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BROWN, THE BENCHMARK FOR TCR IN 2022

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FORMER CHAMPION BACK WITH CHAMPION TEAM

By Paul Gover, News Editor FORMER SUPERCARS racers Fabian Coulthard, Tony D’Alberto, Michael Caruso and James Moffat are all up for TCR Australia Series action in 2022 but it’s ‘wild child’ Will Brown who puts the perspective into the headline act for the new SuperSeries season.

Brown already has a TCR title and his car for the coming championship campaign is an Audi RS3 from the reigning champions at Melbourne Performance Centre and that makes him the benchmark.

He also becomes a plug-and-play replacement for Chaz Mostert, as well as the only main game full-timer who wants – and is allowed – a complete season in TCR. “You know me, I’ll race anything,” Brown laughs as he outlines his program to Auto Action.

“When this opportunity came up with Audi and Liqui Molly it didn’t take me long to

decide. About 20 minutes. And that’s only because I had to check with Erebus, talking with Betty (Klimenko) and Barry (Ryan).”

He is being welcomed by Troy Russell, the managing director of Melbourne Performance Centre.

“Will proved his talent in the inaugural season driving for one of our rivals, so now it’s great to have him in our corner, filling the shoes of Chaz who did a terrific job last year,” Russell says.

The livewire youngster already fills his time by working at the family car yard, and logging lots of hours as a private pilot, but is happy to combine TCR with Supercars for the year.

“The day I start doing just one category then I should quit motorsport. All you are tyring to do is make a car going round a track as fast as possible.”

He has an impressive record in everything

from Formula Ford and F4 to Toyota 86 racing and, still aged just 23, scored his first Supercars victory last year.

He is also thinking about speedway after watching his Erebus team mate Brodie Kostecki wheeling a Sprintcar in Toowoomba.

“It was cool to go and watch Brodie. Those Sprintcars are a different sort of beast. It looks like fun and I’d love to go and have a run in one.”

He’s also expecting to have fun in the Audi RS3, which was the car to beat when he was racing a Hyundai i30 in his first season of TCR competition.

“I am excited to see what the Audi is like. It is one of the best cars in the field and being run by the team at Melbourne Performance Centre is huge. There’s a bit of pressure to back up what Chaz was able to achieve last year by winning the series, but I’m up for the challenge.

“Everything I do, I want to win. Racing in TCR is no different and I’ll be aiming to be near the front right from the start.”

Even so, he’s not expecting to win or dismissing the opposition.

“I want to go out there and win. There’s no doubt about that. By I don’t go into anything being cocky.

“The car is good and the MPC team is good. That tells me we should be up at the front.”

He is firing up for the first SuperSeries weekend at Symmons Plains but won’t be flying himself south from Queensland.

“It’s cheaper to go commercial when you’re travelling that far. But I do plan to fly to most of my races this year – TCR and Supercars.

“I’m not flying as much as I’d like, but there will be opportunities to get my hours up.

I’ll mostly be in a twin-engined Beechcraft Baron.”

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LATEST NEWS

POTENT PORSCHES TO RATTLE SUPERCARS A NEW PACE PECKING ORDER FOR 2022?

By Paul Gover, News Editor THE FORMIDABLE new Porsches from Carrera Cup could become the fastest tin-tops on the Supercars schedule this year.

The new Cup cars are already quicker than previous 911 one-make contenders on their first hit-out at Sydney Motorsport Park, undercutting the benchmark times for Supercars by more than a second.

The potent Porsches are still unlikely to bother the Supercars timekeepers at horsepower tracks such as Bathurst, Sandown and Symmons Plains, but there is a very good chance they will be quicker than the Mustangs and Commodores on slower and twistier layouts.

“They look like they are going to be quicker. If Eastern Creek is any to judge by, they already are quicker,” former Bathurst winner, Luke Youlden, tells Auto Action.

He has recent and relevant Supercars experience after wheeling the Penrite Mustang for Grove Racing at Sydney Motorsport Park through two of the final meetings of 2021.

“The Porsche gave me the front-end grip I wanted from

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the Mustang. It gave me everything I wanted from the Supercar last year but wasn’t able to get.”

Youlden was nowhere close to the Supercars frontrunners at SMP, and one of his weekends was ruined by rain, but he easily undercut his best Mustang times when he jumped into the 992-series Cup car for the first time.

His quickest lap in the Carrera Cup car was 1 minute 28.8495, compared with his quickest Supercars time of 1:31.0703.

To provide proper perspective, the Supercars record is 1 minute 29.8424 seconds, set by Jamie Whincup in August of 2018.

But the fastest Cup car lap at the SMP hand-over event was clocked by youngster Ryan Suhle, who managed a 1:28.4402.

That is 1.4 seconds quicker. And in the final Cup car session at SMP, after two earlier sessions had laid down rubber, nine cars were quicker than Whincup’s best.

Michael Almond’s Carrera Cup record, also set in 2018, stands at 1:20.5619.

Part of the pace from the new Porsche is down to its wide and grippy Michelin rubber, which is regarded by drivers as better than the Dunlop control tyres fitted on Supercars to even the field without giving maximum grip.

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“The Michelin definitely helps,” says Youlden.

“You’ve got a wider tyre, it’s got similar aero to a Supercar, and it’s a little bit lighter.”

But the car is completely new, based on a 992-series 911 with landmark double-wishbone front suspension, but also with more power and considerably bigger wings.

Jaxon Evans, a transplanted New Zealander who was second in last year’s Porsche Supercup series in Europe last year, is the most experience with the 992 and is clear on his opinion.

“It’s not super-fast in a straight line, but the combination of mechanical grip, aero and comfort is what makes it fast,” Evans tells Auto Action.

“Generally speaking, it’s well balanced all-round.

Porsche has always designed their cars, in any category, to be fast in the mid-corner with good balance.”

Youlden also highlights the cornering grip of the car.

“They turn better and put their power down better than a Supercar. And they are just as quick in the fast corners.

“Looking at mid-corner speed at SMP, the Supercar does 220km/h in Turn 1 and the new Cup car also does 220, give or take. That’s impressive.”

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LATEST NEWS

BROADCAST

A NEW MOTORSPORT FRONTIER

By Paul Gover, News Editor A BIG new battle is about to begin as Nine challenges Seven for motorsport supremacy in Australia.

Fans are caught in the middle as the broadcast titans focus on delivering a new generation of coverage that goes way beyond traditional television screens.

Streaming is the keyword, as Nine plans an expanded delivery service for motorsport while the new owners of Supercars are also looking for new opportunities in ‘over the top’ broadcasting.

Nine Entertainment is using Stan Sport as the spearhead for its bold new drive, focussing on the newly re-branded SpeedSeries run by the Australian Racing Group but also pushing low-cost access to a range of premium overseas action including the Indianapolis 500 and Le Mans.

Seven is already established with its Supercars package, in partnership with Foxtel and Kayo, and has the high ground with the majority of motorsport fans thanks to Formula One, MotoGP and NASCAR. But things are set to change, including a much stronger focus on pay-to-view services.

Research shows that streaming to mobile devices has overtaken traditional television viewing behaviour, something that motorsport hopes to tap - even in Formula One through Liberty Media - to build a bigger and younger audience.

But the new Nine deal could potentially drive a wedge between the new owners of Supercars, as ARG is one of the members of the RACE consortium. Supercars Television will also be responsible for the broadcast package, including the onscreen talent.

6 I www.autoaction.com.au

Image: Ross Gibb However, that is likely to be balanced by the prospect of competition between the rival entertainment networks and growth in the overall motorsport audience.

“The combined audience reach, engagement and promotional opportunities across Stan Sport and the wider Nine business offers an unrivalled level of coverage that our motorsport categories and events have never had before,” says the ARG CEO, Matt Braid.

Stan Sport is touted as a $20-a-month

package, far cheaper than Foxtel, and with free-to-air connections to highlights’ packages on secondary Nine stations.

It will give much more prominence to the SpeedSeries events, which struggled for worthwhile air time in a previous deal with the Seven Network, and promises easier access to overseas action.

“The great thing about about Stan is that we are Australia’s premier streaming company. It’s 100 per cent focussed on streaming,” the director of Stan Sport, Ben

Kimber, tells Auto Action.

“You will not get better quality, or on more devices. Streaming platforms just make sense for consumers these days.”

Kimber says Stan Sport was established with coverage of rugby union, followed by tennis, the Champions League in soccer, and – soon – pay-per-view boxing.

Its move into motorsport was headlined

by IndyCar – including the Indianapolis 500 - the World Rally Championship, Formula E and the World Endurance

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WHAT’S ON AIR AND WITH WHOM NINE

International • Formula E Delayed coverage • INDYCAR Delayed coverage • World Endurance Championship Delayed coverage • World Rally Championship Delayed coverage SpeedSeries Race Tasmania live, all subsequent rounds – delayed highlights packages • TCR Australia • S5000* (ARG rounds only) • GT World Challenge Australia • Touring Car Masters* (ARG rounds only) • Trans Am Series

STAN

Every Round. Ad-Free. Live and On Demand.

International • Formula E • INDYCAR • World Endurance Championship • World Rally Championship SpeedSeries • TCR Australia • S5000* (ARG rounds only) • GT World Challenge Australia • Touring Car Masters* (ARG rounds only) • Trans Am Series

Live, Ad-Free and On Demand Live, Ad-Free and On Demand Live, Ad-Free and On Demand Live, Ad-Free and On Demand Live, Ad-Free and On Demand Live, Ad-Free and On Demand Live, Ad-Free and On Demand Live, Ad-Free and On Demand Live, Ad-Free and On Demand

SEVEN • • • • • •

Supercars Championship Live coverage (Selected rounds) Top Fuel Drag Racing Live coverage Touring Car Masters* (Supercars rounds only) Live and delayed S5000* (Supercars rounds only) Live and delayed Australian Rally Championship Highlights available through 7plus Australian Off Road Championship Highlights available through 7plus

FOXTEL • • • • •

Championship, topped by Le Mans.

“Motorsport has a lot of passionate fans.

We aren’t out there buying every sport under the sun. We have a targeted plan,” says Kimber.

“We have a strategy of getting involved with premium partners. There are some really strong properties there.”

Kimber refuses to discuss the commercial side of the SuperSeries tie-up, including any payment for the broadcast rights, or the details of how the broadcast will operate.

“We’ve definitely got a commercial arrangement with them. They look like a great partner,” he says.

“We’re keen to work with partners who are keen to grow They are relatively young as well, but they have big plans. That’s what we like in partners.”

“We build great coverage. And we work with partners across Nine Entertainment.”

Kimber says that means everything from radio stations and free-to-air television to newspapers and online media outlets.

The free-to-air opportunities extend beyond sports programs, with 9GEM expected to feature, although there will be live coverage of the first SpeedSeries weekend in Tasmania.

He also touts the ability to watch live action or stream a feed afterwards.

“It’s on demand. It’s a strong motorsport package and it’s great value,” Kimber says.

Looking to the future, he says Stan Sport will consider other motorsport opportunities and is not ruling out an eventual move on Supercars.

“We’re always looking. We’ll expand when we find things that add value for our viewers,” he says.

“We are just getting on with business.

We will always have a look and see what makes sense for us.”

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Stan Sport Director Ben Kimber and ARG CEO Matt Braid join the line-up as Stan Sport’s motorsport programme is revealed.

Formula 1 Supercars Championship MotoGP NASCAR Isle of Man TT World Superbike Championship

Live On demand via Foxtel GO or Kayo Sports Live On demand via Foxtel GO or Kayo Sports Live On demand via Foxtel GO or Kayo Sports Live On demand via Foxtel GO or Kayo Sports Live On demand via Foxtel GO or Kayo Sports

STAN: $10/month add-on to regular Stan plan, Stan starts at $10/month.

Total Stan minimum = $20/month FOXTEL: Sports HD package from $59.20/month or Kayo Sports $25/month

FABIAN IS THE STAN MAN BROADCAST NEWS FOR THE TCR NEWCOMER THE MOST desirable driver in Australia today says Bathurst can wait as he dives into the TCR Australia Series.

Fabian Coulthard knows he is the top target for a Supercars deal at Bathurst, but is focussed instead on starring for Stan Sport at the TCR opener in Tasmania.

“Let’s talk TCR. I think it’s a perfect synergy for me,” Coulthard tells Auto Action.

“I’ve been given an opportunity. A good one.

An opportunity came up to drive the car with Stan Sport.

“I’m a racing driver. I’m going there to put my best foot forward. I’ll be the prepared as best as I can be.

“I’m not going to TCR just to drive around. I’d love to be racing in the category full-time. For Stan Sport and myself it’s a toe in the water, but we’ll see what happens.”

Coulthard is jumping into a Stan blue Civic for Wall Racing and, although he knows the Honda camp struggled for speed on their first visit to Symmons Plains, he is aiming high.

“Being realistic, until I drive the car, have a feel, understand what the package is like, I cannot comment,” he says.

“I’ve never driven a TCR car. I’ve never driven a front-wheel drive car. The odds are stacked against me, but I’ll be doing my best.”

He can take a sidekick short-cut as his former Bathurst co-driver at Dick Johnson Racing, Tony D’Alberto, will be his Honda team-mate in Tassie.

“I’ll be sucking him for information, like he sucked me for information. The shoe is now on

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the other foot,” Coulthard laughs.

“I’ll ask questions. I’ll check the footage.”

He also believes his driving style, and his signature left-foot braking, could be a help.

“Garth Tander said ‘Heaven for a left-foot braker’ on his socials, so who knows.”

But he is not getting over-confident.

“I know the Honda struggled a bit in the past.

And the competitiveness of the field is getting better and better each year.

“But I think TCR is going from strength to strength. Each year it gets better and gets more credibility. I think it’s got huge potential with the involvement of Stan Sport.”

Talking Supercars, reluctantly, Coulthard believes he’s in a strong position even without a full-time drive in the main game.

“It’s musical chairs and I’m the music. I’m confident I’ll be on the grid for Bathurst. Which car? It’s unknown … “ Paul Gover

www.autoaction.com.au I 7

LATEST NEWS

STOP / GO

NO SHIFT FOR GEN3 SUPERCARS OLD-SCHOOL MANUAL CHANGE TO CONTINUE

A “SIGNIFICANT announcement” is set to be made on the future of the Adelaide 500 at a public event in Adelaide on Sunday February 13. Supercars Championship drivers Nick Percat, Todd Hazelwood and Scott Pye will all appear in person, and further clues concerning an Adelaide 500 return – dependent on a change of government in SA – may be revealed!. . JN

TICKETS ARE officially on sale for the Supercars Championship opener at Sydney Motorsport Park and a full complement of support categories has been named for the March event. The second tier Super2 Series will lead the support line up, joined by the Aussies Racing Cars Super Series, Touring Car Masters and Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia 86 Series. Capping off the on-track action will be further Gen3 Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang demonstrations. JN

SUPERCARS HAS confirmed the pitlane allocations for the 2022 season. Triple Eight Race Engineering have reclaimed the first boom position courtesy of claiming the team’s championship in 2021. Dick Johnson Racing reverts one position back down the lane back to second.

Tickford Racing maintains its position as the third and fourth bays. Making the biggest move towards pit exit this year is Walkinshaw Andretti United, who move up to the fifth bay ahead of Erebus Motorsport, Brad Jones Racing, Team 18, Grove Racing and Matt Stone Racing. RV

SUPERCARS HAS revealed that the first race of the season will be held under lights following the release of the track schedule for the opening round at Sydney Motorsport Park. Two 77-lap, 300km Supercars races headline the schedule for the March 4-6 round at the Sydney venue, as part of an entertainment extravaganza that also includes a concert by global festival sensation Hot Dub Time Machine. RV

A FULL field of fresh liveries will hit the track at Darwin this season after Supercars’ decision to mandate indigenous-themed liveries for the Darwin Triple Crown event. The Supercars Operations Manual (rule E1.9.2) now dictates that “for the Official Supercars Indigenous Event (Merlin Darwin Triple Crown), it is compulsory for each car to have a designated Indigenous themed livery.” Hidden Valley Raceway is set to host the official indigenous round in June. JN

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By Paul Gover, News Editor PEOPLE POWER has protected old-school shifting in the upgrade to the Gen3 racers that will compete in Supercars from 2023.

A manual sequential shift with no form of auto-blipping for downshifts, just as today, will continue in the Gen3 era.

The decision by Supercars ends months of speculation and heated debate over the relative merits of the two systems.

“We strongly considered the overwhelming feedback from our fans, teams and drivers that the gear change mechanism and the commensurate skill required to down change properly cannot be lost in Supercars unique heat of battle on-track,” says the CEO of Supercars, Shane Howard, as he announces the no-change decision.

It has already been welcomed by front-line drivers, after many resisted the push for a Formula One-style paddle change.

The resistance included the chairman of the Supercars Commission, Neil Crompton, who made a rare political point at the height of the paddle-shift debate at last year’s Bathurst 1000.

Gen3 has already begun with manual shifting and has provided the trigger for a formal announcement of a verdict from Supercars.

“We have always celebrated the difficulty that comes with driving a Supercar. The shifting of gears has become part of the art-form required to succeed in our category,” says Howard.

“Following the early rounds of testing in the prototypes, and unanimous support from the Gen3 Steering Committee, I can confirm the Camaro and Mustang will race using the current fully manual gear shift for 2023 and beyond.”

Investigation into a paddle shift change with auto-blip began years ago, when Triple Eight Race Engineering was working on the prototype for a turbocharged V6 engine for Supercars.

Its Commodore test car, which had previously served as the ‘Sandman’ ride car and a show pony for Holden, was equipped with a paddle shift.

At a similar time, the name of the category was changed from V8 Supercars to Supercars, likely in readiness for a V6 Holden that would race against the V8 Ford Falcon.

The plan for an engine swap died with the end of carmaking by Holden and the failure of the V6-powered ZB Commodore, although the body style continues to race on and will be used by GM teams until the arrival of the Gen3 Camaro coupe next year.

News of the shift decision will allow testing of the new-age Camaro and Mustang to continue without major interruptions, as it means the existing six-speed sequential transaxle will become a carryover item despite the move to ‘control’ V8 engines for Gen3 racing.

“We’re very happy with the decision of the Gen3 Steering Committee and can now move forward with further Gen3 development,” says Howard.

The defending Supercars champion, Shane van Gisbergen, was an outspoken critic of paddle shift and – predictably – is in favour of the stick shift.

“We know the fans wanted the same thing we did, so I’m sure everyone is happier with this decision to keep the gear shift the way it is,” he says.

Gen3 testing will move from Queensland

Raceway, where the cars have turned their early laps – including nose-to-tail running to assess the impact of major aero changes – to Winton at the end of the month.

They will lap during the official pre-season test for Victorian teams, although drivers have yet to be named.

The Mustang and Camaro prototypes will also be on display at the season opener at Sydney Motorsport Park, from March 4-6, when they will also run demonstration laps.

Television technical expert Mark Larkham, who survived his own Supercars scare last year when a huge fan backlash saved him from the sack, is also welcoming the manual move for Gen3.

“We are a uniquely Australian category, with a uniquely Australian set of rules. Part of that success story of Supercars has been the tools like manual shifting, anti-roll bar and brake bias cockpit activity, that showcase the athleticism, the physiology and the psychology of the driver,” Larkham says.

“This is definitely the right outcome for Supercars, a sport like any other that is about human endeavour and putting athletes under pressure. In my view, this is an important and correct outcome for Supercars and its fans.”

NEW SOFT TYRE WHAT WE NEED THE NEW for 2022 soft and supersoft tyres have been tested on the Gen3 Supercars at Queensland Raceway and, according to Broc Feeney, it is exactly what the championship was looking for.

After complaints in 2021 that the new supersoft tyre did not degrade as planned, the new tyres have been further softened to increase the degradation.

“I think it’s what we’re looking for to be honest,” Feeney said to AA. “They are really good, straight out of the gate and then it did have quite a big drop off.

“That’s what we’re looking for and, that was that was the whole point

Image: MTR Images

of the tyre – to get high deg.

“I did a 15 to 20 lap stint on them and, towards the end, you’re struggling quite a bit – its good if we want to spice up the racing, I believe that’s what they were looking for in the new tyre.”

The supersoft compound stands out as it features distinctive blue Dunlop lettering to differentiate it from the soft compound, the white wall tyre and hard compound in yellow.

In 2022, the supersoft tyre will be used at five rounds, starting with the season opening Sydney SuperNight that will feature two 300km races.

Dan McCarthy

A FULL CARD FOR 2022 Image: MTR Images

GEN3 TESTING RAMPS UP

By DAN McCARTHY IN THE last fortnight a further two days of Supercars Gen3 testing have taken place at Queensland Raceway, several new parts were trialled on the new cars including a different splitter, and for the first time, the two cars ran line astern.

Over the two days many drivers jumped behind the wheel – on Day 1, James Courtney and Tim Slade jumped behind the wheel of the Mustang, while Triple Eight Racing drivers Shane van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney tested the Camaro.

On Day 2, Dick Johnson Racing’s Anton de Pasquale tested the Mustang alongside his teammate Will Davison, while Erebus steerer Brodie Kostecki and three-time champion Craig Lowndes jumped into the Camaro.

All drivers reported that the car has made yet more progress, with Feeney crediting a new front splitter for improvement in handling.

“Every time I jump back in it, it’s feeling a lot better and a lot more comfortable,” Feeney told Auto Action.

“We had the bigger front splitter on Tuesday, which made the car turn a lot better and gave it some characteristics that are a bit more natural to me.

“The first couple of days, we were still limited on parts and still trialling a lot of stuff. Every day we go about it, we’re learning new things – we’re still trying different mappings and stuff like that.”

AA asked Feeney if the bigger splitter was beneficial in the low or high-speed corners.

“It is in both, but where you feel it most at Queensland Raceway is Turn 1, Turn 2 and Turn 5 when you’re on the throttle and you need a little bit of weight on the front of the car.

“That to me was a big step and it did make it handle quite a bit better. That is what we were looking for the test day before, so that definitely made a difference – the car’s starting to feel a lot better every time.”

The question that this leads to is will this make it harder to follow as the car behind?

“It’s a hard one to say because, to be honest, it’s not really a splitter, it’s tiny compared to what we’re used to. I don’t think it’s gonna be an issue; it’s for the better,” he said.

Slade and Feeney hit the track together in line astern to see how the aero affects the Gen3 machines, both drivers taking turns up front and behind in the dirty air. Feeney is certain the Camaro was better in the dirty air than the current ZB Commodore.

“It definitely was better. The only thing was, we weren’t on completely matching tyres,” he said.

“It was a little bit imbalanced between both cars. I had to keep letting off just a little bit so Tim could stay right behind me in order to feel the difference.

“But from my perspective, I think it is better from the very limited running, we only did a few laps. At 70% there wasn’t a massive big understeer. I think they (Supercars) are heading in the right direction.

“I’m sure over the next few tests that we can do some proper running together and over a longer stint as well.”

On the Mustang, Ford engineers are continuing to test components and parts, while also focussing on the brake package.

“They tried a lot of different things,” Slade said to AA. “I tried a different oil tank, just a few little bits and pieces, but there was to be plenty more days throughout the year that they’ll have an opportunity to work on all that stuff.

“With the brakes there’s no noticeable difference – it’s just related to the amount of aero the car has that affects the braking zones.”

By Paul Gover, News Editor THE RETURN of the Australian Grand Prix has filled the 2020 Supercars schedule to a full 34 races.

There will also be a stronger emphasis on off-track entertainment, starting with a headline performance by Australian festival sensation Hot Dub Time Machine at the season opener at Sydney Motorsport Park on the first weekend of March.

The final season before the introduction of the Gen3 racers will also include a series of demonstration runs by the Camaro and Mustang coupes, starting from SMP. But the emphasis is still on short, sharp sprints with the majority of races – including the quadrella at Albert Park – running to 125 kilometres or less. And that means, since most races are run at close to a 160k/h average speed, the track action will be less than an hour each time.

On the racing front, there is a newcompound for the Super Soft slick Dunlop racing tyre, which has already proven to make a difference in testing.

“Shifting the season opener from the streets of Newcastle to the familiar surroundings of SMP brings a more fan-friendly approach than last year, when Covid restrictions meant the four-weekend Sydney sprint was mostly devoid of any big attendances,” .says the new Supercars CEO, Shane Howard.

“We are bringing in new attractions both on and off-track to help make the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight a multi-faceted event that caters to wider appeal.

“From our passionate racing fans to families with young children who love racing and high-energy music fans, this event will have something for all ages.”

Supercars is even creating a new ‘party precinct’ alongside the main-straight grandstand that will be home to the music events.

There will also be a season-first introduction of the season 2022 races, in IndyCar and NASCAR style, before the Saturday night race under lights.

Details of the calendar for 2022 show a planned schedule of 34 races, including New Zealand and Perth, with five including refuelling.

Seven events – Sydney, Darwin, Townsville, Sandown, Bathurst, Gold Coast and Newcastle – will have a Top 10 shootout.

Eight events will have three races in the SuperSprint format and all but Sandown – with a dedicated co-driver session – and the Bathurst 1000 will have two practice sessions.

Two meetings will have night racing, SMP at the start and then Perth.

2022 REPCO SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP FORMATS EVENT

RACE FORMAT

TOP 10 SHOOTOUT Yes Yes

Sydney** 1 1 Sydney** 2 1 Tasmania 3 2 Tasmania 4 1 Tasmania 5 1 Albert Park 6 1 Albert Park 7 1 Albert Park 8 1 Albert Park 9 1 Perth 10 2 Perth 11 1 Perth 12 1 Winton 13 2 Winton 14 1 Winton 15 1 Darwin 16 3 Yes Darwin 17 1 Darwin 18 1 Townsville** 19 1 Yes Townsville** 20 1 Yes The Bend 21 2 The Bend 22 1 The Bend 23 1 Sandown 24 3 Yes Sandown 25 1 Sandown 26 1 Pukekohe 27 2 Pukekohe 28 1 Pukekohe 29 1 Bathurst*** 30 1 Yes Gold Coast** 31 1 Yes Gold Coast** 32 1 Yes Newcastle** TBC 1 Yes Newcastle** TBC 1 Yes Key **Super500/600 event (features refuelling) ***Endurance event

RACE LENGTH 300km* 300km 110km 110km 110km 100km 100km 100km 100km 110km* 110km 110km 115km 115km 115km 110km 110km 110km 250km 250km 115km 115km 115km 125km 125km 125km 115km 115km 115km 1000km 250km 250km 250km 250km

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LATEST NEWS

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SUPER2 HAS gained two new entrants in the form of Cameron Crick and Elly Morrow. Crick will make his Super2 Series debut with Eggleston Motorsport this year after crossing over to the category from the SuperUtes Series, while 22-year-old Morrow will make her Super2 debut with Brad Jones Racing after graduating from Super3. The six-event 2022 Super2 Series will commence in Sydney in March. JN

FORMER TOURING Car Masters (TCM) frontrunner Adam Garwood has signed on with Gary Rogers Motorsport for the 2022 S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship season.

The Tasmanian will debut at his home Race Tasmania event, joining the new-look field at Symmons Plains Raceway this weekend. Garwood has previously raced several seasons in TCM, collecting a win and further podium in 2021 before budgetary constraints cut his season short after two rounds. JN

TICKFORD LOOKING AT GT3

By Paul Gover, News Editor AN ALL-NEW Ford Mustang racer could spark an expansion into GT3 sports cars by Tickford Racing.

Ford Motorsport has just teased the all-new Mustang that it will unleash into GT3 racing in 2023 and it is already creating interest in Australia.

The Mustang is likely to be a headliner at the Bathurst 12-Hour in 2024 following its initial outings in IMSA racing in the USA, starting with next year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona.

“Like everybody, we’ve seen the announcement of the GT3 car. Now we’re excited to see it in the metal,” the boss of Tickford Racing, Tim Edwards, tells Auto Action.

“It’s no secret that we’re very Ford aligned.

Of course you have to think if there is a place for us to run a car like that.”

The teaser program for the all-new Mustang racer comes after a previous GT plan, using a showroom-based GT4 version of the Mustang, failed to fire.

Tickford was one of the outfits to look closely at the GT4 that was imported by Multimatic Motorsports in Australia, and demonstrated during the Bathurst 12-Hour meeting in 2018, before it was eventually sold.

But there was no real appetite for GT4 racing down under, with a tiny number of cars competing locally

“To be honest, the GT4 category in this country doesn’t really appeal. There is a very small number of car,” says Edwards. GT3 is what the market wants in this country. There is certainly a market for GT3 cars.”

Meantime, Ford Performance says the all-new GT3 is being built from the start for customer racing.

It will also be the first next-generation racer built on the next all-new Mustang, which is expected to be previewed around the middle of this year. The 2023 Mustang is an open secret in the USA and is likely to provide the bodywork for the Gen3 racer that will renew the Mustang in Supercars for season 2023.

The GT3 car is aimed at the IMSA Sports Car Championship from 2024, with two factory-backed cars for the GTD Pro class and customer Mustangs in GTD. “Mustang was born to race from the start and we’re thrilled to introduce the GT3 version to compete head-to-head against some of the greatest manufacturers in the world. We are ready to take Mustang to the next level of global performance,” says Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports.

The program is being run through Multimatic Motorsports, a Ford Performance partner on the company’s GT effort an a new off-road program with the Bronco.

“We have a long, great working relationship with each other, both at the highest levels of professional sports car racing, and in developing competitive customer race program and vehicles,” says Larry Hunt, vice-president of Multimatic Special Vehicle Operations.

But Multimatic is not alone, as the engine for the GT3 Mustang will be provided by Ford’s partner in the World Rally Championship, M-Sport from the UK. The 5-litre Coyote V8 is new to M-Sport but it has a winning pedigree in GT3 thanks to its involvement with Bentley, including the car that won the Bathurst 12-Hour race.

Early testing of the GT3 car will be the responsibility of champion sports car racer Joey Hand.

“As much as I like to compete and win on the track, I also enjoy being part of the development of new race vehicles like this Mustang,” he says.

GODDARD HOPES TEST GIG WILL OPEN DOORS

THE 2022 Australian Formula Ford Championship calendar has been revealed with the long lasting openwheel series set to race at a Supercars round and Shannons Nationals event. In total the Formula Ford Championship will be held over seven rounds and four states in 2022. Three will take place in Victoria, two in New South Wales and one in both Queensland and South Australia. As well as this, Formula Ford has announced the three round 1600 championship which will commence late in the year. DM

10 I www.autoaction.com.au

FORMER MATT Stone Racing driver Zane Goddard believes is hopeful that his recent Gen3 test with both Triple Eight and Dick Johnson racing will serve him well into the future.

Goddard was drafted in a couple of weeks ago to sub for Anton de Pasquale who was overseas racing in Dubai.

The Queenslander sees this as a real opportunity as two of the biggest teams in the sport have seen his data and spoken about the possibility of a co-drive with them.

“For them to see my data, my feedback on car, all that sort of stuff, gives them a good idea of what I’m capable of,” he said to AA.

“It gives me nowhere to hide – it’s good if they like what they see then hopefully, it’s a possibility. But I’m open to trying to get in a car that’s towards the pointy end for a co-drive.

“I obviously want to be in a strong car at Bathurst; I want to be contributing to hopefully one of the steps on the podium – that’s something I’m definitely very interested in.”

Goddard remains in communication with Supercars Championship organisers and is optimistic of getting more tests.

“Everything to do with the test days is organised through Supercars, so there’s obviously constant communication there,” Goddard said.

“I’m still giving back some feedback about the cars, little things here and there.

“The channel is completely open, so I’m hoping to be at a lot more test days, it’s definitely something I really want to do.”

AA asked Goddard if he would like the role of Supercars test driver.

“I really enjoyed the two days – it was really cool and I think it’s good seat time and stuff as well.

“Obviously, I’m not on the full time grid this year, which is unfortunate, but if this could be a positive out of it all, I’d love to do it.”

“I really enjoyed the whole two days, it was quite insightful, it’s quite cool.

“Everyone’s passionate about this new car – it’s the future of the sport, so if I could be a part of it I’d absolutely love to be ... so I’m definitely open to that.”

Before the ‘Car of the Future’ machines rolled out on the racetrack a decade ago, Scott McLaughlin was involved in the testing.

He made his race debut the same year as the cars debuted and was immediately on the pace, Goddard hopes that his knowledge of the new machines will help him secure a seat in 2023.

“One hundred percent, that’d be cool,” Goddard stated. “Obviously, I want to be on the grid in 2023, so that’s what I’m pushing for.”

Dan McCarthy

SUPERCARS NEW PAINT

TRIPLE EIGHT Race Engineering and Grove Racing have become the latest teams to unveil 2022 Supercars Championship liveries.

The 2022 Triple Eight livery will be familiar to seasoned Supercars fans, featuring the iconic Red Bull logo along with fellow naming rights sponsor Ampol and a raft of other sponsor logos.

ACDelco, Ampol Amplify, Daimler Trucks, HP, Harvey Norman, National Storage, Supercheap Auto, ToolPro and TW Steel are all on board, while New Holland and Wurth have also joined the team for 2022.

However, Vodafone is a notable absentee from the livery sponsor stickering, missing from the car altogether.

Grove Racing has also stuck with a tried and tested formula, announcing that both Ford Mustangs will be sponsored by Penrite Oil and adorned with the black, red and gold

colours of Penrite that we have seen in the Supercars Championship for a number of years.

The Australian oil company has locked in naming rights sponsorship for 2022 and beyond.

David Reynolds brought Erebus sponsor Penrite to the then Kelly Grove Racing team last year, representing the brand himself. However the deal now expands to encompass Lee Holdsworth’s car also.

Matt Stone Racing is the next team scheduled to reveal its livery, the date set for February 15.

Blanchard Racing Team and Erebus Motorsport will follow shortly after, on February 17 and 21 respectively.

Tickford Racing was the first squad to reveal artwork, revealing Thomas Randle’s Castrol livery last December.

Josh Nevett

FEENEY INHERITS #88 TRIPLE EIGHT has also confirmed rookie Broc Feeney’s race number.

Reigning Super2 Series winner Feeney will make his full-time main game debut in the #88 Triple Eight ZB Commodore this year, taking over from retiring seventime champion Jamie Whincup.

Whincup, who has taken over as Managing Director of the Queensland squad, won the 2008, 2011 and 2017 titles with the number on his window.

Feeney says he is looking forward to running with the significant number in his maiden season.

“To pick up the 88 coming off Jamie’s career is a pretty cool thing,” Feeney told Auto Action.

“I’m looking forward to creating my own legacy in the sport, but to represent 88 and the Triple Eight Race Engineering team is going to be pretty cool for me.

“I’m definitely looking forward

to having the number on the car.”

Despite the significance of the number 88, Feeney was adamant that he did not feel any added pressure to perform.

“I don’t think it adds any pressure. I know what I want out of myself and I know where the team wants to be as well, so a number is not going to change my mindset whatsoever,” Feeney said.

Josh Nevett/Dan McCarthy

COLD AIR INTAKES PREMIUM PERFORMANCE

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MORE POWER – K&N intake kits are guaranteed to increase your vehicle’s horsepower and torque, and K&N performs rigorous in-house testing to ensure that each kit meets highperformance standards.

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BETTER BY FAR – The included filter only requires cleaning every 100,000 miles under normal highway driving conditions (as opposed to 15,000-20,000 miles for a disposable filter) and provides industryleading engine protection against contaminants and K&N Air Intake kits come with a 10-Year/Million Mile Limited Warranty.

BIG RANGE OF SYSTEMS

The pictured air intake package unit is to suite the 20182021 Mustang.

For further details on the range of K&N Air induction systems call the team at VCM Performance

(03) 9763 7599, email sales@vcmperformance.com.au or visit www.vcmstore.com.au

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GEN3 WILL SUIT VETERANS SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP veteran James Courtney (far right) believes that experienced competitors will adapt quickest to the new Gen3 machines after prototype testing at Queensland Raceway.

Courtney joined a host of drivers for the hit-out in Ipswich, which simultaneously tested updated Gen3 prototypes and the new Super Soft tyre compound, the latter set for a 2022 introduction.

Having driven in the main game full-time since 2006, the 41-year-old has plenty of experience with different iterations of Supercar, which he believed would provide a crucial advantage over his younger rivals entering the new era next year.

“The grip levels feel very similar to what we had in 2008, the BA (Ford Falcon) era, which is good for Mark Winterbottom, myself, Will Davison, Shane (van Gisbergen),” Courtney said.

“But the new guys don’t know what that lack of downforce is all about.

“The grip level’s a lot lower, the aero balance.

Without that rear wing or rear downforce during braking, we’ve got a lot of rear locking so the car is moving around a lot which is interesting.

“The car moves around so much more through Turn 1 and 2 here at Ipswich, quite high-speed corners where you’re losing the rear whereas with the current cars you’re driving with a lot of understeer.”

Three-time Supercar champion and fellow old-timer Craig Lowndes shared a similar sentiment to Courtney, agreeing that the new cars were a throwback on the track.

Image: MTR Images “It takes me back to the old days, the VT and VS days of the late 90s when you basically had to hustle the car around, Lowndes told Auto Action.

“It’s going to bring back all those memories.”

Any familiarity that Courtney had with the new car from Bathurst means little though,

as many tweaks have been applied to the prototype over the summer break.

“There’s a lot of componentry on the car which has changed from when I drove it last time and it’s a very different car to what we’re used to,” Courtney explained.

“There were a few dramas still – the

power steering still isn’t right. It’s got a bit of a bit of vibration in it which is part of what this testing is all about, to try and get rid of those little issues before we hit the ground running at the start of next season.”

Josh Nevett and Mick Reynolds

QR STOPS RUNNING EVENTS AT LAKESIDE

EVANS PACKS HIS BAGS

THE QUEENSLAND Raceway management in recent months has run events at Lakeside Park, but will no longer continue to do so over safety concerns and has pleaded with Lakeside owners to get it fixed.

Queensland Raceway released a statement confirming the news, saying that recent developments have led to QR stepping back from running events at Lakeside Park.

QR has stated that it has raised safety concerns with the venue owners and operators being the sanctioning body, in regards to the track infrastructure at Lakeside including the barriers and various other track infrastructure.

For the safety of competitors, spectators and officials, Queensland Raceway felt that the risk was no longer acceptable.

“Queensland Raceway is no longer prepared to take on the potential risk, both from a commercial and reputational standpoint, of hiring/ licensing the facilities at Lakeside Park whilst they remain in their current condition for any motor racing or motorcycle events,” the statement read.

Events which were set to be managed by Queensland Raceway at the historic Lakeside Park race track have been handed over to the team at the venue, should Lakeside choose to add them to their own event calendar.

LONDON IS the new race base for Porsche Supercar runner-up Jaxon Evans as he looks to take the next step in his motorsport career.

After starring in last year’s Supercup contest in Europe, where he scored one win and two other podiums, the 25-yearold is looking towards the World Endurance Championship.

But nothing is settled or certain – not even the address of his new home in Britain.

The transplanted Kiwi is hopeful of a return to the Porsche factory camp in 2022, after racing outside the official umbrella last year, but is still waiting to hear his fate.

While he waits, he is moving from his previous home-awayfrom-home in Germany to the British capital.

Evans had been sharing an apartment with fellow Porsche punter Matt Campbell in Stuttgart, the home city of Porsche, but with his British girlfriend, Clara, he is taking up the opportunity to move in with Jordan Love, even though he is also waiting to lock-in his program for the coming year.

“It’s a change of lifestyle for me. I thought I would go somewhere where that I could

Image: Insyde Media QR believes Lakeside has a very important place in Australian motorsport and hopes that Lakeside Park owners make improvements to the track.

“Queensland Raceway believes in the importance of Lakeside Park’s heritage and its place as part of the Australian motorsport landscape and would encourage the current owners/ operators of Lakeside Park to make improvements to the facility so that Lakeside Park can return to its former glory,” the statement continued.

“Queensland Raceway takes pride in delivering the highest level of quality of safety standards to help ensure the protection of our customers.”

The Tony Quinn-owned Queensland Raceway will continue to host races at its very own Willowbank facility where Supercars Gen3 testing has been taking place.

Queensland Raceway and Lakeside Park were operated/managed by the same organisation until November 2021 when new management took over Queensland Raceway.

Dan McCarthy

12 I www.autoaction.com.au

speak the language,” Evans laughs as he tells Auto Action.

“That’s the plan for this year.

Or the next few years.”

He is moving from Germany to improve his lifestyle and despite his Porsche connections.

“I wasn’t being bound to being in Germany. This makes more sense,” he says.

“I moved over there at the beginning of 2019, so I had three years there. (But) I never really learned any German. I had the basics to get by when I went to the supermarket, but that was it.”

Evans, who was born in New Zealand but did all his early racing in Australia, is a former Carrera Cup winner – in Australia and France – who also won the coveted Junior Shoot-out that earned him a

scholarship spot to begin his racing in Europe.

After taking a hit in despite his Porsche Junior status in 2019 and 2020, he regrouped and is happy with his efforts last year in Supercar and WEC. “It wasn’t better than what I expected, but it was definitely a result I needed to open some eyes on that side of the world,” he says.

“And to finish third in WEC was another big thing for me with Dempsey Proton and Matt (Campbell).”

He is now into the final countdown with Porsche, which is about to confirm the programs for all of its factory drivers.

Meantime, he’s getting set for the London lifestyle, despite ruling out an old-school party house.

“It’s exciting. But it’s just a base for us during the season.”

Evans is upbeat about 2022 and hopeful that he will have soon have something to announce.

“I’m pretty happy with what it’s looking like. There’s still no confirmation. Hopefully in the next two weeks I’ll have something,” he says.

Paul Gover

OSCAR’S

Image: Riccardo Benvenuti

ROAD TO F1 WITH OSCAR PIASTRI

WAKEFIELD PARK DA COURT-BOUND THE CURRENT impasse with Wakefield Park and it Development Application is destined to go to a NSW Land and Environment Court hearing next month.

The Goulburn Mulwaree Council meeting on February 1 was told by general manager Warwick Bennett that, even if the three parties involved, ie the circuit owners, council and affected residents, reached an agreement, legal action would proceed.

The only way court action would not go ahead was in the unlikely event that Wakefield Park surrendered its DA or the council decision was altered.

Ahead of the LEC hearing, which is set down for March 8, 9 and 10, councillors unanimously voted to arrange meetings with the circuit management, expected to include objectors without prejudice.

The Benalla Auto Club-owned raceway lodged a DA last year, aimed at the modernisation of its infrastructure which included a new pit complex.

Some nearby residents objected to the DA and have cited continued breach of the noise restrictions which has led to the current situation.

Noise levels have been based on a 1993 consent which, residents claim, the facility has breached

continually. The level of circuit use since then has greatly increased.

At last July’s council meeting when the circuit sought DA approval, the condition on noise limits were included which would restrict levels to 95 decibels on 30 days only. Under that restriction the circuit operators said it would render the motor racing circuit unviable. Lower noise levels (75dBA and 85dBA) would apply for the rest of the year.

Wakefield Park wants up to 75 days a year with noise limits up to the 95dBA LAeq (15min) limit while the rest would range from 75 to 85.

While the circuit has addressed noise complaints in recent years, residents have reported alleged breaches. Readings taken by the circuit have shown 50 exceedances towards the end of last year and 10 in January this year.

Councillors have been discussing over the past few weeks, informally, that there is value in meeting with Wakefield Park and the affected residents.

They want to see if there is a way forward within the planning and environmental boundaries that would allow the track to be commercially viable whilst mitigating residents’ concerns.

Garry O’Brien

MORE HYPERCAR NEWS FURTHER NEWS about the Hypercar era of world sportscar racing has been revealed, Porsche has confirmed when it will debut, while IMSA has announced the name of the top-tier class.

Its top-tier Hypercar category will be known as Grand Touring Prototype (GTP).

The GTP class will be open to Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) prototypes including the likes of the Toyota Gazoo Racing entries currently run in the World Endurance Championship.

The GTP title may be familiar to some readers as it was used in the IMSA Sportscar competition between 1981 and 1993.

In addition to the new name, IMSA also unveiled a new GTP logo at Daytona International Speedway.

The logo will be displayed on all GTP cars next season and is a hybrid of both the old GTP and current IMSA logos.

One of the first manufacturers to confirm its participation in the new LMDh regulations, Porsche, also revealed more details about its plans, including the date of its first race.

The legendary German manufacturer had already announced that it will compete in both IMSA and WEC next year,

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having commenced its testing program several weeks ago.

Porsche has now confirmed its return to sportscar racing will be at the Daytona 24 Hours in 2023, the opening round of the IMSA Sportscar Championship.

Porsche has also revealed it has opted to race with a ‘large-capacity’ twinturbo V8 unit.

“We were spoiled for choice with the engine for our LMDh prototype, because the product range offers several promising baseline units,” said Vice President Porsche Motorsport Thomas Laudenbach.

“We decided on the V8-Biturbo, which we feel offers the best combination of

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performance characteristics, weight and costs. The kick-off to the active test programme was an important step for the project.”

Porsche Motorsport Project Manager Urs Kuratle expressed his delight at seeing the project take shape, and the cameraderie within the team already.

“In the next outings, we will focus on going deeper into the required processes and procedures. During these first test days at Weissach, the V8biturbo impressed us in every respect,” Kuratle said.

“We’re convinced that we’ve chosen precisely the right unit.”

Dan McCarthy

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Well, the holidays are over!

After spending four weeks at home enjoying Christmas, beautiful blue skies, and a hot Aussie summer by the water with my family and friends, it’s been non-stop since I got back to the UK. I joked in December that I’d be World Couch Sitting Champion in 2022 but, looking at the schedule, there’s not going to be any slowing down, at least not for the next few months anyway.

I’ve been at the Alpine F1 factory at Enstone most days since being back, training, in engineering meetings, and in the sim helping with the development of this year’s new car as its on-track debut gets closer.

The new car will be unveiled on February 21, but before then, the team also has three days of media and marketing sessions with photoshoots and filming, which I’m included in along the way supporting Esteban and Fernando.

Being my first F1 launch, it looks pretty intense and also a little intimidating, but I’m also really excited. It will be a very different year, but I am looking forward to a season of learning embedded within the team and the opportunities ahead with Alpine.

As we’re putting this Auto Action column together, I’m also getting ready for tonight’s Autosport Awards in London and making sure my tux is ironed and nice and sharp.

Again, I’ve been nominated for the Rookie of the Year Award, which I won last year for my 2020 F3 season.

A fan vote decides the award. The other nominations had solid years and are also pretty popular – Mick Schumacher in F1, ELMS Champion Yifei Ye, and Romain Grosjean in his first Indycar season, so it would be pretty cool to win for a second straight year.

You can probably read how I went somewhere in this AA issue. [ED: As we went to press, Oscar did indeed win his second Rookie of the Year Award – brilliant!]

Before I left Australia, Motorsport Australia announced that I had won the Sir Jack Brabham Trophy for international achievement for the second year running, joining Will Power as its only two-time recipient.

Not only was it again an honour but also a pleasant surprise when you consider the achievements of other Aussies around the world in 2021, like Molly Taylor and Jack Doohan.

That presentation was held in front of a packed media scrum at the Albert Park circuit, 10 minutes from home.

It was a thrill to have Tim Schenken there to hand me the trophy – Tim is not only a highly respected official worldwide but one of just five Aussies to have ever stood on an F1 podium.

Hopefully, I can become the sixth one day soon.

I had an unexpected 24-hour layover in Darwin on the way back to England, where I’d never visited before.

It was a pretty cool stopover that allowed me to squeeze in one last Chicken Parmigiana before returning to the UK’s Bangers and Mash!

The Parma was good but posting a photo on social media started a massive debate over whether it’s pronounced “Parmi” or “Parma”.

Being from Melbourne, it’s definitely “Parma”. What do you think?

Cheers,

www.autoaction.com.au I 13

LATEST NEWS

Image: Daniel Kalisz

TEAM MACROW’S GROWTH PLAN FORMER AUSTRALIAN Drivers’ Champion Tim Macrow is returning to S5000 in 2022 and confirmed that his team will expand to at least a two car outfit in coming rounds, something the Victorian believes will be a major asset to him.

Despite being a one-car operation in the 2021 S5000 Championship and Tasman Series, Macrow was a title contender heading into the final round of both, taking it to the likes of open-wheel squad Team BRM and former front-running Supercars team Garry Rogers Motorsport.

However, in 2022 Macrow’s enterprise will expand to at least two cars, with possibly three in selected rounds.

“We won’t (have a second car) in Tasmania, but for the later rounds, definitely,” he confirmed to Auto Action.

“We’re going to have another car on the grid and at some events possibly three.

“I think the field will grow, post Tasmania with a couple of deals coming together, it’s looking really, really positive.”

Macrow is confident that in races he is just as quick if not quicker than the GRM and Team BRM drivers, but has just been lacking that little bit in qualifying.

“I’ve just got to lift my game personally in

qualifying and do a better job in Quali and not put us in positions of fourth and fifth,” he confessed.

“You can see when I did qualify well last year we raced at the front for the whole weekend.

The team are doing a really good job with the car, I think I’ve just got to lift my game a little bit in quali and go from there.”

The former Australian Formula 3 Champion is sure that a young driver in a second car will help him unlock a little more one-lap pace.

“We’ve been the best performing single car team by a long way, but I think that’s probably where the struggle is, particularly in quali – we don’t have anyone to bounce data off,” Macrow said.

“If I had a really good fast young driver in the car, it would be awesome. The best thing that could happen for my team and I’ve said this before is that they come and beat me. That would improve a lot of things!

“If you look at what GRM are doing next door to us, they have three different cars, with three different setups and they pick what works.

Late last year Macrow’s Formula 3 driver Ben Taylor cut some laps in an S5000 for the first time in a test at Winton Motor Raceway.

Dan McCarthy

COX PREFERS PEUGEOT TCR AUSTRALIA Series driver Jordan Cox believes his move from historically quick Alfa Romeo machinery into a Peugeot this season will be beneficial for his title hopes.

The Garry Rogers Motorsport driver finished third in the standings last year behind champion Chaz Mostert and Aaron Cameron in a Giulietta Veloce TCR, but this year GRM has elected to throw its eggs into the Peugeot and Renault baskets instead.

Despite losing the fast Alfa package, Cox believes his switch might be an upgrade after testing the Peugeot 308 TCR at Winton Raceway.

“We had our first hit out in it at Winton last week and first impressions were very good,” Cox told Auto Action.

“The car was a lot easier to drive than the Alfa.

“The whole time we ran the Alfa, particularly early in the races, the car doesn’t really come on, or work well with cold tyres. When we drove the Peugeot the other day it was brilliant, so I think it is going to be a good race car.”

“It’s just a much more refined car. The braking, steering and even the throttle application, everything’s just a lot nicer and a lot more refined compared to the Alfa.

“The Alfa has also proven pretty unreliable throughout the years. I think the Peugeot seems

14 I www.autoaction.com.au

to be proven from that point of view.

“The Alfa was very strong in some tracks and then very weak and the others, where we think the Peugeot is going to be a better all-round car.”

Cox will come up against a strong field in TCR this year – 2019 champion and Supercars Championship race winner Will Brown returns to the series after two years off while GRM stablemate Cameron will also be fighting for the title.

Nevertheless, Cox fancies his chances to top the standings in 2022 while also predicting strong competition from the GRM line up.

“That’s the game plan every year,” Cox said.

“I think Aaron and I will be banging doors at some point, I expect the four of us to be very close.

“Ben Bargwanna came on very strong at the end of last year and drove phenomenally at Bathurst.

“Dylan O’Keeffe is extremely quick, he’s got the most pole positions in TCR. “The DNFs were extremely frustrating last year, we calculated if we didn’t have the DNFs we would have been pretty close to Chaz (Mostert) in the championship.

“It’s one of those things, consistency and finishing races is key.” Dan McCarthy and Josh Nevett Image: Daniel Kalisz

SLADE TO RACE S5000

WITH LUKE WEST

REVVED UP

SUPERCARS DRIVER Tim Slade will take part in Race Tasmania event this weekend, competing in the S5000 Championship.

The Queensland-based driver will make his S5000 debut driving for Form700/Alabar-backed South Australian squad Team BRM – a team Slade has plenty of prior experience with.

Slade’s stint in Formula Ford saw him finish second to S5000 regular John Martin in 2006 prior to progressing to the Super 2 Series.

Prior to that, he also had a brief stint in Australian Formula 3 driving with BRM in a one-off appearance at the end of the 2004 championship at Mallala, and returned for a partial campaign the following season.

In Tasmania Slade will be part of a two-car Form700/Alabar squad with reigning Gold Star winner Joey Mawson, along with New Zealander Kaleb Ngatoa in the third BRM-run car.

“Any time you get an opportunity to jump into a cool racing car, you grab it!” Slade said.

“The guys at Team BRM and I go back a long way so it’s great to be able to put this together and get back in an open wheel car. It’s been quite a while but I’m really looking forward to the challenge.

“S5000 has been very competitive and the guys at the front are all strong so I’m looking forward to getting amongst it.

“The team won the championship last year so I know they are up to the job, and I’m not going to there to just drive around. I want to race, be competitive and contend so that’s the goal.”

Dan McCarthy

AA’S LONG-TIME COLUMNIST ASKS WHAT’S THE PLAN, STAN?

WHY GRM CHOSE TO DROP THE ALFA GARRY ROGERS Motorsport has confirmed to Auto Action that it will not run Alfa Romeos in the 2022 TCR Australia Series, downscaling and electing to run just its Renaults and Peugeots.

The Alfa Romeo has been a fast package in the first two seasons of the TCR Australia Series, but due to the development work that GRM has put into the Renaults, the former Bathurst 1000 winning team felt it was best to drop the Italian machines.

Garry Rogers Motorsport Team Principal Barry Rogers told AA that, as they are the leading Renault TCR team worldwide, a lot of work is done within the workshop.

“We’re going to run four Peugeots and then two Renaults,” Rogers told AA. “We are just dropping back to two brands – that logistically makes it a lot easier for us.

“Most people would say ‘wouldn’t you drop the Renault before the Alfa?’ but we are quite involved with the homologation team on the Renaults.

“Our ability to do in-house maintenance etc, on those cars is a lot simpler; we are able to do a lot more internally, not having to deal with Europe with those cars ... we just want to stick with that programme.

“We’ve made a lot of progress with the Renaults.

Speedwise we’re certainly getting there. Reliability wise, we’ve obviously had gremlins which we’re chipping away at over time.

“We’re pretty confident we’re on top of it, so we’ll stick with the Renaults and go with the four Peugeots.”

Rogers admitted it was a tough decision to make because generally in motorsport you make whatever decision you need to go faster on track.

“Racing is about performance, they’re (the Alfas are) a proven car,” he said.

“Probably a couple of things (swayed the decision) – the availability being one.

“I know it doesn’t necessarily matter when you’re haven’t any factory backing as such, but the relevance of the car in the marketplace has probably fallen away due to the fact you haven’t been able to buy a new Giulietta for a couple of years now.

“I know that doesn’t really make a difference financially to us or anyone else, but I just think we should race something that’s relevant, and the freedoms that we do have with regards to maintenance and all the necessary things that get a race car on the track.

“It’s there performance wise – we just need to keep working hard at it and get the Renault where it needs to be (consistently).

“Hopefully in Tassie we bounce out with the Renault as good as the Alfa would have been and we’ve made a good decision ... but time will tell.”

GRM will continue to own the Alfa Romeos, loaning them to other teams including Ash Seward Motorsport.

“Braydan Willmington is running one of our Alfas and Ash Seward is running one of his Alfas and one he will lease off us,” Rogers explained.

Dan McCarthy

Luke West is a long-time Auto Action columnist and author of The Immortals of Australian Motor Racing: the Local Heroes.

Image: Daniel Kalisz

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DIDN’T SEE that coming! Just when it looked like the Australian Racing Group was snuggling ever closer into Supercars’ and Seven’s bosoms, along comes news of a breakaway deal with Nine Entertainment’s Stan Sport.

Nine has barely fired a shot in anger motorsport-wise this millennium, although it was a pioneering Formula 1 and IndyCar broadcaster in this country. It also showed Super Touring during the two-litre class’s halcyon days of the 1990s. Thus, you could say things have turned full circle now TCR will be, one way or another (cue the late Ken Sparkes’ voiceover) a “presentation of Nine’s Wide World of Sports.”

And I can’t remember Nine ever carrying coverage of any event from Mount Panorama. Yet in 2022, two big Bathurst meetings will be telecast by Seven’s great rival – Easter’s 6-Hour and November’s Bathurst International. Wow. The Aussie motorsport television landscape has changed so quickly...

In the space of two months Stan Sport has acquired WRC, WEC, Formula E, Aussie TCR, S5000, GT World Challenge Australia, TA2, the Bathurst 6 Hour and IndyCar. Of this list, the always entertaining North American-based open-wheel series is the oldest of Nine’s current ‘properties’, with Darryl Eastlake calling the first Surfers Paradise street race 31 years ago.

The downside of Stan’s emergence as the new home of motorsport is, of course, that it’s another streaming service for motorsport enthusiasts to justify. In the case of my household of four, Stan will be the fifth streaming platform subscription in play. Stan will join Netflix (predominantly watched by Mrs Rev), Kayo (enjoyed for Supercars, F1 and NRL), Paramount Plus ($9 per month to follow our A-League team, the Wanderers) and Optus Sport (my soccer-crazy teenage sons pay for that one). It’s starting to get very expensive.

There is, however, a significant upside to Stan providing live, ad-free and on-demand streaming of ARG’s categories – the prospect of fewer time-certain finishes, which to this point, have plagued its races. Last year TCR and S5000 sprints often featured very few racing laps, as races were trimmed to the bone following prolonged safety car periods to keep things on schedule. This was done with the admirable goal of squeezing an entertaining and tight program of races within Seven’s ultra-compact live broadcasts, which also needed to accommodate commercial breaks. But it was all too tight and the racing product suffered. I dare say it has stunted the growth of the two fledgling categories to an extent.

The situation improves under the new TV deal with ad breaks taken out of the equation. In short, there’s more wiggle room for races to finish under green conditions. Halleluiah!

I would have preferred for the first, say, three laps behind the Safety Car not to count as race laps, but the 2022 system is a vast improvement.

So what’s behind the move to Stan – more coin from Nine for the TV rights or a desire for clear air in the motorsporting marketplace? I suspect a bit of both. As much as I loved last December’s mega, combined Bathurst meeting, TCR, especially, came across as a support act to the Supercars rather than the premium touring car series in its own right.

To that end, ARG’s classes are now collectively branded under the ‘SpeedSeries’ moniker. I get what ARG is trying to do – market an overall travelling show – but introducing another brand name does come with its own risks of diminishing cut-through.

Anyway, the new Speed Series gets underway this weekend at Symmons Plains, on a weekend with precious little other domestic or international motorsport – and sport generally, Winter Olympics aside – happening. The likes of Tim Slade, Fabian Coulthard and Will Brown will generate attention and I can’t wait to see who’s the new TV talent.

It’s a big year for ARG’s big guns, TCR and S5000. The groundwork has been laid over two punctuated seasons and it’s time to shine.

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LATEST NEWS

PHILLIP ISLAND HISTORICS THRILLER-DILLER FOR COMPETITORS and spectators alike, the Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport is about as good as it gets in Australian Historic Racing.

This summers dose is from Thursday 10 Sunday 13 March.

“The major event is the five-lap Peter Brock Trophy race for GTR-XU1s,” Victorian Historic Racing Register Club President, Ian Tate told Auto Action.

“Its 50 years since Brockie and the XU1 won at Bathurst – we want to recognise and celebrate the achievement, the start of his move upwards, and of course a

sensational car.”

“At this stage we should have 10-12 cars, and Bev Brock will present the trophy. We’re after more cars, so if you want to run in quite an historic race, get your entry in!”

Perhaps even more exciting are huge 30car 5-litre Touring Car grids, including such significant machines as Perkins father and son Commodores: Larry’s Castrol VZ and Jack’s HRT VF. Ben Eggleston is bringing two HRT Commodores, Kerry McMahon a DJR Falcon AU, while freshly minted Supercar team owner Peter Xiberras is towing south a Triple-Eight VF. Plus, many

FIVE ROUNDS FOR VIC STATE SERIES

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in for the grid with entries still open.

Other categories with especially strong entry numbers heading into the first round are Improved Production/BMW E30 (40), Formula Vee (24) and Sports Sedans (22).

“They’re pretty strong and they’re still rolling in,” Zsidy said.

“It’s the first round of the Formula Ford national series. You’ll see some of the hottest young talent on four wheels in the country out there and I’m sure they’ll turn on some great racing again.”

Fans have been given the go ahead to attend Sandown for the weekend, welcomed back to view motorsport after being locked out of events in recent times.

Everyone entering the venue must be able to prove their double vaccination status.

“To get the fans back watching the live action is great,” Zsidy said.

“It’s nice to see people in the grandstands and on the hill as you drive past.”

Josh Nevett

VSRS 2022 CALENDAR ROUND 1

ROUND 2 ROUND 3 ROUND 4 ROUND 5

Sandown MGCC Winton Combined Phillip Island PIARC Sandown ASSA Phillip Island VMC

“We’ve got a huge entry of 56 Formula Fords – on Sunday the FF guys have split the races into two groups, so the older FAFBs are encouraged to run.”

11 lap races for the quick Group Q & R Sports, and Single-seaters is great and a response to grumbles about shorter races.

“The VHRR are running Thursday practice this year to avoid some of the dramas, so those with four days to play with can do some serious laps!”

Indeed.

Be there, the Island promises to be sensational. Mark Bisset

CARROLL CONFIRMS TRANS AM RETURN

Image: Revved Photography THE VICTORIAN State Race Series has released a five-round calendar for the 2022 season and entries are already healthy for the first event at Sandown.

After a COVID-interrupted two seasons of racing (just three rounds were completed last year), the series will visit Sandown Raceway, Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit and Winton Raceway to complete the five rounds.

The season kicks off at Sandown on February 25, before heading up north to Winton in March.

Phillip Island will be the third venue to host a round in May, before the series returns to Sandown and Phillip Island to complete the season in August and September, respectively.

Chairman of the VSRS Committee Paul Zsidy is looking forward to a full calendar of events in 2022: “I think we should all be looking forward to a full championship,” Zsidy told Auto Action.

“That is what’s on everyone’s minds after the last two years.

“All we want is to be able to go and do our five rounds of racing.”

“I think we are evolving towards something like COVID normal now where you can plan events with some certainty that things will happen.”

Round 1 will be headlined by a national round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship and there are 33 cars locked

more including invitee TCM cars and a Group C XC Coupe.

Rounding out the Touring Car grids will be Groups C and A events with at least five Sierra RS500s.

Sportscar buffs will thrill to the sight of (probably) four 600bhp turbo-charged Porsche 956/962 Group C rockets: it’s the 40-year anniversary of the 956’ first Le Mans victory.

“Given all of the Covid 19 dramas we should get a 425-car entry – pretty good given the madness in Western Australia costs us 20-30 cars.”

February 25-27 March 26-27 May 14-15 August 12-14 September 23-25

AFTER TWO years in the motorsport wilderness Melbourne racer Nic Carroll will return in 2022, joining a packed grid to take on a full Trans Am Series campaign.

The 22-year-old will drive an ex-Cameron Crick and Ben Grice Dodge Challenger throughout the upcoming campaign, joining Grice in a squad overseen by Les Small.

Carroll last raced at the 2020 Adelaide 500 event, managing a trio of top five finishes in Trans Am machinery.

With his future in the sport secured, the 22-year-old is excited to kick his career back into gear.

“I’m very thankful to be back racing this year, and really looking forward to it,” Carroll says.

“I’ve just been working on trying to get back into a seat, which has been hard.

“It’s come together in the last couple of months. There was a car available for the series, so we managed to secure that.

“We thought the Trans Am was quite suited to the direction I’m wanting to go in the future.

“It’s nice knowing I’m locked into all the rounds, rather than just one or two like back in 2020.”

Carroll has raced in Formula Ford, the Toyota 86 Series and Super3 as well as Trans Am since entering the scene in 2016.

With five Super3 podiums under his belt from a single season in 2019, Carroll now has his sights firmly set on a Supercars berth in the long-term.

“There’s only one ultimate category in Australia, Supercars, which does make it tough,” Carroll explains.

“I’m focusing on getting seat time for myself and getting back and enjoying racing.

“There is an opportunity to move up into some form of Supercar racing in the future ... that’s the plan.

“But I’m also going to be happy just racing the Trans Am and for now and getting myself back on the radar for teams up and down pit lane.”

A bumper 31-car field is set to take on the first round of the 2022 Trans Am Series this weekend at Symmons Plains Raceway in Tasmania.

Despite spending an extended period on the sidelines, Carroll believes he can make an impact on the category immediately.

“There is a very high calibre of drivers for the 2022 season but in terms of having some time off, I don’t think we ever forget how to drive,” Carroll says.

“It’s just the fine tuning and getting back into the swing of things. We did a test day the other week at Winton Raceway, which I felt comfortable in.

“I’m going into the first round with a level head and expect to be up the pointy end.

“Having Ben Grice as a teammate will be extremely beneficial, we’re fairly competitive drivers and I think we’ll be able to help each other out.” Josh Nevett

AMRS TO RACE UNDER LIGHTS AT SMP THE AUSTRALIAN Motor Racing Series (AMRS) returns for 2022, kicking off the season at Sydney Motorsport Park under lights from February 18-19.

AMRS features a selection of national categories, of which six will attend the SMP round headlined by the Super GTs which will battle it out in a four-hour night race.

Last year’s inaugural enduro was won by Luke Youlden and Vince Muriti in a Mercedes AMG GT3, in a dramatic contest that culminated in a lead change on the very last lap.

Youlden and Muriti are back to defend their crown, while other notable names on the entry list include the father-and-son duo of Indiran and Duvashen Padayachee in their Porsche, the Mercedes AMG-GT3 of Garth Walden/Michael Sheargold and the Richard Gartner/Hadrian Morrall Lamborghini Gallardo.

The Australian Formula 3 Championship will also race after dark, doing so for the first time in its history.

F3 cars currently hold the outright lap record on the full Gardner Circuit at SMP and will likely post quick times again in cool conditions.

A notable vehicle on this year’s F3 grid will be

the Dallara F312/16 of Trent Grubel – it is the newest car in this year’s field, while last year’s Australian Formula Ford Championship runnerup Noah Sands joins the category as a rookie.

The TA2 Muscle Car series will recommence with a mixture of rising stars and experienced hands signed up to race.

Thunder Sports represents the grass roots offering in the category list providing open regulations for competitors to get creative in two separate Classes A and B, both classes offer their own winners, podiums, and prizes.

AMRS Series Manager Matt Baragwanath is looking forward to the season getting underway.

“We’re excited to kick off our 2022 season at Sydney Motorsport Park, and very pleased to have the continued support of our national categories despite the COVID interruptions of the last two seasons,” Baragwanath said.

“The fans will be treated to plenty of entertaining racing, especially the Super GT 4 Hour, which will be a thrilling night-time spectacle.”

Tickets are available for the event, which will also be live streamed by Fuzzy Media on the Saturday afternoon and evening. Josh Nevett

MOTORSPORT FIGURES RECEIVE NATIONAL RECOGNITION AUSTRALIAN FORMULA 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo headlined a list of several motorsport community members recognised on the Australia Day 2022 Honours List.

The McLaren driver was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) following “Significant service to motorsport as a competitor and ambassador, and the community.”

Ricciardo has provided significant service to motorsport as an eight-time grand prix winner, including most recently the Italian Grand Prix at Monza last year.

The 32-year-old also announced late last year that he had become an ambassador for Save The Children, with a focus on education outside of the traditional classroom environment.

Ricciardo joins the likes of Toby Price, who had the honour bestowed upon him last year, as well as Mark Webber, Jack Brabham, Craig Lowndes, Mark Skaife and Peter Brock.

Beyond Ricciardo’s recognition, seven other members of the motorsport community were also recognised this year.

Victorian Historic Racing Register (VHRR) President Ian Tate (right) was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his contribution to historic motorsports.

Tate has been involved in motorsport for almost seven decades and worked with renowned Australian motorsport figures Frank Lowndes, Colin Bond and Peter Brock.

Tate has more recently directed his passion towards historic racing, holding the President role at VHRR since 2000.

“It’s very humbling to receive an award like

this. Of course, you don’t get into the sport for awards, but to be rewarded for my hard work over the years is very gratifying,” Tate said.

Terence Bracken of Tasmania and Leslie Power of Western Australia were also awarded Medals of the Order of Australia (OAM) for “service to the motorsport industry”.

Kay De Luca and the late Anthony De Luca of New South Wales were given the same recognition for service to motoring clubs and to the community, as was Ian Digby of South Australia for service to the community and to the motor industry. Josh Nevett

THE VICTORIAN STATE RACE SERIES IS BACK ROUND 1 SANDOWN PARK RACEWAY

February 25-27 - Presented by the MG Car Club • Formula Ford • Formula Vee • Historic Touring Cars • HQ Holden • Hyundai Excel • Improved Production

Fantastic entries across many categories including the first round of the Formula Ford Nationals.

• BMW E30 • MG / Invited British Sport Cars • Porsche 944 Challenge • Saloon Cars • Sports Cars • Sports Sedan

Spectators will be well catered for with access to both the grandstand and the paddock.

The Red Hill area will also be open for spectators on Sunday.

As per the Government regulations everyone entering the venue must be able to prove their double vaccination status.

• Round 2 Winton March 26-27 • Round 3 Phillip Island May 14-15 • Round 4 Sandown August 12-14 • Round 5 Phillip Island September 23-25

For further information visit www.VSRS.com.au AutoActionMagazine

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NEWS EXTRA

A NEW ERA IN CARRERA CUP ALL CHANGE FOR AUSTRALIA’S FASTEST ONE-MAKE RACERS

By Paul Gover THERE HAVE been some pretty impressive Porsche parties in the past, but nothing to remotely rival the latest at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Porsche celebrated the handover of its all-new 992-series Carrera Cup contenders with a giant three-day gathering at the Sydney circuit.

The keystone for the event was the delivery of the 32 shiny silver Cup cars to their new owners, but there was a lot more action and instruction.

There were full technical briefings followed by three timed track sessions, which were eventually topped by Ryan Suhle at 1 minute 28.4402 seconds.

Carrera Cup competition will begin at Albert Park during the Australian Grand Prix meeting, but two extra Cup cars have also landed for the most advanced racefocussed course at the Porsche Track Experience.

The new cars each cost in excess of $400,000 with extra wheels and a spares package, but they were an early sell-out and the powerhouse teams – Sonic Motor Racing and McElrea Racing – are each

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back with multi-car line-ups and the next generation of young hopefuls.

“It’s a big departure for a Cup car. It’s a lot more like a GT,” says Sonic boss, Michael Ritter.

“These are such a good rocket. The biggest difference has got to be the new front end and the extra aero,” says Sonic’s veteran technical chief, Mike Henry.

“It’s a more complex racer. This is so much more of a race-car than the old one.”

Alex Davison, a former Cup champion who also raced for Porsche in Europe, is impressed.

“They are a beautifully finished car. The attention to detail and ergonomics is next level,” he says.

“Driving wise, as you’d expect, there are decent steps from the previous-generation Cup car. It’s more like a GT car but still feels like a Cup car.”

The shakedown goes surprisingly well, with so many brand-new cars in action, although there is a niggling fuel pump problem on some and also a loose aero inlet on others.

Everyone is learning, learning, learning, from the Michelin tyre changing crew to the technical teams to the drivers.

Former Bathurst 1000 winner Luke Youlden has been racing Porsches with the TekworkX team near his home on the Gold Coast and is one of the early pace-setters.

That’s no surprise for the lead driver at Porsche’s experience program.

“It’s a lot more settled and you can feel the extra downforce,” he says. “It’s not quite as angry. It will be better for an amateur driver.”

Scott Taylor becomes the first casualty of the handover when he drops his car at Turn 1. It doesn’t look too bad, but the impact with the inside wall has plucked the frontsuspension pick-up point out of the chassis and the car is loaded into his transporter.

It’s one of many at SMP, which feels more like a lower-key race meeting than a newcar delivery garage.

Among them is the truck from Wall Racing, where team owner David Wall is learning his new car while overseeing two more cars that his team will field for the 2022 championship.

“The performance of the car is everything we were promised. I’m enjoying the rare opportunity to have a brand-new race-car.

What Porsche has done is phenomenal,” Wall says.

“The aero grip and lateral grip is much better. There are bigger windows.

“The ergonomics are better for me at sixfoot-four; I’m more comfortable now. The dash and steering wheel are a massive gain.

“How cool is this? And there is lots more to come.”

THE NEW BOSS Former Supercars team manager Barry Hay (pictured top right) has arrived at Porsche at exactly the right time.

The 50-year-old Melbournian is the new Motorsport Manager and his first big job is the Carrera Cup handover.

“The new cars have come in and there are new things to sweep through with the racing procedures,” he tells us..

He has taken the reigns from Troy Bundy, who won a big new job with Porsche Motorsport in the USA, and says everything is on track.

“It’s the next progression in my career. I started in a race engine shop when I was 15.

I was in Supercars for 20 years,” he begins.

“You want a job where you bound out of bed and can’t wait to get to work. It’s a pretty cool joint.

“I’ve started at the bottom and working my way up by doing different things. Now I’m not laying under a car at 2 o’clock in the morning.”

So the Porsche job is big and different.

“Troy did an awesome job. The category is in excellent condition.

“There are new things to learn.

“There is a percentage of this, at the track, where I’m at ease, but there is also the corporate side.

Hay highlights one significant change for 2022.

“Because the cars are a bit more expensive, and there are more of them, we will be enforcing the driving standards. You want everybody to go home smiling,” he says.

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INSIDE THE ACTION It’s when the back steps out sideways under braking for Turn 2 that I know Jaxon Evans is showing me the limits of the new Cup car.

He snaps it straight with a flick of the wrists, but the moment proves the 992 still takes some driving.

We’re only together for one hot lap, but it’s a good one.

The flat-six howl is familiar as we leave the pits at Sydney Motorsport Park but, glancing across from the right-hand seat, there is a world of difference from my first Cup car experience alongside Jim Richards.

The shifting is done with paddles and not an H-pattern manual, and that’s just the

start. The steering wheel looks like it comes from a Formula One car, not a road-going Porsche 911.

And then we hustle into Turn 3.

The front-end grip is strong and positive, without the usual Porsche reluctance, and then it easily takes full power.

Through the various sweeps and swerves at SMP there are G-forces strong enough to punish my neck, as Evans can go late and positive with all his inputs.

As we howl down to Turn 1 he is late, late, late with a brush on the brakes and then we are through and gone.

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RALLY NEWS

Image: Aaron Wishart

VAN GISBERGEN TIPPED FOR RALLY PODIUM SUPERCARS CHAMPION IS A SERIOUS ARC THREAT

By Paul Gover, News Editor SHANE VAN Gisbergen could easily take a podium place from his first start in the Australian Rally Championship.

The head of the benchmark Toyota GT team that has dominated the recent running of the rally series, Neal Bates, believes the Supercars champion has the natural speed to be fast in the forests and will only need stage time to give his best.

The biggest difference, according to Bates, will be driving on pace-notes, although van Gisbergen will also have to cope with changing road conditions and unfamiliar surfaces through the National Capital Rally on the first weekend of April.

Bates, whose sons Harry and Lewis are the pre-event favourites in their GR Yaris pocket rockets, is welcoming van Gisbergen to rallying and hopes his first event in Canberra will lead to extra involvement.

“I’m very happy he’s coming. He’s obviously a big name in motorsport. I think he will be quick,” Bates tells Auto Action.

“Can he win? I would hope not, but who knows! He should be fast enough for the podium.”

Van Gisbergen will be driving a Skoda Fabia R5 (pictured above), a car that is a proven winner in Australia and in the World Rally Championship, with champion co-driver Glen Weston alongside.

It’s being run by the Race Torque Engineering team out of Western Australia, which has been Skoda’s Asia-Pacific spearhead with a string of top-class drivers.

It also leases cars and Eli Evans scored his fourth ARC title driving one of its Skodas with Ben Searcy in 2018.

“He’s going with the best car available and with a very proven team in RaceTorque. He’s got some stuff to learn, but no-one can question his driving,” says Bates.

“Once he learns the rest he will be very quick. And it’s good for the championship, and for Harry and Lewis, to have him driving.”

SvG is less bullish about his chances, even though he was brought up in a rally family and starred most recently in a gravel rallysprint in New Zealand.

“It’s pretty nerve-wracking to finally be in the main

series in a proper car. It’s going to pretty tough jumping straight in,” he says.

“I don’t set any goals. I’ll just go there, have fun and. as long as I’m prepared as well as I can and the car runs well, I’ll go and drive and things will happen.

“It’s an awesome challenge and I want to see if I can adapt and get better and better at it and hopefully have a proper go at it. This is a great initiation and we’ve got some pretty cool people onboard.

“I’ll try and study as much film as I can to see the roads and see how people approach it. I’ll be playing on my sim a lot – I’ve got an HP Omen at home. I’ll play the DiRT Rally game on that and learn to process the notes, how to approach things and get my brain thinking about that!”

For the moment, SvG’s rally adventure is just a one-off with backing from Red Bull, but plenty of people hope it will not be his last start in the ARC. For van Gisbergen, though, the ARC is just a sideline to his Supercars program.

“I won’t be doing the whole Championship, but I’ll go and do the first round and have some fun; take my time, see how we go.”

OLD MAN BATES RETURNS CLASSIC CHAMPION IN A CLASSIC COMEBACK FOUR-TIME national champion Neal Bates is heading back to his rally roots in 2022.

After spending recent years on the sidelines, leading the GR Yaris team in the Australian Rally Championship and the technical side of the Toyota GR Australia 86 championship, he plans to drive again.

Bates is now 57 but believes he still has speed on his side, despite handing the Yaris drives to his sons Harry and Lewis while watching his nephew Zach starring in 86s.

He has already made a winning start to his comeback in a low-key rallysprint in his home forests in Canberra, but has bigger plans for the coming year.

“You could say I’m getting the band back together,” Bates tells Auto Action.

“We’re getting the Celica RA40 (pictured) out of the

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Image: Toyota Australia museum and Coral (Taylor) will be back on the notes.”

But Bates is ruling out a full-scale return to rallying in one of the GR Yaris.

“I have driven the car, but only on a speedway. Not seriously in a forest or anything.

“There was plenty of room at the speedway and you would have to be doing something pretty stupid to get it wrong.”

There was a time when the Toyota Gazoo Racing

Australia team was considering a third Yaris, which would have been a spare car for the ARC and a potential starter for the boss.

But the latest Yaris AP4 from the team’s Canberra race base is now going to a customer in South America.

“If we had a third car I’d do it for sure. But if you look at us, we’re a team of only five people. I’m very conscious of not increasing the workload when it’s already incredibly tough.

“We won’t have a third car now. And if you are going to drive in the ARC you have to put in the effort, go testing, and get up to speed.”

Bates is instead planning a limited program in events that suit his workload and the proven winning speed of his rear-wheel drive classic Celica.

“My intention is to do as many rallies as I can fit in. It’s difficult to plan because so many things are happening. I have to move my plans around them.

“We need rallies that are pace-noted and on roads that suit the RA40.”

He has already driven the Celica to four classic championships in the ARC as well as two victories in the highly-rated Rally of Otago, including a win over Kiwi champion and former WRC driver Hayden Paddon.

Bates admits there will be challenges, but he is confident he can still do a good job.

“Am I too old? Am I still enjoying? No and yes,” he says.

“Am I as fast as I was at my peak? Possibly not. But speed isn’t everything.

“The last rally I went in was a rallysprint in Canberra and I won outright.” Paul Gover

TOP FUEL IS THE NEW REALITY STAR with Mark Fogarty

THE FOGES FILE

TELEVISION HAS NEVER DONE A PROPER JOB FOR DRAG RACING IN AUSTRALIA. UNTIL NOW.

Image: CACKLING PIPES

AA’s proud pundit rejoices in the return THE FIRST round of this year’s national title made for great action of the Tasman Cup on the ground and, for once, and defends the excitement translated to theF1 television coverage.

ENTHUSIASTS a certain That’s thanks toOF a huge numberage have longed for the return of the Tasman of cameras, keen commentary, Cup championship. background information and In our youth,from it was the pinnacle. A commitment the broadcast summer crew. series in New Zealand and Australia was virtually a southern Best of that all, the racing was close Formula 1 title. None of the cars and competitive.

From Tasman Cup saw parked1964-69, because ofthe mechanical F1failures. stars And racethe here a crown finalfor went right second only totothe down theworld wire. championship, which back wasthey decided over as few as Six then cars ran; completed eight Grands qualifying andPrix. ran through three Jack Bruce Look at the line-up for the Warwick Farm Tasman Series round in 1968 – front row Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Chris Amon; second row legs ofBrabham, racing, andJim theyClark, are ready Piers Courage, Denny Hulme; third row Frank Gardner ...

McLaren, Denny Hulme, Graham to to it again.

Fuel, is an eloquent interview and The end result is coverage which Hill,The Chris Amon, and Piers Courage and top qualifier runner-up, also puts the competition into puts Top Fuel into proper focus Jochen Rindt were some crown. But fun in the sun was the main in Jan/Feb, just notperspective. cojoined under the recentand Hungarian Prix.

It had new Supercars team just owner Peterof the He does not win. highlightsGrand one of the most big names who spentthe January and appeal. the Tasman Cup banner – although, everything: drama, suspense, fierce on Xiberras, even finished weekend Tracking back a little, Prendergast impressive forms of motorsport February I missed the semi-F1 glory years, but sponsored by the same tobacco anplanet. unexpected winner. in SydneyDown with a Under. new nickname. remembers how it began. racing andthe InHe theis later years, their 2.5-litre I’d read about them. I became involved company.

There wasIt’sLewis Hamilton, on now Peter-X. “I initially met with the Top Fuel said that the only alone thing that variants were that test Top carsFuel foristhe in the F5000 era, when Matich, I wrote a comment piece in Theof last year. Itthe intermediate tyres as the “I do believe likecoming teams in March wasgrid on makes a bigger assault on your three-litre F1 season.

Graham McRae and Peter Gethin were Australian after themore ’75 series restthey flooded into and the gives pit lane change Ferrari in Formula One. If Top Fuel of a question about what senses, youto a greater The Tasman series the big stars. denouncing the uncomfortable never seen before! is going well then dragshowcased racing will the were doing withtranstheir future,”to heslicks ...adrenalin rush, that is standing on the top – Frank The first story format I ever wrotesanctioning – published Tasman With the deck rest of starting from the pit lane be locals going well, ” says Matich, one of theSpencer key That includes the racing bodies, just the alliance, six Top earning says. approbation an aircraft carrier while Martin, Bartlett andNathan Leo in Auto in NZ.the But I called the split – and was in an unholy it set theinto stage playersKevin in a bold new plan, (that means threeAction roundsnearly where 50 all years Fuelago cars –sitting behind starting “I presented some broad ideas. the scramble, jets are being thrown the Geoghegan, McRaeofand not popular when IIt’s covered thescience, ’76 but it’sforwhat a thriller andprivileged it was. to be standing Prendergast. among others – against the cars was run), about the promotion the his ’72 line. Tasman not rocket sky.– I’m theIfbest in the world.

Cup-winning Leda GM1. standalone series Supercars across The Hamilton’s fightback was his name sounds familiar, it event and – crucially – the online When they fire-up, and the ground hasDitch. done in the past. between the Top Fuel cars for a Even when F5000 I paid tribute to McRae onshakes our web new Tasman Cupcame will evoke a asked confirmation of his brilliance. could be because he took is the over point from and television coverage. and my eyesThe water from the They back and for us to couple of runs and it’s true.

1970-75, TasmanTelevision Cup hadand site following recent death. the storied history ushering Out front, But Ocon his underdone person forthe Supercars It began with an onlinehis livestream, nitro In fuel, nothing else matters … while help them.” a new the in television package is immense international prestige.

F5000 Tasman was the of open-wheel off Sebastien there is nothing about broadcasting followedearly by a dedicated packagedays, he Just over a weekgeneration later, with Foxtel Some ofstars. the teams were atAlpine the held nearly as good andVettel, far easier on This year’s end-of-season Oz-onlyfor Foxtelman beat,thewinning Once it extends to seven or moreBut, instead, maximising hisears Aston the Supercars show that he does and to 7mate, MAVTVsuccessive fired up,titles I’m nearly as impressed. point of stopping. they your and Martin. eyes. revived Tasman series for S5000, Motorsports fromNetwork ’71-73.in the USA, events NZ and Australia, will Behind them, battles not know.

I want to see if the energyinand got fired-upit to go again from the It could easily,galore like the–landmark endorsed Australia TV3 and in New In 1975, first year as aenthusiasm from the be race trulyweekend worthy of the Fernando Netflix Alonso fending Hamilton But that’sby notMotorsports all, as Prendergast Zealandmy and channels startTasman of 2022. Cup series Drive off to Survive, bring NZ, theracing same, professional journalist, I reported thebeen captured championship title. “I’m not making a drag racing proved thelots ex-world champion is awon’t lifetimebe drag fanbut andit will thrill in Europe. has finally in the of new people to Top Fuel and diehards.

Tasman Spaniard still what it takes. supporter who has one of the best “It’s going aroundtitle theshoot-out world. And at Sandown one-hour package put together by event for traditional drag racers.

We draghas racing.

The future prospect four roundsit’s the one-hour betweenhighlights Warwick Brown, Johnnie WHY F1 team, IS INTOXICATING There is aIflesson here.

Mix it’s upworth the partners in the world ofof motor package Prendergast and his compact had music playing. We had drifting you have the time inevents.

NZ and four in Australia and another Walker Kiwi Graeme Lawrence AT host HISChad peak as president the There was never order andtracking outsiders haveDefinitely. a chance.

Hisanother name is Andy Lopez, hourand for the supporting headlined by livewire and stunt of bikes. it down. inand January/February, mimicking (who won the crossover 1970 series FIA, the late Max Mosley observed Same couldAnd beit’s said he is the driving force at such categories, ” says Prendergast.

Neylon andin play-by-play firecracker any downtime in the program, ” notfor theSupercars. end, just the the original, is intoxicating for a a2.5-litre Ferrari Dino). that Formula 1’s fascination When thebeginning. field gets out of order, powerful people-focussed events There is giant pachyderm in the Wade Aunger.

Prendergastwas says. enthusiasts old and andMotorEx, new. Big-bore V8 John itGoss underpinned by suspense. anything happen.

We old watch as Summernats the room – Google – andwon that’sthe the race after It does and it works.

“You need to reinvent yourself and can “I was three days when I went open wheelers by local and ongoingWalker’s fence-ripping withseem to be Mosley’s that, like rarityIt’s allF1 races out of first duty, occasionally largest car showdriven in Australia. row over sanctioning and crash, There cameras view was offer more to the the fans. gone to my race meeting. It was international aces racing for an historic Brown’s sixth place clinching what Neylon of goes goals in the soccer, well. the We’re anticipation of of how rewarded by epics.

What does that mean for Sydney tracks and categories in Australian everywhere, into pretty proud the 1975 at Ravenswood in WA, where title – what’s would thebig final upset in” F1 kept For all itsmy predictability, prospect Dragway andnot the to firstlike? round of the drag racing.

It’s abe very dealTasman title. garages to talk about the results cars andor great first battles one went. father was thethe promoter, ” says IfBurson you’re under you may also reported – but and perhaps interested. an upset keeps F1 fans enthralled.

Auto Parts40, Australian Tophave no for peopleI inside drag racing talk tohelped the drivers, fans and Aunger That success is reflected inofthe Prendergast. concept of how important the Tasman hasten – the demise Tasman He haveget fordeeply into Every race is the riveting.

Fuel Championship? almost totally irrelevant for the of the puts the sizzle – a lot likewas the right. late F1 followers pictures, which the so often, “Dragaracing reason I’m Cup was. as it turns out. championship when decades endured cars dominations and ThereHungary was oneinofmotorsport. those rareAnd thrillers Everything, people inCup the stands at Sydney in 1976,Mike ‘Getthe your backside trackside’ and competition. are involved now I’m When I was aand kid, it was pre-eminent. summerforseries was Raymond split into –the boring prospect of apictures offrom start to finish.

Prendergast Lopez don’t DragwayF5000 in late January the start into the steak. races for the car-to-car views, the bizarre returning to uplifting it.

F1own heroes onthe holiday here, –of the new Peter thriller. is why F1 is worth watching.

You or drive cars, but theyracing are yearStuyvesant and the new(NZ) deal. and Rothmans American driver once-every-so-often Larry Dixon, drivers at work, even shots ofItthe “We’ve already got some big almost – for a prestigious Internationals. races One of those races wasto the usual just never and know. drivingseriously a new focus on elite level As one(Aus) of those people, I’m notStill seven smaller than I had imagined but redeeming engines, in addition bold ideas for some future

with Paul Gover

THE PG PERSPECTIVE

drag racing.

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thinking about sporting politics or

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a former world champion in Top

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trackside cameras.

projects.”

www.autoaction.com.au 21 AutoActionI 21

LATEST NEWS

MORE ACCOLADES FOR PIASTRI FOR THE second year in succession Oscar Piastri has won the prestigious Autosport Rookie of the Year award after strolling to the second-tier FIA Formula 2 Championship.

It was the Australian’s third world title in three years having won the 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup title and the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2020 for which he was given the award last year.

By the end of the F2 season Piastri had secured six race victories, including four

straight feature race wins and five pole positions to end the year.

Piastri was up against stiff competition to win the award in former Formula 1 driver turned IndyCar front runner Romain Grosjean, the Frenchman scoring a pole position and three podium finishes.

The other two nominations were Haas F1 driver Mick Schumacher who impressed despite failing to score a point in the challenging Haas as well as European Le Mans Series champion Yifei Ye.

After winning the F2 championship Piastri will sit out of racing in 2022 as he has been promoted to the role as Alpine F1 reserve driver, he will sub in for Esteban Ocon or Fernando Alonso if they were unable to race.

“Thank you to everyone who voted, it was a great season,” Piastri said upon being handed the award by three-time Formula 1 race winner Johnny Herbert.

“It is looking like a different kind of season for me this year on the sidelines

but I’ll be pushing hard for sure.”

Piastri was handed the award at Grosvenor House on Park Lane in London, it was the return of an in-person event and followed the online presentation the previous year.

Previous drivers to win the rookie of the year award include his manager Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Jenson Button and Juan Pablo Montoya.

Dan McCarthy

WARD STEPS UP TO AUSSIE RACING CARS IN 2022 FORMER NEW South Wales Formula Ford Champion Lachlan Ward will step into the national spotlight in 2022, joining the Aussie Racing Cars series.

The 19-year-old from Sydney who also has two National Legend Car Champion titles to his credit will make his debut in the Aussie Racing Cars series.

It will be the first time the young driver has competed on the undercard of the Supercars Championship.

“I am stoked to announce that I will be racing in Aussie Racing Cars on board the Productivity Bootcamp #117 Camaro in 2022.” said Ward.

“After winning the NSW Formula Ford Championship in 2019 and two National Legend Car Championships in 2019 and 2020 we felt this was the next step in my career.”

“Racing on the national stage alongside Supercars has always been a dream of mine and I cannot wait for the first round at my

home track in Sydney.”

Ward will enjoy the continued support of long-term partner Productivity Bootcamp, who sees a correlation in taking this next step with the youngster and their mission to build better lives for young Australians as a training organisation in the construction industry.

“I was first drawn to Lachlan through his drive and passion to succeed in motorsport. At Productivity Bootcamp we work with a lot of young adults and we aim to teach them that whatever you want in life can be achieved with hard work and dedication. And Lachlan resembles this perfectly through his drive and passion for motorsport.” said Paul Breen, Productivity Bootcamp Owner.

“Productivity Bootcamp is super excited to be racing at a national level for the 2022 season, and we can’t wait to see how Lachy will go.”

Ward will make his Aussie Racing Cars debut in front of his home crowd as part of the Supercars Championship the season opener at Sydney Motorsport Park in March. Rhys Vandersyde

ENGINEERING CHANGES CONTINUE WHILE ALL the Supercars drivers have been locked in the engineer silly season continues in full swing with a number of changes.

Victorian squad Team 18 has announced that its chief engineer, veteran Richard Hollway will also take on the role of Scott Pye’s race engineer in the #20 Holden Commodore this year.

While on the other side of the team it remains static, Manuel Sanchez will engineer former Supercars champion and Bathurst 1000 winner Mark Winterbottom for the third straight season.

Last year Hollway oversaw Sanchez and Phil Keed, however with Keed departing the team Hollway has stepped up to the plate as Pye’s engineer.

Hollway should be a name familiar to Supercars fans as he was part of four Bathurst 1000 wins and five consecutive championships with the Holden Racing Team in the late 90s and early 00s, before spending a decade at Garry Rogers Motorsport as Chief Engineer.

Keed has departed the team as he returns to the Albury based Brad Jones Racing team in 2022 effectively replacing the Triple Eight bound Andrew Edwards.

Elsewhere Matt Stone Racing has announced

an engineering department expansion with five full-time engineers working for the Queensland based team this year. The two main race engineers will be Jack Bellotti and Chris Stuckey for 2022.

Last year was Bellotti’s first season as a race engineer in which he recorded multiple two top 10’s, and a second row slot on the grid in Tasmania with Zane Goddard.

Stuckey joins the team on a full-time basis in 2022 after engineering on a part-time basis last season.

Having already worked at MSR, and with 13 years of Supercars experience Stuckey was an obvious choice for the team. Dan McCarthy

TAYLOR SPLITS WITH EXTREME E SQUAD MOLLY TAYLOR will not return to defend her Extreme E title, announcing that she has split with Rosberg X Racing ahead of the 2022 season.

Taylor won the inaugural title alongside Johan Kristoffersson, who will continue to represent the team with new teammate Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky.

“As many of you may now be aware, I will not be continuing with RXR this year in Extreme E,” Taylor said on social media.

“I’d like to thank the whole team (who became more like family) for an incredible inaugural season. Winning the first-ever Extreme E Championship and holding that trophy aloft was an incredible experience and I am very proud of the result we achieved together.

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“There’s no secret of the complex realities that exist within Motorsport, often outside of a driver’s control; and whilst it means an unexpected change of plans for 2022, rest assured, despite a small intermission my time with Extreme E isn’t done yet.

“I’m very proud to raise the Aussie flag for international Motorsport and that will continue so stay tuned.

“As for what’s next for me, we have many exciting announcements coming soon that I can’t wait to share with you.

I’m really pumped for what 2022 has in store and I know you all will be too.

“Thanks for being on the ride with me.”

Elsewhere, Dakar winners Nasser Al-Attiyah and Jutta Kleinschmidt will team up at Abt Cupra this season in Extreme E, bringing strong off-road pedigree to the series. Josh Nevett

LATEST NEWS

RACE TASMANIA TV TIMES REVEALED

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11

THE TV times and track schedule for the second running of Race Tasmania at Symmons Plains Raceway has been revealed.

The Symmons Plains Raceway will play host to TCR Australia, S5000 and Trans Am from February 11-13, with the broadcast times for both Stan Sports and the Nine Network announced.

It is the opening round of the 2022 season for all three of these national categories as well as Hyundai Excels, HQ Holdens and a TBC third state-based category.

The Australian Racing Group categories will be televised once again in 2022, however it will be the first time with the Nine Network and Stan streaming platform.

The racing action will be available to stream ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport, with live coverage also on the Nine Network.

Stan Sport will deliver all the action from 1pm-5pm on both Saturday and Sunday (February 12-13), delivering all qualifying sessions and races from the TCR Australia Series, S5000 Australian Drivers Championship and the Trans Am Series.

Race Tasmania is the first major nationallevel motorsport event of the year, coverage will be simulcast on the Nine Network’s GEM channel.

Saturday will feature live and free motorsport at 3pm-5pm, with more racing on Sunday between 1pm-3pm.

International race fans, including New Zealanders can watch the coverage on Motorsport.tv.

As for the schedule, the 2022 TCR Australia Series commences on Friday with drivers undertaking two 30-minute practice sessions at 11:10am and 1:35pm.

On Saturday drivers will take part in

a two-part knockout qualifying session encompassing an opening 15-minute segment which sets grid positions 11 through to the tail of the grid before the top 10 entries battle it out for pole in the final 10 minute session.

TCR Australia’s first race is at 4:25pm on Saturday afternoon, closing out the day’s action.

A pair of races follow on Sunday starting at 2:25pm, before rounding out the event with its final race at 4:20pm.

The popular wings and slicks S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship also contains two 30 minute practice sessions on Friday commencing at 11:45am and 2:10pm.

Qualifying takes place at 1:25pm on Saturday with a single 20-minute session ahead of the opening race at 3:10pm.

Two races complete the opening round of the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship, with races at 1:50pm and 3:40pm.

A total of 26 muscle cars will line for the opening round of the National Trans Am Series.

Two 20 minute practice sessions occur at 10:45am and 2:45pm on Friday, qualifying is scheduled for 1:55pm on Saturday before Race 1 at 3:10pm.

Again, the final two races will occur on Sunday, with action beginning at 1:15pm for Race 2, with the final event at 3:05pm.

Before all this, private testing for all categories will take place on Thursday.

For more on Race Tasmania purchase the next edition of Auto Action on sale this Thursday.

See below for the full on-track schedule for the AWC Race Tasmania. Dan McCarthy

START/END

SERIES

SESSION

DURATION

9:30 am – 9:50 am

Hyundai Excel

Practice 1

20 mins

9:55 am – 10:15 am

TBA

Practice 1

20 mins

10:20 am – 10:40 am

HQ Holdens

Practice 1

20 mins

10:45 am – 11:05 am

Turtle Wax Trans Am

Practice 1

20 mins

11:10 am – 11:40 am

Supercheap Auto TCR

Practice 1

20 mins

11:45 am – 12:15 pm

S5000

Practice 1

20 mins

12:20 pm – 12:40 pm

Hyundai Excel

Practice 2

20 mins

12:45 pm – 1:05 pm

TBA

Practice 2

20 mins

1:10 pm – 1:30 pm

HQ Holdens

Practice 2

20 mins

1:35 pm – 2:05 pm

Supercheap Auto TCR

Practice 2

30 mins

2:10 pm – 2:40 pm

S5000

Practice 2

30 mins

2:45 pm – 3:05 pm

Turtle Wax Trans Am

Practice 2

20 mins

3:10 pm – 3:30 pm

TBA

Qualifying

20 mins

3:40 pm – 4:00 pm

Hyundai Excel

Qualifying

20 mins

START/END

SERIES

SESSION

DURATION

10:00 am – 10:20 am

HQ Holdens

Qualifying

20 mins

10:30 am – 10:55 am

TBA

Race 1

25 mins

11:05 am – 11:30 am

Hyundai Excel

Race 1

25 mins

11:40 am – 12:05 pm

HQ Holdens

Race 1

25 mins

12:15 pm – 12:40 pm

TBA

Race 2

25 mins

1:15 pm – 1:35 pm

S5000

Qualifying

20 mins

1:45 pm – 1:55 pm

Turtle Wax Trans Am

Qualifying – Part 1

10 mins

2:00 pm – 2:10 pm

Turtle Wax Trans Am

Qualifying – Part 2 10 mins

2:20 pm – 2:35 pm

Supercheap Auto TCR

Qualifying – Part 1

15 mins

START/END

SERIES

SESSION

DURATION

10:00 am – 10:25 am

Hyundai Excel

Race 2

25 mins

10:35 am – 11:00 am

HQ Holdens

Race 2

25 mins

11:10 am – 11:35 am

TBA

Race 3

25 mins

11:45 am – 12:10 pm

Hyundai Excel

Race 3

25 mins

12:20 pm – 12:45 pm

HQ Holdens

Race 3

25 mins

1:15 pm – 1:40 pm

Turtle Wax Trans Am

Race 2

25 mins

1:50 pm – 2:15 pm

S5000

Race 2

25 mins

2:25 pm – 2:53 pm

Supercheap Auto TCR

Race 2

28 mins

3:05 pm – 3:30 pm

Turtle Wax Trans Am

Race 3

25 mins

3:40 pm – 4:05 pm

S5000

Race 3

25 mins

4:20 pm – 4:48 pm

Supercheap Auto TCR

Race 3

28 mins

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13

NEW AUDI TCR ARRIVES IN AUSTRALIA THE LATEST specification Audi RS3 LMS TCR has arrived in Australia just in time to contest the opening round of the TCR Australia Series at Race Tasmania this weekend.

Prepared by Australian Audi agent Melbourne Performance Centre and to be driven by young gun Jay Hanson, the new RS3 LMS TCR will be the first to debut outside of TCR racing’s top level WTCR where the model won on three occasions during its maiden season.

“It’s exciting to welcome the latest generation of Audi’s RS3 LMS TCR to our state of the art facility,” said Troy Russell, Melbourne Performance Centre Managing Director.

“Compared to the previous model that we’ve had success with previously, it features subtle tweaks making for an overall improved package.

“It’s awesome to be part of the first allocation of this model and we expect it to be a success just like the previous model.

“We’re excited to continue to represent Audi Sport in Australia

once again and to welcome Jay on board for the season. He’s a good young driver and we’re looking forward to a strong campaign.”

Hanson makes the switch from Alfa Romeo to Audi after finishing 17th in last year’s title.

Advantages of the new model include a significantly revised cooling concept, optimised aerodynamics, improved ergonomics and set-up abilities, while further development in safety.

Forming part of an expanded MPC attack on the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series, Hanson’s new chassis will be joined

by Will Brown’s LIQUI MOLY sponsored previous generation Audi driven to the title last year by Chaz Mostert.

Iain McDougall will join in the same model as Brown at Phillip Island.

Racing from Tasmania will be available to stream ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport, with live coverage also on the Nine Network. Rhys Vandersyde

SUPER2 DRIVER TO MAKE S5000 DEBUT JOSH FIFE will make his S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship debut this weekend at Race Tasmania competing for 88 Racing.

Fife is known for his touring car exploits having spent the last two years in the Super2 Series after winning races in Super3 in 2019.

The Canberra-born driver is a karting ace having notched up two Australian Karting Championships and also represented Australia on the international karting stage, spending time living in Italy.

At this point in time Fife’s S5000 entry is a one-off however both he and 88 Racing will look into a longer-term plan after the round at Symmons Plains.

“I’m really excited for the opportunity to race this weekend in Tasmania – my first time racing there,” Fife said.

“It’s really cool to be taking on a new track and a new car and I’m looking forward to the challenge.

“Thanks to 88 Racing for the opportunity and hopefully this is the start of something longer term, I’d love to do more in the future.

Fife is not an absolute S5000 rookie, although he has never raced the car, he did complete a test with Garry Rogers Motorsport last year.

“I had one day in a car with GRM last year and I loved it,” he said. “The biggest thing I noticed was the acceleration, which was crazy.

I’m usually a right foot braker so I had to adapt to braking with my left foot again, which is

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something different.”

Fife will join Blake Purdie in a youthful twocar 88 Racing outfit.

He will drive the ACM Finance #88 entry piloted last year by Cooper Webster in the championship and fellow Super2 driver Jordan Boys in the Tasman Series.

“We’re very pleased to have been able to put together what has been a quite last minute deal to get Josh in the car for this weekend,” said 88 Racing team owner Albert Callegher.

“Despite the fact the deal has only come

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together recently, we’re very confident that he comes to 88 Racing in a position to contend from the first session he is in the car.

“As well as having driven the cars previously in testing, his recent experience in Supercars means he is race sharp and should adapt quickly.

“We’re excited to have a driver of his calibre and with his track record in international karting and Supercars competition join the team. He’s the perfect fit for S5000.” Dan McCarthy

TARGA TASMANIA WINNER JOINS TCR FIELD LOCAL TASMANIAN driver Eddie Maguire will join the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia field at AWC Race Tasmania, driving a Melbourne Performance Centre-prepared Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR this weekend.

Maguire trades in his Targa Tasmania winning Dodge Viper for the turbocharged, front-wheeldrive Golf GTI TCR in what will be a new challenge.

An experienced rally driver on both gravel and tarmac, this weekend’s event at Symmons Plains marks the first time Maguire will enter circuit racing, albeit the venue is where the majority of testing is done in preparation for events he contests Australia-wide.

“We’ve done a lot of gravel and tarmac rallying with quite a bit of success, but after winning Targa Tasmania last year we just wanted to look for some different things to do in motorsport,” said Maguire.

“I haven’t got any circuit racing experience at all, but I’ve had a few conversations with Lee and Troy at MPC, I’ve probably known them for 15 years.

“I’ve said to them over the years if there are any other opportunities and I received a phone call from Lee last week to say MPC had a spare car to have a go in at Tassie. I thought, ‘if there was anywhere I was going to start it would be around a familiar track’.

“I’ve never driven a front-wheel-drive race car, prior to the Viper I’ve always driven Mitsubishi Lancer Evos on gravel and tarmac. I’m hoping I can get my head around it in practice and we’ll see how we go.

“If by the end of the weekend I’m putting down some good laps and maybe even claw our way up the field then that would be great, but I don’t have any huge expectations. I’m just there for the experience.

“I’ve been keeping my eye on the TCR Australia Series for a while now and I think it’s a great concept. Certainly, if we have a good weekend, we enjoy it and go alright, we’d look at doing other rounds.”

Maguire will drive the Golf leased by Purple Sector and driven by debutant Keegan Brain at Bathurst, but previous to this it was a race winner with Aaron Cameron during the inaugural season, before it was used by Chelsea Angelo for much of 2021.

“We’ve had a long standing relationship with Eddie and the opportunity to offer him a drive at his home event was one not to pass up,” said Troy Russell, Melbourne Performance Centre Managing Director.

“Eddie is experienced around Symmons Plains and won Targa Tasmania last year, so hopefully he brings that success to the circuit.

“It’s awesome to welcome another driver to Supercheap Auto TCR Australia. It continues to grow and so has our team with its commitment including the new Audi RS3 LMS TCR for Jay Hanson.”

The local driver joins an impressive entry for the opening round of Supercheap Auto TCR Australia as part of the second running of AWC Race Tasmania at Symmons Plains February 11-13.

LATEST NEWS

BROWN’S TCR AUDI REVEALED

INAUGURAL SUPERCHEAP Auto TCR Australia Series winner Will Brown’s comeback livery has been revealed after confirmation of his return to the category in 2022.

Recently announced as a high-profile signing for reigning series champions Audi Sport Customer Racing, Brown will pilot the #999 Audi RS 3 LMS TCR in a naming rights partnership with globally renowned oil brand, LIQUI MOLY.

Resplendent in LIQUI MOLY’s familiar brand colours of red, blue and white, Brown’s LIQUI MOLY Audi is the same chassis driven to last year’s TCR Australia title by Chaz Mostert, The program spearheaded by Brown is LIQUI MOLY’s first entry into TCR Australia and complements the brand’s 10-year naming rights partnership of the southern hemisphere’s largest GT race, the LIQUI MOLY Bathurst 12 Hour.

A prominent sponsor in international TCR circles, LIQUI MOLY has enjoyed a longstanding relationship with one of the world’s leading TCR teams, Engstler Motorsport.

Returning to the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series after a season away, Brown will be joined by an impressive array of drivers including category race winners Michael Caruso, Josh Buchan, Aaron Cameron, Dylan O’Keeffe and

Jordan Cox joined by the likes of Wall Racing’s new recruit Fabian Coulthard alongside the experienced Tony D’Alberto.

The opening round of the 2022 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series will be held at Symmons Plains Raceway for the second running of the AWC Race Tasmania on February 11-13.

Racing will be available to stream ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport, with live coverage also on the Nine Network.

AUSSIES CONFIDENT OF MOTOGP SUCCESS IN 2022 DESPITE A couple of hurdles in the offseason both Aussie MotoGP riders Jack Miller and Remy Gardner are confident of success in 2022.

After the two-day test at the Sepang International Circuit, Miller’s 2022 bike was officially revealed having previously been postponed because the Queenslander tested positive for COVID-19.

In the test Miller admitted himself that he was not entirely comfortable on the new machine on the opening day, however he and the team got the bike a lot more to his liking on the final day.

On day 1 he failed to break under the twominute barrier, while his time on the second day was a 1m 58.6s time, 1.5s faster.

Miller ended the test in 14th position and felt more was to come if it remained dry late on Sunday.

After a frustrating back end to the 2021 season Miller is confident he is a much more complete rider, more physically and mentally prepared than ever before.

“The Championship is finally about to start, and I feel ready more than ever to face this new season,” Miller said.

“Having another year of experience in MotoGP under my belt definitely makes me feel stronger, and I feel I have improved a lot, both physically and mentally, compared to

2021.

“It will be my second year with the Ducati Lenovo Team, a group of people who are really passionate about Motorsports, and I feel lucky to be part of it.

“Being a factory Ducati rider is a source of pride, and it means having the support of many fans, not only in Italy but also all over the world.

“I can’t wait for March and be able to head out on track for the first race of the year in Qatar!”

Gardner broke his wrist just days out from his rookie shakedown test and following the official test.

Nevertheless, Gardner expressed after the initial test, the injury had not hindered him as much as he thought.

“It was a long three days for sure,” he said after the Shakedown. “The big question mark for me when I came here was if I could ride after breaking my wrist only a couple of weeks ago.

“That was a big question mark and on Monday I did a few laps and was pleasantly surprised that I could still ride okay.

“For sure it’s not great and I’m in a bit of pain but it was good enough to spin some laps and get a bit more comfortable with the bike and the power and try to understand a bit more the class because there’s still so much

to learn.

“But it was quite positive and regarding everything I think I surprised myself.”

Gardner was certain that the injury was costing him time, but feels he is getting to grips with his Tech3 KTM. “The way I’ve managed to pick up the gas and drive out of the corners, I felt like I improved that from day 1 to day 3 quite a lot,” he expressed.

“It was kind of the area that I could really push a bit more at the moment with the wrist where I need to improve a little bit on the

braking and the entry to the corner.

“But really, that’s just down to me not pushing too hard on that right wrist. At the moment, it’s about just making laps and trying to understand I think more than anything.”

Gardner was 24th fastest on the opening day of the first official test and improved one place the following day, however as Gardner expressed it is just about getting comfortable.

He will have more time with the new machinery in the lead up to the first race, the final three-day test takes place at the Mandalika Circuit in Indonesia. DM

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Bruce Williams bruce@autoaction.com.au 0418 349 555 EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Bruce Williams DEPUTY EDITOR NEWS EDITOR STAFF JOURNALIST ART DIRECTOR

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AUSTRALIA Bruce Newton, Mark Bisset, Garry O’Brien, Geoffrey Harris, David Hassall, Bob Watson, Bruce Moxon, Gary Hill, Craig O’Brien, Mick Oliver, Martin Agatyn.

Paris Charles FORMULA 1 Luis Vasconelos US CORRESPONDENT Mike Brudenell PHOTOGRAPHERS AUSTRALIA Ross Gibb, Rebecca Hind, Mick Oliver, David Batchelor, Randall Kilner, Rhys Vandersyde, Richard Hathaway, MTR Images, Bruce Moxon, Ray Ritter, autopics.com.au

Image: Motorsport Images

IT’S MOTOR RACING NOT MOTOR SHOW THE DISTINCT possibility Sprint Races will be scratched from the 2022 Formula One World Championship altogether is bad news for Stefano Domenicali and his bosses at Liberty Media, but may be an important step in explaining to the new owners of the sport that there is a clear difference between motor racing and motor show.

I know what the big teams are fighting for is not the protection of the sport but, as usual, for money, as they push to receive a lot more dollars than Formula One wants to pay them for every Sprint Race they have to take part in. But I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth and if their greed ends up helping preserving Formula One’s DNA, I’m all for it.

Yes, you’ve guessed it – I’m not a fan of Sprint Races in Formula One, the same way I’m not a fan of the reverse grid races we get in Formula 2 and Formula 3. Last year the two junior formulae tried an even more idiotic format that led to drivers and teams working more on calculations than set-ups, such was the importance of qualifying reasonably well – not too well, unless you were in pole position –

With Luis Vasconcelos

F1 INSIDER and drive for a safe result in Race 1 to get a better starting position for Race 2…

This year, I’m happy to confirm this format has been abandoned and we get a return to Main Race and Sprint Race (with a reverse grid for the top 10 of Saturday’s event) because this shows even the people at Liberty (which also owns Formula 2 and Formula 3) understood they went too far.

Hopefully, we’ll now go through the same process with Formula One and they’ll learn that the essence of motor racing is that the fastest car/driver combination wins, not the luckiest one.

Domenicali insists the three Sprint Races we had last year were a success, but I beg to differ.

Yes, Hamilton passing 15 cars in Brazil was a great show, but that’s because you had a car/ driver combination that was miles

faster than anything else that weekend, starting from the back, on a track where overtaking is very accessible – especially if you have a clear power advantage, as it was the case. He also passed the nine cars he had in front of him during Sunday’s race, so he could have passed all 19 had he started the Grand Prix dead last.

But in Silverstone and Monza, the only way spectators didn’t fall asleep during the Sprint Race was because they only lasted 20 minutes, not because they were exciting.

In the first Sprint Race there was two proper overtaking moves – Norris on Alonso in lap 6, Ricciardo following suit three laps later – the rest of the changes of position being achieved by Sainz, who had been punted off in the first lap.

In Monza, Pérez passed Stroll for P9 on lap 10 and the recovering

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Tsunoda and Kubica passed the Haas duo, after clashing in the first lap. Exciting stuff then…

It’s true that the first two Sprint Races then led to very controversial incidents between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton on Sunday, but those crashes didn’t happen because of the Sprint Races. After all, they also banged wheels – and more stuff – in Imola, Barcelona, Jeddah and Abu Dhabi and those happened in normal race weekends.

So let’s not pretend their highly publicised clashes in Silverstone and Monza came about because they had raced the day before.

Formula One starts 2022 with completely new chassis, designed to allow much better racing, and that’s the route the sport should follow – change the cars and the circuits to provide better racing, rather than resorting to gimmicks to achieve fluke race result. Those come anyway a couple of times per season, as we saw with Gasly and Pérez winning their first Grand Prix in 2020 or Esteban Ocon winning last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix and McLaren achieving a one-two finish in Italy.

As they say in the USA, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it ...

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FORMULA 1 NEWS – LUIS VASCONCELOS Images: Motorsport Images

HAMILTON IS BACK BUT STILL WAITS FOR FIA CONCLUSIONS LEWIS HAMILTON is back… at least in social media, as the seven-times Formula One World Champion has yet to confirm he’ll keep on racing this year, his love for the sport being put in question by the way poor officialdom cost him the 2021 title right on the last lap of the season.

Although everyone in Formula One believes Hamilton will continue to race, his lack of social media activity for the last six weeks had quite a few people worried but last Saturday night the seventimes World Champion broke his silence, posting a photo of himself on Instagram

with the caption, “I’ve been gone. Now I’m back”.

Within a few hours two million of his followers had read the post and social media erupted at what was seen as confirmation the British driver will carry on racing with Mercedes – something that was never seriously in doubt. One week earlier, though, Hamilton had already resurfaced with news that Mission 44, his foundation, had secured support from TV network Sky, to the tune of one million pounds over a period of three years.

The goal is to pave the way for black children to achieve their dreams through specific school programs. In his first post in six weeks, Hamilton wrote, “Understanding and addressing issues that lead to young people being excluded from school is really important to me.

Having experienced unfair exclusions during my time at school, I understand how upsetting and stressful it can be.

When we launched Mission 44 last year, implementing initiatives such as there was a personal priority, and I am grateful to have the support of Sky to help Mission

44 take action. Through this partnership, I hope we can deliver meaningful change by arming schools with the proper strategies to support and empower young Black students, instead of giving up on them.”

With the conclusion of the FIA’s inquiry into the decisions taken by its own officials during the final moments of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix delayed until next Monday, February 14th, Hamilton and Mercedes will wait to see what that report concludes and what changes it will recommend the Formula One Commission

RACE START TYRE CHOICE FREE FOR ALL IN 2022 THE FORMULA One midfield teams have won the battle to remove the obligation to start races on the same set of tyres used to get through to Q3, from the start of 2022.

The introduction of this system was intended to help create more overtaking in the races and allow for different tyre strategies to mix things up, but it soon became evident that the faster teams would normally be quick enough in Q2 to go through to the final qualifying session on a set of Medium compound tyres and, therefore, would have the double advantage of starting at the front and with the ideal tyre strategy for the race.

On the other hand, those fighting for the final places in Q3 would be at a massive disadvantage compared to their direct rivals, who had just missed the cut and would start the race on fresh, harder tyres, with the ideal race strategy available, while those from positions 7th to 10th had to compromise their strategy after starting with the softer

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compound necessary to make it into the top 10 in qualifying.

After a lot of debating and some opposition from the top teams (always keen to keep as many advantages as they can), it has now been agreed by the Strategy Advisory Board – the new name of the Strategy Working Group – to drop the requirement for any driver to start the race on used tyres. Therefore, from this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix, the sport goes back to what was traditional in the past: free tyre choice for all drivers throughout the race, putting everyone in the same boat after the end of qualifying.

One of the reasons for this return to the past in the tyre allocation regulations was the fact the 2022-spec cars will be completely new and, therefore, everyone expects the field to get a good shake-up.

That has encouraged the teams to get rid of artificial means to spice up racing, especially because Formula One’s simulations point to overtaking being a lot

easier with the new spec of cars than it was the case with the old generation of single seaters.

The recommendation favorably voted by the Strategy Advisory Board will now

be rubber stamped by the Formula One Commission in the meeting scheduled for February 14, where it will just be a formality to get it through to the 2022 Formula One Sporting Regulations.

FIA CONSIDERS REMOTE SUPPORT FOR RACE DIRECTION

to make, as a new structure is going to be put in place (read separate story).

Even if the outcome of the inquiry and the recommended changes won’t be exactly what the seven-times World Champion and his team would be waiting for, the most likely outcome is that he’ll be back in a Formula One car four days later, at the launch of the new Mercedes W13 and declare he’s encouraged by the way the new leadership of the FIA has dealt with the matter and the changes they’ll start to introduce from this year.

FORMULA ONE Management and the FIA are working flat-out on finding a new structure for Grand Prix Race Direction in the aftermath of the tremendously damaging controversy surrounding the decisions made

by Michael Masi in the final moments of last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The deadline for this new structure to be defined is February 13, the day before the Formula One Commission meets to analyse the conclusions of the report currently being done on the events at Yas Marina Circuit, as that report will be followed by a list of recommendations regarding the way Race Direction should be structured from now on.

It is already a given that the FIA will boost the Race Direction structure with a few more staff, the aim being to remove all the unnecessary work and hassle from the Race Director’s hands and free him to focus on the bigger picture and the most important decisions, while keeping his focus on everything that is happening on track.

This means Sporting Directors are expected to see their communications restricted to another member of the Race Direction before they are allowed to radio the Race Director directly, in the cases

the support staff believes the situation in question is out of their range of decisions.

Former DTM Race Director Niels Wittich has been touted as a possible replacement for Masi but sources from the Federation have revealed the intention of the sport’s regulator is to keep the Australian in his role, to prevent him from becoming a public scapegoat for the regulations’ failures, the German becoming the Deputy Race Director and the man who will deal with all the teams’ communications during the practice sessions and the race.

Wittich has recently been replaced in the DTM by American Scot Elkins and was already part of Masi’s team in some Grands Prix in the past, so he won’t be a new face in Formula One. Others, including WEC Race Director Eduardo de Freitas, are being sounded out for their availability to be part of the Race Direction structure when they’ll have no clashing commitments, and the idea has now grown to create a remote Race Direction structure that will operate from the FIA’s headquarters in Paris and with full access to all the footage available from the track.

The goal is to have a VAR-like structure that will act in two different ways: when requested by the on-site Race Direction to have a look at an incident; or when it spots some incident that has escaped the on-site Race Direction, then sending a warning to those on-track to review it before sending it to the Stewards of the Meeting.

Although this new structure may, on paper, look heavy, slow and cumbersome, there’s confidence within the FIA that the reviewing of all incidents will be done much quicker and efficiently, rather than the Race Director having to review all incidents by himself – thus taking his eyes off the live action for a bit of time – before eventually reporting them to the four Stewards of the Meeting, who would, then, review it a second time.

Freitas and Elkins are expected to alternate in the remote Race Direction station in Paris, but other experienced race directors from all over the world are likely to get a call up for this new structure, as the goal is to have such a depth of experience and authority making quick and clear decisions that any contentious issues should be dealt with before the end of any race.

BAHRAIN DEAL BEHIND BARCELONA’S CLOSED TEST A PROFITABLE commercial deal between Formula One and the Bahrain International Circuit is the reason the first tests for the all-new F1 cars, scheduled to take place in Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, between February 23 and 25, will be held behind closed doors, with no TV footage made available by the Commercial Rights Holder.

By the middle of last year, and at the request of the Formula One Group, the teams had informally agreed that the 2022 cars would complete two three-day tests in Bahrain before the start of the championship. The goal was to make sure there would be no rain and cold tarmac to disrupt the first laps of the brand-new cars and, with that informal back-up, Stefano Domenicali then offered a deal to the Bahrain GP promoters, promising them a big launch of the 2022 Formula One World Championship, with all the new cars and the 20 drivers attending a ceremony the day before the first day of running, to maximise the exposure the small island-country would get worldwide.

Always keen to get as much out of Formula One as possible, the group led by Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa quickly agreed terms with Stefano Domenicali and paid a sum believed to be in the region of six million Euros (that’s A$9.7m!) to get the Championship presentation and six days of exclusive testing in the Sakhir track. No wonder the Italian manager was taken aback when, late in September, some teams started to push for the first pre-season test to be held in its traditional location.

Their reasoning, that was quickly agreed by every single team, was that running in Barcelona the teams would have much better reference data to understand how their

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completely new cars were working, and also, importantly, that bringing new parts from their factories could be done in a matter of hours rather than one day to the next, which is the case if one is testing in the Middle East. With many new parts to be tested, the teams prefer to do it close to home and by the time the Formula One Commission was called to vote on the pre-season tests, Barcelona had gained the support of all the teams.

That created a problem for Domenicali, as he had done a deal with Bahrain and the FOM had already received its money, so the initial solution was to hold the Barcelona test behind closed doors, with no media or guests allowed. The team’s sponsors, however, wanted to get some exposure, so everyone started to plan their own car launches and so shutting the doors of the Circuit de Catalunya during the test stopped making sense!

But with Bahrain adamant that the championship presentation had to be done at its circuit – having already paid handsomely for it – the solution was a compromise, with print media and photographers only allowed into the Barcelona test, but with limited access, while TV coverage will only start in Bahrain, on March 9, with the launch show of the 2022 Formula One World Championship ....

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SEARCHING FOR THE REAL BARRY RYAN

OLD SCHOOL

RACER

By PAUL GOVER Images: Ross Gibb and Motorsport Images THE MOST improved Supercars team of 2021 was Erebus Racing.

Young guns Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki exploded into the frontline action and each proved they had the speed and smarts for success.

But the drivers were not the only ones doing the heavy lifting in the Erebus garage as the Little Team That Could concentrated on rebuilding and rebounding from the horrors of 2020.

Fast talking and big spending Boost boss Peter Adderton arrived to add spice to the Erebus mix and helped overfill the social media void that came as the charismatic Betty Klimenko was forced to stay at home through the Pandemic.

But the pivotal figure in the resurgence was Barry Ryan.

If you think you know Ryan because you’ve seen him on television, either live from the pit bunker or in a Supercars documentary, you need to think again.

And hard.

He was painted as the villain through the Foxtel documentary series on Erebus that was filmed through the 2019 championship as the local equivalent to the landmark Drive To Survive series on Netflix. When the show was followed by more internal turmoil at Erebus, and a wholesale change of personnel at the end of 2020, including the departure of David Reynolds despite a ‘lifetime’ deal with Klimenko, there were people who were happy to think the worst of Barry Ryan.

“At the end of the day it was me – I did everything in there,” Ryan admits.

But then he adds the perspective that he believes was missing from the TV. “It was just the way it was put together. Any show that wants to create a villain can do that.

“They probably caught a lot of shit they shouldn’t have done. I just did everything like there was nobody watching me.”

He is even more open and honest as he continues.

“When you’re managing a high-performance team you sometimes have to tell lies to each side of the team, to pep them up. And then tell someone else something else. That’s management, sometimes.

“Coaches do that, to help everyone lift. But when you see

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Above and right: The four-race Sydney finale late last year provided strong evidence that Erebus was on the rise – Will Brown (right) scoring his first race win; Brodie Kostecki his first podium.

Bottom: Then came Bathurst and a roller-coaster build up; Brown was sensationally quickest in qualifying, but then a technical infringement in the Shootout cost grid spots. While the Brown/Perkins car had early dramas in the race, a superb race from Kostecki and team-mate David Russell (pictured) netted third. Team owner Betty Klimenko was forced to watch most of the season from home.

it right in front of you on TV, and they edit, and people are watching both sides, well …”

Ryan says he has moved on from the experience, but it clearly had an impact.

“I did worry about it a bit at the time. But it’s in the past,” he says.

So, did he change as a result of watching himself on TV? “I don’t think so. The only thing that’s changed for me, and I’ve thought about this, is the people around me,” he says.

“The people now are more like me. I don’t get into a situation where I need to bark or carry on.

“I find myself in less of those situations. If there are people around me that piss me off, I walk away.”

A lot of people walked, or were walked, at the end of 2020 and the pay-off was obvious last year.

The Erebus cars were quick, the drivers were qualifying well and consistently running towards the front, and there were only a couple of niggling pitstop errors. Well ... and Brown’s crash at Bathurst after he had clocked the fastest time in opening practice at the Mount Panorama sprint round.

For Ryan, it was about rebuilding and building a team that was driving in the same direction.

“At the end of the day, I have to make the calls. All the people who left were good people, but it didn’t work.

“If I had known it wasn’t working, I probably would have made some changes earlier. But I wanted so desperately to keep the team together, because I thought that was what we needed for success.

“It probably was never going to work, but I tried to persist.

It wasn’t just me that was the problem. I just tried to hang on to it for too long.”

Apart from the drivers, the key signings ahead of season 2021 were engineers Tom Moore and George Commins.

“Tom was a simple one, because he had been with us for three to four years and deserved the opportunity. I knew his character and his strengths.

“George was just probably circumstances. We were looking for someone and he rang me. He’s a really good human being. I employed him as soon as I could.”

But what about the drivers?

“Both of them were our enduro co-drivers. We had Will signed pretty early.

“Paul Morris told us to consider Brodie. As soon as I met him we clicked. He’s just a hard-arsed racer.

“He’s a Larry Perkins style of driver. All he talks about is making the car faster and how to make himself faster.”

The mention of Perkins turns the topic, as Ryan served his motorsport apprenticeship under the six-time Bathurst winner and former grand prix racer.

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“ ”

The only thing that’s changed for me, and I’ve thought about this, is the people around me,” he says.

“The people now are more like me.

Perkins was always blunt and decisive. He got things done.

And it was the Perkins way, or … So is Barry really just Larry with one letter changed and the calendar flipped forward?

“For a lot of years I struggled with dealing with how abrupt Larry was. I never let it really get to me. But I wondered ‘Who is this guy?’

“I took a long time to learn who he was. He’s got such a presence. You always know where you stand. But he’s over the shoulder and watching,so, if something is going wrong, that fixes everything.”

Ryan’s father, Graham, also helped to shape him.

“Larry did influence how I run things. But dad was pretty harsh and straight to the point.

“He was in motorsport as well. He raced speedway for years and years and years. He’s 75 now but still drives our truck when we need someone. He still tries to stay involved.”

Barry Ryan is about to turn 50, has a rock-solid partnership with his wife Loretta, they share two daughters and an oasis of calm in the country outside Melbourne.

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“I feel alright about 50, so it’s only a number,” Ryan says.

“About 12 years ago I wanted to get out of the rat race and the wife and I found the spot. We’ve got two acres in the middle of a dairy farm.

“I wanted to pick somewhere that was no more than 100 kilometres from the city and it’s 102. If it’s a good run I can get to the workshop in 45 or 50 minutes.”

Relaxation for Ryan is usually something simple – a pub meal with Loretta or some dirt bike riding that takes him back to younger days when he was riding and racing karts.

“I hang out with Loretta a lot. We’re like best mates. After being with someone for 24 years, we’re still good mates.

“We can go to the pub and hang out or just go to dinner.

Without Loretta I just ride my motorbike in the bush. It’s a KX450. I bought it brand new at the end of 2020.

“After all those days on the road I decided to get myself a gift. I’d never bought a new bike and decided to reward myself.”

www.autoaction.com.au I 27

After a turbulent 2020, and a number of team changes for 2021, including both drivers and engineers Tom Moore and George Commins, the team made significant progress through the year and goes into 2022 with well-earned confidence.

“ ”

“I scored us at eight out of 10. With a few errors in pitstops and couple of mechanical errors, you cannot be 10/10. And to be a nine you’ve got to be close to perfect.

Ryan raced when he was younger, first in karts and then motorcycles, and is honest – as always – about his results.

“I was OK. I won a Victorian championship and an Australian title in karts. In motorbikes I tried to skip past the categories too fast.

“I saw I wasn’t going to be Mick Doohan, and I wanted to be Mick Doohan, so I didn’t see the point in continuing. I just didn’t see the use.

“Even if I was good enough, I couldn’t afford to put myself in a situation to see if I was good enough. So it was better to enjoy riding in the bush with mates.”

So he is a harsh marker, something reflected in his choice of a favourite sports star.

“Michael Jordan. I think it’s amazing what he’s done in his life, and how good he was. He was so much better than anyone else.

“That’s what probably made me like him even more. He got everybody to rise. If you didn’t want to be like him you weren’t going to be in his team.

“He was probably the Senna of basketball. And I also rate Valentino Rossi. I grew up around motorbikes more than cars and Rossi, since he was 14 or 16 years old, was just incredible. What he did was amazing.”

He is also – obviously – a fan of Betty Klimenko, even though she has been missing from the races.

“We’re great. We talk, if not daily, then every second day. Whether it’s about the race team, or budgets, or life generally,” he says.

“We are 50:50 friendship and business. I consider her a very close friend. It’s great to work with someone who is also your friend.

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“I learn a lot from her. I’m always asking her about her business. She always has good advice.

“Betty definitely sticks to her strengths and doesn’t get involved in the day-to-day stuff. She loves to learn about it, but she definitely won’t try and be an expert.”

Asked to rate the Erebus effort through season 2021, Ryan is firm and fair.

“I scored us at eight out of 10. With a few errors in pitstops and couple of mechanical errors, you cannot be 10/10. And to be a nine you’ve got to be close to perfect.

“The drivers individually were nine out 10. Up to Darwin, Brodie was the only one who had finished every race. And there was the way he helped Will get his first podium.

“A lot of people thought he would be be fast or in the wall, but he’s not like that. The way Will reacted at SMP when we messed up the pitstop, I was proud of him. He didn’t crack the

shits or swear on the radio; he didn’t spit the dummy.

“They go about it totally differently, but are both totally confident in their own ability. And without being arrogant.

“Back to myself, I didn’t believe I could do it when I was competing. They both believe they can win every race with the right car. You can’t teach someone that.”

Looking just ahead, to season 2022, Ryan is confident the team is on top of the glitches from last year and the drivers know what needs to be done.

“Success won’t come from fighting. And they both know that.

“They are smart enough to know when they’ve got the car on the day. It’s going to be very rare that both cars will be in the same situation.

Erebus also has updates coming, as the team continues to drive its own in-house development program.

“We’ve done some development on the cars and they are gimmies. They will make the cars technically faster.

“We have a pitstop practice car and we’ve bought new pitstop equipment, so we can take the new stuff on the road and wear it all out a bit more.

“We’re definitely addressing the things we think we need to be faster and more consistent.”

Based on last year’s four-weekend sweep in Sydney, Ryan is confident of a strong start to the coming championship.

“I can’t see why both of them won’t be fighting for pole positions and fighting for wins. I’d really like to see us finish the first weekend and have both of them in the top five in the championship.

“I hate making predictions. But if we go backwards we’ll be disappointed.”

Kostecki and Russell’s superb run at Bathurst has cemented the support from Boost Mobile for 2022.

Further ahead, Ryan says Erebus is already working on its Gen3 racers. They are being built in-house, right from the basic chassis.

“We’re building our own cars in-house because we want our own quality control. We’ve got most of the design. I don’t think the core will change too much.

“We’ve done most of the jigging, because we’re not going to buy the chassis. James White is a great fabricator – he’s a perfectionist. If there is a chassis that is two per cent better we want to have it.”

“I’ve always believed that if you’re buying your parts you will never have an advantage over the person who made them. There has always been a strong engineering focus at Erebus.”

So, for Barry Ryan, race one at Sydney Motorsport Park cannot come soon enough.

“I was ready to go racing the day after Bathurst,” he says.

“I just can’t wait to get back. That’s what we do. Sitting around between seasons always bores me to tears.”

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Erebus wants to control the quality of its new Gen3 cars and do much of the design and manufacturing in-house.

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THE NEXT GEN OF

NASCAR

THE TECH BITS Engine 5.86 L naturally-aspirated V8 FR layout Transmission 5 forward speeds + 1 reverse Sequential manual transmission Chassis Steel tube frame with integral safety roll cage Weight 1451 kg minimum without driver and fuel, 1542 kg minimum with driver and fuel Wheelbase 2794 mm Length 4912 mm Width 1996 mm Height 1280 mm Tyres Goodyear Fuel Sunoco Green E15

AFTER THREE YEARS OF EXTENSIVE DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING, THE NEXT GEN NASCARS HAVE RACED FOR THE FIRST TIME, IN A NON-CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND. DAN MCCARTHY LOOKS AT HOW NASCAR’S CUP SERIES MACHINE GOT TO THIS STAGE, WHY THIS IS A RADICAL CHANGE FOR NASCAR AND PREVIEWS THE 2022 SEASON. FEBRUARY 4 2019 – after rumours had persisted for many months, it was finally confirmed by NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O’Donnell that a new era of American muscle car racing was set to begin.

THE NEW ERA

At the time, O’Donnell announced that ‘Gen-7’ would be rolled out in 2021 – however like the Supercars Championship this was delayed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also, like Supercars, Gen-7 – latterly renamed as ‘Next Gen’ – has been designed to improve racing quality as well as drastically cutting costs.

The previous iteration, the Generation 6 NASCAR, was raced from 2013 up until the end of 2021 with three brands taking part – America’s Chevrolet and Ford, as well as Toyota.

Parity was never an issue. All three brands claimed at least one championship title in the era, however drivers, particularly the always outspoken two-time champion Kyle Busch, became increasingly vocal about a difficulty to overtake and follow a car ahead.

NASCAR felt that decreased costs and even closer racing would keep the three existing manufacturers interested, but also potentially appeal to other brands to join Americas most popular motorsport.

“I think that at the highest level, one of the main goals is just that the sport remains healthy and strong, that it remains attractive to our current OEMs (manufacturers), teams and fans, but also attracts new ones,” said NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing innovation John Probst.

“As we dive into that, it’s your overarching goal. Then we know, to be attractive to our OEMs, we need to be relevant to them.”

Prior to the introduction of the Generation 6 regulations, Dodge was also involved in the sport, but once Team Penske defected to Ford, Dodge saw little reason to spend millions with another team.

“If you look at where Gen-6 is today, there’s a big component of it that’s around wind tunnels and simulation,” said Probst.

“While that will always be in our sport and rightfully so, we felt like we needed to have that at a level that’s commensurate with the amount of attention that the fans get out of it.

“We don’t sell tickets to the wind tunnel or to watch engineers run simulations, so just trying to keep things focused on the race track.

“I think now that the range of adjustment

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(teams) will have on a week-in, week-out basis will exceed what they have as an opportunity with the hardware they’re running today.”

THE RETURN OF BIFF AND BARGE

AMERICAN’S LOVE their action, particularly in NASCAR. They enjoy drivers getting their elbows out and nudging and bumping their competitors and rivals aside.

This has been lost a little in recent years as any bodywork damage on cars has limited aerodynamic performance, something that is incredibly detrimental around a high-speed oval.

“This new car’s going to allow them to get into the wall a little bit, get into each other a little bit, without really any worse for wear as far as the performance of the vehicle,” Probst said.

“We’re really hoping that this encourages them to get a little bit even more aggressive, if that’s possible.

“Our drivers are pretty aggressive already, but we think this composite body will really allow them to bump and bang a whole lot more.”

Images: Toyota Racing, Motorsport Images and Chevrolet.

THE CHANGES

AFTER SEVEN decades with a manual gearbox, 2022 sees NASCAR switch to a five-speed sequential shifter.

NASCAR has become famous for its four-speed H-pattern, but no more. Like Supercars, drivers now push the gearstick away to do down a gear and pull it towards then to go up.

NASCAR also announced that the new transaxle is expected to ‘better accommodate the potential for a hybrid engine combination’ – which has not gone down well with the American audience.

A date for a hybrid switch has not been confirmed, however it appears as though it will be at least a couple of years.

Ford Performance Motorsports Global Director Mark Rushbrook believes that NASCAR will have to go in this direction within the next decade.

“Hybrids and or EVs within 10 years, for sure,” Rushbrook said.

“The new Gen 7 car will be around for a very long time. It’s adaptable to both hybrids and to EVs.” One of the major changes is that the new Next Gen car has been designed to be symmetrical, removing the skew and tail

offset which teams used to create rightsideforce to keep the car hugged to the road on the fast left-handed banked corners.

“Again, back to putting the car in the drivers’ hands,” Probst says. “Bigger tyres –we’ll have more mechanical grip for them to lean on the tyres versus leaning on the body, if you will, through aero.”

Additionally, cars are now running around 5cm higher off the ground, a substantial amount in modern terms. Couple this with a new splitter, a flat underbody and you begin to see why the track action is expected to be a lot closer.

Independent rear suspension has replaced the solid rear axle, while the track bar for adjustments has also gone.

Teams now have to tune with five-way adjustable dampers – however there will be a

travel limiter to retain that new minimum ride height.

Bigger wheels are now used, similar to F1.

NASCAR will running 18 inches in diameter, up from the 15 of Generation 6 – again done for market relevance. The width has also increased from 10 to 12 inches.

Although a small part, the iconic five lug nut wheels used in NASCAR form decades are no more.

Instead, the wheels have a single centre nut to remove each wheel. Other than that the pitstop routine remains the same.

Safety in NASCAR has always and remains of paramount importance, with the American stock car series continuing to improve on this year after year.

The redesigned chassis features energyabsorbing foam bumpers both front and back.

While the Gen 6 NASCARs had a lot of similarities between the brands, the Gen-7 cars (below) are ... identical in side profile.

The Roof flaps, created to reduce the likelihood of cars flipping when they spin out have carried over to the new-generation car, but now includes an additional lowermounted diffuser flap.

360-degree in-car cameras are expected to run on all cars throughout the year – not only a major positive for fans, but also introduced on safety grounds to spot who was at fault in an incident.

Speaking of cameras, due to the new cars lower roofline and decreased rear visibility, drivers will all have a rear-mounted camera, similar to that of a reversing camera in your modern road car, to see the cars directly behind them.

Each of the three car models have manufacturer-specific bonnet louvres, a release point that transfers air out of the

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radiator. It is hoped that this system stops teams taping over air intakes and placing pressure and heat on the car’s engine.

The Next Gen car contains larger brakes with a better thermal capacity, rack-andpinion steering, and a 91-litre fuel tank, around 7.5l more than the Gen 6 cars.

For all these reasons, the Next Gen machines have been described by many, including Andy Graves, the Executive director Technical Development, Toyota Racing Development (TRD), as the biggest single year change in the category’s 70-year history.

“It’s almost starting over,” Graves said.

“With the 18-inch wheels and the bigger and wider tyres, single lug nuts, the suspension geometry that you have, the transaxle, the aerodynamics being different, it really is ... it really is (like starting over).

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“I’ve been in the sport ... this is going to be my 32nd year ... and a lot of the notes that you have now are obsolete and you can pretty much throw them in the bin.”

THE SPECS

THE NEW Gen NASCAR has more power than the old machine – like the Gen3 Supercar, it has been designed to be more of a challenge for the drivers.

After much testing it was finally decided in December last year, that the engines would now produce 670bhp on a majority of the NASCAR circuits this year.

While a low downforce 10cm spoiler will also be fitted, this is again in a bid to reduce aero on the machines.

The decision was made late last year, with the base configuration to be used at road

courses, short and intermediate-sized ovals during the 2022 season.

The Superspeedways of Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta will see cars run with 510 horsepower and a 18cm rear spoiler to keep slipstreaming at a high and racing close.

“No one has a ton of data they can go back and look at for this car, where we previously raced, and that’s a neat thing for the race fan,” Probst expressed just prior to Christmas.

“The tyre that Goodyear has come with has really put strategy back into a race, so some of that old-school racing that a lot of fans have talked about, I think you’ll see.

“We’ll learn along the way as well, – there are different things we can take away from this season coming up as we look to continually improve upon what we believe is going to be a great launch of the Next Gen car.”

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THE DRIVER’S THOUGHTS ALL DRIVERS seem incredibly impressed with the new machinery and are looking forward to the season.

“The cars are on edge, which is a good thing,” Tyler Reddick said in December.

“There’s more mechanical grip in the car, less aerodynamic grip so, you know, you gotta keep it straight and you gotta keep the tyres happy.

“You can’t get completely sideways or as sideways as we used to in years past with the other cars, because the side force just doesn’t hold (the cars) down to the track.”

Ty Dillon agreed, saying that despite the many tests in the last two years, drivers are still trying to find the limit.

“Your margin of error is a lot smaller,” Dillon said. “I know every lap I’ve ran I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable and I was able to drive it a little bit harder and that edge is getting a little softer for me.

The primary phusical difference between the makes is the front grill – but there is, we are told, aero parity between them.

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“What makes Tyler (Reddick) so good is that he lives on that edge, the fine line of hitting the wall or spinning out, but he’s super-fast.”

CONCERNS

IN JUNE last year there were a lot of reports about safety concerns, even reports that a crash test dummy had ‘died.’

NASCAR was quick to respond to these accusations and the rumours were quickly dismissed as false, and drivers were reassured that the machines were as safe as they could possibly be.

“There’s a lot of fiction out there,” Miller expressed.

“What everyone has to realise is that our normal safety testing procedure at the laboratory – the proving grounds where we typically set up our impacts and get the data – was done differently because of COVID. Because of the backlog at that facility, we went and we

did that test at Talladega – at a real race track.

“What everybody needs to understand is when we were able to do that testing — and any safety testing that we do — there is reams of data that come off of that.

“We see absolutely nothing in the data that’s alarming, but we want to have a comprehensive report. I have no idea how all of the rumours started that it didn’t go well, because it did go well.

“That’s where we are, and hopefully we can get that report out.”

As the accusations and stories faded, one real issue arose – complaints about incredible heat inside the cockpit.

However this was addressed on a test day with several improvements – changes included shorter exhaust pipes, which ended just before the door area, slots in the front and rear glass, plus added vents to improve air flow between the undertray and chassis.

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP ADAPTABILITY WILL be vital to success in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series. There will be plenty of challenges that the new cars pose and the drivers that adapt best will find themselves in the Championship 4 Playoff come season’s end.

Coupled with the radically new cars, NASCAR Cup Series drivers are now racing on a wider variety of circuits than ever before, from short to intermediate and Superspeedways. In recent years NASCAR has taken on more road courses such Road America and Circuit of the Americas, as well as Bristol’s dirt race.

This means that drivers need to be fast on all kinds of circuits – ovals, road courses, and even on different surfaces.

Reigning champion Kyle Larson is known for his adaptability. A successful Speedway racer, he can jump into anything and be quick ... it was no wonder Larson dominated the 2021 title.

A lot of time was spent ensuring that mechanical grip would be more relevant than aero grip on the Gen-7.

The exhaust outlet was moved forwards to overcome high in-car temperatures.

This year will pose an even greater curveball with the new cars, so expect Larson to shine.

His Hendrick Motorsport teammate, former champion Chase Elliott, also gets the best out of a NASCAR on all different circuits and surfaces.

Gone are the days when a NASCAR driver only needed to be good on oval, for this reason it is impossible to overlook past champions Larson and Elliott as potential title winners this year.

As always the Joe Gibbs Racing Camrys will be right there, JGR field an unchanged driver line-up former Daytona 500 winner

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Denny Hamlin, Busch, last season’s runnerup Martin Truex junior and up and comer Christopher Bell.

This quartet will be a threat once again in 2022, however in recent years have lacked the pace of the Chevrolet drivers on road courses, they are hoping the new regs will reset stop that advantage.

The 2022 NASCAR driver market was relatively quiet, the most notable of moves was at Team Penske where former champ Brad Keselowski departed to take partial ownership and driving duties at RFK Racing.

In his place steps Austin Cindric, son of

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team owner Tim Cindric, however despite being the son of an owner, this 23-year-old has bucketloads of talent.

He won the second-tier Xfinity Series in 2020 and finished an incredibly close second in 2021. He has shown he is more than ready to make the move up alongside Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, two drivers that are always up the front contending for wins.

In 2021 Team Penske showed patches of inconsistency across all three of its cars, but will nevertheless be contenders as always in 2022.

Stewart Haas Racing field an unchanged line-up also, with veteran Kevin Harvick,

Aric Almirola, Chase Briscoe and Cole Custer. Harvick is always a contender for the title, while his teammates will be looking to take top five finishes and maybe a win or two.

Chip Ganassi Racing has been bought out, and therefore it is hard to see another driver taking the title outside of Team Penske, Joe Gibbs Racing, Steward Haas Racing and Hendrick Motorsport. h However as outlined, the Next Gen machines are designed to spice up the racing.

The non-championship Clash took place last weekend – full report is on page 51.

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GLEN DIX THE FLAG BEARER AN AUSTRALIAN HAS NEVER WON THE COUNTRY’S FORMULA ONE GRAND PRIX, BUT GLEN DIX WON WORLDWIDE ACCLAIM FOR THE FASHION AND FLAMBOYANCE HE BROUGHT TO WAVING THE RACE’S CHEQUERED FLAG FOR MANY YEARS. BOB JENNINGS RECALLS THE CAREER OF THE GREAT SHOWMAN. GLEN DIX hit the world stage in the closing seconds of the 1985 Australian Formula One Grand Prix when, with a series of chequered flag flourishes synchronised with a series of fancy footsteps, he signalled the victory of Keke Rosberg in the Williams Honda FW10.

Every finisher on the Adelaide street circuit received the same treatment with a slight, acknowledging nod of the head accompanying the final wave of the flag.

Who was this man who put the polished gloss on the final moments of a car race in a manner which piqued the interest of the drivers and international viewers? Who wore the snappy outfit of nicely-cut golden jacket, dark green pants, white shirt and a tie?

If they’d been at the new, temporary, Victoria Park circuit in Adelaide a week earlier they would have found him with a yard broom in his hands, sweeping out the pit bays.

Glen, employed at the South Australian Harbors Board at Port Adelaide by day and an admired and even loved figure at speedway, karting, motocross and circuit car and bike racing at weekends, was no

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stranger to the locals. He’d been doing his stuff since 1955.

But this was a step-up in his career. The outfit he wore, in the Australian national sporting colours, was his idea after he’d been asked if he would do the flag-waving honours

at the GP. The locals expected he would do it, but he didn’t believe it himself until a letter of invitation arrived.

“I’d seen the Australian Olympic team on TV wearing the green and gold at the (1984) Olympics so I went to the Fletcher Jones store

in Adelaide and asked if they still had the gold material for the jacket,” Glen recalls. “So I asked them if they could make me a jacket out of the same stuff, with a pair of dark green pants.

“It cost me $200 but the next year I had to have another one made because the organisers wanted me to carry a mobile telephone and it wouldn’t fit in the pocket!”

When Glen picked up his outfit from the Hindley Street FJ premises, he bumped into a minor official from the GP who demanded to know when he too would be getting such a jacket.

“I looked at him, took out my wallet, peeled off $200 and put it on the counter. ‘That’s how you get it,’ I said. The bloke just huffed and puffed and walked away…”

Glen obviously didn’t always get along with officialdom and was in danger of losing his role as flag-waver at the F1 races through no fault of his own. A finishing flag-waving official had been killed in Victoria, deemed to have been emulating the style of Dix. “As a result, I’d learned my job was likely to be axed.” Dix recalls.

Images: John Lemm, Graham Tidy, Motorsport Images, Stonie, and AA archive.

“ ”

I looked at him, took out my wallet, peeled off $200 and put it on the counter.

“That’s how you get it,” I said ...

“But at the track I bumped into FIA president Jean-Marie Balestre who looked at me and said ‘I believe you have a problem’. ‘Then he said, “Tomorrow morning we have a meeting – and then you will wave the flag.’

“He was right. There was a meeting to consider my role the next morning and Grand Prix Board chairman Dr Mal Hemmerling and his PR man Mike Drewer also went in on my behalf.

“And sure enough, I kept my job and when the GP left Adelaide and went to Melbourne I went with it too, but only after I’d been asked by (Victorian Premier) Jeff Kennett to do it.

“I said yes, but only if he made a donation to the South Australian branch of the children’s cancer charity Camp Quality. He was as good as his word and a cheque duly arrived for $5000.”

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Main image: By 1990, Glen Dix was an AGP fixture .. Nelson Piquet (Benetton-Ford) all but laps Thierry Boutsen’s Williams as he crosses the line.

Right: That other Adelaide legend, cartoonist John ‘Stonie’ Stoneham co-signs one of his drawings of the Adelaide GP flag-waver ...

Glen also did flag-waving duties at the Australian motorcycle GPs for some years and has worked tirelessly fundraising for various charities.

He has been a supporter of both Rotary and Lions.

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Glen’s motorsport career started at the Adelaide suburban Rowley Park Speedway in 1954 after he’d been hooked on motor sport by watching the races at Sellicks Beach, south of Adelaide. One of the cars he photographed was the Terraplane of

Clem Smith, who later was to become a life-long friend and owner of the Mallala motor racing circuit. Glen later spent much of his spare time at that circuit doing maintenance jobs which included mowing the grass.

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Top left: Even the placegetters get the full Dix treatment – 1988, sixth-placed Ivan Capelli (March).

Top: still on the job – Adelaide Motorsport Festival.

Above: with legend Murray Walker and photographer Dirk Klynsmith at the latter’s ‘Through My Eyes’ book launch.

Left: another Stonie tribute ...

Opposite top: welcoming Gerhard Berger’s winning Ferrari home in 1987.

Opposite bottom: Hammming it up with Commonwealth Games Marathon gold medalist Lisa Martin.

He’s always been a hands-on sort of bloke prepared to put in for the good of the sport he loves.

It was only natural that he was the one who regularly found a broom and swept the F1 pit garages before the teams arrived. (When he learned of the interstate motor racing officials’ bid to suspend his activities following the Winton incident, Glen was not amused. He had a T-shirt printed with “garage attendant” on the back and intended to wear it to the track if he lost his job).

After spectating at Rowley Park in 1954, Glen decided he had to be involved, initially keeping the radio announcer for station 5KA, which broadcast the final race of the night, informed.

“It was pretty boring,” Glen said and a couple of weeks later there was a vacancy in the crash crew, for which Glen put his hand up.

“They could see I was pretty keen and was getting things done and after the first year I was asked to be Clerk of Course, a job I did for about 10 years – as well as waving the flags for both the car and motorbike events. It was pretty busy!”

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“ ”

Another SCC official, Geoff Berry, came up to me and suggested I might want to actually wave the flag…

Eventually the bikes enlisted their own flagwaver, much to Glen’s relief.

Glen attended the 1955 Australian Grand Prix organised by the Sporting Car Club of SA as a spectator at the bleak Port Wakefield circuit, 100km north of Adelaide. Jack Brabham won the race in a Cooper Bristol.

SCC officials Clem Smith and Reg Sparkes were among those who’d seen Glen in action at Rowley Park and asked him to do the honours at Port Wakefield the following year.

“I was pretty nervous and just stood there holding the chequered flag as still as I could.

Another SCC official, Geoff Berry, came up to me and suggested I might want to actually wave the flag…

“I understood then that I was part of the show, part of the entertainment and it was my role to add to it. It was a lesson which

had its beginnings with Kym Bonython (the flamboyant entrepreneur who ran Rowley Park.)

Glen inadvertently became more involved in the Rowley Park show than he would have liked in 1962 when he was cleaned up by a TQ midget. In those days, if there were interstate meetings going on, Dix characteristically would do Rowley Park on Friday, fly to Sydney on Saturday morning, go to practice and qualifying at Warwick Farm, go to the Showgrounds speedway on Saturday night, the Farm races on Sunday and fly home Sunday night.

Dix lay on the track after being hit by the TQ and asked the doctor, “Will I be able to fly to Sydney tomorrow morning?

“The doctor said to me, ‘have a look at your knee, son.’ I lifted my head and had

a look down and it was a bit of a mess, blood everywhere. I figured I wasn’t going anywhere…”

Motorsport ruled his life. He officiated at speedway at Hamley Bridge, Mt Gambier, Bordertown, Murray Bridge, Crystal Brook and Whyalla and helped write the regulations when karting began in SA. Enough involvement? Not really. After lap scoring for Clem Smith who was racing at Sandown Park, he lap-scored at Bathurst for the Adelaide-based CityState Holden team and for Murray Bridge Sprintcar owner Kevin Fisher who also ran an Escort in production touring car racing.

“Then the Holden Dealer Team asked if I would lap score at Bathurst for them and I said, sure. They asked what sort of platform and amenities they could build for me,” Glen recalls.

“I told them a four-gallon drum would be fine. They didn’t believe me, but I’d found if I stood on it, it was just the right height to see over the heads of the people in the pits and get a view down to Murray’s Corner. I took a pocketful of sultanas and ate them during the day, but I stayed on that drum from start to finish.”

In those days of limited public-access timing, lap-scoring was a vital component of a team’s activities. The lap-scorer’s role was to keep track of not only the team’s own cars but also the oppositions’ so that strategies could be adopted and if necessary modified.

Glen Dix was not only a showy finishing flag waver. It was as a circuit-racing starter that he won the confidence of countless

drivers. His procedure on the starter’s rostrum was metronomic. In the usual manner he displayed the three minute, two minute and one minute to go starting boards.

Then his routine was precise. Watching his stop-watch, he’d signal 30 seconds to go with his arms held above his head and crossed.

At 10 seconds he’d hold up his hands, 10 fingers splayed out. It was at this time drivers would start their own count-down and select first gear. At five seconds the national flag was raised vertically, one hand on the shaft and the other on the bottom corner. Drivers started bring engine revs up for the off.

Exactly at zero seconds the flag would drop swiftly. No hesitation, no wavering and any driver worth their salt would get a perfect start.

So good was the routine that a group of F5000 drivers asked Glen if he would start all of the races in the then Tasman/Rothmans Series of the late 1960s/early 1970s in New Zealand and Australia. But local rivalries stood in the way and it didn’t happen.

Glen, who is now 87, retired from racing activities in 2017 after 64 years on the job.

He was awarded an OAM for services to motorsport in 2009 and now lives quietly on the outskirts of the SA coastal town of Victor Harbor, sorting his huge trove of memorabilia, much of which is now held in a commemorative room at the nearby Strathalbyn Motor Museum.

He still helps “elderly” people look after their gardens as well as coaxing along his own. A lifetime habit of helping is hard to break.

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RACE TASMANIA PREVIEW

RACE TASMANIA AND SYMMONS PLAINS IS WHERE SOME OF THE BIGGEST NATIONAL CATEGORIES FIRE BACK INTO LIFE AND HIT THE RACE TRACK FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2022, DAN MCCARTHY PREVIEWS THE EVENT AND TALKS TO SOME OF THE DRIVERS ABOUT WHAT YOU SHOULD EXPECT TO SEE ON THE RACETRACK.

NATIONAL RACING IS BACK RACE TASMANIA AND SYMMONS PLAINS WILL HOST THE SEASON OPENING ENCOUNTER FOR THE AUSTRALIAN RACING GROUP’S CORE CATEGORIES AS MOTOR RACING FIRES BACK INTO LIFE ON THE APPLE ISLE. AS DAN MCCARTHY FOUND OUT, IT WILL BE A WEEKEND OF ACTION NOT TO BE MISSED. THE BEGINNING of the national motor racing season is upon us and, for the second year running, it commences at Race Tasmania, held at the historic Symmons Plains circuit.

This will be the second annual event held by the Australian Racing Group, headlined by the TCR Australia Series, the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship and the National Trans Am Series.

COVID-19 will not affect the atmosphere at Symmons Plains as crowds in Launceston will be allowed to enter the venue in full, with no cap on spectators.

It is not just an event for the ARG’s burgeoning national categories – venerable HQ Holdens and pocket-rocket Hyundai Excels will add to the action.

TCR

THE turbocharged hot hatch series grid will be hotly contested at Race Tasmania,where it will feature a host of former Supercars full-timers as well as a strong contingent of young guns.

Reigning champion Chaz Mostert will not return in 2022, but don’t worry, another former series winner and current Supercars driver is returning in the form of Will Brown.

Brown holds many TCR records after a dominant 2019 series win and will link up with last year’s victorious team, Melbourne Performance Centre.

Garry Rogers Motorsport is always a contenders for wins. This year GRM has downscaled, dropping the Alfa Romeo Giulietta’s to focus on its French fleet of Renaults and Peugeots.

The four Peugeots will all be driven by front-running youngsters. Once again, 2021 series runner-up Aaron Cameron will contest

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hairpin) is extremely strong, so I think that it’ll be the car to beat, but I also expect the Peugeot to be just on its heels.

“The way that they homologate the cars at the start of the season and the way the BOP works out, it provides entertaining racing – every time we turn up to a different race meeting, we genuinely have no idea who the top contenders are going to be.”

Zac Soutar, Lachlan Mineeff and Braydan Willmington are the privately run entries in Tasmania.

S5000 A late and welcome entry into the TCR series is former Supercars regular Fabian Coulthard. the series in a 308 alongside teammate Ben Bargwanna, who returns for a second year.

Former Alfa Romeo driver and frontwheel-drive expert Jordan Cox jumps into the French machine as does Dylan O’Keeffe from the Renault side of GRM. The intra-team battle within the GRM Peugeot squad will be a fascinating watch, featuring four competitive young drivers expecting to take wins and fight for the title.

The two Renaults will be driven by Supercars Championship race winner James Moffat for a third straight season and debutant, former Aussie Racing Car driver Kody Garland.

Front-running Hyundai squad HMO Customer Racing fields a mostly unchanged line-up with Nathan Morcom and Josh Buchan being joined this year by rookie Bailey Sweeny.

Brown will be joined at MPC by 18-year-old Jay Hanson, who switches from Alfa Romeo

to the latest specification Audi RS3 LMS TCR. Joining the team from Phillip Island will be Iain McDougall.

Audi is also represented by the privateer effort of the returning Liam McAdam.

Tony D’Alberto continues with Honda support at Wall Racing while, for Race Tasmania, his former Supercars co-driver Fabian Coulthard joins, signalling his hope to complete the season.

Another ex-Supercars driver, Michael Caruso, will lead the charge at Ash Seward Motorsport, remaining in an Alfa Romeo.

Winner of two races last year in an Alfa Romeo, GRM’s Cox believes the Italian hot hatches will be hard to beat again, although he expects his Peugeot to be a contender.

“Knowing the Alfa, that probably suits the Symmons track the most of all the tracks that it goes to,” Cox told Auto Action.

“I’d expect they’d be strong there again for sure, but the Alfa at that bottom bend (the

THE BIG banger open-wheel wings and slicks category sees a modest grid size, although what may be lacking in quantity is more than made up for in quality.

A total of nine V8 powered cars will race around the historic venue – but we are told to expect four or five more cars to join the series from Round 2.

The defending Australian Drivers’ champion Joey Mawson returns to head the BRM-run Form700/Alabar team and will undoubtedly be one of the contenders for the title once again.

Kiwi Kaleb Ngatoa will return after contesting several rounds of the championship last year. He missed the season-ending Tasman Series, but S5000’s only international race winner to date will be expecting to fight for rounds wins and is certainly a dark horse for the title.

For the opening round, the second Form700/Alabar Team BRM seat is being filled by current Supercars Championship driver Tim Slade,. The South Australian has not raced an open-wheeler since 2006, but as a former Formula Ford Championship runnerup he will be undoubtedly be competitive.

Former Australian Drivers’ Champion Tim Macrow is always on the pace – he went into the final round of both the Tasman Series and S5000 Championship as a title contender. If a couple of things had gone his way, he could well have taken both. He comes into 2022 confident of success.

Last year at tight and technical circuits, the Team BRM drivers seemed to have a slight advantage – Macrow believes that this will not be the case in 2022.

“It is going to be really tough up front, especially with Golding and Mawson; Webster will be there as well – he’s not slow,” Macrow told AA. “I don’t think you’ll see a big difference at the different tracks. But you know each team and each driver’s strengths and weaknesses, but it’s really down to a lot to the driver.

“There’s set-up stuff and the team’s got to do a good job, but there is a big chunk of performance in the driver – so it could be a bit of that.”

Talking about the circuit, Macrow expressed how challenging the track is and the unique nature of the racing it produces.

“It’s a challenge – it looks simple on paper, but to get the braking right with these cars (and it’s a braking track), is difficult,” he said.

“But you can tow each other, which is good, and there are passing opportunities down into the hairpin and then Turn 6.

“I love racing in Tassie. I’m expecting it to be really, really close and that you’ll see some good passing manoeuvres.”

Garry Rogers Motorsport driver James Golding returns – he is another driver who fought for both titles last year.

Youngsters Cooper Webster and Blake Purdie return in 2022 for Versa Motorsport and 88 Racing respectively.

Two newcomers make up the quality grid, Super3 Series race winner and Super2 driver Josh Fife joins 88 Racing in the ACMFinance car.

Symmons Plains’ famous hairpin provides a key passing spot for all categories – S5000 included.

Local Tasmanian and former Touring Car Masters front-runner Adam Garwood will debut in the Garry Rogers Motorsport machine in which he will complete the series.

TRANS AM

GROWING IN popularity, the Trans Am National Series returns to Tasmania with a strong 26 entries.

A diverse mix of drivers representing youth, experience and everything in between will hope to topple the established names in the series led by last year’s title winner, Nathan Herne. Herne will now represent Garry Rogers Motorsport rather than Dream Racing Australia, where he is joined Tasmanians Owen Kelly and Marcos Ambrose protege Lochie Dalton.

Forming part of a three-car entry to come out of Ben Grice’s stable, Nic Carroll finished

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“Trans Am cars are pretty well suited to Symmons Plains– they are not a car that likes high speed lateral load corners; they are real stop, rotate and go cars, so they’ll really be suited for this Symmons Plains circuit and the racing should be red hot.”

When talking about his rivals, he feels that 2021 championship rival Owen Kelly will be one of the major contenders for the title, but says you can never rule anyone out.

“I expect to be up there, especially with Owen as well – we’re teammates this year for GRM – so it’s going to be very different,” he said.

“With Trans-am, you never know what to expect – a lot of people expected me to run away at the end of the last year after Aaron Seton dropped out, but that definitely wasn’t the case.”

For more on the TV coverage see pages 6-7.

Nathan Herne is expecting an even tougher competition in Trans Am this year.

Joey Mawson and (for Round 1) Supercar pilot Tim Slade will debut a trick new Form700/Alabar team livery.

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on the podium at the inaugural round in Adelaide two years ago and will be a driver to watch this season.

Jon McCorkindale transitions from Super2 to National Trans Am, while Elliot Barbour is another debutant featuring an impressive resume.

After fighting for the runner up slot last season, Tim Brook and Edan Thornburrow have experience on their side, as does Kyle Gurton as well as the aforementioned Grice.

Watch out for several next-generation drivers including third-generation racer Jett Johnson, son of Steven and grandson of Dick. He impressed in outings late last year as did Nash Morris.

“Trans Am has lot stronger field this year than what it was last year, the battle packs are going to be a lot more intense,” Herne said to AA.

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CODY

BURCHER

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK ONE OF THE YOUNG HOPEFULS WHO WILL GRID UP FOR TRANS AM RACING THIS YEAR IS CODY BURCHER FROM ORANGE. HE FACES A GIANT CHALLENGE IN HIS FIRST SEASON AT NATIONAL LEVEL, AS JOSH NEVETT DISCOVERED.

THERE IS no shortage of drivers who are jumping into Trans Am cars for season 2022, with a riot of young rookies who are focussed on joining the two-man battle between Nathan Herne and Aaron Seton that saw Herne claim the championship last year.

Joining the charge will be Cody Burcher, a 17-year-old Formula Ford graduate, who enters the series with both enthusiasm and confidence.

The Ford Mustang driver has already had his first test day at Symmons Plains Raceway, the venue for the season opener this weekend, and reports that he is well and truly on the pace.

“Symmons Plains was the first time I drove the car and it was it was everything I expected if not more,” Burcher told Auto Action.

“My lap times were really good, pretty much equal to the times last year’s top three did within the first few sessions.

“I’m still looking to improve every day – everyone’s going to step up.

“I’m confident with where we’re at, but there’s definitely gains to make.”

Burcher has his sights set on being the best performing rookie in Trans Am, which

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won’t be an easy task given the injection of quality this year.

Tasmanian Lochie Dalton and John Harris join Burcher as fresh faces on the scene, while ex-Super2 driver Jon McCorkindale and Dalton Ellery have maturity on their side as newcomers to the category.

Despite the stiff competition, Burcher believes he could make an impact amongst his peers on track.

“Top rookie will be the first goal,” he asserted.

“I’m very comfortable in the car. Our pace was really good at the first testing day.

“We will see where we are placed after the first few rounds. If we got top rookie and top five in the main championship, I’d be happy with that.

“You can’t get too ahead of yourself.

“I’ll try to listen, take it all in, be a sponge, and do the best job possible on the day.”

Garry Rogers Motorsport will be backing Burcher this season as part of its customer program and director Barry Rogers was confident that the teenager could achieve his lofty goals in 2022.

“We first came across Cody in 2020. We

did an evaluation day at Phillip Island in S5000 and we included Cody in that – he was very, very impressive,” Rogers said.

“He adapted to the car very smartly and presented himself as a mature young fellow who really thinks about his racing.

“He’ll be up there near the pointy end.

What is the pointy end? Out of the 31 entrants for Tassie I think 12 names, given the right run, could win.

“You’ve got Herne from last year, Owen Kelly, Ben Grice, Lochie Dalton. I expect to see Cody racing in the top 10 – I’d like to see him get a result and it could come sooner rather than later.

GRM is a team with plentiful resources and a passion for developing young drivers as demonstrated by its recent young driver Combine.

In a series where many entrants go it alone or run on a small scale, Burcher was not underestimating the benefit of quality support from the Dandenong-based operation.

“Barry and Garry have been awesome in this last 12 months to help us make it all happen,” Burcher confirmed.

“They’re obviously renowned for what they do, and they’ve got a really good

team behind them. There are a lot of brains to pick.

“It’s a fantastic spot to be in and I can’t thank them enough for this opportunity.”

Burcher is primed to attack 2022 off the back of a strong national Formula Ford year in which he finished third in the standings despite missing a round.

Tom Sargent was a clear standout in the category, but Burcher demonstrated his consistency by finishing every race runner-up, to go with a win at Wakefield last May. The New South Welshman was heartened by his performances in the open wheel development category, which paved the way for his first tin-top berth.

“The top three in the championship were pretty well on par with each other,” Burcher said candidly.

“Considering I missed a whole round to still finish third in the championship speaks for itself.

“I made some massive personal and fitness gains last year.”

In addition to supporting Burcher, GRM will run three entries this season, including 2021 title winner Herne.

Burcher joins a Trans Am grid growing in size and quality ... It all started in karting (below) and Formula Ford (bottom).

Rogers tipped the reigning champion would be hard to beat this time around.

“Nathan is pretty exciting to watch – he drives the car loose and we know what he can do,” Rogers said.

“He won the championship last year, but it probably feels like unfinished business for him, given the fact that Aaron Seton didn’t run the last couple of rounds when there was one point’s difference.”

Although he has not raced in a national series as yet, Burcher has already mixed it with some skilled drivers in his time behind the wheel.

He was third to Triple Eight Race Engineering prodigy Broc Feeney in the 2017 Australian KA2 Kart Championship, and more recently lined up against Super2 racer Angelo Mouzouris and Kiwi Hunter McElrea,

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who will take on Indy Lights this year.

Burcher will have to channel all that experience if he is to top the debutants, let alone Herne and fellow contenders Edan Thornburrow, Tim Brook and Kyle Gurton.

But with his red rocket ready to be unleashed and the absence of external expectation, don’t be surprised if Cody Burcher is crowned king of the kids come the end of the year.

“I’m extremely excited,” Burcher concluded.

“Honestly, I keep pinching myself that we’re doing it.”

Race Tasmania will kick off the Trans Am season from February 11-13 at Symmons Plains Raceway.

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MEL’S RACING DIARYPart 1 IMAGES: SS MEDIA.COM.AU/HOLDEN MOTORSPORT

MEL’S EXCEL-LENT ADVENTURE – PART ONE

IF YOU have been following motorsport in Australia for any length of time, you will be familiar with Melinda Price.

Back in the day she was a V8 Supercar name – Price was one half of the hugely popular ‘Castrol Cougars’ female team that took the scene by storm back in the late 90s. Now, over 20 years on, Melinda is working hard to get back behind the wheel and start racing again. In part one of her racing diary MELINDA PRICE tells the story of that path back to racing.

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MOTORSPORT ISN’T like a lot of other sports – you don’t just turn up on Saturday and play for an hour or two and then go home and get on with your life.

Motorsport is a lifestyle, competing is all day, or all weekend, plus travelling (maybe even interstate); its practice after practice; its preparation time … and its money – a lot! It’s an all-consuming sport if you want to do it properly but the rewards (can) equal the commitment … success, winning, adrenalin and the friends you make that last forever.

As a child growing up knowing nothing else but karting it was just what we did – how we lived. At least two weekends of every month we were racing, sometimes three and often four. That was our world, and everything revolved around it.

Karting eventually led to race cars and the high paced/privileged life continued on for many years. Production Cars, ‘Legends’ at the Thunderdome, 2.0L Touring Cars and eventually the top tier Shell Australian Touring Car Championship. Kerryn Brewer and I became the first females to compete in V8s for a long time as part of the Holden/ Larry Perkins-run ‘Castrol Cougars’. The team was (for the most part) very popular – especially with the fans.

However, like everything in life, there are two sides … and after many years I decided

“ ”

As a 50 year-old woman I had a bit of work to do – I was fast but not quite strong enough yet ...

that I needed something else in my life besides racing. I walked away and didn’t look back.

Let’s jump forward a decade … I’m studying to be a Naturopath, in the middle of breast cancer treatment and have a 6-month-old daughter (Lily).

I’m in the lounge room with my father (David Price from DP Karts) when he suggests that the Formula Junior Lotus 22 race car of good family friend Kim Shearn is available for us to use while Kim is overseas.

I looked at him in amazement “do you mean I drive it?”

Fast forward again to couple of months later and I had won my debut race on return … I was hooked yet again and could not believe I’d spent the last 10 years of my life without motorsport.

Once I was back in the loop, one thing led to another as it does in motorsport – more races in the Lotus, historic Formula Ford, a MARC car in Australian GT and a Hyundai Excel enduro. I even got my bum back into an (era appropriate) 5.0L touring car thanks to Keith Linnell. With help from my

legendary mate John Bowe, a few rounds in Touring Car Masters followed and before I knew it, I was back at Bathurst racing (in TCM) on the 20th anniversary of the Cougars first Bathurst 1000 in 1997.

Not long after that the Retro Karting Association reached out with the offer of a kart to race in the 2019 series. I didn’t have so much as a spanner of my own at that time, but the guys had me covered, and I did my first weekend racing karts in over 20 years! There wasn’t a muscle in my body that didn’t hurt on Monday morning, but I was totally and utterly addicted … again!

I was again blessed by the good nature of my fellow racers and an Arrow AX6 presented itself for me to complete the season. I won the Retro Karting Clubman Light Australian Championship that year, and with that came a burning passion to be independent, to do things for myself and abandon the “arrive and drive” attitude of years gone by.

And so, the transformation began. I started driver training again with Audi, Mercedes and Jaguar all around the great racetracks

Melinda came from a well-known karting dynasty, and ended up as half of the famous touring car Castrol Cougars squad, run for the sponsor by Larry Perkins. (left below).

E of the country, took up restoring karts and acquired my first toolbox along with some power tools. I sold my car for a go-kart van and before I knew it, I had moved from Clubman to F100 and was racing in the Queensland series as well. As a 50-year-old woman I had a bit of work to do – I was fast, but not quite strong enough yet.

Proving that I was still fast and had what it takes to race hard again was all the

motivation I needed to start training and get fitter and stronger.

Not just karts either. I wanted to race cars again.

Which brings us to the current chapter in my life.

I really wanted to keep racing again, but I wanted something a bit more than a kart to race…

For the first time in my life, I’ve just purchased my own racing car, a Hyundai Excel. I’d competed in a 3-hour enduro at Phillip Island a few years ago with Wayne Millburn and Karl Neilson from the ‘Brakes & More’ Excel racing team, and it was fantastic. It just so happened that these guys had a spare car in the shed they had been building up – and were prepared to sell. Sold!

They kindly spent a day in the shed with me and a container of liquid nitrogen removing the sound deadener from the inside of the car before I took delivery, and the car was picked up along with my kart van, now also a tow vehicle, to make the voyage up to Queensland (pictured above) for the next part of the rebuild.

So, I’m a team owner now, and fully committed to getting back into racing.

It’s exciting, scary and will be a massive learning curve in so many areas. I’m starting from

scratch, with pretty much nothing except the car, no workshop, no trailer, no equipment, no money.

Lucky for me, what I do have is amazing people all around me who have been supporting me in the background to get the journey started. From the moment I posted the news on social media, people have reached out with offers of support and the dream is becoming a reality.

My first big win came late last year via a very nostalgic renewed partnership with my long-term sponsors Castrol. I can’t wait to be wearing the Castrol colours again this year, and my car (now branded ‘the buggy’) is going to look amazing thanks to Scott Yorston at SS Media who has done an incredible livery design for me (below).

While the Excel I purchased was not a bad car in the early days of Excel racing, the category is becoming more and more competitive. Things have developed a bit and my new acquisition needed a few improvements to make it more competitive…

One of the first people to reach out and offer support when he heard the news about my racing return was Ian (and Kaye) Woodward from FATAZ competition engines. I had meet them both first when I was racing in TCM.

While the engine in the car is okay, it’s done a bit of work, so Ian (pictured far left) is building me a new engine, which is set to power my Series X3 Queensland State Championship assault in 2022.

The next piece of the puzzle was a home for the car in Queensland and, yet again, another racing friend came to the rescue.

Grant Craft, who I have had some great races in Formula Junior against over the years, has generously donated me my own little piece of concrete in his workshop.

We got the car in the workshop and gave it a going over, and the (long) list of things I needed and wanted to do to make ‘the buggy’ a weapon was compiled.

It needed many things before we could hit the track, some of which will take a little more time to arrange. But in order to get some miles under the belt, we are starting with some new wheels. I got myself some new Superlite wheels (thanks Grant at Trans Am Race Engineering) and some tyres, and just needed a trailer and we would be off to the track for an initial shakedown.

Enter Wayne Nowlan, who I shared the Nurburgring experience with in the early 2000s. It just so happened that Wayne owns a group of Bridgestone Select stores up here (and he also owns a car trailer), so off I went to see Wayne.

With my tyres mounted and a bit of prepping done to the car as it is, we are off to the track to get some miles under my belt and to see how ‘the buggy’ is going to go.

It is also going to give me a chance to have a run on a track that I have never seen before in Morgan Park, the track where many of the championship rounds will be held in the 2022 season, so I’m super excited and looking forward to a blast in my own little rocket.

Stay tuned for the next chapter of my return to racing when I hit the track and put the little Hyundai through its paces!

www.autoaction.com.au I 43

WE NEED

YOU

EVERY MOTORSPORT EVENT REQUIRES A SMALL ARMY OF OFFICIALS AND FRESH RECRUITS ARE BEING SOUGHT FOR 2022. JOSH NEVETT EXPLORES THE DIFFERENT ROLES AVAILABLE, HOW TO SIGN UP AND WHY YOU SHOULD GET INVOLVED. NOBODY GETS closer to the action than the Motorsport Australia officials.

No VIP ticket or paddock pass compares to the view they get from the grid, pitlane or on the track itself.

It is therefore worth celebrating that officials are in high demand right now, and just about anyone can get involved.

“We always need more officials for events,” Phillip Island Auto Racing Club (PIARC) Vice President Warren Reid tells Auto Action.

“We need different numbers for different events, from 60 officials at club level to 300 for a Supercars round and 1000 for Formula 1.

“It’s the best way to get close the action at a racetrack.”

Volunteers can choose from a plethora of roles that cover the Paddock, trackside and behind-the-scenes, all of which share the common benefit of unrivalled access to motorsport on race day.

This became clear as PIARC representatives explained the positions during its first training day of the year at the club headquarters in Springvale.

Behind the glass, volunteers can join the timing team, administration team, stewards, or race control team, contributing to the event without leaving the comfort of an airconditioned office space.

Those more willing to get hands on out in the elements also have plenty of teams to choose from, namely the pit and paddock teams, trackside marshals and emergency services teams.

Pit and paddock officials are out on the tarmac, directing traffic, setting up the grid and managing the starting and ending of trackside events.

Grid marshals get even closer to the action, responsible for ensuring that the race vehicles start in the correct order and the correct position. To do that, you guessed it, grid marshals get the honour of standing on the grid.

The medical and fire teams are on the front line too, although with the added stress of having to diffuse a potentially dangerous or harmful situation when collisions unleash chaos.

Scrutineering also sits under the pit and paddock banner and is perfect for individuals who have a mechanical

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With experience and up-grading in qualification, race officials are able to experience Suopercars (left) and the F1 Grand Prix (below) close-up. disposition and want to be involved in checking cars for safety and eligibility.

Clearly there is a wide array of roles to fill on a race day (some 20 positions were covered during the PIARC presentation), and all make a real difference in keeping motorsport safe and enjoyable for all involved.

PIARC President Nick Scarcella believes that becoming an official is a no-brainer for any dedicated motorsport fan.

“It’s a way of getting involved in the sport without having to spend a lot and you can grow as much as you want as an official, be it from club events like ours all the way to international events,” Scarcella explains.

“We have seen quite a number of former racers like myself become an official to get their motorsport fix without being behind the wheel.”

The requirements for becoming an official are relatively straightforward. New volunteers can attain their general licence online and the only other non-negotiable is a Working with Children (WWC) Card.

Those who are unsure about becoming an official have the option to arrange a one-day licence through PIARC which allows them to get involved under the watchful eye of a more experienced team member.

Once a trainee is comfortable and has acquired their general licence, the progression opportunities are plentiful within the Motorsport Australia system.

Graded Officials Licences have six grading levels which are available to all officials to achieve, starting with the introductory online course and culminating in a ‘gold official’ licence.

They can then choose to elevate themselves through the bronze-silver-gold tiered system in order to access appointments at the most exclusive level of motorsport – gold officials can officiate as a Chief up to and including international level events.

Those top tier events are a significant motivator for officials to progress, as Scarcella knows all too well.

OFFICIAL REQUIRE S D

“It really is money can’t buy experiences,” Scarcella says.

“Be it working a flag point at The Island, working in pit lane at Bathurst or even working in the Formula 1 paddock at Albert Park.

“I’ve done things I’d never thought about such as drive course cars at Supercar events.

“I was lucky enough to wave the chequered flag for club icon and Australian motor racing legend Murray Carter at his last race and win in 2015.”

Many PIARC officials have moved up the ranks through the system over the years to great success.

PIARC provided most of the race control officials for the inaugural Formula 1 Adelaide Grand Prix and continues to do so for Formula 1 and Supercars Championship events alike.

Some individuals have even reached senior positions within Motorsport Australia or received international recognition through the FIA. Most recently, seasoned official Henk van den Dungen was crowned the 2021 FIA Senior Official of the Year, after beginning his journey as a flag marshal, before moving through the ranks to become a Clerk of Course over 40 years ago.

“PIARC was the go-to for CAMS when starting out the Formula 1 GP in the 1980s – people like the late Peter Nelson and Henk van den Dungen traveling overseas to see how it’s done to improve the show for Down Under,” Scarcella recalled.

“Ian ‘Skip’ Taylor wrote the critical response plan that has become the gold standard.

“PIARC has trained people such as former

Supercars Race Director Tim Schenken and his replacement in James Taylor.

“People like Warren Reid, Geoff Bull and Matt Balcombe all started in the club and worked up to the highest roles in Australian Motorsport.”

In the present, new officials are on PIARC’s radar as it looks to welcome fresh faces into the fold ahead of a busy motorsport season.

The first information session was one of several that will be held this year, designed to recruit officials from all walks of life.

“We are after the next generation, although we accept anyone aged 16 to 90,” Scarcella said.

“Our sport relies on its volunteers – we hear it at every broadcast, be it Supercars or Formula 1.

“Currently we have 900 PIARC officials but

you can never have too many.

“With the pandemic and our ethos of mentoring the next generation, we would love to double that.”

Reid will be front and centre at each meeting to impart his knowledge and experiences, giving back to the organisation that has given him so much over 50 years of involvement.

“There have been many highlights having done every F1 event in Australia,” Reid reflected.

“It is so rewarding and enjoyable to be part of a team that is putting on an event where the contributions of all officials count in making the event function.

“Motorsport officials and competitors have a special bond and knowing that I have made friends for life is a wonderful feeling.”

From flag-marshalling, to crash intervention, to Race Control – there are many ways of being involved as a motorsport official.

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The K&N brand joins a growing list of industryleading brands offered by VCM Performance, including ARP, ATI Performance Parts, Deatchwerks, GM Performance Parts, Improved Racing, Lingenfelter, Mahle, PWR Performance Products, and Tuff Mounts.

VCM Performance is also the exclusive Australian distributor for Magnuson Superchargers and exclusive Australian and New Zealand agent for HP Tuners, having played an integral role in developing one of the market’s most comprehensive tuning software programs.

It has also designed and produced a range of VCM Performance camshafts and valve train packages.

“Our dyno-tuning experience and work with HP Tuners on the LS series engine has been a valuable asset in the design phase of our cam profiles and has enabled us to produce the perfect range of street cams and packages to suit every vehicle and need,” Pancione said.

For more information visit www.vcmstore.com.au or contact Rob Willcox at rob@vcmsuite.com.au.

KEEPING THE OPPOSTION AT ARMS LENGTH ADJUSTABLE CONTROL arms and radius rods are a must-have for performance and motorsport vehicles that require improved grip.

Anytime a vehicle is lowered or requires more camber or caster added to the front suspension, standard lower control arms and castor bars need to be changed in length. The quickest option is to have adjustable arms fitted, this also helps for ongoing modifications. Multiple adjustments can be carried out with these arms and radius rods to achieve the best results when seeking higher grip levels.

Adjustable control arms will optimise modified camber and caster settings, with assist with delivering the correct differential pinion angle settings for ultimate power down, allow the fitment of four-link suspension set-ups and wheelbase changes.

Suspension Concepts also have a range of adjustable panhard rods.

For further details on the range of adjustable control arms that Suspension Concepts manufacture, along with a huge range of other motorsport suspension components, give them a call on 4351 2659 or visit www.suspensionconcepts.com.au

Images: Motorsport Images

AUSSIES DELIVER IN DAYTONA CLASSIC

The race winning Meyer Shank Racing car came from a lap down early in the race to take victory in the 24 Hours.

Blomqvist said. “I’ve dreamt of it. Did I believe? Yes. But you never know.

“It’s 24 hours of relentless racing. Every time I jumped in the car at moments I felt really comfortable and moments when I was like, ‘Man, I can’t get this car to work.’ It was just a rollercoaster of a race.”

At the end of the 24 hours the top four were separated by just 10s, with two Cadillacs coming home in third and fourth respectively.

The remaining Cadillacs slowly fell out of contention with a variety of issues.

Matt Campbell won the GTD Pro class after his teammate prevailed in a last lap scrap for the victory. Below right: Rising IndyCar stars Colton Herta and Pato O’Ward teamed up to win the LMP2 class, but it was not without its challenges.

By Dan McCarthy ONCE AGAIN, the Australian contingent had success at the 24 Hours of Daytona, highlighted by Matt Campbell winning the GTD Pro class.

In the top-tier DPi class it was Indy 500 winning squad Meyer Shank Racing that took the outright win with Acura.

OUTRIGHT (DPi) It was an intense and hard-fought battle between Acura and Cadillac for much of the race – Acura looked down and out early, but rose up to take a historic 1-2 finish.

The Meyer Shank Racing Acura team fielded a quartet of great drivers including its two IndyCar Series steerers Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud, who

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were joined by endurance expert Oliver Jarvis and Tom Blomqvist.

For Castroneves, it was his second consecutive Rolex 24 victory after winning with Wayne Taylor Racing last year. He brought the car home before celebrating by traditionally climbing up the catch fencing.

“That was absolutely incredible,” he said.

“I’m so happy for the entire group. Everyone did their job. At the end, I said, ‘Put me in, Coach.’ It was great.”

Ironically for Castroneves ,the car he held back to win was the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura with Ricky Taylor behind the wheel by a margin of 3s – it was with this team that he had won the race in 2021.

Taylor, Alexander Rossi, Felipe Albuquerque and Will Stevens were unable to make the move in the last 30 minutes,

meaning that WTR fell just shy of winning its fourth straight Daytona 24 Hours.

The Acura 1-2 finish was quite remarkable as ,18 hours earlier, both cars found themselves off the lead lap and trailed all five Cadillacs.

Loic Duval brought the No. 5 JDC Miller MotorSports Cadillac DPi-V.R home in third place with teammates Tristan Vautier, Richard Westbrook and Ben Keating.

The crucial race-winning stint was

by Blomqvist – the WEC JOTA driver caught Taylor and made a successful move to take the lead.

Despite pressure from behind he was able to hold position and hand the car over to Castroneves at the head of the field.

“I was speechless after the race,”

GTD Pro The battle of the race was in the GTD Pro category, where Campbell’s teammate Mathieu Jaminet became locked in a last lap battle for the class win with the Laurens Vanthoor.

Matt Campbell and former F1 driver Felipe Nasr lift Mathieu Jaminet after he fought back and retook the GTD Pro class lead on the final lap, handing Porcshe the class win in both GT classes.

Right top: Two Australians, Scott Andrews and James Davison moved up a place late in the race to finish on the GTD class podium together.

Right: Kenny Habul’s race came to an early end when his car ended up in the barrier on the speedway just as the sun was setting.

In the middle of the newly renamed Le Mans Chicane the two Porsche’s made contact.

Vanthoor in the KCMG car found himself spinning around, while the Pfaff Motorsports Porsche of Campbell, Jaminet and former Formula 1 driver Felipe Nasr marched on to take the win after a grassy excursion.

It was an emotional day for everyone involved, –not only the first 24 Hours of Daytona class victory for all three drivers, but it was also the first for team.

Vanthoor had been steadily catching throughout the closing minutes of the race and his persistent pressure paid off when he gained the lead with five minutes remaining.

He remained out front for three laps leading to the white flag signalling the start of the final lap.

Jaminet however was not out of it. He repeated the move of Vanthoor around the International Horseshoe hairpin but was forced to vigorously defend the position into the Le Mans Chicane when the collision occurred.

The two Porsches negotiated the initial left-hander side-by-side before coming together. Both drove over the grass at high The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura could not quite match the race winning car late in the race and came home in second position.

speed – Jaminet maintained control while Vanthoor slid off track.

Due to the last lap collision, the #62 AF Corse Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Daniel Serra and Davide Rigon inherited second, while Vanthoor recovered quickly to finish in third.

“This was crazy!” said Jaminet. “It was difficult to realise what happened on the last lap – actually the last two hours. I was just driving for my life for these two hours.

“Even when he passed me, I thought, ‘I’m not going to give this thing.”

Aussie Campbell could not believe what happened.

“Holy shit,” Campbell laughed.

“Obviously extremely happy to be able to bring home the win. We were watching in the last couple hours ... it was pretty hectic at times.

“Extremely happy to be able to win the race with these two guys, and also bring the win home for Pfaff Motorsports.

“It’s a fantastic start to the year ... super happy. Been able to do the Rolex a couple times now. Had a podium and also a very near win. Now to be able to finally clinch it is an amazing feeling.

“Super happy. Hopefully we can try to get a couple more of these as well. Absolutely stoked.”

LMP2 If you thought the DPi comeback was good, IndyCar stars Pato O’Ward and Colton Herta, teamed up with Eric Lux and Devlin Defrancesco, came from five laps down to win the LMP2 class with Dragonspeed USA. A technical glitch hampered pit stop transits early in the race, resulting in multiple speeding penalties that put the car behind early.

By nightfall the team got the system righted and it was time to get their heads

down and began to go on the offensive.

They marched through the field over night and on Sunday morning found themselves in the lead.

Herta briefly lost the lead on the final restart with 30 minutes remaining; however he repassed at the Le Mans Chicane, where contact was made as they raced tightly, sending the #8 machine through the grass.

Herta went on to win by 7s.

“He wasn’t really happy with the move, but I thought it was clean – I was alongside of him and two in the bus stop (Le Mans Chicane) just don’t go and I had the inside lane,” Herta said about the incident.

“It’s unfortunate. I didn’t want the race to end that way for them, but these things happen, I guess ...”

Australia’s most recent Le Mans 24 Hours class podium finisher, James Allen, was in LMP2 and failed to greet the finish line with the G-Drive racing operation.

GTD There was more success for Australians in GTD, the ‘amateur’ GT class.

Scott Andrews, alongside Mike Skeen, Guy Cosmo and Stevan McAleer, finished third in class, on the lead lap, less than 19s away from the class winning machine.

In the Sun Energy Mercedes, Kenny Habul failed to greet the chequered flag after his car was crashed early in the race.

LMP3 IMSA’s LMP3 category also featured two Australian’s. GT ace Josh Burdon finished an impressive fourth in class, competing for Andretti Autosport.

Former open-wheel ace Cameron Shields finished the race in 36th outright – over the duration of the race the team encountered some issues and thus finished down the field.

The start of the Daytona 24 Hours is always frenetic, with the #10 Acura pulling out a nice lead on the opening lap of the race.

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STATUS QUO REMAINS

A Race 2 win catapulted Mortara into the championship lead.

De Vries and Vandoorne lead Race 1 forMercedes.

Report: Josh Nevett EDOARDO MORTARA and Nyck De Vries picked up where they left off at the end of last season to top the Formula E World Championship standings after the opening two rounds in Saudi Arabia.

Mortara, who finished runner-up to De Vries in Season 7, will head to Mexico as the championship leader after winning the second encounter at Riyadh Street Circuit.

The ROKiT Venturi Racing driver also finished sixth in Race 1, producing a

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consistent first weekend back in the electric racing series.

De Vries returned a win immediately in Race 1 before backing it up with a 10th place finish to sit second overall.

The Dutch driver (pictured top) headed a Mercedes-EQ one-two to kick off the new campaign as teammate Stoffel Vandoorne came home second.

Vandoorne held the lead for much of the race but a costly mistake cost him top spot on the podium – the Belgian missed the

second ATTACK MODE activation loop, losing time both during and after.

Jake Dennis completed the podium after a merciless battle with Andre Lotterer, who fell back to finish 14th.

Jaguar TCS Racing’s Sam Bird crossed the line fourth, while Lucas di Grassi secured fifth on debut for ROKiT Venturi Racing ahead of teammate Mortara.

Kiwi Nick Cassidy earned points for both seventh place and the Fastest Lap award.

Jean-Eric Vergne followed in eighth as rookie Oliver Askew finished ninth in his first start.

Mitch Evans rounded out top 10 for Jaguar.

High profile category recruits Dan Ticktum and Antonio Giovinazzi began their lives in Formula E in disappointing fashion.

Former Formula 2 racer and controversial figure Ticktum was 18th for NIO 333, while exAlfa Romeo Formula 1 driver Giovinazzi was 20th for Dragon/Penske Autosport.

In Race 2, Mortara leap-frogged his exteammate to leave Saudi Arabia as the standings leader as Robin Frijns and Di Grassi graced the podium for the first time in 2022.

The ROKiT Venturi pair made their move on Lap 16, taking advantage of ATTACK MODE to pass polesitter and race leader de Vries.

With nothing but clear air ahead, Mortara then switched positions with Di Grassi without drama to hit the lead.

The Swiss driver managed to fend off Frijns before the raced ended under Safety Car conditions, required when Alexander Sims’ Mahindra machine found the wall.

Porsche man Lotterer redeemed himself after Race 1 to finish fourth, winning his second battle with Avalanche Andretti driver Dennis who crossed the line just behind him.

Vergne was sixth ahead of Vandoorne, who climbed from 12th to seventh by the chequered flag.

Oliver Rowland overcame a pre-race three position grid penalty to finish eighth for Mahindra Racing; Pascal Wehrlein was ninth.

Round 1 winner and reigning series champion de Vries fell back late in the race due to contact from Vergne, ending up 10th to complete the points places.

Kiwi pair Cassidy and Evans were unable to make an impact in the second round, forced to settle for 16th and 21st, respectively.

The going was no better for Ticktum and Giovinazzi, who finished 19th and 20th to end the round at the bottom of the standings alongside Oliver Turvey.

Round 3 will be held in Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the Mexico City ePrix set for February 12.

Mortara heads to Mexico as the points leader.

LOGANO WINS FIRST NEXT GEN CLASH Images: Motorsport Images Report: Dan McCarthy THE NEXT Gen era of NASCAR is under way, with Team Penske’s Joey Logano prevailing in Sunday’s nonchampionship Clash at the LA Coliseum.

It was an eventful 150 lap encounter with multiple incidents and accidents at NASCAR’s shortest track.

Logano managed to hold off pole-sitter and former champion Kyle Busch to take the win after taking the lead on lap 116.

“I can’t believe it,” Logano beamed. “We’re here. The LA Coliseum. We got the victory with the old Shell Mustang.

“This is an amazing event. Congratulations, NASCAR. Such a huge step in our industry to be able to do this; put on an amazing race for everybody.

“I’m out of breath. I was so excited about this. This is a big win. My wife is having a baby tomorrow, our third one, so a pretty big weekend for us.”

Just seconds after Logano nosed ahead of Busch the Safety Car was called

following a collision between reigning champion Kyle Larson and Justin Haley.

Haley was pushed into the side of Larson at the final turn – thinking that Haley just drove into him, Larson steered toward the bottom of the track, knocking Haley’s Chevrolet into the concrete barrier on the pit straight.

From there, Logano had control of the race and managed to keep a frustrated Busch at bay.

“I was being perfect, doing everything I needed to do — keeping the tyres underneath me,” said Busch.

“When I got close, I was, ‘OK, I’ve got to try more and pounce at an opportunity,’ but I just overheated the tyres and smoked them in three laps and that was it. Disappointing, obviously.

“Come out here and win the pole, and lead (the most) laps, run up front ... The finish goes green and it’s not chaotic and we can’t win, so it sucks.”

After the final restart, Larson briefly took second from Busch. However the Camry driver regained the spot with

more than 20 laps left and charged after Logano, but to little avail.

In the closing laps Austin Dillon snatched third from Larson, and was soon followed by Erik Jones.

Larson held onto fifth, from William Byron, Cole Custer, Christopher Bell, AJ Allmendinger and veteran Kevin Harvick, who completed the top 10.

Leading into the main race there were several heats and qualifying sessions to determine who would be the lucky 23 starters to compete in the race.

Sunday’s Clash was a historic day for NASCAR – not only the first Next Gen race, but the first time the

event was held outside of the Daytona International Speedway, with the tiny 0.25mile (0.4km) asphalt circuit hosting a round for the first time.

Haley was not the only retirement of the race. With the new machines, several other drivers either crashed out or suffered mechanical issues.

The most notable was Tyler Reddick who was leading when his car lost drive on lap 53.

It was one lap after multipletime Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin was also forced to pit with engine troubles.

The event itself was deemed a success, with a fair amount of overtaking in the new cars on such a short circuit.

The Coliseum – shortest (and charismatic) circuit on the NASCAR trail – hosted Logarno (#22)’s victory on Gen-7’s debut.

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EVERYONE’S A WINNER

THERE WAS a share of success for many of the top Intercontinental GT Challenge competitors as the season wrapped up with the Kyalami 9 Hour in South Africa.

AKKA ASP Team Mercedes-AMG (pictured bottom) surged home to a comfortable win, while Audi Sport and Ferrari’s Come Ledogar and Alessandro Pier Guidi (above) wrapped up the Manufacturers’ and Drivers’ titles, respectively.

Audi’s manufacturers’ triumph adds a fourth trophy to its cabinet, Patric Niederhauser and Markus Winkelhock contributing the most points in their #25 Audi R8 LMS GT3.

The Mercedes trio of Raffaele Marciello, Jules Gounon and Timur Boguslavskiy put in their best performance of the season to achieve the race win, denying Ledogar and Pier Guidi a perfect finish to their title winning season, which is Ferrari’s first in IGTC. The #89 Mercedes started from pole, set the fastest lap and was mostly unchallenged, running in the de facto lead as its AF Corse rivals ran an alternative pit strategy.

Strategy would mean little, however, as the #71 AF Corse Ferrari was forced to retire with a gearbox issue after three-and-a-half hours.

Ferrari’s other front-running entry, the #51, would ensure its first series title by finishing second overall, Ledogar and Pier Guidi assisted by Miguel Molina.

The Mercedes and Ferrari were separated by 15.6s in the end, thanks in part to a stint from Marciello that saw him set fastest lap after fastest lap.

Audi Sport Team Sainteloc’s Niederhauser, Winkelhock and Kelvin van der Linde were third, the latter two missing out on the Drivers’ crown by one position and five points.

The Team WRT Audi entry was fourth, driven by Christopher Haase, Mattia Drudi and Charles Weerts.

The sole Silver Cup entry shared by Lucas Legeret, Simon Gachet and Nicolas Baert rounded out the top five.

High Class Racing’s Thierry Vermeulen, Michael Markussen and Mark Patterson won the event’s Pro-Am class, finishing sixth overall.

The SunEnergy1 Racing team of Kenny Habul, Martin Konrad and Mikael Grenier who had the last laugh in that category, though, clinching the Pro-Am Challenge title in their Mercedes-AMG with a seventh-place race finish.

Josh Nevett

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NATIONALS WRAP

STORMY HISTORIC SEASON STARTER

Laurie Bennett’s Elfin 600B was the car to beat in Group M&O, Sports and Racing category. All images: Riccardo Benvenuti THE HISTORIC Sports & Racing Association’s first event of the year on January 29-30 tested the club, with more than half of Saturday’s race program canned.

Thunderstorms, heavy rain and lightning led to concern for flag officials’ safety and prompted the decision. But the second day of the Summer Race Event was dry with many of the categories keenly contested.

GROUP F, FORMULA FORDS THE STORMS coincided with the start of Race 1 where Van Diemen drivers Will Lowing and Tom Tweedie started their weekendlong rivalry for supremacy. In extremely wet conditions Tweedie grabbed the lead when Lowering had a moment at Turn 3. Seemingly in control, Tweedie later spun at Turn 2 which allowed Lowing the win over Andrew Taite (Van Diemen), Tweedie, David Stone (Ray), John Pymble (Reynard), Kieran McLaughlin and Nigel Hook in Van Diemens.

Tweedie took Lowing for the lead before lap 2 and held it until Lowing retook the front running at Turn 3 on the last lap. Tweedie came back but missed the win by 0.2s. Taite was a distance third clear of Pymble, Keith Hammond (Mondiale) and Stone.

It was tight in the third, where Lowing led all the way for narrow win over Tweedie. Taite was third again from Pymble and Hook. In the last Tweedie was able to beat Lowing. Behind third placed Taite, it was Hook over Pymble and Hammond.

GROUP N, HISTORIC TOURING FORDS WON three of the four races, but it was Chris Thomas in his Holden Torana XU-1 who had the best result overall. Brad Tilley (Mustang) qualified fastest and was in front throughout Race 1.

His son Jamie (Mustang) held second until a rare spin at Turn 2 allowed Thomas to snare second. Andrew Bergen (Mini Cooper S) was a close fourth and well ahead of Michael Rose (Mustang), Mark Lenstra and David Noakes in their Ford Escorts.

After he grabbed the lead on opening lap, Thomas seemingly had Race 2 won until the engine died after the last corner – the Torana had a blocked fuel filter. Brad Tilley

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NATIONALS WRAP with Garry O’Brien snatched the win, Thomas coasted across the line second and Jamie Tilley was a close third. Bergan held off Lenstra for fourth and they were followed by Chris Collett (Mini) and Noakes.

In the third race Brad Tilley led until the engine cut out on lap two. Jamie Tilley just held off Thomas for the win as Lenstra ultimately passed Bergan for third. Rose was next ahead of Joe Calleja (Mustang) and Noakes. Thomas made the best start in the last and saw off the Jamie Tilley challenge for victory. They were followed by Bergan, Rose, Calleja and Steve Shepard (Mazda RX2).

GROUP V, FORMULA VEE/GROUP K & L TOP HONOURS at the front were between the Vees of Tony Paynter (Stag) and Matt Pearce (Renmax). Paynter won the first and third, and Pearce the second with little between them. In the last the latter didn’t appear which left Paynter a huge winner.

Gary Meyers (Ranger) was third, the pressure off when fourth-placed Dean Briggs had a moment at Turn 2. Briggs was third in the second, ahead of Steve Normoyle (Spectre) who came through after starting Race 1 off the back along with Don Greiveson (Spectre) who placed sixth behind the similarly-mounted Norm Johnston.

Normoyle was third in the next from Briggs and Greiveson. In the last, there was a fourway race-long dice for second which Meyers won from Briggs, Greiveson and Normoyle.

Fastest of the non-Vees was Flavio Puccinelli in two of the races aboard his ex-Jack Brabham/Lex Davison F1 Cooper Climax. The car failed to finish the first race due to a broken throttle linkage before taking two wins with a best result of sixth outright.

Garry Simkin was the most consistent in his Cooper Vincent.

for noise while Joel Brown (Tiga SC84) didn’t start the second race.

GROUP S, PRODUCTION SPORTS PORSCHE DRIVERS vied for the win across three races, chased by a Lotus and a couple of MGs. In the first race Mikki Piirlaid led until Doug Barbour found a way through on the last lap for a 911 one-two. Michael Byrne (Lotus Seven) chased hard for third as Simon Meyer (Midget) edged out his brother Damien, ahead of Ray Narkiewicz (Chev Corvette).

The latter had a wheel depart on the first lap of Race 2, which was stopped and restarted.

Piirlaid held off Barbour throughout while Simon Meyer was third, in front of Damien Meyer, Byrne, Darren Harris (Alfa Romeo) and Steve Constantinidis (Corvette). Piirlaid repeated in the third just in front of Barbour.

Damien Meyer was third while Simon Meyer started from pit lane to finish fourth ahead of Harris and Lyall Moyes (Midget).

BMC CHALLENGE COMPRISED OF Groups S and N cars manufactured by the British Motor Corporation, it was missing some of the top players. The Meyer brothers Simon and Damien ran one-two, and Lyall Boyes made it MG Midget trifecta. Best of the Group N Minis was fourth placed Brett Eggleston ahead of Jason Thomas (Austin Healey) and Paul Battersby (Mini).

GROUP M & O, SPORTS & RACING THREE WINS and a third proved Laurie Bennett (Elfin 600B) was the one to beat.

He led the first race ahead of Richard Carter (Rennmax 23B) and Wayne Seabrook (Rennmax BN-3) until the three hit a big oil slick at Turn 9 on lap five. Bennett went off the longest, Seabrook the least and assumed the lead until baulked by lapped traffic which allowed Carter to steal the win.

Behind Bennett in the next were Carter and Wayne Wilson (Brabham BT29) before Carter scored another second in front of Seabrook who edged out Wilson. In the last, Wilson was second ahead of Carter and Norman Falkiner (Elfin Monocoque).

Below Top: Thomas and Bergen lead the pack in Group N/Historic. Middle: Piirlaid and Barbour head the Group S Production Sports, while (bottom) it’s Tweedie and Lowing in the Formula Fords.

GROUP Q & R, SPORTS & RACING THE FOUR entries missed out on two races on Saturday before taking to the track twice the next day. David Hardman won the first after he led from the outset in his Hardman JH-1 Formula Pacific. Second placed Malcolm Oastler in his Mildren/Chev F5000 jumped ahead for a lap in the second before again being the runner-up. Joe Calleja (March 735) was third quickest but surprisingly pinged

SUPERSPRINT/REGULARITY THE MOST regular in the three available runs were Bernie Tesidder (Mazda RX7) and Richard Cardew (Sunbeam Alpine) twice.

Likewise the sprinters also had three runs where Garth Selig (GSM Dart) was fastest in the first before Holden Torana drivers Peter Kotz (XU-1) and Bruce Tresidder (LX) topped the next two.

The Tran pairing headed a Honda 1-2-3 in the Super TT feature.

Above: Buhagiar and Colombrita head the Excel One Hour.

Images: Riccardo Bienvenuti

ONE-HOURS FOR STARTERS TWO CATEGORIES with around 70 cars made up the first of the year’s ventures for Motor Racing Australia at Sydney Motorsport Park on February 5. MRA adopted a quick-fire format of qualifying, a sprint race and a one-hour enduro for Super TT and Hyundai Excels over four and half hours, most of it under lights.

SUPER TT HONDA CARS placed first, second and third in the feature one-hour with Benny and Jimmy Tran in their Integra the winners over Josh Buchan and Lloyd Godfrey (Integra) and Charlie Khoury (Civic).

Buchan was on pole but, after a bad start where he dropped to fifth by Turn 1, led just three corners later. Mark Boudib (BMW V8) made the best start and led initially before he dropped to third behind Benny Tran on lap five. Boudib would retire shortly after, the diff ratio too low to continue competitively.

Khoury chased the leaders ahead of Tim Herring (Mazda MX5) after the Tom Vucicevic/Bob Pupovac Civic had an oil cooler issue on lap four. The resultant oil spill brought about a safety car for four

laps during which the compulsory pit window opened.

Buchan, Tran and Khoury took advantage along with several others while Herring stayed out and held the lead for the next dozen laps. Most of those were ahead of Cem Yucel (Volkswagen Golf) and Connor Roberts (Toyota 86).

In the meantime Godfrey continued ahead of Jimmy Tran until lap 17 of the 32-lap journey. Three laps later they were first and second where they stayed for the remainder. The gap between them 23.2s before a minute was added to the Buchan/ Godfrey race time for speeding in pitlane.

They still managed to stay second, with Khoury a lap down. Fourth place went to Daniel Kapetanovic (BMW 328) from Herring and John Taylor (Peugeot 205 GTi). On 30 laps completed were Yucel sharing with Iain Salteri, Graeme Heath (Toyota 86) and Roberts.

Tenth place went to Jonathan Hovey (Nissan Pulsar) while the unluckiest was Justin McClintock who was fifth until he pitted on lap 28 for a fuel top up for his Honda Civic and copped a five-lap penalty for spillage.

In the earlier sprint race Godfrey led initially before passed by Benny Tran.

On the penultimate lap, Godfrey retook the lead and won. Boudib was third well clear of a group that included Pawel Faber (Civic), Herring, Denis Pana (Holden Commodore) and Vucicevic.

HYUNDAI EXCELS WHEN CONDITIONS became tricky it was Lewis Buhagiar who mastered them best and took out the one-hour enduro. He finished 4.5s ahead of the combination of Tim Colombrita and Michael Clemente, and Dylan Debono came home in a solid third place.

From the start there was a great struggle between Colombrita and Cameron Brown. Kai Allen would have been with them but contact two corners in, with Chris Fealy resulted in Allen being turned around and hit by John Markwick who had nowhere to go.

In the lead battle Colombrita was able to stave off Brown’s every attempt to pass. Buhagiar kept in touch ahead of Debono and Monique Sciberras who picked up three spots on the opening lap and was in front of Tom Dalziel.

The compulsory pit window open on lap eight and just as it started to rain.

Brown pitted first while the others at the front went another five laps before they made their three-minute mandatory stops.

Fealy was able to continue after the early contact, led for a lap and pitted, which put the Gary and Jeremy Hodges entry in front for four laps.

With all the stops completed, Clemente led briefly before Buhagiar took over and secured the win. Brown finished fourth ahead of Shannon Williams and Fealy.

The pairing of Jackson and Gavin Faulkner was strong in the second half of the race and finished seventh ahead of Sciberras and her father Brian, Hayden Auld and the Hodges’ in 10th.

Dalziel’s race ended after his pitstop when he backed into the concrete wall at Turn 10.

The earlier sprint race set the tone with Colombrita in a dogged fight with Brown and Allen throughout – they finished in that order. Buhagiar was next barely ahead of Debono as Fealy edged out Markwick, Dalziel and Billy Brittain.

Garry O’Brien

ROBSON OVERCOMES FOR TRIUMPH TYRE AND fuel issues could not stop Tim Robson (pictured) from winning round two of the Summer Series at the Pheasant Wood Circuit on January 23.

Robson overcame the dramas to win two races and place second in the other to not only take the points, but also the series lead with one round to go. Behind the Honda Civic, Grant Bray and Stephen Doorey were second and third overall in their Nissan Pulsars.

The series is for any four-cylinder, non-turbo race car and each round comprised three races, –the first two of 15 and 20 laps respectively with the third over 45 minutes.

In the wet qualifying session, Robson could only manage the fifth fastest time due to being on the wrong tyre. Bray was quickest ahead of Mick Branch (Pulsar), Ramsey Shamali (Mazda MX5) and Phil Alexander (Pulsar).

It was the latter who made a gun start in the first race. He led Bray, Branch, Nick Jackson (Nissan NX) and Shamali the

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first time around. Alexander showed the way for six laps before Robson surged through to take the lead and hold off Bray for the win. Branch was third in front of Doorey and Alexander. Jackson and Shamali were involved in an on-track incident and DNF’d.

Robson led the second encounter until two laps from the end when the fuel pump was battling to pick up what remained in the tank. The vigilant Bray seized the opportunity to go ahead and win while Branch was third ahead of Doorey, Jackson, Alexander and Jade Bell (Pulsar).

Doorey had the early lead in the last race until Robson took over. Despite a badly delaminated front tyre, the latter held on to win by a second.

Bray was third in front of Alexander, Bell, Ian Green (Pulsar) and Luke Egan (Toyota Celica).

Accidents put Branch and Jackson out after half distance.

Garry O’Brien

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SPEEDWAY NEWS

Matt Egel prevailed to win the Sprintcar Stampede,.

Image: Ray Ritter.

EGEL FLIES TO SA OPEN SPRINTCAR CHAMPIONSHIP

WHILE THE NATION ENJOYED THEIR SAUSAGES SIZZLING ON THE BBQ FOR LUNCH, MANY OF THE 360 AND 410 SPRINTCARS WERE ROLLING INTO MURRAY BRIDGE SPEEDWAY FOR THE AUSTRALIA DAY SPRINTCAR STAMPEDE, WHICH WAS RUN IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE 360 AND 410 SOUTH AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS. WITH DUAL championships on the line and a bone-crunching Demolition Derby to end the night’s entertainment, a healthy crowd was on hand to see Matt Egel claim his third 410 Sprintcar championship, while Hayden Pitt would dominate the 360 portion of the event.

As they lined up for the 30-lap Open South Aussie title, the field was well and truly stacked with the cast of the fast at the pointy end of the field. Brad Keller and Matt Egel shared the front row while Lachlan McHugh and Daniel Pestka would fall in close behind.

Keller led the tightly congested field into the first corner, while those further back in the field jostled for track position. On the second rotation Lisa Walker brought on the yellow lights as she spun in Turn 4.

Keller again would lead the freight train, while the battle for second kicked up a gear with McHugh challenging Egel for the spot, the pair trading blows as they launched into wheel stands trying to put the power to the ground. By one-third race distance the leader had reached the

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SPEEDWAY NEWS

the field for the run home. Egel, Pestka, McHugh and Dillion in fourth have all won this event in the past and with just nine laps to run it would be interesting to see who would add their name again to the honour role.

Egel blazed from the front and, with four to run, he again rounded up the S43 of Puddy as McHugh sailed by Keller for second.

Egel bookended his evening perfectly, starting out by setting quickest time in

with Paris Charles first of the slower traffic, putting Daniel Puddy down a lap. As the top three had spaced out, McHugh trailed Egel and as Pestka and Luke Dillon negotiated the Puddy entry, Dillon zeroed in on the back of Pestka making the most of the opportunity to advance into fourth.

As the race approached two-thirds of the rjourney, Egel slid under the race leader, catching him off guard, and with 10 revolutions remaining had control of the race. However, the Puddy entry would throw another twist to the race, as he spun to halt in Turn 4 to again regroup

NQ7 Lachlan McHugh and S52 Matt Egel locked into a dogfight for the 410 SA Sprintcar Championship.

Image: Ray Ritter

qualifying before being the first to greet the chequered flags, in doing so scribing his name into the record books for the third time as the South Australian Sprintcar Champion. McHugh was a gallant runner up with Keller and Dillon rounding the top four.

Further back would be Ryan Jones, Keke Falland, and Brendan Quinn. Walker recovered after her early spin to salvage eighth, trailed by Joel Heinrich and Pestka who fell away from his P4 starting position to round out the top 10. Daniel Puddy rounded out the field two laps down in 11th while Ben Morris retired with just two laps remaining and Mark Caruso also failed to travel the distance.

Heat race wins were shared, with Keller, Caruso, Walker and Heinrich claiming one apiece.

Pitt Perfect SA 360 Sprintcar Title The opening lap of the South Australian 360 Sprintcar Championship feature saw Mark Caruso and Hayden Pitt run side-by-side for the opening lap before Pitt took control over Caruso, followed

by Brendan Guerin. The race was at an express pace and as the laps fell by the wayside, Pitt had opened an almost quarter lap gap over Caruso. All eyes were fixated on the race for fourth, with the two Todd’s in Moule and Hobson trading blows at close quarters over the distance until Moule spun in Turn 4 with 11 laps remaining.

The restart brought excitement back to the front end as Pitt and Caruso diced for the lead, each poking their noses to the front. With seven remaining, the red light would be ablaze when Corey Sandow,

Hayden Pitt is the SA 360 Sprintcar Champion. Image: Paris Charles.

Luke Bowey and Moule came together in Turn 1, taking all three out of the running.

The final seven laps saw Pitt find the quickest way to the finish line while Guerin would make a last corner pass on Caruso, to grab second by just 0.054sec and claim the bridesmaid position in this event for the fourth occasion. Behind Caruso was Hobson, Brad Warren, outgoing champion Jarman Dalitz, Jamie Hendry, Jason Bolitho, Stacey Galliford, Clinton Warnner, while Renae Eastham rounded out the finishers.

The four heat race wins ran over a 10lap journey went to Caruso, Pitt, Warren and Guerin.

The evening ended with the ever popular U-Pull-It Demolition Derby.

With 20 competitors on hand to dish out the heavy hits, the crowd were well and truly entertained.

One by one the cars fell by the wayside, as they expired.

At the end of the event, it would be Team Roadkill driver Grahem Reynolds claiming the winner’s purse over Geoff Flack, while rounding out the top three was Ben Harkins.

Best Presented went to Zachary Demaine while Joseph Williams claimed the ‘Wreckers Award’ for inflicting the most damage.

WHYALLA WITHDRAWS WITH WET N’ WILD WEATHER! SADLY, THE 50 Year Anniversary Race Meeting at the Whyalla Speedway was one of several to fall foul of inclement weather.

It was to have featured the second round of the UnEarth Whyalla 410 Sprintcar Track Championship, staged in conjunction with the third and final round of the Speedway Australia SA State Series.

From the 36 competitors to have run in the opening two rounds of the SA State Series, James McFadden (300) leads the series but has left Australian shores

to return to his North American racing campaign, leaving the series wide open.

Steven Lines (288) is next, followed by Luke Dillon (288), while David Murcott, Ryan Jones and Matthew Dumesny are tied in fourth place on 276 points apiece.

Supporting this event was Street Stocks, Wingless Sprints and Modlites, with the grand finale to end the celebrations a fan favourite Open Demolition Derby.

Mother nature reared her nasty side in the lead up to the event with approximately 170mm of rain deluging

the surrounding area, causing severe water damage to the track surface, pit and spectator areas. The incoming roads into the Whyalla area were also severely compromised, making it treacherous for those to travel, and giving track management no other option other than to postpone the event.

Despite the setback to the golden anniversary celebrations, the Whyalla Speedway Club are now working to reschedule their divisions at future race meetings, ensuring they can still compete.

AVALON DOWNPOUR Another venue to experience a lashing from Mother nature was Lara’s Avalon Raceway, scheduled to host the Victorian Wingless Sprints Championship and the C&H Trucking Limited Spintcar Series plus V8 Dirt Modifieds. With over 40mm of rain falling during a 48 hour period in the lead up to the event, the track and spectator area had become unusable. At time of writing a rescheduled date had not been announced.

Image: Paris Charles

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IMAGES: Jarrod Leonard

PASCOE’S FOURTH AUSSIE SUPER SEDAN CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER TWO full on nights of competition, the running of the 2021/22 Speedway Sedans Australia National Super Sedan Title, at the Gulf Western & Independent Oils Raceway in Latrobe Tasmania, will go down in the record books as a memorable event, especially for Queensland’s Matt Pascoe (above and right) who racked up his fourth national crown, joining the late Grenville Anderson and Darren Kane as a four-time champion.

Pascoe would stand tallest over 31 other hard charging competitors venturing from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and the host state of Tasmania. Sadly, the South and Western Australian competitors could not attend due to Covid restrictions.

After the first night of competition, Rockhampton’s Matt Williams and three-time National Champion Mick Nicola Snr headed the points score and with 16 heat races over the two nights, David Nichols, Andrew White,

Jamie Collins, Laura Davidson, Zac Pascoe, Williams, Nicola Snr, Steve Latham, Darren Kane, Steve Jordan, Corey Smith and Luke Gunn would each claim a single victory while Callum Harper and Pascoe would double up.

Local racer Wayne Dillon claimed the last chance B Main, with the top six advancing into the 40-lap final.

Going into the main event it would be the two Matts, Williams and Pascoe, sharing the front row – a main point of interest was both were running the newly introduced budget crate engine. At the drop of the green Pascoe ripped around the top side to lead the field away with 21 other competitors thundering in behind him.

With eight revolutions down, lapped traffic would come into play, allowing Williams to close and pressure Pascoe in traffic. On the tenth lap the leaders clashed, both spearing infield and bringing on the first caution of the race. Both would restart in the racing order

as the officials deemed it a racing incident – they could not find fault from either driver after reviewing the replay from several camera angles. Pascoe would lead the field away, but the action was short-lived when Dwaine Sonners spun, creating another restart.

Pascoe again opened a handy margin and with 25 laps to run, traffic would again become a factor. By half race distance the race for the lead heated up in traffic until Leigh Williams spun with 16 laps remaining (the only car to retire to the infield).

With one quarter race distance to run, the lead duo again began to dice their way through close traffic but Pascoe would instinctively find the right place to position the Q1 North 2 West Tyres & Wheels KRE powered Sweet and journey onward to the chequered flag.

However, Williams would not die wondering, throwing out one last gasp effort

on the final corner aboard the Q3 Browns Express entry in the run to the finish line. As the lead duo approached the line, a group of cars spun in front, but thankfully the leaders threaded the eye of the needle to find a safe passage through.

Pascoe would thus claim the 50th running of the national championship by just 0.171 of a second over the fast finishing Williams, who almost pinched it on the line. Callum Harper fared the best of the locals in third; fourth home was Mick Nicola Jr and taking the final step on the podium was Corey Smith in fifth.

David Nichols, Steve Jordan, Steve Latham, Jamie Collins, Mick Nicola Snr would round out the top 10. Next back was the defending champion Darren Kane who would relinquish his reign in 11th. Andrew White, Wayne Dillon, Zac Pascoe, Robert Bird, Michael Hally, Brad Pascoe, Laura Davidson, Luke Gunn, Lucas Dillon and Dwaine Sonners rounded out the finishers.

AUSSIE STREET STOCK TITLE RELOCATED THE NATIONAL Street Stock Title has felt the effects of the Covid pandemic and has not been staged since the 2018 / 19 running at the Timmis Speedway Mildura, Victoria where Anthony Beare notched up his fourth national crown over a five year period.

Things were on track for the return of the event this season, to be stage in Western Australia, however the WA state government’s recent announcement regarding the delay of reopening their borders beyond February 5 has thrown a major spanner in the works, leaving Speedway Sedans Australia with little choice other than to relocate the running of the 2022 championship.

The event was slated to be hosted by the Bunbury Car Club at the Make Smoking History Bunbury Speedway, but with the ongoing regulations remaining in place it would be impractical to stage the national title in Western Australia.

The SSA management have worked proactively to find a suitable host venue and have managed to relocate the championship to the Hi-Tec Oils Toowoomba Speedway

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in Queensland. The event will be run over a three-day period. Practice will be held on Friday 10 and twilight racing will be staged on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 June with an additional emergency rainout date included on Monday 13.

All going well, the Bunbury Car Club will now host the SSA National Street Stock Title in the following 2023 season with a date for that event to be released in due course.

ROBINSON RACKS UP A FOURTH DMA NATIONAL CROWN WITH A stout field of 24 V8 Dirt Modified competitors coming from Victoria, New South Wales and the host state of Queensland, on paper it looked like it would be a thrilling event – and on track they did not disappoint as Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway played host to the 2022 Australian V8 Dirt Modified Title. With no event last year due to Covid restrictions, local ace Kevin Britten would go into the event as the caretaker champion having won the last five successive national championships.

Britten would start the 35-lap main event on the second row (P3) alongside Ray Klarich, while sharing the front row would be Mark Robinson on pole shooting for his fourth Aussie crown and Chris Corbett who fared well through the heat races.

At the drop of the green Robinson (above) led while the field bustled for position further back. Darren Tindle would be the first casualty, pulling off on the first revolution before Phil McNamara spun in Turn 4 bringing on the first of three successive caution periods in as many laps. Brendan Cherie spun to regroup the field and, next time, Corbett’s strong run would end, clashing with Mitch Randall in Turn 2, taking each other out of the equation on just the third lap.

The race restarted in Indian file. Robinson checked out with clear track ahead, while Britten quickly advanced from fourth to second and began his quest to run the race leader down.

At approximately one-third the journey, Britten had a crack for the lead when Robinson negotiated his way past the first of the lapped traffic. However Robinson would open handy real estate between himself and the hunters. When all seemed done and dusted, a final twist to the race would unfold as Brock Gardiner rolled to a halt on the back shute with just four laps to run.

From green to chequer, Robinson set the pace aboard the Castrol supported N9, working the bottom side of the track to his advantage, and checking in to claim his fourth Australian Championship. Britten would take the runner up position; third was Terry Leerentveld and Andrew Firth would claim the final step on the podium.

Josh Rose, Todd Hobson, Sam Bruggy and Ray Klarich would be the final finishers on the lead revolution. One lap further back was Luke Dunn, Brayd Stephenson, Geoff Phillips, Phil Roberts, Phil McNamara, Brock Gardiner and Dale Corbett (spinning on the final corner) and Brendan Cherie. Scott Quirk retired late in the journey to join Corbett, Randall and Tindle as the nonfinishers.

Stephenson, Klarich, Corbett, Firth, Rose, Randall, Corbett, Britten and Robinson each scored a heat and Roberts the last chance B Main. From the 24

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Nathan Smee, Queensland Speedcar Champion. competitors, Daryl Armfield, Michael Reid, Adam Thomsen and Jay Davey all had challenging tilts at the championship and failed to qualify to the main race.

WOW WEE NATHAN SMEE! The mighty Midgets had their final hit out at the venue in the lead-up to the National Speedcar Championship and with a Queensland title on the line a stellar line up of 33 competitors took to the track. After the six hard fought heat races, the top 20 lined up for the 30-lap final.

The front row consisted of New South Welshmen Nathan Smee and Troy Ware, but all eyes were on Darren Vine on the opening circulation as he looped it in Turn 3, sending Casey O’Connell into a flip, with Jordan MacKay, Brad Dawson and Michael Stewart involved in the multi-car incident. All five would take no further place in the run.

With a complete restart, Smee rose above the field, opening an early lead and putting on an absolute clinic aboard the EMI N14 Eagle to checkout from his nearest rivals, lapping up to eight position and claim an express victory from green to chequered in the 2022 Inksane Tattoo Queensland Speedcar Championship.

New Zealand ace Michael Kendall came home second – taking the final step on the podium was Rusty Whittaker. Scott Farmer, Troy Ware, Dylan Menz, Travis Mills, Brock Dean, Matt O’Neil, Matt Jackson, DJ Raw, Lachy Paulger and Tom Clauss rounded out those who travelled the distance.

Smee, Charlie Brown, Darren Vine, Scott Farmer, Ware and Dean claimed the six heats while Victoria’s Mills claimed the B Main.

In the support classes, Steve Potts would prove too strong over Bruce Marshall and Lee McKinnell in the field of 18 AMCA Nationals, while Harry Stewart claimed victory in the Compact Speedcars.

Sharing the podium were Dion Wilson and Richard Treanor. The Open Sedans B / Limited Sedans 12-lap feature winner saw Ben Harris win, from Tim Swart and Mark Anderson home in third.

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CHR

NOMETRIC

All things historic with Mark Bisset

GEELONG SPRINTS :

THRIVING WITH ETERNAL YOUTH GEELONG’S SEASIDE heart throbs to the sound of racing cars thanks to the creativity of local racer/businessman Murray Rainey and the Western District Car Club. Let’s look at the evolution of this 65-years-young event.

One of the most memorable Geelong Sprints runs was between the Grand Prix cars of multiple Australian Grand Prix winner Lex Davison – grandfather of Alex and Will – and racer/long-time Bob Jane Racing mechanic/ team manager John Sawyer in 1959.

In the fury of the two-at-a-time quarter mile (now 400 metres) contest, Davo’s Ferrari 500/625 and Sawyer’s Stan Jones owned Maybach 4 Chev both got into enormous slides. With throttles wide-open, they both crossed into each other’s lane on Richie Boulevard and roared across the finish line in the wrong lane.

These days, Motorsport Australia would assign the miscreants to a Firing Squad ... back then The Hill crowd roared with approval and grabbed another beer.

Pint-sized-powerhouse Cooper racer/ Geelong identity, Murray Rainey’s idea was modelled on the UK’s Brighton Speed Trials, but the stretch of road on Geelong’s Eastern Beach waterfront had a kink in it.

It could be very dangerous in more powerful cars. Four-times Gold Star winner Bib Stillwell came close to death there in 1996 when he lost control of his 2.5-litre Repco V8 engined Brabham BT31 (Jack’s 1969 Tasman Cup car).

All the-fun-of-the-fair – Ritchie Boulevard panorama in 1990. The Geelong Cats Supporters have always turned out in their droves for some family fun, it’s an intoxicating atmosphere for competitors.

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He broke the car in two and both of his legs, never fully recovering from his injuries.

The Western District Car Club ran the event for many years. Its first meeting in the wonderful natural amphitheatre, with an aspect over the blue-green waters of Port Phillip Bay, was on May 27, 1956. FTD (14.9 sec) went to Davison’s Phil Irving fettled, supercharged Cooper Mk4 Vincent.

The meeting established a high-standard of entries which was maintained down-the decades.

The big names in the Melbourne Olympics year included AGP/Gold Star/Australian Hillclimb Championship/Australian Tourist Trophy Winners Les Murphy, Len Lukey, Stan Jones, Bib Stillwell, Bruce Walton, Paul England, Ron Phillips, and Davison. Other notables in the small but select 58-car field included touring car ace Peter Manton, Otto Stone in Norman Hamilton’s Porsche 550 Spyder, Rainey, Tom Hawkes, and Lou Abrahams aboard his Tornado 2 Ford usually driven by Ted Gray.

Over time the meeting evolved from an elite level contest attracting as many as 30,000 spectators to a much-cherished historic meeting popular with competitors and the citizens of Geelong, the West Coast and Western District alike.

Geelong has a rich history as an automotive manufacturing hub, with Ford and Pilkington Glass among past major employers, and smaller niche players today.

Grand Prix drivers who enjoyed the country mix of social and sporting activity include Doug Whiteford, Jack

John Sawyer lines up the big, silver 300bhp Chev V8 engined Maybach 4 in August 1959. Lex Davison’s Ferrari is unsighted to the right – refer text ... (Image: Autopics)

1975 Bathurst winner (with Peter Brock), Brian Sampson in his Morris Special and J Clarke’s MG TC in 1958. ‘Sambo’ started competing in his dad’s TD at in 1954 ... (Image: Autopics) Brabham, Stirling Moss, Tony Gaze, John Harvey, Stan and Alan Jones, Mika Hakkinen, Johnny Herbert, and Pedro Lamy.

Australian Touring Car/Supercar Champions are always a crowd draw. Those who had a go include Norm Beechey, Dick Johnson, Jim Richards, Craig Lowndes, and Glenn Seton.

Other notables are Jim McKeown and one of the world’s most highly-credentialled touring car racers, Win Percy.

The Geelong classic became increasingly difficult to organise as the waterfront precinct was redeveloped. There was a hiatus between 2003 and 2012, when the first Geelong Revival Motoring Festival was held.

The Revival is a huge event, which will be held over three days in 2022 – Friday to Sunday, March 4 to March 6 – with competition still at its core for all types of road and racing cars and motorcycles. More

than that, Geelong buzzes to a major carnival, comprising a cruise on Friday night, with displays of classic boats, vintage aircraft and caravans. Click on this link for competitor and spectator information; www.geelongrevival.com.au You can also step back in time with the family in a vintage lifestyle zone, featuring live music and entertainment, an Expo centre, and the National Vintage Fashion Awards. Truly something for all the family, including those who currently identify as females…

Murray Rainey might struggle a bit to recognise the Geelong waterfront today but, seated in his Cooper, he would be right at home. More than that, the businessman/racer was always focused on the future, that the Geelong Sprints would thrive as a key event in his local community – he would have filled his competitive soul with pride.

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Images: AA Archives

Name: Complete the crossword puzzle below

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1. Adam Garwood joins the S5000 field in 2022 – what category did he previously race in? (abbreviation) 6. Who won the Trans Am Series round at Symmons Plains in 2021? (surname) 7. What brand won the 2022 24 Hours of Daytona?

9. Who holds the record for the most TCR Australia podium finishes? (surname) 11. Nathan Herne won the Trans Am Series last year driving what brand of car?

12. In which country were the first two 2022 Formula E rounds held?

13. Kody Garland will make his TCR debut in what brand of car?

16. Lee Holdsworth won the opening round of the TCR Series last year – what brand of car did he drive?

18. At what track is the first championship NASCAR round going to be held?

20. Braydan Willmington moves from S5000 to which series?

21. Who was the main driver who won the Bathurst 1000 with Erebus in 2017?

22. What number did Brodie Kostecki race with in 2021?

23. Who won the 2021 Daytona 500? (surname) 26. Nyck de Vries won the opening race of the Formula E season racing for what manufacturer?

27. The new Next Generation machine, is what irritation of NASCAR? 29. NASCAR has three manufacturers – Ford, Chevrolet and which other manufacturer?

2. Jay Hanson has moved to what TCR team in 2022? (abbreviation) 3. What category is Cody Burcher racing in this year?

4. For what team does Martin Truex Jr race? (abbreviation) 5. What is the name of the man replacing Brad Keselowski at Team Penske this year? (surname) 8. Can you remember who won the S5000 Feature Race at Race Tasmania in S5000 last year? (surname) 10. What Tasmanian venue did the Trans Am Series race at as a non-championship round in 2021?

14. In what city did Glen Dix become globally famous for waving the chequered flag?

15. Who won the TCR Australia Series round in Tasmania after winning two races last year? (surname) 17. What brand of car will Dylan O’Keeffe be racing in 2022?

19. Who was the trophy of the S5000 Championship round in Tasmania last year dedicated to? (surname) 24. Who is the reigning NASCAR Cup Series winner? (surname) 25. What round of the Trans Am series was the round at Symmons Plains last year?

26. Who won the S5000 Australian Driver’s championship last year? (surname) 28. What is the name of Will Brown’s race engineer? (surname)

Created using the Crossword Maker on TheTeachersCorner.net

Down 1828 Crossword Answers: 1 down – Prost, 2 down – zero, 3 down – Monaco, 3 across – McRae, 4 down – Scott, 5 down – Gilles Villeneuve, 6 across – Jones, 7 across – Jaguar, 8 down – Volvo, 9 down –

Adam Garwood joins the S5000 field in 2022, what category did he 2. Jay Hanson has–moved what– TCR team14inacross 2022?– BMW Sauber, 15 across – Group B, 16 down – two, 17 across – Perkins, 18 down Briscoe, 10 down – Jim Richards, 11 across – Longhurst, 12 across – Ford, 12 down four, 13 to across Capirossi, viously race in? (abbreviation) (abbreviation) – Suzuki, 19 across Barrichello, 20 across – one, 21 down – wheel, 22 down – Porsche, 23 across – Hunt, 24 across – Todd Kelly, 25 down – Lehto, 26 across – Lancia Delta, 27 across - Lowndes Who won the Trans Am Series–round at Symmons Plains in 2021?

3. What category is Cody Burcher racing in this year? rname) 4. For what team does Martin Truex Jr race? (abbreviation) What brand won the 2022 24 Hours of Daytona?

5. What is the name of the man replacing Brad Keselowski at Who holds the record for the most TCR Australia podium finishes?

Team Penske this year? (surname) rname) 8. Can you remember who won the S5000 Feature Race at Nathan Herne won the Trans Am Series last year driving what Race Tasmania in S5000 last year? (surname) nd of car?

In which country were the first two Formula E rounds held?

10. What Tasmanian venue did the Trans Am Series race at as Kody Garland will make his TCR debut in what brand of car? a non-championship round in 2021?

Lee Holdsworth won the opening round of the TCR Series last 14. In what city did Glen Dix become globally famous for waving ar, what brand of car did he drive? the chequered flag?

At what track is the first championship NASCAR round going to be 15. Who won the TCR Australia Series round in Tasmania after d? winning two races last year? (surname) Braydan Willmington moves from S5000 to which series?

17. What brand of car will Dylan O’Keeffe be racing in 2022?

Who was the main driver that won the Bathurst 1000 with Erebus 19. Who is the trophy of the S5000 Championship round in 2017?

Tasmania dedicated to? (surname) What number did Brodie Kostecki race with in 2021?

24. Who is the reigning NASCAR Cup Series winner?

Who won the 2021 Daytona 500? (surname) Nyck de Vries won the opening race of the Formula E season (surname) ing for what manufacturer?

25. What round of the Trans Am series was the round at The new Next Generation machine, is what irritation of NASCAR? Symmons Plains last year?

NASCAR has three manufacturers, Ford, Chevrolet and which 26. Who won the S5000 Australian Driver’s championship last er manufacturer?

We take a look back at what was making news in Auto Action 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago

year? (surname) 28. What is the name of Will Brown’s race engineer? (surname)

1972 – EARLY in 1972, Chrysler announced that it would pull out of all Australian Motorsport, a real shock as it was heavily involved in the sport at the time. The South Australian manufacturer chose to cut its losses with the Charger Racing project with which it aimed to take outright victory in the Bathurst 500. The cars were still expected to be supplied to privately sponsored drivers.

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1982 – MATT CAMPBELL’S class win at Daytona is certainly not a first – Allan Moffat did it in 1982 racing a Mazda RX-7 alongside American co-drivers Lee Mueller and Kathy Rude. The trio not only won the under 2.5 litre GTU class but finished an impressive sixth outright. They sat as high as fifth in the closing hours, however were beaten by the Porsche 935 containing Rolf Stommelen.

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1992 – AT THE start of 1992 a frustrated Larry Perkins stated that he would not compete in the Australian Touring Car Championship that year due to the dominance of the Nissan Skyline and Ford Sierras. Larry, a Holden man through and through, expressed that it was not worth racing as he knew he had no chance of winning. Perkins did not contest the opening round but did race much of the season.

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2002 – AUTO ACTION broke the news of the Bathurst 24 Hour in February of 2002, the famous Bathurst race that took place on just two occasions. Elsewhere, Dick Johnson Racing signed Greg Ritter up to contest selected rounds of the V8 Supercar Championship after impressing as a co-driver at Bathurst one year prior. While Ryan Briscoe announced he’d race at Ferrari GT car at the AGP.

2012 – 40 YEARS after quitting the sport it appeared as though Chrysler would return under the Car of the Future rules with Garry Rogers Motorsport. Although many talks took place with Chrysler, GRM would end up signing up to race Volvo S60s. GRM also announced that for the first time in v8 Supercar history, a Frenchman (Alex Premat) would race full-time in 2012.

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KERMIT HAS NOTHING ON RACY COROLLA ON THE MENU FLUO ...

By PAUL GOVER

A HOTROD COROLLA IS COMING NEXT AS TOYOTA LIFTS THE IMPACT OF ITS GAZOO RACING SUB-BRAND THERE IS no timing yet for the arrival of the GR Corolla (above), beyond a global unveiling later this year, but it is expected to spark a WRX-style rush to showrooms when it joins the Yaris and Supra models already on sale in Australia.

It promises around 225 kiloWatts of power and a starting price in the $60,000 range to rival the Volkswagen Golf R and Hyundai i30 N. “Australia loves hot hatches and we’ve always shown an interest in offering a high-performance Corolla locally, I’ll tell you that up front,” Toyota Australia’s sales and marketing chief, Sean Hanley, tells the carsales website.

“While nothing has been officially confirmed on GR Corolla at this time, I can tell you quite categorically, if one were to become available from our global line-up in right-hand drive, we’d be most definitely very keen to bring it here.”

Talk of the GR Corolla comes after Toyota unveiled its latest go-faster models at the Tokyo Auto Salon, the same event where Honda pulled the wraps off its next-generation Civic Type R. While the Auto Action focus was on the prototype for a GT3 racing version of the Toyota Supra (above), the event gave more proof that Toyota is lifting its commitment to GR models.

There is an even-quicker version of the GR Yaris, called the GRMN, to be built in a limited edition of just 500 cars.

None of the cars will come to Australia, which is a pity given that the MN model gets a 20 kilo weight loss, is 10 millimetres wider and 10 millimetres lower, and is equipped with a mechanical limited-slip differential and a close-ratio gear-set with a lower final drive. Two extra upgrades, the Circuit and Rally packages, bring everything from Bilstein dampers and special 18-inch alloys to a rear spoiler and larger front lip.

But the go-faster bits could easily find their way into Australia for the growing number of GR Yaris owners.

Apart from the GR Yaris and GT3 Supra, Toyota also showed that it will put GR impact into its upcoming battery-powered cars.

The first sign is the bZ4X GR Sport Concept (below), which gets a bundle of visual updates - bigger wheels, sports seats and matte black body panels -– which is likely to become a showroom reality once the BZ4X goes into production. R&T

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THE LATEST hero colour at Lamborghini makes its Huracan Evo Fluo Capsule stand out like a supercar in a field of hybrids. Which it is.

And what a great way to escape the gloom of a Covid world.

The rampaging supercar has a V10 howl that anyone should love, looks that turn heads everywhere, and performance that makes even a boring drive to the shops into an event. It grips like white paint on the road, brakes like a demon, and is always keen to unleash its 449 kiloWatts of power.

If only it didn’t cost $500,000.

The Fluo Capsule arrives as an AA tester with an extra $40,000 on the bottom line, thanks to the flat-matt green paintwork. The Verde Shock – Italian for green shock – is not just a wrap and Lamborghini vouches for its longterm survival, although clear-plastic protection against stone chips is a good idea.

Lamborghini has always been the ‘other’ Italian supercar maker, which means the first question in the carpark is no surprise.

“That’s a nice Ferrari. Which one is it?,” asks a gawking nine-year-old.

He is genuinely disappointed when I tell him it is ‘only’ a Lamborghini.

But others are captivated by the car’s shouty style and booming V10 engine note, which rises from a rumble in the carpark to a shriek at the redline.

And my son’s mates are shouting and jostling for a ride in the passenger seat.

Driving a Lamborghini is as much about a social experiment as a road test.

People look at you differently, treat you differently in traffic, and ask different questions that have nothing to do with fuel economy.

My return to the Huracan Evo, and more time on the road near home, means I have more time to look and learn about the car.

It’s an outrageous contrast to other cars, even something as fun and perky as a Toyota GR Yaris. It seems to be slammed on the road.

Even the Porsche Taycan electric car, which obliterated my personal benchmark for straight-line acceleration, seems very tame and pale in comparison to the Huracan.

ROAD & TRACK

You won’t fail to recognise a Huracan Evo Fluo Capsule if it goes by ...

Looking at it, in its shocking green, the car is anything but tame. It’s the same when you call up the kiloWatts and Newton-metres that make this more like a race-car than a shopping trolley.

The quality of the paint is exceptional and so too is the finishing work in the cabin. The leather is creamy, the digital dashboard is clear and emphatic, and the fluoro green trimming - around the jet fighter-style start button and the seats - makes me feel special.

The ride is surprisingly smooth, although I must always remember to use the front suspension ‘lift’ to stop it dragging its nose on speed humps, the panoramic view over the nose is great, and it will even mutter through the school pick-up traffic without complaining.

It’s not as practical for day-to-day use as an Audi R8, my personal pick for an everyday supercar, but it’s not horrible. And you can always punch up the driving mode button to open the exhaust and entertain the kids.

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The Huracan is all about driving, but the basics are worth covering. It’s a strict two-seater with wraparound buckets, has a tiny ‘boot’ in the nose, comes with great headlights and a wickedly exciting starter button that mimics the trigger for a jet-fighter’s missile system.

What’s not so good is what’s missing, even though it’s standard on a Hyundai i30, and costs more than you expect. That includes $1450 for a cupholder.

The infotainment system, even with an updated ’swipe’ system, is still confusing and not a match for a Toyota RAV4, the pinched view when reversing makes me crave a Kia Sportage, and often it would be nice to have the Taycan for a little under-stated travel.

But there is no questioning the impact of the Fluo Capsule, or the incredible performance of the Huracan EVO. At a time when the whole world is thinking about electric cars, even if Australians still make double-cab

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pick-ups the country’s top sellers, the Huracan is a dinosaur that deserves to be driven and appreciated before it’s gone. R&T

FAST FACTS LAMBORGHINI HURACAN EVO FLUO CAPSULE Price: Power: Transmission: Position: We like: Not so much: THE TICK: Score:

from $498,665 449W/560Nm 7-speed DSG auto, rear-wheel drive Supercar stunner No-one will miss you Crazy expensive, no-one will miss you Yup 8.5/10

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ROAD & TRACK MISTER MUSTANG STRIKES AGAIN A LIMITED EDITION FORD TO CELEBRATE A MAJOR MILESTONE

BY PAUL GOVER IT’S BEEN 40 years since Dick Johnson won at Bathurst and established what has become the most popular team in Supercars.

To make the anniversary, the long-term performance partner of the Queensland touring car legend has gone all-out with a very special Ford Mustang.

It’s the best that Rob Herrod could do.

The DJR 40th Anniversary Mustang is the fourth model from the Melbourne-based blueoval ace, following the R-Spec, the Dick Johnson Limited Edition and the SM17, a Scott McLaughlin limited edition.

Its headline number, apart from 40, is 578.

That’s the horsepower figure from the supercharged 5-litre Ford Coyote V8.

But Herrod has also done a number on the rest of the car and is committed to building 100 of his new babies.

“The whole idea of the car is the ultimate Mustang. I had to do something special for DJ’s anniversary,” Herrod tells Auto Action.

“I was wondering what to do and then it came to me. DJ loves the idea and Ryan Story, his partner at Dick Johnson Racing, was even more enthusiastic. They both wanted me to get right onto it.”

It’s taken several months to put the pieces in place, from the very latest Whipple supercharger and special cooling systems from PWR, and also to lock-in the 100 cars that will be transformed at Herrod Performance in Melbourne.

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“We’ve all been flat-out. I could’t have done it without everyone who has helped, from the people at Ford Performance in the USA to Ford Australia, Whipple, PWR and, of course, DJ and The Doc.” It follows a special giveaway car that was created for Repco at last year’s Bathurst 1000.

“We couldn’t announce what we were planning because at that stage we didn’t know if we could get the cars from America,” says Herrod. “But the stars have aligned. We’ve got an allocation directly from the USA and we’ve signed off the mechanical package and the bodywork and interior.”

The 40th Mustang will take the production total at Herrod Performance to nearly 700 cars, although the 100-car run is well short of the R-Spec collaboration with Ford Australia.

Pricing is still to be finalised, but he expects it will add about $60,000 to the base price of each Mustang. Buyers will be able to choose their specification, right down to the colour and trim, before it moves into the Herrod build.

“It will have second-tier manufacturer status, which means it will be road legal in all Australian states and territories,” says Herrod.

“The reaction from the dealers has been fantastic. We have partners in Victoria, NSW, Queensland and the Northern Territory and they are all ordering cars before they have signed the buyers.

Digging into the details, and since Herrod has always been a Ford V8 man, he talks about the HP Gen5 X supercharger. It has a 3-litre capacity and is a joint project with Whipple in the USA. It has 578 kiloWatts and 810 Newton-metres of torque.

There are 20-inch Herrod Performance alloys, with 285x30 and 305x30 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres and black-painted calipers. There are Ford Performance springs and sway bars, with a unique calibration for the Magnaride suspension. There is a bi-modal exhaust, too.

WATCH THE LIMITED EDITION DJR MUSTANG BLAZE AROUND THE TRACK

“We worked hand-in hand with PWR to develop engine and transmission coolers, as well as our own bespoke radiator,” says Herrod.

Visually, there is a unique lower splitter, with a rear wing taken from the GT500 ’stang, as well as an Italian leather trim package for the cabin, bespoke mirror skins and a special Herrod steering wheel.

“It was all about building a lovely touring car. You can take the family on a quiet trip, or get up early and get a bit angry on your own,” Herrod says.

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“You’re not shaking your teeth with the suspension or having to worry about reliability. We’ve taken the best we could find, then given it a Herrod twist and a bit of a boost.”

Herrod is now moving towards production and plans to have all 100 cars completed by the end of 2022.

“We’re going to be very busy. We can build three to four cars a week. It’s all labour intensive and done by hand.

“But by the end we’ll have taken the total number of cars through Herrod Performance over 1000. And we’re pretty proud about that.” R&T

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