Motorsport eNews Issue 7 - June 5-11, 2007

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Issue No. 007 5 - 11 June 2007

BLACK OUT — Team Kiwi IN STRIFE —

Debutant Ball Marcos comes of Age

MUSICAL CHAIRS Weel Jnr outed from SCAR

Which Champ Car star Tested a v8 last week?

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

Australasian

The ‘A’ Team

Issue No. 007 | 5-11 June 2007

Production Graphic Design & Web: Jayne Uthmeyer design@mnews.com.au

news 4 Blackout @ TKR

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6 Weeling & Dealing 8 McLaren cleared 12 Stones confess

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MD / Publisher Chris Lambden

chat 18 Five minutes with ... opinion 20 Glendenning 21 Crompton 39 The Punter

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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.

race 22 ARC / WRC 28 MotoGP Mugello

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Marcos Ambrose Jnr Okay Ron, you win Up the Creek Monday on my mind Evans / Gronholm Bravo Valentino

trade 36 Trade and Industry / Raceshop 38 Classifieds

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)

Team Kiwi grounded From SCAR to JDR? Beautiful work RD Told ya weeks ago

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welcome Marcos Ambrose came of age in the Busch Series at the weekend (see page 18) and just dropped by to say hi ...

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Race supplements on www.mnews. com.au

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Phillipe tests V8 Supercar

V8 SUPERCARS

THE future of Team Kiwi Racing is in doubt after cashflow difficulties have left the team unable to meet commitments to its car supplier Ford Performance Racing.

The team will therefore not have its regular FPR-prepared Ford Falcon BF available for Eastern Creek this weekend, although it may choose to try and secure a different car for the Sydney race, or ‘loan out’ the entry to a Fujitsu team to

meet its entry commitments.

This latest development comes after some weeks of speculation that the team was in financial difficulties (as eNews reported last week) and that FPR was on the verge of terminating its agreement to run an entry for the squad, which has some funding from Ford New Zealand.

Motorsport eNews understands that an extended period of grace for TKR principal David John to meet financial obligations expired at the close of business

last Thursday, May 31. FPR advised John of its decision to terminate the agreement between the two parties with immediate effect, on Friday.

FPR Commercial Director Rod Barrett was circumspect when contacted by Motorsport eNews yesterday: “There are matters in the hands of lawyers and, because of that fact, it is difficult to make any comment,” he said.

TKR’s David John remains adamant, however, that a car with #021 on its doors will be on the grid at Eastern Creek:

Where to now for Team V8 SUPERCARS TEAM Kiwi Racing faces a tough immediate future if it is to survive at all.

As a team running with a Level 2 licence, it has the option to attend only 80 percent of the rounds of the V8SCS (whereas Level 1 teams must attend all rounds), but all teams must race at Adelaide, Sandown and Bathurst. This means that the team could, in theory, miss the next two of the 14 rounds, and yet retain its position in the V8 field.

However, the FIA has stricter regulations regarding entries. Once a team enters an FIA

Marshall Cass

GOLD Coast Champ Car winner Nelson Phillipe has tested a V8 Supercar and is a chance to drive in the endurance races this year.

Phillipe drove WPS Racing’s Falcon AU ride car at Queensland Raceway last week (Thursday) and despite initial difficulty adapting to the h-pattern gearbox, he grew more confident in the ‘unique’ V8 Supercars, setting respectable times.

Also present at the test was Michael Caruso, who was recently announced as one of the team’s endurance drivers.

“Michael went really well,” said team manager Keith Evers.

“He was very impressive. He did what he was told, and cut quite a few laps. Generally, everyone was really happy.”

If Phillipe drives in the endurance races, he will be the one and only international racer to compete, with all teams now electing to take on experienced drivers or homegrown young talent.

In the meantime, Phillipe will make an appearance as a guest of WPS Racing at Eastern Creek this weekend.

– GRANT ROWLEY

TKR: Cash crisis – is t

race (and V8SA runs as an FIA category), it may not withdraw that entry, which is a legally binding contract to appear and compete.

Therefore, TKR remains obligated to present an entry for this weekend’s round at Eastern Creek and at Hidden Valley in under three weeks’ time, regardless of the status of its arrangements with FPR.

news

A Lesson in Black and Silver opinion Phil Branagan Executive Editor

this the end?

“We will be there, with or without FPR,” John said.

“We’ve already got another team in place; we’ve already got another car in place, which will run for the rest of the year.”

So what happens now?

As Barrett confirmed, legal action between the two parties appears likely, with the ownership of the ex-Jason Bright car at the centre. While neither party would comment, eNews understands that the car had been financed by FPR and was being paid off over the course of the season, with TKR

to assume ownership of the car at the conclusion of the season.

But with that plan now coming to an end, it appears likely that FPR will retain the car.

It is unlikely that FPR would seek to utilise the car via a third entry. Its partnership with TKR was subject to John’s Level 2 licence being available, but with no licence, it is impossible to run an entry.

Motorsport eNews will keep you updated on the Kiwi entry prior to this weekend’s race, with any news updated on this page.

m Kiwi Racing?

Should TKR not present a car this weekend, it would potentially face paying Liquidated Damages. This has happened only once before, when John Faulkner was forced to pay Liquidated Damages after a sudden ownership change left Faulkner with no entries for the 2003 Queensland 300. While TEGA is reluctant to quantify the amount of the damages, eNews understands that TKR could face a payment of as much as $150,000 per round.

The team cannot claim ‘force majeur’ in these circumstances, as this option only covers natural events (ie crashes), not commercial changes.

In the circumstances, it is likely David John will offer TKR’s entry at Eastern Creek to a Fujitsu Series team.

Dirk Klynsmith

Shake and make up?

Barrett, left and John, right have parte d ways.

What now for The Rat? WITH Team Kiwi seemingly on the rocks, what does the future hold for Paul Radisich?

The Kiwi sits 16th in the championship despite missing the first round of the series in Adelaide and says he will be at Eastern Creek – whether he has any car to drive is another matter entirely.

“I have no comment to make at this point,” Radisich told eNews on Monday.

“I’m still heading to Eastern Creek. I haven’t been notified otherwise and that’s all I know.

Radisich joined forces with John and TKR at the start of 2005, driving a Commodore prepared by Paul Morris Motorsports for the last two seasons before the move to an FPRprepared Falcon this year.

With virtually all of the seats gone for Sandown and Bathurst, the only open slots look to be at WPS Racing and Team BOC. Radisich wouldn't be new to BJR – he drove a works Audi for the team at Bathurst in 1998 alongside Morris.

– AARON NOONAN

LAST year, in a bar in Auckland, I got into a chat with a Steinlager-drinking local who was proudly wearing his Team Kiwi Racing shirt.

I posed a question; as a Holden fan, what would he do if TKR and The Rat swapped to Ford?

“Never happen,” he affirmed.

Okey dokey – but if it did?

He thought before answering: “I’d change sides,” he sighed.

“You gotta support the Kiwis, don’t you?”

Yep, I guess you do. The problem is that, while there appeared to be genuine and widespread passion for the Home Team, that passion was never backed up with money.

Even after Ford NZ weighed in with substantial backing, the impact of a Commodore destroyed at Bathurst was such that the team could not quickly and easily get past it.

For whatever reason, the business community in The Shakey Isles never embraced the team as its own (as it appears to have done in The America’s Cup) and, for years, TKR has struggled.

And now it appears over.

It is ironic that, this year, Radisich looked really strong at Pukekohe, running just behind the lead group and in front of many big-dollar teams.

One upshot of all this is the reality that TEGA’s costcontainment plans are needed more than many people realise. Unless there are continued cost-cutting initiatives in pitlane, TKR could soon have some company on the sidelines.

Morton furthers Ford future V8 SUPERCARS JIM Morton’s Ford Rising Star Racing outfit is set to strengthen its relationship with Ford Performance Racing, with FRSR likely to enter into a car and engine deal with the factory blue oval team next year.

And the latest news regarding Team Kiwi Racing’s apparent demise will no doubt add a further dimension to the chances of FPR and FRSR entering a greater technical relationship in the future.

Morton’s Sydney-based team has used the expertise of FPR engineers Phil Keed and Clinton Wilson at the race track this year, and have also assisted in training FRSR’s two junior engineers – Josh Riddle and Tim Stone.

The problem Morton’s team has faced is that the FPR engineers have zero knowledge of the

team’s current cars (ex-SBR and LMS Falcons).

Morton’s new relationship with FPR should see them secure a current-spec Falcon and the latest engines. All in all, this gives FRSR an extremely competitive package, especially if they get their wish of securing a V8 Supercar licence for 2008 ...

“We’ve built a good relationship with FPR this year,” Morton told eNews.

“We’ve talked to them about getting one of their cars for next year.

“That’s the direction we’d like to head down.

We’ve made no secret of the fact that we’d like to make the grade to Level 1, and if we do get there, it needs to be in a top-line car. Our plan has been to go to the main series in 2008, and we don’t want to run at the back. We need a competitive package.”

– GRANT ROWLEY

Holdsworth cleared for Creek V8 SUPERCARS LEE Holdsworth has been cleared to race at Eastern Creek this weekend after his 3G impact a fortnight ago at Winton Motor Raceway.

Holdsworth slipped off the road and hit the turn four wall at 149 kmh. He sustained only minor injuries, but had complained of dizzy spells post-accident.

Having received the all-clear from the doctor, the 23-yearold completed a practice day in a go-kart at Oakleigh, Vic, last weekend to see how his

body coped with the speed.

“I’d been feeling a bit light headed, but everyday its has got better and better,” he told eNews.

“I feel great now. The stint in the go-kart was good, just to shake me around and give me some confidence that I’m going to be OK at Eastern Creek. If I can pass in the go kart, I’ll be fine in a race car.

“I haven’t been in a proper go kart since 18 so it was great to do it again. I forgot how fun they were.”

His Valvoline Cummins VZ Commodore has been

repaired and will be ready for the Queen’s Birthday long weekend round.

It’s been a busy month for the GRM crew, who completed a major rebuild on Dean Canto’s VE Commodore after its Pukekohe mishap.

Team owner Garry Rogers has claimed that the twin incidents have cost up to $200,000.

The extra repair workload the team has been dealt sets the debut of Holdworth’s VE back to Queensland Raceway in July.

– GRANT ROWLEY

news Dirk Klynsmith

V8 SUPERCARS PAUL Weel has been axed from the Supercheap Auto/ No Limit Racing endurance line-up.

The son of former SCAR team owner Kees, Weel Jr had been slated to team with Marcus Marshall in the team’s second VE Commodore. However, his spot will be taken by Fujitsu Series regular Matthew White.

But things aren’t all grim for Weel, who looks likely to still find himself a home in a Holden at Jack Daniel’s Racing for Sandown and Bathurst alongside Kiwi Kayne Scott.

Weel last raced in the enduros in 2006 for Supercheap Auto Racing alongside Nathan Pretty and the duo finished in the top 10 in both races.

Meanwhile, White and

Marshall have a range of ties, including the latter driving the former’s Falcon in a one-off Fujitsu round at Wakefield Park earlier in the year.

The duo teamed up in the second PWR Commodore for the enduros in 2004 and finished 11th at Sandown, however White crashed the car beyond immediate repair in qualifying at Bathurst and the pair failed to take the start.

Dirk Klynsmith

Weel: Outed from SCAR

White will have the added advantage of driving his own team’s Falcon in the Fujitsu Series support races at Bathurst.

His best result in the 1000kilometre classic remains sixth alongside Tony Longhurst in the Betta/Briggs Falcon in 2002 in addition to victory in the Konica Minolta support race in 2004.

– AARON NOONAN

Baby, you can drive my car Jason Richards showed qualifying pace, but slipped up in racing, while Murph qualified badly but moved forwards to finish fourth for the round, eNews understands the pair will swap cars in a

bid to get to the bottom of the performance differences between the two VEs. eNews was unable to confirm the story with the team on Monday, but our source was pretty good ...

Dirk Klynsmith

RUMOUR of the week suggests Tasman Motorsport duo Greg Murphy and Jason Richards may swap cars for this weekend’s V8 round at Eastern Creek.

Following Winton, where

BRIEFLY...

n The changes are coming in SCAR-land. Business and Sponsorship Manager Graham Sattler has left the team and his duties will now be executed, in part, by new General Manager John Benson.

Can an Aussie win our local MotoGP race? But regardless, everyone can win at the 2007 GMC Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. If you book your general admission or grandstand ticket before 15 July, you will receive free motorcycle parking. Go to www.motogp.com.au for all the info. n

n The karting community is mourning the death of three WA karting identities last week.

Glen ‘Rowdy’ Pitchers, Bill Green and Norm Wright, all members of the Esperance Kart Club, were killed in a light plane crash. The trio was returning from a WA Karting Council meeting in Perth when their plane crashed in bad weather.

FORMULA 1 THE FIA has cleared McLaren of any ‘interference’ in the result of the Monaco F1 GP.

The Federation announced two days after the race that it would look into whether or not the team had employed team orders to favour Fernando Alonso over Lewis Hamilton.

It was clear in the race that Hamilton was in a good position to challenge for a win, but a sudden change of strategy at the second pit stops effectively handed the win to Alonso.

McLaren responded to the charges saying that it was “completely comfortable with the FIA's investigation” and that “all decisions taken both before

and during the race were completely in compliance with the International Sporting Code.”

McLaren was able to make a case that there was a very logical strategy behind the decision-making.

Hamilton's strategy was designed to allow him to have the flexibility to have either a one-stop or a two-stop strategy. The one-stop would have occurred if there was a Safety Car. Alonso had decided to go for the riskier strategy of a pure two-stop race.

In four of the last five Monaco GPs there has been a Safety Car intervention, so adopting the Hamilton strategy was logical.

As things turned out there was no Safety Car. This created a risk during the

second sequence of pit stops because if a Safety Car had been sent out at that point, Hamilton would have dropped to fourth place. The team thus concluded that in order to guarantee maximum points, it would call him in earlier than planned.

Had the car in front of Hamilton not been his teammate, McLaren might have decided to risk a Safety Car and let Hamilton run for as long as his fuel load allowed – but McLaren had no obligation to overtake its own car.

The only remaining question is why Hamilton himself appeared completely unaware of this strategy immediately after the race …

– JOE SAWARD

Au revoir Magny-Cours BERNIE Ecclestone has made it clear that there is no Formula 1 future for Magny-Cours, which will therefore stage its final French Grand Prix next month.

The FFSA, the French national motorsports body, has already pulled the venue from the 2008 Formula 1 schedule while an alternative is found.

“We should never have gone there in the first place,” Ecclestone said.

“If somebody offered me a Paris Grand Prix, I would sign a contract for the next 99 years immediately.”

There is talk of the huge Disneyland facility and other locations in and around the French capital, but there is no firm proposal yet.

– QUENTIN SPURRING

sutton-images.com

Robbie Kerr, a race winner this last season for A1 Team GB, will make his debut in the Le Mans 24 Hour this month as one of Adrian Fernandez’s co-drivers. The quasi-works Barazi-Epsilon team signed the former British F3 champion to race its new Zytek LMP2 alongside Fernandez and Haruki Kurosawa. (QS) n

McLaren cleared sutton-images.com

FANS have lost an appeal over the 2005 US Grand Prix debacle. Last week in Chigaco, a three-judge panel upheld the decision of an Indianapolis court to dismiss a class action by fans, demanding their money back from the event.

The fans claimed that the paid to watch a full grid of cars compete in the race, which was left with six cars racing after all the Michelin-shod team withdrew at the end of the formation lap. n

news

Speedy GP? New Speedcar Series and GP2 Asia for Albert Park?

sutton-images.com

AUSTRALIAN GP NASCAR-type racing could be returning to Australia in 2008, as part of the AGP support programme.

According to eNews European sources, the new Speedcar series – which will use NASCAR-style racing stock cars from the United States – is set to be part of the programme for the Australian Grand Prix, alongside the new GP2 Asia series.

This will create a stronger programme of supporting events than this year. It will be interesting to see what effect the NASCAR/GP2 deal has on negotiations for the return of V8 Supercars to the event.

The details of the Speedcar series remain vague at the moment although it is known that France's Benoit Lamonerie and Italian Luciano Secchi will be the promoters.

There will be six events – with 12 races – and the 24 identical cars will be driven by a number of high profile stars – many of them ex-F1 men – including Jean Alesi, above with Johnny Herbert and Gianni Morbidelli, Stefan Johansson, Narain Karthikeyan and others.

We understand that the races will take place in Dubai (once at the start of the championship and once at the end), Qatar, Bahrain, Malaysia and now Melbourne.

– JOE SAWARD

BRIEFLY...

Bernie ups ante

n The European Grand Prix in Valencia will go ahead as planned next year following the victory of the ruling Partido Popular in the local elections last week. Bernie Ecclestone has now signed a deal with the Valmor Sport organisation, which will promote the race. The deal is for seven years and will be worth US$35m a year to Ecclestone, indexed at 10 percent a year.

n Toyota Racing chairman Tsutomu Tomita is to become the new chairman of Fuji Speedway. Tomita will stand down from his role at Toyota Motorsport at the end of June and will be replaced by current vice chairman Tadashi Yamashina.

– JOE SAWARD

10

Off and racing: The Ferraris of Rene Arnoux and Patrick Tambay round turn one at Silverstone circa 1983. Nothing like an excuse to dig out a cool old photo ...

FORMULA 1 BERNIE Ecclestone has come clean and revealed that he wants the British government to help to fund the British Grand Prix.

Ecclestone is saying that the race could be dropped from the Formula 1 calendar if Silverstone is not rebuilt. The British Racing Drivers' Club, which owns Silverstone, is committed to improve the circuit, but is talking about change instead of doing it.

Ecclestone says he has no

interest in further discussions with the club until it meets its commitment.

“We are supposed to be the home of motorsport and yet all the other countries around the world have managed to build circuits to be proud of. Britain has not,” Ecclestone said.

“It is not my fault. If someone comes up with the agreement we want there will be a British Grand Prix after 2009. I don’t care who comes up with that, but if we cannot strike a deal there are a lot of other countries

All about aero

desperate to have a race …”

The British government is not shy when it comes to spending money and has currently committed an astonishing US$19 billion of funding to pay for the 2012 Olympic Games. In comparison the $200m needed at Silverstone seems like a real bargain, particularly as the British Grand Prix happens once a year and will keep Britain in the news long after the Olympics have come and gone.

– JOE SAWARD

sutton-images.com

n There has been talk suggesting that Luca di Montezemolo may be a candidate for the role of Prime Minister in Italy. The Ferrari and FIAT boss has denied any plan to do that saying that he has no intention to go into politics.

Montezemolo is, however, going into the railway business with a company called Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori (NTV), which intends to run high-speed trains on Italy's rapidlydeveloping network which will soon link Milan with Naples and Turin with both Venice and Genoa.

sutton-images.com

n Red Bull Racing is raising money for charity by offering fans the chance to have their faces on the F1 cars at Silverstone. Fans must make a minimum donation of $25 in order to grab a small space on the cars. The money raised will go to the Wings for Life spinal injury charity, which is run by two-time motocross World Champion Heinz Kinigadner, a friend of Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz.

Calls for Government to get involved and fund Silverstone

Standard aerodynamics given the flick by FIA for the future of Formula 1 THE concept of standard aerodynamics has been given the flick as the FIA refines its views on F1 post-2010.

In a new briefing note sent out last week to the members of the Formula 1 Manufacturers’ Advisory Committee, the Federation has shifted away from the idea of identical cars and has instead proposed to reduce the importance of aerodynamics in the overall package by mandating that designers work with large elements of ‘space’ which must be fully enclosed by the bodywork and impervious to airflow.

This aims to stop the current trend of what the

FIA calls aerodynamic ‘shrink-wrapping’ of the cars. At the moment this is so important in F1 that compromises are forced on the drivetrain.

With extra space allowed inside the cars, the importance of aerodynamics may be reduced, moving the emphasis toward developing the drivetrains and new technologies.

The latest package was created up by FIA engineers Tony Purnell and Peter Wright and reviewed by Professor Neville Jackson, the technical director of the Ricardo engineering company, which is acting as a consultant.

– JOE SAWARD

news

FIA axe China Champ Cars sutton-images.com

CHAMP CAR CHAMP CAR’s bid to reschedule its proposed 2007 Chinese race has been thwarted by the FIA.

Champ Car was originally planning to visit Zuhai on May 20 but a postponement was necessary and Champ Car applied for the race to be allowed to take place on October 28, the week after the race in Surfers Paradise in Australia.

The FIA has ruled that the race cannot go ahead – for two reasons: there has already been a schedule change for Champ Car to allow the series to hold races at Zolder on August 26 and at Assen on September 2.

This cannot have gone down very well with the Formula One group as it is trying to draw the biggest possible crowd at Spa on September 16 and the two Champ Car races are bound to soak up some of the ticket sales.

The Formula One group has objected to the Zhuhai date, arguing that it is too close to the Chinese GP in Shanghai, which is due to take place on October 7.

Champ Car says it will accept the FIA ruling and says that if necessary the race in Zhuhai

Honda re-jig stalls WHILE Honda Racing F1 is in the process of rebuilding itself after a disastrous start to the 2007 season, the signs are that, for the moment at least, the top management will not be changed.

will have be pushed back to May 2008.

Unfortunately the race promoter, Sino Sports & Entertainment Inc, a US company that owns event and TV rights in China, has filed a lawsuit against Champ Car owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe alleging breach of contract and fraud, saying that it paid US$1.6m in advance for the rights to

promote a Champ Car race in China and to show the whole Champ Car season on Chinese TV. Sino Sports is claiming damages of US$15m.

This is a strange twist as it was the promoter who asked for the race to be delayed.

In the end, it may well end chances of a Chinese race all together.

– JOE SAWARD

Nick Fry remains as chief executive and Shuhei Nakamoto as senior technical director. It is anticipated that Professor Gary Savage will remain as technical operations director; Otmar Szafnauer as director of strategy and Gil de Ferran as sporting director.

The changes, it seems, are to be further down the food chain, with John Owen, a senior aerodynamicist at BMW Sauber, becoming the team's new head of aerodynamics.

The big question now is whether or not the team will appoint a new technical director. There have been lots of rumours regarding Ross Brawn but it is more likely to be someone from a senior position in a Britishbased team.

– JOE SAWARD

11

John Morris/Mpix

Tassie V8s in grand style Covered grandstand addition for Falken-backed Symmons Plains round

FORMULA FORD BEN Morley will make a comeback to the Australian Formula Ford Championship at this week’s fourth round at Eastern Creek.

This follows the announcement that, for the first time, covered grandstand seats will be available at Symmons Plains. The covered stand seats, on the infield, will have a great view of the pits and have a dedicated superscreen.

These and other tickets are available via Ticketek.

Halliday’s three race deal ends

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12

SPECTATORS at the Falken Tyres-backed Tasmanian round of the V8 Supercar Championship (16-18 November) will be living in sheer luxury.

sutton-images.com

The reigning New South Wales Formula Ford 1600 Champion will run John Martin’s Spectrum 011 from last year, the National Championship winning car, in a last-minute deal.

“The plan is to run near the front,” Morley told eNews.

“I’m pretty comfortable in the car and I’m confident we’ll be competitive.”

Morley shook down the car yesterday at Wakefield Park, and will be run at Eastern Creek by Minda Motorsport and Icon Motorsport, along with factory support from Spectrum. The program is being funded by Powerhouse Global Logistics, and according to Morley, could be a preview into his 2008 program.

“We’re looking at next year, that’s why we’re doing this,” he added.

“If we could get the budget together we’d even run more rounds this year, but we’ll see how we go.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Dirk Klynsmith

Morley back for the Creek

MATT Halliday is out of a drive in the Champ Car World Series.

The Kiwi will be replaced by Belgian Jan Heylen in Eric Bachelart’s Conquest Racing team from the next round onwards at Portland this weekend. It will see an all-Belgian line-up for the series’ inaugural visit to Zolder on August 26.

Heylen drove in last year’s series for Dale Coyne Racing with a best finish of fifth at Cleveland.

On the other hand, Halliday could only manage one finish from three starts, running 14th in the last round at Houston.

He will join Ford Performance Racing for the Sandown and Bathurst V8 Supercar endurance races later in the year.

news

Besnard back with SBR V8 SUPERCARS AS tipped exclusively by Motorsport News three months ago, David Besnard will return to Stone Brothers Racing for Sandown and Bathurst to team with James Courtney in the JELDWEN Falcon.

Besnard, who drove to victory for the team in the Queensland 500 in 2002 during a two-year full-time stint with SBR, has completed two test days with the team.

“It’s awesome to be back at SBR again,” Besnard said.

“I know more than half the guys from when I raced here in 2001 and 2002 so already having those relationships is a real plus.

“To be back in a top level team is great too. It’s been frustrating in recent times; I don’t race just for the hell of it, I race because I want to win and do the best I can and I haven’t had that opportunity in the last

Issue 356: Back on March 7 we told you about Bezzy going back to Stone Brothers alongside James Courtney. Poopooed elsewhere, look what has happened!

couple of years.”

Ross Stone welcomed Besnard back to the fold.

“Getting David back for a drive at SBR has always been on the cards,” he said.

“Jimmy (Stone) and I always felt that there was some unfinished business there. We really like David and think that he has a lot to offer as a driver.

“It’s a bonus that James and David know each other so well; it’s clear already that they will work well together.”

Luke Youlden will return to the team for the third successive year to pair up with Russell Ingall in the Caltex #9 car.

Mrs Tander looks to V8s Tander, who recently became the first female to win a round of the Australian Gold Star Championship, has been making enquires to enter the series, but is yet to find the right deal.

“For the last couple of years, my focus has been on Formula 3,” Tander said.

“Depending on a few things, I may do that next year as well, but the V8s is definitely where I want to be. I’ve had a few conversations with some teams to sort budgets and cars to see if there are possibilities are for me out there.”

Tander drove in the

Dirk Klynsmith

LEANNE Tander is busy trying to line-up a return to the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series.

Development Series with GRM in 2001, followed by selected races in the 2002 DVS, above.

Her best result was in her first V8 race, where she finished third overall in the first round of 2001 at Wakefield Park.

The fast femme admitted

that there was unfinished business for her in the V8 ranks.

“I didn’t achieve what I wanted to last time and I think with the right equipment and team, there’s a chance to have a decent go at it.”

– GRANT ROWLEY

13

Marshall Cass

Barbagallo track resurface V8 SUPERCARS BARBAGALLO Raceway has been partially resurfaced after it was found some of the track was contaminated during last March’s round of the V8 Supercar Championship series.

An unknown substance was spilt on the track prior to one of the V8 Supercar sessions, resulting in irreparable track damage to Cat Corner (Turn 1), Kolb Coner

PI pit change PHILLIP Island’s pit road is being improved.

The Victoria circuit is currently undergoing changes to the entry to the pit lane, with the road being re-profiled and flattened out. The pit road will now sit considerably lower than the race track on the right-hand side of the wall.

– MARK WICKS

Gary Trounson

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(Turn 6) and Ford Fast Brake Corner (Turn 7).

“As far as we know, something was spilt on the track, we don’t know what, and we suspect it was just before the V8s went out on the track,” said West Australian Sporting Car Club President John Hurney.

“It’s stripped the aggregate, and our consulting company said it was still in the surface, so to replace it was only option.”

With the new tarmac already down, Hurney is confident the surface will be in

good condition come its next competitive booking, a round of the WA State Championships in early July.

“It should be fine. We’ve kept everyone off it for the time being and it will be ready.

It’s exactly the same surface, and I’ve driven over it in a road car and you can’t even feel the surface change.”

The circuit was last totally resurfaced back in 2004.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Special Ayrton Senna Kart KARTING AYRTON Senna’s passion for karting will live on thanks to a new special edition Sennabranded kart.

The kart will be manufactured by Tony Kart for the Ayrton Senna Foundation.

Only 200 of the machines will be built. Each will have its own unique silver identification plate featuring build number and Senna signature. The chassis is based on Tony Kart’s Racer EVX model and features all the usual high quality OTK components for competing in the KF1 category. While the frame is painted dark blue, the graphics are based on Senna’s Brazilian flag-inspired crash helmet design.

With an anticipated demand on the collector market, it will be interesting to see if any of the karts actually turn up at a race track for serious competition.

First deliveries will take place in October.

Senna was an ace in karts and, like Michael Schumacher, regularly returned to the sport while at the peak of his career. However, unlike his F1 career, Senna never won a karting World Championship, finishing second twice.

– MARK WICKS IN other karting news, Glenn Seton will make a return to the race track this weekend in the 13th Annual East Coast Over 40s Karting Titles at Coffs Harbour Kart Club.

Over 200 drivers have entered for the event, with 14 classes being contested.

15

NHRA sells off Pro racing categories

Ford Racing

Funny [Car] Business DRAG RACING

Crump Cleared SPEEDWAY GP AUSSIE Speedway Grand Prix Champion Jason Crump will be back racing at the next GP in Denmark on June 9 after dislocating his shoulder in an accident in the Swedish GP just over a week ago.

Daily physio treatment to the tissue damage will be ongoing, though Crump cancelled all his league racing commitments in Poland, Sweden and the UK for last week.

“The doctors have x-rayed my shoulder and collarbone and I can confirm that nothing is broken,” said the 31-year-old Australian.

“The doctors have said the ligament and tissue damage in the shoulder will take time to repair but with daily treatment I will be okay to ride shortly. But I will definitely be riding in Denmark at the next Grand Prix on June 9.”

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THE world’s premier drag racing championship – the National Hot Rod Association – has sold off its professional racing series.

HD Partners Acquisition Corporation and the NHRA have announced the signing of a definitive agreement which will see HD Partners acquire all of NHRA’s professional racing assets, including the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing series, together with a broad set of rights to commercialise the NHRA brand.

The NHRA will retain all its non-professional racing, safety and educational activities and continue to be the sanctioning body for all NHRA racing activities, including the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

NHRA President Tom Compton said that this step was needed to move the category forward.

“While we have made tremendous strides over the last eight years growing the professional side of the sport, today's announcement is the next logical step in the evolution of the sport of drag racing,” Compton said.

“This new relationship brings with it access to investment capital, additional expertise, relationships and complementary skill sets to assist the current management

team to drive key initiatives to accelerate the growth of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.”

Under the terms of the agreement, HD Partners will acquire the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series and all professional NHRA drag racing assets and opportunities, including NHRA's existing television broadcast agreement with ESPN. It will also include an exclusive, worldwide, and perpetual license to the NHRA brand for professional drag racing activities.

The NHRA will receive approximately US$121 million in total consideration, consisting of approximately $100 million in cash, approximately $9.5 million in HD Partners common stock and the assumption by HD Partners of approximately $11.5 million in debt and liabilities.

In addition to retaining its non-professional racing activities and sanctioning role, the NHRA will continue to offer its membership program and publish its weekly publication National Dragster. The closing of the asset purchase and related transactions is subject to stockholder approval, regulatory clearances and other customary closing conditions.

– DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

Super An SPEEDWAY THE schedule of events for the 2007/2008 National Super Sedan Series has been confirmed by the National Association of Speedway Racing.

The calendar comprises seven events across three states within 24 days.

Once again, the series will get underway at Rockhampton Speedway in central Queensland and traverse south to conclude at Murray Bridge Speedway in South Australia.

The compacted schedule has been constructed to enable more drivers and spectators to follow the series whilst causing minimal interruption to the various regional Super Sedan competitions and blue ribbon

news

ARC: Evans Handicapped?

AUSTRALIAN RALLY AFTER dominating each and every heat of this year’s Australian Rally Championship, brakes look likely to be put on the Corolla of Simon Evans.

While his team-mate Neal Bates has driven Toyota’s latest Super 2000-spec rally car this season, Evans has elected to

Geoff Gracie

nnuation events across the country.

The 2007/2008 schedule features just one doubleheader weekend, and the early confirmation of series dates allows competitors to commence planning and negotiations with sponsors in preparation for their assault on the national series.

There is a possibility that one more round will be added to the calendar, however any additional events will be scheduled within the existing series timeframes.

Financial considerations and a lack of available dates have prevented the series visiting Western Australia in 2007/2008, but plans are afoot to make the trek across the Nullarbor in 2008/2009.

Toyota

Toyota

remain in the custom-built Group N (P) Corolla that propelled him to his maiden title last season.

Unlike Bates’s Corolla, which is built to international regulations, Evans’s Corolla was fabricated to a locally established formula that provided options to ‘up spec’ machinery until it was competitive against the traditional Group N Mitsubishis and Subarus.

Evans’s whitewashing of the series has led many rivals to question if the Corolla has been granted too many freedoms.

It is understood that CAMS and the Australian Rally Commission (ARCom) will begin scrutinising comparative stages times from the first three rallies of the year to determine if performance reductions are required.

Evans has fiercely defended his position, noting that the car he is driving is of identical specification to that in which he started the 2006 season.

“Don’t target the car because the driver has no real competition,” he quipped.

Watch this space...

– RYAN LAHIFF

CAPITAL IDEA AUSTRALIAN RALLY FOLLOWING threats from the ACT Government to pull funding for the Rally of Canberra comes news last week that the future of the event has been cemented until at least 2008.

In a prepared statement, oddly released just days before the rally took place, it was confirmed that CAMS and the ACT Government had reached

The 2007/08 National Super Sedan Series Rd 1, December 27 – Rockhampton Speedway (Qld) Rd 2, December 29 – Brisbane International Speedway (Qld) Rd 3, December 31 – Charlton Raceway, Toowoomba (Qld) Rd 4, January 4 – Timmis Speedway, Mildura (Vic) Rd 5, January 5 – Avalon Raceway, Geelong (Vic) Rd 6, January 12 – Borderline Speedway, Mt Gambier (SA) Rd 7, January 19 – Murray Bridgean Speedway (SA)which would agreement see the Government hand

over the reigns of Promoter and Organiser for the Rally of Canberra from 2008 onwards.

The ACT Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Andrew Barr, said he was pleased an agreement was reached.

“I would like to thank CAMS for working with us to find a way of retaining the Rally in Canberra. This is a positive outcome for both parties and is the result of lengthy but fruitful negotiations,” said Barr.

Sources close to the event suggested that the Government had been forced to pay a sizable penalty fee for the early termination of the existing contract, but that those funds would be reinvested into the event’s future.

– RYAN LAHIFF

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5 Minutes with ...

MARCOS AMBROSE

Ambrose arrived in NASCAR last year. But at Dover last week, he really arrived MOTORSPORT NEWS: Mark Martin drove one of the Wood Brothers/JTG cars in practice.

How much did that help?

MARCOS AMBROSE: Mark drove the #47 car in practice and he was working on that car while we were working on ours.

He was great, he made some adjustments and we basically copied his set-up. That put us in a better position for the weekend.

Sixth is your best result in the Busch Series. Strategy played a big part of the result but the cords were hanging off the tyres at the end of the race.

Was it an educated guess or luck?

We rolled the dice and it paid off. It’s great to get this result.

I’m really stoked for my team and everyone.

We qualified third and had a lot of pace throughout the race. I gained a lot of confidence out of being able to rub shoulders with those big boys up the front, especially at one of these onemile ovals. Dover is regarded as one of the toughest tracks we visit so to get the job done for everyone involved in the team and everyone that helped me get to where I am is pretty special.

You had to go toe-to-toe with Kevin Harvick at the end of the race. He’s certainly not a stranger to NASCAR racing.

Yeah, he’s already won $2 million dollars this year! I followed Matt Kenseth around for a while, we were on the same strategy.

At the restart after we pitted, I guess some people probably

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GRANT ROWLEY

thought that Kenseth and I were sitting ducks but we both showed that the strategy was worth it. We both held cars off and we finished fifth and sixth.

I raced Harvick hard there at the end and in the last couple of laps he dropped off. I raced him hard and ran him down low and took his momentum a couple of times.

That’s what this racing is about and you’ve got to build up your confidence to race the defending Champ and Daytona 500 winner like that. We did it at Dover so it’s pretty pleasing – we obviously want to be in that situation more regularly from now on!

In the Truck race last year at Dover, you struggled in the race. It’s a big turnaround this weekend.

It feels like I’ve arrived. I qualified 12th last year here and elected to start off the back of the grid. I was still fresh and we finished a couple of laps down. But now, here I am, running at Dover, one of the toughest tracks, running in the Busch Series racing against the best of the best and it’s all right.

I feel like I’ve earned my spot in this series.

a fat man on national television!

The most distressing thing though is that you copped a kiss from Crusher (Marcos’s PR man) on national television after the race.

Yeah, all my hard work spoiled in one moment! Being kissed by

Your next event is your debut Cup race on the road course at Infinion Raceway.

Yeah, we are really looking forward to that. We aren’t guaranteed a start so we have to qualify on speed to get to

race. Are we going to try and stick it on pole? Probably not.

We’ll just take it easy, qualify in the mid pack and see where we end up. We had a very fast package there in testing last week and I think we can turn some heads with our Cup program on the road courses.

Yeah, all my hard work spoiled in one moment! being kissed by a fat man on television! ambrose got a wet one from crusher on tv, and posed for a photo with alan webber, right

chat

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The FIA got it right – this time sutton-images.com

THE FIA did the right thing in deciding that McLaren had no case to answer when the team orders controversy blew up at Monaco last week.

Ron Dennis insisted after the race that the instruction to his drivers to hold station rather than race was ‘strategy’ rather than a ‘team order’. I frequently disagree with things that Dennis says, but not on this occasion.

Team orders are what we saw Ferrari do at the Austrian GP in 2002. Monaco was about protecting the team’s advantage, not manipulating it. It has been happening since F1’s earliest years, and recent changes such as the new Safety Car rules – which could theoretically have destroyed McLaren’s race completely if they had come into play at an awkward moment – have made it all the more important.

And as Dennis said, if there had been a SC that disadvantaged Fernando

OPINION Mark Glendenning Formula 1 Alonso but not Lewis Hamilton, then Hamilton would have undoubtedly won the race – and would not have been quite so prickly afterwards.

Monaco is a SC haven, so McLaren had to cover the possibility of some time under yellows, and it just happened to work in Alonso’s favour.

To understand the media reaction to the issue, though, particularly from some of the Brits, you need to go back earlier in the weekend.

Since Hamilton has arrived in F1, the Poms have been falling over themselves to fill column inches about their new star.

McLaren’s response, effectively, has been to close him off completely to the media. It’s as if he is in a glass dome – you can clearly see that

he’s there, but you can’t get near him.

Frustration has been simmering ever since Australia, and reached a head during the Wednesday press conference when a journalist from a British daily took Dennis to task over the lack of access to the youngster.

It had been a combative afternoon for Dennis, who had already taken pot-shots at the press, former team owners, and

Red Bull’s paddock magazine The Red Bulletin.

So the relationship between Ron and the UK press legion was already a little strained at the start of the weekend – and when the opportunity arose on Sunday afternoon to suggest that there was a sinister plot within the silver corridors to favour Alonso, I suspect that a few of the Pommie hacks found the opportunity too good to resist …

Letters

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

Where is CCWS hiding?

With all the fussing over the split in American openwheeler racing, there is one thing I would like to know.

Who on earth designed the Champ Car calendar?

The season started with a real bang, then nothing. Since the last race, there has been pretty much no news for weeks and weeks. Can you explain why, and when does the racing start again?

Mike Carter Carina Heights, Qld

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ED: Mike, there are a number of reasons for the ‘hole’ in the CCWS schedule, mainly the Indy 500 (which is why May was vacant) and the postponement of the China race. The fun starts again this weekend in Portland, not that you can watch it on Australian television …

Is F1 boring?

You have to wonder about the future of open wheeler racing.

I am a petrol-head tragic, just ask my long suffering wife, and

I still keep asking myself ‘will Formula 1 ever get interesting?”

At the moment it’s the same as watching a B-grade movie or any soap opera –predictable.

The gossip and speculation is interesting thanks to Mr Saward, but the actual racing really doesn’t shape up. In a word, it’s BORING, even with Lewis Hamilton.

People say that it is interesting, but do they really believe it?

This leads me to our American colleagues. I reckon

they have a far superior product to market but they’ve let their egos get in the way.

Before the split you had something that even Formula 1 drivers used hold in high esteem. Now you’ve got your IRL and Champ Cars and neither one appears to be able to admit that they both need each other.

I don’t care who’s more popular, IRL or CCWS. Work a compromise, you idiots!

You’ll probably have more viewers/ratings than F1 could

Dirk Klynsmith

Balance and patience the key OPINION

Neil Crompton Driver / Commentator

THE V8 circus moves to Eastern Creek this weekend, a track that demands that a car is balanced and a driver who is patient.

In a lot of miles around the track, I’ve learned that a car needs to have very even balance, front-to-rear. You also need to protect the right-rear tyre as much as posisble – if you look at the nature of the circuit, that end of the car is constantly pounded.

Additionally, you need to cut across the saw-tooth kerb at Turns 6 and 7, where you zig to the right and zag to the left.

You need to take off some of

the kerbing there and at Turns 10-11, at the Sydney end of the track. If you ‘fly’ the car over the kerbing, you save time there.

You need good point-topoint squirt too, because the time interval on the main straight is quite long, compared to the rest of the track.

There are some bumps, like at the entry to Turn 2, which promotes an unconventional line, and at Turn 4 and Turns 10 and 11, because of the kerbing.

The cars that work well there work really well – but if it is not good, it is really ugly!

Sometimes, the track’s

characteristics make a driver feel slow and so they try to hustle the car, which is the worst thing you can do. You cannot afford to pick up the throttle and muscle the car – you need to drive it with your fingertips and not excite the steering wheel. When you have done the majority of the turning, you need to pick up the throttle and drive the car to the next corner, look after the tyres and pick it up.

If you try to carry too much mid-corner throttle you are in trouble, because you will just amplify your understeer (if that is what your problem is) or if the car is set up too aggressively on the nose, you cause dramas with that important right-rear tyre.

And finally, you also need a lot of tape on the screen – because the western sun is pretty low at race time at this time of year …

Flyin’ Ryan I was watching the sports news on Channel 9 last Monday night and when they reported on the Indy 500 they mentioned Scott Dixon coming second (OK he’s a Kiwi), but they failed to mention that Ryan Briscoe had come fifth.

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ever achieve.

I would love to see Sebastian Bourdais, Paul Tracy, Will Power etc all race against the likes of Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti and Helio Castroneves.

As for the V8s, Mr Cochrane should forget about Bahrain and give another round to New Zealand. It’s more relevant with more interested spectators.

Steve sjmjlh@bigpond.com

Reader Scott Whale isn't telling us anything new when he says Briscoe is amazing ... hopefully Penske pick up on it.

Now that was the real news of the race, a one-off appearance and he brought the car home fifth! I bet that it was especially satisfying

considering Danica Patrick’s comments regarding his crashing earlier in the week.

How Briscoe has not been able to get a drive in F1 or

Champ Car amazes me. The boy can drive.

Well done Ryan.

Scott Whale scott_whale998@yahoo.com.au

21

AUSTRALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP RALLY OF CANBERRA – ROUND 3

Three-Peat Simon and Sue Evans made it three from three in Canberra ... and it doesn’t look like changing any time soon.

By RYAN LAHIFF

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Joel Strickland

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S

IMON Evans has won in Queensland; Simon Evans has won in Western Australia; and Simon Evans has continued his domination of the NEC Australian Rally Championship by winning in Canberra, shattering the opposition and claiming each and every stage victory.

“I had a ball at this event; I reckon I was giggling to myself for half of it,” said Evans at the finish.

“It just goes to show that all of the hard work pays off. Everything that the team does and that I do is paying off at the moment.”

Such was Evans’ performance that he even demoralised the coinciding AsiaPacific Rally Championshipfield – an impressive 1m22.9s ahead of former Australian Rally Champion, Cody Crocker.

“Beating Cody in the APRC was a personal goal of mine, and we did that this weekend too,” Evans continued.

“I’m feeling very fulfilled at the moment but there is a long way to go this season.”

Evans seemingly cantered to another

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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

style adjustment saw him grab second with just two stages to go.

“Although we promised maximum attack we really struggled to get grip and that allowed Batesy to get ahead,” admitted Herridge by the finish.

On combined results the top step of the podium went to the dominant Evans, with Herridge second and Bates third.

I

n the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, Crocker mirrored the achievements of former rival Evans by taking an unmatched victory against his opposition.

Crocker’s win wasn’t as trouble-free as Evans’ though, a series of minor technical headaches kept him on his toes over the entire weekend.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had to play mechanic between stages but this weekend I was under the car everytime we stopped,” said Crocker.

“In the end though we’ve come away with another great result, maximum APRC points and now we head to Japan for the Hokkaido Rally.”

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. 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,

T

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

Joel Strickland

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.

easy win while his rivals were unable to make any sort of impression. His margin back to Dean Herridge during Heat One was just under two minutes, while in Heat Two he led home his rivals by just under one minute.

“He’s in a totally different class, a class all on his own where he just can’t be matched,” rued Herridge after the event.

“No one has a chance against him at the moment, not even his own team-mate.”

Neal Bates had been in the game early on in the opening heat, before dropping to fifth with a flat tyre and fighting his way back to third.

“The flat ruined our day, without that we probably could have bettered Dean, at the very least we would have been closer to fight it out for second,” said Bates at the end of the Heat.

During Heat Two Herridge once again shot out of the blocks early, and while he was once again totally unable to match Evans, he did maintain a lead over Bates.

Bates admitted to overdriving during the morning’s two stages, and a driving

Joel Strickland

Best of the rest: Dean Herridge, above, did his best to chase down Simon Evans, but it was to no avail. Rallying went under light(pods) in Canberra, the event kicking off with a night stage, left. Cody Crocker bounced his way through the Canberra bushland to a dominant win in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship round, bottom left.

Meanwhile, this spectacular water splash photo was all the Pirtek squad had to show for the weekend, both cars suffering mechanical dramas throughout the rally, below.

Neil Blackbourn Joel Strickland

Neil Blackbourn

25

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP ACROPOLIS – ROUND 8

Rocky Balboa By the time Sebastien Loeb got settled in Greece, Marcus Gronholm was leading and out of reach.

And the Subarus showed a welcome turn of pace

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BP Ford Rally Team

27

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IT’S official; we have a cracking World Rally Championship on our hands.

Having spent the last four-odd rounds either finishing a distant second to Sebastien Loeb, or scoring a lucky win (like he did in Italy), Marcos Gronholm actually led the way in Greece, barely looking troubled on his way to victory. That’s right – he beat Loeb in a straight fight.

And convincingly too, Loeb never really looking in the game and may have not even finished second had Petter Solberg not broken a damper on the penultimate stage of the second leg.

Heading into the final day, Gronholm was a whole 43.3s clear of Loeb, cruising his way through the final tests to win by 38.6s.

“I had a good rally with no problems and it’s a huge confidence boost to take two wins before the summer break,” said Gronholm.

“The rough roads and high temperatures ensured it was a hard rally for cars and tyres but both were perfect all rally. Today I was able to match my speed to Loeb’s split times and I felt comfortable throughout.

“It’s fantastic to go into summer with a ninepoint lead in the drivers’ championship and a big lead for the team. I can enjoy the holiday now! We’re able to fight with Loeb, and maybe he’s not so comfortable any more.

“But I know that the second half of the year won’t be easy with four events on asphalt – his favourite surface.”

Subaru looked like a totally different team in Greece, both cars showing plenty of pace on the tough gravel roads. Solberg and Chris Atkinson were positioned second and third respectively after the first leg of the rally, with Solberg hanging on for third while a puncture cost Atkinson dearly, the Australian fighting back for sixth.

While that wasn’t as good a result as Atkinson may have hoped for, he was buoyed by the new found speed in the car.

“We definitely made a positive start to this rally, and it was more than a good road position that enabled us to do those times,” said Atkinson.

“I’d say the car was working better than it had done on the last few rallies, so that was a good sign.

“We’re certainly getting closer, and I really hope we’ll be able to win more stages when we get to Finland.”

But despite the pace of the Imprezas and because of the demise of Loeb’s team-mate Dani Sordo (transmission problems), it was still a Fordfest in the points, Mikko Hirvonen and Henning Solberg finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

Jan Kopcecky grabbed a couple of points for Skoda with seventh while Manfred Stohl wrapped up the top eight.

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It’s OK Aussie rally fans: Greece saw plenty of pace from the two Subarus, even if Chris Atkinson, above, lost out thanks to a puncture. The pace of the Imprezas even took Loeb by surprise, below right. The reigning Champ struggled for pace throughout the event.

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Go Jan Go: Kopecky took points for Skoda in Greece, above. Petter Solberg and Phil Mills were obviosuly delighted with third, below.

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WRC | Driver’s points Points: Gronholm 65, Loeb 56, Hirvonen 49, Sordo 28, P Solberg 26, H Solberg 24, Atkinson 15.

29

MOTOGP MUGELLO – ROUND 6

The Empire Strikes Back Many expected Ducati’s hotrods to dominate at Mugello but Valentino Rossi ended those hopes with a brilliant performance

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Yamaha Racing

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helmet for this race with a big heart on it and today I think we showed that we really have a lot of heart at Yamaha. This is a great, great moment for me.”

Behind the two Michelin riders came a Ducati, but it was neither of the red bikes. Pramac d’Antin’s Alex Barros put in his best performance of the season to work his own way through the field and pick off the works bikes of, first, Capirossi and then, with three laps left, Stoner. The Brazilian had too much speed for the World Championship leader, who had no choice but to follow the veteran home in fourth.

Weather dominated qualifying.

Stoner took his first pole of the season and Chris Vermeulen lined up alongside him, with Rossi taking until the end of the wet-dry-wet-dry session to join them on the front row of the grid.

It was looking like a potential Aussie 1-2 for the first time in more than a decade but, as it transpired, Vermeulen lacked the set-up to challenge for a result; he trailed in eighth, while teammate John Hopkins hammered past after a handful of laps and briefly challenged Stoner for third until Barros found his form and forced the American to settle for fifth.

d’Antin Pramac Ducati

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Ducati Corse

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UST when the 2007 MotoGP was beginning to look like a Ducati benefit, Valentino Rossi pulled something special out of the bag to send his faithful fans home sobbing in their Lambrusco.

The Doctor was in vintage form at Mugello, qualifying on the front row of the grid and, as he has in his prime championship years, making a cautious start in the race. But, once he found his rhythm, Rossi picked his way through the pack from eighth, and past the Ducatis of Casey Stoner and Loris Capirossi. In company with arch-rival Dano Pedrosa, he pulled away from the field and then held out the revitalised Spaniard to take his second win of the year and sixth in a row at home.

“To win in Mugello once again is an incredible emotion for me and I am very happy at this moment,” said Rossi after the race.

“From the very beginning everyone was pushing at 100 percent and it was great fun in those first few laps! It was really a perfect race for me today and I felt like I had everyone on my side; Mugello is a magical track for me and this victory gives us a lot of power and confidence for the next races. I had a special

First and last: Stoner led early, top, but by the time the final laps unwound he had Hopkins and Barros on his tail, above.

Bautista

STAR STRANGLED BANNER While Rossi and the Ausies fight up the front, the mid-pack resembles American Idle

JOHN Hopkins was the top American rider in Italy.

The Suzuki ace finished fifth after a solid performance and the odd part is that it was, in the main, expected. World Champion Nicky Hayden is struggling with his tiny Honda; Colin Edwards is nowhere near his team-mate and close friend Valentino Rossi and the less said about Kenny Roberts and his lads (son Kurtis joined Kenny Jr last weekend) the better.

“You put yourself in a hole when you qualify in 13th and that really didn’t help me out much today,” said a glum Hayden post-race.

“In the last couple of laps I had a pretty good scrap with Vermeulen and Melandri but I was a lot further back than I would have liked to have been. It definitely wasn’t a great day for us.

Basically I had an issue with the set-up today and the machine just didn’t feel planted in a lot of the fast corners here.”

Edwards, below, was all at sea on what, he admits, is his bogey track. He was 12th in the race but that is a bonus considering that he started from 16th. He was at least honest enough to put his hand up post-qualifying; “Honestly I don’t know what to say, I’ve always been good in the wet but this year it’s just not working out at all. I’m losing everything on the corner entry; it’s basically the same problem as I had in Le Mans. In the wet one or two seconds off the pace can be explained but six seconds? That’s not right and I’m seriously disappointed.”

It seems a long time since Colin and Nicky fought out the finish of the Dutch TT at Assen ...

It is no secret that the Yamaha men are keeping their eyes open and that 250cc Champion Jorge Lorenzo is a contender for a seat next season. Many consider that the Spaniard is a brat and a bit of a loony but he is fast and that might just be enough to unseat the likable Texan.

Bautista gives Jorge the elbow ALVARO Bautista won a dramatic 250cc GP after tangling with Jorge Lorenzo on the final lap.

The World Champion charged from 20th place on the grid to the lead but Bautista, above, dived inside him and forced him into the gravel, from which he recovered to finish eighth.

Lorenzo’s manager filed a rather petulant protest post-race, which was quickly dismissed.

In the melee, Bautista drafted past MVA Aspar team-mate Alex De Angelis to win by 0.08s, with Hector Barbera in third place.

Points: Lorenzo 128, Dovizioso 101, De Angelis 95, Bautista 89, Barbera 63, Simon 63, Luthi 43, Aoyama 32.

HECTOR Faubel took his second 125cc win of the season by a narrow margin, his Aprilia sneaking by team-mate Sergio Gadea by 0.02s. Derbi’s Lukas Pesek fell at the last turn of the race.

Yamaha Racing

Points: Faubel 102, Tamalsci 95, Pesek 91, Corsi 71, Gadea 65, Espargaro 46, Olive and Smith 44.

MOTOGP | CHAMPIONSHIP points Stoner 115, Rossi 106, Pedrosa 82, Melandri 68, Hopkins 59, Capirossi 47, Elias 45, Barros 43, Edwards 39.

Yamaha Racing

Honda Proimages

Supporting cast: World Champ Nicky Hayden is clearly struggling with Honda’s V4, and had to work hard to fight off Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen.

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GLOBE TROTTER

Dave Ostazewski

NHRA

GM Media

BRANDON Bernstein continued his domination of the Top Fuel class with his third win of the last four national events this past weekend in Topeka, vaulting back into the POWERade points lead in the process.

Joining Bernstein in the winner’s circle of the 19th Annual O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals with his first Funny Car trophy was Mike Ashley, above, while Pro Stock kingpin Greg Anderson collected his fifth win of the season’s first eight races.

– DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

French Menu WTCC THE French streets of Pau played host to shared victories between Alain Menu and Augusto Farfus in the World Touring Car

Championship last weekend.

Menu led from start to finish in Race 1, turning his second pole into his second win of 2007, clear of SEAT duo Yvan Muller and Tiago Monteiro.

Farfus bounced back from

a qualifying accident to finish seventh in race one, which put him on the front row for Race 2.

He won from title leader Andy Priaulx and Monteiro.

Points: Priaulx 42, Farfus 40, J.Muller 31, Y.Muller 28, Larini 25.

sutton-images.com

sutton-images.com

VIP wins QLD 500

FORMULA BMW UK AUSSIE Sam Abay has finished 13th and eighth in the two races of the Formula BMW UK Series on the weekend at Croft.

The Team Loctite driver now moves to Oulton Park on June 23/24.

BRITISH F3 AUSSIE John Martin has had another tough weekend in the British Formula 3 Championship at Snetterton.

He failed to finish Race 1 after qualifying 16th and finished 12th in Race 2 after lining up 13th on the grid.

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QUEENSLAND 500

Three from three BTCC TEAM RAC BMW’s Colin Turkington, SEAT’s Darren Turner and Vauxhall’s Fabrizio Giovanardi have shared the three race wins in the Croft round of the British Touring Car Championship on the weekend.

Giovanardi has closed the gap to series leader Jason Plato to just two points, while Turner’s victory was his first-ever in the BTCC. Points: Plato 127, Giovanardi 125, Neal 81, Chilton 75, Turner 71.

In a final hit-out before the Nurburgring 24 Hour, Tony Quinn and Craig Baird took victory in the Queensland 500 Club Enduro relay last Saturday night, finishing two laps clear in their regular Carrera Cup cars.

Paul Stokell and Duncan McKellar (997 GT3 Cup) were second with Russell Kempnich (Porsche 956C) and Phil Holzberger (996 GT3-RS) third.

Porsche teams filled the top seven positions ahead of Tony Alford and Peter Leemhuis in their Mitsubishi Mirages. Fourteen of the 19 teams completed the 160-lap race, which was completed under lights just after 6pm.

– MARK JONES

race

Edwards wins but ... Marcos Stars!

BUSCH SERIES CARL Edwards only needs one excuse to launch into a backwards somersault off the side of his race car – and by winning the Dover 200 Busch race on the weekend he found one.

The series points leader led 122 laps and pulled away from Denny Hamlin amid a flurry of late race yellow flag periods, but had to fight from fifth on the lap 165 restart of 200.

Matt Kenseth and Aussie Marcos Ambrose decided not to pit and led away, with the latter still finishing a Busch Series career-best sixth place from third on the grid on the ‘Monster Mile’.

The result moves Ambrose to eighth in points and equal leader of the Rookie of the Year.

Advice from NASCAR legend Mark Martin, who sampled the other Wood Brothers/JTG Racing Ford Fusion during practice after Ambrose’s teammate Jon Wood fell ill, helped Ambrose to the front.

“We’ve had a tough eight weeks and it’s great to bounce

back,” said Ambrose.

“We made some small structural changes to give the team more responsibility when we get here to the track and it’s paying off.

“We wore it all out; the right front tyre, the cord is showing.

We probably could have run another five laps but we didn’t need to.

“Mark Martin drove our team’s number 47 car in final practice yesterday and he was working on that car while we were working on ours. He was great, made some adjustments and we basically made a lot of the same changes to our car.

“We had to really muscle our way around on the old tyres and I could feel the right front shuddering a bit but it held on and we got there. I think the tyres probably had three or four laps left in them, not much more than that.”

The Nextel Cup race was postponed by rain and is due to be held on Tuesday midday Australian time.

Points: Edwards 2270, Harvick 1798, Blaney 1598, Kenseth 1591, Reutimann 1511 (8. Ambrose 1453).

Kanaan King of The Mile IRL INDYCAR

Points: Franchitti 221, Wheldon 218, Dixon 216, Kanaan 201, Castroneves 188, Hornish Jr 173.

IMS

TONY Kanaan may have missed tasting the milk at Indianapolis, but he bounced back with victory at Milwaukee for the second straight-year on the weekend.

The Brazilian took the lead when countryman Helio Castroneves spun after his rear wing collapsed and crunched the wall exiting turn four, going on to win from team-mate Dario Franchitti.

“Sometimes it’s not always the best car that wins the race,” said Kanaan.

“I definitely had to race this race, apart from the last five laps. Before that I had to be on the charge.”

A rear wing failure also sidelined Penske’s Sam Hornish Jr while he was running second, allowing Dan Wheldon to advance to third clear of team-mate Scott Dixon with Vitor Meira fifth.

Wheldon got a serve from Danica Patrick post-race after the two made contact on lap 89 in turn one. The latter was trying to pass the former when there was contact and she lost a lot of time with damaged steering before fighting back to eighth.

A lecture and an alleged shove clearly are signs that the frustration of not winning a race yet are getting to the feisty American …

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rear of grid

Monday-itis at the Creek I who knows, they might be up!

Eastern Creek sometimes gets a bit of bad press in terms of what you can see of the action. It’s a bit tough for them that the other local track is Oran Park – which has probably the best viewing of any track in Australia.

If you are going, and you don’t have a grandstand seat, make the effort to walk around – there are a couple of great spots with quite a wide view around the back of the circuit.

I reckon there'll be a few nervous people keeping an eye on the traffic coming through the gate on monday ...

T

omas Mezera’s comments after Winton that the younger drivers are putting pressure on their more established team-mates were, I reckon, spot-on.

There’s more than one big name who needs to be looking at this weekend as the time to get things back on track – or people start to throw the ’R’ word around a bit. It’s been a while since we had some real fireworks in Sydney – it’s been too long since Russell and Skaifey duked it out …

Dirk Klynsmith

T wasn’t until quite recently that I was reminded that the Eastern Creek V8 Supercar race this weekend is, for the first time, a Sunday/Monday race.

We always drive up on Saturday morning for Sydney races, stay at a mate’s Saturday night and get home sometime Sunday night and I must admit to mixed feelings about everything moving back a day.

I know footy is always played on Queen’s Birthday Monday, but this is a first (as far as I know) for motorsport here.

I reckon there’ll be a few nervous people keeping an eye on the traffic coming in through the gate on Monday.

Even more so, I wonder how many regular TV viewers will stay home on a holiday Monday?

This, along with the 3pm finish for a couple of other rounds, is the big concession to Channel 7 and AFL and there’ll be plenty of tension in the halls of power if either of those numbers are down. But

Rick’s Buick Brick

Dirk Klynsmith

Odd Spot

WHAT a difference two years makes ...

In 2005 at EC, Rick Kelly gave ’Buick’ its V8 Supercar debut. Why Buick colours? As soon as the car completed the Sydney round in 22nd, it was packed into the container for the Shanghai round.

When the car got to Shanghai, it was still slow ... very slow. Rick qualified last before finishing 30th for the round.

Two years on, Kelly comes back to the Creek as the reigning Champion and the series points leader, albeit by just one point over Toll HSV team-mate Garth Tander.

The Creek has been a track that’s offered Kelly mixed results. He won his first solo round at the Creek in the wet in 2004, however it is an unhappy venue in terms of qualifying as Kelly has never qualified better than 15th there in six round starts. His best qualifying at Eastern Creek is 15th in 2002 in the Holden Young Lions car.

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