Motorsport eNews Issue 8 - June 12-18, 2007

The world of motorsport every week – directly to your desktop

PRESSURE TEAMS UNHAPPY with TV/GP FRACAS

B RU I S E D KUBICA ESCAPES MONSTER SMASH

BACK Skaife Finally breaks Brock’s round record

Issue No. 008 12 - 18 June 2007

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. 008 | 12 - 18 June 2007

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

news 4 TC excites the troops And they’re not happy

Advertising National Sales Manager: Calvin Wood cwood@mnews.com.au P 03 9596 5555 F 03 9596 5030 M 0439 566 265

6 The streets of WA 9 Canadian Crunch 15 Cup Car newby

Administration 357 Nepean Highway, Brighton East, VIC, 3187 (PO Box 7072, Brighton, VIC, 3186) P 03 9596 5555 F 03 9596 5030 admin@mnews.com.au

MD / Publisher Chris Lambden

chat 18 Five minutes with ... opinion 20 Lambden 21 Van Leeuwen 39 The Punter

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.

race 22 Red Letter Day 28 Short Time Coming

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.

Lewis Hamilton Tough when you’re down Keep it at Barbagallo PR and trained monkeys Skaife gets Brock’s record Lewis racks up No. 1

trade 46 Trade and Industry / Raceshop 48 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)

Still being talked about How did he walk away ...

Hi to Gold Star champ

Need a Motorsport eNews back issue? CLICK HERE

welcome From the depths of Winton, Skaifey lifted his game, just to get this week’s eNews video slot ...

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Race supplements on www.mnews. com.au

V8 BOSS UPSET V8 SUPERCARS TONY Cochrane faces an angry TEGA representation at the next V8 Supercar Board meeting, following a series of extraordinary events last week.

His linking of a TV scheduling problem in South Australia to discussions concerning the return of V8s to the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix (see below) has dismayed many team owners.

The matter was discussed at a scheduled TEGA Board meeting at Eastern Creek on Sunday morning, as well as informally by team representatives over the balance of the race meeting.

It seems likely that the matter will be raised at the

GP threat foll AT the start of a tumultuous five-day period, V8SA Chairman Tony Cochrane issued a media release last Wednesday that criticised Network 10, accusing the former V8 host broadcaster of hindering the Seven Network’s efforts to fit V8 coverage around its AFL commitments in South Australia.

In what appeared to many V8 stakeholders to be an inexplicable leap, Cochrane then linked Ten’s ‘inaction’ to any potential return to the Australian Grand Prix support program in 2008, by saying that any return to the GP would only be undertaken if Network Ten was banned from broadcasting footage of it.

This appeared to jeopardise what many V8 team

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TS TEAMS next Board meeting of V8 Supercars Australia.

Earlier reports that the TEGA Board (reported in error by eNews as the ‘V8 Supercar Board’ – which did not meet at the weekend) had formally resolved to seek the departure of Cochrane as Chairman of V8 Supercars Australia, were incorrect – although the level of feeling among TEGA Board members is clearly high.

Cochrane thus remains as Chairman of the V8SA Board – which remains the only entity in a position to

endorse or change that situation.

The V8 Supercars Australia Board is made up of TEGA representatives John Hewson, Kees Weel, Roger Cook and Steve Chalker, along with Cochrane and James Erskine, representing marketing group SEL. TEGA’s Board comprises Chalker, Weel, Roland Dane and Larry Perkins – as manufacturer/team representatives – along with Hewson (Chairman) and Roger Cook ( both independent members) and Kelvin O’Reilly (General Manager).

What Tony said ...

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6: “BECAUSE of this [stand-off with Ten] we will now only attend the AGP next year if organisers can guarantee that Network Ten will not televise any V8 Supercar footage from that event.

“As much as we would like to finalise arrangements with the Australian Grand Prix, who we have been working quietly with for some months, and attend for our fans, sponsors and corporate partners it will not happen if Network Ten telecast the V8 Supercar component of the event.

“We will now only attend so the fans and corporates at the event can experience the thrill of seeing V8 Supercars race live.

“We have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to achieve a resolution to this problem in Adelaide and have agreement between Seven, the AFL and Foxtel.

“One can only wonder how Network Ten claims to be the home of motorsport yet behaves in this totally un-Australian way to deny the very fans of the sport.”

“Ten’s attitude is unacceptable.

“Seven has done all its power as has the AFL to overcome a scheduling issue which impacts only in Adelaide. Sadly, for reasons only it could explain, Ten has decided to veto any change proposed by both the AFL, Foxtel and Seven.

“V8 Supercars Australia and Seven are already working on scheduling for next season and are committed to ensuring that Adelaide will not miss out on a live or near-live broadcast in 2008. The tens of thousands of fans who are upset should express their concern directly to Network Ten.”

lows SA TV stand-off owners saw as a priority in the eyes of their teams and sponsors. eNews understands that discussions between V8SA and the AGP Corporation concerning a return of V8s to the event, with a $1m appearance fee, were ongoing prior to Cochrane’s statement.

Following a teleconference TEGA board meeting on Thursday, TEGA issued a statement to its teams to clearly distance the organisation from Cochrane’s statement. The correspondence described his actions as “unprofessional” and said he “acted unilaterally, without Board authority”.

Cochrane attended a media session

at Eastern Creek on Sunday morning in which the upcoming Bahrain round of the series was discussed by circuit manager, Martin Whittaker. When the media turned the session to Cochrane’s Network 10 statement, he answered questions and endorsed the sentiments expressed in his earlier statement.

MNews understands that the TEGA Board members present at Eastern Creek were surprised at this, sought a transcript of the press conference and that the matter is likely to have repercussions when the V8 Supercar Board next meets.

– PHIL BRANAGAN

CLARIFICATION EMERGENCE of a degree of misinformation and misunderstanding over V8 team reaction to the events of last week detailed on these pages have required that Motorsport News re-publish this week’s issue of Motorsport eNews.

Motorsport News is committed to accurate and correct media reporting, but errors are occasionally made.

Our earlier edition reported that the board of V8 Supercars Australia had resolved to terminate Tony Cochrane’s tenure as Chairman of the group. It was teams’ group TEGA that met at Eastern Creek, and not the V8 Supercar Board, and no such resolution was reached.

Tony Cochrane remains as Chairman of V8 Supercars Australia. Motorsport eNews apologises for the error.

Brake error outs Whincup TEAMVODAFONE’S Jamie Whincup has been excluded from the third race (and thus loses his outright third for the weekend) at Eastern Creek on Sunday after post-race checks found the #88 Falcon was fitted with incorrect rear brake discs.

Triple Eight Race Engineering admitted the breach and the Stewards excluded Car #88 from Race 3. Our results chart (see race coverage, page 22) has been amended to reflect the revised result.

Late on Monday evening Triple Eight released a statement explaining its error: "As a result of a post race Stewards enquiry Triple Eight Race Engineering has accepted the Stewards findings of a breech of technical specifications concerning the rear brake discs of car # 88 in the final V8 Supercar race at Eastern Creek Raceway today.

"Triple Eight accepts responsibility for the

disqualification of Jamie Whincup’s result from Race 3, a consequence of mistakenly using 2006 specification discs.

"The error occurred due to the Team including a number of 2006 specification discs sets in the truck spares for Eastern Creek which were to be used on the spare car for the Team’s ride days planned for Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

It is normal practice to use up redundant stocks of parts on the ride car in this way. Alcon, the suppliers of the control discs for the Category in 2007, were happy to confirm to the Stewards that there was no performance advantage to be gained from using the older, heavier, 2006 specification discs."

Whincup’s revised meeting points put him in back to fifth place and his new Championship total sees him tied on 205-points with Holden driver Todd Kelly."

Marshall Cass

The power of words HYPERBOLE is defined in one dictionary as “an extravagant statement or figure of speech, not to be taken literally.”

It is somewhat ironic, then, that Tony Cochrane’s recent statements have attracted the ire of the V8 hierarchy and a widespread level of criticism in pit lane.

Cochrane has always been a man known for the bold statement. His early pronouncement that there were “no sacred sites” in V8 Supercars was met with shock; clearly, there were, and still are.

OPINION Phil Branagan eNews Executive Editor But conversely, he was ridiculed when he prophesied a decade ago that, as in other sports, V8 Supercar franchises would change hands for millions of dollars. He was right, and many people now are grateful that he was.

And, in a nutshell, that is the essence of Tony Cochrane; bold statements, some of which proved to be rash, some of

which proved to be visionary.

In its first decade, V8 Supercars clearly needed a Cochrane-like character; an impresario who could crash through barriers, bite off more than he could chew and chew like hell to get the job done. Love him or hate him, TC took the sport to places that many never imagined it would go.

But, as in life, the only constant in the sport is change.

At a time when V8 stakeholders want consolidation and transparency, the potential successor to the entrepreneur

may be a man who is both a politician and economist. For all of the criticism, the past contains many triumphs for TC and his V8SA team. But many are now calling for a different future.

After many battles, it may be simply that he misjudged the mood in pitlane and the height of the wall in front of him.

The difference between crashing through, and just crashing, can be a choice of words. When many people are watching and listening, and microphones are switched on, words can topple empires.

news

Dirk Klynsmith

Team Kiwi Racing battle on V8 SUPERCARS BELEAGUERED Team Kiwi Racing owner David John remains adamant that his New Zealand-based team will be on the grid for the remaining nine rounds of the V8 Supercar season, despite missing last weekend’s round at Eastern Creek.

TKR did not compete in the Sydney round after its car preparation agreement with Ford Performance Racing was terminated 10 days ago.

Last Tuesday, team driver Paul Radisich also left the team.

This left TKR with no car or driver, and a week of trying to find a suitable

combination to compete at Eastern Creek ultimately proved fruitless. The All-Black’s now face fines of up to $150,000 from TEGA for not making the grid.

TEGA will make a decision as soon as today (Tuesday) as to the extent of the penalty. Under the Team’s Licence Agreement, if TKR miss the Darwin round, they face possible exclusion from the V8 Series. [See opinion, page 20] Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series team Prodigy Motorsports had agreed to supply John with a Falcon for the race last weekend, but the lack of time and a shortfall of components thwarted their plans.

It is understood that one of Prodigy’s

ex-DJR Falcon’s will be upgraded from BAspec to the current BF in time for Darwin, although John told eNews that there are two other options available to the team.

One of the interesting developments now will be who drives the car for the rest of the year. eNews understands that high-profile Kiwi steerers Jonny Reid and Matthew Halliday have both been touted as possible drivers.

“We’ve thought of them,” John said.

“Both Matt and Jonny would want an exceptional package under them. The car that we ultimately use will determine who the driver will be.”

– GRANT ROWLEY

You want V8s in Perth? Vote Liberal V8 SUPERCARS WESTERN Australia’s Shadow Sports Minister Trevor Sprigg has called on the current state government to “get on” with a street race in Perth.

Sprigg says a street race is a must for the future of motor racing in WA and crucial to the state ridding itself of its

‘Sleepy Hollow’ tag.

“What we’ve done at this stage is ask the government to have a look at this, and we asked it in Budget Estimates a couple of weeks ago, of both the Sports Minister John Kobelke and the Tourism Minister Sheila McHale,” Sprigg told eNews.

“Our issue is this: we’re

believing what we’re told by the V8 Supercar people that if they can’t get a street race, they’re not coming back to WA. And that’s a problem with us with our lack of public events.”

Sprigg also revealed that should there be a change in Government at the next state election, a street race would become a priority.

“I suppose our position is that yes, if we’re in government in a couple of years’ time we’ll get on with it. But we believe it has to happen before that, And we’re asking the government to get on with it now.”

Barbagallo Raceway’s current sanction agreement ends in 2009.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

BRIEFLY... n The Swiss parliament has

taken the first step towards allowing motor racing back in the country for the first time since 1955.

The lower house of parliament has passed an amendment to the law by a vote of 97 to 77 and the change must now go to the upper house for another vote.

Twilight race looking more and more likely for 2009 World Championship FORMULA 1 THE concept of an Australian F1 Grand Prix in mid-February – able to be run in the evening without the horrendous expense of track lights – is becoming more than likely.

Motorsport eNews F1 correspondent Joe Saward reports that F1 teams have, on the basis that they will earn more race income, agreed to trade off a shorter test/off season for a 20-race schedule in 2009, starting at the beginning of February.

Daylight hours in February

Dirk Klynsmith

n Giancarlo Fisichella and his business manager Enrico Zanarini have launched the Fisichella Motor Sport Academy, a racing school that will be part of a bigger Fisichella Motor Sport Technopole at the Vallelunga racing circuit near Rome.

This will feature the headquarters of Fisichella Motor Sport, a Fisichella museum and the racing school.

Odds shortening on Feb AGP

in Melbourne would – as first canvassed by Motorsport News back in March – allow an AGP to start as late as 7pm and still finish under natural light.

Whether Melbourne would retain its opening race spot

is debatable, as it is being suggested that the 2009 season may start in Abu Dhabi on the first weekend in February, en route to Melbourne the following weekend.

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FORMULA 1 BMW F1 driver Robert Kubica escaped from his violent shunt during the Canadian Grand Prix with little more than concussion.

While the crash may well rule him out of next weekend’s US GP at Indy, that’s a small price to pay for such an escape from a shunt of such magnitude.

The BMW star left the track at close to 270kph on the fastest part of the Montreal circuit, while trying to sweep around Jarno Trulli. The car went over a kerb and

bounced across an access road before flying through the air into a concrete barrier, head-on and nose-up. The angle of impact was acute but enough to send the car spilling out across the road, the monocoque tumbling amid all the other wreckage until it hit the wall again on the other side of the track.

It was a colossal impact and Kubica was initially immobile in the car when it came to rest on it side.

The 22 year-old from Krakow was quickly extracted by the rescue crews and taken to the circuit medical centre, where

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Crunch in Canada

his condition was described as “conscious, stable and able to talk” before being airlifted to L’Hopital du Sacre-Coeur de Montreal.

Rumours of a broken leg proved unfounded, the Pole suffering a sprained ankle and minor concussions, but otherwise in one piece.

Early suggestions are that Timo Glock will get the drive for next weekend;s race at Indy, as BMW’s test driver Sebastien Vettel has no race experience in F1. Glock did a handful of races with Jordan in 2004.

– JOE SAWARD

Ralf’s last chance FORMULA 1

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RALF Schumacher has next weekend’s United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis left to save his Grand Prix career.

Should Ralf fail to impress, and thus get the boot, Toyota is thought likely to put test driver Franck Montagny in the car for the bilance of the year although the team has also been chasing after BMW test driver Timo Glock. BMW is yet to decide whether it is willing to release its test driver to a rival team.

If Montagny does get the drive he is going to

have to work hard to keep it as Toyota is believed to be looking at a wider selection of drivers for 2008 – including Tonio Liuzzi, who is increasingly less than enchanted with life down at Toro Rosso.

With Red Bull Racing quite likely to stick with Mark Webber and David Coulthard for another year, this would leave Liuzzi facing another year at Torro Rosso - which is not something that his career needs at the moment.

A switch to Toyota would give him the chance to prove himself.

– JOE SAWARD

Heikki on the ropes Uncertain future for Renault youngster FORMULA 1

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V8 SUPERCARS

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DESPITE being billed as the next Fernando Alonso, Heikki Kovalainen has been a big disappointment at Renault this year, to such an extent that the team is said to already be thinking of a replacement.

The team has two immediate options in test drivers Ricardo Zonta and Nelson Piquet Jr. One apparent major ‘problem’ is that Renault’s title sponsor ING has been building an advertising campaign around Kovalainen and it is not keen on seeing him kicked out.

Piquet Jr still has yet to convince the team that he has all the elements necessary to be an F1 racer and the team does not want to throw him to the lions at this stage in his career.

Zonta is a safe pair of hands.

The pressure is on for the team to at least finish third in the World Championship, because some of its sponsorship income reduces considerably if the team fails to meet that performance clause.

And that is a big problem for Renault …

– JOE SAWARD

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Wurz out, Bourdais in?

Will Champ Car’s main man be at Williams in 08?

FORMULA 1

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DESPITE his somewhat fortunate third place in the weekend’s Canadian GP, it is being suggeswted that Alex Wurz will be dropped

by Williams at the end of the year.

Among those being touted as a replacement is Champ Car star Sebastien Bourdais.

The Frenchman already has

an option with Scuderia Toro Rosso for next year, but this needs to be taken up by the team before the end of August.

Williams has not been overly impressed this year with Wurz’s performance, particularly in qualifying where he is struggling, and has been looking for other possible partners for Nico Rosberg.

– JOE SAWARD

Safety Car Chaos FORMULA 1

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FORMULA 1’s new Safety Car regulations have been panned by drivers and teams, following a chaotic Canadian Grand Prix.

The new regulation, which ‘closes’ pit lane until the cars are banked up behind the Safety Car, caught out several teams, including some who had pitted before the Safety Car had been deployed, and others who were ‘held’ in the pits while the Safety Car approached

the pit area.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis was among the vocal critics, telling reporters that “it is one of those changes that was made for good reasons but has had too much of a repercussion on this race and will have on other races.

“I hope the FIA and the other teams will learn from today and that we can do a mid-season regulatory change to avoid penalising other drivers in the future, because anybody can be caught out by it.”

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BRIEFLY...

Dirk Klynsmith

n While there's been no official confirmation yet, pitlane scuttlebutt is suggesting that Pirelli will be the control tyre supplier to V8 Supercars from 2008-2012.

The Italian tyre company, along with Yokohama and curent supplier Dunlop, had tendered for the contract. eNews understands that one of the companies has been asked for a clarification on one item. An official annoucement is expected soon, but as always, remember where you read it first ...

Changes@V8TV.soon Ongoing developments with the coverage of V8s to improve broadcasts V8 SUPERCARS

n The New South Wales Police celebrated our monarch’s special day with a birthday breathalyser stop on the Great Western Hwy, a kilometre or so from the Eastern Creek turnoff.

Doubtless, many drivers were discouraged from starting the day with a traveller at 8am. One shudders at what might happen at a street race. n Dani Pedrosa’s third placing in last weekend’s Grand Prix de Catalunya means that the Spaniard has now gone a full year without a GP win.

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Marshall Cass

n Because of the delay in settling the sale of the Super Cheap Autos Racing team to John Marshall, Graeme Sattler returned to the team for the weekend. Transfer of the team is expected to proceed this week (see news story page 13).

AMID the internal goings-on with TEGA last weekend, changes appear to be in the works for V8 Supercar’s television packing.

A meeting last weekend between representatives of V8 Supercars, V8 Supercars Television and the Seven Network has determined that the coverage of the 2007 championships will be updated as a part of the ongoing development of the series.

At the start of this year, V8STV stated that

a number of technical changes would be implemented during the course of the year to improve the broadcasts. Motorsport eNews believes that Seven has expressed a desire to see those changes implemented sooner rather than later.

At the same time, V8SA and V8STV put views that are expected to enhance the packaging of TV broadcasts. One immediate outcome of the frank exchange is a letter, distributed by TEGA to all its teams, encouraging them to be more forthcoming with Seven’s pitlane reporters.

What do Bargs and Mickey Mouse have in common?

V8 SUPERCARS TELEVISION may be a controversial subject at present, but the Disney Channel made it to a V8 Supercar race Eastern Creek for the first time with its new reporter, named Bargwanna.

No, not Jason. This time around, it was Jake

Bargwanna in charge of the microphone as host of an episode of the upcoming What A Life series.

Jake, 12, is one of the pocket Ray Martins in the series to profile his dad, who will appear alongside such boring professions as fighter pilot (Ed’s note: what, no journalists?)

It was a timely appearance for the TV crew, as Bargs Sr qualified his WPS Falcon just outside the top 10 after recent revisions to the rear end of the now four-year-old Ford.

Bargs and the other Cool Dads are expected to appear with other Disney characters later this year.

– PHIL BRANAGAN

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PWR sale not done ... yet Marshall Cass

THE Super Cheap Auto Racing Commodores ran at Eastern Creek last weekend with their previous No Limit signage replaced by that of PWR Racing.

Team principal Kees Weel has been unable to conclude a deal to sell his Dandenong, Melbourne-based outfit to John Marshall. The No Limit owner, who was confirmed as the buyer of the Holden team at Winton last month, has been overseas on vacation and unable to be contacted by Weel.

However, the current encumbent was keen to dispel any suggestions that all was not right with the sale.

“It is simply timing,” he said yesterday (Monday).

“John has been away and everything is in order for the deal to go ahead. But there are no free rides in this business and I just thought that we would change (liveries) for this weekend.”

Weel expects that a meeting set for tomorrow (Wednesday) will sort matters before the deal is completed later this week.

–PHIL BRANAGAN

re for e h k c i l c

more INFO

Allowed: BA-BF-BA V8 SUPERCARS THE lack of BF Falcon V8 Supercars in commission at the moment has forced TEGA to make a rule change.

THE rule at the moment states that it is illegal to change a BF Falcon back from BA-specification. The rule will be changed today (Tuesday) so that the cars can be configured back to the old-spec. The BA is only allowed to compete in the Fujitsu V8 Series.

Team Kiwi Racing ultimately found it impossible to source and convert a BA Falcon to BF to

race at Eastern Creek.

Also, when Jason Bright crashed his Falcon at Barbagallo, it turned out to be impossible to lease a car from a Fujitsu Series team, as converting it back to BA-spec was not allowed.

It forced Bright to lease a Falcon shell from BJR, which Bright will use for the fourth time at Darwin.

Close to $40,000 is required to change a BA to BF. Some of those changes include new front bar, rear wing, side skirts, roof vent, new ECU, TEGA camera, CPS lights and various sensors.

– GRANT ROWLEY

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BRIEFLY... n A welcome visitor to Eastern Creek last weekend was Chad Reed. The Supercross star ended his month-long trip home with a sojourn to the Sydney track to catch up with a number of friends.

Reed, who tested a V8 Supercar late last year, maintains his four-wheeled racing ambitions, once his lucrative and successful twowheeled career is over. n Mark Martin has agreed to sub for Jeff Gordon should Gordon’s wife Ingrid Vanderbosch have their baby between June 17 and 24 when the series visits the Sonoma road course and Michigan speedway, Gordon has competed in everyone of the 485 races since entering the series in November 1992 at Atlanta.

– STAFF/MARTIN D CLARK

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V8 Fone Home V8 SUPERCARS PSST! Mister! Wanna buy some Whincups and Lowndeses?

Well, fire up yer handset, pilgrim. Vodafone Live! is amping up its coverage of all things related to the Triple 8 drivers, in terms of downloading all manner of stuff on your mobile phone.

From right now, Vodafone

customers can download exclusive content, including Mobisodes (Mobile Episodes, which are short movies of between two and five minutes that play on your handset), pics and ringtones, including several featuring the dulcet tones of C. Lowndes and J. Whincup yelling at you in front of your friends.

But wait, there’s more. If you attend any upcoming V8

Supercar races, you can not only pick up a happening new TeamVodafone Sony Ericsson K800i speaking machine – preloaded with all the exclusive content – but you can get it for fewer dollars than buying the same kit from a Vodafone outlet.

If you want to know more, divert your eyes from eNews for a moment and check out www.vodafone.com.au

news

Stokell gets Carrera Cup chance Former Gold Star winner to make Cup Car debut at Hidden Valley CARRERA CUP

Dirk Klynsmith

FORMER Gold Star and Nations Cup champion Paul Stokell is to join the Carrera Cup Championship.

Although final details are yet to be formally lockedin, eNews understands that Stokell will debut at the next (Darwin) round of the series under an all-new franchise and with an almost-new car sourced from Porsche Australia’s GT3 Cup Drive

Experience programme.

Stokell took part in a clublevel ‘Queensland 500’ two weeks ago at Queensland Raceway and impressed Cup Car officials sufficiently for ‘what if’ enquiries to kick off soon after.

With Cup Car keen to have another well-credentialed driver at the sharp end of its competition, things have, it seems, moved ahead quickly ...

Watch this space for a formal announcement.

Driving Experience: Stokell is to join the Carrera Cup Championship.

Patrizi’s firm focus

West Aussie committed to top results in F3 Euro, despite GP2 Asia lure F3 EURO SERIES MICHAEL Patrizi is chipping away towards genuine top 10 positions in his debut F3 Euro Series season.

The West Aussie has been slowly improving in the competitive F3 series, and is remaining focused on the task at hand.

One thing that he doesn’t want to get distracted by is the upcoming GP2 Asia series, which will debut next season.

Patrizi tested with GP2 team David Price Racing at the end of last year, pictured inset, but won’t commit to any other

racing series beyond this year.

“It’s only June at the moment, and I’m concentrating on F3 Euro,” he said.

“If the opportunity arises in that championship, of course I’d probably do it, but I don’t want to take my eye off the mark.

“The Asian championship

won’t be full of nobodies. It’s going to be a bunch of good Europeans. And they are all going to be taking it seriously.

“But again, I’m not thinking of anything other than F3 Euro.“ Patrizi raced at Brands Hatch last weekend, finishing 17th and 13th.

“It’s very difficult to jump in these cars and race at the front.

“You can’t take your eye off the ball here. It’s incredibly competitive. One slip up and you lose two or three spots. We had a great test recently and we want to get regular top 10 finishes.”

– GRANT ROWLEY

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Vale Bill France Jr NASCAR

Martin D Clark

WILLIAMS C ‘Bill’ France Jr, Vice Chairman of NASCAR and Chairman of International Speedway Corporation passed away at his home in Daytona Beach on June 4 after an eight-year battle with cancer. He was 74.

France, a former flagman, steward, promoter and racer – both in NASCAR and on motorcycles – could be described as firm but fair and became President of NASCAR in 1972. He took the reins from the sport’s founder and first president, his late father ‘Big’ Bill France.

Bill Jr. went on to negotiate NASCAR’s first TV contract with CBS to show the Daytona 500 ‘flag-to-flag’ in 1979 and steered stock car racing from a regional

to national, and now international, sport and help International Speedway Corporation (ISC) amass ownership of 13 tracks nationally and take the company public in 1996, while NASCAR remains under the control of the France family.

“For over four decades, Bill stood at the helm of a growing national phenomenon,” said brother Jim. “He successfully guided the sport into the American mainstream and elevated NASCAR racing to the pinnacle of motorsports.”

France Jr is survived by wife Betty Jane, son Brian (who became NASCAR CEO in 2003) and daughter Lesa France Kennedy, who is Vice President of NASCAR. – MARTIN D CLARK

Mitchener ventures to Silverstone KARTING VICTORIAN karter Lee Mitchener will compete in the Formula Student European Championship at Silverstone next month.

The event is held the weekend after

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the British Grand Prix. The third year Mechanical Engineering student will be one of the drivers in the RMIT Formula SAE car.

Around 115 teams will compete, with RMIT being the only Australian entrant.

Mitchener was part of the RMIT team

that won the Australian title in January and the World Championship for Formula SAE in the United States last year.

He will leave for the UK immediately after the Queensland Karting Championships.

– MARK WICKS

news

Halliday gets final five CHAMP CAR

better situation going into the last five races, as the opportunity gives us the chance to have some great results to end the year,” said Halliday.

Halliday, pictured right with Team Australia driver Will Power, will again carry sponsorship from New Zealand Vodka company 42 BELOW. In amongst Halliday’s busy end-of-season schedule, he’ll suit up in Ford Performance Racing colours for the V8 Supercar endurances races.

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NEW Zealand driver Matt Halliday will contest the final five rounds of the Champ Car World Series with Conquest Racing.

Halliday competed with the team in the first three rounds but due to a funding shortfall, will have to sit on the sidelines until the Zolder, Holland round in August. The Kiwi has been replaced by Dutch driver Jan Heylen .

“It’s a shame we can’t complete the whole season, but on the other hand we will be in a

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Deaths mar TT Three dead in Isle of Man’s 100th anniversary race

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Busch fire!

NASCAR

NASCAR has fined Kurt Busch $100,000 and 100 driver and owner points following his actions with Tony Stewart last Monday on pit road at the Dover Speedway.

The pair had an altercation on-track that left Busch planted in the wall after he tried to pinch off Stewart. Busch then pulled alongside Stewart in his

pit area grazing Stewart’s Joe Gibbs Chevy and coming close to a crew member.

The deduction in points dropped Busch from 11th to 17th in points, adding insult to injury Busch was forced to a back-up Dodge when he wrecked his primary during first practice at Pocono, Penske and Busch will not appeal the penalty.

– MARTIN D CLARK

THE Isle of Man TT is motorcycling’s oldest and most deadliest road race – and tragedy cast a pall over the 100th running of the famous event last weekend.

Briton Marc Ramsbotham died when he crashed his bike in the six-lap Senior TT (Tourist Trophy). The accident also claimed the lives of a spectator and a marshall.

Ramsbotham, 34, was making his TT debut.

The event, known for its high speeds and fatalities, had claimed 223 lives since the inaugural Tourist Trophy race in 1907 before Friday’s horror incident.

John McGuinness, pictured above, won the Senior TT, his 13th success, and in the process became the first rider to lap the circuit at an average speed of more than 130mph.

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5 Minutes with ...

LEWIS HAMILTON

Was Lewis Hamilton pinching himself after winning the Canadian Grand Prix? Not really, it was just a matter of time …

Talk us through the closing stages; what was going through your mind? What did it feel like to take the chequered flag?

As I said, we sat behind the Safety Car for quite some time so it sort of dulled down for a while, and then it was about building it back up. The team did a great job in getting me in before the first Safety Car, and so I was out in the clean air and I was very fortunate. I had a good pace.

Nick wasn’t very close to me, so I was able to keep a good gap and then the last few laps, I was just counting them down. I could see my board; I’m the type of guy who usually pushes right to the end but it’s a tricky circuit and if you make one mistake you get on the

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What a day: four Safety Cars, that big accident with Robert (who we hear is okay now).

What a day for you!

It has been a fantastic day. This is history. To come here, my first time in Canada ... It’s really been a fantastic season already.

We’ve had six podiums and I’ve been ready for the win for quite some time. It was just a matter of when and where.

The team gave me the best car. I had no problems during the race at all, a few Safety Cars which sort of made it a little bit boring at some point, but as soon as we got going, it was exciting again.

But I did hear about Robert.

He’s a good friend of mine. I hope he’s okay, and so best wishes to his family and everything.

I've been ready for the win for quite some time, it was just a matter of where and when LEWIS HAMILTON marbles and you’re in the wall, so I quietened down towards the end and just enjoyed it and it really was about just enjoying the whole moment.

And you made a great start too – well, you came out of the second corner in front, anyway.

I made quite a poor getaway to be honest. I don’t know what exactly happened. I’m supposed to have a certain amount of revs and I went over it and then under to try and get it back so I had a pretty poor start.

I saw Nick getting close, so I had to close the door, and then I saw Fernando flying past. Obviously I didn’t want him coming past but somehow

he got onto marbles and went straight on, and I just took the corner as normal and then he came flying across our path. It was quite exciting, but it was just great to get out in front.

Fernando didn’t have the best of days. At this point do you even care?

Of course. That’s a bit of a silly question to be honest. He’s my team-mate, I’ve got a lot of respect for him and we’re quite good friends.

At the end of the day we are a team, and we both want to finish at the front. I don’t know what happened in his race but we need to have a look and it’s not good for him obviously.

You dreamed of being an F1

driver; you are. You dreamed of getting pole; you got it.

You dreamed of winning a race; you have. What are you dreaming of now?

The next dream is obviously to win a Formula One world championship – but at the moment we have to be realistic again. It’s always good to bear in mind that I’m still a rookie and this is my first season.

There are going to be some hard times. I hope that there aren’t but it’s just bound to happen, it’s just the way it goes in this business.

But at the moment it’s been consistent and that’s down to the team and all the people around me. I’ve got a very wellgrounded family and I think it works perfectly.

chat

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That’s what friends are for ... opinion Chris Lambden eNews Publisher damages’ (that’s posh-speak for a fine).

This is similar to the situation which led to the pathetic scenes during the death-throes of the Arrows F1 team back in 2001 when they would turn up at F1 races just to complete a lap in qualifying and go home again – simply to fulfil their commitments – until the whole thing finally collapsed.

While professional motorsport is a tough, dogeat-dog business – and the whole damages thing was implemented to avoid legal

John Morris/Mpix

I DON’T know David John, the owner of Team Kiwi, and I don’t know to what degree the financial woes of the team are self-inflicted, but the nonappearance of the team at Eastern Creek last weekend has raised an issue that teams’ group TEGA should consider as it drafts its new 2008 teams’ agreement.

Like I said, I’m not privy to the detail of the events which led to the dissolution of the team’s relationships with both FPR and driver Paul Radisich, but it looks as though Team Kiwi made a serious, if unsuccessful, attempt to get to Eastern Creek with a substitute car – simply to avoid copping up to $150,000 in ‘liquidated

consequences from promoters should a top team choose to not front for a race – there needs to be some flexibility, some reality attached – to avoid that sort of farce.

I hope there’s the flexibility for TEGA to – if they believe this to be a case of genuine

hardship – discount, defer, or even discard the fine. Whether Team Kiwi, under current or changed ownership, manages to find the funds to continue on is a different matter – but a team’s own organisation making it just that bit harder doesn’t seem quite right.

Letters

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

Work Choices In reply to Scott Whale’s letter regarding Ryan Briscoe’s drive in the Indy 500 (eNews #007), it was a brilliant drive, but the reason he is not in F1 seems to be of his own doing.

He was offered a Jordan F1 drive for 2005, but decided to go to IRL, a fatal mistake in my view. There is no way a team like Toyota would pick up a driver after they went off to America to race in a weak series.

He is very good, but as much as I hate to say it, he seems to have shot himself in the foot.

Mark Szwadiak webber_racing@hotmail.com

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Manic Monday I’ve just finished watching the last race from Eastern Creek, and I’ve got to say, motorsport on Monday is bloody great!

Anyone from Melbourne will be fully aware it was a great day for being indoors today (Monday) thanks to the weather, so sitting on the couch watching Skaifey do the job in Sydney was the perfect way to spend a long weekend. Warm loungeroom, cold beer, all the ingredients for a top day off.

Thanks V8 Supercars for giving it a go.

With Monday motorsport on the go, all we need now is weekly Monday night footy.

Now that would be cool!

Rob Burns Hampton, Vic On the record Well you’ve got to hand it to Mark Skaife … who saw that coming?

At Winton he looked like his career was on the rocks and that he’d pretty much forgotten how to drive, a couple of weeks later he is overtaking Brocky’s record for wins at Eastern Creek. And looking classy all the way.

I’m sure Brocky would have approved of the way Skaife took over the mantle … leading from the front.

Thomas Hill

Email address supplied F1’s magic man I always toss up whether to bother staying up to watch the American rounds of F1 given how late they are on telly over here, but I’m pretty glad I made the effort with the Canadian race.

I’m very glad I was at the AGP this year, because it was Lewis Hamilton’s first race and I thought at the time I was seeing history begin.

And watching the race from Canada totally reinforced that feeling.

The kid is a star, dead set.

And, if he can go six races in a row on the podium, and a

WA streets a big risk for V8s

F1’s magic man #2 The Canadian Grand Prix was like a wet race, but without the rain.

I realise that doesn’t make sense, and what I mean is that it was actually an exciting race, which we usually only see

Andrew van Leeuwen eNews National Editor the second most populated city in the country. Perth is seven hours drive from Kalgoorlie …

Also, let’s not forget that Adelaide had a whole bunch of stuff left over from its stint as Australia’s port of call for the Formula 1 World Championship.

Venue is the biggest issue.

The proposed circuit in Perth (aside from being an incredibly boring layout) would cause traffic and financial carnage. St George’s Terrace, which would form a big part of the track, is home to many of the banks and major businesses in Perth,

when the heavens open up.

Speaking of heavens, someone up stairs was keeping a close eye on old mate Robert Kubica over the weekend. That was a big crash, the type of crash that when I started watching Grands Prix would have resulted in the worst. What happens to Kubica? A broken leg! F1 cars are awesome pieces of machinery when you look at it that way.

But the story was young Lewis. I had heaps of people telling me stuff like ‘the bubble will burst for Lewis this weekend’ and all sorts of other pessimistic junk. And what does he do? Beat everyone, and let all the fancied guys make fools of themselves.

Classic!

What’s the odds he makes the podium at every race this year, and wins the Championship? I want in …

Gregory Richards Tweed Heads, QLD

and they’re not likely to be all that happy with having the road closed for three or four business days while the event goes on. That, in itself, would be costly, financially and in terms of public perception of this sport.

No other street races use the CBD to go racing.

Adelaide uses the surrounding parklands, while Melbourne’s Australian Grand Prix uses Albert Park in St Kilda. An argument could be used that race cars run riot through the centre of Surfer’s Paradise and Monaco once a year, but both those cities’ major industry is tourism, which is hardly the case for Perth.

So please, Powers-That-Be, play some hard ball on this issue and push to get the V8s

back to Barbagallo. The series needs WA as much as WA needs the series.

And if we go down this street race path, we’ll have Canberra all over again – expensive and gone within a couple of years.

That’s what will kill motor racing in WA …

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debut win, then he’s probably going to spend a fair bit of time spraying champagne over the next however many years he fancies being an F1 superstar.

So, when he overtakes all the other greats (sorry Michael and Juan-Manuel) by winning championship after championship, I’ll be able to say I was at his very first race as an F1 driver.

And I’ll also be able to say I saw his first win on the telly, even if I did have to put up with a heap of Big Brother along the way from our mates at Channel Ten …

Graham Sefrivich Glen Waverly, Vic

opinion

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I DON’T want to sound like a Negative Nelly on this issue, but I still have some real problems with a street race in Perth.

I only want what’s best for motor racing in Western Australia, because, even though I now reside on the dark side, I will always be a Sandgroper at heart. And if I honestly thought a street race was what’s best, then I’d be all for it.

My problems are these. For starters, Perth isn’t Adelaide, and a street race in Perth wouldn’t be the Clipsal 500, so can we please stop the comparisons? The Clipsal gets massive crowd figures, and that’s great for tourism in the city, but Adelaide is seven hours drive from Melbourne,

King of the Kids: Lewis is looking good for the F1 crown with the Canada win

ED: Good point about Kubica’s crash Gregory, and he didn’t even break his leg as original reports suggested; he only sprained his ankle!

Imagine if we’d had these sorts of safety measure back in yesteryear … we’d have a lot more legends around to tell their stories these days.

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V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES ROUND 5 - EASTERN CREEK

The King of Que Mark Skaife celebrated the Queen’s Birthday by bettering Peter Brock’s all-time round wins record. By PHIL BRANAGAN 22

race Dirk Klynsmith

eens

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I

T was a long time coming – and it came with a considerable sense of relief – but Mark Skaife has finally become the winningest driver in the history of V8 Supercar/Touring Car history after winning his first round in more than a year at Eastern Creek on Monday.

Skaife was in vintage form on a track he used to dominate, taking second on the grid (after being edged by team-mate Todd Kelly) and winning the first two races. A bad start cost him track position but the 40-year-old, who spent much of the weekend shrugging off comment about his impending old age, returned to his winning ways after a solid but steady third in the final race.

Skaife’s 38th round win was his first in more than a year, his last coming at Pukekohe last year and his previous race win at Oran Park last August.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” said a clearly relieved Skaife after the race.

“When I was equal with Brock, it was a humbling experience. He called me in New Zealand to congratulate me. It’s quite sad that that won’t happen this weekend.”

Kelly made it a 1-2 for the Holden Racing Team, his weekend upset when he missed the 1-2 gearchange at the start of Race 1. He salvaged things with a slick pit strategy after starting the final race from grid five. It was the first 1-2 for five years.

Aggressive speed and an early stop moved Todd to the front of the field, just beating Lowndes out of the pit cycle and setting up a battle to the end of the race.

As is becoming the custom in recent rounds, the Clayton Commodores were chased most closely by the TeamVodafone Fords. Jamie Whincup outqualified an out-of-sorts Craig Lowndes on Sunday but as usual, the latter proved to be a master racer, particularly in Race 3’s conditions. Starting 16th though was too much of a handicap; Lowndes completed the weekend fifth overall, two slots down on The Whizz, although Whincup’s subsequent Race 3 disqualification, due to a disc brake irregularity, soured his weekend.

The story of the weekend was which maladies struck which drivers and what the outcome was.

Garth Tander’s weekend was derailed by a clutch problem, which left him chasing the whole field in Race 2. James Courtney had his pitlane speed limiter spontaneously activate itself in Race 1, sending him off the track several times before he retired. Thereafter, both men played chase in close proximity but Tander’s 27-point haul was his worst return of the season.

Rick Kelly continues to lead the series, the defending Champ adding to his lead despite mechanical woes (see breakout) and being held in pit lane when boxed in after making his tyre stop in Race 3.

There were plenty of incidents through all three races, even if the nature of the track continues to dictate single-lane racing. Red paint dominated the results and won all three races this time but, in overall terms, the orange and black Tolls continue to be the cars to beat in the series.

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Doing their dash: By their standards, Richo, JC, GT and JR, above, all had tough weekends. Worse, though, for Dean Canto, below, who added to Garry Rogers recent crash bill ...

race

Dirk Klynsmith

V8 Supercar | Round 5 EASTERN CREEK Pos # Driver

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

Team/Car

Q

r1

r2

r3

2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Commodore VE 2 1 1 3 22 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Commodore VE 1 4 5 1 1 Rick Kelly Toll HSV Dealer Team Commodore VE 3 3 2 4 888 Craig Lowndes Team Vodafone Falcon BF 16 9 4 2 88 Jamie Whincup Team Vodafone Falcon BF 4 2 3 exc 6 Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Falcon BF 5 6 6 7 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Falcon BF 11 11 7 6 Toll HSV Dealer Team Commodore VE 6 5 15 16 16 Garth Tander 17 Steven Johnson Jim Beam Racing Falcon BF 21 10 8 9 9 Russell Ingall Caltex Racing Falcon BF 14 7 11 12 18 Will Davison Jim Beam Racing Falcon BF 14 9 10 4 James Courtney Jeld-Wen Motorsport Falcon BF 9 dnf 14 8 25 Jason Bright Fujitsu Racing Falcon BF 7 8 22 14 51 Greg Murphy Tasman Motorsport Commodore VE 15 12 25 11 10 Jason Bargwanna WPS Racing Falcon BF 12 15 13 13 67 Paul Morris Team Sirromet Wines Commodore VE 25 17 10 15 33 Lee Holdsworth Valvoline Cummins Commodore VZ 24 23 12 dnf 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Commodore VE 10 13 24 16 50 Cameron McConvilleSCAR Commodore VZ 19 18 16 17 20 Paul Dumbrell SCAR Commodore VE 20 dnf 19 18 14 Simon Wills Team BOC Falcon BF 23 21 18 19 39 Fabian Coulthard Team Sirromet Wines Commodore VZ 26 dnf 17 20 8 Max Wilson WPS Racing Falcon BF 13 19 23 21 7 Shane Price Jack Daniel’s Racing Commodore VE 27 25 dnf 22 12 Andrew Jones Team BOC Falcon BF 29 24 dnf 23 111 John Bowe Glenfords Racing Falcon BF 28 22 21 24 11 Jack Perkins Jack Daniel’s Racing Commodore VE 18 20 20 25 26 Alan Gurr IRWIN Racing Falcon BF 30 26 dnf dnf 55 Steve Owen Autobarn Racing Commodore VZ 22 27 dnf dnf 34 Dean Canto Valvoline Cummins Commodore VE 17 16 dnf dns

Dirk Klynsmith

Points: R Kelly 276, Tander 251, T Kelly 205, Whincup 205, Skaife 169, Lowndes 148, Johnson 130, Courtney 125, Ingall 119, Winterbottom 116, S Richards 115, Davison 110, Murphy 94, Holdsworth 54, Bright 50, Radisich 36, J Richards 29, Owen 26, Morris 24, Wilson 21, Bargwanna 21, Price 16, McConville 13, Canto 11, Jones 8, Coulthard 2, Gurr 2.

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Dirk Klynsmith

Eastern Creek Notepad n Mark Skaife used his new HRT Commodore VE to win his record-setting round and unseat Peter Brock’s long-standing round wins record. Skaife started the year in the VE prototype built by Walkinshaw Performance and his new car, ironically enough, is chassis WP005 … n Appropriately, the first man to congratulate Skaife on the record after he emerged from the #2 Commodore was arch-rival and former teammate, Craig Lowndes.

n Team Kiwi Racing and Autobarn Racing usually share pitcrew members for their pit stops, but with TKR out of action, Autobarn were down men. Filling the void as Steve Owen’s car controller was the team’s endurance driver Tony D’Alberto.

D’Alberto is staying in Sydney to drive the Autobarn Commodore with Owen in a ride day on Wednesday at EC. n The crowds were small in Sydney, with 4250 there on Saturday, 9530 on Sunday and 15,350 on Monday for a threeday total of 29, 530.

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FAR be it for me to imply that Rick Kelly is a lucky driver. He is fast, skilled and determined, and in this caper, those things usually outweigh luck.

But, when a wheel hub starts smoking, it is often something that can either force a car out of a race or, conversely, prompt officials to make a decision that involves a black flag.

Ricko had a rear wheel hub smoke during Saturday’s practice session and then, another during Race 1. On neither occasion did the problems force the #1 car to stop.

A black flag? More than one rival team owner questioned whether any action should have been taken. Officials examined the situation but the normal procedure is that they act when a following driver reports that oil is on the track or their car, compromising either grip or visibility. The cars immediately behind Kelly at the time were Todd Kelly and Garth Tander and, despite the fact that their respective cars were liberally coated with oil after the race, neither driver complained during it.

In Race 2, after what seemed an interminable hold on the red light, a Toll car failed to get away at the jump but it was Tander’s, not Kelly’s, that suffered and thereafter faced a rearguard recovery. In the race, Rick was second and Tander 15th. Kelly left Sydney’s West with a firm lead in the series. On such small things, when put together, can a championship be built.

– PHIL BRANAGAN

Dirk Klynsmith

n Spare a thought for the hardworking mechanics at Garry Rogers Motorsport.

The horror run of the team continued when Dean Canto tangled with Jason Bargwanna in Race 2 and suffered enough damage to sit out the final outing, while Lee Holdsworth’s Commodore (only just repaired after its $130,000 Winton shunt) was an innocent bystander in the final race when it was knocked out of the race by Steve Owen.

Smoking is bad

Turnarounds, arm-wrestl

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Act Three, Scene Four – Skaife makes a comeback!

I THINK Tom Walkinshaw could well be stagemanaging a tense finish to the 2007 championship!

After a period of top results from the orange cars, it was the red ones’ turn this week (although my money’s on the orange ones at year’s end …).

Mark Skaife needed a big result to get back into the game and, complete with a new car, hey presto, there it was. There is no doubt in my mind that Tom’s engineers, and Triple Eight’s Ludo Lacroix are on top of what it takes to build the best V8 chassis. It’s

ANALYSIS Tomas Mezera Bathurst champion not all about stiffness – there are areas where a degree of softness is also desirable to make the most of the V8 tyres.

Whatever the gain has been with the new car is – be it engine or chassis – you can be sure it will soon appear on the rest of the Clayton cars.

In all seriousness, though, it was a faultless drive and, with the other drivers around him,

SKAIFE SHOWED YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE A HEAP OF 'OFFS' TO MAKE A GOOD RACE Skaife showed you don’t have to have a heap of ‘offs’ to make a good race. It was edge of the seat stuff.

If it was my race track, I’d make one or two small changes which would transform Eastern Creek into a much better (for passing) circuit. Firstly, I’d take the right-hand kink out of the last corner, and therefore tighten

the corner into a second-gear one. That would lengthen the straight which approaches it, and turn it into a genuine passing spot.

At the moment, it is relatively easy to cover yourself – this would make a big difference.

In the same way, I’d take the right out of the right-left across the back of the circuit – for exactly the same reason.

John Morris/Mpix

ling and championship mentality

Marshall Cass

WHAT a comeback. I spoke to Mark Skaife at length last week (for a V8Xtra spot) and he was very candid: Winton had been the low-point of his career. He simply hadn’t matched the car’s settings to the conditions, and hadn’t been able to drive it well enough.

Days like that do make you reflect on everything. It makes you wonder …

Fast forward a couple of weeks and what have you got?

A fresh new car, a good set-up, a front row start. Everything about the first two races was Mark Skaife at his peak – great

OPINION Neil Crompton Driver / Commentator cold tyre performance, no sideways stuff, no pinching of the brakes. Race 3 too was an intelligent measured effort after a slower start …

With it he has now broken Brock’s record. I dip my hat to an intelligent operator in what is a very complex sport.

There was plenty more for the real afficionado at Eastern Creek. The contest between two great teams, one Ford, one Holden, especially in that last

race was absorbing. If you like wheels being knocked off, then it wasn’t for you, but in terms of an arm-wrestle between four top drivers, it was rivetting – no mis-cues, no mistakes – and a great demonstration that the parity situation in V8s is right on.

And the championship?

I’m constantly impressed by the intelligent, mistake-free progress of Rick Kelly and his crew. That’s now 13 races with one fourth and one fifth as the worst results. That’s way ahead of his target, based on last year’s championship-winning effort …

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FORMULA 1 CANADA – ROUND 6

Short time coming Okay, so it had become pretty obvious that Lewis Hamilton was going to win a race this year. But to win in Canada, and have his closest championship rivals falter so spectacularly, was still very special to watch

By JOE SAWARD

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A

fter coming close to his first victory in Monte Carlo Lewis Hamilton took a stunning victory in Montreal – a race track he had never before visited.

It was his sixth Grand Prix, his sixth consecutive podium and the kid now leads the World Championship by eight points.

Hamilton was in command all the way, in control against what transpired to be his only serious challenger, Nick Heidfeld. Behind this duo there was chaos and confusion – and a number of reputations that were seriously dented.

Alonso was ragged; Raikkonen not a contender.

In the Safety Car roulette that ensued, Williams straggler Alex Wurz actually used a onestop strategy to luck into third.

The chaos included a very serious accident for Robert Kubica and the use of the

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new Safety Car rules for the first time. This led to mistakes, notably by Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg, both being penalised for stopping when the pitlane was closed, and Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella, both black- flagged for driving through a red light at the end of the pitlane.

The biggest danger for Hamilton came at the start, when team-mate Fernando Alonso, who had made a slightly better start, ran wide trying to drive around him into the first corner.

In the first of a rash of errors, the Spaniard slid over the runoff area and slewed across in front of Lewis. Hamilton avoided his errant team-mate and by the time Fernando had got it all together again, he was behind Nick Heidfeld.

Ferrari was not only outpaced but did not help its own cause when the two cars touched at the first corner,

which not only delayed Mark Webber, but enabled Rosberg to get between them.

Hamilton reeled off a series of fast laps to build a comfortable lead of almost 20s before he headed for the pits. Alonso was in trouble with his brakes and slid off several times, falling back and when Hamilton and Heidfeld pitted, the lead passed briefly to Massa.

The Ferrari cause was demolished moments later when Adrian Sutil hit the wall at the back of the circuit, and the first Safety Car was sent out.

Alonso and Rosberg dashed for the pits, in contravention of a new rule preventing stops until the cars are lined up behind the Safety Car and the pit lane is opened. This meant that both men were given 10s stop-go penalties.

From then on it was a rollercoaster of a race with one Safety Car after another. Up at

the front, Hamilton continued on his way, keeping his head, making sure that he made no mistakes at the restarts, tracked all the way by Heidfeld.

Alonso’s wild race continued with further off-track moments but somehow, by lap 42, he had managed to get back to eighth place.

It would have been easy for Hamilton to lose his nerve, especially with Heidfeld pushing as hard as he could at each restart, also hoping for his first win. But the young Brit kept it together perfectly.

In those final laps, as Alonso found himself unable to defend himself against a rampant Takuma Sato (on the faster ‘harder’ rubber), Hamilton held steady. It was the race of a veteran. A man in control.

It is fair to say that pit lane can now begin to talk about the possibility of a rookie World Champion …

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Crunch: Robert Kubica was seriously lucky to escape serious injury after a mammoth shunt heading down towards the hairpin.

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Off the pace: Alonso and Raikkonen both struggled in Canada, above, while Nick Heidfeld stepped up to be Hamilton’s only real challenger, right. Alex Wurz scored the final podium spot, below, having started from grid 19!

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My mum could have got points!

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THE Red Bull team played Russian Roulette with the Safety Car and lost.

After a strong second stint and a couple of Safety Cars got him back into contention, Mark Webber found himself second on the road to race leader Lewis Hamilton, but with a stop still to make.

“It was a gamble,” Webber told us on Monday.

“If I’d pitted under green, from second, fourth place was on the cards, but the team kept me out there, gambling against a Safety Car, hoping for third.

“However, there was a Safety Car, and that was that – we went to the back of the queue.

“Other than the front two, it was an absolute lottery – I reckon my Mum could have scored points today!”

While team-mate David Coulthard retired with a gearbox-related problem, Webber’s race was, technically at least, reasonable.

“We did wind down the engine a bit at one point, to help cool the gearbox, but the car was strong – we had a reasonably strong second stint,” he reported.

Taku 1, Alonso nil embarrassing ‘mis-cue’ at Turn 1; a drive-through and then … with a few laps to go, a Super Aguri not only filling the McLaren’s mirrors, but slicing past.

Okay, Takuma was on the faster of the tyre options, but round the outside into the chicane?

Tough day at the office, Fernando …

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YOU know you’ve had a bad day when Takuma Sato goes around the outside of your McLaren into the final chicane to deny you a point.

That was the final act in a weekend defending world champion Fernando Alonso will want to forget – outqualified by his rampant young team-mate; an

Making good of bad WHAT a day! The race in Montreal was one of those events that is not going to be forgotten in a hurry – with Lewis Hamilton scoring his first victory and Robert Kubica surviving an accident which, for a few moments, had many fearing the worst.

The Formula 1 cars of today have phenomenal strength and the safety measures are simply astonishing. But for the efforts of the FIA and the engineers who have helped, Robert Kubica would not be with us. A crash like that a few years ago would have been

OPINION Joe Saward Formula 1 fatal. There would have been no escape.

Alex Wurz, who does a lot of work in driver training, made the point after the race: Formula 1 needs to continue to work on its safety, but the world should also stop and think about road accidents and try to use the lessons learned to the benefit of mankind in general.

Renault gets hornier; Ferrari in a flap Technical Editor PAOLO FILISETTI reveals the latest tweaks from Montreal FOLLOWING on from the introduction of ‘horn’ winglets by Renault in pre-season testing in Bahrain, positioned halfway between the front axle and the cockpit and designed to improve airflow management around the cockpit and reduce turbulence, a couple of nose winglets have also been placed up there to increase their effect.

They improve airflow management immediately in front of and over the upper suspension wishbone, cleaning up the airflow directed into the sidepods and towards the rear of the car.

This helps overall aero efficiency by reducing drag and turbulence. The front ends of the R27, looks even sharper than before, improving the car’s driveability and overall dynamic balance.

Beside the adoption of a new front wing assembly, Ferrari unveiled an all-new rear wing in Canada.

The new wing, specifically for medium to lowdownforce configuration, as required by this track, features a completely new main profile and flap. The profile sports a double curve, with the central section being lower and tapering up to the extremities smoothly – exactly the opposite in comparison to the previous one that featured a central section higher then the extremities.

The transition from each section to the next one is smoother, improving the management of the airflow passing over and under the main profile.

This helps in terms of more consistent quality of the airflow, thus increasing the efficiency of the wing.

F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | Round 5 MONACO Pos #

Driver

Team

1 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 2 9 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 3 17 Alex Wurz Williams-Toyota 4 4 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 5 6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 6 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 7 1 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 8 11 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 9 15 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 10 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 11 23 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 12 8 Rubens Barrichello Honda Not Classified dnf 12 Jarno Trulli Toyota dnf 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Ferrari dnf 21 Christijan Albers Spyker-Ferrari dnf 14 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault dnf 10 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber dnf 20 Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari dnf 19 Scott Speed STR-Ferrari dnf 7 Jenson Button Honda dsq 5 Felipe Massa Ferrari dsq 3 Giancarlo Fisichella 51 laps

Fastest Lap: Alonso on Lap 46, 1:16.367

Time

Qual

1:44:11.292 +4.3secs +5.3secs +6.7secs +13.0secs +16.6secs +21.9secs +22.8secs +22.9secs +23.9secs +24.3secs +30.4secs

1 3 19 22 4 11 2 18 6 7 17 13

58 laps 54 laps 47 laps 36 laps 26 laps 21 laps 8 laps 0 laps 51 laps 9

10 12 21 14 8 20 16 15 5

F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | Driver’s points Points: Hamilton 48, Alonso 40, Massa 33, Raikkonen 33, Heidfeld 26, Fisichella 13, Kubica 12, Wurz 8, Kovalainen 8, Rosberg 5, Coulthard 4, Sato 4, Trulli 4.

F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | Constructor’s points Points: McLaren-Mercedes 88, Ferrari 60, BMW 38, Renault 21, Williams-Toyota 13, Toyota 6, Red Bull-Renault 4, Super Aguri-Honda 4.

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AUSTRALIAN DRAG RACING WINTERNATIONALS

Winter Warmers The Willowbank Winternationals wrapped up the 2006/07 Australian Drag Racing Season ... and there were a number of feel good stories

By KEN FERGUSON 34

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Ken Ferguson

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Ken Ferguson

P

ERSISTENCY pays off was definitely the motto for Top Fuel racer Roy Smith who, as the only current active racer who also competed at the very first Winternationals back in 1968, finally secured his very first four second pass at Willowbank Raceway’s 40th Castrol Edge Winternationals at the weekend.

It may have taken Smith 40 years to reach the four second milestone, but Phil Lamattina stole the show with a swag of four second passes of his own, as well as the top qualifier

award and a well-deserved win in the Top Fuel final. He took the gold over newly-crowned back-to-back class Champion Phil Read.

John Zappia thrilled the crowd with plenty of 6.0s passes on his way to the Top Doorslammer final, and saved his best for last, taking glory over Ben Bray in the final with only the second five second Doorslammer pass at Willowbank, going 5.99s to secure the victory.

Wayne Newby took all the spoils in Top Alcohol, claiming the national championship,

and capped it off with a hardfought win over visiting American Ron August Jnr in the final.

Tyronne Tremayne claimed his first gold Christmas tree with a tough win over Shane Tucker in the Pro Stock class, after earlier top qualifying his Pontiac, while Brett Stevens Racing filled both spots in the final of Top Bike, Stevens defeating team-mate Troy McLean.

Dion Prowse racked up another win for Brett Stevens Racing with a great win in Pro Stock Bike, also claiming the

championship in his maiden year.

Steve Ham grabbed his first-ever Comp Eliminator Winternationals win in his awesome AA/Altered with his best ever numbers, 6.25s/205mph, while Ross Sacre took a solo win in Super Stock in his Pontiac. He also secured the national Super Stock championship.

Grab a copy of Motorsport News (available July 27th) for a full Willowbank Winternationals event report and season highlights ...

Ken Ferguson Ken Ferguson

Ken Ferguson

The final blast: Opposite page, Roy Smith finally broke into the 4.0s barrier in Top Fuel. Top, Read won the championship, but Lamattina had the last laugh.

Above left, Jon Andriopoulos wrapped up the Pro Stock championship in his Dodge, but Tyronne Tremayne took the Pro Stock win. Zappia, above right, was too good in Top Doorslammer. Right, Dion Prowse remained undefeated in Pro Stock Bike.

Ken Ferguson

Ken Ferguson

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MOTOGP CATALUNYA – ROUND 7

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Best of Friends

Australian Casey Stoner won his fourth MotoGP of the year after an amazing Spanish contest

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sutton-images.com

C

ASEY Stoner won what was, quite simply, one of the greatest races of the MotoGP era at Barcelona last Sunday after an epic battle with Valentino Rossi and Danny Pedrosa that will be talked about for decades to come.

In front of 112,000 screaming Spaniards, the Aussie twice lost the lead to Rossi but fought off the Italian (seven world titles) and Pedrosa (three) to win by 0.07s.

“The whole team did a great job this weekend and proved wrong people who said we can’t win on European tracks,”

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Stoner beamed after the great race.

“All three of us had our strong points and our weak points around the circuit.

“I was just trying to minimise my weak points and cover my lines, and it worked out. ”It was such a close race, no one could go away, it was very, very enjoyable to be racing that close.”

Even Rossi was enthusiastic; “What a race! Even if I’m disappointed not to win, it’s a great emotion to be part of a race like that and fantastic fun.

“It really was an amazing battle to the end with many wonderful overtaking manoeuvres by both of us in

all different parts of the track!”

Suzuki’s John Hopkins was fourth and Randy de Puniet (who qualified second on his Kawasaki) made it five manufacturers in the top five positions. The Frenchman, black and blue after his Mugello crash, survived a collision with Toni Elias to fly the green Kawasaki flag.

Stoner’s fourth win of the season stretches his points lead to 14, after winning on a track where The Doctor has scored nine previous victories.

Aussie Chris Vermeulen was seventh on his Suzuki.

J

ORGE Lorenzo played with the opposition for half of

the 250cc race before clearing away to score a supremely dominant win.

Alex de Angelis bested Andrea Dovizioso for second, while Aussie Ant West crashed out of 13th place on the final lap.

T

OMOYOSHI Koyama joined the list of first-time winners in the 125cc race when he outfoxed Gabor Talmasci on the final lap.

After starting 16th, Swiss Randy Krummenacher made it a 1-3 for Red Bull KTM. Lukas Pesek blotted his copybook for the secondstraight race by falling before remounting to finish 13th.

Was it the greatest-ever race?

Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, above, finished third behind Ducati star Casey Stoner, opposite page, and Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi, left. Below, John Hopkins qualified on the front-row on his Suzuki and chased the leading three the whole way. Randy de Puniet’s fifth spot made it five different manufacturers in the top five.

MOTOGP | CHAMPIONSHIP points MotoGP points: Stoner 140, Rossi 126, Pedrosa 98, Melandri 75, Vermeulen and Hopkins 72, Capirossi 57, Barros 51, Elias and Edwards 45.

250cc points: Lorenzo 153, Dovizioso 117, de Angelis 115, Bautista 100, Barbera 71, Luthi 56, Simon 52, Kallio 40.

125cc points: Talmasci 115, Faubel 102, Pesek 94, Corsi 80, Gadea 79, Koyama 6 Esparago 57, Smith 54.

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GLOBE TROTTER

100 for #1 in Portland CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES

mike-patrick.com

SPEEDWAY GP

sutton-images.com

ANDREAS Jonsson of Sweden stunned a 30,000 crowd at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen on Saturday when he snatched victory in the FIM Dansk Metal Danish Speedway Grand Prix from home favourites Nicki Pedersen and Hans Andersen.

Mildura’s Leigh Adams came close to winning a second successive GP and, once again, earned himself a place in the final.

– TONY MILLARD

SEBASTIEN Bourdais made history in Portland last weekend, and in more ways than one.

For starters, he became the first driver to win a Champ Car World Series race from a standing start, a process featuring for the first time at the Grand Prix of Portland.

The Frenchman also racked up the 100th win for Newman Hass Linigan Racing, having overhauled pole-sitter and early race leader Justin Wilson after the second round of stops to win by nearly 14s.

“I don’t think I made history, I think I just participated in it for my team,” said Bourdais.

“It’s obviously a fantastic organization with three great team owners. [I’m] just very, very honored to be a part of this.”

Wilson and Robert Doornbos rounded out the podium.

Team Australia’s Will Power had an up-and-down race on his way to a fourth place finish.

After jumping from grid spot seven to fourth with a great start, Power ran as high as third before dropping behind Doornbos at the finish.

Points: Bourdais 105, Power 94, Doornbos 87, Alex Tagliani 78, Wilson 69.

David Ostaszewski

NHRA LARRY Dixon tied legend Drag Racer Kenny Bernstein with his 39th career Top Fuel win at Joliet, taking out the 10th annual NHRA Nationals.

Also grabbing victories were former POWERade champs Gary Scelzi in Funny Car, and Jeg Coughlin Jr, who won Pro Stock.

– DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

24 wet and wild hours at ‘The Ring’ NURBURGRING 24H MANTHEY Racing has taken its second Nurburgring 24-Hour win thanks to the efforts of Timo Bernhard, Marc Dear, Romain Dumas and Marcel Tiemann.

Mother Nature was the Porsche squad’s most fierce opponent, torrential rain

causing a two-hour delay to the start of the race before heavy fog saw a five-hour break in the middle.

The Dodge Viper of Duncan Hulsman, Tom Coronel, Simon Patrick and Christopher Bouchout was second outright with the Porsche of Marc Bassend, Marc Hennerici, Dirk Adorf

and Frank Strippler rounding out the podium.

The Australian VIP Petfoods team were hampered by contact with a BMW just before midnight, dropping the Porsche 997 of Tony and Klark Quinn, Craig Baird and Kevin Bell down the order.

They recovered to finish 12th outright.

F3 EUROSERIES

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sutton-images.com

AUSSIE Michael Patrizi finished 17th and 13th in the two Euroseries races at Brands Hatch last weekend.

The wins were shared

by Romain Grosjean and Edoardo Mortara

race

Rain helps Gordon at Pocono NASCAR

NASCAR Media

DTM

Hot Texan Nights IRL INDYCAR SAM Hornish Jr put Penske back in Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend, leading home the Andretti-Green duo of Tony Kanaan and Danica Patrick.

It was a close finish, with Kanaan less than 0.1s behind the winner at the finish. Third for Patrick was her career best finish in IRL Indycar.

Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti had gearbox problems which led to him losing fifth gear altogether. However he hung on to finish fourth and retain his lead in the series.

Target Chip Ganassi drivers Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon were caught out in a multi-car pileup on Lap 198.

Points: Franchitti 253, Kanaan 241, Dixon 234, Wheldon 223, Hornish Jr 226. sutton-images.com

REIGNING DTM Champion Bernd Schneider took his first race win of season 2007 at Brands Hatch last weekend.

Pit strategy was the key for Schneider, an early first stop jumping him from his sixth grid spot to the front, before a battle for the lead with Martin Tomczyk following the second rounds of stops. Tomczyk had the pace to hassle Schneider, but couldn’t find a way past.

Pole-sitter Mika Hakkinen fell out of contention when he stalled during his second stop.

Points: J Gordon 2249, Kenseth 2007, Hamlin 2002, Jimmie Johnson 1944, Jeff Burton 1828.

NASCAR Media

Champ back in the DTM game

JEFF Gordon won a rain delayed and ultimately shortened race at Pocono Raceway on Sunday.

Gordon’s Hendrick crew made a gutsy move on pit strategy when the skies darkened towards the end of the race, and the move paid huge dividends after the Chevs of Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart dominated what should have been a 200 lap event that ended at lap 106.

“It was an unbelievable pit strategy that Steve Letarte (Gordon’s crew chief ) played

out,” said Gordon.

“I’m still pinching myself and can’t believe we’re on our way to victory lane today.”

It was Gordon’s fourth win of the year, and sees him leading Matt Kenseth by a comfortable 242 points as they head to Michigan this weekend.

Ryan Newman scored his fifth straight pole and came home second, with Martin Truex Jr in third.

Earlier in the week Truex Jr won his first Cup race at Dover.

– MARTIN D CLARK

Carl the Concreter BUSCH SERIES CARL Edwards took his fourth win of the 2007 Busch Series on the concrete of Nashville SuperSpeedway last weekend.

Edwards won convincingly after hauling in early leader Clint Bowyer with 32 laps to go.

“We fell back at the beginning, made some adjustments, had great pit stops and then at the end we had that long green flag run,’’ Edwards said.

Marcos Ambrose’s weekend started strongly with fifth in qualifying, but engine failure ended his day early.

Points: Edwards 2460, Kevin Harvick 1798, Dave Blaney 1750, David Reutimann 1649, (Ambrose 1508).

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Ash’s hat-trick FORMULA FORD

John Morris/Mpix

THERE has never been any question about the talent of 19-year-old CAMS Rising Star Ashley Walsh, but thus far he has lacked consistency in his quest for the Australian Formula Ford Championship.

But at Eastern Creek Raceway Walsh seemed to have turned the corner, scoring a clean sweep by taking pole position and all three races in sensational fashion. From qualifying through to the third and final race Walsh was unstoppable, making him the round four winner over Championship leader Tim Blanchard and James Moffat.

The round was marred by a nasty crash in the second race that saw Nick Percat and Brad Lowe come together entering

the fastest part of the circuit; Turn 1.

The incident occurred when Lowe was dicing with Percat for second place, with Percat trying in vain to block Lowe from coming past on the inside, resulting in the pair tangling wheels.

Both drivers spun in the opposite direction, with Percat spinning into the inside wall and Lowe spearing back across the circuit and into the path of a closely following CAMS Rising Star driver Kristian Lindbom, who was at full speed.

Unfortunately Lowe suffered a broken foot in the accident.

Percat was charged under the National Competition Rules following the race.

– DANIEL POWELL Points: Blanchard 200 points, Moffat 162, Walsh 139, Lindbom 122, Glen Wood 100.

Marshall Cass

The Comeback King AUSSIE RACING CARS

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Points: Kemal 149, J Ward 146, B Ward 143, James Manderson 135, Ben McCashney 131.

CHEVROLET Camaro driver Steve Mason came out on top in the Biante Touring Car Masters action at Eastern Creek Raceway last weekend.

A second place finish in Race 2 behind Brad Tilley spoiled Mason’s perfect weekend, which saw him take out Races 1 and 3.

Race two victor Tilley ended the weekend in second place overall after finishing with a win and two third places.

Gavin Bullas was third overall after placing second, fourth and second in the three races.

Bullas held down the lead in Race 2 but was given a drive-through penalty for jumping the start and finished down the order in fourth place.

– DANIEL POWELL

James Smith

FUJITSU V8 Supercar Series competitor David Sieders made a return to the Aussie Racing Car Series at Eastern Creek last weekend and came away with the round honours and three wins ofrom the four races.

The perfect run for Sieders was only spoiled in the fourth and final race when 17-year-old rookie sensation Richard Rapa claimed victory ahead of Sieders and Nick Lowe.

Reigning Champ Paul Kemal was in

the wars over the weekend.

Having qualified third he suffered a DNF in Race 1 after early contact with Sieders.

Kemal worked his way up to eighth in Race 2 after starting from the rear of the grid and in Race 3 finished second behind Sieders. Kemal had his second DNF of the weekend when he failed to greet the finish of Race 4 due to alternator woes.

– DANIEL POWELL

Big Blue Chev

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One is enough for Johnson V8 UTES

John Morris/Mpix

WEST Australian Grant Johnson took out his first round victory of the Yokohama V8 Ute Series at Eastern Creek Raceway last weekend despite only taking one of the three race wins, continuing the Holden Commodore reign at the Sydney circuit.

But Layton Crambrook was the star of the weekend aboard his newly acquired BF Ford Falcon XR8, taking victory in the opening race in wet weather conditions and finishing a superb fifth in the Top-16 reverse grid race.

Heading into the third and final race it was Crambrook that started from pole position by virtue of being the highest point score after Races 1 and 2.

Unfortunately he was caught out by car set-up in the final, dropping to a disappointing seventh by the finish.

After finishing behind Crambrook in the first two races, Johnson was able to take the victory in the third to seal his round victory. Johnson scored a comprehensive Race

3 win ahead of Gary Baxter and current Yokohama V8 Ute series point standings leader Jack Elsegood.

Earlier in the weekend it was New Zealand driver Chris Pither who topped the time sheets

in qualifying during Saturday’s rained soaked session, ahead of Charlie Kovacs and Johnson.

Crambrook found the going a little tougher in qualifying and was 16th.

The reverse grid top 16 race

two saw rookie driver Andrew Fisher take the win, holding out ex-NASCAR racer Kim Jane and Matthew Kingsley.

– DANIEL POWELL Points: Elsegood 230, Johnson 223, Jane 208, Fisher 193, Baxter 187.

Young and the restless PERFORMANCE CARS

Dirk Klynsmith

A WIN and a pair of second places were enough to net Gary Young the honours in the second round of the Australian Performance Car Championship at Eastern Creek Raceway last weekend.

After qualifying third, Young was able to take the victory in Race 2 and finish second in Races 1 and 3.

Barrie Nesbitt took out the third race, which included

a pit-stop over the 16-lap distance, and claimed third for the round overall. Nesbitt grabbed command of the lead in the latter stages from King, and from there was never headed.

Pole sitter and Race 1 winner Mark King was unable to carry on the form over Races 2 and 3, finishing with a second and fourth place.

– DANIEL POWELL Points: King 113, Young 112, Nesbitt 103, Tony Alford 70, Tim Poulton 67.

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rear of grid

Give us a break!

A

S the weekend approached and NSW sank under the weight of rain, rain, rain, a couple of The Punter’s mates started questioning whether they would head to Eastern Creek after all.

It was looking quite glum and there was a serious debate as to whether it was really worth taking the gamble on the weather – especially without a grandstand seat.

In the end, we all did the right thing and made the early start in order to get there before qualifying on Saturday!

However, our decision was purely due to us being a bunch of hopeless V8 Supercar tragics and not, definitely not, helped by the pre-race promotion offered by whoever is in charge of PR in V8 land.

Is it just me, or is the sight of four of our youngest V8 stars cowering against the wind and rain, on top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, grinning like idiots, just plain stupid?

Because that’s what Seven News had to offer on Thursday night as their V8 news item.

D’oh. Let’s see – Sydney

equals Harbour Bridge. Wow! That’s original. That’ll bring the crowds flocking to The Creek!

Give us a break!

I wouldn’t know where to start with PR, but it seems to me that V8 drivers – who deserve the public’s respect and admiration for performing in a dangerous and highly competitive environment – deserve better than to be portrayed and used like trained chimps. They look silly.

And who suggested it would be a good look for Richo and Co to make out they were on a surf ski when rain held things up on Saturday. Please. It’s light-weight and demeaning and does nothing for the image of the sport or its stars.

They get up to that sort of mindless stuff on the Footy Show, but let’s leave that to the brain-surgeons in League shall we? Let’s not dumb-down motorsport.

I’m pretty sure there are things going on in V8s that (a) are news, and (b) might even convince a wavering punter to head to the races?

The people in V8 PR need to raise their game.

Odd Spot

And who suggested it would be a good look for Richo to make out he was on a surf ski when rain held thiNGS up on saturday?

Even with wet tyres on ...

Dirk Klynsmith

THIS photo is just for readers who heard about the lack of on-track activity at Eastern Creek on Saturday and were saying things like ‘race car drivers are such wusses, scared of a little bit of water.’

Well it wasn’t just a little bit of water, it was a whole lot of water. It was genuinely too much water to send cars out on.

There would have been those in the paddock with flashes of déjà vu to Lakeside 1989 and 1996, where racing was put on hold for a whole week thanks to the torrential rain.

This time we only had to wait until Monday ...

punter@mnews.com.au

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