.

He also affirmed that the aim was still for a Gen3 car to cost $350,000 to build, including engine.

That would be half the current figure, with longer-life control-spec V8 engines coming in at $60,000-$65,000 instead of $100,000 each.

According to Camaro homologation team Triple Eight boss Roland Dane, the final sign-off of the Gen3 specifications is likely to extend to November.

While the main design will be reflected in the prototypes, Dane expects finalising the detail specs, including reduced downforce bodywork aero and engine configurations, will take until late in the year.

He also dismissed rumours that Triple Eight was constructing a second Gen3 Camaro alongside the prototype to get a jump on ’22.

“The only car we’re building is the prototype,” he said. “We won’t start building our race cars until the Gen3 spec is finalised.”

Dane estimated that the basic specifications would need to be known

by October/November to start building customer cars in time for delivery before the start of next season.

Unlike the ZB Commodore, the development of which T8 funded, Supercars is underwriting the design of the Gen3 cars, so Dane’s organisation won’t have exclusive rights to supplying key Camaro components like body panels.

Like the control chassis, they will be available from outside suppliers or made by the teams. The same will go for the Mustang.

Supercars will additionally subsidise the changeover.

Seamer also confirmed Supercars was pressing ahead with the plan to switch to electronic paddle shift gear changing.

Supported by the teams, the change will be determined by the cost when the current tender for a paddle shift system is reviewed. MF

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6 AutoAction NEWS FEATURE LATEST

SUPERCARS TV STARS LOCKED IN

By MARK FOGARTY SUPERCARS FANS rejoice – your favourite TV commentors are secure for at least the next three years.

Auto Action has learned that the core commentary team of Mark Skaife, Neil Crompton and Mark Larkham are signed through 2023.

Moves to ‘dumb down’ the telecasts backfired after Supercars sacked popular pit lane pundit Larko, then reinstated him following fan outrage.

While most of the new-look commentary team are on one-year deals, broadcast sources have confirmed Skaife, Crompton and Larkham were re-signed for three seasons.

Skaife and Fox Sports Supercars host Jessica Yates are tied to the subscription TV network, while Crompton and Larkham are employed by Supercars Media, the series broadcast division that produces the telecasts.

It is believed Larko negotiated a lucrative new deal to return after his public dumping.

Supercars restored a mainly conventional line-up of commentators following fan backlash against plans to ditch experts.

Although denied, there was a move to have less tech talk.

AA has been reliably informed that Crompo and Larko were re-signed for three years.

Skaife and Yates are on separate long-term contracts.

The rest of the Supercars-contracted on-air team are on one-season deals.

Seven Sports’ team are on different arrangements.

Meanwhile, Seven is crowing about the success of its return to Supercars, highlighting the exodus

Image: Ross Gibb

of viewers from pay rival Foxtel.

Seven is claiming a ratings soar for its live coverage of the weekend’s season-opening Mount Panorama 500, suggesting it drew away a chunk of Foxtel subscribers.

Channel 7 is back as the free-to-air partner in Supercars’ new $200 million, five-year broadcast deal alongside Foxtel’s Fox Sports.

After six years on Network Ten, Seven trumpeted an immediate boost of 28 per cent for its Bathurst telecasts compared with 10’s live coverage of the 2020 season-opening Adelaide 500.

Seven claimed 80 per cent of the Mount Panorama 500 TV audience over the weekend, reaching more than a million viewers.

Australia’s top-rating free TV network sprouted that it had 296 per cent more viewers than pay TV across the weekend.

Seven’s return to Supercars was shown live on the main Channel 7 – dubbed ‘Big 7’ by sections of the motor sport media – and streamed on 7plus, which showed the racing ad-free.

Fox Sports’ coverage was also streamed for

free on Kayo, for which viewing figures aren’t available.

Senior Seven Network executives delighted in unofficially pointing out that the viewing figures for the Mount Panorama 500 on Saturday and Sunday indicated a sizeable number of Foxtel subscribers switched to Channel 7 to watch the qualifying and racing.

According to Seven sources, Fox Sports lost around 25 per cent of its audience to Channel 7’s free broadcast.

There is no love lost between Seven and Foxtel, despite sharing the broadcast rights to AFL and cricket as well as Supercars.

Former Supercars supremo James Warburton is the chief executive of Seven West Media and is known to have a spirited rivalry with Foxtel boss Patrick Delaney.

Warburton drove Seven’s return to Supercars and also rival ARG’s TCR and S5000 events, which are shown live on 7mate.

As well as ‘Big 7’, some of Seven’s Bathurst coverage was on 7mate.

Seven’s platforms will screen another five of

the remaining 11 scheduled Supercars events live. Next will be Darwin in June, followed by Townsville in July, Sydney SuperNight in August, Bathurst 1000 in October and the season-ending Gold Coast 500 in November.

They’ll all be streamed live and ad-free on 7plus.

From the Darwin Triple Crown, Big 7’s live telecasts will feature picture-in-picture on-going coverage during ad breaks.

PIP is routine in American sports broadcasts and was previously used here by Channel 10 during its Bathurst 1000 telecast.

On digital FTA TV, Channel 7 is also available in High Definition on Channel 70, while 7mate is on 73 and in HD on 74.

Supercars’ return to Seven at Mount Panorama was accompanied by bespoke presentation, which will be repeated at the other five rounds shown live on Big 7.

While the Supercars track action was simulcast, Seven added its own hosts and reporters, with Seven Sport boss Lewis Martin on site directing the coverage.

S5000 LAP RECORD ASSAULTS

By MARK FOGARTY THE LONG-STANDING outright lap record at the superfast Phillip Island circuit is likely to fall this weekend.

S5000’s appearance at the postponed Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships opener this weekend (March 13-14) threatens the record for the first time in 21 years.

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The ‘big banger’ V8 open-wheelers should have the pace around the flowing 5.3 km oceanside circuit to set a new lap record.

The existing mark is one minute 24.2215 seconds, set by Simon Wills in an F4000 (previously Formula Holden) Reynard 94D on February 13, 2000.

Despite superior aero downforce and grippier tyres back then, an S5000 front-

runner is expected to beat the mark.

In testing, S5000s have easily lapped Phillip Island is the low 25s and high 24s.

The progenitor Thunder 5000 prototype, with more freedoms, is believed to have broken PI’s outright lap record.

S5000 founder and category manager Chris Lambden thinks the Island’s lap record could be threatened, despite the bigbore open wheelers’ built-in constraints.

“In the right conditions, we could give it a good shake,” Lambden said.

S5000 will also threaten a new outright lap record at Sandown when it joins the Supercars support program on March 20-21.

The mark to beat for the 3.1 km course is one minute 4.5533 seconds, set by Thomas Randle in S5000’s debut in September, 2019.

SLADE CHASSIS SWAP

Image: Ross Gibb

IN ITS maiden appearance as a standalone Supercars operation, Team Blanchard Racing made an immediate impact at the opening round of the championship at Bathurst.

Driver Tim Slade, in his return to the Supercars ranks in a full-time capacity, scored a front-row start after the first Top 10 Shootout of the season.

Although Slade made a sluggish start in Race 1, he was well placed after the pit stop sequence to challenge Dick Johnson Racing’s Will Davison for the final step on the podium.

However, a mis-shift approaching Forrest’s Elbow sent Slade’s Ford Mustang into the outside wall, causing major damage and eliminating the entry from the remainder of the weekend.

Team manager Brendan Hogan explained that the crashed chassis will be out of action for several rounds, due to the extent of the damage.

Instead a spare Mustang, which was destined to be the team’s ride car, is beinge

updated and used for the next two Supercars events.

“There’s not really much time in between the next two rounds at Sandown and Tassie, (so) the plan would be to then get back the other (crashed) one and then build that up as the actual car again,” Hogan told Auto Action.

“That was stripped down at the end of last week ready to go on a jig, but the main focus at the moment is to get the other car going.”

Team Blanchard Racing leased the two Ford Mustangs from former 23Red Racing team owner Phil Munday, for its maiden Supercars season.

The ride car pressed into action is the original CoTF Ford Falcon built by Tickford Racing in 2012, which was converted to a Mustang ahead of Thomas Randle’s Wildcard at The Bend in 2019 “We were fortunate enough to lease two cars off Phil, one was just going to be like a ride and show car, so now we’ve got to transfer that for Sandown,” he elaborated.

“That’s nowhere near the level that you have to be to race the Supercar, so we had to get that sorted.”

Hogan was confident by the time this issue of Auto Action hits newsstands, the update would be complete as he reflected on the damage caused by the impact.

“With these Car of The Futures, when you have a side impact like that, you pretty much break both rear spindles, rear tripods, the axles, the gearbox itself and it’s done a bit of damage to the rail,” Hogan said.

Although the end result was not what the team was after, team owner Tim Blanchard is taking away the positives from its maiden appearance.

“Considering what we started with just three months ago, effectively a blank canvas, to come to our first race meeting, qualify on the front row and be fighting for a podium, we couldn’t be happier,” Blanchard told AA. “The guys have worked tirelessly in the last few months to put this all together and it is

good to see some rewards for their efforts.

“Obviously (it was) a gut-wrenching way to finish the weekend, but I much prefer the weekend we’ve had, we’ve shown pace, rather than making up the numbers.

“A car can be fixed, but finding speed is always the challenge; to roll out day one with a fast package is encouraging for us.”

Slade explained a downshift problem resulted in his Mustang careering into the concrete barrier.

“Just where you normally down change from third to second, it’s gone into a false neutral in between the two gears. I have then gone to get it again and it’s gone down two, into first and compression locked the rears, that was kind of the end of it,” Slade told AA after the race.

“It probably makes the feeling even worse knowing you could have been five laps from a really happy team and having a massively successful day, and yeah, it’s the complete opposite.” Dan McCarthy

PROPER HOLDEN FAREWELL PLANNED

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GENERAL MOTORS is planning an official racing farewell to Holden at the end of this season.

Auto Action has learned that GM Specialty Vehicles (GMSV), which has replaced Holden, will celebrate the end of Commodores in Supercars.

The ZB Commodore will be replaced by the Gen3 Chevrolet Camaro next year, ending 41 continuous years of the Aussie family car in local touring car racing.

GMSV is selling converted Chevrolet Silverado pick-ups and will import factory made RHD midengine C8 Corvettes later this year.

GMSV executives – but not GM Australia & NZ chief Marc Ebolo – attended the Supercars season-opener at Mount Panorama.

Red Bull Ampol Racing boss Roland Dane confirmed GMSV staff were at Bathurst as his team’s guest.

They visited other Holden teams likely to switch to the Camaro in ’22.

Sources have confirmed GMSV plans a “proper farewell to Holden and Commodore” at the end of his season.

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Holden’s official farewell from racing at last year’s Bathurst 1000 – which Shane van Gisbergen won in a factory backed Red Bull Holden Racing Team Commodore – went officially uncelebrated because of the corona virus crisis.

AA understands that, COVID-19 restrictions permitting, proper ‘Good Bye Holden’ acknowledgements will happen at both the Bathurst 1000 and season-ending Gold Coast 500.

Triple Eight is running Commodores in the model’s last Supercars main game season without Holden branding in the final year of a previous agreement.

GM paid out the racing contract following the decision to kill Holden by the end of 2020.

GMSV is supporting Supercars’ and Triple Eight’s Gen3 switch to the Camaro next year – even though the two-door V8 couple is no longer sold here.

HSV converted Camaros to RHD until last year.

GMSV has no plans for the Camaro to return in the near-term future. Mark Fogarty

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EDWARDS: NO STRATEGY ERROR

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SUPERCARS IS hoping for approval for up to 75 per cent crowd capacity at Sandown, around 15,000 a day. Talks are continuing with the Victorian government on the spectator limit for the Sandown SuperSprint on March 20-21. Supercars is optimistic the racing complex will allow a daily crowd capacity of at least 50 per cent. MF

TEAM 18 driver Scott Pye believes the continuity within the crew for the 2021 Supercars Championship is a real positive and feels the squad’s first victory is not far away. “It’s the first time I’ve really felt this confident going into a year, our race was strong,” Pye told AA. “To get a race win, it’s just about continuing to build, we are putting the things in the right place and I think a win is a matter of time.” The South Aussie left Mt Panorama 12th in the standings. DM

TICKFORD RACING team principal Tim Edwards is adamant his squad did not make a strategy mistake which allowed Triple Eight driver Shane van Gisbergen past during the first round of pit stops on Sunday, at the Mount Panorama 500 Tickford driver Cameron Waters started from second position but after a blistering start led the entirety of the first stint.

However, van Gisbergen remained within striking distance throughout and was able to pounce, re-taking the lead with a well-executed undercut strategy, during the first round of pit stops.

Edwards stressed to Auto Action that it was not a miscalculation and more of an underestimation that allowed van Gisbergen to take the lead.

“Absolutely no mistake whatsoever, they both had exactly the same fuel time,” he told AA.

Gisbergen set a scintillating out lap he then pitted just eight laps later for a second time, allowing the Queensland squad to consolidate its lead.

“You generally try and warm the tyres up,” Edwards continued. “You don’t just go flat chat, because you risk damaging them.

“It’s always a fine line how hard you push them on the out lap because you have stone cold tyres, it’s not like they have in Formula 1 where you’ve got tyre waarmers.

“You’ve got to bring them up with a degree of care, there is no scientific formula, that’s just a judgment call by the drivers on the out lap, and he went a second faster than we thought he would.

“We were only able to go one second slower than that and so you can’t predict that.

“In other words, there’s absolutely no error from our part.”

Waters admitted in the post-race press conference he would have loved to take the fight to the #97 ZB Commodore, but was unable to once track position out front had been surrendered.

“Shane had a faster car than me today for sure. If I had come out in front, would it have been a different story? Maybe, it’s hard to tell. But I would’ve loved to have found out,” Waters said.

“I was kind of looking after my tyres (in the first stint) and towards the end I felt I had a bit more pace compared to Shane.

“Where I came out wasn’t where the team expected me to come out, so they’ll dive into what happened and why. Hindsight’s a wonderful thing, if you could change it, you would.” Dan McCarthy

guys now that actually see that, they all want to work together and they want to see results no matter what side of the garage it is.

“It’s (the atmosphere) the best it has been for a long time, both of them (the drivers) have no ego, they have both got a lot of self-confidence and our team is very confident as well.

“The workshop side of the team is kicking goals, the environment is better, the drivers are happy and are having a good go, so we can only get better.”

For his first race Kostecki qualified in the Top 10 Shootout and raced there until a slow pitstop cost the #99 driver time. The West Australian went on to finish 11th and backed it up with 12th the following day.

Charismatic Brown crashed heavily in the opening practice, however the team pulled an allnighter to get the car back out for Saturday. Brown went on to finish 16th and 14th in the two races.

The Erebus Motorsport co-owner is brimming with confidence and went as far as to say that the team will return to the track in October and win the Bathurst 1000.

“The best thing is we know we can come back for the 1000 in October and we are going to be competitive and if we can just sharpen up qualifying a bit,” Ryan said.

“We have two really strong codrivers, we can come back here and have a go at actually winning it, (it) might sound arrogant but that is what we are going to do!” DM

Image: Ross Gibb

“What we didn’t predict was that Gizzy (van Gisbergen) would do a cracker out lap, he was a second faster on the out lap (than we expected), and that’s how he was able to get past. You can’t predict that because it’s happening live while you’re coming in.”

In the Supercars Championship it is rare to see a driver go out all guns blazing on their out lap, as it reduces the length of the tyre life.

Triple Eight took this into consideration, and when van

RYAN FIRES SHOTS FORMER BATHURST 1000 winner Chaz Mostert expects to fight up the front of the 2021 Supercars Championship with Walkinshaw Andretti United, now that he has 12 months experience with the team under his belt. “In 2020 we couldn’t quite nail it (a win), this year we’ll try and make the car a bit faster. I’m settled in after 12 months, so that is definitely the expectation,” he told AA. “It’s been a while since I’ve had one (a race win), so looking to break that at some point this year.” DM

AFTER FAILING to score a top five finish in the opening round, Jamie Whincup has admitted that he and his new engineer Wes McDougall looked ordinary on pace compared to his teammate Shane van Gisbergen, who won both races. “It was a good first weekend with Wes,” Whincup said. “We’ll work harder and try to run with those guys for the rest of the year.” DM

OUTSPOKEN EREBUS Motorsport CEO Barry Ryan has given some former employees a blast, describing a much-improved atmosphere within the team since they departed.

At the end of last year there was an exodus at Erebus, with both drivers David Reynolds and Anton de Pasquale leaving the team, along with the lead engineers Alistair McVean and Mirko de Rosa.

At Bathurst, full-time rookies Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki stepped up and performed strongly on debut, fighting for top 10 positions all weekend long.

Ryan has never been one to shy away from speaking out and, following Sunday’s race, the Erebus co-owner fired shots at his former employees.

“The biggest thing now is we have two drivers and an engineering group that actually help each other,” Ryan

said to Auto Action. “They are actually working for the team and not for themselves.

“We had two drivers; drivers are replaceable, they always are!

“We had a couple of engineers depart that probably shouldn’t have been here anyway, and we have replaced them with good people.”

Ryan feels since these team members left, harmony has been restored within the squad and it will allow the crew to once again refocus and move forwards.

“Sometimes people get a bit individualised, they chase their own dream and not the team‘s dream,” he explained.

“We are just trying to get it back to the way Erebus was. We work for Betty, we work for Erebus, we chase the Erebus dream and not the individual dream.

“We have got a really good group of

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TEAMS LOOKING AT RECS

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THE BURNING QUESTION TICKFORD RACING driver Jack Le Brocq is hobbling around on crutches as he continues to recover from a severe foot burn he suffered during the opening round of the Supercars Championship, while the team speculates on a potential cause.

During the first round of the Supercars Championship at Bathurst Le Brocq suffered a bad burn to his right foot.

Le Brocq finished sixth in Saturday’s encounter, but when the #55 driver returned to the track the following day, his right foot had a severe blister due to the intense footwell temperatures.

Despite the hotter temperatures on Sunday, Le Brocq toughed it out to finish 19th in great discomfort, forced to revert to left foot braking in a bid to relieve the pain.

His two teammates Cameron Waters and James Courtney also suffered from heat in the footbox, with Tickford yet to identify the cause.

“At this stage we are still trying to identify what actually happened, because the other two cars had the same (setup), but the drivers didn’t suffer quite to the extent of Jack,” Tickford team manager Matt Roberts told Auto Action.

“We identified a potential issue that might have contributed, (which was) Jack’s seating position and pedal box position, (which) puts the throttle pedal closer to the fire wall. We think that, potentially (coupled) with the hot ambiance at Bathurst (caused the issue).”

Le Brocq was also not instructed by

the team to turn on his footwell fan, something that no doubt contributed to the injuries.

“We run a fan to that area and unfortunately Jack forgot to turn that on; whether it’s the team that didn’t tell him to turn it on it’s a bit of a combination really,” Roberts continued. “We are trying to identify what the root cause is.”

The one-time Supercars race winner spent Tuesday after Bathurst in hospital, where his foot was wrapped in a silver burns dressing designed to keep heat out of the wound for a faster recovery.

Le Brocq temporarily now finds himself on crutches, but explained he is on the mend and doctors are pleased with the progress they are seeing. “(I) Went into hospital on Tuesday (after

Bathurst), I was told to keep the weight off it as much as possible to try and help the healing process and get it as right as we can before Sandown,” Le Brocq said to AA. “It’s coming together, the doctors are happy with how it is healing. I’ve got a silver infused dressing, I’m changing that every couple of days.

“We’ll just keep doing everything right, keeping the weight off it as much as possible, and just hope that we can get as close to 100 per cent as we can at Sandown.”

After Auto Action went to press Le Brocq was due to return to hospital for doctors to determin if the same level of dressing was required in the lead up to the Sandown round. Dan McCarthy

30c PART ROBS WATERS OF WIN A HOT footwell was not the only issue Tickford Racing had to deal with over the course of the Bathurst weekend, as on Saturday Cameron Waters was forced to make an unscheduled stop from the lead of the season’s first race.

The cause of the impromptu stop was to change a faulty power steering pump and saw Waters lose several laps.

Since returning to Victoria the team has determined that an incorrect 30c part failed, and directly resulted in Waters finishing 20th.

“It was a simple O-Ring failure,” Tickford team manager Matt Roberts revealed to Auto Action. “Unfortunately, a 30-cent part has cost us at least a podium position.

“I’m confident we have identified the issue, we discovered that the O-Ring in question wasn’t the right spec for whatever reason. These are factory fitted pumps, the factory has fitted incorrect spec O-Rings, I don’t really want to speculate too much until we hear back from the U.S. to hear what their reasoning is behind it is.

“That problem won’t happen again, it just wasn’t a Viton O-Ring, and (at this stage) the factory can’t tell us why it was not a Viton O-Ring.” DM

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TICKFORD AND Matt Stone Racing have shown interest in the two Racing Entitlement Contracts (RECS) that will be tendered by Supercars later this year.

Ownership of a Racing Entitlement Contract (REC), as the name implies, entitles entry into the Repco Supercars Championship.

Both Tickford and MSR were desperate to secure RECs for this season, however neither was successful.

Tickford lost one of its RECs to Brad Jones Racing late last year and without another REC to fill the void, Tickford was forced to downscale to three cars, leaving Supercars veteran Lee Holdsworth without a main series drive for 2021.

Tickford team principal Tim Edwards is determined to grab one of the tendered RECs or purchase an existing one from another team, and return the team to a four car operation in 2022.

“That is our business model to be four cars and we’ll work towards that and see what transpires,” Edwards told Auto Action.

Edwards signed reigning Super2 Series winner Thomas Randle on a two-year deal for 2021 and 2022, but due to the unavailable RECs this year, the Sandown 500 podium finisher must compete this year as a co-driver.

It is likely that Edwards will want to put Randle behind the wheel of a Mustang for a full season in 2021, as was originally intended for this year.

“We did say that we did a multi-year deal with him,” Edwards chuckled.

After running the shared Superlite Commodore driven by Jake Kostecki and Zane Goddard throughout 2020, Stone wanted to promote both drivers to a full-time seat alongside with Garry Jacobson, requiring the purchase of a REC. Three into two does not go and something had to give, and that was Jacobson, who moved to Team Sydney on a two-year deal.

While Matt Stone no longer has a reason to step up to three cars in the main series, he is still open to the idea.

“We had a clear want to do it for this year because we simply had three drivers in our stables and we were happy with them all,” Stone said to AA. “For us to do it properly our deadline was the end of October and at that point a decision was nowhere near being made, so we had to abandon those plans.”

Instead of running a third main game car, Stone elected to field a Commodore for third-generation racer Aaron Seton in the Super2 Series. It is a category that Stone previously won with Todd Hazelwood in 2017.

Stone continues to look into the three-car option in Supercars.

“Once the tender and Gen3 details and everything are finalised, we’ll assess whether we are still interested in it and go from there,” Stone said.

“We are on the fence, we still have some reasons why it makes sense, but at the same time we are quite happy with the two-car model. We’ll just have to look at the situation and decide what we want to do.” Dan McCarthy

ROUND 1 PHILLIP ISLAND GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT 12–14 MARCH

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WALL RACING has revealed the livery that Craig Lowndes will run at the Porsche Carrera Cup season opener at Sandown. Both Lowndes and team owner David Wall will run identical red, black and white colour schemes, with the backing of long-time partners Paynter Dixon.

Wall will continue to run #38 on his Porsche 911 GT3, while Lowndes will adopt #338. RV

YOUNG NEW Zealander Kaleb Ngatoa has signed up to race in the final three rounds of the VHT S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship.

Ngatoa is set to drive in the Team BRM S5000 machine previously raced by Tommy Smith, who has instead elected to travel to Europe for the upcoming Formula Regional European Championship. Ngatoa is hopeful of making his S5000 debut at Phillip Island, however the current Auckland COVID hotspot could force this to be delayed until Sandown. DM

MULTIPLE RANDLE WILDCARDS IT HAS been confirmed by Tickford Racing team principal Tim Edwards that reigning Super2 Series winner Thomas Randle will drive for the team in several wildcard appearances this season, alluding to a potential full-time drive next year.

Randle was set to race full-time with the team in 2021, however a Racing Entitlement Contract (REC) shortage at Tickford left him on the sidelines.

Instead, Randle was offered a co-drive with the team at the Bathurst 1000 and now several Wildcard appearances.

When asked if the Wildcards are preparing Randle for a full-time assault in 2021 Edwards replied.

“All will be revealed, we did say that it was a multi-year deal with him,” he recalled to Auto Action.

Randle is determined to make it on the grid next year, particularly as it is the first year of the Gen3 regs, but he explained a deal is never secured until the paper has been signed.

“The goal is main game in 2022 and that would also be (the start) of Gen3,” Randle said to AA. “That would be like when Car of the Future came in and you had all the young guns come through like Chaz Mostert and Scott McLaughlin.

“They really shone early, that was because

as well as their talent, no-one had raced with that chassis. Hopefully that will put me in good stead for 2022 with Gen3.

“I’m not 100 per cent sure what is happening with the RECs, the goal is to be there, there are a lot of things that can fall in its way, as we saw previously.

“We had pretty much everything lined up and then we didn’t have the REC, which was a bit of a shame.”

Edwards explained that the number of Randle Wildcard appearances and locations are being discussed between the two parties.

“We are working through that at the

moment,” Edwards said. “There is obviously only limited rounds you can do the Wildcards.

“We are just working through which rounds we try and do.”

Randle knows that these Wildcards will be a lot easier on the team than his run with the team at the Bend Motorsport Park in 2019.

“It works well in a way, they have already got the fourth car because Tickford had to scale back to three, so that fourth car is just sitting there in the workshop,” he recalled.

“When I last did a Wildcard with the team, we had to convert an FGX (Phil Munday’s spare car) to a Mustang.” Dan McCarthy

WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY AS PREVIOUSLY revealed by Auto Action, new Supercars team co-owners Stephen and Brenton Grove will race in the inaugural GT World Challenge Australia series. When AA revealed the news, the Groves were waiting on the arrival of their brand-new Porsche 911 GT3R. The machine has now landed and been unveiled ahead of the opening round at Phillip Island; the father and son duo will be engineered by John Russell. DM

TCR AUSTRALIA returnee Chelsea Angelo will compete in the next round of the series at Phillip Island on March 12-14 driving a Melbourne Performance Centre Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR. HM

LIAM MCADAM has revealed a unique indigenous Australian livery on his Audi RS 3 LMS TCR. Having missed the season opener at Phillip Island, McAdam rolled out the new livery for his Audi at a Cars and Coffee gathering.

The new-look has been designed by celebrated aboriginal artist Stephen Hogarth. As revealed

by AA, McAdam plans to contest selected rounds of TCR this year. DM

10 AutoAction

DURING THE off-season, Supercars mandated that all Holden Commodores must race with the front-wheel arch service windows open.

Some people believed that this would affect the aero performance but gun engineer Adam de Borre has quashed those claims.

The service window situated under both front-wheel arches has been used by teams in recent years to slightly alter the aero performance of the car.

As written in the technical regulations, the windows are

there so that the upper control arms of the suspension can be easily repositioned.

However, as with anything in motor racing, Holden teams found that this could potentially provide an aero advantage, particularly on a high downforce circuit.

Holden teams have been opening and closing these service windows since the Car of The Future chassis was introduced in 2013, in a bid to tweak the Commodore’s aero performance.

From this season, however, Supercars has mandated that

all cars must run with these windows open at all times.

Supercars believes that these vents make less than a single kilogram of downforce but elected to implement the rule to aid under bonnet engine cooling.

Adam de Borre, engineer to Chaz Mostert at Walkinshaw Andretti United, explained that he can see no difference now that the windows are mandated to be open.

“For me it’s not been a big deal at all,” de Borre told Auto Action at Bathurst.

“If they close them, open

them up, it doesn’t worry me.

“This is the most aero sensitive track that we go to on our calendar, so if it’s going to make a massive difference, it would be here.

“Our aero platform is exactly what we had at the race last year and, looking at other cars up and down pit lane, I’d say that they’re pretty much running exactly what they had in 2020.

“Every year the cars evolve, the track changes, so for me it’s not been a major gain or loss, we haven’t really noticed.” Dan McCarthy

TEAM18 CONQUERS QUALIFYING WEAKNESS TEAM18 FOUNDER and owner Charlie Schwerkolt is confident his squad has overcome its weakness of last season, one-lap qualifying pace.

Schwerkolt’s squad experienced a breakthrough season in 2020 – its first as a two-car operation – as both of its drivers finished in the top 10 of the championship standings, and included a podium for Scott Pye in Darwin.

Qualifying pace was, however, a struggle last season.

This appears to have been overcome for 2021 with both Pye and teammate Mark Winterbottom in the Top 10 Shootout for the opening race of the season at Bathurst, with the veteran backing up on the Sunday.

Winterbottom converted these qualifying performances into race position, which currently places him third in the title chase heading to Sandown in Race 2.

Pye’s weekend was hampered by a bent steering arm in Race 1 and an eighth in the following event, which assisted Team18 to finish the weekend third in the Supercars Teams’ title points.

“I think we made big qualifying gains this weekend,” Schwerkolt told Auto Action.

“We found a few things on Frosty’s car (over the off-season) to make his car better.

“He’s on fire now, he’s back, he’s right in there.

“Scotty is great, he made the Shootout yesterday, and missed out by 0.1s today.

“We have made gains there for sure.”

Schwerkolt credits the recruitment of Richard Hollway during the off-season as well as retaining key existing personnel as contributing to the weekend’s results.

“It has been a great start to the season, who would have thought coming out of this weekend we would have a car third in the championship,” he beamed.

“It is a massive achievement to do that, we have really stepped up as a team, we are really going well.

“Getting Crusty (Hollway) onboard, a couple of new number two mechanics and a really good bonding team at the moment, which is great.

“Both of our drivers did an excellent job, Scott was unlucky, but it is all there to be done, there is a whole toolbox of very, very clever people here.”

Schwerkolt is excited, but has promised to not get complacent.

“I am proud, but if you are in this game of Supercars you are in or you are out and you have got to do it properly. I want to do it properly, be a serious contender,” Schwerkolt explained.

“Our team has been trying to keep under the radar a bit and just do our job, but we are popping our head up a little bit.

“Sure, we can’t match the likes of Chaz Mostert, Cam Waters and Shane van Gisbergen at the moment, but we are going to a couple of our strong tracks soon.”

Dan McCarthy

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ROUND 1 of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship has been postponed due to the pandemic. The opening race was due to be held at Portimao in Portugal in early April, however this has been moved to June. The Belgian F1 circuit Spa-Francorchamps will now host the WEC season-opener as well as the Prologue.

The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps will take place on May 1, with the Portuguese round on June 13. DM

HAYDEN PADDON has conceded his chances of a return to the FIA World Rally Championship with a manufacturer are bleak. The 2016 Rally Argentina winner left Hyundai at the end of 2018 as he felt his schedule was too limited, before making several attempts to return the following year. Paddon was set to come back with M-Sport in Finland back in 2019 but a testing crash wrote the car off and forced him to skip the rally, then several rounds later in Australia bushfires halted another return. DM

HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT Customer Racing has unveiled the latest iteration of its i30 N TCR, which has been successful in dozens of TCR championship globally. The changes to the road car are highlighted by a re-profiled front bumper and LED headlights, and these alterations are reflected in the Touring Car. The new design gives the front of the i30 N TCR a more angular appearance. DM

FRONT RUNNING British Touring Car driver Daniel Cammish has announced he will depart the Team Dynamics factory Honda squad after three successful seasons.

Cammish twice finished third in the standings.

Despite the team’s best efforts to retain the 31-year-old, he has decided to move on. It has been rumoured that three-time champion Gordon Shedden may return to the team in his place. DM

AN EXPANDED field of six elite automotive brands will see their customer teams do battle for the 2021 Fanatec GT World Challenge Powered by AWS crown. Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche will field their GT3 machinery at some of the world’s most iconic tracks, including Mt Panorama, Bathurst. DM

12 AutoAction

NEW GT ERA DAWNS AT PI GT RACING in Australia enters a new era at Phillip Island this weekend with a 20-car field contesting the opening round of the GT World Challenge Australia Series.

It marks the first round of the joint venture between international GT promoters, Stephane Ratel Organisation and the Australian Racing Group, and it follows the same concept which the SRO has launched in Asia, America and Europe.

Outright contenders at Phillip Island will include entries from Porsche, Aston Martin, Audi, Lamborghini, Mercedes and Ferrari, backed up by a GT Trophy field making up half the entry.

Supercars star Chaz Mostert will contest the dual one-hour races alongside Tony Bates in an Audi R8 LMS GT3, as will Garth Tander in the same model pairing with Yasser Shahin.

Jamie Whincup replaces Shane van Gisbergen in Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Mercedes-AMG GT3, partnering alongside Prince Jefri Ibrahim.

Tony Quinn will debut his current spec Aston Martin Vantage GT3, while the Bathurst 12 Hour winning team, Maranello Motorsport, returns with Peter Edwards and Adrian Deitz sharing a Ferrari 488 GT3.

Andrew MacPherson and Ben Porter also return to local national-level GT racing after

competing in Asia, sharing a Lamborghini Huracan GT3.

The championship field will be completed by former Formula Holden driver Arthur Abrahams in an Audi.

The German marque is the most populous on the grid thanks to seven R8 LMS GT3s of various spec in Trophy alone, led by former class winner Greg Taylor, Matt Stoupas, Vince Muriti, Brad Schumacher and Nick Kelly.

Adding variety is the Ferrari 458 GT3 of Wayne Mack, the Nissan GT-R GT3 of Brett Hobson, Michael Bailey’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and the bellowing Chevrolet Camaro GT3 of Dale Patterson. HM

together; people were already committed to their programs,” said Lambden.

“I think the grid will be very similar to Phillip Island, maybe an extra car or two, we’ll see, but the main thing for us over these two or three next rounds is to show what we’re about.

“When we announce our calendar and the events for the latter part of this season, I think people will be quite excited.

“I know there are a couple of new teams very, very seriously looking at being part of that.”

Plans are expected to be revealed in the next two or three weeks, as Lambden aims to target an overseas aspect for the championship, pending

the scenario surrounding the worldwide pandemic.

“It’s no secret one of my personal ambitions has been to have international element to what we do and that’s what we’re working on for the moment, that’s what it’s all about,” said Lambden.

“COVID permitting we hope we can go down that path, certainly we don’t want to clash with TRS in New Zealand because that would be pointless.

I’ve always wanted to offer something that would attract overseas drivers to come here for a period of time.

“That’s what we’re working on and I’m hoping we can put something together, reasonably soon,” he said. HM

MAWSON SET FOR S5000 DOUBLE LEADING S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship contender Joey Mawson will return for the category’s back-to-back events at Phillip Island and Sandown.

Extended support from patron Form700, which also supports rival Thomas Randle’s campaign, will enable Mawson to compete at Phillip Island this weekend, before backing up at S5000’s first event as support to the Supercars Championship at Sandown the following weekend.

“He has and that’s a good news story,” said category manager Chris Lambden.

Mawson’s confirmation came as Kiwi rising star Kaleb Ngatoa was announced for Phillip Island, pending travel restrictions, and Sandownas well if possible.

Ngatoa will race the Team BRM S5000 that Tommy Smith drove at Symmons Plains, as the young Aussie heads overseas to continue his international career.

“The fact that Kaleb Ngotoa is coming to race is a good thing as far as I’m concerned,” Lambden said. “I’m hoping he’s the first of a number of Kiwis who come over.”

Lambden doesn’t expect the grid to grow for Sandown due to the round’s late confirmation, but already has his sights set on the second half of the year, when the championship will begin again during the summer months.

“It was short notice how this thing came

MCLEAN BOOSTED Image: Ross Gibb

Image: Insyde Media

SUPER2: GEN2 OR GEN3?

A MAJORITY of Super2 Series teams are urging Supercars not to push the current Gen2 machines down into the second-tier series, as they would be too expensive for small privately run operations.

Cost has been a major talking point since the original Car of the Future machines were first introduced to the Supercars Championship in 2013.

This stepped up a further notch when the premier Supercars Championship made the move to the Gen2 regulations.

In recent years the Super2 Series grid numbers have dwindled, and the third-tier Super3 Series has been combined with it to make up the numbers. For nearly 12 months now Super2 and Super3 have shared events.

The original Car of The Future chassis are now being run in Super2 and team owners firmly believe that the cost to keep them on the track is the main cause of the diminishing grid sizes.

Matt White’s team, MW Motorsport, has won the last two Super2 titles with Bryce Fullwood and Tom Randle, and the team principle can’t understand how Supercars is expecting second-tier teams to run the

handed-down Gen2 machinery.

“There is no reason why Super2 teams should be expected to run cars that are too expensive for the main series teams (to run), it just doesn’t make any sense,” Matt White passionately told Auto Action.

“From our point of view, status quo (remaining with the original Car of the Future cars) would probably be sensible for a year.

“Then jump straight to Gen3 once Supercars has a year running the car and ironing out any of the issues they might have or any sort of refinements, that would be perfect!

“Run the Gen3 formula, they get a year under the belt, that makes better sense to me.”

At this stage it is expected that Supercars will allow Gen2 machinery into Super2 from 2022.

Once in Super2, Ford Mustangs and ZB Commodores will compete against older spec Ford Falcons and VF Commodores, using a parity formula, a concept very few Super2 teams are a fan of.

For more on the future of Super2 and Super3, see the next edition of Auto Action.

DM

CHARISMATIC 24-YEAR-OLD Matt McLean is quickly establishing a name for himself on the Supercars ladder, and during the recent Bathurst 500 weekend the Super2 driver picked up sponsorship from Boost Mobile.

In the opening round at Bathurst McLean took the Super2 Rookie honours, in just his second event in the category and his first with Eggleston Motorsport.

The unexpected backing from Boost Mobile during the Bathurst weekend came as much of a shock for McLean as taking the Rookie round honours.

McLean sat on top of the time sheets throughout much of Super2 practice at The Mountain, and then the following day inked a deal to race with Boost Mobile backing for the remainder of the year.

“The next morning I was actually getting a coffee when Jason Haynes (general manager of Boost Mobile) came over and said we want to get you on board,” McLean recalled.

“I am really excited to see what I can achieve within the Boost Mobile family, and I met with Peter (Adderton Boost Mobile director and subject of this issue’s Up Front with Foges, starting page 22).

“Peter is a legend, and he is fully on board with having me in the family. We spoke about some little things that we can do going into the future and I’m really excited to see how this relationship is going to progress.”

The 24-year-old former karting star finished sixth overall for the weekend and has reset his targets

for the season ahead, with the goal now to win the series outright.

“If I’m being completely honest with you now (after this weekend) my target is to win the series, it’s not just the Rookie championship, the outright series,” McLean told Auto Action.

“If anybody told me I was going to get Rookie of the round, as I said in the press conference, I would have told them they were talking absolute crap.

“It feels really good, it’s absolutely sick. I didn’t think we would go this well. It’s an absolute boost to my confidence to be honest, because this weekend I only ticked over my 400th lap in a Supercar. I’m just really excited to see where we go from here.”

After finishing the opening encounter in sixth, a gearbox problem in qualifying for Race 2 threatened to hamper McLean’s weekend as he qualified 11th.

However, he finished seventh in a chaotic finale to secure the Rookie class win.

McLean highlighted Eggleston Motorsport’s vast experience in Super2 competition as a key contributing factor in his growing confidence.

“I have got the people behind me to make sure I can learn the correct things to get me to that point,” McLean said.

“I had a really good weekend working with the crew at Eggleston and having the people around to support me, it has been a really good way to start our relationship that will hopefully be very fruitful into the future. DM

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VALE - FAUSTO Gresini. Popular and passionate MotoGP team owner Fausto Gresini has passed away aged 60, in Bologna Italy. The Italian contracted COVID-19 in late December and died in hospital on February 23. Before becoming a successful team owner, Gresini won the 1985 and 1987 125cc world titles. AA sends its condolences to his friends and family. DM

BOWE DETERMINED TO DRIVE ON MOTOGP COMMERCIAL rights holder Dorna Sports has announced Hungary will return to the motorcycle world championship from 2023. The Hungarian Motorcycle Grand Prix will be held at a brand-new circuit which is yet to be built. Construction of the circuit is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2021 in Debrecen, Hungary’s second largest city. The Hungaroring has hosted the previous two premier class races in the early 90s. DM

AUSSIE REMY Gardner was fastest on the second day of the Moto2 shakedown test in Portimao, Portugal. Gardner has moved from the Malaysian ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team to the front running Red Bull KTM Ajo in the offseason and began the partnership on top of the timesheets. The 22-year-old was the only rider to dip into the 1m 42s bracket, ending the day 0.3s ahead Joe Roberts and Speed Up rider Jorge Navarro. DM

JUST HOURS before the Qatar shakedown test, Italian Motorbike manufacturer Aprilia unveiled its 2021 machine and its second rider. The Aprilia Racing Team Gresini was still in mourning just days after team principal Fausto Gresini passed away. Bradley Smith and Lorenzo Savadori were the two contenders for the final MotoGP seat, Aprilia opting for Savadori, while Smith will continue as the squad’s test rider. DM

NINE-TIME World Motorcycle Champion Valentino Rossi has unveiled the livery of his satellite Petronas Yamaha machine, his first non-factory bike since 2001. The Italian motorcycle legend has effectively switched seats with French up and comer Fabio Quartararo during the MotoGP off-season.

Quartararo moves to the factory Yamaha team, while Rossi is at the Petronas squad alongside his academy rider Franco Morbidelli.

DM

14 AutoAction

FIVE-TIME Touring Car Masters series winner John Bowe declared he is simply happy to be back visiting racetracks, following his first round of prostate cancer treatment several weeks ago.

The ever-popular Tasmanian was thrilled to race his Torana at Mount Panorama in the Touring Car Masters events several weeks’ ago and then compete in an Allard J2X at the Phillip Island Classic last weekend.

Just days prior to the second round of TCM at Bathurst, Bowe went through his first round of brachytherapy.

“I’ve improved every day,” Bowe told Auto Action. “Some days I’m not on top of the pops, when I say that it’s not like I’m in pain, it’s an overall feeling of crappiness which is due to the treatment more than anything else.

“It’s always fantastic to drive at Bathurst, it certainly puts a pep in your step, it gives you a bit of a lift.”

After his three top five finishes at The Mountain, Bowe leads the TCM standings after two rounds.

When AA spoke to Bowe previously, he said that he would race at Bathurst no matter what, and at Mount Panorama made it clear his intentions are to compete in every TCM round and more this year.

“Obviously I have got my supporters and sponsors that have been with me in a lot of cases for over 10 years, so of course I want to do them,” he said.

“I hope to do the rest of the season and a few historic races. I have no intention of letting this stop my racing, no intention!”

The first of these historic events was the popular Phillip Island Classic, though sadly for Bowe results on the track were not what he was after.

The former Tasmanian failed to finish the first two races and did not start the final event, nevertheless Bowe took to social media to say how much he loved racing in the 32nd edition of the classic event.

The 1995 Australian Touring Car Champion has been blown away by the support and messages

he has received on social media.

“I’ve received so many nice messages of encouragement or stories about themselves or their own relatives, it’s just been really encouraging and it’s nice, I’m very grateful for it,” Bowe said.

“It certainly makes you feel better when you’re sitting there feeling sorry for yourself.”

Since being diagnosed, Bowe has continually promoted the idea of men taking regular PSA tests and has adorned his TCM Torana with F**K cancer stickers.

“I thought, there’s a lot of guys that I know who are over 40 and have never had a PSA test,” Bowe explained.

“I just put it out there and people read it! In some cases, people have said I’m going (to get tested) tomorrow, or I went last week, so it’s been good.

“I’m not trying to be a saint because I’m far from a saint,” he laughed. “But it’s a real-world problem and if I can hlp then I’ll help.”

Dan McCarthy

PANCIONE REVEALS CARRERA CUP LIVERY LAST WEEK Christian Pancione had his maiden drive of a Carrera Cup machine at Queensland Raceway, and has now revealed to Auto Action the livery he will run in the series this year.

In 2021 Pancione will perform Porsche double duties, completing both a full campaign in the second-tier Porsche Sprint Challenge and contesting a majority of top-tier Porsche Carrera Cup Series rounds.

Prior to the test at Queensland Raceway last week, Pancione had never sat in a Carrera Cup car, let alone turned a wheel in one.

Pancione completed dozens of troublefree laps and was pleased with how quickly he got on the pace of his more experienced teammates.

“The first two sessions were kind of getting comfortable and getting used to the car,” Pancione told Auto Action.

“I think even the team was a bit surprised by how quickly I was able to adapt to it and start getting pace out of the car.

“This year, with McElrea Racing in Carrera Cup there are four of us Pro drivers, and I found myself quite quickly on pace with the other three guys, I surprised even myself that I adapted to it so fast.

“I probably did 70-80 laps, it was definitely a jam-packed test day getting a lot of time in the seat, and the car ran faultless.

“We were trying some setup stuff with the team, so it was definitely a very productive day, I enjoyed it thoroughly and look forward to

getting into the car at Sandown.”

Pancione has two seasons of Sprint Challenge experience under his belt.

In his debut season (2018) he finished ninth in the standings outright and won Class B in an older spec machine. The following year in modern machinery Pancione finished sixth, scoring five podiums along the way.

After the COVID-19 enforced a national Porsche hiatus last year, Pancione now returns to the series with the second-tier Sprint Challenge title in his sights.

“Realistically in Sprint Challenge we want to take the series,” he said. “That’s my focus for the year and our goal. I think consistency is going to be key, it’s consistency that wins titles at the end of the day.

“Trying to finish all the races on the podium, I’m definitely going to be wanting to fight for the wins and take away as many as I can this year.

“With Carrera Cup it’s hard to say as I’m not doing the full series, but in the races for sure I want to be fighting for podiums. It’s a really big field this year, so staying in that top five is what we’re wanting to achieve.”

The Victorian told AA that he intends to contest around five rounds in the more powerful Cup car throughout the year.

“It’s not set in stone, but I’m pretty confident we’ll be doing Sandown, The Bend, Sydney Motorsport Park, Gold Coast and possibly Townsville, so most of the season. I’m not 100 per cent sure, but quite confident those will be the rounds,” he said. Dan McCarthy

th Luke West iith wit

AA’s columnist says motorsport has an ace up its sleeve in its bid to stay relevant – girl power.

THE WEIGHT UNKNOWN CURRENT TCR Australia Series leader Jordan Cox is unsure what impact the extra 60kg of weight placed on his Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR will have, approaching Round 2 at Phillip Island.

Alfa Romeos dominated the opening event at Symmons Plains, and as a result all four entries will carry an extra 60kg of ballast.

Cox leads fellow Alfa Romeo driver Lee Holdsworth by four-points heading to Phillip Island.

“We’re really not sure how that will affect us,” Cox admitted. It will definitely affect us and it’s unfortunate because I don’t think Symmons was a true (representation).

“Phillip Island is probably a lot more representative of where cars are really at, you get a better idea of the BoP and the parity. I expect us to be up there, but I don’t expect to be anywhere near as strong as we were at Symmons.”

When TCR Australia last visited Phillip Island in

2019, Dylan O’Keeffe took two wins for Alfa Romeo, however Cox remained measured in his approach to success this season.

“I certainly aimed to be, the realistic target was top three I thought, but the series lead is nice,” Cox said.

“It’s only after one round, I think we’ll have a picture painted of where we really are after Round 3.

(That’s when) we can call it, ‘Yep, this is us, this is what we have to work on, this is where we are good or not’.

“I’m definitely not getting excited yet.”

Others to also be ladened with ballast are the two Melbourne Performance Centre Audi RS3 LMS TCRs with 40kg, while GRM Peugeot driver Aaron Cameron will carry 10kg extra, as will HMO Customer Racing’s Josh Buchan. Heath McAlpine Turn to pages 26-27 for a preview on the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships.

NEW PRIVATEER JOINS TCR FORMULA FORD frontrunner Lachlan Mineeff is the latest rising star to join the ranks of TCR Australia.

The 18-year-old New South Welshman follows fellow Formula Ford alumni Zac Soutar and Jay Hanson into the field, after purchasing the Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR Alexandra Whitley drove during the inaugural 2019 season.

Mineeff’s entry will be prepared and transported to Phillip Island by Melbourne Performance Centre this weekend, before he runs as a privateer for the rest of his program.

“After this round we will be on our own, but MPC’s customer program is great and it will be able to provide some technical support,” Mineeff told Auto Action. “Certainly, everything from transport and prep is on our own.”

Reflecting on his decision to join TCR Australia, Mineeff explained its controlled regulations are a major attraction.

“TCR was our main goal,” said Mineeff. “It’s a really cool category and the fact you can race top level class, plus it’s really accessible for privateer teams or rookies, versus professional squads like Garry Rogers

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Motorsport.

“It’s a level playing field against past and present Supercars drivers. The cars obviously require a fair bit of engineering, but it’s not like a Supercars where the best engineering team wins, there’s a bit of a level playing field for all teams.

“It just makes sense for us.”

Expectations remain grounded for Mineeff, as he will not test the Golf before the Friday of the meeting, but believes he can be competitive come the end of the season.

“There’s no reason why we can’t be competitive and be in that top 10, top 5,” Mineeff said.

“We are a bit reserved for Phillip Island, due to the lack of experience, and it’s our first weekend as a team with new crew, new staff, there’s just new aspects to it.”

After Phillip Island, Mineeff will miss TCR Australia’s debut round at Bathurst, as he is committed to driving and preparing an entry for the 6 Hour event, but he will recommence his season at Sydney Motorsport Park for Round 4 on April 30-May 2. Heath McAlpine

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LAST ISSUE’S celebration of Auto Action’s 50th birthday has me pondering what the magazine will cover in the coming decades.

At the risk of sounding like Captain Obvious, about the only thing we can predict with any certainty is AA will document the many changes that lie ahead for motor sport.

Not even Nostradamus could foresee what those changes might entail, beyond vague notions of more electrification and alternative energy sources.

I will, however, suggest that if AA’s first 50 years coincided with the era of the touring car, the next half century is likely to see the resurgence of sportscar racing.

It’s scary to think what might become of motor racing, given the many challenges it faces. Some doomsday merchants even predict its eventual demise due to environmental concerns and a lack of relevancy to road cars.

I’m not so sure about that, as I reckon motor sport has at least one ace up its sleeve.

Motor sport’s trump card is that it’s arguably the only professional sport in which both men and women can compete equally. Top-line racing places no restrictions based on gender, just as there are no physiological reasons why women can’t compete on equal terms with men behind the wheel. After all, motor sport only discriminates on the basis of a family’s ability to fund their budding star’s rise through the ranks! If a young female racer’s parents have the coin, connections and drive to see their girl succeed, then anything is possible.

The ability for women to compete equally with men at the elite levels of motor racing gives our sport a massive leg-up compared to other ‘codes’. Yet racing has had held this advantage for a while but is yet to capitalise on it.

None other than Kevin Bartlett made this point in his 1983 (!) book Big Rev Kev: “I believe the single greatest thing that could happen right now to (local) motor racing would be for a woman to win the Australian Touring Car Championship and then romp home with the Hardie-Ferodo 1000 in October.

“Motor racing would have a brand-new super hero, the media would go bananas and the crowds would flock to see ‘Super Bird’ clean up,” KB continued. “Imagine the promotional possibilities and publicity value for the sport.

“That we’ve never had a woman driver good enough to beat the best male touring car stars doesn’t mean it could never happen.”

Well, we did have a gun female driver compete in Supercars, Simona de Silvestro, but despite good backing from Harvey Norman she was locked into a long-term deal driving an uncompetitive Kelly Racing Nissan. What a missed opportunity! Nonetheless, this year de Silvestro has her best chance yet to win the Indy 500, driving for a team owned by automotive industry mover and shaker Beth Paretta, with technical assistance from the powerhouse Team Penske. SDS is also contracted to Porsche, soon to compete once more for outright Le Mans victories. Hopefully she is well placed for a shot at being the first female to win the classic French.

Sceptics may highlight that over the last 100-plus years very few women have risen to the top of the sport. That is undeniably true, but discrimination and inequality issues in place until recent times have contributed, so too the fact that fewer women are interested in making a career out of racing than men.

And it’s the latter that needs to change before there’s more than a light sprinkling of chicks competing at the top level. Think about it; there has to a sizeable pool of girls racing karts before a promising batch of young females can rise through the ranks to become battled hardened and skilled racers. It can’t be just one or two young ladies competing against hundreds of young men, looking to progress to cars. There has to be almost as many girls racing as boys before real progress is made.

Karting Australia has just over 500 licenced female competitors nationally, less than 10 per cent of its total competitor base. Encouragingly, this number has increased slightly over the past decade, particularly noticeable at the higher levels where most classes have at least one or two female drivers.

It’s a good starting point, and hopefully, with KA and Motorsport Australia programs and initiatives in place, such as ‘Girls on Track’, female competitor numbers will rise at a faster rate. Of course, what’s really needed is a highprofile win – such as by de Silvestro at Indy – to show young girls and their mums and dads what’s truly possible. Imagine what that would do for our sport generally. We’d double the audience.

I write this column on International Women’s Day. I look forward to the day when Auto Action’s cover carries the story of a major female triumph.

Luke West wrote his first Auto Action column in 2000. Today Revved Up surveys motorsport’s changing landscape. Contact via @Luke_West (Twitter) & aarevvedup@ hotmail.com

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GROSJEAN ACCIDENT: FIA FINDINGS

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THE FIA has concluded an exhaustive investigation into Romain Grosjean’s fiery crash into the barriers on the opening lap of the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Grosjean was travelling at 241 km/h when he lost control on the exit of Turn 3, following contact between his right rear wheel and Daniil Kvyat’s left front wheel, when attempting to move from the left to right-hand side of the track.

Grosjean’s car impacted the triple guardrail barrier behind the run-off area at 192 km/h and at an angle of 29 degrees, with an estimated yaw of 22 degrees to the direction of travel and a resultant peak force equivalent to 67G. Following the failure of the middle rail of the barrier and significant deformation of the upper and lower rails, the Haas’ survival cell was able to pierce the barrier and came to rest behind the barrier, constrained by the primary roll structure against the upper rail of the barrier.

The car, which caught fire, suffered extensive damage during the impact, including separation of the powertrain assembly from the survival cell. The fuel tank inspection hatch on the left-hand side of the chassis was also dislodged and the engine fuel supply connection was torn from the fuel tank safety bladder; both providing primary paths for the escape of fuel from the tank.

The resting position of the survival cell, relative to the upper rail of the barrier, significantly restricted the path for driver egress.

Due to damage to the survival cell and a number of components within the cockpit environment, Grosjean’s left foot was initially trapped as the car came to rest. He was able to free his foot by withdrawing it from his racing boot, leaving the boot in the entrapped position in the car and then moved both the dislodged headrest and steering wheel to egress the car unaided after 27 seconds.

Grosjean, who suffered burns to the back sides of both hands, was discharged from hospital after three days.

Last year the FIA Safety Department conducted investigations into 19 significant accidents related to circuit racing, supported by the ASN (National Sporting Authority) in each country.

As a result, the FIA will be researching the following:

VEHICLE

Regulation of survival cell front geometry, plus additional load tests in that area Review of existing regulations regarding rear view mirrors Review of steering column mounting requirements Review of regulation and homologation

requirements for headrest assembly Analysis of Power Unit mounting and mount failure modes Ongoing research project: Wheel Restraint Cables (tethers) Design review of safety fuel bladder installations in all FIA single seater categories Recommendations for safety fuel bladder installation best practice Update of the FIA Standard for safety fuel bladders Review of regulations for design of safety fuel bladder connections and inspection hatches Fuel homologation to include compatibility of bladder material and specific fuel

CIRCUIT

Increased functionality for Circuit Safety Analysis Software (CSAS) including quantitative impact probability classification Review of existing circuit barrier opening installations Review of guidelines/process for circuit homologation and licence renewal

DRIVER SAFETY EQUIPMENT

Investigation into improvements to the gloves’ Heat Transfer Index (HTI) Ongoing research project: Visor opening/ locking mechanisms; project scope extended to include requirements to ensure that visor opening systems are operational after being

exposed to fire Ongoing research project: Extinguisher system for open cockpit cars; project scope extended to include investigation of improved activation mechanisms

MEDICAL AND RESCUE

Updates to Medical Intervention Vehicle equipment, including alternate extinguisher types Provide ASN guidance on post-fire decontamination Ongoing development of FIA firefighting training module for ASNs Ongoing development of FIA high voltage safety training module for ASNs Ongoing development of FIA Incident Command/Co-ordination training module for ASNs

OTHER

Investigation of options for proximity warning systems and electronic visibility aids Research into retrofit and upgrade options to improve impact performance of existing guardrail barriers Research into novel barrier systems, effective across a wider range of impact conditions Research to assess current fire extinguishing media, firefighting equipment and personal protective equipment and assess new technologies. Dan Knutson

VALE – HANNU MIKKOLA

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WORLD RALLY champion Hannu Mikkola has passed away at the age of 78, after a fight with cancer.

Confirmed by his son Vesa via Twitter: “We lost my father Hannu to cancer this weekend. Most knew him as a rallying great who ushered in the golden years of the sport. To me he was Dad.” Nicknamed the ‘Flying Finn’, Mikkola was among rallying’s greats who competed during the discipline’s golden era of the 1980s.

Starting his career with Volvo in the early 1960s, Mikkola

established his reputation in Ford’s iconic Escort over the next decade, winning the prestigious East African Safari in 1972 and the British Rally Championship in 1978.

Mikkola was a seven-time winner of his home 1000 Lakes Rally, but is perhaps best known as one of the first drivers to rally the sportdefining four-wheel-drive Audi Quattro.

The Finn took the Quattro’s first WRC Drivers’ title in 1983, defeating Lancia’s Walter Rohrl.

In all Mikkola took 18 World Championship wins, 10 of those

with Audi, in a career that spanned over two decades.

In his later years Mikkola drove for Mazda, Subaru and Toyota, before in his semi-retirment tackling historic rallying events, including the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally, a tribute round of the Scottish Rally Championship.

Hannu was inducted alongside great rival Rohrl into the Rally Hall of Fame in 2011.

Organisers of the WRC Arctic Rally last weekend observed a minute’s silence in tribute to the pioneering Finn. HM

PIASTRI’S F2 LIVERY REVEALED AUSTRALIAN OSCAR Piastri’s Prema Racing livery has been revealed ahead of the FIA Formula 2 Championship pre-season test, set for the Sakhir International Circuit in Bahrain.

In 2020, Victorian Piastri shot into the spotlight by winning the third-tier FIA Formula 3 Championship in his maiden season.

The Aussie took two impressive victories and backed it up with a further four podiums, to win

the F3 title with Prema.

This year the 19-year-old makes the step up to the second-tier series with the Italian squad, replacing the F1-bound reigning F2 champion Mick Schumacher.

Piastri will join 2019 F3 champ Robert Shwartzman in the Prema F2 team, the Russian having taken more victories than anyone else in F2 last season including his teammate and

ultimate champion Schumacher.

In 2021, Shwartzman will run the #1 Prema entry, while Piastri will run with #2 machine.

Despite similar colour schemes, there will be some distinct differences between the two entries, with Piastri running a red halo and front wing end plates, while Schwartzman’s will be blue.

As well as HPTuners, Alpine branding adorns the Aussie’s Prema entry as he continues his links

with the French manufacturer as a member of its junior academy, which he joined after winning the 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup.

For 2021, the Renault Junior Academy has been renamed to the Alpine Junior Academy following the rebranding of its Formula 1 team.

The three-day pre-season F2 test in Bahrain takes place as this issue goes to press.

Dan McCarthy

Image: Motorsport Images

2021 LE MANS POSTPONED

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FOR THE second year in a row, the Le Mans 24 Hour has been rescheduled, due to the impacts of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic Announced by race organiser, the Automobile Club de l’Quest, the 89th running of the classic endurance event will now take place on August 21-22 this year rather than the traditional June.

Last year the race was moved to September, marking the first time since 1968 that the French classic had not taken place in June, and the first time it was held without spectators.

The date shift for the 2021 race is to ensure that fans will be able to attend this year’s event, confirmed ACO president Pierre Fillon.

“Although it was a tough decision to make, it is the right one,” said Fillon.

“Holding the 24 Hours of Le Mans behind closed doors for the

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second-year running would be unthinkable.

“We are therefore doing all we can to avoid that happening (again) and to give competitors a clear view of the whole season.

We are working very hard to put on a safe event, with all the necessary health precautions in place.”

Further information is set to be released at the end of April, including whether the traditional test day will return, formats for practice and qualifying, and when tickets will become available.

All remaining FIA World Endurance Championship rounds retain their same 2021 dates, with the Algarve circuit hosting the two preLe Mans events and Fuji the following event.

Races rescheduled so far this year include the IMSA Weathertech Sports Car Championship at Virginia and the European Le Mans Series round at Paul Ricard. Heath McAlpine

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FERRARI TARGETS 2023 LA SARTHE FERRARI IS the latest manufacturer to confirm a Le Mans Hypercar program, setting up its first official attack on an outright Le Mans 24 Hour victory since the 1970s.

Announced last week, Ferrari is to develop an LMH entry to contest the 2023 World Endurance Championship Hypercar class, with work already underway on the design and simulation phases of the project.

Current Motorsport Australia official Tim Schenken was part of the prancing horse’s last official outright factory campaign at Le Mans in the early ‘70s.

Ferrari’s last outright win at Le Mans was in 1965, when the legendary 250 LM driven by Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt took victory by five laps.

A Dallara-designed 333 SP was the last Ferraribranded effort for outright honours during the late-1990s.

In more recent years, the Italian marque , has concentrated its Le Mans efforts on GT racing, taking multiple GTE class victories.

“In over 70 years of racing we have brought our cars with covered wheels to triumph on tracks all over the world, experimenting with cuttingedge technological solutions: innovations that come from the circuits and make every road car produced in Maranello,” said Ferrari President John Elkann.

“With the new Le Mans Hypercar program, Ferrari relaunches its sporting commitment and confirms its will to be a protagonist in the world motorsport championships of excellence.”

Ferrari is set to join Toyota, Peugeot, Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus and Bykolles in entering the LMH ranks, whilst Audi, Porsche and Acura have confirmed participation in LMDh. HM

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DAVISON PLEASED WITH PROGRESSION SUPERCARS FULL-TIME returnee Will Davison experienced a tough initiation upon his comeback at the Bathurst 500 last weekend.

The veteran driver made the switch to a newly rebranded Dick Johnson Racing during the offseason after finishing on the podium alongside Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters at the Bathurst 1000 season finale.

Returning to the team where he scored his first round win back in 2008, Davison struggled during the early part of the weekend, but became accustomed to the DJR Mustang to score two top 10 finishes. This included a podium in Saturday’s opening 250km event.

“I would have taken it,” Davison confessed to <i>Auto Action<i>. “We were struggling Friday in practice, so if you said to me then you would end up with 225 points and a straight car, I would have happily taken it.”

Davison explained that the team treated the opening round as more of a test session to see what does and doesn’t work, the two-time Bathurst winner is confident of moving up the grid at Sandown.

“All in all, I’m really happy, I have learnt a massive amount over the last few days, an invaluable learning curve and we have grabbed some points along the way,” he said after the final race.

“We have certainly seen where we are at and what we need to improve.

DE PASQUALE GETTING COMFORTABLE AFTER CRASHING out of the season opening Supercars Championship race at Mount Panorama, Anton de Pasquale was pleased to achieve a solid finish to the weekend as he continues to get comfortable in the Ford Mustang.

De Pasquale moved from Erebus Motorsport to front-running squad Dick Johnson Racing during the off-season and was happy to secure a fourth-place finish in the final race.

However, the one-time Supercars race winner conceded that after the round at Mount Panorama, he still has to get more comfortable in the Mustang.

“Those top three guys are pretty comfortable in their cars and ragging them on the limit, I’ve probably got a little way to go before that,” de Pasquale told Auto Action.

“We tuned the car a bit from what they (the team) had here last year. On Friday we struggled a bit, but we were getting better and better.

“It’s a bit of set-up, but also just understanding the car traits in the race and learning takes time.

“This track is obviously one of the hardest places to do that because you can’t run wide without crashing.”

The 25-year-old reflected on his crash at The Cutting in Race 1, saying that he was simply driving too hard.

“Just pushing a little bit hard when I shouldn’t have,” he admitted. “Just trying to hang with the first two dudes, probably didn’t have their pace.

“I just skated the rear in a little bit and just scrubbed the fence and it was all over. It was minimal damage but enough to put me out of it.

“It’s risk versus reward around here especially, and yesterday I didn’t do that too well.”

The former Australian Formula Ford Champion was pleased to bring the car home in the top five and grab some crucial points.

“It was good to complete the race and get the first bank points,” de Pasquale said to AA after the race.

“We clawed back half okay after obviously coming off yesterday with a bit of damage, the guys did an awesome job to fix it all up.

“We aimed for that top five and we got there in the end, pace wise we were a tiny bit off the front few guys, we were in our own race in fourth there.”

Both the DJR machines of de Pasquale and Will Davison were more competitive in qualifying trim than over a race run, however de Pasquale knows more is to come from one lap pace also.

“We were in contention for the front row both times, my shootout laps weren’t amazing, but provisional pole and being competitive in the shootout is really good,” he said.

“To push it for that one lap, the car is quite good, I mean I still don’t think I’ve been maximising what I can do, but with time these things happen, so it’s all good.”

Dan McCarthy

“We can attack the next race with some more confidence from the get-go, instead of playing catch up and effectively using it as a test session, which is what we have done this weekend.

“So, we will hit the ground running from the getgo in the next one.”

Davison sat out the majority of 2020 due to 23Red Racing’s withdrawal from the championship before joining Waters at Bathurst.

As a result, Davison is still learning the characteristics and ergonomics of his new Mustang.

“We’ve been quite methodical, very limited time in the car in general for me, not only in the last 12 months but with this team,” Davison said.

“We’ve got some work to do, I’ve got some work to do, I’m learning all the time about the car.

“Coming into the weekend I had no idea how the car would trend over a stint, first time working with (engineer) Richard Harris and going through the motions, so everything went pretty well.”

The 2009 championship runner-up comes out of the opening round fourth in the championship and expects to be on the pace at Sandown.

“The car will be much better suited for Sandown,” Davison enthused. “The team struggled here (at Bathurst) in October.

“This team is very, very confident with its package on the soft tyre and so I am looking forward to that.”

Dan McCarthy

REYNOLDS IDENTIFIES IMPROVEMENTS

SUPERCARS LARRIKIN David Reynolds has been quick to identify where improvements need to be made upon his debut in the Kelly Grove Racing Ford Mustang.

Reynolds was the key mover during the Supercars off-season in a drawn-out battle between him and Erebus Motorsport after a disappointing 2020 Supercars season.

The 2017 Bathurst winner re-joined the newly rebranded Kelly Grove Racing after leaving the squad a decade earlier in unceremonious circumstances, but much of the team has changed since including its transition to the Ford Mustang ahead of the 2020 Supercars season.

Kelly Grove Racing’s package demonstrated glimpses of promise last year, highlighted by Andre Heimgartner’s pole at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Although the pair of Mustangs were consistent during the Bathurst 500 last weekend, Reynolds identified a few weaknesses, which need to be addressed.

“There’s a few things that we can fix in the front end just to help us get around the corner a bit better,” Reynolds told Auto Action.

“The engine drivability probably needs to improve a little bit also, but obviously they’ve only had the engine for a year, which is not a very long time compared to some of the other teams.

“So (we are) just working on making it an easy car to drive, not so stressful.”

Hot conditions during Sunday’s event hampered a number of drivers, notably Tickford Racing’s Jack Le Brocq and also Reynolds was affected by this as well.

“Today (Sunday) it was much harder,” Reynolds explained. “My foot was bloody hot; it half went to sleep and went really tingly even 10 laps.

“That makes everything really difficult to

feel to drive, but I’m getting there, it’s just everything’s completely different.

“If you sort the car out, make the car drive better, brake better, turn better, my job is so much easier.”

Leaving Bathurst eighth in the title is representative of where Reynolds expected to be ahead of a season of constant

development.

“If they said I was going to be eighth in the championship, I would have said cool, not a bad result,” Reynolds explained.

“It’s kind of where I expected our pace to be though, we’ve got a lot of things to work on, a lot of things to build.

“This weekend was all about just

establishing our base, (figuring out) what to build on so we can track our performance during the year and find out if we’re going better or worse.

“We’ve got to figure out what we need, we’ve got to build it, spend some time and understand our package, and try and make it better.”

Dan McCarthy

FIA GIRLS ON TRACK AMBASSADOR NAMED EREBUS MOTORSPORT’S managing director Shannen Kiely has been named an ambassador for the FIA Girls on Track program.

The global, not-for-profit initiative is the brainchild of former Formula 1 development driver Susie Wolff and made its way down under in 2018.

Then known as Dare to be Different, The Australian program was last year rebranded as FIA Girls on Track.

“Motorsport is something I have been around for almost my entire life, so it was a natural path for me,” Kiely said.

“For many others though a career in motorsport isn’t something that would cross their minds, so it’s important to educate our next generation of girls about what opportunities are out there for them.”

Kiely, who has been with Erebus for almost five years and holds more than a decade of experience, was promoted to

her new role last year.

She is eager to educate girls that the opportunity is there for those willing to take on the challenge.

“I have seen the amazing work FIA Girls on Track have done for many years now, and I am very proud to be named as one of their ambassadors,” Kiely said.

“I hope I can help inspire as many girls as possible to think outside the box and consider a career in motorsport.

“The door is open to anyone that is willing to take on the challenge and we want to see more female participation across all areas.”

Backed by Motorsport Australia, the program is designed to help young girls understand the opportunities that await them in the motorsport industry, whether it as a driver, engineer, mechanic or one of the main

other roles.

FIA Girls on Track provides free events throughout the year for young women to participate in with the aim of increasing

interest in STEM subjects.

Kiely was on-track at Broadford State Motorcycle Sports Complex last Monday for its International Women’s Day Festival.

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TO THE POINT HAVING SCORED just a single point during the past two seasons, one of the goals for Williams is to move out of last place in the world constructors’ championship in 2022 if not in 2021.

“That’s very clear to me,” Williams new CEO Jost Capito said when asked about the team’s goals. “Short-term, battling on track and making the most of any opportunity, and long-term, Williams being a winner again.”

He was speaking on a Zoom call to F1 media including Auto Action after the team gave a sneak preview of its 2021 car. It is an updated version of its 2020 car – hence it is called the FW43B rather than the FW44.

The new livery combining blues, white and yellow accents was inspired by Williams’ allconquering cars of the 1980s and 1990s.

“Still a lot to do,” Capito said. “When you come from where we are, and you want to get to the very front, you have to do things differently. The whole company, the team and owners, we are prepared to do whatever is necessary to make it up the grid.”

This is the third and final year of George Russell’s contract with Williams. Nicolas Latifi is back for a second season in F1.

Russell’s goal is capitalising on opportunities, which could in turn result in points.

“As we saw last year, the points separating the teams at the back of the grid were very small

numbers,” the British driver said. “So you only need one big weekend and that can catapult you from last to eighth in the constructors’, which from a team side is huge and obviously from my side it’s huge.

“Haas and Alfa Romeo were our two rivals last year. It’s no secret that the Ferrari engine will be much stronger this year, which puts us slightly on the back foot. But I think the guys have done a great job over the winter. As a minimum we want to be in the same position as we were last year, taking into consideration the improvements of the Ferrari engine (for Haas and Alfa). But also trying to minimise that gap to the back

end of the midfield, which I believe there are possibilities for.”

Latifi also wants to move forward.

“The biggest thing from my side – from a personal front but also in terms of the team – is really just progress,” he said. “We want to be moving more forward, be a bit closer to our competitors.

“On a personal side I want to build on the weaknesses that I need to improve upon from last year. Obviously build on the strengths as well. I’ve been quite open about my Saturday struggles, being the one area to try and improve.

Obviously I’m up against Mr. Saturday (Russell)

so it makes it a little bit more difficult, but it’s a good reference to have so definitely.

“The ultimate rule in F1 is always you want to be beating your teammate, but I need to get a bit closer to him on Saturdays. The races have been coming a bit easier to me from last year, it was my strength from the previous years. So building on that and moving forward as a team.”

This marks the first time in the history of the team that a Formula 1 season has begun without the Williams family at the helm. The New York-based investment firm Dorilton Capital bought the team last August.

Dan Knutson

Dust and wind were a major problem on the opening day, but conditions improved for Day 2 and allowed riders to go much faster.

On Sunday, Miller set a 1m 54.017s time, more than a second faster than what he achieved the previous day.

Last season was one of the closest fought and most unpredictable MotoGP seasons in history.

After the opening test (in which the top dozen riders were separated by just 0.7s) Miller believes that this season will be no different.

“That’s the scary thing,” he said. “Everyone’s already so close and we got another three days test plus the race weekend, it’s going to be interesting come the Sunday of the race, the times are going to be so close.”

One advantage the Ducati’s have had in recent years is in straight-line speed and at the end of the test the top five bikes were all ‘Bologna Bullets.’

However, Miller feels the Italian manufacturer still has some key things to work on.

“There’s still some areas of the bike we need

to work on and just try and get some more performance out of, but in all a great way to end the first test,” Miller said.

Ducati debuted a new aero package at the test and Miller believes it is something the squad may run in Qatar.

“I feel like it might (be used for the race), I pretty much ran it all day today, I only did one back-toback on the old one but we’ll see, they could well bring something even better,” he joked.

Dan McCarthy

MILLER PLEASED WITH GRADUAL PROGRESS AUSTRALIAN MOTOGP rider Jack Miller impressed during his first official test on the factory Ducati in Qatar, concluding both days inside the top five.

The 26-year-old Queenslander stepped up from the satellite Pramac Ducati squad to the factory team in 2021.

Miller is slowly becoming accustomed to the factory Ducati’s characteristics, but was pleased with how it handled.

“The bike’s working really well,” said Miller. “The team is working fantastic.

“I’m just getting to grips with everybody, and enjoying the time in the garage, that’s the main thing.

“I just took it step-by-step and was able to go for a little bit of time attack there at the end, conditions still aren’t fantastic out there, so I didn’t throw everything at it, but I had a lot of fun, it’s always good to get the blood flowing like that again.

“I’m more or less satisfied with the job we’ve done here in the first test.”

Miller ended the first day in fourth position with a time of 1m 55.022s, more than 0.3s slower than fastest rider factory Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro.

On Day 2, Miller was more comfortable and ended the day second on the timesheets. Only Fabio Quartararo was faster, 0.077s up the road.

EVANS SWITCHES SQUADS FORMER CARRERA Cup Australia Series winner Jaxon Evans will race in the one-make Porsche Supercup series for a third successive season.

The New Zealander will race for the French squad Team Martinet in the Formula 1 support series.

Last year Evans finished fourth in the standings racing for the BWT Lechner Racing off the back of a sixth-place finish one year earlier.

Porsche Supercup in 2021 will see the debut of the all-new 992 generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

“I can’t wait to get 2021 underway, the addition of a brand-new generation Cup Car (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup) essentially brings everyone back to a completely level playing field,” Evans said.

“I’m very excited to work with Team Martinet by Almeras, I’ve raced against them for the past two years in both Supercup and Carrera Cup France, so I’m now excited to join forces. Together, I’m confident we will have a successful year.”

In 2020 Team Martinet by Almeras fielded two Porsches, one of which was driven by Ayhancan Guven who finished third in the standings after taking two victories.

Evans himself had a breakout year in 2020, in Porsche Supercup he took pole position and his maiden race win and claimed a further two podiums.

Several weeks later Evans won the highly regarded French Carrera Cup Championship, standing on the podium in ten out of twelve races to secure his first title in Europe.

As well as this Evans will make appearances in selected VLN races (Nurburgring Endurance Series) to gain experience on the NurburgringNordschleife.

The 24-year-old will announce further additional plans for the 2021 racing season in the coming weeks.

All eight rounds of Porsche Supercup will be broadcast live in Australia on Fox Sports with the season kicking off on the streets of Monaco from May 20-23. DM

AUSTRALIA YOUNG RALLY STAR SEARCH IT HAS been announced that Motorsport Australia will launch a local edition of the FIA Rally Star program, which could lead to a Junior WRC drive.

The Australian initiative will begin at this month’s National Capital Rally in Canberra which runs from March 26-28, the opening round of the Australian Rally Championship.

A potential Junior WRC drive is on the cards with the future stars of the sport given the opportunity to showcase their skills and talent.

At the Service Park, opposite the Abode Woden Hotel on Saturday March 27, a simulator challenge will be available to fans to have a go.

The FIA Rally Star challenge competition is for competitors between aged between 17 and 26-years-old and will see them compete against the clock racing on the WRC9 video game.

All participants will steer the Motorsport Australia simulator, with the goal of qualifying for the next

round of the program.

Each driver is given 15 minutes to complete a maximum of three runs on a digital special stage, with their best run recorded.

Although the event in Canberra will be the first, the simulator will travel around the country and be in attendance at each ARC round this season.

Competitors are also eligible to enter remotely – more details will follow in the coming weeks.

At the end of the year the fastest driver in Australia will go on to represent their country at the Asian Pacific qualifiers, with the top FIA Rally Star prize a fully funded drive in the Junior FIA World Rally Championship.

No pre-registration is required for the Canberra opportunity, with all competitors welcome to attend the Service Park on Saturday.

The simulator will be available to be driven from 9am to 3pm. Dan McCarthy

LATEST NEWS

STAR NAMES JOIN TRANS AM FIELD SECOND-GENERATION drivers Nash Morris and Ben Grice headline an expanded 24-car Trans Am National Series field at Phillip Island forming the opening round of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships.

Morris last weekend contested the TA2 Muscle Car Series at Sydney Motorsport Park finishing second for the weekend including victory in the final race of the round.

The 17-year-old will drive the same Ford Mustang he drove last weekend at The Island.

Grice was confirmed last week to be driving a Dodge Challenger after keeping a keen eye on the class while competing at Race Tasmania’s two events in January.

“I raced my Hyundai at Symmons Plains and Baskerville and I couldn’t keep my eyes off how good the Trans Am cars were. I needed to get into one,” said Grice.

“The class has a great TV package, the cars are fast and they sound awesome, so I’m super excited. Plus, Phillip Island is a great track and we’re going to have a good time.

“I’ll have a bit to learn. I haven’t done a lot of left-hand drive racing, so sitting on the other side of the car will be interesting, but I’m sure I’ll get my head around it soon enough.

“My plan is to sneak up on it and chip away at the leaders. I hope by the end of

the weekend we can have a good result.”

Noted production car competitor and Toyota 86 Race Series driver Dylan Thomas is another new driver to join the series, racing his recently acquired exGeorge Miedecke Ford Mustang.

Nathan Herne holds a narrow four-point lead ahead of Tasmanian Ten Thousand winner Aaron Seton arriving at Phillip Island.

Fellow title protagonists Owen Kelly, Edan Thornburrow and Tim Brook are also among the entries. HM

BURDON HELL AUSTRALIAN GT driver Josh Burdon will race at the Nurburgring continuously this season after re-signing with KCMG for the NLS Series and the marquee 24 Hour event.

Burdon will race a Porsche 911 GT3 R in a number of NLS events after the Hong Kong-based team switched form its popular Nissan GT-R GT3s to the German marque last year.

Joining him in the team will be two drivers familiar to fans of the Bathurst 12 Hour in Alexandre Imperatori and Edoardo Liberati, while renowned Porsche driver Marco Holzer completes the quartet.

It is unsure how many Burdon will contest, but the mixture includes races of four or six-hour lengths, but he is confirmed for the legendary Nurburgring 24 Hour in June.

“I’m both proud and excited to announce that I’ve re-signed as a full time KCMG driver, and will begin my third year with the team in 2021,” said Burdon.

“Loyalty and continuity are very important to me and I am excited for the direction we are headed as a team.”

HM

AUDI RETURNS TO WORLD RALLY A PRIVATEER effort by one of Audi’s most successful drivers will result in the brand returning to the World Rally Championship in its second-tier class.

Multiple DTM and World Rallycross champion Mattias Ekstrom through his newly formed EKS JC team is developing Audi’s A1 Quattro for WRC2 and WRC3 based on the Rally2-specifications.

South African company Rally Technic is also heavily involved in the development phase as the new addition to the WRC2 and WRC3 ranks is aimed to debut later this season.

“When the new generation of Audi A1 was launched, we knew we want to build something out of it,” said Ekström. “And

since everyone knows my passion for rallying, it quickly became clear that we will build a rally car.

Although revealed and ready to go, the A1 Quattro will undergo a rigorous testing schedule focused initially on gravel and snow.

“The car is ready. It’s just the set-up work left. We need to do some test kilometres and gather the information. There is no real set date for it, but it is quite clear we will see the car in some competitions in spring/ summer,” said Ekström.

“For now, this car is just for our own use, but when we will be satisfied with its performance, we will offer it for rent or purchase to other competitors.”

A 1.6-litre turbocharged engine produces 263bhp delivered a five-speed sequential gearbox, making it on paper a competitive prospect against the Ford Fiesta, Skoda Fabia, Hyundai i20 N, Citroen C3 and other R5 models, which are eligible for the Australian Rally Championship.

“The Rally2 kit provides a unique priceperformance balance for competitors, but in this case, it is also combined with a legendary brand and a glorious body kit,” said Rally Technic’s Chris Coertsee.

Audi’s pioneered four-wheel-drive in rallying during the early-1980s before winning numerous titles during the Group B era, before pulling out of the championship in 1987. HM

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with Dan Knutson Image: Motorsport Images

WHILE FERRARI is not writing off the 2021 season, the Scuderia will soon switch its focus to 2022. Ferrari believes it has made significant improvements to its uncompetitive 2020 car.

However, with the radical changes in the 2022 technical regulations plus with the restrictions on how much time teams can spend in the wind tunnel, Ferrari will concentrate on its 2022 car and give that priority in the wind tunnel over the 2021 model. DK

ALPHATAURI AND Red Bull Racing refugee Daniil Kvyat has found a new home at the newly rebranded Alpine F1 Team. The 26-year-old Russian has been named as the official Alpine reserve driver for 2021. Kvyat has a lot of F1 experience under his belt, making 110 grand prix starts and scoring three podiums. Kvyat has previous experience as a reserve driver, in 2018 he took on the role at Ferrari. DM

TESTING OF the 2022 season 18-inch tyres has begun and will continue over the next several months. As part of the 2022 rule changes, F1 teams will move from 13-inch tyres to 18-inches. Scuderia Ferrari kicked off the testing at the Jerez circuit in Spain on February 22-24, with all team bar Williams set to test the 2022 rubber over the next few months. The new dry and wet tyres will be tested over a total of 20 days and 10 sessions. DM

CHARISMATIC HAAS F1 team owner Gunther Steiner says the American team is prepared to sacrifice the 2021 F1 season. Steiner said the team will not develop the 2021 Haas F1 as it turns its attention to the major regulation overhaul in 2022. This year Haas F1 will run two rookies, Mick Schumacher the son of seven-time champion Michael, and Nikita Mazepin who has already caused controversy even before starting an F1 race. DM

FORMER FIA Formula 2 champion Nyck de Vries has been named as one of the Mercedes F1 reserve drivers for the 2021 season. The Dutch driver will join his Mercedes Formula E teammate Stoffel Vandoorne in the role, replacing former F1 driver Esteban Gutierrez.

DM

18 AutoAction

SPRINT RACE DEBATE ARE SPRINT races a good idea? In the end it will be the fans who decide, but there have been mixed reactions amongst the F1 fraternity.

The basic plan is to try the concept out at three race weekends this year. Qualifying on Friday would set the grid for a 100km sprint race on Saturday, and the results of that race would set the grid for Sunday’s full-length 300km grand prix.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff favours trying the concept but he has reservations.

“It always needs to be balanced between the DNA of true sports – best man and best machine wins – and what the fans like to see,” he said.

“I have seen in other racing series in DTM that the audiences almost doubled with having a Saturday and Sunday race, and that can be monetised. If we were to do this without some interference to create a fake show, then there is the merit to try it. I’m not

sure that we like the outcome because qualifying how we have it today is a real qualifying, and a sprint race always has the risk of damage that can be costly and has a huge impact on Sunday’s grid and ability to perform on Sunday.”

Daniel Ricciardo is cautiously open-minded about the plan.

“If the best guys and the best teams are coming out on top,” the Aussie said, “and it’s not manipulated or artificial so to speak, then I’m less scared of it.

“Competition is what I love most. I would love to do more races and less practice. In saying that, it kind of does go towards probably what I want. But the biggest thing I want is an F1 win to still feel as big as it should be. I don’t ever want an F1 win to feel diluted or just somewhat lower than what it should.”

Sebastian Vettel believes F1 is ignoring the real problem – creating closer, better racing.

“I don’t like it,” he said of the sprint races. “Why would you have a pre-final to a final? If there is a race on Saturday, then I will have to take part because I still want to drive on Sunday, but from my point of view it makes no sense. You have the grand prix and it’s always been 300km and the main challenge of the weekend. If you have to introduce something like this, then there’s something else you need to fix rather than the format. It’s more of a patch rather than really a fix.”

The bottom line is that trying it is the only way to find out if the qualifying race concept will be a success.

“We should try things but we should never be afraid when we try it and say they weren’t good,” noted Haas team principal Guenther Steiner.

high and hopefully we’ll be able to carry through everything I’ve learned in my past years and perform at a high level of what we need.”

Mazepin made the headlines when a video was posted on social media showing him groping a woman who was sitting in the backseat of a car.

“I’m not happy that it happened,” he said. “I’m not proud of it; I didn’t behave as I meant to behave in F1, and the transition phase of realising what I achieved has been very short and I didn’t adapt as quickly as I should have. But I have taken responsibility for it. I am ready to keep doing it because I’d like to be very strong in my position and certain.”

Mazepin hopes his performances on the track will get people to talk about something else.

“The transition phase between Formula 2 and F1 is very big, so there is a lot on your mind,” he said.

“The learning curve is very steep when you have to get to your first race. So that process is a very big part of your thing, it has to be. In regards to the image it has created, I am not going to be able to put words in people’s mouths, but I am pretty sure that I will be delivering on track.

“I am confident that with the direction I am taking the results will be there. I am going to try to have the racing do the talking.”

ROOKIE PRESSURE OF THE three rookies who will make their Formula 1 racing debuts in the Bahrain Grand Prix, two are garnering a lot of attention.

Actually, Yuki Tsunoda, who will race for AlphaTauri, has generated a lot of attention in Japan. But Haas teammates Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher are also in the spotlight, albeit for different reasons.

Michael Schumacher won the inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix in 2004. Now that Mick Schumacher will be racing in F1, how is he going to cope with the pressure of his famous surname and that of a seven-time world champion?

“I have never said that it was pressure,” Schumacher said. “I don’t think I’ll ever say it.

I’m very happy to carry that surname and very happy to carry that name back into F1. I’m very proud of it. It’s like a boost for me, and it gives me motivation every single day to work as much as I can and as hard I can.”

How is Schumacher drawing on the experience from his father’s career?

“There are a few different factors,” he explained.

“Obviously for me the biggest one which I’ve done already is that you want to have a very strong bond to the team; that’s what I aim for and I have, which I’m very happy about. That’s one of the strengths, and being as mentally strong as we can be in every situation is really important.

Then basically just starting off the season on a

THE FORMULA 1 teams have been extremely busy revealing their new cars.

Mercedes, AlphaTauri, Ferrari, Red Bull, Alfa Romeo, Alpine, Haas, Aston Martin and Williams unveiled their 2021 machines during the final couple weeks of February and the first days of March, while McLaren had already rolled out its machine.

All the 2021 cars are modified versions of the 2020 models. And before any of those cars have even been raced, the teams are already looking ahead to 2022.

“We’re used to juggling several car programmes, usually two-car programmes,” said Alpine’s executive director Marcin Budkowski.

“The difference this year is the 2022 changes are nothing less than a revolution.

SEBASTIAN VETTEL is smiling again. It took a change of scenery and teams to get that accomplished.

“Obviously last year it is not a secret I wasn’t at my happiest,” the former Ferrari driver said, prior to the unveiling of his new ride – the 2021 Aston Martin AMR21.

“This year I’m very much looking forward to; it’s a great group of people, the spirit is great, very enthusiastic, and it’s obviously very small if you compare to Ferrari at first. But part of it is the fact we are not building the engine, and another part of it is the team is still growing, pretty much the opposite to most of the big teams.”

Team principal Otmar Szafnauer believes it will take time to get the former Force India/ Racing Point squad built up to the point where it can challenge for championships.

“We’re in the midst of planning now and the execution will definitely take some time,” he said. “People in Formula 1 in other teams have said you’ve got to give us three to five years to do so and we’re no different. For the last year we’ve planned a new factory with new infrastructure in a place to house all of us under one roof, to grow the team, and the implementation of that has just now begun.

“Towards the end of 2022 we should be moving into the new factory. And within that factory we’re going to need state of the art tools that will help us design and develop a car that’s worthy of contending for a world championship. That’s a few years away.”

At age 33 Vettel believes time is still on his side.

“I’m not too old,” he said. “I don’t think it’s an age thing, I think it’s more a question

TEAMS FOCUS ON 2022

I’m going to celebrate 20 years in the sport in April, and I’ve never seen such a big upheaval of regulations. So it’s a completely new ballgame and therefore it puts even more emphasis on starting early and getting the initial concept right.

“This year it makes it even more difficult because we want to develop this car; we want to go into the championship and fight for good positions and fight for a good championship position; at the same time transitioning early is important. For us, the cost cap is a very small impact at the moment, so actually that didn’t come in play but it will come in play for the next seasons.”

It’s a dilemma that all the teams are facing.

In the past the big teams at least could spend vast amounts of money on projects for not only the current car but also the next year’s car. But that is no longer possible now that the new US$145m budget cap is in place.

Ferrari, for example, believes it has made significant improvements to its uncompetitive 2020 car. But with the radical changes in the 2022 technical regulations, plus with the restrictions on how much time teams can spend in the wind tunnel, Ferrari will concentrate instead on its 2022 car and give that priority in the wind tunnel over the 2021 model.

“Having finished sixth (in the world constructors’ championship) last year, our focus during 2021 will be developing the

2022 car,” team principal Mattia Binotto said during a Zoom press conference in which Ferrari invited Auto Action to participate.

“That’ll be the main target. So we will not spend much time on the 2021 car during the season.

“There is always a balance,” Binotto said.

“It is a choice that we will need to make at some stage. But 2022 is such a big change that there is at least a minimum quantity of exercise and design and projects that need to be developed. So most of the effort will be there.”

The teams that get their 2021 cars to be competitive right off the bat will have the distinct advantage and luxury of being able to switch the focus to 2022 sooner rather than later.

SEB SMILING AGAIN

Image: Motorsport Images

of do you have the car and the team around you? Obviously Formula 1 has been like this for as long as I can remember.”

Vettel has already impressed the team.

“Seb is fitting in really well,” said technical; director Andy Green. “He’s gelling with his crew, with the team. He’s obviously a very likeable chap but he’s also

incredibly knowledgeable and meticulous about the way he works. That’s exactly why we wanted him involved, and we’re starting to see how we can adapt to his way of working.

“It is different to the way we’ve worked, and that’s exactly the reason we got him in, to impart some of his knowledge and

wisdom on us as a four-times world champion,” The team was quite competitive towards the end of last year. The plan is to start with that car performance but do a better job scoring points more regularly. And that will keep the smile on Vettel’s face as he starts over with his new team.

AutoAction

19

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20 AutoAction

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THE HAMILTON IMPACT LEWIS HAMILTON has a number of goals this season.

One, of course, is to win a record eighth world drivers’ championship. But he wants to do so much more.

“What I’m really focused on is around the discussion on this diversity issue,” he said. “It still remains an issue today. It’s not going to change tonight, but what’s really important is that we are actually delivering and actually taking action. I’m really proud of my team here and the steps we’ve taken. We are starting to see that progress little by little and it just takes one step at a time. That’s kind of my driving force this year too, to make sure that we continue to push for accountability, and on top of that hopefully I can deliver some good performances.”

Mercedes has and will help Hamilton in his quest.

“I’m very, very proud of Mercedes for being openminded to change,” he said. “Not just taking the smallest of steps but really taking a step back and

doing a real deep-dive into what we can do, not only at the (F1) factory but back at Mercedes-Benz. So for them to be open to be putting a foundation together and really putting some money towards some real systematic change within our own organisation, I think that’s fantastic.

“If we really do plan what we’re planning to do, I really think we are going to create and open up pathways for young minorities to get into STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in an interdisciplinary and applied approach. I am really hopeful that in the future we can see it being more diverse, because it just works out better for everyone.”

If Hamilton wins the championship this year – and he certainly is the preseason favourite – that will not be the reason for him to retire or keep on racing.

“I have made a real important decision in my mind that I don’t want that

to be the deciding factor,” he said. “I got into racing because I loved racing. That has got to be at the core of what I do. If I don’t love racing, if all you’re going for is accolades, all you’re going for is titles, I feel like I could potentially lose my way.

“Of course it’s the ultimate dream but I don’t think it’s going to be the deciding factor as to whether I stay or keep going? It’s more whether when I put the helmet on, I still have the smile when I leave the garage. Last year was a really tough year for everyone, including me.

There were still some really impactful moments. Will it be the case this year? We’ll see. Will I enjoy it as much?

I’m excited now, so I’m sure I will.”

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says that the reason that he and Hamilton signed a new contract for only one year was that negotiations were so rushed in December that there simply was not enough time to put together

WHAT’S IN THE NEXT ISSUE ON SALE 25 MARCH

a multi-year deal.

But won’t Hamilton get distracted by talking about a new contract during the upcoming season?

“Time will tell,” he said. “It’s not like it’s my first rodeo.

I’ve been in this position where I’ve been asked the question for a period of time.

I don’t feel pressured in that sense. I have continued to have a huge belief and always bet on myself, in terms of I know what it takes to deliver.

“I have an extraordinary relationship with Mercedes that is incredibly deep, and it’s more than just racing that we will end up doing together, as you’ve already seen with the foundation.

That will be a constant discussion through the year I’m sure. If this is the road I want to continue down, it will come to me I’m sure.”

With seven, possibly eight, world titles, Hamilton, who turned 36 in January, has made an impact on the track. But the impact he has and will make out of the car is impressive.

Formula 1 World Championship Preview; Sandown Supercars; Shannons Phillip Island; MOTO GP Preview; Latest news & views

with Mark Fogarty

THE FOGES FILE

Image: Motorsport Images

AA’s previously peripatetic pundit hits the road again after a long lay off IT WAS good to be back. A year after the last time I was at an event, being at Bathurst for Supercars’ season-opener was liberating.

I won’t lie. In the main, I enjoyed last year’s lockdowns. Not having to fly or go to race meetings was surprisingly pleasant.

After almost 50 years of air travel and attending events, it was a welcome relief to stay home for a year. Not that I had any choice. Living in Melbourne, I was shut out from both.

A quick road trip to Coffs Harbour via Sydney in between lockdowns was my only escape.

The Mount Panorama 500 was my first Supercars event since last year’s – sadly last, for the time being – Adelaide 500. I drove to that and emerged from hibernation with a road trip to Bathurst with a close friend.

We had a ball. The nine-odd hours each way flew by as we exchanged grumpy old men banter.

Seriously, it was the stuff of an entertaining podcast.

At Bathurst, we enjoyed the company of friends and foes alike.

Particularly memorable was our first evening at Pantano’s Bar & Grill in the middle of town.

Back in the day, it was known as the Stagecoach Restaurant, a regular Bathurst 1000 hang out in my youth.

On the Thursday evening before the Mt P 500, it seemed like half the Supercars paddock was dining there.

The highlight was when Triple Eight supremo Roland Dane arrived. Unexpectedly, he beelined

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to our table and engaged us in friendly and entertaining banter for 15 minutes before joining his party.

It was a shock because RD doesn’t normally seek out a bolshie journo. But we had an extremely good chat. No pressure, no pack drill – just old salts talking shit, as we can.

I’ve known Dane since 1986 and it’s been a rocky ride, let me tell you, but we have a long shared history that communes away from the racetrack.

The rest of the weekend was similarly entertaining – and informative.

Expansive conversations with Haltech owner Mark Bevan and his Subaru executive son ‘Sticks’ (Steve) and Truck Assist senior manager Cris Gillespie were highlights, along with the ‘traditional’ Sunday night dinner at The Great Wall Chinese restaurant ,with driver management guru David Segal, ace commentator Richard Craill and noted publicist Paul Marinelli.

Oh, how we laughed as we maligned all and sundry as we consumed our MSG-loaded banquet.

Best story. Our colleague Lachlan Mansell, a baby faced thirtysomething, has scored a spot in the revival of TV reality show Beauty And The Geek. It’s back on Nine later this year.

Lachie was absent at Bathurst because he was in the early stages of filming B&TG. If you knew him, you’d agree he is a perfect fit for the show.

He will be away from course commentary until he is eliminated – or makes the final, with the

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chance to win $100,000!

On the geek scale, we reckon he’s a monty…

If nothing else, the makeover the participants receive will transform our Lachie, whose ironic nickname is ‘Ladies’ Man’.

Back to the Mount Panorama 500, which proved the track isn’t ideal for Supercars sprint races.

The Saturday 250 km race was dramatic because of Anton De Pasquale’s and Tim Slade’s crashes. The Sunday race was routine.

The Mountain is such a long circuit that it is not conducive with Supercars sprint races, even if they are more than double the distance. The track is at its best for enduros that play out to enthralling finishes.

After all the palaver, the TV coverage on both Fox Sports and Seven was as good as it gets.

Perhaps too many voices, but those who watched on pay or free TV wouldn’t have been disappointed. It was comprehensive and mainly informed.

‘Big 7’ attracted a huge audience for its live coverage, which we won’t see agajn until Darwin in June. Kudos for the enthusiasm, Seven, but the jury’s out until you prove you’re really invested, à la AFL and cricket.

I still want to see regular Supercars stories on Seven’s Nightly News in Melbourne before I believe the network is truly committed.

Seven News is all over AFL every night all year long. Motor sport news reports in AFL’s heartland would reinforce the network’s claim to being the

home of domestic racing, adding Seven’s ARG coverage on 7mate.

These are, indeed, interesting times for traditional broadcasters.

Both Foxtel and Seven emphasise their respective Kayo and 7plus streaming services.

Kayo’s coverage was free for the Mount Panorama 500, but future no-fee access is yet to be decided, It will probably coincide with 7plus streams of the Darwin, Townsville, Sydney SuperNight, Bathurst 1000 and season-ending Gold Coast 500.

Under the circumstances, Bathurst was a great place to re-start Supercars. Renowned track with a co-operative state government.

Supercars has already determined a sprint round at Mount Panorama won’t happen again, with the Newcastle 500 scheduled to return as the 2022 season-opener.

This year is going to be fascinating, if predictable. Shane van Gisbergen was in ominous form at The Mountain – again – and as long as his injury doesn’t interfere, is very much the title favourite.

Cam Waters looks strong enough to make it a two-way battle. Fingers crossed that Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison become regular challengers, and that Jamie Whincup will re-find his form.

Hopefully, there will also be more upsets like Tim Slade’s astounding return to keep things interesting.

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GUERRILLA WARFARE Images:

Outspoken Boost Mobile boss Peter Adderton explains how his unorthodox tactics forced a truce with Supercars’ conservative management AT THE height of the V8 versus two-litre touring car civil war in the mid-to-late 1990s, it wasn’t clear which would win out. Super Touring was booming around the world and the nascent V8 Supercars were labelled “dinosaurs”.

The rivalry peaked in 1997, the year Tony Cochrane took control of the V8 Holden vs Ford rabble. Super Touring claimed the traditional Bathurst 1000, importing big-name overseas drivers and teams, while Cocho’s mob established a ‘rebel’ 1000 at Mount Panorama two weeks later.

Super Touring had factory backed Audi, BMW and Volvo teams, plus crossover stars like Peter Brock and Jim Richards, and future V8 stalwarts Brad Jones and Paul Morris. V8 Supercars was underpinned by legends Brock, Dick Johnson and Larry Perkins, plus embeds Mark Skaife, Glenn Seton, John Bowe and Russell Ingall, with teams lavishly supported by Holden and less generously by Ford.

In the midst of this battle for Australian touring car racing supremacy was a young Sydney entrepreneur. Peter Adderton was a partner in TOCA Australia with BTCC boss and expat Aussie Alan Gow and Gold Coast businessman Terry Morris, father of Paul.

Adderton, now 53 and a controversial major sponsor in Supercars, admits they were offered a merger with V8 Supercars, but TOCA Oz arrogantly believed the two-litre class would triumph.

They were wrong and the V8s reasserted their supremacy under Cochrane, while Adderton took his cut-price Boost Mobile concept to the USA and prospered.

The telco tycoon returned to Australian racing in 2018, with Boost becoming a major sponsor of the new Walkinshaw Andretti United

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partnership. That followed an unsuccessful bid to buy into the former Holden Racing Team.

Adderton switched his backing to Garry Rogers Motorsport in ’19, controversially ousting Garth Tander for Richie Stanaway, whose difficult nature outweighed his potential.

Boost Mobile split with GRM, triggering the team’s withdrawal from Supercars, and was set to pull out itself after a spat over control front uprights until James Courtney needed assistance to continue in 2020, first with Team Sydney and then Tickford Racing.

Controversial and confrontational, Adderton has been a thorn in Supercars’ side, criticising the sport’s management. The angst peaked when he revealed that Boost had been banned from picking up the sponsorship rights to the Gold Coast 500.

A lunch with Supercars supremo Sean Seamer resolved the impasse and next to Repco, Boost Mobile has the greatest commercial presence this year. As well as backing Courtney’s Tickford-run Mustang, Brodie Kostecki’s Erebus Commodore and Broc Feeney’s Triple Eight Super2 entry, Boost has become the official telco of Supercars and title sponsor of the season-ending Surfers Paradise street race event.

Adderton is, and always has been, outrageously forthright, the privilege of being a fabulously wealthy entrepreneur whose business success is a product of his unconventional thinking.

He is also a passionate enthusiast who wants to help Supercars regain its appeal to youngsters, particularly the phone-dependent generation.

Normally based in Los Angeles, Adderton has been riding out the coronavirus crisis in his native Sydney with his family.

Never short of an opinion, Peter Nev Add Adderton talks frankly with Foges about his passion for Supercars abo and his belief that he can be more effe effective as a sponsor on the inside than criticising from the outside.

For someone’s who’s had a lot to say about Supercars and been quite ite critical, suddenly this year you’re all in. Why the change of heart?

You know, I’ve always been passionate about Supercars, so every criticism I’ve ever made towards Supercars has been about improving the sport. My opinion on how we can improve the sport is coming from a guy who’s spending millions of dollars in the sport. This is not just some punter sitting out there who has an opinion. We financially invest millions of dollars in the sport, so I want to improve it. I want to improve it for the fans, I want to improve it for other brands and nd advertisers. So the criticism has been more about how do we improve it, how do we make it better? Sean (Seamer) and I sat down and had a lunch – he called me after the fact that we were told we couldn’t sponsor the sport (its original pitch for naming rights to Gold Coast 500). I don’t care what anybody says, we were told that. It was made clear they didn’t want us because we were vocal about the fact that they were more interested in getting a more conservative sponsor who would basically sit in the corporate suite, drink a beer and say nothing. That’s not who we are. That’s not who we are as a brand, that’s not who I am as a person.

So Sean and I sat down, and it started out as a tense lunch, but we quickly came to the realisation that both of us wanted what was best for the sport, and that by working together and harnessing that, the sport and the fans were going to be better off, which is all I cared about. We came to that conclusion and at the end of the lunch, we shook hands and said let’s go away and let’s see what we can do.

But I told him I wanted to do something different. I don’t want to do what’s out there all the time.

Once we sat down, we realised there were more things in common than we were against each other.

What is the appeal of Supercars for a youth-oriented brand like Boost Mobile?

The ironic thing is that brand itself is basically the guerrilla marketing brand.

So it was actually more fun for me and a lot easier for us to guerrilla market when we weren’t the official telco. In fact, everything the brand stands for is not to be the corporate tow-along, so I loved last year and the year before that where we could guerrilla market. Vodafone was the sponsor and I could guerrilla market. That’s what the brand is. So it is a massive change for our brand to go from the guerrilla marketer to become now the official telco sponsor and naming rights sponsor of the Gold Coast 500 because we like to be the underdog and the fighter. The appeal for me is that the fans – and we’ve seen this in our sales – when the fans engage with you, they engage like fans in no other sport.

I was talking to some of the Foxtel guys and they were telling me that Supercars is one of the very few sports that actually drives subscriptions for them, which is why they stepped up. So you have a very loyal fan base. Our thought was how do we tap into that fan base, how do we make it a better sport for everybody?

We decided that doing it from the inside was going to be far more powerful for

us than doing it from the outside and continuing to attack. So we’re very, very happy. We’ve outgrown Vodafone and the brand’s come a long way in the past two years, and I attribute that to our involvement in Supercars. Also, we use the Telstra network and we have full regional coverage – and Supercars goes to regional areas like Bathurst. So it really tied in perfectly with what we were doing.

You’re doing it for business reasons, but it’s driven by your passion for racing. And yet in the USA, by far Boost Mobile’s biggest market, you’re not so heavily involved in motor sport.

We have been in the past. We did IndyCar with Danica Patrick and we did NASCAR, but we moved more towards music over there. Motor sport around the world has, in my opinion, declined – not through the lack of interest from the fans, but I think by the organising bodies’ inability to connect with the new generation of fans. I walk up and down this pit lane and it’s the same guys there who were there 25 years ago, and there’s no way you can grow a sport if you’re taking the same approach you took 25 years ago. Sports are the first to complain about the fact that they’re losing coverage and they’re losing the

dig race, but they’re also the digital last to react. That’s very frustrating for m me. They complain that they’re losin losing audience and they have to use YouT YouTube and Facebook. Well, guess what what? They’ve been around for 10 years years. Just the fact that you’re only just rrealising that they’re there, says every everything. First to complain and last to rea react. Now you’re seeing sports going “Holy cow, we better move our focus. We better start shifting into that digital realm.” We got out of sports in the States because they were losing touch.

There’s now the realisation that they have to do something or they’re going to die. There are only so many hours in the day that you can get somebody’s eyeballs – and there are thousands of sports, thousands of brands fighting for that minute of your attention. So what I think we can bring to Supercars, being an insider now, is the ability to try to connect the next generation of mobile users, who are watching everything on their phones. But, by the way, there are massive changes Supercars has to make in order to do that. You can’t just say it.

You can’t just give us a bunch of buzz words. You have to have the ability for the connection of the content, you have to change the streaming, you have to give up the old TV rights concept and you have to pioneer a new way of distributing content.

Of course, there’s massive risk in doing that. There are business models built around TV networks giving you hundreds of millions of dollars.

It’s a brave person who says “I’m parkin’ that and I’m going to focus more over here”. It’s a brave person who does that and I think that’s what the sport needs – and, hopefully, we can bring that.

So was that a deliberate tactic to draw Seamer out and get a dialogue going by being controversial and confrontational?

It was to say, listen, we want to invest in the sport. We were not at the championship level being welcomed.

They were quite happy for us to put our money into the teams because they needed the cars on the grid, but they weren’t willing to have us as a race sponsor. So, yeah, it was our attempt to say “Look, we tried to do this and you guys knocked us back”. At the end of the day, all we care about is making the sport better and it was disappointing to me when I heard from our marketing team that they wouldn’t let us in and that we were being too controversial. Having said that, I think the relationship we have with Supercars now has never been better. We’re aligned and I think they’re quite happy now to have a sponsor that is willing to challenge and push the limits, and try to make things better.

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James Courtney might be the oldest driver on the Supercars grid but Adderton has supported him for a long time. He expects the Tickford driver to win races this year.

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Do you see that happening? Is there a change of attitude at Supercars to embrace a different way of broadcasting the sport to attract kids again?

I always say there’s a difference between effort and results. So I think right now the Supercars guys are putting in all the efforts to get the digital following and the next generation. The reality is what are the results going to be and you have to be able to distinguish between the two. I think the jury’s still out on the results. Hopefully, we’ll have an input and I think Sean has made it clear we can have an input. We know the mobile consumer, we know the next generation consumer, we know how they’re activating, we know how they’re using their content, so hopefully we can have a big input. But I think the jury’s still out on whether they can make the changes – and that goes for motor sport worldwide. Again, their business model is built on massive TV rights. The teams model is built on getting money out of that. You have to put that at risk in order to get that next generation and I think that’s the dilemma that all sports face today.

To attract that next generation, is that basically free coverage they can get on their phones? How is it going to be funded if you change the business model?

I think it’ll be an a la carte model when it comes to subscriptions. So not being packaged so that I have to buy Kayo at $25-30 a month and get horse racing and everything else. I think it’ll be a level of being able to give people specific content when they want it and how they want to watch it. I think it’s three-day weekend passes for content so I don’t have to buy a year’s subscription or a monthly subscription. I think in Supercars there should be access to let more people into the teams experience. So can I stream my favourite car live the whole race?

Can I be the director? Why do I have to have somebody else deciding what I can watch? When you and I were growing up, there were four TV channels, so there were four people in the country who basically told us what we were going to watch. It was going to be Cheers at 7 pm,

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Seinfeld at 8 pm – we didn’t get a choice.

Well, guess what? The world’s changed now. We have a million choices, so why not adopt that mentality? But, no, no, we still believe in one cameraman, one producer, one director and that’s what we get to see. That’s not how it should be. So we have to change that.

Is there too much choice?

The world has changed. We have 18 streaming services. So this concept of having the ability to decide what I want to watch when I want to watch it is table stakes now. That’s just how it is. If you think you can program and tell somebody how they should watch something and when they should watch it, those days are absolutely gone. But what hasn’t gone is you have free-to-air broadcasting networks that are dying. Their revenues are dying and they’re becoming irrelevant.

Again, first to complain, last to react, and so what you’re seeing now is them trying to hang onto their business model. Foxtel, like the cable companies in America, has a real issue. It’s also declining at a great rate of knots. If I were Foxtel or Kayo, I’d charge a little bit more and make it a better experience with fewer or no ads. We’re not a long away from those traditional broadcast models imploding.

Do you see the irony of a man in his early 50s spreading this message about something that’s heavily youth-related?

Absolutely. But if you look at the way I see things, I call us the young-at-heart.

When I think about and look at what we do, we have a lot of young people in our organisation, so we spend a lot of time listening. I do believe that you do need to have the experience. If you ever have a general going to war, you don’t want a young general who’s never seen a war because what he’s going to do is make mistakes that cost a lot of lives. So you want a general who’s seen the mistakes and sits back and goes “I can see what’s happened, I can see the problems that we’ve made, how do we innovate and continue to create?” Will there come a time where as a general I have no more value? Absolutely. That time will absolutely come. But right now, I’m still a capable

leader. (Apple co-founder) Steve Jobs had a great outlook. He said “If you wait for the consumers to tell you what they want, by the time you deliver it to them, they won’t want it anymore”. So we have to be proactive in the telecommunications space.

At Bathurst in 2019, you threatened that if Supercars didn’t adopt control uprights in 2020, you’d quit the sport.

And yet you’re still heavily involved. Do you ever worry that it’ll get to the point where people think you’re crying wolf?

That’s an absolutely fair point. But just to be clear, in 2020 we were out of the sport.

Then James (Courtney) rang us up and said “Will you come and back me?” The one thing I’ve always been is extremely loyal. So when James rang up and said “I have nothing, will you come and support us, I said yes. And when he left Team Sydney, we didn’t stay with them, we went with James to Tickford. So we were in Supercars last year for one reason and one reason only – James. So I was willing to suck up my pride to support a long-time Boost Mobile ambassador. James has been good to us and he’s been good to the sport, and to see him not in the sport I thought was a tragic mistake. I think that would be a disaster for James and for the sport, so 100 per cent that’s why we were in. The control upright issue wasn’t me sitting back going “I’m an engineer, I think I know what I can do to fix this sport”. That was massive input from a lot of people to say that that was the last piece of the puzzle that needed to change.

So I became the poster child. We spoke with Garry and Barry Rogers about it and they agreed. I talked to teams up and down pit lane – they agreed. I talked to commentators – they agreed. Everyone agreed that we needed to fix that and I was quite willing to be the poster child to say “Let’s fix it because I want to make the sport better”. I don’t give a shit about an upright, to be totally honest, so that came from the industry insiders going “Peter, can you help us?” And when I agreed, I turned around and I was on a friggin’ island by myself. Just me and a palm tree.

I was like “Where are you all?” I learned a lot from that. What I learned was that every single team up and down this pit

lane is focused on themselves. Which is why I have a real problem with Supercars trying to control a sport where the teams have such input because the teams are biased towards themselves. And I learned that firsthand and it was extremely disappointing to see teams just basically turn on me like that.

Loyalty notwithstanding, with James Courtney, is it a good fit to be backing a 40-year-old driver?

Interesting point. If we were just signing up a 40-year-old driver for this year , it wouldn’t make any sense because I’m a big supporter of young people, like Brodie (Kostecki) and Broc (Feeney) and all the work we’ve done with them. But James has been with us for a long time.

I remember him as a teenager in my office with Alan Gow (Courtney’s longtime manager), so we’ve known him for something like 25 years. I’ve done the same with (US-based Supercross star) Chad Reed. I backed Chad in his final year. We were the first on his bike when he first launched in America and the last on his bike. I wanted to demonstrate to other sponsors that just because their use-by date in your mind is up, you don’t treat ambassadors like that. So when a newer athlete comes through like Brodie or Broc, they look at us and go “These guys will stay with me my whole career. I don’t have to keep trying to suck up and get my dad to go out and find 15 sponsors or go borrow or mortgage his house.” They came to me when we were putting Broc in the car for Bathurst (co-driving Courtney) and they said we’ve raised $50,00060,000, can Broc have the seat? And I said “I don’t want Broc’s money”. And they said “What do you mean? Everyone wants Broc’s money.” I told them I wanted Broc because he is fast. It would be an insult to Broc to pay me. I don’t want his money. I’ll pay Broc to race the car. He’s a race car driver. Everyone thinks you have to bring money to go racing now. It’s not right. If they’re talented, it shouldn’t cost them anything.

So you see Brodie and Broc as the future in Supercars?

Absolutely. And I said to Brodie and Broc

P Peter Adderton was high profile at Bathurst for the 1000 last year and again at the 5500 season opener recently. He is back in Australia with his family riding out the coronavirus crisis in America. The opinionated telco boss believes Broc Feeney (at co left) and Brodie Kostecki will be future stars of the sport. le

when we sat down with them them, I said whatever you do, don’t change. Do not change who you are. A lot of the other teams up and down pit lane try to turn their guys into corporate good guys, where they can sit up there with their non-crease shirts. I told Brodie and Broc, don’t change, be yourself because we need characters. So we are doing a lot with youth. James is there, like Chad, because I want to demonstrate to young athletes who are looking at going with another telco, if they go with Boost, we’ll still be with them 20 years from now when they need support at the end of their careers. That’s really important to me.

Do you expect James to win races this year?

Yeah, absolutely. I’m not interested in just having him go around and high fiving me at the track. I expect him to win races. He

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has a good car. He has a car that Cam has shown is clearly capable of winning races, so James and I have had that conversation. I expect him to be fast and driving hard to win.

Winding back the clock, I first met you in the mid-1990s in Super Touring.

Here you are now in the thick of V8 racing after a bitter battle for touring car supremacy back then.

The great thing about Australians – I think we’ve lost it a little bit since I left 20 years ago - is that they’ll certainly tell you what they want and when they want it.

And it was very clear to me towards the later part of Super Touring that the fans wanted a Holden versus Ford V8 battle.

I would argue that we were probably too early with two-litre European cars.

We fought hard against the V8s and we had some wins. In fact, they did come and try to merge with us. Tony Cochrane and the guys came into our office, but

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we were too cocky and rejected their th approach. It was probably one of the biggest mistakes of our o lives. But the fans told us what they liv wanted. They wanted V8s, just like w tthey made it very clear late last year tthat they wanted Mark Larkham to sstay on the broadcast. It’s great to have a sport, honestly, where your audience will pretty much tell you what they want and you have to be a complete and utter moron to f*** it up. At the time, we were arrogant in Super Touring and we didn’t arroga listen to the fans, and the fans quickly told us “Take those European cars and put ‘em back on the truck”.

was a really concerted effort for me to focus back on the Australian business because I hadn’t really paid it much attention. So I took the chairman role and the leadership role and just said to the remaining staff “We’re going back to what made us great”. So we’ve basically become a mini-Telstra. The old team had been there too long and needed a change. I did the same with my business here that I’ve been calling on Supercars to do. I blew it up. I basically went in and went “This is terrible”. I brought in new people like (general manager) Jason Haynes, who was ex-Nike, and we started again. My own experience has informed my criticisms of Supercars.

Did you lose interest in racing after Super Touring died because you disappeared off the scene until a few years ago (returning as a WAU sponsor in 2018)?

Earlier, you alluded to some dissatisfaction with Australian life these days. Care to elaborate?

I went to America and I launched Boost Mobile there in 2000. I was hellbent on building the American business and Boost became the fourth largest carrier with nine million customers and a multi-billion dollar brand. So I was really focused on America, sponsoring car racing and music. I had a team in Australia that was running Boost for me here, but they basically didn’t do anything. It wasn’t growing and about four years ago, we removed the whole team and I came back in and said “I’m talking Boost back to where it was”. It

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Australia’s changed a lot in 20 years – and I don’t think it’s changed for the better. I’ve come back 20 years later, so imagine I’ve been in a coma. I’d come back for a week, maybe two, every year.

But Australia’s changed. What made Australia great and a success was the old Digger mentality. I’ll go over the wall.

I know that there’s risks, but I’m going to jump over that wall. Australians have become risk-averse and don’t challenge authority anymore. We’re conformists.

Stay at home and we’ll keep you safe.

That’s not the Australia Diggers fought for (in World Wars 1 and 2). It’s been really disappointing for me.

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A WELCOME RETURN The Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships returns under a new moniker and a tide of momentum after a breakout 2019, thanks to the Australian Racing Group’s portfolio of categories. Missing last year has not stopped the excitement, as Motorsport Australia’s Michael Smith told HEATH McALPINE AFTER A COVID interrupted season in 2020, what was previously known as the Shannons Nationals is now the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships, and will kick off at Phillip Island on March 12-14.

Originally scheduled to take place last month, this inaugural 2021 round was combined with the Australian Superbike Championship, billed as the All Wheels Festival.

But again COVID intervened with a short Victorian lockdown, so the combined concept had to be abandoned.

Phillip Island’s opening round for 2021 now misses the two-wheeled stars but does include TCR Australia’s first round on the mainland since 2019.

The same can be said for the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship, while Trans Am makes its debut on the series and the GT World Challenge Australia title ushers in a new era for the category in this country.

Add into this the next generation of rising stars aiming to follow in the wheeltracks of Matt Campbell, Jaxon Evans and Jordan Love in Porsche Sprint Challenge, plus state categories including Porsche 944s, and the Phillip Island program is packed.

“Everyone has been excited for a long while about the forthcoming season and are looking forward to getting to an event, and getting the season underway,” Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships

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director Michael Smith told Auto Action.

Touring Car Masters will also feature on the program at various rounds this year, while the Australian Production Car Series, Australian Prototype Series and Radical Australia Cup also join the program at different rounds.

Acknowledged as Australia’s secondtier motor sport series, the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships this year will feature an improved broadcast package through the Network Seven, and Smith aims for this to extend to the fan experience as well.

“We want it to be accessible to everyone, but we also want it to be a festival of motor sport, and I think there’s not really one category that will play top billing at any particular event, it’s a feast on motor sport,” explained Smith.

“Anyone who is interested in touring cars or open-wheelers or GTs or whatever, will be able to get their fix. We’re really excited about it.”

The new broadcast package is a breakthrough after the series’ long association with SBS since its inception in 2006, with more live coverage through

7mate and 7plus, showcasing a variety of different categories.

“There’s been a steady investment in increasing and improving our broadcast over the last four-five years, which I hope people have noticed the benefit of,” said Smith.

“Certainly, this year will be better than it’s ever been, as evident in the broadcast from Tasmania. It’s good that it showcases categories which (some) people have not seen before, so not only TCR and S5000, but new categories like Trans Am, plus the Porsche Sprint Challenge.

“We’re really pleased to bring maybe some new offerings for the motor sport family and to have a new home at Network Seven is just fantastic for Shannons and for everyone involved.”

Aligning with the new broadcast deal is new commercial support, which is a vote of confidence for the series and its direction, as categories appear to be returning from the forced hiatus in a stronger position.

“We kept in contact with all of our categories last year and obviously we were really concerned about their wellbeing and whether those classes were going to make it through the other side,” Smith explained.

“All the categories have told us they will have strong and healthy fields. Prototypes, as an example, have some new cars coming on board. Also, I know Production Cars anchored by the Bathurst 6 hour have got some really

Variety is the spice of life as far as Motorsport Australia is concerned, with its Shannons-backed national series to feature a large number of different categories throughout the year.

strong competitors, so we’re confident we will see continued growth in those categories and I think the Shannons will be a really good platform for them.”

The Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships will visit four states this year, with Mount Panorama hosting the second round as part of the Bathurst 6 Hour weekend at Easter.

It will provide the debut for TCR cars on The Mountain, so too Trans Am, and GTs will return to the legendary circuit for the first-time since the Bathurst 12 Hour.

Experimentation with formats will occur this season as Motorsport Australia works towards bringing fans to these events. Round three at Sydney Motorsport Park is one event earmarked to feature twilight into night racing and longer race formats.

“We’re certainly looking at that,” Smith said regarding night events. “We have a lot of categories which want to run with us in Sydney, but we’re also looking to come up with different formats, not only for our categories but also for our fans, just to make it a little more attractive and a little bit different.

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“I think we’re looking at running a variety of different formats in Sydney, which might include some endurance racing going into the early evening, but also some sprint racing as well.

“Ultimately, it’s about delivering a package that our categories and competitors want to run at, but also making sure that from a fan or spectator point of view, that it’s really attractive to come and look at one of these events.”

The first to trip to Morgan Park for the series in a decade follows in June,

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before the penultimate round takes place in September at the historic Sandown Raceway.

The final round at The Bend Motorsport Park features another initiative, which was revealed last year, but didn’t occur due to the worldwide pandemic.

That is, combining the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championship with the Australian Rally Championship at the venue, and this remains the aim this season.

“We’re talking to the South Australian Government at the moment,” confirmed Smith.

“The concept of trying to bring together the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships with the Australian Rally Championship and potentially other properties we have, is really attractive to us.

“Motorsport Australia is in the unique situation of being able to do that and certainly Tailem Bend is very conducive to running an event like that.”

Showcasing Motorsport Australia’s program initiatives like Ricciardo’s Racers and Girls on Track, is another aimed at

Production Cars will headline in the Bathurst 6 Hour event at Mt Panorana at Easter.

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SHANNONSMOTORSPORT AUSTRALIA CHAMPIONSHIPS 2021 SERIES CALENDAR

Round 1: Phillip Island, Victoria, 12–14 March Round 2: Bathurst 6 Hour, New South Wales, 2-4 April Round 3: Sydney Motorsport Park, New South Wales, 1-2 May Round 4: Morgan Park, Queensland, 25-27 June Round 5: Sandown International Raceway, Victoria, 17-19 September Round 6: The Bend Motorsport Park, South Australia, 15-17 October enhancing the spectator experience.

“That’s part of the offering that we’re looking to expand,” Smith said about the off-track component.

“Obviously, it’s going to be dependent on the COVID restrictions and the various government approvals that we’re able to achieve, but we’re really keen to make our events as accessible as possible and family friendly.

“Particularly events like Sandown this year, we’ll be focusing on what the spectator experience is going to be like, just to make sure our offering is really enjoyable for not only the spectators but officials and competitors as well.

“Our Shannons platform provides a unique opportunity for us to be able to promote those programs and you’ll certainly being seeing a lot of that at the events you attend.”

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PORSCHE POWER ON A BUDGET

The Victorian-based 944 Challenge is one of the oldest one-make categories in Australia, providing a surprisingly affordable avenue into racing since 1999, as HEATH McALPINE discovers IMAGES: Bec Hind/Revved Photography

BORN FROM an excess amount of Porsche 944s undeserving of meeting the crusher, the one-make category based on the German marque’s mid-level model provides a perfect avenue into racing.

Devised by Dennis O’Keeffe, proprietor of spare parts seller aPorschapart, the origins of the 944 Challenge started when a group of 944s ran at the back of the Marquesports field in 1999.

Before long, the Porsche racers went it alone and it has since been a staple of the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships.

The 944 Challenge category has attracted a loyal competitor-base comprised of rising stars and older beginners, with comaraderie a major feature of the racing experience.

Although in recent seasons the class has been combined with the Saloon Cars thanks to moderate entries and a packed Victorian schedule, its opening round this year at Sandown attracted a healthy 18-car field across three races run solely for the category.

The 944 Challenge has also benefitted from increased commercial support, notably with a

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rotating list of sponsors which will hold naming rights at all rounds this year, while Porsche itself remains a strong supporter.

Drivers to come out of the category include current TCR Australia driver Dylan O’Keeffe, former Supercars endurance driver Richard Muscat, previous Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge winner Hamish Hardeman, and ex-Super2 competitor Brenton Grove.

As acknowledgement of its role as a development category, Porsche Cars Australia recognises the 944 Challenge as the first level of its ‘Porsche Pyramid’ pathway, enabling an up and comer from the class to complete a test day in a Sprint Challenge entry.

944 Challenge Club president Mark Taubitz is a long-time competitor in the series and has viewed the development of the class first hand, both on- and off-track.

“We had a period seven or eight years ago where the 944s developed a reputation for being a smash and bash category,” explained Taubitz.

“We’ve worked hard to try raising the driving standards and the respect, and we’ve done it in a couple of ways including employing a DSO

in late-2016, plus we’ve implemented forward facing cameras in all of our cars as a mandatory requirement.”

Following the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships, the class races regularly at Sandown, Winton and Phillip Island. This is combined with two appearances this season at the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships at Phillip Island and The Bend Motorsport Park.

Entry fees range from $400-$450 and variables include Friday practice for an extra $200 or garage hire, which ranges from $300$400 depending on the venue.

The class also holds a special event, the Dennis O’Keeffe Cup, in the form of a reverse handicap event.

A $200 club membership is required to compete and comes with perks including discounts from all associated suppliers for the 944 Challenge. This is also transferrable to a competitor’s road-car, ensuring a larger saving.

The 944 Challenge is a control class, but features many freedoms compared to similarly aimed categories, such as the Hyundai Excels.

Sydney Shock Absorbers supply the control suspension package consisting of Bilstein dampers and H&R springs, at a cost of $3000.

“We did have at some point guys spending mega bucks on Supashocks packages, so getting a good quality suspension package was something our members voted in, and we put that out to tender,” said Taubitz.

“We found the best package for quality as well as bang for your buck, and we haven’t had any failures in that period time from shocks weeping or leaking, they’ve been very, very robust.

“It certainly has taken the element of spend out of the equation and brings it back to the driver.”

Other control items include Hawk brake pads supplied by V-Sport and the Yokohama AO50 tyres, which are also used in Improved Production.

Compared to categories like the popular Hyundai Excels and Nissan Pulsars, the cost to get involved in the Porsche 944 Challenge is negligible, with the used market starting at $25,000 for an entry level car and $35,000 will buy a prospective entrant a top-of-the-line racer.

The Porsche 944 Challenge has been a long-time category in the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships and attracts big fields. Club President Mark Taubitz suggests that the easiest and most affordable way to join the action is to purchase a race-ready 944. The 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder engine provides a reliable base for the category (below) with minimal maintenance required, and proven longevity.

Taubitz suggests buying a race-prepared 944 as the easiest way to join the category, due to the rising prices of the classic Porsches.

“At this stage the cheapest way to go 944 racing these days is to buy an existing race car,” said Taubitz.

“Five years ago, it was probably a lot easier to go buy a car had been sitting in the back of someone’s garage where it hadn’t received love and care, which you could pick up for $1000.

The problem is, people find those cars and want $10,000 because it’s an old Porsche.”

Although controlled, choices can be made in the category including with the ECU, where a MoTeC system was recently introduced against the original Wolf unit. The MoTeC product is available to club members at a discounted rate and is the more popular of the two, due to its data collating abilities in addition to the pricing.

Updates have been made to ensure the reliability of the 944 package, including the fuel rail and an oil cooler for the gearbox, so too the use of a twin-plate clutch, which is an optional extra that must adhere to the category’s weight and size stipulations.

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Engines in the 944 Challenge remain stock, though can be blueprinted. The 2.5 litre in-line four-cylinder motor is a reliable unit with a race-prepped top-shelf example costing around $10,000-$12,000.

The exhaust is free to the manifold and must exit behind the rear wheels, with a custom component costing up to $1000.

Cam Beller is a multiple 944 Challenge champion, progressing into the class due to his dad’s love of the marque, after contesting hillclimbs and motorkhanas.

Beller bought a pre-built 944 at a cost of $29,000 and has developed the car into the leading contender in the class.

“We slowly progressed the car as we were able to do it and because we did everything

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ourselves, it was a learning process until now.

We’ve now won the championship multiple times,” Beller told Auto Action.

“It was a pretty decent car for back in the day, but we have progressed it. It was a clean car, it had a really good cage in it.

“The cars are very similar in terms of spec, it’s just more of the extras you buy like the MoTeC dash, Sparco firebomb, alloy tanks, a few little upgrades, which you don’t need, but it’s nice to have for doing your data and things.”

A move towards control components has Beller’s tick of approval.

“I think a big part of that was not so much progressing the cars to go quicker, it’s actually more to save costs for the competitor,” said Beller.

“With the spec suspension, we’ve gone to a package now and that was to stop a few of the competitors spending a lot of money servicing the shocks or installing SupaShocks.

“The same as the brake pads, the old ones were wearing out quicker, and now we’ve gone to the Hawk, which we get a full season out of.

“I think the changes the committee has made through the years I have been competing are just trying to reduce costs for the competitor, whether be a performance gain or not, it’s about the cost.”

Beller explained competitors with a basic 944 without extras can be just as fast as one with all the trimmings.

“In this class it’s so close, you do still need to make sure you have a good horsepower motor, so everything needs to be to the spec,” he said.

“You don’t need a MoTeC or anything like that, if you’ve got a base car with a good driver or a decent steerer, you’ll be within the front pack.

“It depends on your budget and what you want to do. There are a lot of people who will buy the basic car and will race it, before slowly upgrading to the MoTeC kit when they can afford to.

“That’s what the category allows for, it doesn’t mean to be a frontrunner you need the best stuff.”

The consumables in terms of brake pads last a season for Beller, the engine requires minimal servicing with a head gasket recommended each season, while tyres also last a complete season.

A twin-plate clutch was also installed by Beller, but the advantages are minimal.

“A twin-plate clutch is an advantage if you were to engineer it,” said Beller. “I’ve said to multiple people I don’t think it is worth it, though I have one in my car.

“The service and things you have to look out for with that component, outweigh the advantages.

There are a lot of drivers who run a single mass flywheel.”

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Beller has also installed an aftermarket aluminium radiator to aid cooling.

A firebomb kit was also added, at a cost of $1500.

Leasing a 944 Challenge car is also part of Beller’s business, which costs $6800 covering everything except the race suit and helmet, while preparation before each round for owner-drivers is offered for between $1000-$1500, depending on what is required.

Spare parts availability is starting to become harder, but plans are afoot by the 944 Challenge committee to start selling fibreglass panels through the club, which will extend to dashes, bonnets, front guards and bumpers.

For mechanical components, Beller explained competitors were hoping to import a range of items from America.

“In general, they are getting a bit harder to get because the cars are becoming more valuable,” said Beller. “The good thing though is the 944s in America sold like Excels, so there was talk between some competitors that a container would be bought over with a stack of parts.”

After racing motorbikes, Pedr James transitioned into 944s and recently debuted a new build at Sandown’s opening round.

“The car I drove last round was a brand new car I built,” said James.

“It’s been three years in the build and I built it 100 per cent everything. I think the son-inlaw helped me bleed the brakes and that was the only thing anyone else did on that car.

“I haven’t got a mechanical background.

I’ve never owned a Porsche, the 944 is the

first one I’ve owned, but after working on anything that is Japanese, the Porsche is a pleasure to work on.”

His original entry was a $14,000 944 already prepared for racing and bought off a mate. James transferred the running gear into his new shell, purchased for $1000 from Adelaide three-years ago.

The engine he also bought off a former competitor.

“The new car that I ran at Sandown, its engine I have run for five years and never pulled apart,” James explained. “I bought it off ex-competitor Graham Smith and he ran it for two and a half years, so the engine has run for seven and a half years, and I paid $5000 for it in 2017.”

James is determined to prove a basic,

Brakes are stock aside from the Hawk brake pads (above). A fibreglass dash will shortly be available through the 944 Challenge Club, further bringing costs down (left). Andy Jones (right) is a newcomer to the sport and has enjoyed the comaraderie in the category.

no frills 944 can be competitive as his features barely any of the extras, which some others have installed.

“I’m running the original Wolf ignition system that the class designed 25-years ago,” said James. “I finished fifth at Sandown running in the 1m 25s, just off the leaders, but I gapped the midfield by 1s.

“I still have the original analogue gauges, I’ve just got shift lights, no race dash. Unless you want to improve your lap times by data logging, it’s a bit harder with the Wolf.”

James expects to fork out $2000 for a weekend of racing, which includes accommodation, travel and transport.

He credits ex-competitor Rod Smith for mentoring him through the rigours of preparation and construction, though the preevent checks are minimal.

James admitted the gearbox is a key item to watch out for.

“The diffs don’t hang in but we’re also putting a hell of a lot more G-Forces through

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the gearbox than it has ever experienced before. That’s only me, but there are some guys who have raced with the same gearbox for 10 years.”

Tyres last a season for James, while he believes the Hawk brake pads will last him until 2024!

Race Fuels handle fuel distribution, with James estimating it costs $150 per weekend for 80-litres.

Andy Jones is a relative newcomer as a motor sport participant and has found the transition into 944s straightforward, after being inspired by watching the Toyota 86 Racing Series at Townsville a couple of seasons ago.

“In March 2019, on the Friday, I did the OLT at Sandown, I passed on Saturday morning, I qualified later and by that afternoon I was in my first race,” Jones explained.

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Although he originally bought a road-car to convert into his racer, Jones elected to buy a ready-made example for $25,000, and spent $8000 upgrading it to the latest specification, which was completed by Melbourne Performance Centre.

“I bought a road 944 intending to turn it into a race car,” he explained.

“Then I looked at the differences between the two and I thought ‘Well, I’ve never even changed a spark plug on a lawnmower, this is not going to work’.

“I bought a 944 that had raced in the category years earlier, so I had to change the suspension and a couple of other items to bring it up to the correct spec.

“Melbourne Performance Centre replaced the Wolf ECU with a MoTeC, completed set-up changes, installed control suspension and replaced the wiring loom.”

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Jones emphasised tyre and brake pad life was excellent, unless he has a spin, while his clutch hasn’t been replaced since buying the 944 and displays no wear, though it will be torn down at season’s end.

Although solely a Victorian-based category, the 944 Challenge races at some of Australia’s top-class facilities for very little expenditure.

It is one of only a few classes within the price bracket to be rear-wheel-drive and with the Porsche connection, it enables an association with a manufacturer to start early for a young competitor.

On the other side of it, the category has also provided the opportunity for gentleman and older competitors to enter motor sport without the high costs of outright GT racing.

Pedr James (above) debuted his new ‘bare bones’ 944 at Sandown last month, the new machine 2.5s faster than his previous best.

CO$T$ GUIDE Entry Fees Garage Hire Friday Practice Weekend costs Used Car Engine Suspension kit Brake pads Tyres Fuel ECU

$400-$450 $350-$400 $200 $1500-$2000 $25,000-$35,000 $5000-$12000 $3000 $465 (V-Sport) $1400 a set (Traction Tyres) $150 $2500 (MoTeC 944 Club discount)

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COVER STORIES OF THE 70

S

Continuing Auto Action’s 50th celebrations, HEATH McALPINE delved into the archives to discover the most significant covers of each decade. Here we start with the 1970s, when touring cars became king, Peter Brock emerged as a star and Allan Moffat fought a bitter rivalry with Bob Jane.

Issue 36 – June 23, 1972 Variety, variety, variety

Issue 3 - March 24, 1971 Brock’s first ‘cover’

Although it wasn’t the front cover per se, Peter Brock was making waves before his breakthrough Bathurst victory the next year. It was Winton’s first taste of Series Production and to label it as a ‘Toranafest’ was an understatement. Brock held off the Toranas of Brian Reed and Graham Blanchard to win comfortably by 8s.

Issue 18 – October 15, 1971 AA’s first Bathurst report issue

Specially imported Hardie-Ferodo brake material proved the deciding factor in the 1971 Bathurst 500, the first to be covered by Auto Action. The Blue Oval dominated the race, finishing 1-2-3 as Allan Moffat greeted the flag after 6h 9m 49.5s. This was a whopping 24 minutes faster than the previous year.

Hillclimbs and rallycross held the front cover of Auto Action.

At Lakeland, near Lilydale in Victoria, Jim Abbott powered his way to the Victorian Hillclimb Championship driving his trusty Brabham Traco Oldsmobile. At Catalina Park in Katoomba, New South Wales, Colin Bond took the Motorcraft rallycross finale.

Issue 26 – February 4, 1972 Chrysler Quit

The Big Three turned into two when Chrysler announced its departure from the Australian touring car scene. Chargers continued to be raced by former factory drivers, now privateers Leo Geoghegan and Doug Chivas. Plans for a ‘Bathurst Supercar’ were also shelved, which had been expected to feature more horsepower, lightweight panels and wider tyres.

Issue 44 – October 13, 1972 Superbrock!

The wunderkid did it! Peter Brock proved the Torana’s giant killing abilities by defeating the factory Ford Falcon GT-HO of Allan Moffat in a wet Bathurst 500. The 27-yearold Victorian put the pressure on Moffat from the word go to deliver victory, while Moffat was penalised twice and had brake troubles. The Chrysler threat was prominent but was hurt by lack of factory support.

Issue 55 – March 16, 1973 Rules?

A debate about the regulations in the rulebooks for both the Australian Rally and Touring Car Championships was underway with discrepancies surrounding car eligibility and modifications permitted. For rallying, the number of spot lights was at issue, while for touring cars it was the rules not being policed properly.

Issue 63 – July 6, 1973

HDT Excluded Peter Brock and the Holden Dealer Team were excluded from the Oran Park round of the Australian Touring Car Championship, handing Allan Moffat the title. The HDT Torana’s manifold was found to be 0.12 inches greater in diameter compared to a standard component, leading to a possible 30-day suspension from CAMS.

Issue 66 – August 17, 1973 The Farm Gone

Issue 39 – August 4, 1972 The first real rivalry Issue 13 – August 6, 1971. New Charger uncovered

Chrysler revealed its latest Bathurst challenge, the Charger. Although not expected to be a match for the Ford Falcon GT-HOs, the giantkiller Holden Torana GTR XU-1s were more of a realistic target for the new Charger when the big three hit The Mountain in October. Testing was undertaken by then Auto Action columnist Leo Geoghegan at Mallala.

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The rivalry between Allan Moffat and Bob Jane was heating up after the Canadian was excluded from the Australian Touring Car Championship race at Warwick Farm. Moffat’s Ford Mustang Trans Am was excluded due to ‘incautious driving’. Moffat won the event, but was now out of the title fight thanks to the CAMS’ stewards findings.

Australian Automobile Racing Club ‘boss’ Geoff Sykes announced the shock decision to close Sydney’s Warwick Farm circuit.

Rising costs in the promotion and running of meetings was the reason behind its closure. Another was the cost of continually converting the circuit from motor racing to horses, which was proving problematic.

50

years of publishing 1971- 2021

Issue 105 – February 28, 1975 Australia’s Tasman

Finally, an Australian Tasman Series champion was crowned after Warwick Brown took sixth in the finale at Sandown. After leading for a majority of the race, Brown started to run out of fuel, which allowed John Goss to take his maiden Formula 5000 victory. Brown’s title rival Johnnie Walker survived a frightening shunt at Rothmans Rise.

Issue 112 – June 6, 1975 Tailem Where?

Issue 80 – March 8, 1974 Enter the smokescreen

In alignment with confirmation of Holden’s latest touring car challenger, the SLR/5000, it was announced Phillip Morris will commence sponsorship of HDT in 1974.

The new beast was fitted with a 308 V8, paired with a fourspeed gearbox. However, the federal government were getting concerned about the potential performance of the SLR/5000 as a road car.

Issue 84 – May 3, 1974 Repco leaves

It was announced that Repco was to discontinue manufacture of F5000 race engines based on Holden and Leyland units, which were used in both Sports Sedans and the big open-wheelers.

F5000 star John McCormack said he didn’t think it would affect his business and the same was said by leading driver Frank Matich.

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Issue 90 – July 26, 1974 Marsden resigns

Coinciding with the news that Ford Australia’s special Ford Capri RS 3.1. was cancelled, Howard Marsden announced his resignation from the company’s special vehicles division. Although he was to remain with Ford until it found a replacement, the news effectively confirmed the Blue Oval’s withdrawal from motor sport.

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Allan Moffat in a GM product, no way, right?

Yes, way. Australia’s pre-eminent Blue Oval hero went Chevrolet Monza for the 1976 Australian Sports Sedan Championship, debuting the Horst Kwech built machine at New Zealand’s Bay Park.

Moffat’s switch snuffed out any real hope of Ford Australia returning to motor sport, in the interim at least.

A new 1.6km club racing circuit at Tailem Bend was proposed by the newly incorporated South Australian Motor Racing Club. At its launch, the club made it clear the new circuit was of compliment to, not in opposition to, the Adelaide International Raceway. The circuit included a horse track, which was to be retained.

Issue 135 – April 29, 1976 A big blue

Colin Bond and Allan Grice were at the centre of controversy after the Amaroo Park round of the Australian Touring Car Championship. Grice was excluded from all results of the meeting after the Holden pair tangled approaching the Dunlop Loop.

Bob Skelton and Bo Seton were both caught up in the melee, as Bond was tipped into a spin. Charlie O’Brien won the round, his first ever.

Issue 97 – November 1, 1974 Brock’s UK tilt?

HDT star Peter Brock was set to jet to England to race for the factory Dealer Team Vauxhall operation. It was expected Brock would spend most of the 1975 season in the UK and return for Bathurst, ahead of a planned Holden effort on Le Mans in 1976. Brock’s move overseas opened the door for Colin Bond to take over as undisputed number one.

Issue 126 – December 18, 1975 Moffat’s shock switch

Issue 141 – July 22, 1976 Hunt in Australia

Issue 115 – July 18, 1975 Hume Weir extension

Preliminary research into the proposed extension of Hume Weir track revealed a greater potential than originally anticipated.

Plans were afoot to enable two circuits to be used simultaneously, while spectators would be able to take advantage of the track’s natural amphitheatre surroundings to gain a perfect view. A concept track layout was presented to the National Track Safety Committee of CAMS.

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Negotiations to bring British World Formula 1 Championship contender James Hunt to Australia were underway. The controversial driver, who joined McLaren at the start of the season, was keen to come and compete down under, albeit for a $20,000 pay packet. Sydney racing patron Laurie O’Neil was believed to have spoken to the Formula 1 star in Monaco.

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Issue 171 – September 15, 1977. Superhatch wins

It didn’t take long for Holden’s updated Torana to rejoice in the spoils of victory. As various teams burned the midnight oil, some even completing their new A9Xs at the circuit, Peter Brock shot to Hardie-Ferodo 1000 favouritism after taking his fourth Hang Ten 400 victory in a dream debut for the racing hatchback.

Issue 142 – August 5, 1976. Corvair uproar

The controversial Chevrolet Corvair of Frank Gardner was black-flagged out of the lead during Round three of the Australian Sports Sedan Championship for ‘interfering with the major placeholders’. It emerged a deal between Gardner, the circuit organisers and fellow competitors had been brokered before the race for thee car to compete, after scrutineers raised two points about the Corvair’s eligibility.

Issue 152 – December 24, 1976 Firth out, Brock in?

The long-time leader of the Holden Dealer Team, Harry Firth, announced his intention to retire at the end of the next racing season. This opened the door for Peter Brock to make a return in 1977 to head up the team. John Harvey, Charlie O’Brien and motorcycle ace Gregg Hansford were to make up the remaining driving roster. This was denied by Brock at the time, who was then tied to dealer Bill Patterson.

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IIssue ss e 167 – July J l 21, 21 1977 Holden’s Superhatch

AFTER BEING dominated by Holden at all but two events of the Australian Touring Car Championship, Holden reacted by producing an option pack.

Aiming for reliability and consistency, the new package included rear disc brakes, close ratio gearbox and improved suspension. The new update was set to debut at Sandown’s Hang Ten 400 in September.

Issue 183 – March 2, 1978 Brown clean-sweep

Completing back-to-back International Series wins and his third overall, Warwick Brown did it in style by clean-sweeping the title. Defeating the likes of Vern Schuppan, Bruce Allison, Johnnie Walker, Alfredo Costanzo, Garrie Cooper and Graham McRae, Brown sealed the deal at Oran Park in his Team VDS Lola. He not only won ontrack, he also married his American fiancé Darlene in Sydney.

Issue 195 – August 17, 1978 Snake bite

Prior to the Bathurst 1000, Ford planned to release a limited-edition Falcon coupe with 400 being built, 30 of which were Bathurst specials. Described as a car built as a result of racing, the Cobra hardtop featured a transmission oil cooling system, twin thematic fans, reinforced suspension towers and a steering idler support bracket.

The Cobra also marked the end of the twodoor hardtop as a Ford model.

Issue 199 – October 12, 1978 The Islandd closes

Issue 207 – February 1, 1979 New Gen touringg cars N

Issue 200 – October 26, 26 1978 The Commodore

Issue 209 – March 1, 1 1979 Ford out!

Issue 206 – January 18, 1979 Allison Quits

Issue 211 – March 29, 1979 Rothmans out R

The Phillip Island Auto Racing Club announced the closure of the circuit, due to being unable to purchase the land on which it wass built. Club president John Lanyonn explained it would be folly to start the new season with uncertainty regarding the sale, however work was continuing nevertheless to raise the funds to purchase the land. p

Although its prediction was a year out, Auto Action’s renderings of the then newly released Holden Commodore are nearly a match for the HDT’s weapon in 1980.

It was thought John Sheppard would lead the HDT’s efforts with a debut expected in 1979, but it also depended on what Ford was doing with its ‘Blackwood’ project.

Leading open-wheeler contender Bruce Allison announced his complete divorce from motor sport, extended to even not attending events. The Queenslander had returned from m England to take up the second Elfin-Ansett seat, however backing fewll through at last minute fell through. “It’s definitely final,” said Allison. “There will be no going back.”

In a push ttoo get more manufacturers m into the in Australian A TTouring Car Championship, C CAMS made C kkey changes to the regulations.. th FFrom September 1 S 11979, cars builtt to the recently aannounced 11980 ruleset could compete alongside the existing Torana A9Xs and Falcon hardtops. Further changes meant these new generation touring cars were expected to equal the performance of the old models.

Issue 222 – August 30, 1979. The Repco

Just give ‘em the ol’ 1-2-3. That’s what Holden did in the 1979 Repco Reliability Trial, where Peter Brock proved his doubters wrong by defeating the whole field, including the best rally drivers, by 13-minutes after 14 days of competition. It was the first major motor sport victory for the Commodore. Meanwhile Alan Jones was winning more F1 races as Auto Action reported on his Dutch GP win.

Ford Australia assistant managing director Edsel Ford II announced that the manufacturer would not be involved in touring car racing in 1980. “The decision is reluctantly taken and is reached after exploring all the avenues open to us to keep our cars on the track,” said Ford. It was hoped Ford would return in the future.

R Rothmans cconfirmed it w was pulling its ssponsorship of tthe International SSeries for Formula 1 and Formula 55000. The cigarettee bbrand was the main driving m fforce behind the ccontinuance of big ttime open-wheel rracing in this ccountry, however Rothmans was not lost to the sport as it would redistribute its support elsewhere.

Issue 230 – December 20, 1979 New Commodore tests

The Holden Dealer Team and Peter Brock undertook a test program for the upcoming uld Commodore touring car at Calder, providing a hint of what the next gen touring cars would look like. It was also confirmed that Allan Grice and reigning touring car champion Bob Morris were to partner up in a two-car team.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

TANAK SCORES INAUGURAL ARCTIC RALLY VICTORY IT WAS a dominant display by 2019 World Rally Champion Ott Tanak when won the inaugural Arctic Rally held in Finland last weekend.

Leading from start-to-finish, Tanak dominated the snowy conditions through the forests of Lapland, building a comfortable margin during the opening legs to finish 17.5s ahead of Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera.

In turn, 20-year-old Rovanpera has made history by becoming the youngest leader of the WRC Drivers’ title in its 49-year history.

Rovanpera held off Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville for the runner up slot in the inaugural Artic Rally event, with the margin just 2.3s after three-days of competition.

Tanak’s performance was near faultless, except for a slight brush with a snowbank during Saturday’s action.

“The pressure was there and we knew it was going to be very complicated to take the fight,” Tanak said.

“In the end we did a very good weekend, with only one mistake. It’s an amazing place, definitely one of the best places to have a winter rally.”

Seven-time WRC champion Sebastien Ogier had a horror event, which ended on Saturday when he went off the road into a snowbank, leading to a 20-minute struggle to recover his Toyota Yaris.

After the opening day, Tanak held a 16.2s advantage over teammate, the returning Craig Breen. Rovanpera sat a further 4.2s behind the Irishman,

however a mistake delayed him when he was stuck in a snowbank.

Neuville ended the day fourth ahead of Elfyn Evans and the lead M-Sport Ford Fiesta, driven by Teemu Suninen.

First on the road, Ogier lost 50s to place ninth behind Petter Solberg’s son Oliver, who was making his WRC debut for Hyundai.

Tanak further extended his lead on Day

2, despite Rovanpera taking risks due to a charging Neuville behind.

The battle for second was reduced to 1.8s by the end of the day, as Neuville’s tyre choice proved superior, slashing 12s out of Rovanpera on the final stage.

Tyre management also proved a problem for Breen as he dropped to fourth.

Behind, Evans was also struggling

DE VRIES WINS SPECTACULAR FORMULA E OPENER NYCK DE Vries leads the FIA Formula E World Championship after the opening two rounds of the season in Saudi Arabia.

A victory and a ninth handed de Vries the early advantage ahead of fellow race winner Sam Bird, who retired out of the opening race and is seven-points behind in the standings.

The major news out of the weekend, though, was a miraculous escape for Brit Alex Lynn, after he clipped Kiwi Mitch Evans during the weekend’s second event. The impact flipped Lynn‘s Mahindra Racing entry onto its Halo as it slid down the escape road.

Lynn was hospitalised for precautionary checks but emerged unscathed from the incident.

Mercedes proved to be the dominant force through practice, qualifying, Superpole and the opening event on its competitive debut, as de Vries took the first Formula E race under lights at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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Image: Motorsport Images

It was a one-two for Mercedes, as customer team Venturi Racing through Edoardo Mortara completed a last gasp pass on Rene Rast to take the runner slot.

De Vries led from start-to-finish and despite

two safety car periods he was able to win the race by a comfortable 4.1s margin.

“I’m very pleased with everything so far and it’s so satisfying to translate that into the race because it wasn’t easy with so many Safety

Car periods and the pace being unpredictable at the beginning of the race,” said de Vries.

“There was a lot of communication going on and I’m so pleased to get my first win.

“We were under and overconsuming our

LARSON WINS FOURTH RACE BACK Report: DAN MCCARTHY Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

Image: Motorsport Images

with his tyre choice but did end Tanak’s run of stage wins to finish the day ahead of Solberg, in what was an impressive display.

As Tanak cruised to take his first victory of the season and Rovanpera held out Neuville for second, Breen maintained fourth ahead of Evans by just 8.9s.

Solberg finished seventh after spinning

on the final stage to allow Toyota driver Takamoto Katsuta to take sixth.

A fourth at the opening round in Monte Carlo and second on the Arctic Rally gives Rovanpera a four-point advantage heading to Croatia for Round 3 on April 22-25. Heath McAlpine

energy. I got told Rast was a per cent up but the team kept me calm and we got there in the end.

It sounds cliche, but it couldn’t be more true thanks to everyone at the team that has worked so hard for this.”

The second race of the season was won by Sam Bird, after rival Robin Frijns was required to save energy on lap 21 allowing the Brit past and through to victory.

A collision between Maximilian Gunther and Tom Blomqvist occurred at the same chicane just prior to Lynn’s incident, and organisers decided to end the race prematurely.

This left Bird ahead of Frijns and Jean-Eric Vergne, but he was demoted to 12th after he failed to enact his second attack mode, handing the final podium position to Antonio Felix da Costa.

Opening race winner de Vries finished 14th after both Mercedes-powered entries were barred from qualifying, after Mortara crashed in practice.

The third round of Formula E will be held in Rome on April 10. HM

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Points: Rovanpera 39, Neuville 35, Ogier 31, Evans 31, Tanak 27

Points: de Vries 32, Bird 25, Frijns 22, Mortara 18, da Costa 15

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ELEVEN MONTHS after being suspended from the sport, Kyle Larson has won a NASCAR Cup Series race, his first with Hendrick Motorsports.

In doing so Larson became the fourth winner in the first four races of the 2021 Cup Series, scoring the seventh win of his career and the first at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Larson led a race high 103 laps and after a late caution pulled away from the field to take his first NASCAR victory win since October 2019.

In April of 2020 Larson was suspended indefinitely from all NASCAR competition for using a racial slur when competing in an ESeries race, and was subsequently fired by Chip Ganassi Racing.

Late last year the ban was removed after Larson took measures to educate himself and was allowed to return to NASCAR from January 1.

Larson signed with the legendary Hendrick Motorsport operation and in just his fourth race back took victory.

“Thank you so much Mr. H (Rick Hendrick, team owner), Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports for the amazing opportunity I’ve been gifted, this is definitely special,” Larson said.

“I know this is Rick’s most special paint scheme for obvious reasons and it’s just an honour to grab (the win) our first time out. I’m just blessed.

Thanks everybody for coming out and everybody watching on TV.” After a strong challenge, Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski finished the race in second, fading late on to eventually finish 3.156s behind.

Keselowski and Larson were the force at the front of the field all race long and each took a stage win, Keselowski the opening stanza and Larson the second.

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Former champion Kyle Busch came home third ahead of his teammate Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney, who rounded out the top five.

“That was some fun racing on the restarts. I hope everybody enjoyed (it), I know I did. I had fun racing Brad and Denny and everybody,” Larson enthused. “(I)Tried not to get in their way when I missed my green-flag stop but we were able to have a good enough car to hold them all off.”

It was the squad’s second straight victory after William Byron won for the team one week earlier at Homestead.

Series leader Kevin Harvick had a shocker, picking up a puncture in the opening stage, after which he was only able to recover to 20th position.

This handed the series points lead to Denny Hamlin who, despite not winning a race this season, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has finished all but one race in the top five.

Reigning series winner Chase Elliott led for 22 laps, but his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet sustained damage after a spin exiting Turn 2, and he was only able to recover to finish 13th.

Race 2 of the season on the Daytona Road Course two weeks earlier was won by new Joe Gibbs Racing recruit Christopher Bell.

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39

RACE REPORT

Round 1 - Mount Panorama 500

NEW SEASON, ANOTHER KIWI Report: Heath McAlpinee Photos: LAT-Mark Hors Horsburgh/Insyde Media

SHANE VAN Gisbergen Gis started the 2021 season as h he finished the last, with victory at Ba Bathurst.

The Kiwi took ov over from compatriot Scott McLaughlin in style, taking two victories and an e early advantage in the Supercars Cham Championship title fight.

Chaz Mostert’s title challenge is on track too, as he ssits second in the points after finish finishing second and third in the respective races.

The narrative of the weekend could have been much different, if not for a faulty power ste steering unit which stymied Cam Wa Waters’ attack in the opening encount encounter. recovery followed and A strong recove second in Race 2 was rmore eflective of the result he should have had in the seasonha opener. ope

PRACTICE – WE WELCOME BACK

After a turbulent off-season in the driver and engineering engine ranks, all the speculation came to an end as Mostert demonstrated the raw pace of his And Walkinshaw Andretti United Holden Will Brown had a roc rocky rookie debut, crashing his WD40-backed Er Erebus Commodore in the opening practice ses session (right).

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Commodore, going fastest in opening practice.

A last gasp 2m 05.205s left the WAU driver 0.499s clear of Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters, though the biggest surprise was in third as Mostert’s junior teammate Bryce Fullwood recorded a 2m 05.853s.

The unforgiving nature of Mount Panorama was experienced in the opening session by full-time rookie Will Brown.

Entering The Dipper, Brown clipped the inside wall which sent his Erebus Motorsport Commodore careering into the outside wall, making severe contact,

with big damage resulting. An all-nighter followed for the team as it aimed to get Brown out for Saturday morning’s qualifying session.

A misfire for Jake Kostecki from opening practice was rectified by Matt Stone Racing for the next session, while Brad Jones Racing continued to have a troubled time just as it had at the 1000 last October.

A steering problem for Todd Hazelwood caused plumes of white smoke to trail his BJR Commodore, while teammate Macauley Jones caused a red flag after getting stuck in gravel trap at The Chase.

Tim Slade was the biggest surprise of the weekend, qualifying on the front row and running with the leaders before a late-race one crash destroyed the CoolDrive Mustang.

proved too much as it was all Mustang front-row courtesy of Slade’s 2m 05.705s.

Behind, van Gisbergen and De Pasquale made up the second row ahead of Davison, while the weekend’s early pacesetter Mostert completed the top six.

Whincup was missing something in seventh, lining alongside Kostecki, leaving an all-Team18 row five after Pye made an untidy start to his shootout lap.

RACE 1 – SVG TO THE FORE

Bryce Fullwood was fast for Andretti Walkinshaw United, fifth in the season-opener, up seven spots from his qualifying position. He had a less happy run in race two on the Sunday.

Once action resumed, Mostert again was on top with a 2m 04.781s, 0.011s to the better of Waters, while Team18’s Scott Pye sat third, logging a 2m 05.389s.

It seemed the Triple Eight Race Engineering and Dick Johnson Racing outfits were waiting until qualifying to fire their shots.

QUALIFYING RACE 1 – DJR NEW BOY TOPS THE TIMES

After failing to demonstrate its outright pace during practice, Anton De Pasquale got off to a dream start to his campaign by placing his DJR Ford Mustang on provisional pole.

De Pasquale’s 2m 04.425s was 0.122s to the better of van Gisbergen to secure the last position for the Top

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10 Shootout, as just 0.700s covered the drivers who made the cut.

Waters, Mostert and surprise packet Tim Slade completed the top five as the Blanchard Racing Team made an impressive start to its standalone era.

Brodie Kostecki qualified for his first Top 10 Shootout in a result which bucked many pre-season predictions.

Will Davison, Pye, Jamie Whincup and Mark Winterbottom completed a mixed top 10.

Reliability problems struck again at BJR for Nick Percat as an electrical problem reared its head and was unable to be overcome before the session finished.

After a full-night repair job, Brown rewarded his team with 17th, which considering the extensive damage

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resulting from the concrete at The Dipper wasn’t a bad result.

James Courtney, Fullwood alongside Kelly Grove Racing pairing David Reynolds and Andre Heimgartner, just missed out on a Shootout berth.

TOP 10 SHOOTOUT RACE 1 – CAM’S MOUNTAIN

Warm conditions provided difficult conditions for drivers in the Top 10 Shootout, a common theme across the weekend.

The major climber was Slade, moving from the third row to be alongside the polesitter.

But it was Waters assuming a familiar spot for him at Bathurst, pole position.

A 2m 05.598s was the time to beat for van Gisbergen and De Pasquale, but

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Waters made a strong start from pole, emphasised even more due to Slade’s comparably tardy one, which dropped him behind van Gisbergen and the two Dick Johnson Racing Mustangs.

In a reverse to the final stint at Bathurst last year, it was Waters extending his lead over van Gisbergen, as his Tickford Racing teammate Le Brocq was the first to pit on lap 3.

Slade dropped further position to Mostert, but he and Davison were 3s off De Pasquale, who in turn was the same margin behind the lead pair.

But it was De Pasquale who caused the first safety car of the season when he replicated Whincup’s race-ending incident during last year’s Bathurst 1000 at The Cutting, ending his first race for DJR in disappointment.

A flurry of pit stops followed with Waters a major loser in the shuffle, dropping behind van Gisbergen, Slade and Davison. Not only had Waters put more fuel in compared to the others – 77-litres – checks were also completed under the bonnet, before the Mustang returned to pits two laps later to cure a power steering fault.

This dropped the title contender numerous laps down although he did score points, which could become crucial come season’s end.

Percat’s weekend continued to get worse as he pulled into the pits twice before being put into the garage to fix an alternator problem, arising from his troubles in qualifying this morning.

Another to encounter misfortune was Scott Pye after a steering arm was bent in a collision at The Cutting with Andre Heimgartner , which forced him to pit and lose three laps while the Team18 crew repaired it.

On the restart on lap 10, van Gisbergen led short-filled Fullwood, Slade, Davison and Reynolds.

Mostert was now sixth, but put 80-litres in his Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore, while teammate Fullwood played the opposite strategy.

The same split strategy was employed

by Triple Eight Race Engineering, with van Gisbergen going light and Whincup heavy, Jamie buried iback n 13th. This cost the seven-time Supercars champion plenty of time as he had come out behind Fabian Coulthard, who was steadfast in not giving up his 12th place.

Fullwood was the first of the leaders to pit a second time, but dropped well back after fueling short in the middle

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RACE REPORT Round 1 - Mount Panorama 500

Cam Waters leads the pack away from pole position in the season’s opener but a power steering issue robbed him of a likely win. He was second in race two on Sunday.

stint, leaving Slade in second ahead of Davison, as both needed to put nearly the same fuel amounts in.

Kelly Grove Racing’s Heimgartner had earlier been run wide by Courtney at Murray’s Corner, then encountered further trouble at Hell Corner on lap 21 when he ran down the escape road.

His rejoin led to a slight collision with the Erebus Motorsport Commodore of Kostecki, which dropped him position to Courtney on Mountain Straight, and the Kiwi was handed a drive-through penalty as a result.

Van Gisbergen led Slade by 6.5s, while Davison was coming under increased pressure from Mostert.

Slade was next of the leaders to pit on lap 24 and dropped to seventh, while Davison came in two laps later to emerged in sixth.

Next was van Gisbergen to take his second service and remained in the effective lead with Mostert pitting two laps later to emerge second to the Kiwi, 7.3 in arrears.

Whincup and Courtney pitted to place van Gisbergen in the lead from Mostert, Davison, Slade and Fullwood.

In pursuit of van Gisbergen, Mostert

set the fastest lap of the race, a 2m 06.798s, then bettered it further to a 2m 06.348s to close within 5.5s.

Slade was on course to challenge for a podium with five laps remaining, however a crash approaching Forrest’s Elbow ended the Blanchard Racing Team’s opening Supercars race, leaving Davison a free passage to third.

Mostert was still cutting into van Gisbergen’s lead but not enough to initiate a battle up front.

His WAU teammate Fullwood ably backed up his team leader in fourth, but was under increasing pressure from Winterbottom. This proved too much, a slight lock-up at Hell Corner by the 2019 Super2 Series winner allowed the veteran through.

In a perfect start to his championship pursuit, van Gisbergen took a 1.4s victory ahead of Mostert, Davison, Winterbottom and Fullwood.

Rounding out the top 10 were Le Brocq, Whincup, Courtney, Reynolds and Hazelwood.

QUALIFYING RACE 2 – SVG TAKES CONTROL Identifying a personal change to his driving he needed to make overnight on

Friday continued to pay dividends going into Sunday for van Gisbergen.

The Kiwi was forced to adjust his driving in accordance with the newlylimited lock-up lights, a change to the rules which has been implemented by Supercars this season.

In doing so, van Gisbergen snared provisional pole ahead of Mostert this time, as Waters, De Pasquale and Davison completed the top five.

Both Kelly Grove Racing Mustangs made the 10, as did Winterbottom, Courtney and Whincup.

BJR had none of its entries in the 10, but the crew burned the midnight oil to install new engines for Jones and Hazelwood, plus finally riddling Percat’s Commodore of its electrical problems.

A flurry of late laps bumped Pye, Fullwood, Le Brocq and Percat out of the Shootout.

TOP 10 SHOOTOUT RACE 2 – DIRTY DEEDS

Van Gisbergen may have secured pole, but the talk was all dirty.

Dirt thrown up by Waters during his run provided an extra challenge for Mostert and van Gisbergen, when completing their shoot out laps.

Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Mark

Dutton expressed his frustrations at the situation, but despite that van Gisbergen still scored pole by 0.113s with a 2m 05.617s.

Waters lined up alongside as no penalty was imposed, but a rule change is expected before the round at Sandown.

Behind, DJR’s new driver line-up locked out row two, as Mostert struggled the most with the track conditions to fill fifth alongside Winterbottom.

The rest of the top 10 remained the same as it entered the Shootout, as Whincup continued to languish compared to his teammate.

RACE 2 – TWO OUT OF TWO SVG DOUBLES UP

Van Gisbergen won the jump but failed in the second phase of the start, allowing Waters to take the lead ahead of Hell Corner as the Kiwi’s focus turned to Anton De Pasquale during the climb up the mountain.

Davison was falling away from the lead trio and coming under extreme pressure from Mostert, which involved a tap exiting The Chase on lap 2. This led to the Walkinshaw Andretti United driver having a half peek at Murray’s Corner, but Davison left room, which aided Mostert in completing the move at Hell Corner.

Chaz Mostert confirmed his pre-season title contender status with a strong weekend (below left) while Nick Percat finished 10th in the opening race despite practice problems.

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RESULTS RACE 1 MOUNT PANORAMA 500 40 LAPS Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 NC NC NC NC

Shane van Gisbergen Chaz Mostert Will Davison Mark Winterbottom Bryce Fullwood Jack Le Brocq Jamie Whincup James Courtney David Reynolds Todd Hazelwood Brodie Kostecki Zane Goddard Jake Kostecki Fabian Coulthard Andre Heimgartner Will Brown Jack Smith Nick Percat Scott Pye Cameron Waters Tim Slade Garry Jacobson Macauley Jones Anton De Pasquale

Driver 40 laps +1.427s +18.137s +30.737s +31.733s +37.606s +38.093s +40.110s +51.932s +53.848s +54.375s +62.911s +68.892s +70.172s +85.769s +101.123s 39 laps 38 laps 38 laps 34 laps 35 laps 31 laps 24 laps 6 laps

Laps/Margin ▲2 ▲4 ▲2 ▲5 ▲7 ▲9 0 ▲3 ▲4 ▲6 ▼3 ▲6 ▲ 10 ▲6 ▼1 ▲1 ▲5 ▲6 ▼9 ▼ 19 ▼ 19 ▲3 ▼2 ▼ 20

RESULTS RACE 2 MOUNT PANORAMA 500 40 LAPS

Mark Winterbottom showed the sort of form that made him a champion, impressively competitive for the new-look Team18. He was fourth on Saturday and fifth on Sunday, and sits third in the points.

Just like the previous race, Jack Le Brocq was the first to pit on lap 3 after dropping positions off the start as Tickford Racing teammate Waters held a 0.8s lead.

David Reynolds was the first of the top 10 runners to pit, shortfilling to get into clean air and remaining the leader among the stoppers, until James Courtney crashed at The Cutting on lap 9.

The veteran was able to flick spin his Tickford Racing Ford Mustang to avoid a safety car, but the damage was too severe to continue as he crabbed his way back to the pits.

Further contact came from Bryce Fullwood while entering pit lane, as the WAU driver tapped the rear of the damaged Mustang, complaining on the radio about the slowness of Courtney.

At the front, Waters held a 1.1s lead on the eve of the leader’s pit stops, which was kicked off by Mostert on lap 13 taking 36-litres of fuel, to emerge ahead of Davison, who had already pitted.

Davison set the fastest lap after his stop, a 2m 07.403s, while teammate De Pasquale short-filled to come out just ahead of Mostert. Climbing up the mountain, Mostert put the pressure on De Pasquale, who

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had to manage his cold tyres.

Triple Eight pulled the trigger on van Gisbergen, putting 36-litres onboard the Commodore just as De Pasquale locked up at The Chase, allowing Mostert and teammate Davison through.

Waters pitted on lap 15 but left the lane only just ahead of van Gisbergen. It was the Kiwi who won out in a weaving and dodging battle along Mountain Straight.

After the first pit stop shuffle, van Gisbergen quickly gapped Waters by 1.8s, setting the fastest lap of the race, a 2m 06.946s on the 16th tour. He backed it up by lowering the mark further to a 2m 06.812s, as van Gisbergen needed a 2s fuelling gap before the final pit sequence.

Another fastest lap for van Gisbergen, a 2m 06.370s, gave the Kiwi a 2.6s leader over Waters, which then grew to 3.6s as the race passed the halfway mark.

Mostert was again the first of the leaders to pit on lap 23, joined by Davison and Whincup, and this forced van Gisbergen to come in next time around to cover.

Waters and De Pasquale followed the race leader in, with the order remaining the same when everyone returned to the track.

The gap between Mostert and

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Waters was 4.2s, as in turn van Gisbergen held a 5s margin ahead of the Tickford Racing driver.

The final driver out of sequence, Fullwood, pitted on lap 26 allowing van Gisbergen to assume a 4.7s lead ahead of Waters, Mostert, De Pasquale, Winterbottom, Davison, Whincup, Andre Heimgartner, Scott Pye and Nick Percat.

A mistake from Davison at Murray’s Corner dropped him behind Whincup, which was the only change in the leading positions during the closing stages.

As van Gisbergen completed a perfect weekend to win ahead of Waters, Mostert was unable to replicate his late-race heroics from the previous day to finish third.

De Pasquale recovered from his retirement from Saturday’s opener to finish fourth, with Winterbottom, Whincup, Davison, Pye, Heimgartner and Percat, in another comeback drive, completing the top 10.

Van Gisbergen leads the title by 33-points ahead of Mostert going into Round 2 at Sandown.

Winterbottom is a further 36-points behind in third, with Davison and Whincup rounding out the top fivem on points.

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1 Shane van Gisbergen 2 Cameron Waters 3 Chaz Mostert 4 Anton De Pasquale 5 Mark Winterbottom 6 Jamie Whincup 7 Will Davison 8 Scott Pye 9 Andre Heimgartner 10 Nick Percat 11 David Reynolds 12 Brodie Kostecki 13 Bryce Fullwood 14 Will Brown 15 Macauley Jones 16 Zane Goddard 17 Jake Kostecki 18 Todd Hazelwood 19 Jack Le Brocq 20 Garry Jacobson 21 Jack Smith 22 Fabian Coulthard NC James Courtney DNS Tim Slade

40 laps +6.127s +8.680s +19.370s +23.277s +29.151s +30.390s +33.177s +42.538s +82.064s +46.954s +48.337s +49.200s +54.738s +61.995s +63.636s +66.501s +46.338s +91.387s +98.907s +125.231s 39 laps 9 laps 0 laps

0 0 ▲2 ▼1 ▲1 ▲2 ▼3 ▲3 ▲1 ▲4 ▼2 ▲3 ▼1 ▲2 ▲5 ▲1 ▲1 ▲1 ▼6 ▲1 ▲2 0 ▼ 15 0

POINTS: van Gisbergen 300, Mostert 267, Winterbottom 231, Davison 225, Whincup 198, Waters 183, Fullwood 177, Reynolds 156, Le Brocq 150, Heimgartner 144, B. Kostecki 141, Pye 138, Hazelwood 129, Percat 129, Goddard 126, J. Kostecki 120, Brown 120, De Pasquale 120, Coulthard 102, Smith 96, Courtney 90, Jones 60, Jacobson 45, Slade 0.

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SUPPORTS Super2 Round 1

SUPER ACTION Report: Dan McCarthy Images: Insyde Media

TWO THRILLING races at Mount Panorama kicked off the Super2 and Super3 Series’, with Jordan Boys heading the points in the Supercars second-tier category.

The opening round proved - as many people suspected - that Super2 will be hotly contested in 2021, with the top thee in qualifying for the opening race of the season separated by just 0.08s.

It was a Triple Eight Engineering front row lockout with Angelo Mouzouris taking pole position from Broc Feeney.

MW Motorsport driver Tyler Everingham was next, followed by Boys, Matt McLean and Jayden Ojeda.

Before the lights went out drama ensued, with Everingham coming to a halt on the warm-up lap with a clutch problem and did not make the start.

Off the line Mouzouris made a sensational launch, led into Turn 1 and would lead the opening lap under no pressure.

On lap 2 however the race leader went straight ahead through the Esses and allowed the following three cars, Feeney, Boys and Ojeda, to close.

Boys and Ojeda became locked in a battle themselves, letting McLean and Zak Best to join the fight. An optimistic Best capitalised on the compromised Ojeda and McLean on pit straight to leap into fourth.

On lap 3 Mouzouris began to feel the pressure from his teammate and was forced to defend

Jon McCorkindale took a win and a second for the points lead.

Jordan Boys (top) won the action-packed Super2 opening round, while the consistent Zac Best was second. at the final turn, Feeney got a good run out the corner and was able to slingshot up the inside down the pit straight to take the lead.

Feeney held on to take his first race win in Super2, ahead of Mouzouris, Boys, Tickford Racing driver Best, Ojeda and McLean.

For Race 2 it was Ojeda who took pole position by 0.28s from Boys, Everingham, Feeney and Mouzouris.

It was an incredibly even start between Ojeda and Boys off the line, the pair going around Turn 1 side-by-side and up Mountain Straight.

On the inside approaching Griffin’s Bend, Boys claimed first position and was followed through by Everingham.

Boys briefly extended his lead out to 1.2s after several laps of racing but this gap was quickly

Angelo Mouzouris suprised by taking pole position and leading the first race before slipping down the field.

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eaten up by Everingham.

Just as the Image Racing driver was caught

by Everingham, the safety car was deployed as Super3 driver Nash Morris beached his Falcon in the gravel.

When the race restarted with three laps remaining Boys was forced to defend with all his might.

A mistake at The Chase forced him to protect the inside at the final turn, Everingham slotted in line behind, while Ojeda swung around the outside.

Feeney tried to make a move on Ojeda but the pair made contact, pushing Ojeda through the grass to fall down the pack – Feeney would later be dealt a penalty for the incident.

Out front Boys kept a cool head but on the penultimate lap at the final turn he ran wide.

Everingham moved up the inside on pit straight but it was not quite enough, Boys held firm.

Boys drove a fast final lap to relieve himself of any pressure to take the race win and his first Super2 round victory.

Everingham came home second ahead of Feeney and Best. However Feeney copped a 5s penalty for the final turn incident, dropping him to ninth just behind Ojeda.

Boys won the round from Best, while Feeney still did enough to finish third.

IN SUPER3, Jon McCorkindale took pole from Blake Fardell, young gun Reef McCarthy, and Nash Morris.

As the lights went out McCarthy struggled to get off the line and dropped to the back of the field.

Out front, McCorkindale took the win by 5.2s from Fardell and Morris, who escaped a hit of the wall on the approach to Forrest’s Elbow on the final lap, while McCarthy recovered to finish fifth.

Fardell’s weekend ended early when he smacked the wall in Sunday’s qualifying session. Once again McCorkindale took pole ahead of McCarthy and Morris.

A mistake on lap 1 at The Chase saw McCarthy lose several positions.

Several laps later McCorkindale ran off the road at the final turn, the series leader scrambling back onto the track and forced to defend from Morris into Turn 1.

It was Morris who would end up stuck in the gravel at Murray’s Corner, when he spun off backwards.

Up until the final lap McCorkindale appeared to have the race under control, however Michael Anderson managed to make his way past and take an unlikely race win.

McCorkindale came home in second ahead of Brendan Strong and McCarthy.

DM

POINTS: Boys 279, Best 249, Feeney 234, Chahda 216, Mouzouris 216

POINTS: McCorkindale 288, Anderson 252, Strong 249, McCarthy 231, Morris 213

Tourng Car Masters ROUND 2

TCM BOUNCE BACK FOR RYAL HARRIS Report: Garry O’Brien Images: Insyde Media/ARG AWAITING ENGINE parts meant Ryal Harris had to miss Tasmania’s opening round but he made up for it by winning round two of the Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters at Mt Panorama, on the last weekend of February.

He drove the Peters Motorsport Chev Camaro to two important sprint race wins, and won overall ahead of Marcus Zukanovic in his Ford Falcon XD. Third for the weekend was John Bowe who was equal first on points after round one. The Holden Torana A9X driver now stands alone as series leader.

The Bathurst round began with the reverse grid Trophy race, with start and finish points only.

From the inside of the front row Cameron Tilley in his V8powered Valiant Pacer warded off the early challenge of Bowe for an emotional first-up win in the category after 203 starts.

After 203 starts, Cameron Tilley finally took a win in the V8 Valiant.

Runner up was Jim Pollicina (A9X) ahead of Harris, who had started 14th. Next came Zukanovic from Jamie Tilley (Ford Mustang). Whiteline Racing Camaro teammates Mark King and fastest qualifier Adam Garwood were sixth and seventh, ahead of Andrew Fisher (Ford Falcon XY GT), and Ryan Hansford (A9X), Then came Cam Mason (Mustang), Jeremy Gray (Ford Capri Perana), and Steve Johnson (Falcon XD). Bowe was slowed with a diff fluid leak and pitted before he trailed the field to the finish.

Harris won the first sprint race. He held second behind teammate Hansford until his Torana suffered a blown right rear tyre. Garwood was a lastminute scratching when his Camaro had an engine failure on the dummy grid.

Just after the start Jamie Tilley had a bizzare lose into Hell

Ryan Hansford took the final race and is now second in points.

Corner. He spun across the field where he was missed by everyone aside from the unlucky Gray, whose Capri tagged the Mustang and put both out.

Harris held on to win ahead of Johnson and Mason, who

was later disqualified with a front spoiler clearance issue.

That elevated Zukanovic to third and he was closely followed by Bowe and Tilley.

Pollicina, Fisher, King, and Tony Karanfilovski (Mustang) also finished close together.

Aaron McGill (Falcon XW) placed 10th ahead of Wayne Mercer (Falcon XY) and Peter Burnitt (A9X). Hansford limped back to the pits and was a nonfinisher.

Johnson grabbed the lead at the start of the second race where he led Harris, Zukanovic, Bowe, and Tilley, and continued in front until Harris slipped by on lap three.

Shortly after Zukanovic went to second and then challenged for the lead. They ran side-by-side up Mountain Straight as the field headed off on the last lap.

Zukanovic looked like he

could grab the lead but was on the outside line to Griffin Bend.

The Falcon suddenly lost grip, which almost spelled disaster, but Zukanovic kept it off the wall and held onto second ahead of Johnson, Bowe, and Tilley.

They were followed by Hansford and Garwood, both from the back, Fisher, Pollicina, King, Mason, Karanfilovski, Jamie Tilley, Gray, Mercer, McGill and Burnitt.

After the race Johnson was excluded for the big Falcon being underweight.

The third and last sprint race was another thriller with initial leader Harris, Zukanovic, Hansford, and Garwood all in contention. Of the foursome, only Garwood did not have the opportunity to lead as a misfire caused retirement.

Zukanovic led for a couple of laps, then it was Hansford, Harris again and finally Hansford when it countered. The latter crossed the line ahead of Harris, with Zukanovic just in front of Bowe.

Next was Fisher from Pollicina, Mason, and Gray. Johnson charged to fifth from the back until a puncture forced him to limp home a lap down. King was ninth ahead of the Tilley Valiant, which had a bad rear vibration, Karanfilovski, Burnitt, Mercer, McGill, and Jamie Tilley.

TCM POINTS ROUND 2

Bowe 304, Hansford 294, Zukanovic 287, Tilley 256, Johnson 212

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SUPPORTS Bathurst

CRICK TAKES THE SET Report: Dan McCarthy Images: Insyde Media

CAMERON CRICK returned to the Toyota Gazoo Racing 86 Series in fine form, taking pole position and all three race wins at Mount Panorama.

The 23-year-old has not competed full-time in the category since 2018, and at Bathurst had to fight off the challenge of James Holdsworth to take the round victory.

Crick took pole from rookies Hayden Jackson, Zach Bates and James Holdsworth.

Regular front-runners Kane BaxterSmith, Lachlan Gibbons and reigning series winner Aaron Borg rounded out the top seven.

In the opening race Crick made a perfect jump and led into Turn 1, while Jackson made a poor start and dropped back to eighth.

On the run up towards Griffin’s Bend, Holdsworth was able to make his way around Bates to take second position.

Bates made a mistake on lap 3 and this allowed Borg to close up and make a move into The Chase, however he ran wide and had to cut through the grass but held third position. Borg was later slapped with a 5s penalty because he did not return to the track in position.

Out front Crick came under increasing pressure from Holdsworth, but he held on, driving a faultless race to take his first ever win in the category from Holdsworth, Gibbons, Bates and guest

driver Chris Pither. Borg was demoted to sixth following the penalty.

In Race 2 Holdsworth made the best start and led into Hell Corner, however Crick was quick to retaliate, flying around the outside at Turn 2 to retake first position.

The fight was not over, as on lap 4 Holdsworth snatched the lead at The Chase, but once again Crick immediately responded with a bold move back down the inside at the final turn.

On the final lap Crick was forced to defend at The Chase and then heavily at the final turn but took the win by 0.2s from Holdsworth and Borg.

Race 3 saw Crick and Holdsworth make an even start with the former holding firm and retaining the lead.

Holdsworth made a mistake on lap 2 and was gobbled up by both Borg and Pither, but retook the 2020 Supercars driver later on in the lap.

A multi-car collision at The Cutting resulted in a safety car being deployed, before the green and a one lap sprint to the finish.

Crick dealt with the pressure well and took the race from his Sieders Racing teammate Borg and Holdsworth.

Holdsworth kept second for the round ahead of Borg, Gibbons and Pither.

POINTS: Crick 300, Holdsworth 262, Borg 242, Gibbons 230, Pither 214, Baxter-Smith 200

Cameron Crick returned to the category and scored his first-ever 86 win (top), and another two on top of that in a dominant performance. Lachlan Gibbons (here) was fourth for the Mt Panorama round.

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NICK NICKS RACE FOR ROUND Report: Garry O’Brien Images: Insyde Media

A HARD fought victory in the final race gave Nick Simmons overall victory in the Battery World Aussie Racing Cars Super Series opening round at Bathurst.

Driving a Camaro-bodied racer, Simmons netted two race wins to head Craig Woods (Mustang) and Joel Heinrich (Cruze).

Fog on Friday morning caused the round to be held over three races rather than the usual four.

Kody Garland (Mustang) recorded an all the way victory in race one by a dominant 5.2s, although his car broke a camshaft as it crossed the finish line.

After shadowing Woods for several laps, Josh Anderson (Camaro) passed him for second place. Simmons ran a lonely fourth while Heinrich progressed to fifth. Then followed John Steffensen (Mustang), Adam Clark (Camaro) and Leigh Bowler (Camaro).

Ninth was Kyle Ensbey (Mustang), who was fifth after the first lap before he dropped to 16th with harmless spin at the grate on lap two. Ian Chivas (Altima) hit the concrete after McPhillamy Park on lap four. Reece Chapman ran fifth until his Camaro blew the engine. Running seventh Ben Wilcox (Mustang) had a heavy hit when he bounced off the wall at the grate on the last lap.

Anderson led the opening two laps of the next race before Simmons was able to lead. Heinrich overtook Woods and then Anderson. Over the concluding laps, Heinrich put the pressure on Simmons, but the leader would not relent. Woods ultimately

Nick Simmons took the overall win at Bathurst.

passed Anderson and the two were bumper to bumper at the finish.

They finished well clear of Ensbey who nabbed John Steffensen (Mustang) in the closing stages. In seventh was Tony Quinn (Mustang) from Craig Thompson (Mustang), Bowler, and Garland after an engine change and pitlane start.

It was tight between Simmons and Woods in the last. The lead changed a couple times with Simmons on top in the end while Heinrich was third. Immediately behind Garland toppled Anderson for fourth.

Next was Ensbey well clear of an ongoing battle where Steffensen held off Bowler and Clark. Tenth was Tom Hayman (Camaro) after Tony Quinn (Mustang) was penalised 5s for a start line infringement.

POINTS: Simmons 201, Woods 198, Heinrich 195, Anderson 192, Garland 189

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STATE CHAMPS OPENER WELL RECEIVED Jagger (Holden Barina) filled fourth.

The latter headed the Honda brigade for second in race three, where McClintock was third in front of Henri Price, Bohm, Craig Wildridge (Escort) and Ian Price. Macready led race four until passed by McClintock with two laps to go.

Harris was next ahead of Bohm, Wildridge, and Ian Price.

THE STATE Circuit Racing Championships in NSW began at Wakefield Park on the last weekend of February, and despite the Supercars event 184km away, the Motorsport Australia event drew a good response and races.

RX8 CUP

ROUND ONE of the one-make Mazda series was won by Steve Devjak ahead of last year’s series winner Ryan Gorton and series creator Ric Shaw.

Gorton qualified fastest and led race one throughout. Justin Barnes held second until passed by Devjak at Turn 8, but the latter dropped spots to Barnes and Marcus La Delle two laps later. Devjak recovered to second, ahead of Barnes, Shaw, Jake Lougher, and Tom Shaw. La Delle struck drama at Turn 10 on lap six, dropped numerous places and stopped.

Gorton had a tense lead in race two until a fuel pump issue on lap 10, when Devjak passed him.

Shortly after Barnes was through to second and then Ric Shaw relegated Gorton to fourth on the last lap. Then followed Tom Shaw, Lougher, Shannon McLaine, and La Delle.

In the third Devjak led all the way and held off Gorton. Barnes fell off at Turn 2 and finished 13th while Ric Shaw, Lougher, Tom Shaw, McLaine and Terry Lewis chased the leaders.

It took three corners of running abreast before Gorton took the lead in the last. From there he won from Devjak, Ric Shaw, La Delle, Barnes and Tom Shaw.

FORMULA RACE CARS

THE HEALTIEST entry in years saw three different winners. Race one was under an immediate safety car when the Ron Coath and Glen Lynch F3 Dallaras failed to get off the line.

Nathan Gotch led at the resumption and until a dead battery sidelined his Dallara F307. Aaron McClintock (F301) took over the lead but on the final lap Greg Muddle (F399) passed him for the win. Third was Adam Gotch (Mygale F4) ahead of Rob Rowe (Dallara), Doug Barry (Reynard Formula Holden) and Nick Filipetto (Mygale F4).

McClintock led throughout race two while Nathan Gotch threaded through to a close second. Muddle was next ahead of Rowe, Adam Gotch, Rod Baker (F301) and Coath. Nick Filipetto, Lynch and Barry were non-finishers.

In the last McClintock was the leader over Gotch, Muddle and Rowe, even past the safety car period when Tim Boyle (Mygale F4) was

IMPROVED PRODUCTION O2L Wakefield Park attracted the healthiest field of Formula Racing Cars in several years (top) while in the RX8 Cup, Ryan Gorton leads Justin Barnes (above). Racing on one day only, the Superkarts saw plenty of action (below), here between Mark Robin, Lee Vella and Aaron Cogger. Images: Riccardo Benvenuti.

BACK FOR 2021, Trevan Spiteri dominated in his rebuilt Mitsubishi EVO 6 with pole and four races wins. In each outing he was chased by Scott Tutton (EVO). Third all weekend was Lachlan McBrien (BMW E46 M3).

However fellow Victorian Robert Braune (BMW E30), who was quick in qualifying, was finished before the first race ended. The other locals who placed behind McBrien were Michael Hazelton (Mazda RX7) in race one, and Andrew Butcher (M3) in the following races.

SUPERKARTS

stranded at Turn 8. Gotch was the ultimate winner from McClintock. Rowe took third off Muddle, who was hit with 30s penalty. Adam Gotch was elevated to fourth ahead of Filipetto, Barry and Coath.

HQ HOLDENS

IT WAS was a team one-two each time with Brett Osborn ahead of Matt Barker. The latter sampled the front running in each outing before Osborn was ahead at the end.

Baxter fell to fourth midway through race one.

But when John Baxter (also in the Osborn team) and Jason Molle tangled at Turn 5, Matt Baxter was able to retake second. Third was Dave Proglio ahead of Darren Park, Chris Molle and the recovering Jason Molle.

Proglio held third in race two but couldn’t hold off Jason Molle. Baxter was fifth ahead of Parker and Chris Molle. In the last Jason Molle battled with Baxter for a tight third as Proglio, Parker and Mark Baxter were close for fifth.

FORMULA VEES

IN EACH outing the result between first and second was very close with 0.85s in total

between them over the three races.

In the opener Daniel Reynolds (Sabre) won from Michael Kinsella (Jacer), after each had led, while Aaron Lee (Jacer) was third ahead of Simon Pace (Checkmate). Kinsella came out on top in the second after Reynolds led early. Pace came away ahead of Aaron Pace (Jacer), as they duelled for third.

Kinsella led the trophy race at the start before Reynolds snuck ahead but only for a couple of laps, before Kinsella took the win. Pace was third early before John McDonald (Jacer) passed him. Ultimately though, it was Lee just in front of Darren Williams (Sabre), then Aaron Pace and McDonald.

AS USUAL, the pocket rockets were a oneday item with four races. The 250 Anderson Mavericks won three of them before the 125s headed home a depleted field in the last.

Before Lucas Vitale became a two-race winner, he led the first race until going out on lap three.

That left Tony Moit clear of the 125s headed by Mark Robin (Avoig Elise) from Aaron Cogger (Avoig), Lee Vella (Anderson), Paul Campbell (Avoig), and Adam Stewart (Anderson).

Vitale and Moit were first and second in races two and three. Cogger headed Vella, Robin and Campbell narrowly in the second, before Robin just outpointed Cogger for third in race three.

Campbell was next in front of Vella and Stewart.

Vitale was an early casualty and Moit a noshow in race four. It paved the way for Robin to lead until a clash with Vella. Cogger swooped to win from Stewart with Robin third.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION U2L

ALL INVITED

EAGER FOR a title back-to-back, Kurt Macready poled and won three races with his prefect record blotted by losing the last to Justin McClintock.

Macready (Nissan Silvia) led home the Honda Civics driven by Mat Harris, McClintock and Graham Bohm, and Ian Price (Ford Escort) in the first. In the next it was McClintock over Harris for second as Ryan

COMPRISED OF a few Nissans, Hyundais and a lone Toyota, Josh Haynes (Excel) ran away with two of the races before a DNF in the third.

Will Foot (Pulsar) was second in first ahead of Hayden Hume (Toyota 86), who was second in the next outing from Ryan Gilroy and Foot. The latter was first across the line in the last but a 5s penalty relegated him to second behind Hume.

Garry O’Brien

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NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie

DAY TURNS TO NIGHT IN QUEENSLAND

THE SUNSHINE state circuit racing season began at Queensland Raceway with a one-day round one of the QR Divers Championship on February 20 that ran into the night.

TRACK ATTACK EXCEL CUP

IT WAS a perfect start for Darren Whittington to the new season as he won the four races.

He qualified fastest of the 43 entries and led all the way in race one. Chris Board held off Connor Roberts for second as Josh Richards was next, clear of Mitch Wooller and Treigh Mashotta.

Daniel Natoli qualified second fastest but slipped down the order to seventh.

Usual front runner Brett Parrish went off at Turn 1 after the start and recovered to 24th. Other favourites expected to be near the front were Frank Mammarella and Cam Bartholomew, but both qualified outside the top 20, though at least they made up places for 14th and 15th.

Races two and three produced the same top three, with Parrish up to fourth in the

Image: MTR Images

second race, barely ahead of Bartholomew, with Natoli sixth from Jarrod Hughes.

Bartholomew was again fourth in race three, this time in front of Riley Beggs, Ryan O’Sullivan, Ryan Casha and Corey Willis.

Bartholomew led home a close contest for second in the last, where half a second covered O’Sullivan, Maschotta, and Beggs, as Board, Casha, and Natoli ensued at the front. Parrish’s bad run continued, out on the first lap after 13th in the previous race.

PRODUCTION CARS

CONTINUED GOOD form saw Beric Lynton and his Class X BMW M3 take out all three races, which included an extended third sprint that went into the night.

It started with victory in race one over

V8S RULE AT TITLE OPENERS THE SAYING that “V8s reign” was never more apt than at the opening round of the 2021 Tasmanian Circuit Racing Championships, at Symmons Plains on February 27-28.

200SX) had to be content with second in every race, while Scott Arthur (Holden Commodore) and House’s cousin Jason House (BMW E30) had several enticing scraps.

SPORTS SEDANS

SPORTS GT

THE CATERGORY returned with the best lineup for several seasons but while the numbers were up, no-one was able to run down Brett O’Shea and in his NASCAR-engined Holden Commodore.

O’Shea was untouchable all weekend, with victories in all five races by solid margins.

Veteran Laurie Williams returned for the first time in a few seasons in his Mazda RX-7, ending his weekend with a lonely five second places, as he edged away from the pack almost every time.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION

JARED HOUSE’S thumping 5.0-litre Holden Torana A9X was dominant. He won the five races to give him a great start to the championship points chase.

House missed the first round last year and was consequently not in contention for the title, but his form at the end of the 2020 season was strong, carrying over to this new year.

Reigning champion Matthew Grace (Nissan

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KIM BARWICK was in the Sports GTA mix in his Holden Commodore VK V8, while Liam Hooper (Subaru Impreza WRX STi) and former state champion Tony Warren (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7) also chalked up race wins, although the latter did run out of fuel on one occasion.

Further down the field, David Walker (Datsun 1200 Ute) dominated Sports GTB, while Honi Pitt (Lotus Exige), David Wrigley (Ford Mustang) and Steve Gangell (Holden Commodore) also managed to find their way to the podium in various races. A start-line incident in one race saw Pitt and Wrigley come together, with a consequent DNF for Wrigley.

Mick Williams (Datsun 240Z) was a clear winner in the small field of Sports GTCs with five race wins. Regularity graduate Brett Mansfield (Holden Commodore) acquitted himself well in open company.

HYUNDAI EXCELS

IN HIS second year Charlie Parker proved he

Images: Angryman Photorgraphy

HISTORIC TOURING CARS

THERE WAS enthralling battle between former state champion Michael Cross (Holden Torana XU-1) and Phillip Triffett (Mazda RX2). Triffett had the measure of Cross in most, with three wins and a second from five starts, but had a costly DNF in the final which Cross won. The Torana also won another heat and he took the points for the round.

FORMULA VEES is a quick learner. The teenage grandson of Greg Crick made his debut last season, and mostly ran in the top five. At the start of the year, Crick enlisted Roland Dane to mentor his grandson during the support races at the Race Tasmania two-round events in January.

Those outings proved a great opportunity for Parker, putting his new-found experience to good use this time out, to win four of the five races.

Campbell Logan also showed some form at Race Tasmania and continued his solid start. He chalked up a win, two seconds and two thirds across the weekend.

FOUR-TIME STATE champion Wade McLean (Elliott) started his title defence strongly. He won four races and only had his colours lowered in the first race, which was won by Michael Vaughan (Spectre).

HQ HOLDENS

REIGNING STATE champion Phil Ashlin may have dominated the latter part of last season, but he was made to earn his opening round victory by former champion Otis Cordwell.

Cordwell won three of the four from Ashlin, who won the other two, which included the final for double points. Ashlin won the round by two points due to qualifying ahead of Cordwell.

Martin Agatyn

teammate Steve Ellery (M3) with Karl Begg third.

Begg started third and forged through to lead before his M4 went into limp mode and cost him the win.

Gary Beggs held a noteworthy fourth until his Class A2 HSV Clubsport ran out of fuel and that left Robert Gooley (Class A1 Mitsubishi EVO X RS) just outside the top three and ahead of Jake Camilleri (Class C Mazda 3 MPS) and the Class D Toyota 86s, steered by Andrew Wilton and Mitch Madden.

Ellery was a close second in race two while Beggs came from the back for third. Also from the rear after being bumped into the Turn 2 sand trap in the opener was Greg Symes (EVO X), in front of Gooley, Camilleri, and Madden.

John Harris (EVO X) overcame a drive-though penalty (for his part in the Symes incident) to finish ninth.

While Lynton led all the way in the last, Ellery lost time with a tyre change pitstop. Begg had second until a recurrence of his earlier drama which dropped him to sixth late in the race.

Beggs finished second ahead of Symes, Harris and Gooley. Camilleri was seventh ahead of Maddren, Wilton, and Ellery.

SPORTS & SEDANS

WITH THE inclusion of Utes, the three groups each produced outright race winners in Grant Elliott, Rob Droder, and Mitch Pullen.

Grant Elliott (BMW E36 M3/Chev) took out

the first ahead of Grant Draney (Chev Monte Carlo) and Mitchell Pullen in his popular V8-powered Toyota Hilux. Next was Stephen Coe (ex-Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore VE Supercar).

Elliott led most of the second race until stopped by a puncture. Pullen passed Draney to win as Rob Droder (VE) was third in front of the Commodores piloted by Brian Smallwood and Tim Harwick.

Coe was a non-starter before he came through to take race three ahead of Draney, Elliott and Pullen. Elliott finished off with victory in the last ahead of Draney, Pullen, and Droder.

PRODUCTION SPORTS

THE OPENING race was not a good one for Ginetta drivers Darren Berry and Jeff Hume, as both didn’t finish. However by the end of the third race, they were

placed first and second.

Steve McFadden (Porsche 997) won first up ahead of Grant Sparks (Porsche GT3 Cup) and Graham Lusty in his Mosler.

Dave Barram (Mazda MX5) was next ahead of Shane Freese (MX5), who had Shane Plohl (Eunos Roadster) immediately behind.

McFadden and Sparks headed race two until they were ultimately chased down and passed by Berry.

Gerry Murphy (997) and Hume were next, and clear of Barram, Lusty, Plohl, and Freese.

Berry was a clear winner of race three and third in Class 2X. Hume was second outright, just edging out McFadden, who won overall and in 2X. Murphy’s fourth earned him second in 2B as Sparks was fifth and the class winner, while Lusty was fifth in the race. Class 2F went to Plohl over Freese.

HQ HOLDENS

NO MATTER the circuit layout, Brendon

BIRTHDAY BASH OPENS SEASON

but did not start the last. Ben Riley (Honda Integra Type R) was third twice before he too missed the last race. There it was Rachel Beers (Holden Commodore) and Mark Jolly (Ford Falcon AU) who filled the minors.

THE WA season commenced with good fields spread over eight classes, for the WA Sporting Car Club Birthday Race Meeting at Wanneroo Raceway on February 28.

SALOON CARS

FORMULA VEES

IN THE two class formula, Rod Lisson and Robert McAfee were the winners. In race one for outright and 1600, David Campbell (Jacer) led for first three laps. Lisson (Borland) took over on lap four before Campbell regathered a lap later.

Shortly after they touched, and Campbell was catapulted along the track, hit the main straight wall, and caught fire. The race was red flagged and declared with Campbell the winner from Lisson and Mark Horan (Stinger).

In race two Lisson led until David Caisley (Jacer) took over, only to lose it subsequently.

A spin by Ross Campbell (Borland) in Turn 7 on lap six brought out safety car. In a last lap dash to the line Lisson won from Caisley and Horan.

Danny Cerro joined the lead threesome in the last and after several lead changes, Horan edged out Lisson by 0.01s, with Cerro third from Jeff Cadman (Jacer) and Caisley.

Andrew Lockett (Ajay) overcame Mackenzie Matthews (Gerbert) to take the first 1200 honours, with April Welsh (Jacer) third. McAfee (Polar) snatched a last lap second race win over Brett Scarey (CD-Vee) and Lockett, before McAfee took the third comfortably ahead of the pair.

FSR

THE NEW class was a combination of Radicals and F1000, where Aaron Love was the overall winner.

Now equipped with a Radical SR3RSX, Lisle

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Madden was unbeaten across the day.

Race one on the national circuit was closest anyone was, with Ben Simpson 0.89s in arrears in the end. Joe Andriske held third until passed by Dion Cidoni. The latter dropped places from mid-distance and finished sixth, behind Bruce French and Nathan Locke.

Over the next two races Madden clearly accounted for Simpson and Andriske. French, Scott Andriske and Justin Van Twest were hard to split as they vied for fourth in race two, and it was equally tight in the next outing where Scott Andriske was close behind Joe Andriske and just in front of French, Van Twest and Cidoni.

The latter snared second off Locke in race four and finished ahead of Simpson, Joe Andriske, Van Twest, French, Scott Andriske and Locke. Garry O’Brien

Images: Mick Oliver

led race one from start to finish, as Aaron Love (SR3) was right behind for the duration. In a Stohr F1000, Lutzu was third just in front of Elliot Schutte and Max McRae in SR3s The next race saw Lisle again lead but a miscue on lap nine allowed Love to pounce and take the win. In third spot was Lutzu, this time 3.8s clear of his previous rivals. Love was in front of Lisle all through race three, as Lutzu netted another third.

HQ HOLDENS

AFTER LEAD changes in race one, Michael Woodbridge passed Michael Howlett for the win. That set the stage for a threepeat over his archrival. Ryan Davis finished the opener third and just ahead of Adam Butler, Brian Pangler, and Dennis Russell. Pangler was a comfortable third in race two but less so in the third. Mark Mettam debuted a new car but after he led the first race for the first lap, retired for the day.

EXCEL CUP

THIRD FASTEST of the 29 that qualified, Jack Clohessy was a three-race winner. Tayla Dicker

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led the first race until passed by Clohessy and Robert Landsmeer, while Brett Sherriff and Carlos Ambrosio tacked on behind.

Landsmeer gained the initial advantage in race two but gave up the lead to Clohessy on lap three and second to Sherriff later. The last race saw Clohessy edge away and leave Landsmeer to hold off Sherriff and Dicker for second.

STREET CARS

WINS WERE split between Andrew Souvertjis (Nissan Skyline R33) with two and Andrew Stevens (Nissan 180SX) the other. The latter appeared to have the first in hand until a miscue at the final corner allowed Souvertjis to snatch victory. Stevens held on for a narrow win in race two, before Souvertjis won race three. On each occasion Paul Kluck (R32) was third.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION

ABOARD HIS Holden Monaro, Reuben Romkes was unbeaten in the three races. Nik Mitic (BMW E36 M3) recorded two seconds

BOTH PRO and Pro-Am did not come easy for the winners, Holden drivers Grant Johnson and Brock Ralph.

Rob Marcon (Ford Falcon AU) defied Johnson (Commodore VT) to take out race one and Pro honours, while Brock Boley (VT) passed Rick Gill (AU) late to secure third.

Johnson turned it around in the second ahead of Marcon. Gill ran third early but retired and Matt Martin (VT) scored the spot.

There was a Turn 4 clash between the leaders in the last before Johnson won. Marcon retired later which left Brad Boley (VT) second from Gill.

Michael Holdcroft (Falcon EA) was the first up victor in Pro-Am from Nick Hanlon (EA) and Mark Jones (Commodore VP). Holdcroft repeated the dose in race two but a 5s penalty relegated him and left Hanlon first ahead of last race winner Ralph (VN), and Jones.

Hanlon led the last until retiring as Chris Kneafsey and Michael Koberstein picked up the minors.

HISTORIC TOURING CARS

AFTER AN outing to bed in brakes, Paul Stubber marked his return with two wins in his Chev Camaro.

Race one was initially led by Clinton Raynor (Camaro) until he was sidelined, which left Graeme Woolhouse (Ford Mustang) the winner ahead of Stuart Young (Holden Torana XU-1) and Cono Onofaro (Morris Cooper S).

Stubber led race two by the end of lap one, despite the rear of grid start. Woolhouse was second ahead of Onofaro, who was ahead of Simon Northey (Mustang) in the depleted last race line up. Mick Oliver

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NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie

Image: John Doutch

INTRODUCTORY RALLY THE FIRST FOR YEAR THE FIRST rally of the year, held in February, was won by Anthony and Mitch Fleming in a Holden Commodore VR. The 41st running of the George Woods Rally was limited to just 40 competitors with the start, finish, and service based at the Powelltown Recreation Reserve.

An event suited to new rally competitors as a Special Stage Rally Regularity, it was originally established in 1979 and has run virtually every year since.

In 2020 there was a change to the rules governing low level, introductory types of motorsport, with officials required to ensure that maximum speeds are actively controlled and which allowed essentially un-modified road cars to participate.

After eight stages, twice over 55 competitive kilometres, half in the afternoon and half after sunset, the Flemings, with one stage victory, won ahead of Shannon and Justin Seabrook

50

years of publishing 1971- 2021

As part of Auto Action’s 50th anniversary celebrations, Auto Action pays tribute to our contributors throughout the year.

Long-time contributors have been asked to submit a memory or an image, which provides an insight into what Auto Action means to them. The first is from New South Wales-based correspondent Bruce Moxon.

WHEN I was a kid my Dad was a racing driver. All his friends were racing drivers. Our house seemed to be always full of racing drivers.

So drivers were normal people to me. But the special people were out there at the race tracks, in exotic places like Silverstone, Le Mans, Monza and Calder, bringing me reports of who won what race and why.

I’m so old I remember Auto Action costing 40 cents! Back in those days, AA was the fortnightly journal of record of Australian motor sport. And hey, here we are all these many years later, and it’s still the journal of record.

The only one now.

(Cue quavering old man voice), Back in my day we didn’t have fancy lap timing systems or email. We had to keep a lap chart, showing where every car was on every lap of a race, jotting down notes about gaps increasing or decreasing and who spun off where and how badly.

We’d run around the pits between races getting quotes and finding out what went right or wrong. If we were lucky, there was a press room to work

50 AutoAction

in their Subaru RS, who also scored one stage win.

Third place went to Michael Bansagi and Peter Agrotis in their Datsun 1200 after two stage wins, from Graham Wallis and Brian Ward (Peugeot 309 GTi) who equalled them on one.

Russell and Cary Seabrook (Subaru Impreza) were fifth ahead of Ben Marron and Tim Shepherd (Mitsubishi Galant).

Placed 13th, Hilary Evans and Doug

Fernietook (Datsun 1600 SSS) won the fourth stage after the first three were taken out by Mitch Garrad and Taylah Murphy. The latter were retirees when their Hyundai Excel engine expired.

They were compensated a little by being awarded the Rookies Ramble win ahead of Brad Hall and Michael Osborne (Impreza). Only the daylight section counted to the Rookies result.

Garry O’Brien

RALLY GOES RETRO

Image: Ian Smith

from, maybe even with a view of the track. And when the racing was done we had our own race, to type up the story (on a typewriter, thanks very much) and take the physical copy (in my case, from Sydney) to the airport, to get on the plane to get to AA’s office next morning. Phew. And you try and tell the young people that …

These days we’re all used to instantly-available information. Never mind that it still takes time to get the quotes, make some sense of what we’ve just watched, and write it into a story that makes sense.

I’m proud to be part of the small army of people reporting on races, rallies, hillclimbs and off-road events large and small. Bruce Moxon

THE ANNUAL Rally Retro event at METEC Driver Training Centre in Bayswater last weekend showcased a golden period of Australian and world rallying with demonstration runs, plus a show ‘n’ shine.

Although entries were down due to a clash with the Supercars’ opening round at Bathurst and with various border restrictions in place, the quality of the field was exemplary.

The event celebrated the 100th running of the Alpine Rally, which will occur later in the year, and to mark the occasion a period 1920s Plymouth owned by Doug Fernie led the field away on the demonstration runs.

Fernie entered six-cars for the event, ranging from the Plymouth to a Saab 93, Peugeot 203 and Datsun 1600.

Auto Action scribe Bob Watson was reacquainted with his 1971 Victorian Rally Championship

winning Renault R8 Gordini, though the former Australian Rally Champion did spin the ex-works car on his demonstration run!

An entry of interest was the twice winner of the Peking to Paris, a Leyland P76 owned by Matthew Bryson, evoking memories of a similar model run

by Evan Green and Mathew’s father John Bryson in the World Cup Rally.

Australian rallying heritage was represented by one of only two Mitsubishi Colt Galant GTOs built. This one was rallied by Barry Ferguson in the Southern Cross Rally, with the main rivalry between Ford and Datsun of the period also rekindled through various historic entries.

Group B was represented by two Renault 5 Turbos and a mighty Lancia 037 Rallye, which spectacularly weaved through the course.

A successful event, organisers aim to run the next Rally Retro in 2023. Heath McAlpine

Image: Brett Sandells

FEATUREAutoAction AutoAction5357 53 FEATURE FEATURE AutoAction Total Seal® now offers a unique piston Tim Nic ring designImforage:racers desiring gas-ported ol performance without gas-ported pistons...

UREN WINS STRAIGHT UP IN 360 A SINGLE handed and dominant performance propelled Harleigh Uren to victory in the Perenjori 360, round one of the West Australian Off Road Racing Championship on February 27-28.

Held over three sections that consisted of five laps of the 72km course, Uren in his Extreme 2WD Chev LS2powered Pro 2 took 3hrs 52.38s in total.

He won by 42.12s over Stephen Ketteridge-Hall and Haylee Cowling in their Bullet Racing Frame/Nissan V6, who won the ProLite class. Third were their class rivals Jared Percival and Darryn Beckett, aboard their SS Racetech/Toyota, just over 23s behind.

Fourth and fifth places went to the SXS Turbo class Can-Am Rotax turbos crewed by Ben Conn and David Jones, and Jayden and Justyn Grewar respectively, with less than three and a half minutes between them.

Sixth and first of the Sportslite was Deon Visagie (Home Built/Nissan) while the next two to finish were the Pro Buggy front runners, Paul Nappy and Gavin Cullen (Penhall/Chev LS2) and Ken Styles, who went

sans navigator in his similar powered Bat Racing machine.

Uren was well on his way to a comprehensive victory when he took out the single lap first section by 33.42s over Ketteridge-Hall. Dylan Nollas and Matt Boath (Pro Buggy S&S Hustler/Chev) were third ahead of Karl Richardson and Simon Sharpe (Extreme 2WD Volkswagen Baja/Nissan).

As Uren stretch his advantage over Ketteridge-Hall through the two laps of the second section, Nollas’ charge ended on lap two when the Hustler snapped a right rear axle. The Baja would also be sidelined after it experienced brake problems on section one.

Percival finished third while fourth was Gavin and Latia Rodgers in their Can-Am. The latter pair would strike trouble on the second lap of the last section and ultimately finished 13th overall.

Ketteridge-Hall made up some time by being fastest on the last lap and the section overall, ahead of Uren with Percival, Nappy and Conn the next best. GOB

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VIPER CREWS STRIKE IN NEW EVENT

REIGNING STATE rally and hillclimb champion Eddie Maguire won the inaugural Hellyer North West Rally of Champions, south of Burnie on February 27.

Driving his Dodge Viper ACR with champion navigator Zak Brakey, they claimed the win by 22.4s over reigning Targa Tasmania champions Jason and John White, also in a Viper.

Maguire’s brother Steve Maguire, with Stuart Benson, finished third outright in a Mitsubishi EVO 10 RS, a further 44.2 secs behind, and also won the Early Modern category.

The new event, promoted by the Auto Corsa Group, was held exclusively in the Hellyer Gorge region of the Murchinson Highway, with multiple stages in both directions over 150km.

The event filled the gap left by the demise of Targa North West.

The first stage was a deliberately non-competitive warm-up, and then a timing issue forced the second to be cancelled.

Maguire and Brakey made their intentions clear in the first fully competitive stage, setting the fastest time. The Whites were 26s slower due to a fuel issue, but the chase over the next four stages was nothing short of thrilling, with the

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nephew and uncle fastest in three of the four stages.

“It feels great to win, the level of competition was also great,” said Maguire, who had not driven the car in anger since Targa High Country 2019.

“We’ve made some huge developments to get us back to the pointy end and competitive with Whitey, which is a bit ironic, because he’s responsible for much of that development.”

Trevor Macleod and Steve Glenney (Nissan Skyline GTR) were fourth outright and second in Early Modern, while Tommy Monaghan and Al Stephenson (Subaru Impreza WRX STi) were third in class with a solid seventh outright. Peter Nunn and Keith Johnstone (Porsche Cayman GTS) finished fifth outright and third in Modern, behind the two Dodge Vipers.

Classic honours went to Peter Gluskie and Samantha Winter (BMW 325e) who finished 18th outright and scored a dominant win over Scott Tatsi and Jie Holton, and Golly Roberts and Suzanne Atkins, both in Nissan Skylines.

Martin Agatyn

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51

PHILLIP ISLAND

HISTORICS

STILL A CLASSIC Michael Micell (left) two of M the t three Historic Touring Car races in his ‘69 Ford Mustang r fastback. f

Michael Roddy in the priceless TWR Bathurst Jaguar XJS leads a pair of Holden Commodores in the Group C&A Touring Car field.

Report: Dan McCarthy Images: Bec Hind/Ian Smith AS ALWAYS competitors nationwide flocked down to Victoria to contest the annual Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport.

Despite a crowd cap due to the ongoing pandemic, this did not deter hard-core motor sport fans from visiting the venue, with some even peeking through the perimeter fence outside of the precinct.

Just a few weeks before the event Victoria was forced into a five-day lockdown to contain a COVID-19 outbreak, and that put the shape of the event on tenterhooks.

The event had been confirmed, set to go ahead, however it appeared that fans would not be able to attend at all.

In the end, this was overturned with a crowd cap imposed instead for the three days of action.

Fans are a key part of the Phillip Island Classic and give the event its personality, along with the classic race cars themselves.

The 32nd edition of the Phillip Island Classic saw the usual bunch of motor racing legends return, as well as historic machines from Heritage Touring Cars to historic Formula Vees and everything in between.

Two Porsche 962s cut laps around the picturesque grand prix circuit along with Formula 5000 machines, ex-F1 and Indycars, and a whole array of Group C and Group A Touring Cars from yesteryear.

A lot of eyes were on the 5-litre Touring Car sprints, with several well-

known names racing in the Project Blueprint Blue Bl uepr prin intt machines. mach ma chin ines es.

Supercars driver Tim Slade was behind the wheel of the 2010 Garth Tander factory Holden Racing Team Commodore.

He was up against his Supercars team boss Tim Blanchard, in the 2008 Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford Falcon.

Former Sprint Challenge Series winner and Australian Carrera Cup front runner Harri Jones drove the Clipsal 500 race winning Holden Racing Team car, raced to victory by Todd Kelly in 2007.

Just weeks after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, two-time Bathurst 1000 winner John Bowe leapt behind the wheel of a historic Allard J2X. “It’s not well known in Australia but on a world basis, particularly USA, it’s a hugely important machine, Carol Shelby’s first winning race car. It’s the only car I’ve raced that is older than me,” he laughed with AA. The two-time Bathurst winner has driven the car on multiple occasions and was delighted to get behind the

Elfin historian and collector Bill Hemming gave this Elfin 400 a run at the Island.

52 AutoAction

wheel more, results whee wh eell once once m ore or e, tthough houg ho ugh h th the e re resu sultltss did not go as planned, Bowe failed to greet the chequered flag in any of his three races.

His old rival, seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner Jim Richards, was also in attendance along with former Australian Touring Car Championship runner-up Murray Carter.

The Porsche 962s of Duncan MacKellar and George Nakas were a highlight of the packed Phillip Island historics program.

Grant Walker had the honour of debuting this beautiful Lotus 18 Formula Junior (above) he restored for motor racing legend Jim Richards, who found it in a paddock! Cape Barren geese are a regular hazard at the seaside Phillip Island track, as Jonathan Miles discovered on his way to four Formula Ford victories (below).

Guido Belgiorno-Nett in the magnificnet Ferrari 156/85 F1 car won the first Q & R racing, F5000, F1 & Indy Cars event.

RESULTS Group C&A Touring Cars Race 1: Chris Stillwell (Ford Sierra RS500), David Towe (BMW M3), Bill Cutler (BMW M3) Race 2: Towe, Cutler, Jeffrey Trembath (Holden Commodore VH) Race 3: Towe, Cutler, Trembath Race 4: Towe, Cutler, Michael Roddy (Jaguar TWR XJS) Formula Ford Race 1: Jonathan Miles (Van Diemen RF89), Richard Davison (Van Diemen RF89), Cameron Walters (Van Diemen RF86) Race 2: Miles, Walters, Andrew McInnes (Van Diemen RF89) Race 3: Miles, McInnes, Davison Race 4: Miles, Davison, McInnes Groups M & O, Sports Racing, & Invited Cars Race 1: Andrew Robson (Brabham BT30), Sean Whelan (Brabham BT30), Laurie Bennett (Elfin 600B) Race 2: Robson, Whelan, Laurie Bennett Race 3: Nicholas Bennett (Elfin 600B), Robson, Laurie Bennett

Team CoolDrive Supercar team principal Tom Blanchard chases team driver Tim Slade in the 5 litre Touring Cars.

Historic Touring Cars Race 1: Michael Miceli (Ford Mustang), Jason Humble (Mazda RX2 Coupe), Robert Burns (Valiant Charger) Race 2: Burns, Humble, Darcy Russell (Mustang Mk1) Race 3: Miceli, Peter McNiven (Mazda RX2 Coupe), Simon Browning (Ford Cortina) Q & R Racing, F5000, F1 & Indy Cars Race 1: Guido Belgiorno-Nett (Ferrari 156/85), Paul Zazryn (Lola T332), David Hardman (Hardman JH-1) Race 2: Zazryn, Hardman, Rohan Carrig (Hocking 901) Race 3: Zazryn, Belgiorno-Nett, Ian Buddery (March 86C) Group S Under 2 Litre Race 1: Hugh Harrison (Alfa Romeo GTV), Darren Harris (Alfa Romeo GTV 2000), John Geist (Datsun 2000) Race 2: Harrison, Harris, Matt Magraith (Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV) Race 3: Harrison, Harris, Geist Group S Over 2 Litre Race 1: Carey McMahon (Detomaso Pantera GTS), Terry Lawlor (Shelby GT350), Stan Adler (Porsche 911 Carrera) Race 2: McMahon, Adler, Douglas Barbour (Porsche 911 Carrera) Race 3: McMahon, Lawlor, Adler

Paul Zazryn won two of the big banger open-wheeler races in his Lola T332.

Alfetta action ... the GTV coupes of Hugh Harrison and Darren Harris slogged it out all weekend in the Group S Under 2 Litre events (above), while Paul Zazryn won two of the big banger open-wheeler races in his Lola T332 (below).

Q & R Sports & Invited Race 1: Duncan MacKellar (Porsche 962), George Nakas (Porsche 962), Jamie Larner (Ralt RT2) Race 2: MacKellar, Nakas, Andrew Kluver (Lola T332) Race 3: MacKellar, Nakas, Steve Webb (Elfin 360 Repco Brabham) Groups J, K, Lb Sports & Racing & Invited Cars Race 1: Nicholas McDonald (Repco Holden Monopost), Conor Ryan (Demmit Fuelling), Leslie Wright (Dalro Jaguar) Race 2: Ryan, McDonald, Malcolm Reid (Prad Mk 3 Holden) Race 3: Ryan, McDonald, Shane Bowden (Prad 5 Sports) 5 Litre Touring Cars Sprint 1: Harri Jones (Holden Commodore VE), Tim Slade (Holden Commodore VE), Tim Blanchard (Ford Falcon BA) Sprint 2: Slade, Jones, Blanchard Sprint 3: Slade, Blanchard, Chad Parrish (Ford Falcon)

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AMRS

ROUND 1 - SYDNEY MOTORSPORT PARK

YOUNG DRIVERS STAR AT AMRS OPENER

THE AUSTRALIAN Motor Racing Series kicked off its 2021 season at Sydney Motorsport with the Magnolia Capital first round.

Besides the Sports GT Four Hour, the event was headlined by the TA2 Muscle Car Series with one race held under lights.The event also featured the first rounds for the Australian Formula Ford and Formula 3 Championships, as well as Enduro Champ races for Production Cars and several other categories.

TA2 MUSCLE CARS

YOUNG GUN drivers Nathan Herne and Nash Morris were the race winners in the opening round of the Promaxx Performance Exhausts TA2 Muscle Car Series, as both raced borrowed Mustangs over the weekend.

Herne subbed for an injured Russell Wright in his Mustang and won three of the four races, while Morris was custodian of Karl Beggs’ similar car and won the fourth race. Third overall went to Anthony Tenkate, also in a Mustang.

Herne was dominant in his first two victories as he took out the seven-lap opener by almost 14s over Tim Shaw and Graham Cheney in Camaros. In the longer night race Herne won by nearly 30s, where Morris was second clear of Shaw.

Using only four tyres (of the allocated six) throughout, the third race was far closer as Herne only had a 0.08s advantage over Morris, with Chris Pappas (Mustang) in third. Herne therefore had no answer to Morris in the last and finished second ahead of Pappas.

Fourth for the round went to Murray Kent (Camaro) ahead of Mustang drivers Pappas and Graham Smith. Regular NSW Sports Sedan steerers Steve Lacey

54 AutoAction

Tom Sargent had a maximum points haul, winning everything in Formula Ford (above) while BMWs were to the fore in Production Cars, Beric Lynton and Tim Leahy again the overall winners (below).

Second in each outing and overall was Cody Burcher with fellow Spectrum 012B driver Jude Bargwanna placed third in each. Meanwhile Mitch Gatenby was a three race winner in the Kent class aboard his Spirit WL07.

Noah Sands (Mygale) was second fastest in qualifying and chased his teammate Sargent in race one, ahead of Jake Donaldson, until the pair clashed at Turn 2 on lap three. The latter was out while Sands was able to resume and ultimately finished 10th. Cody Donald (Spectrum) finished fourth ahead of James Piszcyk (Spectrum) and Valentino Astuti (Mygale).

In the second race, Sands climbed to fourth by mid-distance as Donald, Piszcyk and Astuti as they continued their scrap ahead of Donaldson. Sands also scored a fourth in the last where Donald stubbornly held off Donaldson and Astuti for fifth.

FORMULA 3

(Challenger) and John Ford (Mustang) were seventh and eighth, in their first category outings.

Shaw and Cheney clashed in race two, and again in race three, where both cars were finished for the weekend. Michael Coulter (Mustang) had a race-ending incident after contact with Morris in race two, and after a great start to race four,

fourth placed Mark Crutcher retired with front end damage on his Mustang.

FORMULA FORDS

IT WAS a clean sweep of round one for Tom Sargent at the wheel of the CHE team Mygale SJ13A, with a maximum points haul after he qualified fastest and led throughout the three races.

RADICAL CUP graduate Mitch Neilson took out the opening round after two race victories where he finished in front of Ben Taylor and Ryan Astley.

The latter two in their Dallara F308s started race one off the front row, while Max De Meyrick and Neilson in F307s were next best.

Neilson shot straight to the lead while Astley stalled and resumed last. Taylor miscued later, lost the lead, retrieved it again, before a spin at Turn 8 on the last lap. Neilson won from Gerrit Ruff (F307) and Roman Krumins (F308), with Taylor fourth.

Neilson led all the way in race two where Krumins was second initially before dropping to fifth shortly after.

Astley took up the chase until losing out to De Meyrick with three laps to go.

Vince Muriti and Luke Youlden combined to win the feature event at the AMRS opener (left), the Sports GT Four Hour, taking the lead on the last lap in their Mercedes Benz AMG GT3.

Nathan Herne did a guest stint in TA2 and won three of the four events (above). Images: Riccardo Benvenuti

with Camilleri fourth. The Ellery team elected to do an additional stop, so all three – Steve, Tristian, and Dalton – could participated in the same race, and they finished fifth.

In the last longer race Taylor was able to get it together for victory. Neilson was second on the first lap before De Meyrick pressured the race leader and chased him all the way to the flag. Third went to Astley who passed Krumins with just a couple of laps to go. Ruff was third until he had a moment and ultimately placed behind Ray You Wang (F308) and ahead of Neilson.

PRODUCTION CARS

WHILE THEY did not win a race, Beric Lynton and Tim Leahy were the overall winners of the first round of the Motorsportsales Enduro Champs.

In their shared BMW M3 they won ahead of Jake Camilleri (Mazda 3 MPS) and Gerry and Leigh Burgess (Mitsubishi EVO 5).

The round was held over four onehour races, each with a mandatory pitstop to take off two wheels.

Grant Sherrin won the first two before a fuel pump issue ruled the BMW M4 out of the third, and he placed second in the last.

With late and quicker pit stops, Camilleri and Leigh Burgess filled the minor places in the first before Leahy and Camilleri were second and third in race two. Dalton Ellery (M3) won race three from Leahy and Camilleri. After two fifths to Cem Yucel, his VW Golf R DNF’d the third, after codriver Ian Salteri and Gerry Burgess tangled at Turn 7.

The Golf had too much damage to contest the last where Leigh Burgess won ahead of Sherrin and Lynton

MINIATURE RACE CARS

FUTURE BUSA racer David Halls came away from round two as the overall winner after two race wins, a second and a third.

Peter Griffiths (Altima Aussie Race Car) finished second overall with seconds and thirds, and Aaron Hills (Aurion ARC) who also won two races.

Debuting his Rover V8 XB Falcon Mini Muscle Car at the Sydney circuit, Garry Roberts was fourth overall ahead of the sister MMC HQ Monaro that started out with Shayne Smith at the helm, before Chad Cotton took over the driving duties on Sunday.

Peter Klein (Falcon AU ARC) and Ruth Bowler (40 Ford Coupe ARC) vied for position with honours going two each. Jake Klein (Commodore ARC) qualified fastest and led the opening race until electrical gremlins set in and shutdown the weekend.

STOCKS CARS & INVITED

THE THREE races wins went to Brett Mitchell and his OzTruck Chev to

Stock Cars and Invited certainly attracted a mixed bag, with Brett Mitchell (right) winning three in his OzTruck Chev.

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finish with a perfect score over Corey Gurney (Pontiac Stock Car) and Danny Burgess (OzTruck Silverado), but the victories did not come easily.

Gurney was the fastest in qualifying, yet it was Mitchell who grabbed the initial lead. Gurney did overtake him, but Mitchell struck back for a narrow victory. Burgess was third as he held off Robert Marchese (Silverado) throughout.

Mitchell led all the way in the second where Gurney was second and Burgess third, until the latter was passed on the penultimate lap

by Marchese. Behind the race two winner in the last, Marchese offered the greatest challenge until Burgess passed him on the final lap. Gurney was fourth.

SERIES X3 EXCELS

BY THE usual standards, the entry numbers were tiny with just four cars.

But the racing between Cameron Brown and Shannon Williams was tight throughout the three races.

Brown won each with the two split in the results by Williams copping start line infringements in two outings. Louis Loizou was third in each but trailed Monique Sciberras in two races for a period. Garry O’Brien

Stars shine in four hour IT WAS called the “Under The Stars Enduro”, was the feature event on the Magnolia Capital AMRS first round at Sydney Motorsport Park, and after four hours featured a dramatic finish with four cars on the lead lap.

In the end Vince Muriti and Luke Youlden won last Saturday’s 2021 NSW Prod Sports/Super GT 4 Hour, when they took the lead on the last lap. In their Geoff Forshaw Motor Sport-prepared Mercedes-Benz AMG GT3, they were first across the line ahead of the team’s Audi R8 LMS Ultra piloted by Nick Kelly and Bart Mawer.

Wall Racing’s Adrian Dietz and David Wall (Lamborghini Huracan) were next ahead of the Melbourne Performance Centre’s Audi shared by Matt Stoupas and Yassar Shahin.

After that, penalties were handed out to four teams.

Kelly and Mawer lost their second place and dropped to fifth spot behind Andrew Macpherson and Ben Porter (Huracan), due to a driving time miscalculation where Mawer went over his limit by 44s.

Wall Racing realised they would also be in trouble timewise, with David Wall predicted to be over by 23s when the chequered flag was unveiled. So while leading and in an unbeatable situation otherwise, the team made the difficult decision to bring him to the pits on the last lap for a driver change.

After the Geoff Taunton/Chris Pither MARC II Mustang V8 led the opening three laps, Stoupas and Shahin were the pacesetters and led 107 of the 137 laps. However unlike most of their rivals, they did not execute their third and final compulsory pit stop in the safety car period, which fell just outside any one driver’s maximum single stint time behind the wheel.

That one safety car occurred on lap 90, when the Duvashen and Indiran Padayachee Porsche 991 GT3 Cup Car came into contact with the Adam Hargraves/ Daniel Jilesen MARC 11, and left the latter stranded on its own damaged rear splitter.

The Padayachees finished the race seventh behind Taunton/Pither and ahead of John Goodacre and Bayley Hall (MARC Focus V8).

Then followed Garth Walden and Michael Sheargold (Porsche), who were subsequently relegated several places with a to be resolved disputed penalty. GOB

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s w e n Y A W SPEED

Images: Ray Ritter-K and J Photography

HIGH FIVE FOR JAMIE MCHUGH IN EAST COAST LOGISTICS SPRINTCAR SERIES Report: PARIS CHARLES AFTER FAILING to travel the distance for round seven of the East Coast Logistics Sprintcar Series, Lachlan McHugh bounced back at Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway in the strongest possible fashion. He claimed victory in round eight of the Queensland series and in doing so took a strangle hold on the points score in the series to date.

From the get-go, McHugh was focused on reclaiming his dominance and sounded a warning shot to his rivals by setting quickest time in the first of three groups and fastest time overall, stopping the clock with a fast time of 12.419 aboard the Hi Tec Oils NQ7 Cool entry.

Last round winner Jock Goodyer would answer the challenge to claim quickest time in his group with a 12.861, while New South Welshman Jackson Delamont 12.769 would also post the quickest time in his flight. The top 25 cars across all three flights of the 33 competitors were separated by less than one second and this would serve as a prelude to what would come.

In a rain altered program the dashes were scrapped, and the promoters opted to go straight to the B and A main races.

McHugh would claim pole and sharing the clear track ahead was Luke Oldfield. The second row was an all-interstate affair with Tasmanian Goodyer sharing the grid with New South Welshman Jessie Attard.

56 AutoAction

Jamie McHugh bounced back from round seven disappointment to win round eight of the East Coast Logistics Sprintcar series (top) while Luke Oldfield (above) made a last lap pass for fourth.

At the drop of the green, McHugh took control but was hounded by a determined Oldfield, who tried to take command at the front in the early going. As the race progressed Goodyer made his way to second and, using the highline, he quickly hunted down the Western Truck Group Cool of McHugh.

From this point forward the crowd were treated

to an exciting all black attack as the NQ7 and T22 of Goodyer traded blows, with each gaining the lead only to be challenged and passed again. The final challenge of the race proved to be the most telling blow, when Goodyer worked the bottom side to slide under and claim the lead, only for the caution lights to come ablaze after Ben Hilder caused an indiscretion further back in the field

when he slid the #12 entry to a stop coming out of turn 2 on to the back straight.

With just seven laps remaining this gave McHugh the opportunity to reset and settle back into rhythm at the restart to lead Goodyer to the chequered flag, with Oldfield hanging tough after falling back through the field to as far back as sixth before gritting his teeth to run the high side and climb his way back to third. He made a final lap pass on Attard, who also turned in a creditable performance aboard the N53 Supreme Poultry Triple X machine to claim fourth, while Aaron Kelly continued his steady form with his successive fifth position aboard the Raw Metal Corp Q7 J&J. Rounding out the top half dozen was Cody Maroske, who was the runner up in the previous round, Jackson Delamont, Randy Morgan, Mitchell Gee and Kevin Titman in the 10 tailed by the veteran trio of Allan Woods, and Darren Jensen.

Brent Kratzmann made the final transfer position from the B Main and was 13th ahead of Brad Ayers and Adam Butler, followed by Callum Walker who had a spin around two thirds distance but earlier scored victory in the 15-lap B Main aboard his Mobil 1 #33 entry.

Dave Fanning was the only non-finisher for the exciting 30-lap journey.

Round eight heat race wins were all singles with Kevin Titman, Aaron Kelly, Callum Walker, Lachlan McHugh, Luke Oldfield and Jock Goodyer claiming the honours.

Image: Louise Napier

IN A race off ttwo hhalves l C Callum ll Willi Williamson would ld claim victory at the Ampol Big Chap 57 Legends of Speedway race, staged in conjunction with round 11 of the Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series at the Perth Motorplex.

The West Australian marathon event created in honour of the late Noel Bradford who campaigned the famous family W57 for many years, was split by a scheduled pit stop at the 27-lap mark followed by an epic 30 laps to the finish.

The front row consisted of Victory 1 Performance Quick Time and opening heat winner Brad Maiolo in the Aus Quip Industries W77 and fittingly alongside was the W57 of Shaun Bradford, sporting Noel’s iconic Broadlands Finance /Golden Fleece warpaint.

David Priolo was third and sharing the second row was Dayne Kingshott piloting the Transport Equipment Hire/ Maxwill powered Krikke Motorsports W2.

Callum started the marathon feature from the third row in P5 aboard the Avalon Group/Shore Water Marine W3 entry and worked his way into P2 before finding an opening, passing Brad Maiolo for the lead on the penultimate circulation of the opening stanza.

Jason Kendrick would also feature heavily, locking down third place after starting from P9 aboard the family-owned Triple M 92.9 W11.

Sadly for Bradford, the dream of winning the family’s tribute race was dealt a cruel blow when the W57 jumped out of gear on lap 16.

Those who changed rear tyres at the mid race pit stop would have to restart from the rear, and this included Daniel Harding and Kris Coyle who were running 7th and 9th respectively at the break.

After the break Callum would again lead the field with great car speed to carry the momentum during the 30-lap journey. The second half proved to be a tough affair as many competitors fell by the wayside.

On lap 38 George Eaton slowed the WX17 THE 2021 South Australian Wingless Sprints South Australian Championship held at the Murray Machining & Sheds Murray Bridge Speedway will go down in history as one of the most exciting finishes of the division.

With 47 cars entered coming from South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, the action would prove to be fast and furious.

After the heats were run and done, Joel Heinrich would start from pole aboard the S16 Check It Out Graphics entry alongside Victorian ace Glenn Watts.

Ryan Alexander would sit on the second row with former Australian Champion Alex Ross, while Joel Chadwick would start on row three alongside fellow South Australian second-generation Speedway competitor Jack McCarthy.

At the drop of the green Heinrich would make the most of clear track ahead and set about opening a handy gap, while Chadwick set about moving his way forward, slowly picking off each of the competitors in front of him.

By approximately two thirds of 30-lap journey Chadwick was able to manoeuvre the Ultra Tune Golden Grove & Modbury/Kroon Tipper Hire S5 into a position to make a real challenge and over the next few laps the two Joels traded blows as the lead swapped in quick successions.

With three laps to go the yellow lights were ablaze after Ross and McCarthy tangled with the lapped S10 Pro 4x4 entry of William Caruso, while challenging for the final step on the podium. Sadly, the duo would restart from the back, ending their chances of a healthy payday and another trophy for the mantlepiece.

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Williamson is Big Chap Legend Jones’ single lap A1 Cup victory

Image: Richard Hathaway

Signage WA entry down the back shute, and Andrew Priolo was left with nowhere to go while following brother David, who narrowly avoided the slowing car. Unfortunately, the Highway Harley Davidson/Maddington Isuzu Ute W8 nailed Eaton viciously in the rear, taking them both out of the equation.

Post-race Andrew is still recovering from the impact and will sit out the upcoming double header round in Bunbury.

At the restart Callum Williamson led from Jason Kendrick, Brad Maiolo, Kaiden Manders, Ben Butcher, Dayne Kingshott and David Priolo, who had started his run back towards the pointy end after falling back in the early stages. This lasted a short time before the yellow lights brought the field back to Indian file after contact between Taylor Milling and Kris Coyle.

While Williamson lead from the front, all eyes were on the flying W41 of Daniel Harding who had blasted forward from the rear, making the most of his fresh rear tyres.

On lap-50, Brad Maiolo smacked the wall

and flipped hard in turn 1, ending his run after shaping up as a possible race winner earlier in the night. This red-light incident was followed by a quick succession of caution periods which included the premature end of Kendrick, who contacted the pit wall while holding down second.

In the closing run Williamson would power home to take a well-deserved victory and the $5700 prize purse after leading for 32 of the epic 57 lap journey, from Daniel Harding and David Priolo rounding out the podium.

Jason Pryde would claim fourth aboard the Industor / Cash For Containers W14, Kris Coyle and Ben Butcher completed the top half dozen.

Dayne Kingshott, Darren Mewett, Cam McKenzie and Aldo De Paioli would round out the top 10.

After 11 rounds of the Maddington Toyota Sprintcar series and only two rounds remaining, Kaiden Manders leads on 1772 points, a mere two points ahead of Dayne Kingshott and Callum Williamson tied on 1770 apiece, with Kris Coyle next on 1748 followed by Jason Kendrick on 1724. Paris Charles

Image: Ray Ritter-K and J Photography

Chadwick Claims Thrilling SA Wingless Sprint Championship With a green-white-chequer finish Chadwick hounded Heinrich every inch of the journey and with two corners remaining Chadwick, the former World Cycle Speedway Champion, cashed in all his chips with a textbook slide job to take the lead and in turn capture his fourth South Australian Title.

Heinrich would claim the bridesmaid position for the second time, with Watts rounding out the podium. Jake Ashworth ran a consistent journey to claim fourth while Ryan Alexander dropped the National Karate S36 from third to fifth on the final circulation.

Mark Blyton finished where he started in sixth while Harry Ross, Luke Weel, Ash Cook and Tyson Martin followed Victorian Christopher Halesworth, and B Main winner Brent Fox rounded out the top dozen.

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Alex Ross and Jack McCarthy would race their way forward in the last three laps to salvage 13th and 14th respectively, while Jordan Bolitho, Geoff Cook and Darryl Sloan rounded out the finishers in the 20-car field.

William Caruso, Jacob Childs and New South Welshman Troy Carey were the trio of nonfinishers.

Jack Grey, Heinrich, Watts, Mitch Broome, Bolitho, Tyson Martin, Alexander and Cook each claimed a heat race victory.

Former Australian Street Stock Champion Rhys Heinrich claimed victory in C Main aboard his Statewide Roofing Supplies S48 and just missed the transfer to the big dance after climbing 12 positions to finish fifth in the 15-lap B Main.

Paris Charles

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BAIRNSDALE SPEEDWAY played host to the A1 Trailers and A1 Solar & Electrical Sprintcar Cup, and with 25 entries the night would prove to be a gruelling affair with the feature race lasting just over 40 minutes.

Dennis Jones claimed victory in the A1 Cup final, but to get there he had to stay focused while also rely on the fortunes of others as they fell before him.

At the commencement of the feature Adam Greenwood sat on pole and alongside him was David McKay. McKay pounced to lead the charge of the 18-car field and just three laps in the caution lights were on, when a back marker spun in turn 4. This would set the scene for a multiple restarts throughout the night.

McKay would again lead the field away and just four laps later again in turn three another car would spin, bringing the field back together, then again just seven circulations later Jeremy Kupsch brought on the first red light of the race, after clipping the rear wheel of a fellow competitor while trying to pass and rolling the V47 Pro Cote Powdercoating/ McMahons Maxim.

At the restart, a thrilling battle out front between McKay and Greenwood entertained the crowd before McKay would spin his VA83 Maxim and end his shot at the victory.

Greenwood now led Jones and co at the restart. Greenwood dropped the hammer of the Westpoint Vehicle Sales/A&J Contracting #35 entry and set about his business, opening an almost quarter track gap over Jones until disaster struck in the closing stages when a lapped car spun in front him. Greenwood was unable to avoid contact and tipped on his side and out of contention.

Jones inherited the lead on lap 25 for a single full circulation aboard the DJE CNC Machining/Airport Metals V17 before another competitor spun and it was at this point the race was declared four laps early, handing Jones the victory.

Shane Steenholdt finished second aboard the SS Auto Wholesaler #5 with Justin Barton, Mark Noonan and Jordan Abbott rounding out the top five.

The four heat race victories were shared with single wins. Dennis Jones started the night as he ended it by claiming the opening heat, Adam Greenwood set up his feature race front row start with a victory in heat two, the #15 Virtue Homes entry of David Dennison claimed heat three, and Dillon Seily rounded out the heat victors with a win in the final heat aboard the Nitro Earthmoving V87. Paris Charles

AutoAction 57

Testing your motor sport knowledge

Image: AA Archive

ACROSS

4. What number car is Tim Slade driving this season in the Supercars Championship?

8. Sergio Perez won the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix but who took his maiden F1 podium that race? (surname) 9. In what country did Pierre Gasly make his F1 debut in 2017?

10. Lachlan Mineeff will make his TCR debut at Phillip Island driving what brand of car?

12. Jenson Button took McLaren’s most recent Formula 1 grand prix success, in which country did this victory occur?

15. What brand of car does Supercars co-driver Tony D’Alberto race in TCR Australia?

16. Who was the first driver to win multiple and successive Australian Drivers’ Championships? (surname) 17. How many round podiums did Peter Brock take in his ATCC career?

19. Driving for what brand of car did Scott McLaughlin win

hhis first Supercars Championship race?

21. Who was the first non-Swedish driver to win the legendary Swedish Rally? (surname) 22. Fabio Quartararo moved to the factory Yamaha MotoGP squad in 2021. What nationality is the 21-yearold?

24. Which Supercars driver is driving the ZB homologation chassis in 2021? (surname) 25. Who won the first heat in the S5000 Championship at Symmons Plains in January? (surname) 26. Who won the 1971 Australian Touring Car Championship? (surname) 27. On his Red Bull Racing debut, where did Daniel Ricciardo qualify for the 2014 Australian Grand Prix?

DOWN

1. What number does Aaron Seton run in the National Trans Am Series? (surname) 2. Which driver won the 1987 Formula 1 World Championship with Williams? (surname)

3. For what team will Craig Lowndes race in two rounds of Carrera Cup Australia this season?

4. With what team does Tom Randle compete with in S5000?

5. Who won the Australian Carrera Cup Series in 2005? (surname) 6. What nationality is Williams Formula 1 driver Nicholas Latifi?

7. Who won the Arctic Rally in 2020? (full name) 11. Chaz Mostert has entered GT World Challenge Australia in 2021, what brand of car will he drive?

13. Team Penske has expanded to run four cars in the 2021 IndyCar Series, who is the new addition to the team? (surname) 14. Who won the Formula 1 World Championship in 1971? (surname) 16. Garry Jacobson has moved to Team Sydney this season, what is his career best race finish?

18. Who originally won the 1987 Bathurst 1000 along with Steve Soper, before being disqualified some months later? (surname) 20. Allan Moffat took pole for the 1971 Bathurst 500 by 3s, who qualified second? (surname) 23. Who was the last driver to win the NASCAR Cup Series with Team Penske? (surname)

# 1805 Crossword Answers 50th Anniversary Edition 1 down – McRae, 2 across – Ickx, 3 across – WA, 4 down – Agostini, 5 across – Grice, 5 down – Gardner, 6 across – Hamilton, 7 down – Imola, 8 across – Percy, 9 down – McLaren, 10 down – Bond, 11 across – Crompton, 11 down – Canto, 12 across – Macrow, 13 across – Honda, 14 down – Loeb, 15 down – forty-three, 16 across – Ricciardo, 17 down – Tyrrell, 18 across – Power, 19 across – seventeen, 19 down – six, 20 down – Stewart, 21 down – Nico Rosberg, 22 across – Williams, 23 across – WEC, 23 down – Waltrip, 24 down – Earnhardt, 25 down – Villeneuve, 26 across – Silverstone, 27 down – Kankkunen, 28 across – Damon Hill, 29 down – Elsegood, 30 across – second, 31 across – Hyundai, 32 across – Brad Jones, 32 down – Bowe, 33 down – Jaguar, 34 across – VY, 35 down – Youlden 36 down – BMW, 37 across – Marc Marquez, 38 across – Peugeot, 39 down – Bright, 40 across – Schuppan, 40 down – seven, 41 across – Berger, 41 down – Brock, 42 across – seven, 43 across – third

58 AutoAction

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