Motorsport eNews Issue 6 - May 29-June 4, 2007

The world of motorsport every week – directly to your desktop

Issue No. 006

29 May - 4 June 2007

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N O T IL M A H D U D IS N N E DID D ter monaco massacre

Mixed messages from mclaren af

Dario’s damp Indy 500

WPS chance for Caruso

Schumi linked Victor Bray to Toro Rosso turns 50

Editorial Editor: Grant Rowley grant@mnews.com.au Deputy Editor: Aaron Noonan noonz@mnews.com.au National Editor: Andrew van Leeuwen andrew@mnews.com.au Executive Editor: Phil Branagan editor@mnews.com.au

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MD / Publisher Chris Lambden publisher@mnews.com.au

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.

Freelance contributions are welcome, and while all care will be taken, Motorsport eNews does not accept responsibility for damage or loss of material submitted.

Opinions expressed in Motorsport eNews are not necessarily those of Australasian Motorsport News or its staff.

Australasian

The ‘A’ Team

Issue No. 006 | 29 May – 4 June 2007

news 4 Ronspeak 6 Tolling 8 Tyre contest 15 Cash Converters

chat 18 Five minutes with ... opinion 20 Branagan 21 Saward 39 The Punter

Did Maccers fix up Lewis?

Top duo to race together And Pirelli makes three You paid HOW much?

Victor Bray On hols, on things Toyota Time to go DC A new meaning for RDO

race 22 Dial 1-2 for McLaren Too easy at Monaco 28 Dario’s Day

The 500, Rain and a Scot

trade 36 Trade and Industry / Raceshop 38 Classifieds

Need a Motorsport eNews back issue? CLICK HERE

welcome James Courtney wanted to be in our Welcome Video so much he’s promised us he’ll win a race ... soon

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

Webber to Renault?

Not likely, mate! Aussie Red Bullster sees a bright future with RBR FORMULA 1

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PIT lane rumour at Monaco of a possible move of Mark Webber from Red Bull to Renault at the end of this season, has been discounted.

Motorsport eNews’ F1 man Joe Saward picked up on the suggestions, which were news to Webber’s manager Ann Neal when we spoke to her on Monday.

“I don’t think so!’ she said.

“It’s the first we’ve heard of it, and we haven’t spoken to anyone at Renault.

“To be honest, Mark is still very confident that everyone at Red Bull will make significant progress and get into a competitive position as this season goes on – so I don’t think he’d want to leave.”

Webber suffered another frustrating retirement at the weekend, an engine misfire followed by a failure in the team’s new ‘seamless’ gearbox: “There were a couple of things going on. First I had a small misfire on the engine, which wasn’t really fantastic, especially through the Swimming Pool section, but it also affected me at other parts of the track.

“I was pressing on and dealing with that. Then I lost third gear and although I tried switching between second and fourth, the car kept locking up. Initially I tried to drive around the problems, but when that happens here, you end up in the fence looking even more stupid!”

McLarenMercedes lapped every car bar one Ferrari at Monaco, but was rookie Hamilton denied the chance of victory?

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Fixed FORMULA 1

Team Owner Michael?

FORMULA 1 ITALIAN rumours are suggesting that Michael Schumacher may be involved in the purchase of Scuderia Toro Rosso from Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz.

In Monaco there were suggestions that Mateschitz has already agreed to sell his share of the team to Nicolas Todt and his partners in the ART GP2 team. These include important members of the ruling family of Bahrain, who have been looking at buying into F1 for some

time now.

There is no doubt that Todt Jr would like to be a team owner and, with support from his father, connections with sponsors and technical help from Ferrari, it could be a very smart move.

The value of Schumacher would be that his presence would open doors which other teams would not be able to get through. It would also give him something to do, as his presence at the last two Grands Prix suggests that he is having trouble adjusting to life away from racing …

McLAREN F1 boss Ron Dennis has sent out confusing messages as he justified team tactics which ruled out a serious challenge to race winner Fernando Alonso by rookie teammate Lewis Hamilton at Monaco on Sunday.

Hamilton, who had five to six laps of additional fuel on board his McLaren from the start, looked as if he could challenge his more experienced rival at the first stops, but found his race strategy had changed: “I was fuelled to go five or six laps longer than Fernando,” Hamilton explained immediately after the race.

“They stopped me after only three laps, so I lost the time I might have had in which to really open up a gap. That’s unfortunate,

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for Fernando? the point in the race where not racing each other was the only obvious option.

In denying that the team had manipulated the proceedings, Dennis shed an interesting new angle on the infamous Coulthard/ Hakkinen position swap at the 1998 AGP: “We do not and have not manipulated Grands Prix, unless there were some exceptional circumstances, which occurred, for example, in Australia [1998], when at that time someone had tapped into our radio and instructed Mika Hakkinen to enter the pits,” he told autosport.com.

“He entered the pits and I reversed that, because that was unfair; that was an outside influence on

the outcome of the race.

That is one of the very rare occasions that there’s been a team order.”

Tapped into our radio?

That’s new!

Dennis went on, however, to confirm that his drivers had been told to slow down later in the race: “There will be times and places when they are free to race, but this isn’t one of them.

“Everybody in the pit lane and the media and would be saying, what an idiot the team principal from McLaren is for allowing his cars to compete, where one of them is in the barrier.”

Flip to page 22 for Joe Saward’s perspective on the Monaco GP.

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but that’s the way it goes.

I am looking forward to speaking to my engineers about it because I thought we were going to run shorter in the second stint and we didn’t ...”

Dennis later suggested that in fact Hamilton had been on a one-stop strategy, which was switched to a twostopper once the risk of a Safety Car intervention had been reduced.

The two viewpoints clearly don’t match up and, once the race is analysed, Hamilton is likely to realise that any challenge he thought he could put up was handicapped by the team’s tactical choices.

The team itself, in effect, kept Hamilton at a safe distance from Alonso, until

Fun and games ... for the winner: Fernando celebrates his second Monaco victory.

BRIEFLY... n Discussions began in earnest in Monaco about the future of Formula 1 in an increasingly environmentconscious world. FIA president Max Mosley is strongly in favour of ‘green’ initiatives and regulations encouraging the development of technologies relevant to the passenger car industry.

He is closely involving automobile manufacturers in framing new rules for introduction in 2011, and circulated a discussion paper to that effect before the meetings in Monaco. Some of the team principals urged caution at the weekend, including Ron Dennis of McLaren Mercedes.

“I see the need for a Formula 1 that embraces many of the things in the paper,” Dennis said. “I’m supportive of it.

[But] there are two categories of Grand Prix organisations: those with equity control by a manufacturer and those whose core business is F1. History shows that manufacturers can stop at any time because it isn’t their core business. So I wouldn’t feel comfortable with a formula created for the manufacturers.” n FIA president Max Mosley explained in Monaco why he included Audi and Ford among the Formula 1 manufacturers sent an FIA discussion document about future ‘green’ and industryrelevant technical regulations.

“There’s no suggestion that either of those companies will come into Formula 1,” Mosley said. “But if we can involve two or even more [nonparticipating] manufacturers at board level, their input could be very helpful because they’re disinterested about the technologies we should incorporate. They’ve promised to do the best they can to help us.”

– QUENTIN SPURRING

Endurance Caruso

Rising Star signs with WPS/WOW for Bathurst and Sandown V8 races V8 SUPERCARS FORD Rising Stars racer Michael Caruso will join WPS Racing for the Sandown and Bathurst endurance races.

Caruso, who sits second in the Fujitsu Series after the latest round at Winton and turned 24 last week, will make his second start at Bathurst after his late call-up last year to replace the fatally injured Mark Porter in the second Team BOC Falcon.

“This is certainly one of the best birthday presents I have ever had,” said Caruso.

“WPS/WOW Racing showed some really strong speed in the endurance races last year and with the development work that the team has been putting in, this year should be even better.

“This is my second full season in V8 Supercars and I’m confident that I have the experience in these cars to do the job and contribute to a good result in the endurance events.”

He will dovetail his FRSR Falcon program in the Fujitsu Series races, however just which car he drives and whom he drives with at WPS Racing remains unclear.

The team may pair Max Wilson and Jason Bargwanna together in the WOW Falcon, but if they don’t, then who gets Caruso’s experience and the added advantage of his current race miles would surely become a tug-of-war.

Caruso had originally looked like he was going to join Team BOC for the events, but then tested for Ford Performance Racing hoping to land one of its seats for the events.

When the FPR door closed and Team BOC went cold on him, it left Caruso with little options on the blue side of the fence, ironic given WPS Racing and owner Craig Gore’s much-publicised lack of a relationship or funding from Ford.

Caruso will make his racing debut with the team at the Sandown 500 in September

Gorey's man: Michael Caruso will drive either #8 or #10 at Sandown and Bathurst.

but will join them for a test day at Queensland Raceway this Thursday.

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Dirk Klynsmith

Tolling together V8 SUPERCARS AFTER the controversial driver swaps between the Toll HSV Dealer Team and the Holden Racing Team for last year’s endurance events, don’t look for any surprises in the Toll lineup for Sandown and Bathurst this year.

With Rick Kelly and Garth Tander steaming away in the top two positions in the championship with a handy buffer back to thirdplaced Jamie Whincup after only four rounds, it looks increasingly likely that the team will pair up its regular stars.

It gives them not only the best chance possible of success at the two endurance classics, but can be done without risking the championship, provided of course their form continues.

Kelly has a 56-point break over third-placed Whincup, so is almost an endurance race in front (72 points awarded to the winner of Sandown and also Bathurst) with another four rounds to go before the 500-kilometre classic.

Given their lead – and potentially even bigger one come September if the orange and black steam roller continues – the risk of pairing the duo together and failing in both races may be minimal to the point where they potentially could still be in front without scoring points at either Sandown or Bathurst.

That would leave Craig Baird and David Reynolds to share a car together, removing the potentially interesting variable of one of the championship contenders sharing their mount with a Bathurst and indeed V8 rookie in Reynolds.

V8s at the GP – too early to say V8 SUPERCARS REPORTS in the Melbourne media at the weekend that an agreement for V8 Supercars to return to the Australian Grand Prix programme is close have been described as premature.

Newly installed AGP CEO Drew Ward told Motorsport eNews on Monday that “there’s an in-principle agreement that we will work toward that end, but there’s little opportunity to progress until we have an indicative date for our race from Formula One Management.

“To some degree, that’s out of our hands. But we’d hope to have that date not too far

down the track.”

Formula 1 often doesn’t start to talk provisional calendars until July/August, so any V8 discussion is likely to remain hamstrung until then.

V8 Supercar CEO Wayne Cattach offered a firm “No comment – you need to talk to Tony Cochrane on that one” when eNews called. Cochrane was in Sydney on Monday in meetings with Seven.

With discussions concerning the entire V8 calendar due to get serious shortly, comes the sobering reminder that 2008 is an Olympic year. Massaging V8s around AFL has been difficult enough – throw in Beijing and things become even more complex.

Pirelli push for V8 tyre contract Michelin and Bridgestone out, leaving Pirelli to take on Dunlop and Yokohama for the five-year deal V8 SUPERCARS

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V8 tyres of the future: MNews can confirm that Pirelli want to be the V8 Supercar tyre supplier. We can’t confirm that the tyres above, are the ones they intend to use ...

THE V8 Supercar tyre contract contest is heating up with Pirelli putting in a big push to wrestle the contract off current suppliers Dunlop and third tenderer Yokohama.

Pirelli has been proactive in the late stages of the tendering period, which ended on May 21, with International Motorsports Director Paul Hembrey meeting with V8SA officials before Winton. Hembrey’s visit was followed up by Australian MD Roberto Righi, who attended the Winton round, going for a media ride with John Bowe.

Pirelli’s motorsport distributor in Australia Rod Wilson says that the Italian tyre giant is definitely in the game: “These sort of things mainly get handled factory to factory, but I can confirm we are proactively tendering,” Wilson told eNews.

“It’s no secret we are giving this a big push, and Pirelli wanted to see if we have the capacity to do it. There’s no issue there, it’s up to whether the decision makers want there to be a change.”

While Michelin and Bridgestone decided against tendering for the contract, it will still be a three-way fight with Japanese manufacturer Yokohama also putting in a strong bid.

The tender will decide who will be the sole tyre supplier of V8 Supercar and Fujitsu V8 Supercar tyres from 2008 to 2012 inclusive.

TEGA General Manager Kelvin O’Reilly told eNews on Monday that “while we want a decision soon, it locks us in for five years, so we want to make sure it’s the correct decision.

“The next step is a decision as to whether we need to conduct any specific back-to-back testing, or testing of any single tenderer’s specification.”

An announcement is expected within the next few weeks.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

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Marshall Cass

V8 SUPERCARS EXPRESSIONS of interest for the Level 2 V8 Supercar licence are open, with applications to be submitted to TEGA

by June 12.

The sale of the former Romano Racing licence means that 32 V8 Supercars will contest the 2008 V8 Championship Series.

The three favourite contenders for the licence are the leading Fujitsu V8 Supercar teams – Tony D’Alberto Racing, Howard Racing and Speed FX (Ford Rising Stars Racing).

All three teams confirmed to eNews that they will express their interest in

the available licence.

All three teams have won races and rounds in the development league, with Howard Racing being the most successful, having won the 2006 championship.

TEGA will select the successful applicant on business model, on-track credentials and value they bring to the series, among other items.

Other interest can also be expected to come from main series V8 teams and other Fujitsu V8 teams.

The Romano Racing licence (formally #24) was most recently used by Perkins Motorsport in 2005.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Falcon AU gets one more year DUE to the delay with Ford’s new ‘Orion’ V8 Supercar, the ageing Falcon AU has been granted an extra year of competition in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series.

The AU was originally meant to be competing in its swansong year this year, but Ford’s delays with its new race machine will see it race in 2008.

It is believed that the new Falcon (codenamed Orion) will be ready for the start of the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series.

As many as six AUs contested the latest round of the Fujitsu V8 Series at Winton two weeks ago.

This year remains the final season for the VX Commodore.

At this stage, BF Falcons and VE Commodores will be able to compete in the Fujitsu Series in 2009, although this can be can changed at anytime.

– GRANT ROWLEY

John Moris/Mpix

June 12: Licence #32

John: TKR OK TEAM Kiwi Racing’s boss David John has denied industry rumour that his New Zealand V8 Supercar team is in financial troubles.

He was responding to industry chat suggesting that the team is currently a ‘race-by-race’ proposition due to a lack of funding.

However, John told Motorsport eNews that the team will be on the grid for the rest of the 2007 season.

“I’m sick of the bullshit rumours,” John said.

“We will be on the grid at Eastern Creek.

We will be on the grid for the rest of the year.

“No one needs this bad publicity. It doesn’t do anyone any good.”

It’s no secret that the team has done it tough in the past few months after Paul Radisich’s massive Bathurst crash last October. The team’s former Paul Morris Motorsport-prepared Commodore was written-off after a heavy crash, which broke The Rat’s ankle and sternum.

On the upside, on-track results have been encouraging, with Radisich currently running 16th in the championship, despite not competing at 100 percent fitness.

TKR is also currently well down the path of negotiating with naming-rights sponsors for 2008 and beyond. In the past, TKR has always been its own major sponsor.

– GRANT ROWLEY

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Calling Centrelink?

Ralf on the chopping block after woeful Monaco performance FORMULA 1 RALF Schumacher is rumoured to be on the verge of being fired by Toyota's factory squad.

Schumacher is paid US$1m a weekend but in recent races, while continuing to spout his value as a driver, has been dicing with Spykers and Toro Rossos at the tail end of the pack.

There is no doubt that the Toyota is not an easy car but, on the rare occasion when it has been very quick, it has

been Jarno Trulli delivering the goods.

Ralf’s current contract runs out at the end of the year and while Toyota team boss John Howett argues that Schumacher and Trulli – both former Grand Prix winners – may have their ups and downs, they are still better than the up-and-coming stars who have yet to truly prove themselves.

However, the arrival of Lewis Hamilton has shown what a rookie can do in the right

situation and some teams including, it seems, Toyota, are now having a serious think about whether to hold on to the established generation of drivers.

Where could Toyota turn?

Having held onto its ageing stars for so long, younger development drivers, such as Ryan Briscoe, have moved on in frustration.

The one man who might get a chance is test driver Franck Montagny.

Our spies tell us that if Ralf

does not improve in Canada, Frenchman Montagny could get the drive as soon as the US Grand Prix in Indianapolis …

– JOE SAWARD

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More Bull for Honda?

FORMULA 1 CHANGES are coming at the Honda F1 team as the organisation tries to find a better crew for 2008.

Rumour is that former Red Bull aerodynamicist Ben Agathangelou will step into the role of chief aerodynamicist.

In Italy there are also suggestions that a group of Ferrari personnel may be planning a mass defection to Honda. The word is that the team's coordinator Nigel Stepney is already on ‘gardening leave’ and is rumoured to have a group of engineers who are willing to follow himas there seems to be some discontent in Italy in the post-Schumacher era.

The problems at Honda have undermined the fact that the team was very close to success in 2006. Getting rid of technical director Geoff Willis was a serious mistake.

– JOE SAWARD

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Ron hits back McLAREN chief Ron Dennis has launched a withering attack on critics who have questioned the way the team has developed the career of Lewis Hamilton.

There was a suggestion in one magazine recently that Hamilton lacks aggression, with former team owner (and serial limelighthogger) Eddie Jordan being amongst those who suggested that this might very well be the case.

If Hamilton is short of aggression – and it did not look that way over the weekend in Monaco – Dennis, who turns 60 this week, still seems to have plenty.

When queried on the subject, Dennis replied that there had been “a rash of so-

called experts, some people who have never really run a competitive Grand Prix team, who suddenly profess to be so knowledgeable about what is and isn’t right for Lewis, what are and aren’t his character strengths and his weaknesses.

“I think they should just be quiet, concentrate on their own business, which I’m sure would be better for them.

“I don’t want to be too aggressive to those people, but they know who they are.

“They’re failures in many of the things they’ve done and this is a success story …”

– JOE SAWARD

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BRIEFLY... n Audi Sport has confirmed that it will take up its third entry in next month’s Le Mans 24 Hours with an R10 TDI to be raced by three of its DTM drivers, Lucas Luhr, Alexandre Prémat and Mike Rockenfeller. This will be the first time that Audi has operated three cars in the race since the company finished 1-2-3 in 2002, and reflects its new diesel challenge from Peugeot.

The other Audis are down to be raced by Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner, and by Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish. Former DTM champion Mattias Ekström is standing by in case Kristensen, who received whiplash injuries in a DTM crash at Hockenheim, is unfit to race.

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NASCAR NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow will become the Car of Today for the 2008 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and onwards into the future.

The CoT, which has been gradually phased in and wasn’t due to be used on a full-time basis until 2009, will now be the car used for all races starting from 2008.

NASCAR had announced a three-year roll-out schedule that would conclude with the new car running in every race by 2009, but as the new car began its initial phase-in program over the past several months, team owners expressed support of the new car and its full implementation by the 2008 season.

“We are proud of how the new car has performed at multiple tracks,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s Vice President of Competition.

“Beginning next year the Car of Tomorrow is officially ”the car”, a Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota.”

The original transition program had the new car running 16 races in 2007, 26 races in 2008 and the entire schedule in 2009.

In terms of saving for individual chassis for different types of tracks, the CoT has seen 13 teams use the same

chassis for three of the five races; four teams have run the same chassis in four of the five races; and one team – the No. 29 Chevrolet – has run the same chassis in all five Car of Tomorrow races run so far this year.

GP2 heads toward Asia GP2 THE new GP2 Asia Series, which has been established at the urging of Bernie Ecclestone partly in response to A1 Grand Prix, will be run as a joint promotion with the Speedcar Series.

The promoter of the new championship for USbuilt stock car races, Benoit Lamonerie’s Speedcar International, is setting up a number of races in Asia and the Middle East, starting in

November 2007.

From January 2008, the 650bhp stock cars will be joined on the bill by Bruno Michel’s GP2 Series singleseaters, and the events will be run under the title ‘Grand Racing’. Some of the 2008 Grand Racing events will support Formula 1 races in Asia.

Both Speedcar Series and GP2 Asia Series will be run from offices in Dubai.

– QUENTIN SPURRING

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n Senna to race Ferrari … Bruno Senna, Ayrton’s 23year-old nephew who started racing just over two years ago, will be a guest driver in a Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli race at Silverstone on 10 June.

A 2007 GP2 race winner in Barcelona, Bruno will drive Team Vertu’s 490bhp V8 Ferrari F430 Challenge racecar as part of Ferrari’s 60th anniversary celebrations in the UK. – QUENTIN SPURRING

NASCAR brings forward the full-time introduction of its new baby to 2008

NASCAR Media

n Adrian Fernandez was in the UK last week for a seat fitting at the Zytek factory in readiness for next month’s Le Mans 24 Hours. The US-based Mexican driver/entrant wants to gain first-hand experience of the event ahead of a projected entry in the 2008 race by Acura via his Lowe's Fernandez Racing ALMS team.

Fernandez will race an LMP2 Zytek 07S/2 sports-prototype, sponsored by Lowe’s, entered under the banner of Barazi Epsilon but operated by Zytek under Trevor Foster. He will co-drive Haruki Kurosawa and a third driver yet to be named.

The Car of Today

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Champ Car World Series

Testing times Mont-Tremblant returns to the CCWS schedule CHAMP Car teams and drivers sampled the Circuit MontTremblant in Canada in a twoday test session last week as the series prepares to hold its first race there in 39 years.

Not surprisingly, championship leader Sebastien Bourdais set the quickest time on the second day with Justin Wilson right behind.

Team Australia’s Will Power was fifth quickest on day one and sixth on day two, spending the first day testing new gearbox components.

“I think we will be in great form in Portland,” said Power.

“We made a lot of positive changes that helped a lot and helped us to understand the car a little better.

“It was a very worthwhile test, no mechanical issues, the weather held out for us and the guys did a fantastic job as usual. We are ready to go racing.”

Absent from the test was Kiwi Matt Halliday, whose three-race deal with Conquest

Racing looks to be drawing to a close with Belgian Jan Heylen circling with a budget to bring to the team.

The series moves to Portland

on June 10 for the next round of the series with the MontTremblant event in Canada on July 1.

Stepping back aboard Tracy OKed to return to cockpit for Portland; Servia to stay at Forsythe CHAMP CAR PAUL Tracy will return to racing in the Champ Car World Series at Portland on June 10 after a twoday test at Mont-Tremblant in Canada last week.

Champ Car World Series

Tracy, who suffered a compression fracture in his lower vertebrae in a practice crash at Long Beach in April, will step back into the #3 Forsythe Championship Racing Panoz, prompting a reshuffle by the team.

His fill-in, Oriol Servia, will move into the team’s #7 car, bumping out Mexican Mario Dominguez.

“It feels great, I have been sitting around for the last five weeks and I definitely know that I am not ready to retire!” said Tracy “I was driving my wife and my friends crazy. It is good to be back in the car again and get busy again, this is where I want to be.”

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BRIEFLY...

n Dutch automobile manufacturer Spyker Cars NV has arranged a refinancing package to fund deferred payment for its $138m purchase of the Midland team last year. Spyker’s share price fell sharply in response to the news, and CEO Victor Muller has reportedly left the company. Spyker told the ‘Telegraaf’ newspaper that its short-term cash flow had been secured by an extended bank credit line and a $12.3m loan from an existing shareholder, believed to be internet entrepreneur Michel Mol. The intellectual property rights to Spyker’s road car were pledged to Friesland Bank when it funded the Formula 1 acquisition in 2006.

– QUENTIN SPURRING

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BRD heading back to Brands Hatch

Spectrum ready for second tilt at the Formula Ford Festival FORMULA FORD

EXPECT to see Spectrums competing in the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch this October.

The all-Australian designed and built chassis constructor is set to return to the most prestigious Formula Ford race after a trying debut last year.

“It looks like we’ll be there with a couple of cars,” Spectrum’s Paul Zsidy said.

“Our intention is to be there and plans are progressing well.

We are pretty close to saying ‘yes, we’re in.’”

Last year, Rising Star John Martin was the lead Spectrum driver and had established himself as a top 10 chance until a major startline incident

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n Hopes that the controversy over Formula 1 ‘customer cars’ would be resolved over the Monaco weekend came to nothing because the Formula 1 team principals ran out of time to give the matter full discussion.

Super Aguri and Scuderia Toro Rosso are operating cars based closely on original designs by Honda Racing and Red Bull Racing respectively, and stand accused of contravening the regulations.

The Spyker team has initiated arbitration proceedings in the International Chamber of Commerce in Lausanne, Switzerland, and has stated that it would drop the issue only if Aguri and STR agreed to race for no Constructors points, or to pool their shares of the TV money.

Bernie Ecclestone is anxious to get the issue resolved and offered to come up with a new proposal, along with a clear definition of a constructor that can be applied in the Concorde Agreement.

during one of the heat races.

Zsidy is confident that they will offer a better showing this year.

“And this time we hope there’s not one of our cars spread across the start line!”

All of the CAMS Rising Star’s current crop drivers – Ashley Walsh, Kristian Lindbom and Josh Scott – have the opportunity to drive with the team in the UK. – GRANT ROWLEY

Pittam looking to chassis switch South Aussie wants a Spectrum FORMULA FORD NATIONAL Formula Forder Paul Pittam is eyeing a move to a Spectrum chassis following the next round of the championship at Eastern Creek.

Pittam, who raced a Spectrum 011 in last year’s Victorian series, has been campaigning a Van Diemen RF06 run by Team BRM. But three rounds in Pittam is unsatisfied with his pace in the Van Diemen, and is planning on moving back to the Aussiebuilt chassis.

“It’s just from a lack of testing

time,” Pittam told eNews.

“Sonic had the Van Diemen really sorted last year, but with the new wheels and limited testing, we’ve just struggled to find the pace. I know Spectrums well and I was quick in one last year, so that’s the plan.

“We tried to do a deal for a Spectrum for Eastern Creek but it’s not going to happen.

Hopefully it’ll be done for the next round.”

Pittam will continue to run with Team BRM, most likely in a state-level Spectrum 011 converted to Duratec power.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

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Very Important Porsche NURBURGRING 24H THIS attractive little number is what Craig Baird, Kevin Bell and Tony and Klark Quinn will be racing at the

Nurbugring 24 Hour.

The Porsche 991 GT3 RSR (Type 997) was launched in Queensland last week, where it turned its first laps in anger.

Producing 350kW of power, the

RSR is the only one of its type in the country.

It is now on its way to Germany for the classic enduro, which kicks off on June 7.

Joel Strickland

Ferrari Cash Converters FORMULA 1

Scott’s back RALLYING

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HAVING been sidelined by Mitsubishi’s withdrawal from Australian rallying, Scott Pedder will have his first competitive outing of the year at the Rally of New Zealand.

Pedder and co-driver Glen Weston will lease a Group N-spec Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 off experienced local tuner Reece Jones.

“Having the opportunity to compete in Rally New Zealand is amazing,” said Pedder.

“It is unbelievably special to be part of an event such as the WRC and I have received incredible support from everyone involved in getting us to this point now.”

– RYAN LAHIFF

THE recent sale, at auction, of four modern F1 Ferraris has contributed an extraordinary $61m to the Italian company’s budget.

The auction, organised at Maranello by the London firm Sotheby’s, included a 2006 F1 Ferrari which went under the hammer at an amazing $2.8m.

One of Michael Schumacher’s 2003 cars went for $2.4m, and a 1997 car

sold for $1.2m. A 1983 F1 Ferrari was also on offer but this fetched ‘only’ $683,000.

The most expensive single purchase cost US$9m, which was spent on the Le Mans-winning 1962 Ferrari 330 Testa Rossa Spyder.

This makes the car is among the most expensive ever, although the current record still stands at $13.4m, which was paid back in 1987 for a 1931 Bugatti Royale.

– JOE SAWARD

15

John Bosher

Amanda tests with success ... and Bray turns

50!

DRAG RACING

DRAG Racing legend Victor Bray has turned 50 – and that’s got him thinking overseas.

After celebrating his 50th birthday with friends and family last week, Bray will head to Mantorp Park in Sweden this July to attend the VEIDEC Festival Doorslammer meet, potentially kicking off an overseas program for he and son Ben. “I’m pretty keen to do something there,” Bray told eNews.

“I’m currently entertaining sponsorship for me and Ben (Bray) to run in Europe at a limited level, because we don’t want to leave our Australian base or miss any events here.”

Bray is preparing for the Winternationals at Willowbank on June 8-10.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

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TESTING was conducted at the Western Sydney International Dragway last weekend, with Amanda Shepherd completing her licence testing.

Shepherd, the daughter of drag racing stalwart Bob, had her third drive of a Top Fuel car. Her first run was ruined when she found herself heading towards the wall. A quick shut off saved the car, and allowed her to

have a crack at a second run, which she completed as straight as a gun barrel all the way to half-track where she clicked it off. The Shepherds packed up after that and are now preparing the car for Bob to enter for the Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway.

Leonard Azzopardi was out again testing his new Top Fuel bike while Wayne Newby was there, suffering severe tyre shake and had to shut off.

– JOHN BOSHER

John Bosher

Queensland 500 returns QLD STATE RACING A LITTLE slice of the Le Mans 24 hour comes to Queensland this Saturday (June 2) as 20 multicar teams will line up for the secondrunning of the Queensland 500 Club Enduro on Saturday June 2.

Leading the entry will be Russell Kempnich’s recently acquired ex-Vern Schuppan Porsche 956, which was due to share a team with Kevin Miller’s Ferrari 430 that was involved in a crash at the GT Championship round, leading to a race against time for the team to find a replacement car.

Tony Quinn’s VIP Pet Foods team will also be entering their Porsche 997 Carrera Cup cars in a big entry.

Ranging from as many as four cars and drivers per team there will be a rich variety of cars. The inaugural running of the single day event was won last year by Rob Sherrard and Wayne Park driving a Porsche 962 and the exBathurst 24 hour Monaro raced by the late Peter Brock.

– MARK JONES

Mark Jones

For more with Victor Bray, click to page 18.

DRAG RACING

news

Geoff Gracie

Geoff Gracie

Farr’s new ride SPEEDWAY

2009 Aus Title in WA SPEEDWAY WHILE the 2008 Australian Sprintcar Title has only recently been announced for Parramatta City Raceway, the SCCA (Sprintcar Control Council of Australia) has wasted no time in locking in the 2009 venue for the title.

The Perth Motorplex in Western Australia will host the event in February 2009, 12 months after holding

the Australian Speedcar Championship, which is set down for February next year.

“We have put in a fair bit of effort into the proposal and it was great we were able to lock the event away so early,” said Motorplex speedway manager Gavin Migro.

“With uniform engine rules now in place with the 410ci motors the SCCA have decided to plan a bit further ahead

and we were keen to put our name forward to be considered.

“We believe the Motorplex is getting better with each season and as part of our progress forward we are proud to be given the chance to host the final. We hope the national championship will set a new benchmark.”

The event will be run over three nights with final dates and further details to be announced.

ROBBIE Farr will head up a new team for the 2007/2008 Sprintcar season in Australia.

The 2004 Australian Sprintcar Champ will drive for EastCoast Pipeline Racing, owned by Barry Waldron of the same company.

Farr will team up with ex-crew chief Nick Speed for the tilt this summer, with full sponsors and team scheduled to be announced in the near future.

“I’m very happy to be part of the EPR racing team right from the word go, and to be working with Nick again is great,” said Farr.

“We are all very positive and excited about trying to make this team the benchmark in professionalism, sponsor involvement and of course track results over the next several years.”

Kosmic returns to OZ shores KARTING KOSMIC is set to re-emerge as a frontrunning brand in Australian karting with the news that Remo Racing has been awarded import rights for the Italian brand.

Kosmic, manufactured by karting giant Tony Kart, has enjoyed only limited prominence in Australian karting of late. In the latter years of Jim Morton’s Tony Kart Australia team in the 90s, Mark Winterbottom and Alan Gurr were among the many who drove Kosmic chassis.

Although only confirmed last week, Kosmic’s assault on the major events remaining in 2007 will be a formidable one.

While the full range of Kosmic chassis will be available throughout the Remo Racing dealer network, it is the top of the range models for the 125cc classes that will create the most interest.

Remo Racing’s own Australian-made Monaco chassis has enjoyed very strong

success in the National and Clubman classes for some time now, highlighted by James Sera’s domination of Clubman Light. However, Luciani’s imported brands of Tecno and the Swiss Hutless-built Trulli Kart have not enjoyed the same results in the faster classes.

One of Remo Racing’s drivers, Pro Karting’s Jordie Lindstrom, recently drove a Tony Kart chassis at this year’s Nationals in the Leopard Light class. This driver was a ‘test of the waters’ for the kart, as the Tony Kart and Kosmic chassis are practically identical and both manufactured in Tony Kart’s Brescia factory.

After that successful run, Lindstrom will now switch to Kosmic in the Leopard class, along with Sera and Kevin Millard, with talk that other Remo Racing-affiliated drivers will soon suit up in the distinctive white and purple karts. The move will give Kosmic one of the best driver line-ups of any brand in Australia in the Leopard class, of which Remo Racing is also the class promoter.

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5 Minutes with ...

VICTOR BRAY

He might be 50, but Victor Bray still covers the quarter real fast

ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

MOTORSPORT eNEWS: You’ve just turned 50. Is that going to play havoc with the reaction time do you think?

VICTOR BRAY: I hope not mate.

Shouldn’t be any worse than the day before …

How’d you celebrate the big occasion?

Had a great big party with a couple of hundred friends.

There was drag racing friends, farmers, school friends, grownup friends, it was good.

Speaking of the future of the sport, there’s plenty going on at the moment with TV deals and potential breakaway series. Where do you see the future of drag racing heading?

What we need is a platform that can sell sponsorship. No motor racing anywhere in the world survives without corporate input at a racer’s level, so we need a platform for the racers to get out there.

We’re performers in front of

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Dirk Klynsmith

This is the time when the retirement questions start to emerge. How long do you see yourself carrying on?

For as long as I’m still enjoying it and still competitive.

The bracket is growing and there’s some very interesting things happening in drag racing at the moment so I’d like to be there to secure the team’s future.

There’s two parts to drag racing – driving the car and tuning the car, so there’s plenty of things for me to do. I guess it depends on the big fellow as to how long he leaves me here.

We need a platform to sell the celebrity of our teams, so there's return on investment VICTOR BRAY TALKS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF DRAG RACING crowds, so we need to be representing products that people want to sell and buy.

Obviously television increases the audience enormously so that’s a very important part of the picture.

Drag racing was stronger in the mid-1990s than it is now, and I’m not pointing the finger at anyone. I’m willing to listen to the proposals that are coming in and ANDRA’s response, as are all the racers.

Since Shane Gore came on the scene and ANDRA announced its TV package I’m probably getting a dozen calls a day from other professional race teams, because this is very important. It’s the only opportunity we’ve had in 20 or so years to have a say in the

deal, and I think it’s important that we do.

As I said we need a platform to sell the celebrity of our race teams, because the days of the sticker-on-car-for-money are over, and we need to be part of the business, so there’s return on investment.

And that’ll only come from exposure and television, and who’s going to take us there I don’t think we really know just yet.

Any overseas plans at the moment?

Well the European Doorslammer scene has got really big, so in July I’m heading to Mantorp Park in Sweden to watch the biggest Doorslammer race outside

Australia and the United States – the VEIDEC Festival.

I’m pretty keen to do something there. I’m currently entertaining sponsorship for me and Ben (Bray) to run in Europe at a limited level, because we don’t want to leave our Australian base or miss any events here.

What gave me the idea is the guys racing out of containers.

I reckon you could race out of a couple of 40-foot containers and shoot over to the big events in Europe and England and maybe even the odd NHRA round in America.

We’re definitely investigate whether we actually do that, and I’d love to do it because now I’ve turned 50 if I don’t do it now I never will.

news chat

Dirk Klynsmith

19

Grumpy old men OPINION Joe Saward Formula 1 few hours like a man who has finally made his breakthrough in F1.

The accident, at the first corner, stopped neither man but a lap later Liuzzi’s rear tyre punctured and he crashed into the wall at Massenet. It looked like he had made a mistake, although the team at first thought it was diffuser damage.

The impression – wrong though it is – was that Liuzzi had crashed again.

On such things are reputations in F1 decided.

Perhaps it is time that DC went into retirement...

sutton-images.com

OLD racing drivers never like to retire. They don’t like to be told that they are past their best, that younger guys are faster.

Michael Schumacher seems a bit at a loss with life at the moment and keeps turning up at Grands Prix. David Coulthard, the oldest man now in F1, is still out there talking a good game but being a bit of a nuisance on occasion.

In Monaco he was penalised for ruining Heikki Kovalainen’s qualifying effort – and thus his whole weekend – by blocking the Finn at a crucial moment. He’d apparently been misinformed by his team, but it was still clumsy.

And then in the race DC started the day by running into the back of the Toro Rosso of Tonio Liuzzi, who looked for a

Letters

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

Question time As I was reading a copy of eNews I realised who better to answer my question!

I have been thinking about the incident that happened in the early stages of Race 1 at Winton after reading Tomas Mezera’s column.

Although I’m a Ford supporter, I love my motor racing and can appreciate drivers from both manufacturers.

But can someone please explain why Todd Kelly was not given a drive through penalty after his punt on Garth? The only explanation I can think of is why would you complain to officials about

20

your team mate?

Then the question is, if it had been another team punt him off would this incident have gone so unnoticed?

Well done Jamie. Keep ‘em coming!

Ethan Browne Ebrown01@hotmail.com ED: Good question Ethan. It may well have been because he fell off the road himself shortly after the initial incident, however it is still a mystery as to why he wasn’t punished.

Flaggies Fightback This is in response to a letter published in the last eNews

from Darren Short.

Firstly I would like to say I have been a flaggie the last five and a half years and have been doing on average 30plus race meetings a year.

I strongly refute Darren’s opinion about the low standard of marshals at Winton for the V8 Supercars. I would suggest he pays a bit more attention to flagging (as well as Garth Tander after his comments on TV after Race 2 at Winton) at the V8 Supercars before you make ill-informed comments, as since Indy in 2005 marshals have been told they were not allowed to use blue flags unless directly told via communications during

the race.

I used the blue flag at Indy in the 2005 event when the leader passed the first tail end car on the exit of the chicane on the back straight (text book blue flag), and I was promptly told via communications to not do it again unless it was a directive from V8 Supercars themselves.

Darren, I can assure you many, many officials are not happy with this current ruling.

I did not officiate at Clipsal this year solely based on this rule as I felt it was particularly dangerous on a street course with blind corners.

Ian Percival Email address withheld

opinion

On any Sunday WELL, Sunday was an interesting day.

It started for me when my alarm went off at 7:23am. Not much unusual there, save for the fact that 37 minutes later, the cars set off on the warmup lap at the Monaco Grand Prix. Such things happen when you are in the Eastern time zone of the United States, on one of the great motor racing days of the year.

I still cannot really decide whether it was more entertaining to watch the F1s slot-car their way around Monte Carlo or watch the rain tumble down at Indianapolis. I guess the difference was that Dario Franchitti was pleased that the second showers came.

But Monaco was a terrible race.

Phil Branagan Executive Editor Two memorable items from my Super Sunday both involved Toyota. One was that Brian Vickers led NASCAR’s Coca Cola 600. It was not the first time a Camry has led a Nextel Cup race but this time, the manner in which he did it was pretty special; he hunted down Kurt Busch and shot past as the #2 Dodge peeled off to the pits and, when Vickers returned after his own stop, he was still fast.

Toyota’s arrival in Cup has been marked with pain and controversy but the biggest automaker in the world and its

teams are going to keep at it until they get this right (sorry, ‘Git ’er done’.) The fact that when Vickers made his move, I was about 50 metres away, parked in the Press Room at Charlotte, just made it even more memorable.

Even after having spent many happy hours watching oval racing at the Thunderdome, NASCAR on its home court is truly mindblowing. Lowe’s is like Calder, squared, times 10. If you ever, ever get the chance to watch a Nextel Cup race live, do not pass it up. The drivers and teams are approachable, everything that moves (and lots of things that don’t) have at least one sponsor pasted on them and the fans arrive

in truly massive numbers. The scale of the series is beyond anything else, even F1.

My other ‘item’ was Ralf Schumacher. Look, I know Ralfy has his fans (for some incomprehensible reason) but, really, this must be the end. The guy either cannot or, worse, will not drive a Grand Prix car fast and, if anything is obvious this year, it’s that talented young drivers can come up to speed quickly, if given the opportunity. It was just embarrassing to watch him lurch around in Monaco.

Toyota, for the Nth time, please note; Ralf is a dud. If there is no-one in Germany with the ticker to pull his pin, hire Donald Trump for an hour.

Bin Ralf. Enough is enough.

Dirk Klynsmith

Cromley confusion Neil Crompton wrote in his opinion column that more credit should be given to winners of individual races, not an overall round winner.

Perhaps the AFL should take notice of Neil’s wisdom.

Why have an overall match winner at the end of day?

Why should a team that has a shocker of a quarter have its performances in the other quarters devalued? And it creates such confusion for the football spectators!

Seriously though, what I find confusing about Neil’s thoughts is that he stated that it was just that Rick Kelly won last year’s championship (seeing as Lowndes won Bathurst), even though Kelly spent most of the year finishing second or lower in the individual races.

So, Neil, should winners be grinners or not?

Ashley McCann Doncaster, Vic

opinion

Martin D Clark

Reader Ethan Browne wants to know why Todd Kelly wasn't punished for punting GT at Winton. Good question ...

Asleep at the helm How can we as Formula 1 fans influence who televises the races?

Once again we are waiting for the low life show (Big Brother) to finish so we can watch a race after it has been

run and won.

It’s time that Channel Ten started to televise the races as close to live as possible, instead of this crap that’s on now.

I’m glad that I’ve got a hard drive recorder because my

patience has run out with Channel Ten. Little wonder that Channel 7 are doing a much better job at televising the V8’s.

I’m off to bed!

Mark Wilson Canberra, ACT

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FORMULA 1 ROUND 5 - MONACO

Dial 1-2 for McLaren Was the youngster dudded? Did McLaren ‘control’ the outcome – those were the only questions after a one-sided hammering

By JOE SAWARD

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race

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D

ID McLaren hold Lewis back? The big question at the end of the Monaco Grand Prix was whether or not Mclaren had played with strategies to ensure that victory went to Fernando Alonso, rather than their young debutant.

Hamilton seemed happy enough – you would be if you had just finished second in your first Monaco Grand Prix – but nevertheless, trackside, one got the impression that Lewis should have won this one.

From the start it looked as though Alonso had it all under control but Hamilton did have a much bigger fuel load and was thus potentiually much stronger. That turned out to be the case, or did it?

“I was fuelled to go five or

24

six laps longer than Fernando,” Hamilton explained later – a piece of information which underlined what an impressive job he had done in qualifying.

“They stopped me after only three laps, so I lost the time I might have had in which to really open up a gap. That’s unfortunate … but that’s the way it goes. I am looking forward to speaking to my engineers about it because I thought we were going to run shorter in the second stint and we didn’t. But I just did my race and the team took care of it all.”

It is perhaps fanciful to suggest that a team would back a complete rookie for the World Championship. There is a case that it is wisest to give Alonso everything because eventually Hamilton will make

mistakes. But that destroys the romance of it all – and the sport.

Still, if it was a stitch-up, it was well done and not at all obvious.

It serves no purpose for McLaren to have Alonso feeling too threatened. It is better that he enjoy the fight with Hamilton, knowing that when the chips are down, it will go in his favour. At least for now ...

The most striking thing about Monaco was not this theory, however, but rather the complete and utter dominantion enjoyed by McLaren.

The team came to Monaco with observers expecting a close fight with Ferrari.

McLaren left Monaco on Sunday night with 18 points in the bag after inflicting a

major defeat on Ferrari. The Maranello team went home with faces as red as the cars as Felipe Massa scrambled home more than a minute – a minute! – behind the two McLarens.

It was the best he could do.

Damage limitation.

And Kimi Raikkonen was eighth, having thrown it all away in qualifying – not for the first time in his career.

As F1 now heads off to the Americas, McLaren is 20 points ahead in the Constructors’ Championship.

Ferrari will not take the defeat sitting down and the car will be better suited to the tracks in Canada and at Indianapolis. But Ferrari no longer seems to be the force that once it was.

And people are leaving ...

race

The world’s most famous track – the world’s most boring race: Felipe Massa, above, was third, the last car on the lead lap. Below left, the Monaco streets were lined with people, and the shore was lined with boats. Robert Kubica went like a blur, below, with his onestop strategy that elevated him to fifth. Bottom, Coulthard had an eventful weekend.

25

Fisi’s just fine Renault runs well down –but fourth place is good news for Giancarlo WHILE Mclaren put everyone else into the shade at Monte Carlo it wasn’t a bad day for several teams.

Giancarlo Fisichella may have been a long way behind in the race, but fourth place for a Renault these days is good news, and the fact that Renault chairman Carlos Ghosn was there to see it was important.

Fisi had qualified well but with a light fuel load and so was running a

two-stop strategy with soft tyres in the first two stints and then the harder rubber at the end. He was never really challenged and had a rather quiet race – but showed once again why it is that F1 teams like to keep their veterans for years on end. He delivered points and perhaps saved himself from being out of work at the end of the year.

Heikki Kovalainen may have been

screwed by Coulthard in qualifying and had a tough afternoon, but he still has a long way to go before he is really convincing.

Nelson Piquet Jr is sitting in the wings at the moment, hoping to get himself into a Renault next year.

In the Monaco paddock there was a lot of talk of Renault perhaps calling back Mark Webber next year ...

– JOE SAWARD

Heads – starting with Ralf’s – must roll

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sutton-images.com

CRUNCH time is looming for Toyota and heads must soon start to roll – starting with at least one driver.

The world’s leading car-maker is starting to look silly. Technically, things have gone downhill at the highly-budgetted team since Mike Gascoyne’s sacking and the whole thing has been made to look worse by the seeming disinterest of Ralf Schumacher.

Ralf recently suggested that he remained one of the top three in the world and was certain of a drive in 2008. Many would beg to differ.

While Jarno Trulli could only manage 13trh in qualifying, Ralf was 20th – beating only Sato’s Super Aguri and Albers Spyker (which didn’t set a time). He prattled on about his set-up.

Ralf is deluding himself. It is time to go.

race

MAXIMUM-effect aero is essential at Monaco, and McLaren led the way with a further development of its unique front wing, featuring a single additional profile on the top that proved to be particularly efficient in terms of using all the available width of the wing.

The particularly low nose cone tip of the MP4-22 assists the application of this kind of solution, but also helps in terms of evolution of it.

In Monaco, the central section of the additional profile was flatter and about 3cm lower than the previous version. This to increase the air pressure in this area, so as to increase the downforce generated.

In Monaco, front end ‘sharpness’ plays a paramount role, so every possible solution to reach this target, even at the cost of some additional drag, is absolutely justified.

FINDING THE MONACO EDGE Brakes an unexpected problem; every aero tweak important. By Technical Editor PAOLO F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | Round 5 MONACO Pos #

BRAKES turned out to be an unexpected problem at Monaco. During practice a number of cars suffered brake fade problems, which in some cases (Fisichella) culminated in hitting the safety barrier.

According to the Brembo engineers, the problem is due to the fact that this season, due to the diminished grip of the new control tyres, brake balance is shifted more to the rear.

With precious little straights for brake cooling, this resulted in overheating rear brakes, with teams having to be creative in improving cooling to the rear.

(An interesting side statistic is the maximum load on the pedal applied on this track reached a peak of 105 Kg – a big effort over 78 laps … data courtesy of Brembo).

Ferrari dramatically modified its rear wheel rim shields, opening wide vents through them so to dissipate the heat generated under braking in a more efficient way.

Of course this kind of change affects the aero efficiency of this area, but in Monaco this doesn’t represent a huge problem, especially if balanced in terms of greater reliability.

Driver

Team

1 1 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 2 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 3 5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 4 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 5 10 Robert Kubica BMW 6 9 Nick Heidfeld BMW 7 17 Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota 8 6 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 9 19 Scott Speed STR-Ferrari 10 8 Rubens Barrichello Honda 11 7 Jenson Button Honda 12 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 13 4 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 14 14 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 15 12 Jarno Trulli Toyota 16 11 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 17 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 18 23 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 19 21 Christijan Albers Spyker-Ferrari Not Classified Ret 20 Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari Ret 15 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault Ret 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Ferrari Fastest Lap: Alonso on lap 44, 1m15.284s

Time

Qual

1:40:29.329 +4.0 secs +69.1 secs 77 laps 77 laps 77 laps 77 laps 77 laps 77 laps 77 laps 77 laps 77 laps 76 laps 76 laps 76 laps 76 laps 76 laps 76 laps 70 laps

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

53 laps 17 laps 1 lap

19 6 12

F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | Driver’s points Points: Alonso, Hamilton 38, Massa 33, Raikkonen 23, Heidfeld 18, Fisichella 13, Kubica 12, Rosberg 5, Trulli 4, Coulthard 4, Kovalainen 3, Wurz 2, Schumacher 1, Sato 1.

F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | Constructor’s points Points: McLaren-Mercedes 76, Ferrari 56, BMW 30, Renault 16, Williams-Toyota 7, Toyota 5, Red Bull-Renault 4, Super Aguri-Honda 1.

27

IRL INDYCAR INDIANAPOLIS 500

Dario’s Day at Indy

28

It may not have been a full distance race, but the Scotsman was in the right place when the rain came for the second time on that special day in May at the Brickyard.

By PHIL MORRIS

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

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Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Ryan flies to front Indianapolis Motor Speedway

IN just his second appearance in the Indy 500, Ryan Briscoe drove a level-headed race to run home fifth when the race was called short due to the weather.

“It’s a huge team effort,” said the Penske Porsche ALMS regular.

“We came in at the last minute to do this race. My pit crew guys had every single pit stop absolutely perfect. Absolutely amazing. They put in so much effort. It’s been so much fun. It was good.

“When we stopped before (red flag for rain in the middle of the race), we were 10th. I knew the car was coming back, and we deserved better than that.

“We had third at one point, and I got chopped by Fisher on that restart, and we lost two positions. So it was sort of between third and fifth. I’m really happy.”

R

AIN stopped the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500 and Andretti Green Racing’s Dario Franchitti was declared the winner in a tough day at the Brickyard.

The Scotsman was in the lead on lap 166 when the race was red-flagged due to weather for the second time for the day, giving him his first Indy 500 victory and Michael Andretti his second as car owner.

“Who would have thought it?” said Franchitti.

“I can’t believe it. It’s the Indianapolis 500. It’s awesome.

I couldn’t believe it, just driving in there. It’s fantastic. It could have been any one of the five of us (AGR team members) today. We rolled the dice. We were unlucky in the first stint of the race. Really glad to run the second part (after the rain).

I’m glad we went with it. I kind of have half an idea of what it means to win this race now. I’m

30

pretty happy.”

Kiwi Scott Dixon finished second while Aussie Ryan Briscoe was a factor in the race all day and finished a strong fifth in the Luczo Dragon car behind quasi ‘team-mates’ Helio Castroneves and Sam Hornish Jr, who finished third and fourth.

Briscoe decided to stay out on the track and not pit on lap 155, which vaulted him back up the order to where he ultimately finished.

Dixon now leads the IRL IndyCar Series by one point over team-mate Wheldon with Franchitti three off the lead.

R

ain became the key issue after early rain showers threatened the starting time.

But the field set off at 1pm local Indianapolis time with pole-sitter Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan running up front and showing pace.

It was Kanaan, however, who was gambling on the rain coming around lap 101 of 200, the point where the race could officially be declared if need be.

Running out of pit stop cycle, the 7-Eleven driver was forced to pit on lap 100 but quickly worked his way through as his rivals pitted slightly out of step.

Team-mate Marco Andretti assumed the lead for the lap 107 restart but Kanaan blew by him into turn one as rookie Phil Geibler crashed behind them. The heavens opened after 113 laps with Kanaan in the lead, however after a delay of some three hours, the race was restarted.

Franchitti cut his way through the pack, while Kanaan then became the chaser. But approaching a restart he bumped into Jaques Lazier from behind, spinning to the inside wall. He suffered a flat tyre and pitted

in a closed pit lane, so was forced to take a drive-through penalty and wound up 12th.

With the weather closing, Franchitti decided not to pit and wait for the rain while running out front. And it worked.

Andretti Jr was the next to hit grief as he and Dan Wheldon made contact on the back straight. Last year’s runner-up was sent into orbit and crashed to the ground, out of the running.

“I’m going to be bruised, but to come out of that bruised, I’m going to be happy. I’m very lucky, for sure,” said the young American.

“My mirror was broke, so I had no idea who was outside me, whoever it was.”

The rain then returned, calling time on the race and giving Franchitti his first sip of the milk at the Brickyard.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

IRL INDYCAR SERIES | Indianapolis 500 Pos Driver

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

You’ve only won one more Indy than me: David Letterman and Mario Andretti swap pre-race notes, above, while the rain, below, stopped things on lap 113. Rookie Phil Giebler, bottom, tasted concrete at turn one.

Team

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Time

Qual

1 Dario Franchitti Andretti Green Dallara/Honda 166 laps 2 Scott Dixon Ganassi Dallara/Honda 166 laps 3 Helio Castroneves Penske Dallara/Honda 166 laps 4 Sam Hornish Jr Penske Dallara/Honda 166 laps 5 Ryan Briscoe Luczo Dragon Dallara/Honda 166 laps 6 Scott Sharp Rahal Letterman Dallara/Honda 166 laps 7 Tomas Scheckter Vision Dallara/Honda 166 laps 8 Danica Patrick Andretti Green Dallara/Honda 166 laps 9 Davey Hamilton Vision Dallara/Honda 166 laps 10 Vitor Meira Panther Dallara/Honda 166 laps 11 Jeff Simmons Rahal Letterman Dallara/Honda 166 laps 12 Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Dallara/Honda 166 laps 13 Michael Andretti Andretti Green Dallara/Honda 166 laps 14 AJ Foyt IV Vision Dallara/Honda 165 laps 15 Alex Barron Beck Dallara/Honda 165 laps 16 Kosuke Matsuura Panther Dallara/Honda 165 laps 17 Ed Carpenter Vision Dallara/Honda 164/accident 18 Sarah Fisher Dreyer Reinbold Dallara/Honda 164 laps 19 Buddy Lazier Schmidt Dallara/Honda 164 laps 20 Darren Manning Foyt Dallara/Honda 164 laps 21 Roger Yasukawa Dreyer Reinbold Dallara/Honda 164 laps 22 Dan Wheldon Ganassi Dallara/Honda 163/accident 23 Richie Hearn Hemelgarn Dallara/Honda 163 laps 24 Marco Andretti Andretti Green Dallara/Honda 163/accident 25 Buddy Rice Dreyer Reinbold Dallara/Honda 162/accident 26 Al Unser Jr Foyt Dallara/Honda 161 laps 27 Jaques Lazier Playa Panoz/Honda 155/accident 28 Marty Roth Roth Dallara/Honda 148/accident 29 Phil Giebler Playa Panoz/Honda 106/accident 30 John Andretti Panther Dallara/Honda 95/accident 31 Milka Duno CITGO Dallara/Honda 65/accident 32 Jon Herb Racing Pro Dallara/Honda 51/accident 33 Roberto Moreno Chastian Panoz/Honda 36/accident Winner’s Average Speed: 151.774 mph

3 4 1 5 7 12 10 8 20 19 13 2 11 18 26 17 14 21 22 15 23 6 32 9 16 25 28 30 33 24 29 27 31

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GLOBE TROTTER

mike-patrick.com

SPEEDWAY GP

GP2

THE topsy turvy nature of the 2007 GP2 season has continued at Monaco with Pastor Maldonado becoming the fifth different driver of the series to win.

Maldonado was simply too good on the streets of Monte Carlo, virtually leading the entire race.

Giorgio Pantano was the only driver able to run with the leader, however even he couldn’t get close enough to make a pass, settling for second place.

Timo Glock provided the big entertainment for the race, coming from eighth on the grid to finish third.

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Points: Glock 37, Luca Fillipi 21, Lucas di Grassi 18, Bruno Senna 18, Maldonado 12.

sutton-images.com

IT WAS a case of agony and ecstasy for the two Australian Speedway riders taking part in the Swedish GP at Eskilstuna last weekend.

For 36-year-old Leigh Adams from Mildura there was a personal triumph as he raced to his first GP win in 30 appearances, and his fourth GP win overall.

A horrendous crash in Heat 16 saw Jason Crump out of the meeting on the second bend of his fourth ride. He left the stadium in an ambulance with a suspected broken collarbone.

It meant the current World Champion dropped to sixth in the standings and there is now doubt as to whether he will be fit to race in the Danish GP next month.

– TONY MILLARD

Streets Ahead

KARTING STEEL Guiliana was the best-placed Australian in the second round of the European Rotax Championships in Germany last week, finishing sixth in the Junior Rotax final.

Victorian Luigi Catanese also raced in Juniors, making his debut with the Gillard kart team. Catanese put in another consistent performance to finish 21st in the final.

In Senior Rotax, Hayden McBride (Gillard) started inside the top ten for the prefinal. He eventually finished the weekend 12th.

David Sera was 25th.

– MARK WICKS

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Parentel Control WORLD SERIES ALVARO Parente withstood a tough challenge from Sebastien Vettel at Monaco last weekend.

The pair ran nose-to-tail throughout the race, but Parente was too strong for the BMW F1 tester, holding on for the win.

Third was Salvador Duran,

however the Mexican didn’t have the speed to run with the leaders.

Points: Vettel 58, Parente 51, Filipe Albuquerque 29, Michel Aleshin 27, Milos Pavlovic.

race

Mears takes 600 win NASCAR

NASCAR Media

CASEY Mears became the fourth Hendrick driver to win this year after taking his first career victory at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Sunday night.

Mears started 16th and used fuel strategy to stayed on track in the waning laps when others pitted for fuel. His win was sealed when late race threat Jimmie Johnson suffered wheel nut issues in the penultimate stop, leading home J.J.Yeley, Kyle Petty, Reed Sorenson and Brian Vickers in the Red Bull Toyota scoring, Toyota’s best finish and leading a bunch of laps through the marathon 600 mile race.

“We had a fourth or fifth placed car,” quipped Mears who ran dry of fuel on the cool down lap.

“The only way we were going

to win it was to stay out and try to conserve fuel the best I could. This is my fifth year in Cup and first with Hendrick Motorsports, I’m just really appreciative of what Hendrick Motorsport have done. I can’t really talk right now I’m so happy.”

There were two major wrecks early in the race, the first triggered when Johnson cut a tyre and the field scattered around him. He emerged unscathed and ended the day 10th, but 13 cars were involved, including Tony Stewart, Elliott Sadler and Kevin Harvick. Just 10 laps later Tony Raines got loose in front of point leader Jeff Gordon and sent Gordon into the wall.

– MARTIN D CLARK Points: J Gordon 1921, Johnson 1789, Matt Kenseth 1714, Denny Hamlin 1682, Jeff Burton 1577.

9 and 300 = First BUSCH SERIES KASEY Kahne ended his 2007 drought in the Charlotte Busch Series race last Saturday.

The Evernham Dodge started 32nd but was firmly in control over the last half of the 300-miler after troubles slowed early leaders Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick.

Casey Mears was second from

Clint Bowyer, while series leader Carl Edwards had his second non-top 10 finish of the season in 17th.

Marcos Ambrose was 20th in his Wood Bros/JTG Ford, which lacked speed after qualifying 17th. He now sits 13th in the points.

Points: Edwards 2075, Harvick 1652, Blaney 1483, Kenseth 1431, Reutimann and Smith 1393, Ragan 1358, Bowyer 1349, (Ambrose 1303).

Bayliss wins in the wet WORLD SUPERBIKES

NASCAR Media

TROY Bayliss shone at Silverstone’s World Superbike round – but he was about the only thing.

The Aussie took Superpole and led home Noriyuki Haga, Troy Corser, Robbie Rolfo and Regis Laconi in the opening race but freezing rain and sleet prompted race officials to cancel Race 2.

Max Biaggi was sixth, after being nearly highsided early in the race and riding through pain from what his team described as a ‘bruised upper thigh’ …

Points: Toseland 237, Haga 214, Biaggi 201, Bayliss 189, Corser 151, Lanzi 116, Xaus 113, Rolfo 90.

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Dirk Klynsmith

Washington’s Nationals Whitewash SHANNONS NATIONALS

Dirk Klynsmith

34

Full coverage in Motorsport News

Dirk Klynsmith

BRYCE Washington annihilated the field at the fourth round of the Australian GT Championship at Queensland Raceway last weekend.

Washington led every single lap of Sunday’s three races, making it five wins on the trot in his Lamborghini Gallardo GT3.

“It’s a great feeling to have a perfect weekend like this,” Washington said. “We had our dramas but worked around them, and it’s very satisfying.”

Allan Simonsen and David Wall shared the second places.

Only four points now separate Washington from Simonsen, with the Dane leaving Queensland with the most slender of leads.

Tony Ricciardello was dominant in the second round of the Kerrick Sports Sedan Series. He won all three races

in his Alfetta GTV/Chev, with Stephen Voight running second throughout the weekend.

“We had a pretty good weekend!” Ricciardello said.

“Our confidence is back in the car, and the team has done a fantastic job to bring it over from Perth.”

Garry Holt won the third round of the Shannon’s Australian Production Car Championship, taking his BMW 335i T to two victories and a second position in the meeting’s three races. Leigh Mertens won the reverse grid race.

Gary Bonwick continued his HQ Holden supremacy by winning all four races in round two of the HQRA National Challenge.

Kris Walton took a pair of wins in Saloon Cars.

– DARIUS KOREIS

British Racing Green: The Aston Martin DB-9, above, made its Australian GT debut at Queensland Raceway, although it couldn’t overhaul the Natrad Lambo.

The Aston’s driver John Kaias was kind enough to take eNews’ snapper Dirk Klysnmith for a fang, left.

race

Golden Oldies take to Winton WINTON HISTORICS

Full coverage in Motorsport News

Neil Hammond

WINTON Motor Raceway was host to the Winton Historic meeting last weekend.

Winners included Nick McDonald (Formula Ford/ Group M), Dick Willis (Mark Dymond Trophy), Jamie Larner (Group Q&R) and Troy Williams (Group Nb).

The meeting also saw a celebration of the life of Peter Brock, with the official unveiling of the famous Austin 7 race car, and an ontrack demonstration of the FX Holden Brock raced at last year’s Goodwood Revival.

Old timers: Jamie Larner leads the Formula Atlantic field at Winton’s historic race meeting.

Dirk Klynsmith

State of the Nationals: Garry Holt continued to prove the strength of his Bathurst-winning BMW in Production Cars, above, while there was a familiar face (and car) at the front of the Saloon Car field in Tony Ricciardello, right.

Kris Walton was involved in some biff on his way to a couple of Saloon Cars wins, below.

John Morris/Mpix

Marshall Cass

35

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38

rear of grid

Cheers for the RDO

T

that racing, but was it worth it? Didn’t see much of Marcos in the Busch race – hard when you’re stuck in the midfield. Superbikes – heroes, a resounding ‘yes’; Monaco?

Maybe. It gets away with lots just because it’s Monaco, and the race was a bit quiet, but there were a couple of interesting things apart from the Alonso/Hamilton contest.

I reckon Ferrari is missing Michael Schumacher. He would have made a better job of recovering from where Raikkonen started. Kimi didn’t really look to be pushing that hard.

And what about Mark Webber? So much disappointment. For the first time I detected the body language of despair, even though he said the right things. You genuinely have to feel for the bloke.

Indy? To be honest, I’m over it. It isn’t what it used to be before ‘the split’. A bunch of Bgraders and ring-ins doesn’t do the race justice.

And NASCAR are just the

WHAT ABOUT MARK WEBBER? FOR THE FIRST TIME I DETECTED THE BODY LANGUAGE OF DESPAIR, EVEN THOUGH HE SAID THE RIGHT THINGS ...

sutton-images.com

HOSE of you who work for a living will be familiar with the phrase RDO. In the real world it’s something to do with unionnegotiated rostered days off, usually a Monday or Friday – which makes for a nice long weekend. There’s plenty of RDOs in the building industry …

But in the Punter’s world of motorsport, there is a far more pragmatic meaning for the term RDO – it’s a Racing Day Off. And yesterday, Monday, was an essential one of those.

After a quiet build-up over the weekend, with Marcos Ambrose’s Busch Series race on Sunday morning, Sunday night was an all-nighter – Superbikes, Monaco Grand Prix, the Indy 500 (delayed by rain) and the 600 at Charlotte ….

It’s a bleary-eyed Punter who is at the keyboard trying to meet his deadline, having sensibly planned that Monday May 28 would not be a work day – it’s looking like a sleep day.

It’s a big effort to take in all

victims of bad timing this week! It’s been a long night.

I normally get right into the Nextel stuff, but I’m tired and

I’m going to bed! It’s one of those weekends when too much motorsport was actually enough.

Odd Spot Who said the race was boring?

sutton-images.com

THERE’S an argument that the guardraillined streets of Monaco have out grown modern Formula 1 cars Last weekend’s race was a snooze, with no passing on the track. Basically, it was a race to the first corner. If you’d seen that, you could have left your seat and gone and looked at something more appealing ...

The Principality of Monaco never fails in the ’off-track action’ stakes. There’s royalty, the rich, the famous and ... lots and lots of boats.

Unfortunately, the same boats are not seen on Albert Park’s lake during the Australian Grand Prix ... Pity that.

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