Motorsport eNews Issue 10 - June 26-July 2, 2007

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Issue No. 010 26 June - 2 July 2007

FROSTY RE-SIGNS

A Factory racer until 2010

How craig Won in the valley

V8SA STATUS QUO

Montoya’s FIRST Cup Win

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. 010 | 26 June – July 2 2007

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news 4 The Frost Report

Winterbottom re-signs 7 Wanna go Straight? Sequentials in for V8s 8 Red Faces Sabotage at Ferrari?

10 Wembley, not Trembly Michael returns for ROC

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chat 18 5 minutes with ... Ludovic Lacroix 20 Tyred and Emotional Walls, on the record opinion 43 The Punter Get out and about, Neil

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 trade

22 DarwinFone 30 Casey Cane

Lowndes on top in Top End Brilliant Stoner rocks UK

40 Trade and Industry / Raceshop 42 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) Motorsport eNews is published by Australasian Motorsport News ABN 55 125 120 702 Publisher: C Lambden Copyright: Material published in Motorsport eNews is copyright and may not be reproduced in full or in part without the written permission of the publisher.

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

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welcome David Reynolds and Dean Fiore enjoy the good life, racing Porsches and kicking back in the sunny Northern Territory

V8SA steadies the ship V8 SUPERCARS

Ash Budd

THERE are to be no changes in the leading roles in V8 Supercars Australia, following meetings and announcements in Darwin last weekend.

An informal meeting of the category’s stakeholders was held in Darwin on Saturday evening, with team owners present to discuss the roles within the category.

As a result, the teams have seemingly stepped back from the hard-line position hinted at by TEGA Board members following a couple of controversial comments made by V8SA Chairman Tony Cochrane recently, after which it seemed possible that Cochrane’s position as Chairman would be challenged.

Following the meeting – which was not a formal meeting of TEGA or V8 Supercars Australia – it was announced via a brief

statement that Tony Cochrane will continue in his current role, until the end of the year at least: “Tony Cochrane remains appointed the Chairman of V8 Supercars Australia until the end of 2007. Tony continues to have the very strong support of the V8 Supercar teams in his role as Chairman.

“He has every intention of continuing to play a strong role in the ongoing growth of the Championship in the immediate and foreseeable future.

“There is no agenda item listed for the next board meeting in relation to the position of Chairman of V8 Supercars Australia.”

One of the reasons that V8SA may have placed a time constraint on Cochrane’s appointment may be to allow for the possibility of restructuring of the organisation. It is known TEGA Chairman John Hewson, and

Power plays: From left, Dick Johnson, V8SA CEO Wayne Cattach and TEGA General Manager Kelvin O'Reilly. other members of the TEGA board, are discussing the merits of streamlining the current two-level structure, with boards at both TEGA and V8SA level, into a single organisation, possibly before the end of the year. Any such move is likely to require an allnew Board structure.

At the same time, TEGA has extended its deal with General Manager Kelvin O’Reilly.

The former chairman, who relinquished that role when Hewson took over earlier this year, will remain in his position until the end of 2010, though his job title may change, should there be a restructure.

Freedom of speech – it’s official V8 SUPERCARS

See Opinion (page 20, race coverage page 22)

Ash Budd

V8 SUPERCAR drivers – and teams – have been licensed to tell it like it is!

A meeting of all teams and drivers, along with some media in Darwin on Friday was told that the V8 Supercar Board had realised that its stringent regulations relating to public comment by drivers is affecting the sport’s profile in the daily media.

In a major about-turn, drivers are now being encouraged to ‘tell it like it is’, to build up personal rivalries. Personalities such as Shane Warne, Anthony Mundine, Glenn McGrath were used as illustrations, as were rivalries such as that in athletics between Jana Pitman and Tamsyn Lewis.

While the charge of ‘bringing the sport into disrepute’ has in the past muzzled drivers, it is not likely to be brought under the new policy – although officials remain off limits.

Drivers responded immediately, with Russell Ingall and Greg Murphy critical of Will Davison after Race 1 and Mark Skaife less than complimentary of his own team-mate after Race 3.

news

Winterbottom secures Falcon future V8 SUPERCARS

Marshall Cass

MARK Winterbottom is a Ford Performance Racing man for the next three years.

Following a strong start to the season, FPR team manager Tim Edwards and commercial director Rod Barrett have negotiated an extension of Frosty’s contract until the end of the 2010 season.

“We have taken up the option, and we are very happy about it,” Barrett said yesterday (Monday).

“We wanted to take the lead and show that Mark was a wanted man within the team, and we had a deadline of August 1. But we started talking about a month before we actually needed to, because we felt it was important. He signed on a deal on the weekend and we could not be more pleased for Mark, the sponsors and the team.”

Winterbottom said that one of the reasons for staying with the team was confidence.

“It’s good to get this locked in, it has been a bit of work but I have not been looking around,” he said.

“It is a matter of getting it right so that we can all be happy. It is good to run for a factory team and it was not hard to sign. We have the same engineers, with Clinton [Wilson] and Phil Keed both staying with the team, so we are working well. It is a great thing to have continuity and confidence for the next few years.”

Winterbottom, 26, is in his second season with the Ford factory squad, and was the blue oval’s best-performed driver in 2006, winning the Sandown 500 and finishing third in the V8 Supercar Championship Series. He is currently eighth in the 2007 pointscore.

– PHIL BRANAGAN

BRIEFLY... n Tickets are on-sale for the Sandown 500. The Melbourne enduro classic, set for September 14-16, will once again feature Students Day on the Friday of the Event and access to the V8 Supercar and Support Paddock is free when any ticket is purchased. Tickets are now on sale from Ticketmaster and can be purchased via phone 1300 136 122, by visiting www. ticketmaster.com.au or through any Ticketmaster agency. n Grant Denyer will be back behind the wheel next week – but in another tarmac rally. The Channel 7 star will line up in the new July SunCoast Rally in Queensland behind the wheel of a Les Waldken-run Subaru STi with Dale Moscatt alongside to call the roads.

The duo most recently teamed up in a Mini for Targa Tasmania.

With the sale of the Supercheap Auto Racing V8 Supercar team not going through as originally planned to the No Limit Group owned by his father, Carrera Cup racer Marcus Marshall looks to be back on the open market for Sandown and Bathurst.

The Gold Coaster could be a prime candidate to line-up alongside Kiwi Kayne Scott in the second Jack Daniel's Commodore for the two endurance races. n

MINI Challenge goes Oz One-make series approved by CAMS for 2008; 20-plus cars on order MINI CHALLENGE THE one-make MINI Challenge Series has been given the green light by CAMS to start racing in 2008.

It will be run by Cup Car Australia, which adds the new series alongside Carrera Cup within its portfolio.

Backed by MINI’s parent company BMW, over 20 brand new R56 generation cars have been ordered for the series, with an eight-round

series to be held next year.

Category management are in discussions with V8 Supercars Australia about the series running on the V8 schedule.

All cars run a turbocharged 1.6-litre engine and will be built to a global racing specification in Germany in late 2007 before being exported to Australia in time for the series to kick off in 2008.

“The series is the ideal entry point to motor racing with competitors expected to be

drawn from the ambitionrich ranks of go-karting and open-wheel formulae,” said Justin Hocevar, MINI National Manager.

The MINI Challenge Series has proven popular since it began in New Zealand last year and recently supported the V8 Supercar round at Pukekohe.

The six-speed, 210horsepower machines took part in a seven-round series in 2006/2007.

– AARON NOONAN

news

V8s get into sequence Teams to have H-pattern/sequential gearbox choice for 2008 season V8 SUPERCARS

TKR to miss QR

John Morris/Mpix

V8 SUPERCAR teams may switch to sequential gearboxes from the start of 2008.

TEGA has approved the use of a new six-speed Holinger RD6 (the same unit used briefly by a number of teams in Hpattern form at the end of the 2003 season) and teams will be able to choose between H-pattern and sequential configurations.

While there are some tracks and circumstances where an Hpattern might still be ‘quicker’, it is expected that most teams will make the switch.

Teams may continue to use the Holinger box which has been in use until now, the H6S, but will not be able to update it to sequential specification.

The update kits which allowed that are no longer available.

The Fujitsu Series will continue, for now, to use the existing Hpattern H6S. The price of the RD6 will be fixed at the current cost of the

H6S and teams will be allowed only a limited number of the new units, with two-car teams allowed to buy three units and single-car teams two. Teams will still be permitted to fit third-party internals (like gears and dog rings), so long as

they meet the specification of the originals. As before, ratios remain fixed.

Holinger beat off applications from at least one other supplier to retain the control supply contract.

– PHIL BRANAGAN

IT appears likely that Team Kiwi Racing will not contest the next round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Queensland Raceway (July 22).

The squad has been allowed to miss the past two race meetings and is likely to use its last ‘get out of jail free’ card at Queensland Raceway, although there are a few deals and decisions that could change things.

One of the settlement options between TKR and Ford Performance Racing could see the #021 Falcon return to David John’s hands, or a deal could be struck with another V8 Supercar team.

Team Kiwi recently collected most of its racing equipment from FPR’s Melbourne base, including a trailer, lap top computers, tools and various pit equipment.

– GRANT ROWLEY

sutton-images.com

FERRARI: SABOTAGE? FORMULA 1

Is this why Ferrari’s form has slumped?

FORMULA 1

to dismiss it. Whether there is any merit in the Ferrari action remains to be seen, but there is no doubt that Stepney’s reputation has been damaged by the publicity and by the fact that he is not there to defend himself.

Contacted in the Philippines

by The Sunday Times, Stepney said that he is the victim of a ‘dirty tricks campaign’ and says that he is confident that he will be cleared.

“Everything is in the hands of my lawyer,” he said. “We’ll wait and see what happens.”

Stepney says he is on a planned holiday and that Ferrari knows exactly where he is, as his bookings were made through the Ferrari team travel office.

– JOE SAWARD

a request is made to the court

sutton-images.com

THERE are reports from Italy that Ferrari’s current lack of front-running competitiveness may be due to a recent catastrophic failure of the rolling-road element of the team’s wind tunnel at Maranello.

The reports have not been denied by the team, which is usually quick to deny any misplaced stories.

The rolling roads used in F1 aerodynamics these days are steel belts about 1mm thick, weigh about 70kg, and which roll at over 290kmh. The consequences of a breakage of the belt, at speed – as is rumoured – are spectacular.

For a team like Ferrari, which relies on only one windtunnel, such a failure would be a very serious problem – and may well explain why both McLaren and BMW have made progress relative to the red cars of late.

While Ferrari has been working very closely with Fluent Inc to develop better computational fluid dynamics software and to do much more aerodynamic simulation, progress has not yet remotely rendered a wind tunnel obsolete.

CFD is being adopted by BMW Sauber while other teams, such as Williams, Toyota, Honda and Renault have built second tunnels.

– JOE SAWARD

sutton-images.com

Wind tunnel blow-out?

FERRARI has filed a complaint with the public prosection service in Modena against Nigel Stepney, right, the team’s technical coordinator for the last 14 years.

The Italian press is full of reports of sabotage, involving white powders that were found inside a Ferrari fuel tank in the days before the Monaco Grand Prix. According to these stories, the substance was sent to a police laboratory in Parma for evaluation.

There have also been allegations flying around that Stepney has been selling Ferrari equipment to other teams. The police have searched Stepney’s apartment in Serramazzone, not far from the team headquarters in Maranello, and have taken away some items for further investigation.

Stepney was a key player in building up the team to enable it to win a string of World Championships with Michael Schumacher between 1999 and 2004.

The team is refusing to say anything about the action although Jean Todt told the Gazzetta dello Sport that “the fact that we have handed a report to the prosecutor shows that we have discovered something illegal.”

Stepney was overlooked for promotion when Ferrari was restructured last year. He was not happy about the situation and annoyed Ferrari by speaking to journalists about the situation. This led to him being taken off the race team this season. That, however, is hardly sufficient motive for sabotage.

Stepney’s contract with Ferrari runs out at the end of this year and he made no secret of the fact that he was talking to other teams. The interesting point is that he is believed to have offered Honda not just his own services but also those of a group of engineers, most of them believed to be employed currently at Ferrari.

This will not have gone down well at Maranello.

It remains to be seen whether anything will come of Ferrari’s complaint. If there is an investigation and sufficient evidence is found for an indictment then a trial may be ordered, but otherwise the case will remain open unless

news

Survivor: Cologne RALF Schumacher has survived plans to oust him from his seat at Panasonic Toyota Racing.

The German was given the two North American races to improve his performance. He lucked in to a point in Canada after a chaotic race, and then went off at the first corner in Indianapolis. That looked like being the final straw, but while Ralf was at Silverstone testing, his fate was being decided in Japan – it seems that the Japanese executives have decided not to risk changing a driver in the mid-season.

Given that Schumacher is being paid US$18m a year, it is not surprising that Toyota is asking for better performance, and while the Toyota car is obviously not very good – it only seems to show well in tests and free practice sessions – Jarno Trulli has scored two sevenths and a sixth, which is considerably better than Ralf.

Replacing Schumacher would involve an element of risk because the obvious replacement – test driver Franck Montagny – does not have a lot of F1 racing experience, although he has done thousands of kilometres of testing in recent years.

sutton-images.com

FORMULA 1

OPINION

THE decision to retain the Joe Saward driver status Formula 1 Correspondent quo at Toyota looks to be motivated by corporate caution and is a further indication that the mindset within the Toyota hierarchy is perhaps unsuited to Formula 1’s rapid decision-making culture.

The removal last year of Mike Gascoyne sent out bad signals about the way in which the team is run. Gascoyne is widely seen as a man who understands how to make F1 teams more competitive and his rejection by Toyota was a clear sign that the company does not want to accept F1 ways, apparently believing that the Toyota approach will ultimately win through.

This is unlikely, as the dismissal of Gascoyne sent out warning signals to all the major technical players in F1 and the team has found it very hard to recruit people with an F1 success record ever since.

The decision to keep Schumacher is likely to be seen as further evidence that the team is not being allowed to operate as it should, and will underline the belief that Toyota is not going to be successful in F1 until it allows F1 people to run the show.

sutton-images.com

Schumacher to race again!

FORMULA 1 HE’S back! Michael Schumacher is to race again.

Okay, he is not donning the red of Ferrari but the seven-times Formula 1 World Champion will compete in

the Race of Champions at London’s Wembley Stadium on December 16. Schumacher took part in the 2004 event at Paris’s Stade de France, where he beat World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb in a one-off challenge in front of over

62,000 fans, but missed out on the overall title to Renault’s F1driver Heikki Kovalainen.

Already confirmed for the event are F1 drivers David Coulthard and Jenson Button, double FIA World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx and

1995 World Rally champion, Colin McRae. Entries from Germany, France, USA, Finland and maybe even a Team UK are set to be announced shortly.

Now, what is Lewis Hamilton doing that weekend?

Kubica back in France FORMULA 1

sutton-images.com

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ROBERT Kubica is hoping to be back in action at the French Grand Prix.

The young Pole wants to return to the cockpit at MagnyCours having been forced to sit out the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis after his huge crash in Montreal.

Kubica also missed last week’s testing at Silverstone.

He will have to undergo another FIA medical inspection before the French event but it is considered likely that the risks involved in a second impact will have reduced sufficiently by now to allow him to race again.

– JOE SAWARD

news

Is Bernie's high-tech test track on the market?

FORMULA 1 THERE are rumours in France that Bernie Ecclestone has decided to sell the Paul Ricard High Tech Test Track at Le Castellet, near Toulon.

Ecclestone has owned the track since 1999 and in that time has developed it into one of the most advanced testing facilities in the world.

The track is designed to be used for tests and presentations and has not been used for racing since it was purchased from the Ricard family after the death of drinks magnate Paul Ricard, who built the track back in 1969. The track hosted a total of 14 Grands

Prix between 1971 and 1990 but suffered a serious setback in 1986 when F1 driver Elio de Angelis died after a testing accident.

The facility boasts a top level karting facility and a skid pan, in addition to one of the most advanced medical facilities to be found at any racing circuit.

There have often been rumours that the track might one day be able to host the French GP once again but the poor road access and the proximity to the Mediterranean beaches, coupled with a lack of hotels within easy reach of the facility and the total lack of any spectator facilities mean that this is highly unlikely.

– JOE SAWARD

sutton-images.com

Paul Ricard for sale?

Manufacturers “no” to turbo-diesels FORMULA 1 AUTO manufacturers have rejected the FIA’s suggestion that bio-fuelled turbo-diesels replace current engines in 2011.

The proposal seems set to be replaced by plans for engines similar to those being used now but being run on a blend of bio-fuel and conventional pump petrol.

The manufacturers argued that such a radical change would end up being hugely expensive, because of the investment needed in research and development. There was also a feeling that the lowrevving engines would not produce a sound that would be right for F1.

The FIA is also now reconsidering its proposals about chassis as there seems to be little interest in teams using standard chassis.

– JOE SAWARD

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Dirk Klynsmith

Rusty's new ride AFTER a round of utter carnage for Stone Brothers Racing, Caltex Racing’s Russell Ingall is likely to debut a new Stone Brothers Racing BF Falcon at home next month.

With the car now in the paint shop, the former V8 Supercar champion is set to steer the car for the first time at the Queensland team’s test day at Queensland Raceway, before giving the car its race debut at The Paperclip later in the month.

The new SBR Falcon is the first of the team’s cars to be built around the new regulations, drafted since Mark Porter’s fatal accident at Bathurst last year, where drivers are positioned more towards the centre of the car: “The car incorporates everything we’ve learnt from all of the BAs we’ve built since 2003,” said Jim Stone.

“It’s slightly different in parts. It’s our first car with the new Y50 measurement, where the driver’s seat is allowed to be

50mm from the centreline of the car. That changed a lot of elements of the car – including shifting the pedals, the seat – but it’s easy to do with a new car.”

James Courtney will remain in his current BF, which he rolled in practice at Hidden Valley. And, courtesy of the new rules that allow teams to convert BFs back to BAs, it is mooted that SBR’s protégé Shane van Gisbergen might get a chance in the Fujitsu Series later this year.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Off-track collisi

On-track action gets tempers flaring in Carrera Cup po CARRERA CUP

Dirk Klynsmith

And Lee's too!

V8 SUPERCARS AT the age of 23, Lee Holdsworth will get his very first brand-new car at Queensland Raceway next month.

The Garry Rogers Motorsport pilot has driven his aging VZ Commodore since the start of the season but will get GRM’s second VE Commodore at The Paperclip in the next round of

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the V8 Supercar Championship Series.

“I’ve never had a brand-new car,” he said.

“Not a road car, not a Formula Ford, not even a go-kart!

Holdsworth currently sits 14th in the championship, with stand-out performances at Clipsal, Barbagallo and Winton where he qualified in the top 10.

– GRANT ROWLEY

THINGS were heated at Hidden Valley’s Carrera Cup round on the weekend – and not just on the race track.

An alleged physical altercation in parc ferme after the opening race between an associate of Sherrin Motorsport – allegedly Mike Sherrin – and driver Rodney Forbes resulted in major

penalties that affected things in an on-track sense.

As a result of a CAMS hearing on Sunday morning, category debutante (and Sherrin driver) Paul Stokell was excluded from the weekend because of the incident, which was prompted by he and Forbes making contact on lap two of the opening race, below.

Sherrin team-mates David

news

Macrow for Supercup PORSCHE SUPERCUP

John Morris/Mpix

ions

sutton-images.com

TIM Macrow will make both his tin-top debut and first overseas appearance at the British Grand Prix in a fortnight, tackling the Porsche Supercup.

Macrow will line up with the Jetstream Motorsport squad, which is owned by Australian F3 racer Maher Algadri for the one-off appearance.

“I’m very excited to say the least,” Macrow told eNews.

“It’s going to be a real steep learning curve, but it’s a fantastic opportunity.”

Macrow had his first run in a tin-top at Winton last week,

cutting laps in a Porsche 996 to get a feel for a touring car.

It will be a busy few weeks for the Victorian, with the Mallala F3 round, the British GP and the Eastern Creek F3 round falling on consecutive weekends.

“That’ll be tough because the Porsche will be a totally different thing to drive [than an F3 car],” he added.

“But compared to a lot of tin-tops the Porsche has a lot in common with an openwheeler, so it should be okay.

That said, it’s a competitive field and I think if we can sneak

in to the top 20 then that will be a good result.”

Macrow leads the Australian F3 standings heading in to this weekend’s round at Mallala.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Longer and stronger?

CARRERA CUP

ost-race Russell and Steve Ellery were both excluded from the Race 1 results and put to the rear of the field for Race 2 but able to take part in the remainder of the weekend – which was Round 3 of the allPorsche category. eNews also understands that further punishment in the form of financial penalties were also handed out for the incident.

Dirk Klynsmith

CUP Car Australia has outlined a desire to host longer races in the Carrera Cup in 2008 and beyond.

While many factors will dictate whether the plan is viable, including race dates, venues, promoters and television, Cup Car CEO Theo Psaros says the idea of longer races is on his radar.

“There’s scope for variety.

The three 20 minute races is a positive format but any sport doesn’t stand still. Variety to competitors allows them to perform under different circumstances.”

Considering the tight schedules at main series race meetings, the most likely venue for a longer race would be at Wakefield Park alongside the Fujitsu Series.

It is no coincidence that that was the rural NSW venue was used for the world-first Carrera Cup pit stop race back in May last year.

– GRANT ROWLEY

COMING THIS WEEK

International French GP – Magny Cours Dutch MotoGP – Assen IRL – Richmond, USA NASCAR – New Hamp.

Australia CAMS Nationals – Mallala Superbikes – Qld R/way NexT Week (JULY 2-3)

International British GP – Silverstone Champ Cars – Toronto NASCAR – Daytona INDY – Watkins Glen

NEED A CAR? CLICK HERE

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news

Martin D Clark

Hendrick in technical strife NASCAR CURRENT points leader Jeff Gordon and defending Nextel Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson can expect massive point and monetary fines this week from NASCAR as both of their Hendrick Chevrolets failed post-race inspection at the Infineon Raceway road

course in Sonoma last Friday.

The cars in question are the ‘new car’ design in which Hendrick won the first five races for this type of car with.

NASCAR parked their cars for all Friday activities including qualifying, subsequently starting them 41st and 42nd in the 43-car grid for modifications discovered to

the top of the front fenders.

All ‘new car’ race winners have had their cars transported

by NASCAR to their R&D centre for further scrutiny, however our sources suggest that none of those cars had the modification.

The sister Hendrick Chevrolets of Kyle Busch and Casey Mears were not affected

as their teams are housed in a different building that has its own fabrication department.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was recently fined US$100,000 and 100 points when his ‘new car’ rear wing brackets were found to be illegal – his crew chief is still sitting out a six-race suspension.

– MARTIN D CLARK

Critchley out of NHRA Dyk to lead A1 Oz sutton-images.com

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David Ostaszewski

AUSSIE drag racer Troy Critchley will not compete in the remainder of the 2007 NHRA Series after his involvement in the tragic ‘Cars for Kids’ exhibition tragedy that took six lives and injured 20 other people.

Critchley’s AMS Rage team are cooperating with the State of Tennessee and are investigating factors that may have contributed to the accident. The car will remain in the possession of the Tennessee Highway Patrol for examination.

– DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

A1 TEAM Australia has named Ian Dyk as its number one driver for the 2007-08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.

Dyk, who advanced from the team’s test driver to racing in the latter rounds of last season, will wear the national colours from the opening round of the 2007/08 series at Zandvoort in September. Other roles within the team are expected to be named before the season starts, with the A1GP test days at Silverstone in August.

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West gets MotoGP chance Kawasaki Racing

MOTOGP THREE Aussies will race in the MotoGP championship for the rest of the season after Anthony West signed with the Kawasaki Racing Team last week.

The 25-year-old replaces the injuryplagued Olivier Jacque, who has announced his retirement. The Frenchman, who missed three of the first seven races this season through injury, will remain with the green squad for two years as a test rider and technical consultant.

“I’m really pleased to be joining the Kawasaki Racing Team,” said West prior to racing at Donington.

“They’re great guys and really experienced. For the rest of the season, my aim is to be consistent, try to get some results and not to crash it straight away!”

West has become something of a specialist ‘super-sub’ this year, taking two wins and a third place in the World Supersport Championship filling in for countryman Kevin Curtain. Yamaha extended West’s deal once it was realised

Curtain was going to be out longer than anticipated, requiring West to buy out his contract in order to join Kawasaki.

West, who last raced in the premier class in 2001 on a Honda, raced with the number 13 on his bike last weekend, as his usual 14 is already allocated in MotoGP – to team-mate Randy de Puniet. He finished 11th after falling while running fifth – but said post-race he thought that he could have won the race. He races again this weekend at Assen and the forecast is for more wet weather.

When Sue and Coral aren’t looking RALLYING HE’s dominated everything he’s touched this year, so Toyota management must have thought they were presenting their rally star with a new challenge when they strapped Simon Evans into an open-wheel race car at Oran Park last week.

Evans, accompanied by Toyota Racing Developments team-mate Neal Bates, spent the day driving a car from New Zealand’s Toyota Racing Series.

Unlike Bates, who has a raft of circuit racing experience, Evans was stepping into the unknown.

“I felt like a bit of a Formula 1 driver all squashed in there for a little while,” laughed Evans.

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“Everything is so direct – really quite different to a rally car, which feels a bit like a lounge chair ride in comparison.”

“It’s not progressive like a rally car – the TRS car is just on a knife’s edge when you get near the limit of grip. It is such a fine line between getting it right

and spinning backwards down the road,” he added.

Bates also found just how big an adjustment he needed to make stepping out of a rally car into an open-wheeler.

“I tried to be pretty cautious as I didn’t want to do anything silly when the walls are so close here, but I crept up on it and started going a bit faster each time,” he said.

“The car needs incredibly small movements to make it do anything – there’s loads and loads of grip, but then it can just snap away in an instant.”

After just a handful of laps, Bates recorded a best time of 43.6 seconds over the seventurn circuit. Circuit rookie Evans managed a best time of 44.9 seconds.

– RYAN LAHIFF

news

V8 UTES

THE Yokohama V8 Utes Series has secured its future by signing a long-term deal with V8 Supercars Australia.

The popular Utes series will feature on the V8 Supercar support bill for the next four years, including continued live and post-produced television coverage on the Seven Network.

“We have a four-year contract with V8 Supercars as an official support category, which it has never had before. It’s got a long-term horizon to build on,” V8 Utes administator Craig Denyer said.

Since the category’s inception in 2001, it has been seen on the PROCAR, V8 Supercar and CAMS Series race bills.

“We’ve never had a horizon beyond 12 months,” Denyer said.

“Even in the PROCAR years, you never knew what your television package was going to be until, generally, the February of the competition year.”

– GRANT ROWLEY For more on the V8 Utes, check out the latest edition of Motorsport News, available at all good newsagents Wednesday 27 June

Marshall Cass

THE FUTURE IS LOOKING BUTE Is a Fiat a Shaw thing?

RALLYING SYDNEY car dealer Kevin Shaw may have been largely absent from the opening rounds of the Australian Rally Championship, but the privateer has confirmed that he is investigating a number of options to make a sizable impact when he returns to the series next year.

Shaw had been linked earlier in the season to an effort to lure Fiat into the local gravel competition with their new Super 2000 Punto, and while the Irishman who resides in Sydney’s west admitted that he was still pursuing the manufacturer, he confirmed that he was also chasing other options.

“Super 2000 is definitely the way to go, especially if you want to make a big impression with the fans,” said Shaw.

“Everything I’ve seen and heard both locally

with Ford’s and Toyota’s efforts, as well as the work that’s going on overseas, tells me that Super 2000 is the future of rallying,” said Shaw.

“I’ve been in discussions with Fiat for many months; maybe something will happen, maybe not. But I’ve got some other irons in the fire too.”

It is assumed though that any deal would be linked through Shaw’s sizable dealership, which already includes Fiat, amongst others.

Of the manufacturers already involved in rallying, S2000 models overseas Volkswagen with their new Polo would be the most obvious conclusion.

“Either way any deal would involve a large amount of self-funding,” Shaw concluded.

“You’re looking at about $250,000 to $300,000 to bring in a ready-to-rally car, that’s a big investment.”

– RYAN LAHIFF

FF test for Adelaide Kart winner KARTING

A FORMULA Ford test is up for grabs at next month’s Liberty Fuels City of Adelaide Karting Titles.

The test, which will take place at Mallala Raceway with Bronte Rundle Motorsport, will

go to the winner of the Senior Pro Clubman feature class – who will also pocket a cool $1500 cash. A junior feature class (Jnr Clubman) also offers $1500 for the winner plus a new ARC engine. Prize money is paid down to 10th place.

The City of Adelaide Titles

regularly pulls top drivers from interstate and has a long list of famous winners, including Jamie Whincup, Matt Wall, Tim Slade, Daniel Elliott and Ben Savage.

The meeting will be held at Bolivar Raceway on July 28-29.

– MARK WICKS

17

5 Minutes with ...

LUDO LACROIX

A Frenchman led Craig Lowndes to his first round win in Vodafone colours

GRANT ROWLEY

MOTORSPORT NEWS: Team owner Roland Dane was away during the Hidden Valley round, opening a slot for you to be the team manager for the round. Should he stay away more often?

LUDO LACROIX: No! He enjoys his racing.

You proved you can multi-task then. A round win on your first day as team manager …

Usually when you do that, you should step out of the job right away, because it might not happen again!

I’m getting used to this. The first time I engineered a race car in Australia, Jamie won the Clipsal 500. I should have stepped out then!

So you’re announcing your retirement now?

That’s for sure! (laughs) I was lucky to have Craig with us today, we didn’t make any mistakes. It was a good day.

Where was the gain made in your cars from Eastern Creek?

I think Eastern Creek we started the weekend a little slow, It is very difficult to pass there. It’s easier here (at Hidden Valley).

Making sure the car looked

18

Dirk Klynsmith

What were some of the different duties compared to your usual role as technical director?

I wasn’t involved in as many technical decisions as I usually would be but I’m still the technical guy. I want to be involved in that, but it was different for me.

I’ve been racing for 20 years and I like to stay close to the engineering of the race car.

WE MAY NOW GO TO WILLOWBANK AND FAIL, WHICH I DON'T THINK WE WILL ...

LUDO LACROIX after its tyres was important here in the hot weather. It’s a track that we seem to handle well. We won here last year.

So probably, it just suits us better. Coming from Eastern Creek, I knew the car was going to be good. It’s hot, and it’s a condition that suits our car.

The next challenge is Willowbank, and we got beaten there last year (by Toll HSV). We may now go to Willowbank and fail, which I don’t think we will.

You know, things don’t happen by accident or miracle.

Last year, the Holdens had a bit of aero advantage, but they’ve lost that with the new

car through the aero parity that TEGA did at Woomera in November last year.

To be fair, Willowbank is very aerodynamic. First corner, second corner, very quick.

There’s big braking at turn three, which is aero. It’s a track that suited them last year, but I don’t think that’s going to be the case this year. We are just getting on with what we’ve got and understanding the new BF car.

Do you test before Queensland Raceway?

Yeah, we test, but in Australia, we have no new tyres and only six days. It’s about reliability and making sure we know

what we do.

We’ve got a couple of things to test, but we aren’t going to turn it into a super qualifier. It’s just going to be a reliability test.

Would you like more tyres and more test days for V8s?

I would. I’m a technical person.

I would like to have a rulebook that is more open. But at the same time, I know what costs are. Can the sport afford to be more expensive? I don’t think so. I can see some teams struggling, so it would be silly to push for any more. What we have is a good balance. I’m not saying it’s great, but it’s a good balance for the championship.

chat

Grant Rowley

19

John Morris/Mpix

The case for concrete IN light of two heavy incidents at Hidden Valley’s Turn 4 over the weekend, there has to be a case for replacing the tyrelined earth bank with a concrete wall.

As soon as Kim Jane’s Ute and Alan Gurr’s V8 Supercar hit the wall, above, the tyres grabbed the car and

opinion Grant Rowley Editor eNews violently spun them around, damaging both ends.

A single row of tyres, filled with dirt, placed in front of an earthbank is bygone technology. If a concrete

wall was there, both cars would most likely have glanced off it, probably causing less damage and reducing the risk of injury.

Yes, a concrete wall is still a hard object, and yes, it would still do damage, but a safety review is required – before someone gets hurt.

By the way, last weekend

was the first time I've been to Hidden Valley – or Darwin for that matter – and it’s a must for any racing fan.

You can see most of the track from any vantage point, the track its close to town (in fact everything is close to town) and the locals are damn friendly. I can’t wait to go back …

Letters

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

You got a friend Interesting to see former NT Minister Shane Stone coming to Tony Cochrane’s defence (eNews June 19).

I agree with him, there is little doubt that Tony Cochrane has contributed to the growth of V8 Supercar racing. But as a former politician, Mr Stone would know that you are only as good as your last election, your last policy statement.

Things change, leaders come and go.

Even the best eventually get replaced, there’s no cartblanche, and it can often be a single controversial incident which leads to change.

20

Was the SA/AGP debacle Tony Cochrane’s undoing?

Who knows. The tone of your issue on the subject suggests that a lot of people were upset, despite the fact that you (and others in the media) may well have been premature in assessing the outcome.

Regardless of what happens, I can’t see it changing things that much. As I understand it, Mr Cochrane’s company still owns 25 percent of V8s, and he should thus want the business to thrive, whether or not he remains as the nominal figurehead.

Richard Cullinane Zillmere, QLD

Owner’s Onus I may have missed the final outcome, or maybe the final outcome has not been made public yet, but who does own HRT? It just seems that as soon as one of the sports heavyweights are questioned as to their actions, the media rightly reports it, then it all goes quiet under the threat of discontinued support from a manufacturer.

I am sure there are a lot of potential sponsors out there that hold back due to the perceived uneven playing field that exists at the moment.

This is not a letter to complain about the TWR drivers, they

are all world class, it is a letter from an average punter that would like answers to some simple questions like, who owns HRT? Adam Rankin arankin@davislangdon.com.au ED: The HRT ownership issue was sorted out to the extent that the necessary paperwork satisfied the requirements, allowing the team to carry on its racing program. That’s why there’s no news on the matter at the moment.

Show me the $$$ With Tasman Motorsport’s current arrangement of their

Controversy? Be careful what you wish for ... opinion Chris Lambden mNews Publisher hope the sport’s contenders don’t swing immediately to the other end of the spectrum – that is, sounding off after every on-track incident. Noone wants to see artificial, manufactured hype.

Early reaction from drivers suggests a degree of uncertainty as to just where the limits are.

What could be amusing, or tricky (depending on your point of view), was the promotion of superstar cricketer Shane Warne as a case in point at Friday’s meeting. A high percentage of Warney’s front-cover profile has been due to his, er, off-

track exploits – so is there a suggestion that The Private Lives of V8 Supercar Stars is now fair game?

MNews has always taken the view that drivers’ personal lives are just that – and as a result, I guess, enjoys a level of trust and therefore insight from the nuts behind the wheel. There has been occasion where a driver’s on-track performance may have been affected by offtrack pressures – Mark Skaife’s recent well-documented struggle with the business affairs at HRT is one. If a driver’s off-track pressure is relationship-related, will that now become fodder for the general media?

Reaction to the new freedom has been generally positive, although Will Davison – the first recipient of a tongue-

sutton-images.com

THE relaxation of restrictions on V8 drivers and teams speaking out is something long overdue and to be applauded.

There is no doubt that the sport has to some degree been stifled by draconian implementation of ‘Bringing the sport into disrepute’ rules. Certainly, there are a number of personalities within the sport that were being unnecessarily constrained and, while I doubt the trashtalk will get to the levels of professional wrestling, it should be a plus for the sport’s general profile for the participants to react naturally to events.

Controversy, however, simply can’t be ‘invented’. It happens naturally. Having been given the freedom, I

lashing, in Darwin – wonders whether the generally cordial off-track relationship between drivers might suffer as a result It’s actually a trickier double-edged sword than it at first appears. No doubt the freedom to speak out is to be applauded – it just needs to be used intelligently.

ED: Obviously the rotation system is working for the Tasman squad, or they wouldn’t be able to do things like open their Kiwi office. As for the Supercheap idea, it’s certainly an idea that’s been rumoured along pit lane; we’ll keep you posted!

John Morris/Mpix

sponsors (rotating the signage round-by-round), how would they be making more money than if they had a full-time sponsor?

Is there any news/rumours if they will have a naming rights sponsor in 2008? Could Supercheap join ‘Murph’ as rumoured last season now their contract will be up at PWR? Or will the opening of Tasman’s NZ office bring in a naming rights sponsor from NZ? Great mag guys keep up the good work!

Brendon Smith bren_jw1@yahoo.com It was Air North's turn for some Tasman-loving at Hidden Valley thanks to their sponsor rotating system.

Greetings from afar Congratulations on your excellent eNews.

I have been an occasional reader of Motorsport News over the years, picking up a copy whenever I’m in Australia.

Now I get it popping up on my

computer every Tuesday.

It gets even better; due to your time zone being two hours ahead of mine when I open my home computer I can read it at 6am over breakfast before heading off to work. It’s a great way to

start Tuesday.

I have sent the link to fellow petrol heads here in Sumbawa.

Expect an expanded readership from this remote corner of Indonesia!

David Palmer Sumbawa, Indonesia

21

V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES HIDDEN VALLEY – ROUND 6

22

race

Two outta three ain’t bad

Good tyre management, great pit stops and a bit of Craig magic gave car #888 its first win in Vodafone colours

By GRANT ROWLEY

Dirk Klynsmith

23

C

Dirk Klynsmith

24

Dirk Klynsmith

RAIG Lowndes broke a nine-round dry streak, taking two wins and the round victory at Hidden Valley last weekend.

With team boss Roland Dane in the Mediterranean watching the America’s Cup, Lowndes along with stand-in team manager Ludo Lacroix notched up #888’s first victory in Vodafone colours.

“We’ve had some up and downs this year,” said Lowndes, who turned 33 last Thursday.

“Our car was a dream this weekend. It’s about time we got back up there.”

Lowndes’s weekend was pretty straightforward, with qualifying (eighth) being his only downfall which he later admitted was a driver error.

But in the races, there were no driver errors – just the Lowndes we’ve come to know. He was one of the first to pit in Race 1, and that proved to be the right strategy. It elevated him up to fourth, which he turned into third with a miracle move on Todd Kelly.

While others did wrong in Race 2, Lowndes did everything right, but he saved his best for Race 3. He led from start to finish, highlighted by a brilliant start and a spectacular tail slide on the final lap.

“You’re not allowed to do burnouts, so the next best thing is to slide it sideways,” he quipped.

Both Triple 8 cars had plenty of speed and looked after their tyres best in the hot northern conditions. The only thing that kept both Vodafone cars off the podium was that Jamie Whincup’s car had an oil seal failure in Race 3.

Rick Kelly finished second in each of the three races, taking second overall, which maintained his 100 percent podium record for the year.

His best moment of the weekend was his pole position – his first in 31 rounds. He admitted his qualifying approach over the past few years hasn’t been quite right ...

The Holden Racing Team was third and fifth overall, but there were some tense moments.

Mark Skaife won Race 1 thanks to his early pit stop strategy, however, things turned pear-shaped at the first turn of Race 2. His team-mate Todd Kelly made a blinding start and got alongside his team leader. The pair bashed mirrors into the first turn before Todd gave him the slightest of touches, sending him wide. In hindsight, it may have cost Skaife the round.

“I was pretty lucky not to spin, to be honest,” Skaife said.

“I initially thought that Todd had been hit from behind, but when you look at the TV, you can see that’s not the case. “(but) Todd knows he’s a red man …”

Skaife also had an ‘interesting’ battle with Mark Winterbottom in Race 3. The pair was embroiled in a bit of biff, which resulted in Skaife sending Frosty wide. Skaife redressed the pass and soon repassed him, but Skaife was clearly upset with Winterbottom’s defence tactics.

“I gave him a very unaccidental whack up the arse,” he said.

“It was quite an interesting tussle.”

With no margin for error, pit stops became the critical element of all three races. Todd Kelly was the best example of this. A slight pit bay entry error in Race 2 dropped him back down the field and with the worst of his rubber on, dropped down to eighth. He recovered for fourth in the final race.

Championship contender Garth Tander finished fourth overall, avoiding any aggro but was unable to finish ahead of team-mate Rick Kelly. The points difference has now blown out by another 14 points.

Best of the rest (again) was the Ford Performance Racers. Winterbottom and Steven Richards continue to have buckets of speed but just can’t get a result through one circumstance or another.

Ditto Jason Richards. The Tasman Commodore driver was blindingly fast but was sent spinning in the midst of the Race 1 fracas. A solid comeback to 11th was noteworthy, as was the second portion of the qualifying session, where JR sat on provisional pole. It seems only a matter of time before one of the Tasman Commodores is genuinely challenging for a podium.

Rick's run: Kelly, above, has finished on the podium in every V8 Supercar round this year.

Red mild form: Skaife, middle right, took the Race 1 win.

888s and 10s: It was the 10th anniversary of V8 Supercars at Hidden Valley, and Lowndes, right, took his second round win ina-row at the Darwin circuit.

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V8 Supercar | Round 6 HIDDEN VALLEY Pos #

Marshall Cass Dirk Klynsmith

Hard knocks: Top, Team Tom clashed at turn one, Race 2.

Above, The Richards pair were fast ...

Dirk Klynsmith

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

Driver

Team/Car

Q

r1

r2

r3

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

3 2 1 6 4 7 5 10 dnf exc 9 12 8 14 13 dnf 11 dnf 15 dnf 24 20 21 17 18 22 23 dnf 16 19

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

Marshall Cass

Points: R Kelly 336, Tander 297, T Kelly 245, Whincup 233, Skaife 219, Lowndes 213, S Richards 145, Winterbottom 140, Johnson 136, Davison 132, Courtney and Ingall 125, Murphy 97, Holdsworth 65, J Richards 54, Bright 50, Morris 38, Radisich 36, Owen 35, Wilson 34, Canto 28, Bargwanna 25, Price 16, McConville 13, Bowe 12, A Jones 8, Coulthard and Gurr 2.

25

Marshall Cass

Hidden Valley Notepad n Jason Bargwanna snapped a tailshaft in Race 1, so from the back of the grid in Race 2, he tried a brand-new start technique – and made a real meal of it.

“I’ve been using the same start technique for 10 years,” he said.

“I just got it wrong. I think we’ll work at it on a test day, rather than in a race!” n On the otherside of the WPS garage, Max Wilson scored his best race result of the year with eighth in Race 1. He went the wrong way on set-up in Race 2, dropping him to 15th, while a Race 3 off cost him points in the final. n Paul Morris had his best round of 2007. The Sirromet driver finished all three races in the points – but you should remember, Morris does claim to be a ‘local’ in Darwin, so he does have a Hidden Valley home ground advantage …

n Paul Dumbrell is best known for driving race cars, not furniture removals. The Supercheap Auto Racing driver broke his middle finger on his left hand while moving heavy things, causing him extreme grief while driving. Pain killers weren’t enough in Race 1, changing gears down the front straight with his right hand.

– GRANT ROWLEY

26

STONE Brothers Racing’s boss Ross Stone wouldn’t dare estimate the amount his team spent on spare parts at Hidden Valley.

In fact, in some cases, there were no spares left in the team’s truck anyway!

Every panel on James Courtney’s Jeld-Wen Falcon was replaced after his soft roll over in Friday practice. His car got its second body blow for the weekend when Steven Johnson tipped him off the road at the start of Race 2.

To rub salt in the wound, Shane Price crashed into the stricken Courtney, ruling both cars out on the spot.

Courtney reflected on his Friday rollover.

“I went in a bit quick and locked the rear. It was only a slow spin, but there isn’t a lot of gravel there. It hit softly and rolled softy, “Only thing that is bent is the panels and the ego!”

Russell Ingall’s Caltex car was also in the wars. Heavy damage in Race 1 gave the SBR boys plenty to do on Saturday night, and it didn’t let up on Sunday, when car #9’s engine dropped onto less than eight in Race 2, forcing a fast engine change. Ingall salvaged 11th place in Race 3 – the team’s best race result for the weekend.

– GRANT ROWLEY Marshall Cass

n A lady purchased a Jason Bright Fujitsu bonnet from Hidden Valley on Saturday, but when she went to pick it up, the team told her that they couldn’t hand it over. The Race 1 carnage meant that the team had to borrow the bonnet back … and Jason had already signed it!

Heavy damage bill for SBR

Up, up and over: Courtney slid wide and had a gentle roll over. Lowndes was first on the scene to help Courtney out of his Falcon.

race

Dirk Klynsmith

Trash talk fightback WILL Davison has seen the highs and lows of motorsport before.

The Dick Johnson Racing driver grew up in the school of hard knocks, having once been a Formula 1 hopeful.

Those days are gone, with his sights now firmly set on a successful career in V8 Supercar.

He may have wished he was anywhere but in the V8 Supercar paddock after Race 1 at Hidden Valley, though. Davison committed himself to a passing move on Mark Winterbottom at the start of Race 1, which inevitably didn’t pay off. The

crash took out four cars, and in light of V8 Supercar’s new freedom of speech policy (see news pages) Davison was verbally attacked by Russell Ingall and Greg Murphy, among others.

Sent to the back of the field for his indiscretion, Davison bounced back in the best way possible. He used the best strategy to take seventh place (which he backed up in Race 3).

“Yeah, I was feeling pretty down on Saturday night,” Davison said.

“Not just about being excluded but also about what some of those drivers were

saying about me. It’s really not what I’m like. I really am a fair racer, but yeah, I got involved in a bit of biff and barge, and I got penalised.

“I spoke to Frosty about it and he’s understanding of it. The old guys, that’s pretty usual of them, they just want to blame someone. They’re all under a bit of threat at the moment.

“Sunday was really good for me, really good for the team. We had a heap of speed. That can just shut everyone up and show them what I’m capable of.”

– GRANT ROWLEY

Team-mate tap A nudge from his factory team-mate cost Skaife the win – but Lowndes was the man ANALYSIS Phil Branagan mNews Executive Editor bridge between being in the ruck and being a Contender is the way that they deal with setbacks, and that skillscomes with experience, resources and money. Britek is punching above its weight, particularly considering that Bright is still in the Britek-BJR ‘hybrid’ and overall, its tough 2007 season will stand it in good stead for the long-term. But right now, with Bright’s Perth car ready to be rebuilt and a torn-up Irwin car to fix, life is no holiday in Dandenong.

The Stones are accustomed to hard work, and success, but the team has

RECENT RACES HAVE HIGHLIGHTED THE FAVOURABLE TYRE CONSERVATION CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TRIPLE 8 FORDS rarely suffered a worse weekend than it did at Hidden Valley. From James Courtney’s rollover, to engine problems, to Russell Ingall’s car being launched into the air, it is a round that Ross, Jimmy and the crew will want to put in the background as soon as possible. Ingall will have a new car for QR and, sometimes, such an event marks a change in fortunes. The SBRs will be hoping so!

Marshal l Cass

MARK Skaife will be less than pleased that the tap that opened the door for Craig Lowndes in Race 1 came from team-mate Todd Kelly, but that is how it went in Darwin.

Such was the evenness of the speed at the front of the pack that the tap was all Lowndes needed to move into position as the man to beat at Hidden Valley. Recent races have highlighted the favourable tyre preservation characteristics of the Triple 8 Fords and, once Lowndes was in clean air, he was always going to be hard to beat.

Neil Crompton’s predictions in the last eNews were half-right. Yep, Lowndes was in-shape but Jason Bright was behind the eight-ball from the start of Race 1.

One of the gaps that teams need to

27

John Morris/Mpix

Nothing in it!

GRANT Johnson and Jack Elsegood went in to last weekend’s fourth round of the V8 Ute Series separated by just a single point. And, by the end of the weekend, they were still separated by a single point.

All that changed at Hidden Valley was their order on the standings, with Elsegood claiming the round win and moving into the series lead … just.

Eslegood and Johnson were inseparable most of the weekend. After finishing second and third respectively behind Gary Baxter in Race 1, Johnson made better use of the Top 16 reverse grid Race 2 to get up to second behind

Ray Sidebottom, while Elsegood could only manage fourth.

That meant Elsegood needed victory in the final to seal round honours, a task he was successful in, but only just; the round-deciding final margin was 0.01s.

While it was a great meeting for the leading pair, the same couldn’t be said for Kim Jane, who was third in the standings coming in to the round.

Jane was involved in an incident with Matt Kingsley, pictured right, at the start of the final race, wrecking his Commodore. Neither driver was injured in the crash.

Dirk Klynsmith

V8 UTES

Points: Elsegood 364, Johnson 363, Baxter 314, Darren Palmer 282, Stephen Robinson 280.

Austin, really!

King of The Valley

IMPROVED PROD

PERFORMANCE CARS

Points: Young 220, Nesbitt 211, King 193, Alexander 103.

28

James Smith

BARRIE Nesbitt has broken the Mitsubishi winning streak to take out the third round of the Australian Performance Car Championship at Hidden Valley.

The Donut King-backed HSV Coupe driver won the first of the three races, and would have won the final had a problem in the pit-stop not let the Lancers of Mark King and Gary Young past.

King and Young shared the other race wins, leaving Nesbitt and Young locked on round points. A countback awarded Nesbitt the round.

DARWIN local Edward Austin took some pretty handy bragging rights away from Hidden Valley, winning two Improved Production support races in his Commodore.

The other two race wins went the way of West Aussie Kevin Ledger, who won the weekend’s opening two races.

race

Dirk Klynsmith

David the Dominator

Reynolds back in the winner’s circle after decimating the Carrera Cup field at Hidden Valley CARRERA CUP

John Morris/Mpix

Wait for me, Dave! Craig Baird, above, did his best to chase down Reynolds at Hidden Valley, but didn’t have the outright pace. Dean Fiore had one of his best rounds since joining the category, holding

Dirk Klynsmith

DAVID Reynolds dominated the third round of the Carrera Cup Championship at Hidden Valley last weekend.

The Victorian qualified second behind series leader Alex Davison, but a clean getaway in all three races meant that only a mistake on his behalf would have cost him victory. Alas, Reynolds made no mistakes in the Darwin heat …

“I feel really satisfied with the whole weekend,” Reynolds said.

“I’m not a fan of the heat being from Melbourne, but the conditions have been better than last year, which is good.”

It was Reynolds’ second round clean-sweep, having also dominated the last round of the 2006 Carrera Cup at Phillip Island. The round win moves him up to second in the championship.

Davison was fast in qualifying, however wayward car balance and less-than-ideal

tyre management cost him a shot at running with Reynolds.

With the category’s ‘hard to pass’ nature, and the layout of the Hidden Valley circuit, it was never going to be easy for Davison.

One person who did prove that passing is possible was Craig Baird, who qualified third but waited until the second race to nip up the inside of Davison. Once past, he stayed there, collecting two second place finishes.

Fourth overall was Dean Fiore. The West Aussie showed plenty of pace and matched the top three’s outright speed.

Marcus Marshall put in another gritty display with fifth overall, ahead of David Wall, Bryce Washington and Rodney Jane.

– GRANT ROWLEY Points: Davison 486, Reynolds 456, Baird 438, Marshall 303, Fiore 283, Wall 243, Washington 231, Aaron Caratti 231, David Russell 210, Steve Ellery 165.

29

MOTO GP DONINGTON – ROUND 8

The Master Class The straightline speed of Ducati’s GP7 is impressive – but not as impressive as Casey Stoner’s riding was at Donington

30

Ducati Corse

31

T

Aussies everywhere: Casey Stoner knifed past Valentino Rossi early on and left him behind, to be dealt with later in the race

by Chris Vermeulen, right.

For Nicky Hayden, below, a qualifying high turned into a nightmare when he hit the floor on lap 5.

He continued, several laps down.

Rizla Suzuki Rizla Suzuki

32

Ducati Corse

HINGS have been so close in MotoGPs of late that you would have thought that a missed start would have cost Casey Stoner dearly at Donington Park in England.

Such is the form of the redhot Aussie at present that nothing of the kind happened.

Stoner was seventh at the end of the opening lap, quickly eased his way into the top four and then stalked poleman Colin Edwards until mid-race, before the Ducati stormed away to victory.

“I got a perfect jump at the start, a perfect clutch release, but then I must’ve hit a white line and it spun up straight away,” said Stoner after his fifth win in eight races.

“I was panicking a little bit because everybody was zooming past and I thought I’d be last into the first corner.

We still got in there in a reasonable position and we were able to pick our way through.

“This proves to people that the Ducati doesn’t just have power. We’ve been improving the bike and now it doesn’t have any particular weak points, we just need to improve it as a complete package. Obviously today, it was the best bike out there.”

What, there’s more to come?

Heaven help the opposition …

Edwards had his best result of the season for second, despite his Michelins fading on the drying track, while Chris Vermeulen again displayed his class in the wet by picking off Valentino Rossi for third. In fact, the Italian’s rubber was so used at the end of the race that the second Suzuki of John Hopkins was within striking distance at the flag.

Randy de Puniet was sixth, Alex Barros continued his recent form by taking seventh on the last lap, with Dani Pedrosa and Alex Hofmann following. Falls were common and accounted for Loris Capirossi and the unfortunate Nicky Hayden.

An Anti Climax

Anthony West made quite an impression in his debut in green

Kawasaki Racing Team

pushing too hard,” he said later.

“Nicky Hayden crashed right in front of me in the same place a few laps before and there was no grip there. I’d struggled with it all weekend.

But the rear came round so quickly and I don’t really know what happened. After that, when the track started drying out, I found it hard to get any traction and couldn’t lay the power down. Later, it started to feel better but by then it was too late to make a move back on Melandri.”

The next race is at Assen on Saturday. The quirky Dutch track is a West favourite; he won in a deluge there on a 250 four years ago. The weekend weather forecast? Rain ...

Yamaha Racing

Rain, Tornado: Colin Edwards was a career-best second.

MOTO GP | RIDer’s points Points: Stoner 165, Rossi 139, Pedrosa 106, Vermeulen 88, Hopkins

83, Melandri 81, Edwards 65, Barros 60.

Honda Pro Images

ONE might think that 11th in your MotoGP debut is not a bad result, especially if you were riding a Kawasaki with only three days’ experience prior to the race.

But that would be selling Anthony West short. The 25-year-old became the third Aussie in MotoGP (see news pages) and such is the man’s wet-weather prowess, there was talk pre-race that Donington’s ice rink of a surface was about to see something remarkable.

For West, it was a case of what might have been. After topping the wet warm-up, and from grid 17, he was ninth after a lap and on lap four he seized fifth place – from Rossi.

But then, he touched a white line at Coppice Corner and threw the bike down, remounting in 15th. He charged up to 10th but Marco Melandri, who showed at Phillip Island he is a master at racing on worn wets, got past with three laps to run.

“I felt really strong in the wet and it didn’t feel like I was

Dovi walks on water IT’S not often that the winning margin in a 250cc GP is 22 seconds but that is what happened at Donington, with Andrea Dovizioso, above, sloshing home ahead of Alex de Angelis, who fell and remounted on the penultimate lap.

Hiroshi Aoyama was third from Yuki Takahashi, the countrymen staging a race-long war, with Shuhei Aoyama and Mika Kallio the only other unlapped riders.

Defending World Champ and points leader Jorge Lorenzo slid out of the race on lap 10.

Points: Lorenzo 153, Dovizioso 142, de Angelis 135, Bautista 100, Barbera 71, Simon 61, Luthi 56, Kallio 50.

IRONICALLY, the track was dry for the 125 race and Mattia Pasini took advantage of the conditions to win from Tommy Koyama and Hector Faubel.

Gabor Talmasci dropped out six laps from home when his Aprilia broke, handing Faubel the championship lead.

Points: Faubel 118, Talmasci 115, Pesek 94, Gadea 92, Koyama 88, Corsi 86, Olive and Smith 63.

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CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES CLEVELAND – ROUND 5

Trick Tracy When the favourites dropped away in the Grand Prix in Cleveland, veteran Paul Tracy came to play

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Champ Car Media

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RE-RACE, no one really would have picked Paul Tracy as the winner of the Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented

by LaSalle Bank. In fact, even halfway through the race, he was the most outside of chances.

But thanks to some wily work from both the veteran himself and Forsythe Racing, come the finish, he was on top.

Tracy’s victory was complicated, his Panoz needing three front wing assemblies to make it to the finish. The first came on Lap 4 when he tangled with Graham Rahal, brining out a full-course yellow. The second visit to the pits for a new nose came on the restart, Tracy and Bruno Junqueira getting together at Turn 1.

But the extra stops played in to Tracy’s hands, his unusual fuel strategy putting him in the lead thanks to another caution on Lap 67. Once in front he stayed there, the only challenge coming from Rahal, who had the speed to run with Tracy, but needed a splashand-dash with a handful of laps to run and finished eighth.

“I’m still kind of in shock with how the race went,” said Tracy.

“My spirits were down for six or seven laps. I kind of stayed at the back and didn’t do anything; I just sat at the back of the field.

The team really rallied and said, ‘All right, come on, let’s go. We can do something here with our strategy.’

“The rest was really just strategy.

We had the fuel at the end of the race that other people didn’t.”

Rahal’s late stop put Robert Doornbos and Neel Jani on the podium, the rookie pair finishing second and third respectively.

Team Australia’s Will Power looked good for victory midrace, having got past early leader Sebastien Bourdais with a longer first stint. His cause was further helped when Bourdais dropped out with mechanical dramas, however Power’s own demise wasn’t far behind, a deflating tyre taking him out of contention.

Champ Car Media

Power and the Pagenaud: The Team Oz pair were right at the pointy end ... until strategy and deflating tyres got in the way.

Champ Car Media Champ Car Media

Champ Car Media

Race of the Rookies: Neel Jani, top, and Robert Doornbos, above, both picked up podiums, while Graham Rahal tried to copy his Dad and take his first win in Cleveland, above right, but while he looked good to challenge Tracy, his pit strategy didn’t quite play out.

CHAMP CAR | Driver’s points Points: Bourdais 117, Doornbos 114, Power 105, Alex Taglian 97, Justin Wilson 92, Oriol Servia 78, Rahal 74, Simon Pagenaud 74, Jani 69, Tracy 68.

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GLOBE TROTTER

MICHAEL PATRIZI has recorded his best result in the F3 Euroseries, finishing sixth in the second race at the Norisring. He was 12th in Race 1. The races were won

by Romain Grosjean and A1GP star Nico Hulkenberg.

BRITISH F3 BRITISH F3 went Italian last weekend, running two races at Monza.

Aussie John Martin had a disappointing weekend, finishin 16th and 13th. The races wins were shared

by Maro Engel and Marko Asmer.

NHRA

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INDY 500 winner Dario Franchitti has taken the lead of the IRL Indycar Series after winning the Iowa Corn Indy 250 last weekend.

Franchitti had to hold off a late charge from Andretti-Green team-mate Marco Andretti, however the youngster didn’t have

enough speed to get around the Scot, settling for second.

Scott Sharp finished third.

But while it was a good weekend for AGR, it was a shocker for the rest of the title contenders.

Dan Wheldon made an early mistake, taking both himself and Tomas Scheckter out of the race. His teammate Scott Dixon was soon

in the pits with a steering problem, taking him out of contention as well.

Neither Penske driver made the finish, Helio Castroneves spinning on his way out of the pits while Sam Hornish was caught up in a crash with Danica Patrick.

Points: Franchitti 306, Tony Kanaan 255, Dixon 254, Wheldon 252, Hornish 242.

Lewis Hamilton at a hillclimb?

GOODWOOD YES, it’s true. Lewis Hamilton did run his McLaren-Mercedes MP4/21 in a hillclimb last weekend.

In fairness, it wasn’t any old hillclimb – it was the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

And this year, Lewis Hamilton was an obvious crowd favourite.

The World Championship leader completed two runs in the Macca, pleasing the 60,000 strong crowd.

Full report in the July issue of Motorsport News.

All shapes and sizes: As usual Goodwood served up a mouth-watering

sutton-images.com

BRUNO Spengler won his first DTM race of the season at the Norisring last weekend.

The Canadian won from pole position, leading home fellow Mercedes pilot Bernd Schneider.

IRL INDYCAR

sutton-images.com

DTM

NYSE one, Dario

sutton-images.com

LARRY Dixon Jr, Tommy Johnson Jr, Greg Anderson and Craig Treble were victorious at the ProCare Rx NHRA Supernationals.

Dixon scored his second straight win on the tour in the SkyTel dragster, while Johnson defeated finalist Tony Pedregon in the Funny Car finale.

Anderson claimed his sixth Pro Stock event of the season, while Treble won Pro Stock Motorcycle final.

– DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

IRL Media

F3 EUROSERIES

race

Juan for the road (course) NASCAR

NASCAR Media

JUAN Pablo Montoya won his first Nextel Cup race last Sunday at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California.

Montoya took the lead from Jamie McMurray with six of the 110 laps remaining to win from a trio of Richard Childress Chevrolets Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer.

“It was an incredible day, I was just happy when we were running 10th,” said Montoya, who started 32nd, a new Sonoma record for the lowest winning grid spot.

“I was letting the car roll off the corners to help save gas.

This first win is just unbelievable.”

Montoya became the second non-US driver to win a Cup race. The first was Canadian Earl Ross at Martinsville in 1974.

It was also Ganassi Racing’s first win since McMurray won for the team in 2002, as well as being the first win in the new-design cars for a make other than Chevrolet.

Surprise pole-sitter McMurray ran dry of fuel with two laps to run to finish 37th, as did Carl Edwards, who was running fourth and had led 11 laps.

Robby Gordon headed the most laps, 48, but finished 16th after his strategy didn’t work out.

– MARTIN D CLARK Points: Jeff Gordon 2538, Denny Hamlin 2267, Jimmie Johnson 2172, Matt Kenseth 2105, Burton 2084.

One car, two winners in Milwaukee BUSCH SERIES

NASCAR Media

ARIC Almirola took his first Busch Series win at the Milwaukee Mile last weekend, despite not making it to the finish.

Almirola started the race as a sub for Denny Hamlin, who had to commute from California thanks to his Nextel Cup commitments. Hamlin had arrived in Milwaukee early enough, however a mix-up regarding the track’s helipad meant the Gibbs driver had to land at a nearby airport instead, delaying his arrival at the circuit itself.

Almirola then went on to lead the race, before being asked by the team to pit under yellows on lap 59 so

Hamlin could jump aboard.

The stop dropped the #20 Chevrolet to 31st place, a lap down on the leader, before Hamlin cut his way through the field to the front. He led once with 78 laps to run, was shuffled back to fourth after the last round of stops, and then scooted past Scott Wimmer and Jason Leffler with 12 to go.

Hamlin became the second ‘relief’ driver in NASCAR history to win a Busch race (Jack Ingram and Harry Gant won at Darlington in 1985), but said post-race that it wasn’t his decision to take over the wheel.

“I didn’t want to do it,” Hamlin said.

“I knew [Almirola] would be

really upset. He did all the hard work.”

Meanwhile, Marcos Ambrose moved to seventh in the standings after finishing 15th. Having started 12th, Ambrose had some handling problems with his Ford Fusion early on, losing a lap. But he found his way back onto the lead lap thanks to a ‘lucky dog’ pass during a late-race caution.

“Six months ago I would have been happy with a 15th place finish, but today I’m not,” said Ambrose.

“We had a fairly ordinaryhandling car out there. I think we did as well as we could with it.”

Points: Carl Edwards 2686, David Reutimann 1910, David Ragan 1840, Dave Blaney 1833, Kevin Harvick 1798, Leffler 1768, Ambrose 1756.

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rear of grid

Could Pit Walk grow to Grid Walk?

I

T’S funny how up-tight people get about coverage on TV. I suppose it is the one regular live link we have with what’s going on at the races.

It’s easy for people to be over-all critical of what they see, but there’s been a couple of things about Seven’s V8 Supercar broadcasts that should be applauded.

The broadcast of the occasional supporting race, such as one of the Porsche Carrera Cup races in Darwin, is good. I don’t know why Ten kept all that to its special programmes, but showing one good race as part of the main broadcast must provide incentive for people to watch the delayed coverage.

The other thing that I, and the people grouped around our TV on Sunday, enjoyed was Neil Crompton’s walkabout through the pits and into the team inner sanctums.

I’m sure he must have pre-warned some of them, but it was good to see just what does go on between races. There must also be risks in taking on something like that ‘live’, but Crompton is ideally suited to it.

We don’t get it here, but I am told that the half hour before the start of every F1 race is the best, as Martin Brundle walks up and down the grid hijacking people with mini-interviews. Any chance of getting that Ten? So, Seven, in a similar way, how about extending Crompton’s walkabout to the grid? I know we get the occasional few muffled words from drivers in their cars, but how about getting the cars onto the grid five minutes earlier, getting the drivers out of the cars and letting Crompton and Co loose? You could hook it up to the course commentary, so people at the track wouldn’t be left out.

Odd Spot

punter@mnews.com.au

HOW ABOUT EXTENDING CROMPTON'S WALKABOUT TO THE GRID?

Intentional camber Dirk Klynsmith

IT is not often that you see a car with this much camber.

Or rather, this much intentional camber.

This extraordinary thing is the Milliken MX1 Camber Car, designed and built by American engineer, William Milliken.

It is an amazing design from an engineering original and his works have been found on the bookshelves of such as Ferrari, Lotus and Chevrolet.

Milliken and his team were responsible for the rollover stunt in the James Bond film, Man with the Golden Gun. And perhaps the most remarkable thingabout the appearance of the car at Goodwood last weekend was that Bill Milliken was driving his own creation. He is 96 years of age.

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