Motorsport eNews Issue 4 - May 15-21, 2007

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Issue No. 004

15 –21 May 2007

Tribute:

GEORGE TATNELL

Also in Motorsport eNews this week ...

‘Massa’cre

1939-2007

BRAD JONES: IT’S TIME

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Issue No. 004 | 15–21 May 2007

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Contributing Writers F1: Joe Saward, Mark Glendenning, Adam Cooper, Paolo Filisetti Europe: Quentin Spurring, David Addison US: Martin D. Clark, Phil Morris Speedway: Greg Boscato, Geoff Rounds, Darren Sutton, Tony Millard (UK) Rally: Ryan Lahiff Drag Racing: Dave Ostaszewski (USA), Ken Ferguson, John Bosher National: Mark Wicks, Mark Jones, Daniel Jordan, Aaron Shaw, Daniel Powell.

Photographers Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Marshall Cass, John Morris/Mpix, AF1 Images, James Smith, Peter Bury, Neil Blackbourn, Chris Carter, Coopers Photography, Paris Charles, Bob Potts, Neil Hammond, Joel Strickland, Mike Patrick (UK) Motorsport eNews is published by Australasian Motorsport News ABN 55 125 120 702 Publisher: C Lambden Copyright: Material published in Motorsport eNews is copyright and may not be reproduced in full or in part without the written permission of the publisher.

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news 4 George Tatnell 7 Jones says ‘Simon’ 8 $ingapore, $pain 14 Musical Chairs

A Giant of motorsport Wills in the BOC Falcon Formula 1’s new venues Late seat swaps for FV8s

chat 16 Five minutes with ... Dean Canto opinion 20 Bradley and Cromley On a Brad-less Winton 33 The Punter

Delete 2 wheels and race!

race 22 A Massa Masterclass He wins, Lewis leads 28 Around the World

Gordon still dominant

trade 30 Trade and Industry / Raceshop 32 Classifieds

Need a Motorsport eNews back issue? CLICK HERE

welcome When Brad Jones makes a big decision, he makes sure Motorsport eNews knows first!

International photos supplied by Sutton Images, www.sutton-images.com – click here to check out their exclusive poster deals

MOTORSPORT MOURNS THE PASSING OF AUSTRALIA

Vale ’Gorgeous SPEEDWAY

Pic: Phil Jordison/Oval Express

George and his racing son, Brooke.

Bye George AS Motorsport eNews was published, George Tatnell's funeral had been provisionally scheduled for Thursday (May 16) in Sydney, although the time and venue had still to be settled.

Check back here – this page will be updated the moment we hear the details.

AUSTRALIA’S greatest-ever Speedway showman, George Tatnell, has passed away.

Having only recently celebrated his 68th birthday, the Sprintcar and Speedcar legend finally succumbed to pancreatic cancer in the early hours of May 13 at Calvary Hospital with his family at his side.

Passionate, colourful, enigmatic, outspoken – Tatnell was all these things and more.

His resilience, even in the last few hours of cancer, was quite remarkable. Even though he’d faded to a shadow of his former self physically, the steel-lined speedway steerer was still as tough as nails when the chips were down.

When a sleeping pill was offered to offer some respite from the pain late Saturday night, Tatnell promptly spat it back into the nurse’s hand.

He died, as he raced and as he lived, when he was good and ready.

George will be forever remembered as a man who did it his way, and almost always only his way.

A man who survived the hurly burly days of Speedcar racing at the Sydney Showground where many men who lost control ultimately lost their lives, Tatnell was one of only three men to ever win a National Speedcar and Sprintcar Championship.

Add to that two World Series Sprintcars Championships and later son Brooke’s five crowns plus over 50 main event WSS wins.

Known to a legion of fans as ‘Gorgeous George’, Tatnell possessed a cheeky, debonair, devil may care grin that would become a trademark.

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AN LEGEND GEORGE TATNELL

When Men Were Men

George was an innovator, lifting the bar for driver and pit crew presentation – something that was deeply instilled in son Brooke.

That flair for selfpresentation and promotion was initially laughed at by fellow Outlaw drivers when Brooke would wear his trousers, black shoes and crew shirt to the drivers meeting.

It wasn’t long however before many of the hecklers had jumped onboard the Tatnell train.

You were never left guessing what was on George’s mind, and that’s a trait too that has been indelibly burned into Brooke’s psyche.

“Dad never minced words,” Brooke concedes, “whether you agreed with him or not he was going to let you know what he thought and I guess I’m much the same way because of him.”

George’s honesty and outspoken nature often landed him in controversial situations both on and off the track – something that the gritty Sydneysider revelled in.

As President of the SCCA (Sprintcar Control Council of Australia) Tatnell was never more embroiled in the comings and goings of the sport he loved most – and few could argue that he was not an effective policeman against some of the insane proposed developments in the game.

Though he never shied away from ruffling feathers

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s George’ Pic: Phil Jordison/Oval Express

Passionate, colourful, enigmatic, outspoke - Tatnell was all these things and more when required, he was idolised by his family and revered by fellow drivers and promoters alike.

Tatnell was entertainment value guaranteed for track promoters – he always delivered.

Ask any driver who lined up alongside the Winfield and then Shell #1 what the next few laps were like and the answer that often comes back is ‘torrid’.

Always by George’s side was his brother Joe, a man who towered above most mortals and was an imposing proposition for anyone who dared taunt the Tatnell brothers. Those who know the gentle giant know that “Uncle Joe” has a heart as big as a Kenworth truck, although the usual diesel-like consistency of it is running is sadly off idle since the passing of his older brother and hero.

Son Brooke is singleminded on the role his Dad has played in his own

astronomical career.

Only days before his passing, George won the ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Sport’ award, thanks to the National Sprintcar Hall of Fame in Knoxville USA, and Brooke won ‘Driver of the Year.’

Recently the “GT Allstars” (a group formed by the Tatnell family) raised a record $15,000 for cancer research in the Sutherland Shire ‘Relay for Life’.

George was there too, of course, decorated in tinsel by loving daughters Gale and Kelly, and as always with wife Val by his side as his ‘souped up’ wheelchair made lap after lap with loved ones providing the horsepower.

George always did love a bit of bling …

The relay was ironically held on Tatnell’s 68th birthday.

The sport of Australian Speedway will never be the same without him.

– WADE AUNGER

IT is a shame when a sportsman you admire passes away. But, if nothing else, it brings back the memory of that individual that left its impression on you.

George Tatnell provided an indelible example of ‘never-say-die’ to me, way back in late 1973/early 1974, when I was an impoverished uni student who spent too many Saturday nights in the pits at Western Springs Speedway, in Auckland, which was at the time a magnet for top international midget racing – the Offenhauser/VW era.

‘Gorgeous George’ was there, taking on the top Yanks and Kiwis in the famous red Winfield car and starting from the very back in a major feature.

A few laps in and he was on fire, pounding through traffic with that brand of controlled aggression that makes your hair stand up.

Then he screwed up. He tried to squeeze between two cars that were running in line astern on the straight, tripped over one, and started barrell-rolling.

It started at the start-finish line, halfway down the straight, and it was still rolling half way around the corner, right up the concrete push-bike banking which existed in those days.

When it stopped, it was on its wheels, a steaming wreck, completely broken in two just in front of the driver – the halves joined together by pretty much just the throttle cable!

As it trickled lazily down the banking, the driver, having ascertained that it was no longer driveable, leapt from the car, almost before the red light flickered to stop the race. Despite being quite ‘shaken and stirred’, he headed back to the pits at a fair trot where he proceeded to race around other teams, desperately trying to borrow a car, any car, for the re-run!

I thought that was pretty cool.

In the end, there was no happy ending and he had to sit the race out. But one young bloke was pretty damned impressed anyway.

Thanks George. You were a real racer.

– CHRIS LAMBDEN

n John Bowe has some numbers in play as he heads to Winton this week. The Paul Cruickshank Racing pilot is second behind Jim Richards in terms of being the most successful driver in V8 Supercar/ATCC history at the Benalladome with three wins to Jim’s four.

JB’s first and last wins came 10 years apart in 1988 and 1998 respectively, both for Dick Johnson Racing. n Speaking of milestones, Dean Canto will rack up his 50th championship start at Winton this weekend. The pint-sized GRM pilot debuted at the Queensland 500 in 1999 and his best result remains a fifth at Bathurst in 2001 in a Ford Tickford Racing Falcon with Jim Richards.

Canto, of course, is the only two-time V8 Development Series champion. For ‘5 Minutes With’ Canto, click to page 18. n It’s that time of the year in Yatala – Stone Brothers Racing are throwing open their doors for their annual open afternoon to celebrate their 10th year of operation.

The doors swing open on Friday June 1 from 4pm to 8pm with James Courtney, Russell Ingall, Jonathon Webb, Ross and Jimmy Stone all on hand, as well as the Caltex and Jeld-Wen Falcons.

Supporters can also tour the SBR Engine Shop for a $5 donation, all proceeds going to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Brisbane. n Team Sirromet Wines has confirmed that Steve Ellery will join Paul Morris again for Sandown and Bathurst. The duo had two top 10 finishes last year and Ellery had his first taste of the team’s repaired VE Commodore at Queensland Raceway last week.

Jones calls it a day

Brad replaced by Simon Wills for rest of 2007 V8 SUPERCARS BRAD Jones has retired from full-time V8 Supercar racing.

The 47-year-old will not race at Winton Motor Raceway this weekend in the fourth round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series, handing the reins of the #14 Team BOC Falcon to Simon Wills for the remainder of the season.

As Motorsport eNews hinted in its cover story last week, Jones will hang his ‘full-time’ helmet up, concentrating on assisting his Albury-based Falcon squad to the front of the field after a difficult start to the year which has yielded no championship points for either Brad or his nephew team-mate Andrew.

Jones will contest the endurance races at Sandown and Bathurst later this year, and told eNews on Monday that they could be his last V8 Supercar events: “I’ll still do Sandown and Bathurst, but for me, today is the day,” he said.

“I hate to say never, but my intention is to never do another V8 Supercar sprint round. I’ll do Sandown and Bathurst this year – they’ll probably be my last – but I

don’t know. If I enjoy it and I’m competitive enough then I might do a few more. (But) I don’t have any intention of racing anything else at this stage. I just want to focus on the business.”

Jones said that his team's sponsors have been 100 percent behind his decision to leave the team as a driver mid-way through the season.

“BOC has been very good about it. They understand where we are trying to go and what we are trying to do.

"They obviously want us to be more competitive than what we are, so they trust us enough when we say that this change is going to make us more competitive.”

The team’s sponsors have also approved Wills as Jones’s immediate replacement.

“If you look back at Simon’s V8 Supercar career, he’s been very fast,” Jones said.

“He’s got a strong desire to get back in. He's not 'car fit' by any stretch of the imagination. He’s got a few things to work on, but I think he’s got a desire to do it and to do it well.”

– GRANT ROWLEY For more with Brad Jones, click to page 20.

V8 SUPERCARS STONE Brothers Racing’s Kiwi protege Shane van Gisbergen – as exclusively unveiled by Motorsport News at the end of February – joined the team at its Queensland Raceway test day last Friday, turning laps in the team’s Fujitsu Series car regularly driven by Jonathon Webb.

Trackside observers were impressed with the 17-year-old and, despite reports elsewhere rubbishing our story back in February, there’s no doubting that van Gisbergen is very much part of SBR’s future plans – and you read about it first in our pages.

While the impressive youngster is still a way off joining the V8 Supercar field, MNews sources suggest the team is well advanced in its plans to run him in the NZ V8 Series this summer across the Tasman, with a 2008 Fujitsu V8 assault in the pipeworks as a follow-on.

However, industry sources suggest he could possibly appear in a car as soon as this year in the Fujitsu Series to further flatten his V8 learning curve.

At the moment SBR only has three chassis, with a new car due to come on-stream later

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SBR’s Future van Gisbergen set for the big time ... first stop NZV8

in the season for Russell Ingall, thus freeing up a ‘spare’ chassis in the form of the current Webb, ex-Ambrose/Courtney BA. It may also mean that any additional program for the Kiwi may see him drive for another existing Falcon team in the

Fujitsu Series if hardware is at a stretch within SBR. Such a program would clearly be dependant on funding, but given van Gisbergen’s age – or lack thereof! – time is certainly on the youngster’s side.

– AARON NOONAN

Ford faces cuts THE immediate plans of Ford’s V8 Supercar program remain unchanged, despite a recent warning from Ford that its racing budget faces cuts.

Ford Australia President Tom Gorman said last week that cuts were possible because of the Australian market’s shift to smaller cars than the Falcon and Fairlane/LTD, which were sentenced to an early demise by the company.

“We used to be the ‘Falcon Car Company’ and now we’re not – we’re expanding the franchise,” said Gorman.

However, in the short-term, plans are pressing ahead. Ford and Prodrive are in the midst of negotiating a deal for the continuation of their Ford Performance Racing partnership, which expires at the end of this year, and other Ford teams are also in talks about their future.

Gorman was keen to underline that the company intends to stay in the sport.

“Racing is still important to the brand – if leveraged properly,” Gorman said, adding that motor sport brings excitement and technology to participating brands.

“We’ll always be in racing but we have to become more strategic in our approach.”

BRIEFLY...

n The Renault F1 race team has received planning approval for a new CFD facility at its Whiteways Technical Centre in Enstone, England. A new, semiunderground building at the site is intended to bring the company’s aerodynamic testing capabilities under one roof.

The existing facility includes a state-of-the-art wind tunnel, but the new building will be used purely for 3D computer modeling of cars and components.

Renault Sport expects to add 13 new staff to its workforce, which already numbers close to 550. n The Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team has restructured its aero department after the departure of its head of aerodynamics, Ben Agathangelou. Having worked with McLaren, Tyrrell and Benetton prior to 2001, Agathangelou joined Jaguar Racing, which was bought in 2004 by the owner of the energy drink brand, Dieter Mateschitz. He is replaced by Peter Prodromou, who joined RBR from McLaren last year.

– QUENTIN SPURRING

Valencia confirmed, Barcelona extends deal

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n The FIA has appointed Ricardo, the UK-based automotive technology and engineering specialist, to provide advice and technical support on the development of future Formula 1 regulations.

FIA president Max Mosley said: “The FIA is working closely with the automotive manufacturers to develop energy-efficient and environmentally relevant regulation changes for the future of Formula 1.

Ricardo has a vast amount of experience in automotive R&D and will be an invaluable addition to this process.”

DOUBLE THE SPAIN FORMULA ONE

WITHIN days of the city of Valencia agreeing to host the European Grand Prix for the next seven years, Barcelona has responded by announcing that it has extended its deal for the Spanish Grand Prix by another five years, taking the contract until after the 2016 race.

The contract in Valencia appears to be dependent on the current regional government, which has negotiated the deal) winning the election on May 27 but there seems to be little chance of a defeat for the current incumbent Francisco Camps.

A second race in Spain makes good sense given the increasing popularity of the sport in the wake

of Fernando Alonso’s success and is very similar to what happened in Germany when Michael Schumacher was at the top of his game.

Camps has agreed to pay US$35m a year for the event, although in most Ecclestone contracts there is annual increase of around 10 percent.

If this is the case the Valencia race will end up costing more than US$60m a year. This may seem a lot of money but Valencia has spent enormous amounts to stage the America’s Cup and build up its tourist industry.

From an F1 perspective, the track will be interesting, as it will loop around the harbour and across the bridge that links the inner harbour with the sea.

– JOE SAWARD

Singapore Signs – but will it Light Up? THE Singapore government has confirmed that it will host a Grand Prix on the streets of the city late in the 2008 F1 season.

The race will form part of a three-race Asian foray, linked to the Chinese GP and the Japanese GP at Fuji. This will also mean that there is a decent gap between the

nearby Malaysian GP and the Singapore race.

The Formula One group wants the race to take place at night but the government is still arguing against that, as it will increase the costs involved.

The track will be on the streets of the city except for a stretch in the Marina Promenade Park, where there

will be permanent pit facility. It is anticipated that this will be designed along the lines of the Melbourne pitlane, with the buildings being used for others things for the rest of the year.

The circuit will pass a number of celebrated Singapore landmarks, notably the Raffles Hotel and Civic District.

– JOE SAWARD

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Will he or won’t he?

FORMULA ONE “HE’LL be back!” With those words, Formula 1 commentator Martin Brundle has reignited the ‘what’s Michael Schumacher going to do’ debate.

Brundle, a former team-mate of Schumacher’s from the

Benetton days, watched the former champ in his role as ‘consultant’ to the Ferrari team at the weekend – Schumacher’s first appearance at a Grand Prix since his retirement – before suggesting that in his view, Michael could well return to the cockpit of a race car: “What’s he doing here!”

Brundle exclaimed, after commenting on reports that Michael will attend several races in his new role.

“I can’t see him being happy to just stand and stare at a monitor. Lauda, Mansell, Prost all came back … I think he’ll be back.”

Watch this space, then ...

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Bernie vs Silverstone (Pt 23) sutton-images.com

FORMULA ONE

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Never say Nederland Spyker lines up test for Jos the Boss. Is this a comeback?

FORMULA ONE COULD Dutch perennial Jos ‘The Boss’ Verstappen find his way back into F1?

Rumours are circulating, albeit mainly in Holland, that Jos may get to test for Spyker in the course of the next few months.

MNews F1 correspondent Joe Saward describes the news as “an attempt to

promote the team (using someone other than Paris Hilton) and to spur Christijan Albers into better performances.”

The team would like to run Giedo Van der Garde, but he remains stuck in a contractual dispute at the moment and cannot drive for Spyker until a settlement can be found with Super Aguri.

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DESPITE a clause in the FIA/FOM contract which insists that five historical events remain on the calendar (the British, French, German, Italian and Monaco Grands Prix), Bernie Ecclestone is continuing to pile pressure on the British Racing Drivers’ Club, which runs Silverstone.

Bernie is saying that he is not interested in negotiating over the future of the British Grand Prix, because promises made during the last round of negotiations have not been kept.

“I want to deal with a promoter rather than the BRDC,” Ecclestone said. “We've said that unless they can get the circuit to the level expected from so-called Third World countries we are not prepared to do a deal. They know what we want them to build.”

The BRDC has a plan for the redevelopment of the track but is still to find the funding.

Ecclestone says that the British government should help as it is spending enormous sums of money on the Olympic Games and other sports are suffering as a result.

The latest problem is that the British government is in a state of flux with the announcement that Prime Minister Tony Blair will stand down at the end of June and that has consequences in terms of times involved in decision-making.

– JOE SAWARD

Triple 8 sutton-images.com

Glock ‘n’ TOMMY K BENCHED? Spiel LE MANS 24 HOUR

FORMULA ONE

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TIMO Glock has been making waves in F1 with some strong performances in GP2, especially last weekend in Barcelona.

He drove a superb race to overcome a serious strategic error by his team on Saturday but could only finish second. On Sunday he drove through the field to score a dominant victory.

The Formula 1 world is now watching GP2 with increased interest following the success of Lewis Hamilton, and Glock is reportedly on a few shopping lists, although he is under contract to BMW. After strong seasons in German and Euro F3 in 2002/3, Glock was signed up to be third driver for the Jordan F1 team and took over the second car in Canada when Giorgio Pantano had a contractual dispute with the team. He finished seventh and when Pantano left the team, took over until the end of the year.

– JOE SAWARD

SEVEN-TIME Le Mans 24 Hour winner Tom Kristensen may be forced to miss this year’s June Sportscar classic.

The Dane was injured in the opening DTM round at Hockenheim last month after a major accident with fellow Audi driver Alex Premat.

While he was released from hospital, his injuries appear to be more serious than first thought.

Kristensen has suffered a second-degree brain trauma and that could leave a vacancy among Audi’s squad for the Le Mans event.

‘Special K’ finished second in the seasonopening Sebring 12 Hour

alongside Rinaldo Capello and Allan McNish in the works diesel-powered R10.

Frank Biela replaced Kristensen in his DTM car for the last round at Oschersleben and is expected to again fill in for the EuroSpeedway round this weekend.

“I need more rest until my body is fit again,” said Kristensen on his official website of missing the next DTM event.

“It all depends on how long time I can stay quiet and give myself the necessary time to recover completely. Therefore I also have to turn down all interviews and contact with the press. I hope to be back in DTM soon so I can help the team getting the title back.“

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BRIEFLY...

n Formula Fordster Jonathan Grant will be in a little bit of a bind at Winton’s national series round this weekend. The Queenslander will skip the third and final race as he will be headed to the airport to head to Europe and visit the Mercedes factory in Germany and the Monaco Grand Prix, all part of being employed by Merc dealer Centenary Classic. We just want to know how he will go if he’s had two good first races – would be hard to walk away from a potential podium …

n Next year’s New Zealand Grand Prix will be raced at the Manfeild circuit The Manawatu track takes over from Invercargill, where the race has been held since 2002. Daniel Gaunt is the defending Grand Prix winner. n Icelandic race promoters from the yet-tobe-built Iceland Motopark, projected on a site 40 miles from the capital, Reykjavik, met with FIA GT Championship promoter Stephane Ratel at Silverstone last weekend with a view to securing a fixture in 2009.

– QUENTIN SPURRING/STAFF

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NASCAR IN the biggest NASCAR news since the death of his father, Dale Earnhardt Jr called a surprise media conference last Thursday to announce that he would not return to Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2008.

“I was anticipating signing a new contract with DEI, but after a year of intense negotiations and efforts from both parties, we have decided to move on and seek other opportunities to drive for a new team in 2008,” said Earnhardt Jr. “We tried to meet in the middle, but we never even got close. As the negotiations continued it became clear we both wanted to get to the same place, but we both had different visions on how to get there.

“At 32 years of age – the same age as my father when he made his final and most important career decision (joining RCR) – it is time for me to compete on a consistent basis and contend for championships now.”

Along with his choice of team, other things remain uncertain.

The #8 is technically owned by DEI and Earnhardt Jr doesn’t expect Teresa to give it up.

Secondly, Budweiser’s contract with Earnhardt Jr and DEI doesn’t end until the end of 2008 so it’s very likely that Bud – along with a multitude of backers – will follow him. Bud will either pay off DEI or honour its contract and also sponsor a car for another driver at DEI next season.

“The money’s not really the issue – it’s the person I feel like will allow me to accomplish what I want to achieve throughout my career on the race track and something that will compliment my efforts here (his self-owned Busch team).”

– MARTIN D CLARK

Marcos tastes Cup Two Nextel dates circled on the calendar ...

MARCOS Ambrose has driven a NASCAR Nextel Cup car for the first time.

He drove his first laps in a Cup car in a shakedown test at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, South Carolina last Wednesday.

The former V8 Supercar champ was joined at the test session by his former Stone Brothers Racing engineer Paul Forgie, who recently departed the Gold Coast-based team to look at his options working with Ambrose in the States.

Ambrose and the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing team conducted the shakedown on the 3.22-kilometre road course circuit.

“The day went well and the car felt good,” said Ambrose.

“It was really a shakedown day for us. We didn’t complete too many laps. It was more about me feeling comfortable in the car and getting a feel for it.

Martin D Clark

n A follow up to our letters page from the last issue of eNews: The Indianapolis 500 won’t be shown on Network Ten, so Indy fans will have to tune into the ESPN coverage via their pay TV provider. Or any mates who have cable TV, that is …

Junior leaving DEI! Martin D Clark

n MAN Trucks is the backer of this weekend’s Carrera Cup round at Winton in a one-off deal. The all-Porsche series still is running without a naming rights sponsor after parting ways with WPS at the end of last season. It is Round 2 of the series, 11 weeks after the season opener at Adelaide …

“It was good to get the opportunity to get some laps in a Car of Tomorrow. Now we can sit down and have a good think about our road course plans.”

Ambrose plans to qualify for two NASCAR Nextel Cup races at Sonoma (June 24) and Watkins Glen on (August 12).

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Briscoe qualifies seventh The inside of the third row is a great place to be for the Indianapolis 500 ...

RYAN Briscoe will start his second Indianapolis 500 from seventh on the grid – and is looking for a podium finish.

Briscoe, who will drive in the May classic for Luczo Dragon Racing, had to sit and watch other drivers attempt to push him down the order during last Saturday’s qualifying session, which determined the top 11 drivers for the 33-car grid. But it quickly became apparent that the Aussie’s speed would be good enough for row three.

“At first it was a bit frustrating there watching from the sidelines as the day went on and seeing us get bumped a few positions,” he said.

“We went out to practice before deciding to line up for a second qualifying attempt and we were running at 225 (mph), so we knew we had the speed to compete for the front row, or even pole, but we ran out of time. In the end though I’m very happy

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INDYCAR

with starting seventh, and with being on the inside of the row.”

Briscoe is racing for a new team coowned by Steve Luczo and Jay Penske, son of Roger Penske, in a Dallara-Honda leased

from Team Penske and similar to that of polesitter Helio Castroneves.

Starting alongside Briscoe on the grid will be Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti.

– PHIL MORRIS

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Brighty sticks with BJR Ford V8 SUPERCARS WHILE his Britek Motorsport crew has repaired his original Falcon damaged in practice at Barbagallo earlier in the season, Jason Bright will stick with the leased Team BOC Falcon for this weekend’s Winton round.

Despite testing the repaired car last week at its home Winton circuit, it will be the ex-Brad Jones bodyshell underneath the Fujitsu #25 paint scheme this weekend as the team isn’t absolutely satisfied with their original car’s state.

“We found that after the testing the original #25 chassis it still required some work before we were 100 percent happy with its performance,” said Britek Chief Engineer Geoff Slater.

“It was best to go for a known quantity in the Brad Jones Racing chassis and work on a proper set-up from the outset.

“Having used that car in NZ with our technical set-up we are confident of being able to do a good job at Winton.”

Winton has been a happy hunting ground for Bright in the past, with victory in 2002 for the Holden Racing Team, second in 1999, 2003 and 2006, and third in 2004.

In the seven rounds he has raced in at Winton, Bright has never finished out of the top six.

“We have got on top of the technical issues that we had in NZ and feel that we are due for a much better weekend at Winton,” he said.

“The form we showed at the opening round in Adelaide was a true reflection of this team. There’s no reason why that can’t again be the case at Winton.”

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Not giving it back just yet: Jason Bright will again use the spare BJR/Team BOC Falcon for Winton.

Super BK sale WORLD SUPERBIKES THE World Superbike Championship has a new owner in the controversial Swissbased sports marketing companies, Infront Sports & Media AG. The FIM announced last week that the company, which has substantial interests in other sports, has secured control of FGSport, which has run the championship since 1989. Maurizio and Paolo Alberto Flammini will remain in control of the series from their Rome base.

Infront has had a chequered past, with allegations of favouritism surrounding

its involvement with international football’s governing body, FIFA. Insport President and CEO Philippe Blatter is the nephew of FIFA President Sepp Blatter, and the company has been involved in a number of football related deals.

There is also an American link with Insport. Its Chairman is Robert Louis-Dreyfus, owner of French football team Olympique de Marseille and former CEO of Adidas-Salomon.

The French billionaire is also the cousin of American actress, Julia Louis-Dreyfus of Seinfeld fame …

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James Smith

Dexion team split Slade lines up in White Falcon for Winton V8 SUPERCARS DEXION Racing will not compete at Winton Motor Raceway this weekend in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series.

A contractual issue between Tim Slade’s management team and ANT Racing has seen Slade forfeit his ride in the #30 Dexion Falcon.

Despite the set-back, Slade will still contest the third round of the Fujitsu V8 Series at Winton, suiting up with Matthew White Racing in the second of White’s Falcon BAs – the car raced last year by Wayne Wakefield.

Slade was diplomatic about the mid-season switch when contacted by eNews.

“I am grateful for the opportunity Tony (Evangelou) provided, and it’s a shame we couldn’t contest the round at Winton, but its good to get the chance with Matthew White Racing,” Slade said.

“Matthew’s cars always have good pace, and this is a good opportunity presented to me.”

This is the first time Evangelou’s ANT Racing team has missed a Fujitsu V8 Supercar round since Wakefield Park in 2004.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Cooper joins FV8 Series

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LaNDMaRK

V8 UTES Rookie of the Year Ashley Cooper will make his V8 Supercar debut at Winton this weekend and compete in the Fujitsu Series for the rest of the season.

Cooper, who sits third in the Commodore Cup series, will drive the #95 Sydney Star Commodore VY driven at Wakefield Park by Taz Douglas,

with backing from Capital Finance.

“I think racing in the Commodore Cup Series has taught me a number of skills which are relevant to racing the V8 Supercars,” said Cooper.

“But really, there is no other way to fully prepare to extract the best performance from these cars other than to get seat time in them.”

– AARON NOONAN

TELEvIsION

nd the news the news behi

2007 April – 22 Mayinc GST No.359 18 $6.50 NZ $8.00

KIWI’S GOT TALENT Australia

POWER PLaY Aussie Wins in Champ Car

V8 SUPERCARS

aN LcD EDITION WIN

Massa’s FORTNIGHT You win some You lose some

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First MONTHLY issue coming May 23 don't miss it!

Wanna subscribe? Check it out via www.mnews.com.au 15

Family Affair for Utes V8 UTES THE next round of the Yokohama V8 Utes Series will feature a father and son entry.

Shanan and Ray Sidebottom will take to Eastern Creek for Round 3 of the V8 Ute series over the Queen’s Birthday

long weekend in June.

Shanan debuted in the Ute Series at the start of the season, while Ray will make his category debut at the Eastern Creek round.

“I haven’t driven a Ute before, so Shanan has the advantage there,” Ray said.

“I have been to Eastern Creek several times before in both Future Tourers and Commodore Cup which probably evens out the playing field between us.”

The first father/son combo to tackle the V8 Ute Series was Peter and James Brock, who competed (and won) together at Bathurst in 2003.

Crocker heads APRC ASIA-PACIFIC RALLY

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Chris Carter

DESPITE missing the opening Round of the AsiaPacific Rally Championship, reigning Champion Cody Crocker has steam rolled his way to the top of the points table after last weekend’s Rally of Whangarei in New Zealand.

Crocker holds a one-point advantage over Finnish rival Jussi Valimaki after dominating proceedings at the North Island event in New Zealand.

“After missing the first Round of the Championship we just had to get maximum points here,” Crocker said.

While his APRC rivals were unable to match the

pace of Crocker’s Subaru Impreza, he wasn’t so fortunate against the best of the local drivers, with 20year-old sensation Hayden Paddon claiming outright victory 24.2 seconds clear of Crocker.

“I could not let myself get caught up in the battle for overall honours. I had to keep focused on the APRC,” Crocker stated.

“I do have to take my hat off to these young guys.

They were really quick!”

Crocker and co-driver Ben Atkinson return to Australia in preparation for the third Round, the Rally of Canberra, in just under three weeks time.

– RYAN LAHIFF

FV to F3 for Wakeman FORMULA 3

THE Formula 3 field will be one car stronger come the next round of the Gold Star at Mallala with Formula Vee racer Jesse Wakeman taking over the ex-Karl Reindler Dallara.

The South Australian youngster is set to begin testing the car with the view of kicking off his F3 career on home soil next month.

“I’m really excited, big time,” Wakeman told eNews. “But it’s a big step up from the

Formula Vee and it’ll take a lot of getting used to.

“We hope to debut at Mallala. I know the track so that’ll hopefully take half the work out of it and we can concentrate on the car.”

Wakeman is currently unsure as to who will prepare the car, although it looks as though the R-Tek team will assist with the technical side of things.

“At this stage where still not 100 percent sure who will prepare the car, but we will be privateers.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

news

Turning Chinese AUSTRALIAN RALLY

Joel Strickland

LEADING Australian rally driver Dean Herridge will contest at least three rounds of this year’s Chinese Rally Championship.

Herridge was due to fly to China yesterday where he will begin testing with the factory Subaru squad.

“The deal is done, but like anything overseas I’m using this week hopefully to structure the whole thing out,” he told eNews.

“But effectively the whole thing’s done. They want us to do four rounds, although one of them clashes with the ARC so it might not be possible.”

This won’t be Herridge’s first

visit to Asia, having previously competed for Japan’s factory Subaru squad.

The Chinese deal comes in the wake of Herridge’s family-owned Maximum Motorsport team running at the front of the Australian Rally Championship as a semifactory Subaru squad.

“They want us there to drive and build the team up,” Herridge said.

“I’m taking over some little bits and pieces to try on the car and that sort of stuff. Obviously we run a competitive Group N car here in Australia, so they want to try and pull some of the feedback off that.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Coopers Photography

One-stop-shop Seto’s new enduro gig KARTING KARTING A NEW motor racing venture, comprising three karting/ racing related businesses was officially launched at Yatala, Queensland on Saturday.

Pacific Kartsport, JT Motorsport and Antman helmet painting have converged to make a one-

stop racing shop.

The facility incorporates a karting retail section, engine building, race preparation, helmet painting and showroom. James Courtney, David Besnard and an SBR Caltex Falcon were features of the launch that attracted locals as well as interstate visitors.

– MARK WICKS

A CAPACITY field will contest the second annual Leopard Kart Enduro in late July.

The three-hour race, held at Bundaburg, Queensland, will feature two drivers in each of the 32 karts.

A host of well-credentialed race drivers, as well as the very best in Australian karting talent have logged their entries, with Holden Racing Team V8

Supercar endurance driver Glenn Seton leading the pack.

Joining Seton will be Carrera Cup driver Steve Ellery, Mr Versatile Cameron McLean, and Fujitsu V8 racers Tony D’Alberto and Brett Hobson, along with the country’s best karting talent.

Motorsport News will be represented, with eNews editor Grant Rowley joining Queenslander John Rowley (no relation) in the Sunstate Garages and Sheds Top Kart.

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5 Minutes with ...

DEAN CANTO

The Valvoline Cummins team is in a tricky position at the moment. While they get a handle on Canto’s new VE Commodore, his old VZ is running on rails ...

GRANT ROWLEY MOTORSPORT NEWS: The season hasn’t gone to plan so far this season, but is there reason to be positive for the future?

DEAN CANTO: Yeah, for sure. The car has been getting better. Obviously in Race 3 at Pukekohe we had a wheel failure which didn’t really help, but it’s slowly been getting there.

It’s been tougher not having two VEs. It hurts most in testing, but out of all the single-car VE teams, we’ve been ahead of them. In that sense, it hasn’t been too bad.

It’s not that the VE is much different, it’s just a bit of a struggle to get the balance and find the ultimate out of the car.

Lee (Holdsworth) has had a great start to the year. While it’s good for the team, probably frustrating from your view?

Yeah, Garry’s been OK with it all. He hasn’t put any pressure on me. He saw what I could do with that car at the end of the year. I haven’t changed, it’s only the car that has changed. Lee’s got that car now and it’s performing great.

I’m not too fussed about it. I just have to keep chipping away at my car, so the boys can get the other VE built and we can do some back-to-back testing.

At the moment when we test, we are flat-out, trying to cram as much as we can.

And then you have weather conditions changing and you don’t know how much that affects your car.

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John Morris/Mpix

You tested at Winton last week. How did that go?

The car was repaired after our Pukekohe crash and we came away not looking too bad, compared to the other teams.

It’s only going to get better, it’s not going to get worse. It’s just a matter of finding out the finer things.

The biggest thing that I’ve struggled with is the high-speed rear-end grip of the car.

We’ve struggled to get that right. It hasn’t helped that the tracks that we’ve been to have a couple of high-speed corners.

It’s been improving slowly, and it’s a bit frustrating to see my old car where it is!

It's only going to get better, it's not going to get worse DEAN CANTO Not having green tyres on a test day also doesn’t help. Fair enough, it cuts the cost for the teams, but you really need two sets of greens for a test day. It wouldn’t be out of reach for most V8 Supercar teams to have green tyres for testing.

We’ve done four test days so far, which is a fair few, but we’ve needed them.

You’re just looking forward to having the second VE on the track to double everything up?

Yeah, more data, more idea on how things work. Lee and I have a similar driving style. He’s driven the car and had similar comments on how we can rectify the problems.

I don’t know how the other teams, like HRT and HSV, have figured it out so quick!

So, Winton this week. It’s your test track.

What’s the most critical bit?

It’s all going to come down to qualifying.

From the end of last year to the start of this year, the track has lost a bit of grip.

Even our last session was slower than the start of the year ...

I don’t know what’s going on there.

Usually, the track’s good in the morning and the evening, and a bit slower during the middle of the day.

We’ll be up there. Last year in practice I was seventh in practice. We’ve got good speed around there.

And eNews trusts that you looked after your mum for Mother’s Day? Yeah, nothing big. Erin (Dean’s wife) and I gave mum some candles and an oil burner.

We actually flew up to Sydney to surprise her. She didn’t know we were coming. I booked the flights on Thursday night, my brother picked us up and surprised her on Saturday.

Dirk Klynsmith

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The key to weird Winton opinion Neil Crompton Commentator gaps between good cars and lesser ones are amplified. You cannot drive around a problem; elsewhere, you might have a bigger go and fix it over a lap but at Winton, that just makes things worse. There are many frustrated drivers at Winton.

You need to be judicious with using the kerbs. Turns 1 and 2, the Motorsport News Esses, need you to use the kerbs. Also, three and four need that too and six, but only sometimes.

Turn 10, the left-hander opposite the pits, needs you to use the inside and the outside kerb.

You need it to turn and drive but also carry brake into Turn 1, where there is a large hump

Dirk Klynsmith

WINTON Raceway is one of those weird places. It is remarkable, given that twothirds of the field tests there and yet it remains quite elusive to the teams. Local knowledge does not count for much.

You need to be ultra, ultrasmooth. The track has a low average speed, compared to some of the other circuits, and there is a lot of pitching with the cars. You throw the car onto its nose and rock it on the rear and there is not a lot of grip available. It is easy to exaggerate all your problems on a grand scale.

You hear guys talk about a lack of turn and drive, whether the car can carry brake. You need a car to have all of those things to generate grip.

Over-drive the car at Winton and you get zero reward. The

where the new circuit joins the old one. It is very easy to roar down there and lock a brake.

Turning and braking is a part of life at Winton and that adds to the puzzle; you need to keep the unweighted front tyre on the road, you do that by getting

rid of some roll and if you kill too much roll, with a stiff car, it may not connect very well with a track that lacks grip.

If you could solve the puzzle of making a V8 Supercar go fast at Winton, you could make a lot of money as an engineer!

Letters

Have your say, email us at mail@mnews.com.au. Keep letters to the point.

Streets behind I would like to congratulate the WA Government for once again telling the V8 Supercar mafia what they can do with a street race.

They think if they snap their fingers state governments will throw money at them. Sorry Tony, but you have finally found a government who knows the show you put on is not worth the millions you demand.

Australia has plenty of tracks, but V8 Supercars think they’re too good or too big for them now. When are CAMS and Australian promoters going to

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realise we need a series that wants to support local tracks to stay in business? I don’t mean the AMRS or the CAMS series, but something spectators want to go and see.

It’s been obvious for years Tony Cochrane only wants street races and overseas events. Barbagallo had 130,000 people turn up last meeting, and have now been told that V8 Supercars won’t be back again. Great way to support your fans, guys, but then again V8 Supercar racing is no longer about fans, it’s all about money.

V8 Supercars has forced

tracks to spend millions on upgrades over the years to then say their facilities are up to standard a few years later. So why would a track promoter want to spend more money when there is no guarantee of long-standing support?

I wonder how long it will be before all the Australian tracks are gone and the V8s won’t have anywhere for future drivers to come from?

Neil Stratton Quakers Hill, NSW AEST not BEST In your ‘What’s on 7’ advert

it says that the Winton V8 Supercar telecast on May 20 is at 12:00pm to 3:00pm AEST, which is incorrect as the telecast is not on till at least 10:30pm in South Australia.

It should say in the eastern states, not AEST. Channel 7 should remember that the Australian population is not on the east coast and that to use the AEST is false advertising.

Also, just because they paid more for AFL does not mean the have a better product.

Having the telecast at 10:30 at night just shows that they don’t care about the V8

Hanging up the helmet

Dirk Klynsmith

FOR me, yesterday was the day. I hate to say never, but my intention is to never do another V8 Supercar sprint round. I’ll do Sandown and Bathurst this year, they’ll probably be my last, but I don’t know.

Everyone gets to that time in their life when you have to step back and consider. I’ve had a pretty unbelievable ride.

I’m 47, I’m the second oldest guy out there and I always said that once I made the decision to stop, I’d stop straight away. And that’s what’s happened.

I haven’t had a lot of time to think about the future. I’ve been contemplating what I’ve been doing as a driver. Obviously, I’ll be involved in running the team, that’s where I see I’m going to be able to help the team the most, but what particular role I have, I’m not too sure.

I’d like to think I’ll be involved in helping the drivers explain to the

opinion Brad Jones Driver/Team owner people around them what they are trying to get out of the car. I’ve only just stepped out of one so I think I can help in a couple of those areas.

Generally, I have a lot to do with the day-to-day running of the business so I’ll be concentrating a little more on that.

I’ve had a fantastic career, surrounded by a lot of clever people and had great supports from the teams.

I won’t totally disappear. I’ll be at the track, being involved in the team, getting there early and going home later and offering as much as I can.

It’s the first time I’ve been out of the car and watched the team perform. I need to take it gently as I dance along and see where I fit.

Supercar championship or its fans. The only reason that Channel 7 wants the rights for the V8 Supercars is for Bathurst and all other races are an inconvenience.

John Jansen piejohn86@yahoo.com.au

Webber’s Woes Yet another mechanical failure DNF for Mark Webber in the Spanish GP overnight.

He’s had rather too many of these in recent times, and it doesn’t make him look too good. Webber was ‘let go’ from Williams last year after failing [read “being unable”] to deliver results – never the problem of the fragile, unreliable snails of race cars he was being expected to

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ED: And here we were thinking South Australia was half an hour behind AEST …

Go-to-Whoa: All it took was a hydraulic failure to halt Webber’s progress in Spain, while DC got away Scot free.

drive, was it?

How soon before he loses this ride too, I wonder?

David Hutchinson Brisbane, QLD And TV woes …

Promises were the word earlier this year from Channel 10.

Close to live races this year

for F1? Excellent, I say. But Channel 10 management would fit perfectly into parliament by making promises they cant keep.

Example 1: Malaysian Grand Prix, could of been shown Sunday afternoon, yet they delay the race by hours!

Example 2: Sunday night’s Spanish GP. 11.10pm, after Rove

finishes at 10.15 and we could have had the race on slight delay. But no, we have to watch some stupid Big Brother show.

Maybe Channel 10 should take a leaf out of Network Seven’s book. Their coverage with the V8s keeps getting better and better.

Aaron Waugh awaugh@bigpond.net.au

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FORMULA 1 ROUND 4 - SPAIN

Back in the Game Felipe Massa drove a race measured to perfection in Spain, beating the two McLarens with ease. But despite having won two of the season’s four races, he’s still chasing the kid called Lewis in the championship

By JOE SAWARD

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HE 2007 Spanish Grand Prix was settled at the first corner.

Barcelona’s GP track appears to have been designed to prevent overtaking, and the changes made for this year’s race only made matters worse. So if there was an outbreak of overtaking, it was going to happen in the pits.

And that knowledge set up a fascinating battle. Felipe Massa was on pole but, obviously, had only a little Shell in the Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton had, as is becoming more obvious by the week, been very clever and his fourth spot on the grid came with plenty of Mobil’s finest brews on board.

So, Massa and fellow frontrow dweller Fernando Alonso hurtled into the first corner side-by-side. Each felt they had the corner. Neither really did.

The result was that the two cars touched. Massa stayed on the road. Alonso went

bouncing over the sandtrap.

He had nearly made it, but nearly is not enough. By the time he jinked back on to the road, Hamilton had not only beaten Raikkonen to the first corner, he overtaken Alonso as well.

Later Alonso suggested that he felt that Massa had been a little too tough with him but that was not really fair. The most dangerous thing that happened was that Alonso shot back on to the road and nearly caused the two BMWs of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld to collide.

The incident, however, ruined Alonso’s strategy, which called for an early pit stop on lap 19. He knew that he could not catch up using any normal strategy and so he gambled on using his harder tyres in the middle stint and hoping that he could make ground in the final stint on the softer rubber.

It did not work.

T

he incident at Turn 1 gave Hamilton a clear run to second place, but it was soon obvious that, barring another disaster for Ferrari, Massa would not be beaten and, despite a flash fire at the back of his car as he accelerated out of the pits (he was not even aware it had happened) he was able to finish 6.7s ahead of Hamilton. Alonso was a further 10.6s behind.

Raikkonen’s F2007 disappeared early on with an electronic problem and when all the calculations were done, Hamilton was the man who emerges in the lead in the World Championship, despite the fact that he is the only one of the top four not to win a race – and is only in the fourth race of his career.

No rookie has ever led the World Championship in his first season and in addition to that honour, Hamilton has broken Bruce McLaren’s record as the youngest driver ever to

lead the World Championship.

He has 30 points to Alonso’s 28, Massa’s 27 and Raikkonen, who started the year as the favourite, is now lagging behind with 22.

“I keep saying that I am living my dream,” Hamilton said, “and it’s really true. I’ve been working so hard, and to come out of my fourth Grand Prix leading the World Championship, driving with the top drivers in world, is just incredible.”

Hamilton pushed hard to win but ended up with his fourth podium in four races – another record – and it was fairly clear that the Ferrari still has an advantage. It is not as big as we saw earlier in the year but the advantage is still there.

And that must be galling because having the fastest car is not enough: McLaren is 1-2 in the Drivers’ Championship and ahead in the Constructors’ title.

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Spanish Rally Championship: The moment that defined the race – Alonso goes off road in an ambitious attempt to steal the lead off Massa at the first turn, above. Hamilton now leads the Championship having finished second, left, while Sato caused a stir with Super Aguri’s first-ever point, below.

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Got his wings: While Webber struggled in Barcelona, Coulthard flew, coming home fifth, above. Kovalainen looked good on his way to seventh for Renault, below. sutton-images.com

BEHIND Massa, Hamilton and Alonso we had Robert Kubica, a rookie who is being overlooked somewhat by Hamilton’s magic.

His team-mate Nick Heidfeld was unlucky when the team messed up a pitstop (when his car was waved away while a wheelnut was still being wound on) and he had to do a slow lap.

This gave David Coulthard a nice piece of good fortune (it so often happens around contract time) and the Scot produced his best race of the year and scored Red Bull’s first 2007 points.

He had to fight hard for it and would probably have lost the place, but for the misfortune that befell Heikki Kovalainen when Renault’s refuelling machine failed to work properly and both drivers had to make extra stops.

This dropped Kovalainen to seventh behind Nico Rosberg who did a solid job for Williams, to give the team three more muchneeded points. With Toyota flopping badly in this race, Williams and Toyota now both have five points. Renault is aheadon 11.

The most celebrating was probably done down at Super Aguri, where Takuma Sato came home to score the team’s first World Championship point after Fisichella fell back with a late pit stop. The Italian battled all afternoon with the Hondas, first with Jenson Button and later with Rubens Barrichello. They both faded once Giancarlo had overtaken them during the pitsstops, and a collision between Jenson and Rubens after his second cost the team some red faces. The two cars finished, split by the second Super Aguri of Ant Davidson.

– JOE SAWARD

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Behind the Fab Four

Who you callin’ Big Nose?

McLaren pulled it’s latest aero tweak in Spain. By F1 Technical Editor PAOLO FILISETTI

TALK of flexing wings had been quiet for a while – until McLaren showed up with something different at the front of its MP4-22s.

McLaren tested the week before the race with new front wings with a single ‘flap’ profile over the top of the nose. This appears to be an enlarged version of a feature tried – and then discarded – by Renault two years ago, and tried since by a number of teams. But to date, the concept has been to have two, separate profiles (one on top of each wing).

McLaren is the first team to extend the unit in a single sweep above the nose, leaving a huge gap between itself and the nosecone tip underneath.

In theory, this innovation should prove to be particularly efficient in terms of maximising the available width of the wing, so improving the sharpness of the front end – something that particularly suits Fernando Alonso’s driving style. It would also be useful at a track where sharp turn-in is important, so look for it to reappear at Monaco.

In fact, given that F1 wind tunnels throughout Europe will, probably, be humming with Monte Carlo tweaks day and night for the next 10 days, don’t be surprise to see McLaren imitators on the streets of the Principality …

F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | Round 4 BARCELONA Pos #

Driver

Team

Time

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1 5 Felipe Massa Ferrari F2007 1:31:36.230 2 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren Mercedes MP4/22 1:31:43.020 3 1 Fernando Alonso McLaren Mercedes MP4/22 1:31:53.686 4 10 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber F1.07 1:32:07.845 5 14 David Coulthard Red Bull Renault RB3 1:32:34.561 6 16 Nico Rosberg Williams Toyota FW27 1:32:35.768 7 4 Heikki Kovalainen Renault R27 1:32:38.358 8 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri Honda SA03 64 laps 9 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault R27 64 laps 10 8 Rubens Barrichello Honda RA107 64 laps 11 23 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri Honda SA03 64 laps 12 7 Jenson Button Honda RA107 64 laps 13 20 Adrian Sutil Spyker Ferrari 63 laps 14 21 Christijan Albers Spyker Ferrari 63 laps Not Classified 9 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1.07 46 laps 11 Ralf Schumacher Toyota TF107 44 laps 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso Ferrari TR02 19 laps 19 Scott Speed Toro Rosso Ferrari TR02 9 laps 6 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari F2007 9 laps 12 Jarno Trulli Toyota TF107 8 laps 15 Mark Webber Red Bull Renault RB3 7 laps 17 Alex Wurz Williams Toyota FW27 Fastest Lap: Massa on lap 14, 1:22.680

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

F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | Driver’s points Points: Hamilton 30, Alonso 28, Massa 27, Raikkonen 22, Heidfeld 15, Kubica and Fisichella 8, Rosberg 5, Coulthard and Trulli 4, Kovalainen 3, Sato and Schumacher 1.

F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | Constructor’s points Nose job: McLaren’s fancy front wing is likely to support Alonso’s aggressive turn-in come Monaco.

Points: McLaren-Mercedes 58, Ferrari 49, BMW.Sauber 23, Renault 11, Williams-Toyota and Toyota 5, Reed Bull Renault 4, Super Aguri 1.

27

GLOBE TROTTER

Gordon’s going good

mike-patrick.com

NASCAR

SPEEDWAY GP

NASCAR Media

WORLD Champion Jason Crump suffered another setback in his quest to retain the World Speedway title at Wroclaw and lost more ground to Championship leader Nicki Pedersen.

Pedersen lost just one race all night in seven starts, having won all seven of his rides in the first GP in Italy.

Crump tried no fewer than three machines during the evening but never seemed to be at his best.

– TONY MILLARD

JEFF Gordon continued his dominance of the 2007 NASCAR season with his third win of the year on Sunday at Darlington.

Gordon held off a hard-charging Denny Hamlin, who led 179 of the 367 laps and would have won had it not been for two bungled pit stops.

“With over 100 laps to go I noticed the water temp went way up and it didn’t come back down,” said Gordon.

“I thought there was no way we were going to make it. I’ve never seen engine gauges look like that and the engine make it to the end.

“At the beginning of the race I thought this car would never get to victory lane, but by the end we had one of the best cars.”

Gordon’s Hendrick crew elected to stay on track during a late caution while then-leader and team-mate Jimmie Johnson pitted along with other front runners. Re-starting seventh, Johnson fought back to finish third after some great racing between fourth placed Ryan Newman and Hamlin.

– MARTIN D CLARK Points: Gordon 1881, Johnson 1650, Matt Kenseth 1582, Hamlin 1539, Jeff Burton 1486.

Making amends BUSCH SERIES WORLD SUPERBIKES YAMAHA was all the rage at Monza last weekend, with Noriyuki Haga winning both World Superbike races from pole position.

Troy Bayliss kept himself in title contention with third place, while Brit James Toseland increased his points lead to 35 from Haga.

GP2

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Points: Edwards 1958, Kevin Harvick 1525, Reutimann 1359, Dave Blaney 1353, Matt Kenseth 1280, (Ambrose 1200).

NASCAR Media

BRUNO Senna has continued the solid start to his GP2 career, winning the feature in Spain.

Timo Glock broke his duck for the season in the sprint race, leading home Javier Villa.

WHILE things didn’t necessarily go his way in the Cup race, Denny Hamlin did add to his wins tally in the Busch Series race at Darlington last Friday.

Hamlin was unstoppable throughout the race, leading the most laps and pulling away from the battle for second between Carl Edwards and Mark Martin.

Marcos Ambrose was unlucky not to record a strong result after being on the pace throughout the meeting. He lost time during the race after clipping David Reutimann, and then had to make an unscheduled stop late in the race to clear some tape from his windscreen.

Despite the setbacks he finished a credible 19th, leaving him 11th in the points and third in the Rookie standings after 12 rounds.

race

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INDY 500 QUALIFYING A TENSE Pole Day has seen Helio Castroneves pip Tony Kanaan for the honour of starting the 2007 Indianapolis 500 from pole.

Team Penske’s Brazilian lapped the famed 2.5 mile oval in an average speed of 225.817mph to pip countryman Kanaan by 0.04s over four laps in his Andretti Green entry. Kanaan’s team-mate Dario Franchitti took the other front row spot.

“This pole position means a lot to me, to the team. I had a great car and a great opportunity,” Helio said. “I learned from Sam (Hornish) to hold the car through turn one (against a 10mp/h wind), and it was just what I needed to do.”

Super Sandown

In the new format, which saw the 11 fastest cars make a number of runs over a six-hour session, saw Franchitti hold sway for much of the session only to watch first Kanaan, then Castroneves, snatch the US$100,000 pole award away from him.

Scott Dixon leads Row 2, he and Ganassi team-mate Dan Wheldon split by Sam Hornish Jr, while Ryan Briscoe heads Row 3 from AGR’s Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti.

On Sunday, Scott Sharp led the times for 12th from Jeff Simmons, though the big news was that Al Unser Jr was bumped from the field. He will have a second chance to qualify for the 91st running of the race next Saturday and Sunday, along with rookie (and the third woman to attempt to qualify) Milka Duno.

VIC STATE SERIES

Chris Carter

CARNAGE unfolded at Sandown Raceway during Round 1 of the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships last weekend, with four rollovers occuring across the weekend.

The biggest incident happened during the second Formula Vee race when Andy Goodall and Brad Kelly came together entering the sweeper up the back straight. The pair locked wheels and were sent into a series of violent barrel rolls, with both cars being heavily damaged and both drivers sent to hospital.

Other action occurred in Formula Ford in the final race

when Cameron Spence and Nathan Geier collided at the same point on the circuit as the FVee rollover. Spence had won the opening two races and the incident prevented his clean sweep.

In only his second ever meeting, Rick Newman dominated Improved Production in his TE50, taking his first ever race win early on and then followed up by taking the round win in.

Young Porsche 944 newcomer Justin Tate had his best weekend to date with two podiums from the weekend after recovering from an early disappointment when he finished 13th in Race 1.

– AARON SHAW

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industry

Advertising in Race Shop costs as littl

Welding Helmet with a difference!

H

ow’s this! You can add a bit of V8 glamour to your welding kit with the limited edition Lowndes 'Signature’ Miller Elite™ Auto-Darkening helmet.

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rear of grid

The best racing was at Monza ...

S

AT in front of the box and watched some great motorsport on Sunday night – but it wasn’t from Barcelona, where a predictable procession provided a deserved win for Felipe Massa, who is actually starting to look the goods.

To be honest, if it wasn’t for Lewis Hamilton, Tiger II, F1 could be in a spot of bother. At least Monaco is next, which usually throws up a surprise or two – especially if Webber’s Red Bull can stay in one piece.

What also disappointed me on Sunday night was what they’ve done to the Barcelona track. It was never a great track for passing on but their abysmal attempts to improve that, by adding a rubbish slow chicane at the end of the lap has achieved nothing, other than taking yet another high-speed, edgy corner out of Formula 1. How do they

manage to screw things up so badly?

N

o, the best motor racing on Sunday night was over on cable, where the SBK Superbike show was on from Monza. There looked to be a big crowd in the stands and the racing was brilliant.

These are ‘road-bikes’ remember. 318kmh down the straight, Haga and Toseland side-by-side around the famous Parabolica. Elbowing each other into Ascari.

It was just fantastic racing.

I couldn’t help thinking about how both groups (SBK and F1) approach safety. There’s no doubt you’re risking life and limb on a bike anywhere – but Monza is incredibly fast and the fences aren’t that far away. But them’s the risks and everyone gets on with it.

In contrast, F1 has for me become over-obsessed with it

Odd Spot

318kmh down the straight, Haga and Toseland side-byside around the famous parabolica. elbowing each other into ascari – the ruining of the last corner at Barcelona just the latest example of Safety Mania. Noone in F1 gets hurt these days.

The in-car safety technology and track conditions are far and away in a different league to how things were when Ayrton Senna died – and so they should be.

That’s fine. But let’s accept that, and move on without ruining more classic race tracks.

I reckon it’s compromising the F1 show now and you wonder where it will all end.

The day someone in F1 suggests a chicane in or near the Parabolica is the day they lose me.

Revolutionising promotions DALE Rodgers will do anything for a bit of publicity, but driving a truck through your front door is ridiculous!

Revolution Racegear’s headquarters in Mitcham, Victoria, was struck by a truck last week, smashing the shop’s front window.

Luckily, pedestrians, Dale and his staff were not injured.

We aren’t sure if the truck was suffering from a massive case of understeer, or if the driver simply got it wrong, but if he was looking for a 'How to go Truck Racing' manual, he found the right place!

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