Motorsport eNews Issue 16 - August 7, 2007 by V8 Sleuth

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WEDNESDAY EXTRA!

Y BAD BOIOUR

TURNS SAV

Issue No. 016 7-13 August 2007

Adiós?

F1: Will the World Champ quit McLaren?

V8: WHITE SEALS V8 ENDURO SEAT

Ambrose to debut in Nextel Cup V8: TRICKY DICKY MAKES - courtesy Robby Gordon!! V8 COMEBACK!

RONSPEAK DENNIS DOWNLOADS ON WEEKEND FROM HELL

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

WEDNESDAY EXTRA! Issue No. 016 | 7-13 August 2007

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

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

news 4 Team-mates!

Ambrose’s Gordon drive 7 When I was at Renault Will Fernando go ‘home’? 9 Making up your mind Toll keeps options open 17 Beaming Smile Dick has a steer at QR

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 publisher@mnews.com.au

chat 18 5 minutes with ...

20 5 minutes with ...

opinion 22 Lambden

23 Glendenning 39 The Punter

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, Aaron Shaw, Daniel Powell

Photographers Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Marshall Cass, John Morris/Mpix, AF1 Images, James Smith, Peter Bury, Neil Blackbourn, Chris Carter, Coopers Photography, Paris Charles, Bob Potts, Neil Hammond, Joel Strickland, Mike Patrick (UK) Motorsport eNews is published by Australasian Motorsport News ABN 55 125 120 702 Publisher: C Lambden Copyright: Material published in Motorsport eNews is copyright and may not be reproduced in full or in part without the written permission of the publisher. Freelance contributions are welcome, and while all care will be taken, Motorsport eNews does not accept responsibility for damage or loss of material submitted. Opinions expressed in Motorsport eNews are not necessarily those of Australasian Motorsport News or its staff.

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

race 24 McHungaroring

30 Seven, the Easy Way

McLaren’s Ron Dennis ARC star Eli Evans The FIA versus NASCAR Why Dennis should smile Robby, better skip this bit Hamilton all the way Marcus, not Marcos

trade 36 Trade and Industry / Raceshop 38 Classifieds

welcome Ron Capps knows the importance of not reading while you are driving Check out the latest eNews supplements via http://www.mnews.com.au

Bad Boy Gordon turns Hero

Marcos will make Nextel Cup debut – in Robby Gordon’s second car! NEXTEL CUP

Get out of my dreams and into my car: Gordon, left with Ambrose in 2006, has made the best possible make-good gesture by offering the Aussie a Nextel Cup drive after the controversial Montreal clash, above.

SIMPLE email from a fan has had the extraordinary effect of allowing Marcos Ambrose to make his NASCAR Nextel Cup debut at Watkins Glen this weekend, driving for the man who took him out of last Sunday’s controversial Busch Cup race in Montreal.

In a sensational overnight development, Robby Gordon has come up with the ultimate ‘make-good’, which will see Ambrose make his Nextel Cup debut in the #77 Camping World Ford Fusion – a brand new ‘Car of Tomorrow’ – at this weekend’s race. Gordon has exclusively told Motorsport eNews that a fan suggested that he give the Aussie a drive. “I got an e-mail last night from a fan that said I should put Ambrose in my second car,” said Gordon. “It sounds crazy, but I immediately called Marcus Lemonis at Camping World. I told him that this kid (Ambrose) was a good racecar driver and we had an opportunity to put him in our

back-up car. At 9:30, I called up Marcos and said, ‘Hey, I’ve got a deal for you.’” Ambrose had provisionally been scheduled to debut in Nextel Cup this weekend, with Wood Bros, but reported problems with funding the entry had brought it to a halt. Gordon, of course, heads his own racing organisation, Robby Gordon Motorsports. Following the weekend’s fracas, in which he disobeyed NASCAR

officials’ instructions to move back down the restart grid and, instead, took Ambrose out of the lead at Turn 1, he took the decision and rang Ambrose. “Why am I doing it?” Gordon continued. “There are a couple of reasons why I’m doing it. The first reason is that it’s unfortunate that Marcos got put in a position in Montreal where I was thinking, ‘OK, if I’m not going to win, he’s not going to

I CALLED UP MARCOS AND SAID, ‘HEY, I’VE GOT A DEAL FOR YOU’ ROBBY GORDON

win, because he put me in this position.’ “But at the same time, I think he’s a talented race-car driver, and obviously he has the ability to compete at the highest level. He showed that last weekend in the Busch race, and I felt that it would be a make-up – here’s an opportunity to race in Nextel Cup, your first opportunity, with a car that’s equal to mine. “Like he said, unfortunately, we didn’t get to finish the race the way either one of us wanted to finish it last weekend, and now we’ve got an opportunity to try to put on a good show again this weekend at Watkins Glen.” What has emerged since is that the two have, during Ambrose’s time in the US, become friends and were planning to ‘catch up’ this week.

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What Ambrose said: “Well, they say that America is the land of opportunity and I guess this is proof of that. “A bit of old outback Australian culture involves playing a game of Australian football, having a fight and then heading to the pub together for a beer – I guess this is a bit like that. “This is part apology and part compliment on Robby’s behalf. I believe we can have a solid run this weekend and give Ford, Camping World and the rest of Robby Gordon Motorsports’ sponsors a good return on their investment. “In some respects this is a no-lose situation for me because I get to break into Nextel Cup without the regular burden of things like owner and championship points. “Obviously, this indicates there is no animosity between us, and we will both be out there looking for the best result possible in our Fords.” “Marcos and I have been friends for a while,” said Gordon. “We had been talking (before the Montreal race) and we were finally going to hook up and get together this week. It’s funny, because we talked last Thursday about going to the lake and doing something on Wednesday. “So last night I called him before I had this idea (to run two cars) and I said, ‘So does this mean we’re not getting together on Wednesday?’ He said, ‘We’re probably a week away – let’s give it a week to calm down a little bit and then let’s go forward.” Ambrose will drive under the management of RGM, but with supporting pit crew from his regular Wood Bros/JTG team. The #77 car will carry the livery of Gordon’s Camping World sponsors, along with signage from Marcos’ Busch Cup backers Kingsford Charcoal. In the meantime, Gordon was fined US$35,000 for his Montreal antics, placed on probation for the rest of the season and suspended from last Sunday’s Pocono Cup race, where PJ Jones drove his entry.

Aussie, Aussie Aussie, Ford, Ford, Ford IF Marcos Ambrose qualifies for Sunday’s race, he will become the seventh Australian to start a NASCAR Winston/Nextel Cup race.

The most recent was Geoff Brabham, who finished 38th in the maiden Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1994. Brabham was driving a Ford owned by Champ Car owner, Carl Haas. The only Australian to race a NASCAR Nextel Cup event at Watkins Glen is Dick Johnson, who qualified 15th at the New York track in 1990. Aboard Ross Palmer’s Ford, he was classified 27th in the Bud at the Glen, which was held exactly 17 years before this weekend’s Cup race date ...

Gordon reminds us that this is a Sport ONLY in America. The Robby Gordon v Marcos Ambrose stoush from the weekend was an amazing news story – and it just keeps getting better.

From a journalist’s point of view, this story is pure gold. There are elements of politics in it; Gordon is in deep trouble with NASCAR, with his huge fine and probation. Dan Davis, the man who oversees Ford’s NASCAR programs and a key player in getting Gordon to leave GM at the end of last season, cannot have been impressed with this messy business. Sponsors and fans will have their opinions, just as The Punter aired his in this very issue. But, after 18 years as a motorsport journalist, here is my view; to Hell with all that. I am a race fan first and there are too few feel-good stories in the sport, like this one. By taking a step back, Gordon has saved the day, saved face and, possibly, reminded us why this is called ‘motorsport’ and not ‘motorbusiness’. So to Robby Gordon, we say this; well done. Your blood is worth bottling

opinion Phil Branagan Executive Editor (Marcos will tell you what that means). To Marcos Ambrose; do your best but, whatever happens at Watkins, we are proud of you. To have the #77 win the race, with Ambrose on debut, is a huge ask, and very unlikely. I, for one, will be just as happy if his teammate wins. Motorsport eNews has a litre bottle of Jim Beam on standby, to celebrate, just in case. Robby, go your hardest! This re-issue of eNews comes out Wednesday morning, Australian time, because of the significance of this story. We changed the cover and this spread, but everything else is as it was in Tuesday’s edition. The re-issue was available less than two hours after we first heard about the news. Isn’t the internet wonderful?

WE HAVE A LITRE OF JIM BEAM ON STANDBY. ROBBY, GO YOUR HARDEST!

BRIEFLY... n Ross Stone has filled the

n Ford Performance Racing has a new Team Manager. Chris O’Toole moves into the role, while Brad Collins is now the head of the team’s engine program. Simon Derrick has moved into the position of General Manager, Commercial and Marketing. n Graham Ritter has joined the Biante Touring Car Masters Series as both the technical advisory panel Chairman and the driver liaison officer within the newly developed series. A popular driver of the 60s and 70s, Ritter achieved success in a variety of Ford Escort Touring Cars and Sports Sedans. Of late, Ritter has become more accustomed to building Formula Ford and kart engines. The next round of the Biante Touring Car Masters Series is at Eastern Creek as part of the Australian Muscle Car Masters on September 1 and 2.

Click here to check out the IndyCar smash from Michigan last weekend!

FORMULA 1 FERRARI has been given the right to appeal to the FIA International Court of Appeal over the recent World Council decision not to punish McLaren in the so-called ‘Stepneygate’ scandal. The team had been accused of using confidential Ferrari information because its chief designer Mike Coughlan was found to have Ferrari paperwork in his possession. McLaren denies that it knew anything of the paperwork but does admit that there was contact earlier in the year between Coughlan and Ferrari’s Nigel Stepney, who McLaren says acted as a whistle-blower to reveal illegal things on the 2007 Ferrari. Coughlan and Stepney were also involved in an attempt to take a group of top engineers to Honda. McLaren has accused Ferrari of mounting a “thoroughly misleading press campaign” designed to destabilise and the team is less than happy that the FIA has granted the CSAI an appeal. “The World Motorsport Council determined

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casual vacancy on the TEGA Board that arose with the resignation of Steve Chalker. Current TEGA Board member Roland Dane will move forward to fill Chalker’s former seat on the V8 Supercar Board.

Ferrari to appeal ‘Stepneygate’

that there was no evidence that any information, passed by a Ferrari team member to a McLaren employee, had been brought into the organisation or provided any benefit whatsoever to the McLaren programme,” the team said recently. Former Ferrari engineer Stepney has insisted that not only was he not responsible for the paperwork that ended up in Coughlan’s possession but he was also not the Ferrari whistle-blower. Stepney claims that he is being set up. – JOE SAWARD

‘Schuey’ says Family the go, not Ferrari FORMULA ONE MICHAEL Schumacher will not be attending any further races with Ferrari this year, opting instead to spend time with his family. The multiple world champion has attended virtually every race since the Spanish Grand Prix in early May, however his role within

the team was never clearly defined. “On that area, Ferrari and myself have not found a clear line yet,” he told German reporters. “But we do not see ourselves under pressure to finalise something. I have to admit that my knowledge is restricted because of time. “I see many former drivers

who try to comment on what is going on but they are struggling. They are simply no longer deep into the business. “I already realise that I am out of it. You tend to lose certain capabilities to judge details. The alternative would be to be around the tracks all the time. But I can honestly say, that is not an option for me.” – MARK GLENDENNING

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Will Fernando split? The MP4/22 is fast, but is it worth the trouble for Alonso? FORMULA 1

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SPECULATION is rife that double World Champion Fernando Alonso could part ways with McLaren as early as the end of the season. The Spaniard signed a multi-year deal with the team at the end of 2005, however since his arrival, he has found himself having to weather a series of controversies that McLaren has become involved in, as well as a fast-deteriorating relationship with high-profile rookie team-mate Lewis Hamilton. While Ron Dennis says that he has a claim on Alonso’s services that extends beyond this year, he is clearly not happy with what happened last weekend in Hungary. The McLaren boss, who has been the subject of enormous pressure over recent weeks, made a comment during his postrace media sortie that no-one in the team is indispensable; “We will continue to function as a Grand Prix team with specific values, and if anybody does not want to be part of those values – irrespective of where they sit in the organisation – ultimately they all have a choice. But we will not deviate away from our values.” The other factor is that all driver contracts contain escape clauses. Michael Schumacher was able to move from Benetton to Ferrari in 1996 because his contract included a provision that it would be rendered void if the team was found to

have acted in breach of the rules; a clause that was activated when it was found to have tampered with its fuel rigs. Such clauses are relatively common, and in Alonso’s case, could easily be triggered by the fact that McLaren twice been found to be in breach of Section 151c of the Sporting Code, which prohibits teams from acting in a manner prejudicial to the sport. Talk of Alonso’s possible departure from Woking was further fuelled last weekend, when he reportedly answered a Spanish radio journalist’s question about where he would be next year with, “I don’t know. We’ll see.” If Alonso were to leave, he would have a number of new homes to choose from. BMW, Toyota, Williams and Renault are all yet to finalise their 2008 line-ups, and it has been rumoured for some time that Flavio Briatore is attempting to engineer Alonso’s return to his old team – which would explain why Renault appears to be in no rush to re-sign Giancarlo Fisichella. Another intriguing possibility that has been raised is that Alonso could be considering a sabbatical. He only turned 26 last week, meaning that he would still be young enough to return when a seat became available in an environment that suited him. The loss of Alonso would leave a difficult hole to fill at Woking, but whispers in the paddock suggest that Nico Rosberg is near the top of the list of potential recruits should the need arise ... – MARK GLENDENNING

Puzzle pieced Damien White to Team BOC; Pither at Team Sirromet THE V8 Supercar endurance driver puzzle is complete for 2007. Sixty-two seats have been filled for the traditional two race, two driver events at Sandown and Bathurst. Damien White, right, is the man who has completed the enduro list, filling the final seat at Team BOC. White, currently ninth in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, will join regular drivers Andrew Jones, Simon Wills and team owner Brad Jones in the Albury-based Falcon team. It is expected that White will team with B Jones at Sandown,

before Andrew and Brad pair up for the Bathurst 1000 – a track which Brad is known to excel at. White’s deal is contrary to a report in Motorsport enews (Issue 014) that Matthew White (no relation) was likely to drive at Team BOC. ‘Ice’ White’s deal with Team BOC is expected to be announced before the Oran Park V8 round in two weeks. Meanwhile, as first reported by eNews previously, Team Sirromet Wines has signed Chris Pither to team with Fabian Coulthard. – GRANT ROWLEY

Two-tier licences could go for 2008

Dirk Klynsmith

THE two-tier licence system that has operated in the V8 Supercar Championship Series may end this season. A proposal to have Level 1 and Level 2 licenceholders race under a single-level licence next year is among the changes under consideration for inclusion in the new-for-2008 Teams’ Licence Agreement. The matter received support at the team’s forum in May and, should that continue, may be a part of the regulations for future championships. Implementation of a new TLA will require 75 percent support among team owners and, because of the fact that L2 licences currently pay owners less revenue

than an L1, current L2 owners may have to pay an fee to ‘upgrade’ their licences. One effect of standardisation of licences would means that all teams would be required to race at all rounds. To this point, L2 licenceholders have been allowed to miss up to 20 percent of rounds (not

including Adelaide, Sandown and Bathurst), a point recently demonstrated by Team Kiwi’s recent absence from Eastern Creek, Darwin and Queensland Raceway. Level 2 licences are held currently by TKR, Paul Cruickshank Racing, Britek, Paul Morris Motorsport and Jack Daniel’s Racing.

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Toll to wait until last minute V8 SUPERCARS

Peter Bury

THE Toll HSV Dealer Team is leaving its decision about driver pairings for the Sandown and Bathurst endurance races until the very last moment. How the team will combine current points leaders Garth Tander and Rick Kelly, and Paul Radisich and Craig Baird will not be decided until after the Oran Park round of the series – and perhaps, not until after practice at Sandown. The team will cross-enter all four drivers for the races, leaving it with the option of changing its intentions just prior to qualifying in Melbourne. “We will be using our test days to make sure the drivers are comfortable in the various

combinations,” Team Manager Rob Crawford said. “Putting all our eggs in one basket is risky business. While it didn’t work out for Garth last year, Rick went on to win the championship, thanks to two

podium results at Sandown and Bathurst. “We are in the same situation again this year, and depending on what happens at Oran Park, we are likely to have to make the same decision on

whether we want to play the percentages or take a risk.” The team will test postOran Park to assist Radisich and Baird’s familiarisation process with the team’s VE Commodores.

FORMULA 1 HONDA Racing F1 is to lose a number of key engineers in the weeks ahead. The appointment of former Honda technical director Geoff Willis to the same position at Red Bull Racing appears to be the reason for the moves, as they are keen to renew their relationship with Willis. The major player on the move is Honda’s deputy technical director Gary Savage, the former McLaren engineer who looks after all of Honda’s production arrangements. It is expected that there will be several others who will be following in the weeks ahead. We hear that there have been changes at Red Bull to open the way for the new crew. The moves will create yet another problem that Honda will need to overcome in the months ahead with a new design team coming in under deputy technical director Jorg Zander. The team’s senior technical director will remain Japanese engineer Shuhei Nakamoto. – JOE SAWARD

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Honda changes

Changes at Spyker FORMULA 1 CHANGES appear to be on the horizon for the Spyker F1 team, with moves afoot to take the Spyker Car company private and split the automobile company from the F1 team. The F1 team is a subsidiary of Spyker Cars, the Dutch automobile company which is listed on the stock exchange in Amsterdam. The biggest shareholder in the business is the Mol Family, which became involved a year ago. The initial plan was to have just the team but the Mols were convinced that it would be a good idea to buy into the car company as well and thus sell road cars to help fund the racing programme, sutton-images.com

Lost and found

BMW Sauber has suffered the loss of not only its chief designer but also a string of aerodynamicists in recent months, though team boss Dr Mario Theissen says that all the positions have now been filled, apart from the role of chief designer. Theissen is currently not naming names. It is worth noting that the team has yet to confirm Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica for next year and the suggestion is that the jobs are being kept open in case a top name becomes available. The most likely way that will happen is if McLaren fails to keep its two drivers under control … – JOE SAWARD

in much the same way as Ferrari and McLaren are now doing. The bad news is that the business did not reallly work in that way as the car company has serious financial difficulties, and this has meant that the F1 team has had to pay up to keep its parent company in business. Splitting the automobile company from the F1 activities would mean that the team will be back where it was a year ago, when the team was acquired from the Midland company. As part of the financial restructuring, the money that is scheduled to be paid to Midland in September 2007 and 2008 would be renegotiated and paid immediately, thus clearing

the team’s debts and enabling it to get on with the business of racing. Despite the financial hardships, the team has just finished a refurbishment of its wind tunnel and there is talk that Mark Smith, who until recently was technical director of Red Bull Racing but has since been pushed aside by the team’s decision to hire Geoff Willis, may figure in their plans. Smith was one of the major players in the development of Jordan Grand Prix, the forerunner to Midland and Spyker. The team will soon unveil a new Mike Gascoyne-inspired version of the existing car, which will make its first appearance in Turkey. – JOE SAWARD

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Vettel locked in at Toro Rosso BMW release youngster to drive with Red Bull’s junior squad for the rest of 2007 and 2008 FORMULA 1 SEBASTIEN Vettel will race with Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2008 as well as in the remaining races this year. As the young German has a longstanding option with Red Bull, it means that BMW has decided to let him go.

This has been dressed up as the Munich car manufacturer not wanting to get in the way of the youngster’s career but must lead to questions as to whether the BMW Sauber really rated him, as it makes little sensed to invest heavily in his career as BMW has done and then let him go. Vettel did a good job for the BMW team

on his debut in Indianapolis when he filled in for the injured Robert Kubica, but he did not get anywhere close to the pace of Nick Heidfeld. The news means that Timo Glock now moves up to the role of official reserve driver for the team. – JOE SAWARD

BRIEFLY... n Congratulations to Supercheap Auto V8 pilot Cameron McConville and wife Cassandra on the safe arrival of daughter Alicia Lynette over the weekend. The new addition to the McConk clan didn’t stop Dad from rejoining Greg Rust for Ten’s Hungarian Grand Prix telecast on Sunday evening after skipping qualifying.

n Jon Wood has escaped serious injury in a road accident. The Woods Bros Craftsman Truck steerer was driving a pickup truck with modified airbag suspension, when one of the bags failed. Wood crashed into some woods and was briefly treated in hospital for a cut on his head and bruising on his arm

Marshall Cass

n German A1 GP star Nico Hulkenberg led from start to finish on the weekend to clinch victory in the prestigious F3 Masters meeting, run for the first time at Zolder after being moved from its traditional home at Zandvoort. It was the fourth straight victory in the event for the ASM team.

Ellery leaves Sherrin

CARRERA CUP STEVE Ellery has split with Carrera Cup squad Sherrin Motorsport after four rounds of the 2007 championship. His place in the #19 Porsche will be taken in the next round at Oran Park by Grant Sherrin. The Brisbane driver was intending to make the step into Carrera Cup in 2008, however the General Manager of Sherrin Equipment will drive a 996 Cup Car in the Australian GT Championship at Phillip

n The 2008 Round Australia Trial has been confirmed for 2008. The event will cater for pre1986 rally cars and will finish at Queensland’s round of the World Rally Championship. “The interest in the event has been overwhelming,” said organiser and former Australian Rally Champion Bob Watson. “Based on this, we have made the firm decision to proceed.”

didn’t want his performance to suffer with the extra workload, so he made the tough decision to concentrate on the V8s for the rest of this year.” MNews understand that there was a level of unhappiness from the Ellery side of the equation regarding the team’s general preparation and he will now focus on the endurance events instead. Ellery’s move lifts Michael Trimble into the lead of the Michelin Rookie of the Year Championship.

Grech joins Tasman Ex-HRT/PWR man joins emerging Holden outfit V8 SUPERCARS

CBR Photographics

n Ever wanted to look like Ash Walsh or Tim Blanchard? Well, you can thanks to Formula Ford’s new range of merchandise. The shopping list includes jackets, shirts, caps and beanies, all of which are available at www.formulaford.com.au

Island this weekend as a leadin to his debut. Sherrin Equipment Team Manager Alistair Bye said it was disappointing to lose a driver of Ellery’s ability. “The last round at Queensland Raceway was the first time in Steve’s 15-year professional driving career that he had driven two categories in the one weekend,” he said. “After reviewing the weekend, and considering the undoubted importance of Bathurst and Sandown, Steve

JEFF Grech has found a new home – at Tasman Motorsport. The former Holden Racing Team and Holden Motorsport manager, who left Super Cheap Autos Racing following the unsuccessful takeover by John Marshall earlier this season, has assumed the role of Managing Director. Former MD Kevin Murphy has stepped aside to

concentrate on running Fujitsu V8 Supercar and Porsche Carrera team, Greg Murphy Racing. “In its short history, Tasman Motorsport has built an enviable reputation,” said Grech, who won six Drivers’ titles and six Bathurst 1000s with HRT. “It has all the ingredients to become one of the sport’s premier teams – a strong engineering base, two very good drivers and great staff – and I am looking forward to the challenge.”

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JB confirms Lamborghini gig AUSTRALIAN GT JOHN Bowe has officially joined Lamborghini’s Australia GT bid, and it will start this weekend at Phillip Island. As predicted by Motorsport eNews (Issue 002), Bowe has linked with the famous Italian marque and will drive an all-new, purpose-built Gallardo GT3 racer in remaining rounds of the 2007 season, before commencing an all-out title bid for the 2008 GT series. Lamborghini Melbourne Managing Director Andrew Smith said that November’s Sandown enduro, and the

2008 season is the team’s focus. “Team Lamborghini Australia is delighted to have an entry on the national race scene again and we are looking forward to getting our program underway,” Smith said. “This year’s GT Championship is not within our sights; we plan to use these next couple of meetings in preparation to win the 2007 Tourist Trophy event at Sandown and the 2008 series title. “To have a multiple Australian champion like John Bowe on board our team is just what we need in this increasingly competitive series.”

Reindler considers a localised future V8 SUPERCARS KARL Reindler will not take any further part in the Formula V6 Asia series this season, however he says his open-wheeler career is not over. The West Australian made his tin-top debut last week in a Jim Beam Racing Falcon, completing 80 laps at Queensland Raceway. But while he won’t rule out further involvement in V8 Supercars, he maintains an interest in furthering his open-wheeler career. “I’d love to be a part of [V8 Supercars], although I’d still like to focus on the open-wheeler stuff,” Reindler told eNews. “This season is pretty much a year off. I started the Formula V6 Asia series, but after I hurt my

back in the first round and the travel warnings for Indonesia for the third round, we’ve decided to pull the pin. “I might do some testing [in Europe] later in the year, and we’ve got the the Asia GP2 series, which looks promising. I’d like to go to Japan, but obviously my preference is to go back to Europe. “But I can see myself doing a couple of Development Series rounds next year, if not later this year, and it’d be nice to get an endurance drive for Sandown and Bathurst.” Reindler’s younger brother Christopher also had a stint in the Jim Beam Falcon, and will race in this weekend’s round of the West Australian Formula Ford Championship. – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Dyk and Mawer bump up F3 grid FORMULA 3 FORMULA 3 ranks have been bolstered for the sixth round of the Australian championship at Phillip Island this weekend. Australian A1GP driver Ian Dyk and former series frontrunner Barton Mawer will both make returns to the Kumho Tyres championship, making this weekend’s round one of the most competitive in some time. Dyk, 22, has been confirmed by Melbourne-based Scud Racing and will drive the #25

Dallara F301, driven to pole position at Phillip Island last year by fellow Scud driver Tim Macrow. Dyk is using the one-off round to get back into the driver’s seat before first full A1GP Championship bid. ”It’s going to be fantastic preparation for the upcoming season,” he said. “We start our A1GP testing at Silverstone in three weeks’ time, so to be able to race at a high speed track like Phillip Island beforehand is great.” Mawer’s return to Australian

racing comes courtesy of Opes Prime, which has upped its commitment to the F3 class. Team Opes Prime will join forces, effective immediately, with Team BRM which will prepare and run the #27 Dallara F304 of British driver James Winslow for the remainder of the series. A second Opes Primesponsored car – a Dallara F304 Spiess Opel – will be driven in the remaining three rounds by the experienced Mawer in what will be his return to the series after a two-year hiatus.

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The mad month of February A1 Grand Prix locked in for first weekend and it all just keeps flowing from there ... FEBRUARY 2008 is shaping up as a massive month in Australia following the announcements that both A1 Grand Prix and the World Superbike Championship will hold their rounds in the same month as the Bathurst 12 Hour and Clipsal 500. Sydney will host the seventh round of the A1 Grand Prix on February 1-3 to kick things off – with Eastern Creek expected

to again be pencilled in for the third visit of the A1 cars. The WPS Bathurst Motor Festival, which includes the 12 Hour for production cars, has been moved to the weekend of February 8-10, thankfully then leaving us with a weekend off before heading to the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide on February 21-24 for the opening V8 Supercar Series round.

The two-wheelers will head to Phillip Island on the following weekend of February 29 to March 2. Oh, and did we mention that there’s a weekend off before then going to Albert Park for the F1 GP? So the moral of the story is ... stock up on those holidays in December and January – you are going to need them! – AARON NOONAN

A Block Party? RALLYING

Euan Cameron

AMERICAN extreme sport regular Ken Block may start in the NGK Rally of Melbourne. Block, who is a co-founder of skate apparel company DC Shoes, has spent the last couple of years running in the Rally America series for Subaru Rally Team USA. He has shared that program with the New Zealand Rally Championship this year, right, and now Block is showing interest in the NEC Australian Rally Championship, with a possible debut at the final round in Melbourne

in November. He has been in contact with the ARC promoters, and is currently working on a deal. Block has only been rallying since 2004, making his Rally America debut in 2005 where he took out to Rookie of the Year title. Last year he finished second to Subaru team-mate and fellow extreme sport exponent Travis Pastrana in the Rally America Championship. But Block is most famous for his 52-metre jump in a Group N Subaru Impreza last November, where he flew almost 10-metres high for Discovery Channel. – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

T A W O N E L A S ON NEWSAGENTS

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THE INFO ‘GOLDMINE’ ISSUE 362 AUGUST 2007 • WILL DAVISON – on DJR, the ‘Darwin’ incident, and the future • GIBSON COLLECTION – Fred’s Supercars • FUJITSU V8s – Where to for the V8 driver development series • JOE SAWARD – on F1’s Espionage scandal • SAVING PRIVATE RYAN– How Penske reinvented Briscoe • ROGER’s HOUSE – Inside Penske’s massive race HQ • NICO ROSBERG – Son of a Gun plus All the inside coverage and opinion on V8s, F1, Goodwood Historics, Speedway, Drags and National racing

PLUS FREE:

‘Trackside’ Victorian State Racing supplement in VIC, SA and TAS copies ... and plenty more

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BRIEFLY... n Repsol has extended its naming rights sponsorship of Honda’s factory MotoGP effort for a further two years. The Spanish oil giant has backed the team for the last 13 years, during which they have jointly enjoyed 96 wins and 163 podium finishes in the premier class. n Corona is out of the World Superbike Championship from the end of this season. The Mexican brewer has been involved in SBK for a decade, as a sponsor of the series and of the Alstare Suzuki team, with riders such as 2005 champion Troy Corser and Max Biaggi.

n Work has started at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the track’s new MotorGP course. Catch fencing and viewing mounds are being removed from the inside of Turn 1 to accommodate a new ‘S’ section. Major work is expected to be completed by the end of October.

A MAJOR piece of the Silly Season Puzzle is in place, with the news that James Toseland will for Yamaha in MotoGP next season. The 2004 World Superbike champion, who leads this year’s championship, will join Herve Poncharal’s Tech 3 team, which is expected to end its association with Dunlop for a new tyre deal with either Michelin or Bridgestone. “I am delighted to have secured a rider of James’ calibre and am looking forward to working with him,” said Poncharal. “Procuring James is a major coup for Tech 3 Yamaha and for the MotoGP championship in extending our reach into Northern Europe. It is an exciting time for us all and I am certain

that he will be an integral part of the team's future.” Toseland has said throughout this season that he would join a competitive team in the premier category next season, a move which is also seen as important by category promoter DORNA. Now that the move is confirmed, speculation turns to who will take Toseland’s SBK seat. The most likely candidate is Kenan Sofuoglu, who sealed Ten Kate’s sixth straight Supersport title at Brands Hatch last week. In doing so, he became the first Turk to win a World title in any form of motor sport.

KING JAMES MOVES UP

Holden exports to China KARTING

THE world competition debut of the much talked about Made-in-China kart could hardly have gone any better for SQ Racing. The team jumped straight into top level Australian karting by fielding an entry in the Formula 100 Nationals at Geelong on the weekend. Team Manager Martin Brien did the logical thing to give the kart the best possible chance of a good showing; bolt on a

J&A tuned Parilla engine and drop Barclay Holden into the driver’s seat. The combination qualified 10th in the 35-kart field and ran at the sharp end in the preliminary heats, setting fastest lap. Starting fourth in the final, Holden was quickly into second position and was in contention all the way. It was another impressive effort from the Queenslander, who reportedly had a cracked rib by the end of the meeting due to his lack of seat time this

Coopers Photographic

n A double win at MidOhio by Mat Mladin has revitalised the AMA Superbike Championship. The Aussie’s wins close the gap to defending Champion Ben Spies to 486-469.

MOTOGP

Honda Pro Images

n Konica Minolta Honda boss Gianluca Montiron has hinted at a switch of manufacturers in the future. Montiron issued a media Q&A last week, suggesting that he was satisfied with sponsor and rider Shinya Nakano but that he desired “direct contact with a manufacturer”. With Suzuki looking at a part-time third bike program next year, and Yamaha already committed to weaving Jorge Lorenzo into its plans, is this a hint that Nakano may soon be reuniting with Kawasaki?

Toseland to Yamaha MotoGP – will Sofu take his SBK ride?

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One More Blast

A RED HOT READ BOOK REVIEW

V8 SUPERCARS SEVEN years after he retired from driving, Dick Johnson returned to the wheel of one of his Falcons at Queensland Raceway last week – and the legend showed he still has it. The five-time champion slotted into the Will Davisondriven Jim Beam Racer, adorned in his Shell-branded racewear and open-face helmet from 2000. “The boys kept at me to do it for ages,” said Johnson this week. “I thought, ‘why not?’ I haven’t driven since 2000 and I was

pretty cautious at first, but after a while I settled in and I felt like I could have gone a hell of a lot faster.” Observers reported that DJ was nearly as fast as some of the newcomers being given miles in the cars at QR, with one eyewitness reporting that Johnson eased into the 1m14s, 3s down on a competitive time. Johnson, 62, was eligible to drive the car in the team’s driver evaluation day because in spite of the ATCC titles – and three Bathurst wins – only drivers with recent experience in V8s are not permitted to drive on these days.

a – in Reverse

year. In the second SQ entry, Phillip Lucas was ninth. SQ Racing will be seeking CIK homologation of the kart and its components in November. Australia has received the first shipment of identical 32mm chassis which are currently in Sydney, along with the first 50 TAG engines. A 28mm tube version of the kart will be constructed soon, plus Midget/Rookie and Endurance chassis.

– MARK WICKS

THE late Peter Brock is the focus of the latest book by HyperActive Inc in the ‘Icons of Australian Sport’ series, which chronicles Brock’s career through the use of scrapbooks and memorabilia. Launched in Melbourne last week, the 288-page hardcover book features a range of neverbefore-seen images from the Brock family archives and a range of thoughts from brothers Neil, Lewis and Phil and a range of motorsport identities and those close to Brock. And it wouldn’t be a book release without some new information coming to light. Former HDT team-mate Colin Bond wrote in the book that the reason why Brock left the HDT in 1974 to become a privateer was because he had tried to take the valued

Marlboro money from Harry Firth. “Driving for HDT was high profile and Brock excelled at presentations and media work while we both had our moments on the track,” said Bond. “Maybe Peter got a bit carried away by this as he tried to take over the team in 1974 by having a word to Phillip Morris about the Marlboro sponsorship. “Harry and Holden found out about this and the next moment Brock was out the door – all of this happened just after he won the touring car championship.” The second in the ‘Icons’ series (following AFL great Leigh Matthews) the book retails for $79.95 and plans are already underway for a second print run, such has been the initial demand.

– AARON NOONAN

Some More Funny Business NHRA DRAG RACING ONE week after announcing his 2008 move to drive John Force Racing’s fourth Funny Car, Mike Neff has been replaced by Todd Okuhara as crew chief of the Don Schumacher-owned Mopar/ Oakley Dodge Charger R/ T driven by 2005 Funny Car champion Gary Scelzi.

Okuhara moves over from Schumacher’s Jack Beckmandriven Mail Terminal Services Dodge, for which he’s been sharing tuning duties with Phil Shuler. Beckman will now be tuned exclusively by Shuler, with Neff available to help either on either car, if he is needed.

– DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

5 Minutes with ...

RON DENNIS

McLaren’s latest win came at a stressful time for the team and its figurehead

Does Lewis Hamilton accept his status within the team? This is a matter for within our team. I am not going to make any comments about any individual – drivers, engineers etc. We’re a close-knit family with some difficult times behind us and some difficult times ahead of us. We will stay together and stay true to our values.

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QUESTION: Are you finding it hard to balance the interests of your drivers with the interests of the team? RON DENNIS: No, because we built the team and company on parity. And that is so hard to come to grips with, but there are many teams who share that value but do not have either a competitive racing car or two competitive racing drivers. When you get a combination of those two values, then you are definitely going to have a hard time. And this weekend saw the pressure and level of effort that we put into the last few minutes of qualifying really frittered away. But if you go down an alternative route, you really end up with a racing team that has only one racing car and one racing driver, because you inevitably have to have a very declared interest in one particular driver. And I don’t think that’s the way to go about winning world championships.

Are you concerned about talk that other teams are attempting to lure Fernando Alonso away from McLaren? There is an inevitability that these things are rumoured and discussed in other teams. We have two drivers who are contracted for several years into the future. We will respect our part of that bargain and that part of the situation – we hope that the drivers respect theirs, because that’s what a contract is about. That is our position – it is a challenging situation to manage, and I fully recognise that. But that goes with my job. I have to take any decisions that are in the interests of the team. But at the moment, we are most definitely going to maintain a very firm commitment to our principle of equality. There was no need for us to demonstrate our pace in the race. It’s frustrating to go away from here without any Constructors’ points, but it was a very good damage limitation

exercise. We lost eight points of our advantage. We will look at everything very, very calmly over the course of the next 24 hours and will then decide whether to pursue the path of appeal. Between now and the next Grand Prix, we will definitely try and put some calmness in the team, and arrive in Turkey in a more tranquil environment than we experienced this weekend. We truly have done nothing other than maintain the concept of withdrawing the appeal as an option. We will discuss it internally. We have done some work and explained in our press release that the stewards were very correct in saying that we held Fernando and there were only four cars on the circuit. But the reality was that there were five cars who were going to rejoin the circuit and it’s making sure that you’re not behind those cars is the reason you adopt the process of holding the car.

MARK GLENDENNING

But clearly, even as was apparent by the fact that Fernando only crossed the startline with less than a second to go and Lewis failed to do so – it was clearly not part of our plan nor consistent with the discussions that we’d had in the previous 24 hours. We appreciate the pressure and the difficulties and the level of competitiveness that the drivers have to each other. We understand that there are always moments of indecision and a feeling of trust being stretched to the limit. But our team principles were not compromised on Saturday: we made every effort as a team to generate equality. And this is a time where we stepped outside the comfort we wish to operate the team within. But isn’t the winner of the race the one who started the problem? You are understandably trying to get me to criticise one of the drivers. I have no feelings at the moment. I am completely drained of emotion and extremely pleased that I will be taking some holiday time and most of the things that will unfold over the next few days will be in the hands of Martin Whitmarsh. Lewis says that Fernando is not talking to him … I have openly admitted that we have some difficult pressures

AT 60 YEARS OLD, I DON’T NEED MY CHARACTER BUILDING ANY MORE RON DENNIS 18

news chat

in the team – but making specific comments about any individual is inappropriate. We will allow the temperature to go out of the team, and we will address these issues between now and Turkey. If there is something that has relevance to the media, we will address it.

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Are things starting to head towards the same sort of territory as when you had Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost in the team? There are obviously some patterns in life. These are two people but they’re different characters and different circumstances, and whatever the outcome it will likely be different as well. My job is to calm the team, and be leader with my colleagues and try to emerge from this very difficult series of problems stronger. And stronger as a team and stronger as an individual, and when you go through the period in your life of 30 to 60 you very often get the expression ‘character building’, but I can tell you, at 60 years old I don’t need my character building any more. This is extremely challenging for me – emotional, stressful – and I’m not alone in having to carry that burden. But nevertheless, we will continue to function as a Grand Prix team with specific values, and if anybody does not want to be part of those values – irrespective of where they sit in the organisation – ultimately they all have a choice. But we will not deviate away from our values.

5 Minutes with ...

ELI EVANS

On being a privateer, the state of the ARC, and beating Simon ...

ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

MOTORSPORT NEWS: As a privateer, are times tough in the Australian Rally Championship? ELI EVANS: Yeah they are. It’s expensive to run Group N rally cars, especially at the pointy end. Your car needs to be spot-on at every event and to do that you need to replace parts and make sure everything is basically spot-on. For example, test roads; it’s hard for a privateer to organise and have the money to do.

You mentioned the question about improving the show. What’s your opinion on that? From speaking to other drivers the main thing is, obviously, the cost. The costs of running a car and getting to events and being a part of the championship are high, and

Joel Strickland

But obviously it’s still a viable past time to an extent … It is. I’m lucky in a way because my family loves rallying and my Dad loves seeing his sons competing, so he really helps fund this thing. And then we’ve got tyres from Yokohama, so we offer the signage of the car to them to say thanks for helping out privateers. So there are companies out there willing to support privateers, but it’s really the companies that are already excited about rallying. It’s hard to get a company into rallying when we’ve got six rounds, and there’s questions about how well it’s run, and what can be improved and that sort of stuff. So times are tough, but I’m lucky that I can compete at the level that I do.

Simon’s a world class driver and we’re best of mates, but in the rally it’s serious Eli on his big brother these dirt roads we run on are really hard on equipment, so you need to replace parts more often than the circuit guys. It’s just the nature of the sport. As for what to do, I’m not totally sure. The cost-cutting measures such as going to pump fuel and a different size restrictor to try and give the cars the same sort of power, things like that can add up and get the costs down. But in the big picture you need tyres, you need parts and you need the latest gear so there’s no quick fix. So for yourself is this game sustainable?

From my point of view, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Looking at the factory Toyotas and Fords, we’ve kept our nose ahead of the Fords all year and we’re beating Neal [Bates] in stage times. So next time there’s a factory drive going, I want to be one of the next up-and-coming drivers and have the opportunity to get there. It’s harder for guys a bit further down the field. I can really see their frustration, by which I mean guys like Will Orders, who has pulled out of the Rally SA because of lack of financial support.

It’s sad in a way but I’ll still be here. I want to be Australian Champion! Will it be a big party the day you beat Simon (Evans, Eli’s older brother) for the first time? I think so! We’ve got a bit of work to do, but once we get on top of the car, well we’ve got the team to do it. It’ll be up to Chris (Murphy, co-driver) and myself to sit in the car and go and beat Simon, and it’s possible. Simon’s a world class driver, which is great to have in the ARC, and we’re best of mates, but in the rally field it’s serious!

chat

Joel Strickland

Anarchy on the track – two contrasting tales opinion Chris Lambden mNews Publisher Contrast that with events several thousand kilometres away, where FIA Stewards simply couldn’t wait to get involved in something that was, really, none of their business. So McLaren lost control of its drivers. So McLaren screwed up. So Lewis Hamilton didn’t get a second run in qualifying. So what? That’s the team’s problem (they’re not the first to mess up in this way!) – nothing to do with officialdom. Is this FIA politicalcorrectness gone mad? Or, as our own Joe Saward suggests, is McLaren being singled out for special treatment?

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NASCAR will need to go in hard on Robby Gordon when it meets (later today) to discuss penalties from the weekend’s incident at the Montreal Busch Series race. Gordon and our own Marcos Ambrose went tit-for-tat late in the race, with the American coming off worse, then simply refusing to drop back to his allocated restart spot. In the end, his sole purpose for remaining where he was, was to take out Ambrose. And NASCAR went ‘green’ and let it happen. That’s not motorsport. That’s World Series Bullshit. WWE on wheels. Racetrack anarchy. I’m all for NASCAR’s ‘what happens on the racetrack stays on the racetrack’ approach to race control, but that’s taking it way too far.

The sad thing is that, in the case of the latter, what was going on off-track proved to be a degree more intriguing than the on-track action. The stewards intervention took

away a potentially rivetting Turn 1 contest between teammates, with potentially a real grudge-match race to follow. Maybe NASCAR are the ones who have got it right after all …

Letters

Have your say, email us at mail@mnews.com.au. Keep letters to the point. Nobody’s Fool Gee what a surprise, McLaren are upset that they won’t get constructor points from Hungary (subject to protest, of course). Maybe if they and other F1 teams would stop treating the general public as idiots, then maybe the FIA would be a little more lenient. Instead of colluding with Alonso to come up with their ridiculous cover story they should have just owned up to Alonso pulling the stunt off his own bat. It is no different to AFL clubs complaining about bad PR when they let their ill-behaved little boys run amok and then try to sweep it under the

carpet before their escapades are inevitably made public. Then come the weak excuses such as Tarrant in Darwin. Stop treating us like fools guys. Cameron Dole camdole@exemail.com.au Funny Business Robby Gordon, you are a clown. Any other category would not let you anywhere near a racetrack for some time. Lucky you race in NASCAR, eh? I’m sure Ford was impressed. I hope you get yours back soon, idiot. Brent Edwards brent@phones2u.com.au

The Price is Right? Went to Queensland Raceway the other week and had a great weekend, but was surprised by the $95.00 entry fee for the day (including pit pass). It’s no wonder crowd numbers are not growing as they should, because it is a great day out. I know that at the Darwin round of the V8 championship it is only $60.00 for the whole weekend, including pit entry. It would be interesting to compare this with tickets prices for football and cricket. Are the promoters being too greedy and pricing a lot of people and families out of

going to the car races? Love eNews. John Reynolds superdentist@bigpond.com 30 years on … This reminds me of 1976; McLaren, Ferrari and the stewards battling it out. Did the FIA take the opportunity to punish McLaren for Alonso’s blocking tact after letting them off the spy-case? Ron Dennis gave, in his words, an exact understanding of how and why the events in the pits in Hungary took place. Would the FIA have penalised both Alonso and McLaren the same measures had Alonso stalled

opinion

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Smile Ron, it might never happen RON Dennis needs to relax a little. For all of the convoluted language, Dennis is relatively easy to read. The first thing that you need to understand is that he is McLaren. Or more correctly, maybe, McLaren is Ron. His entire world is completely entwined with the team, and he has an emotional investment in it that is virtually unique amongst the team principals. He has spent more than two decades building McLaren into what it is today, and it’s probably fair to say that he sees the team as his legacy. So when things go wrong, it hurts him in a manner to which

the car and then taken 10s, as this 10s seems to be the period of time in question, to restart it and leave the pits? I don’t recall Ferrari being deprived of any points they attained at Monaco in 2006 after Michael Schumacher’s blocking manoeuvre. The FIA declare there are to be no team orders because they want, for everyone’s sake, drivers to battle it out fair and square. The incident that happened in Q3 showed not only the fans but the FIA that here are team-mates fighting it out fair and square during qualifying. It was team-mate against teammate, the team itself could not lose. Why, then, should McLaren be penalised. Ron blames Hamilton; the FIA blame Alonso; Ron has stern words with Hamilton; the FIA penalise Alonso and Ron. Scott Pryce scopryce@hotmail.com

OPINION Mark Glendenning Formula 1 Correspondent others in similar roles are immune. You only needed to see him at Silverstone, choking back tears at the thought that McLaren could be involved in anything untoward, for proof of that. The other thing you need to know is that Dennis’s world is governed by precision and order. It’s a trait that manifests itself in some extreme ways, but it is also the basis of what happened during qualifying in Hungary last weekend.

The incident in pitlane was not the product of some devious plot within the team to favour one driver over another. It was the outcome of an overzealous devotion to maintaining order and control. The team had gone into qualifying with a plan. Lewis Hamilton deviated from it, and where other teams would have adapted to the situation on the track and then dealt with the small details (ie taking Hamilton aside and giving him an earful) later, McLaren put all of its efforts into ‘rectifying’ the situation, reverting to the plan they had devised and thus reestablishing control. It compromised the team’s

race, but the ramifications could run far deeper. With an FIA appeal court appearance looming, the last thing Dennis needed was a blow to his integrity. It could also, thanks to some small print that commonly appears in driver contracts, cost him one of his drivers. And it completely destroyed the carefully-cultivated illusion of harmony within the walls at Woking. Devising a perfect strategy is one thing, but success in F1 also depends on being able to improvise when the situation calls for it. Ron might call it ‘situational optimisation’ …

eLETTER OF DIRTY DOG THE WEEK Solution Central The concept raised by Andrew van Leeuwen re: an AGP endurance race is a step in the right direction. The V8s always put on a good enduro – that is what they do best. So, running a 300km/two-hour race with two drivers per car would be ideal. To accommodate pit stops, a dedicated (temporary) pit lane could be set up

on the straight between turns 13 and 14. Behind the pit complex, on the Ross Gregory oval, the V8s could set up their own precinct, under the full control of V8SA. To offset the cost of setting all this up, an 8000 seat grandstand (named after Peter Brock) could easily be accommodated on the inside of the track, opposite the V8 Supercar’s

own pit lane. I’m sure the V8 teams would appreciate the freedom to sell merchandise within the V8 precinct, be able to better service their sponsors and supporters, as well as having direct access via Gate 10. And for Bernie, the V8 riffraff are then out of sight and out of mind. Matt Treacy matthewtreacy@bigpond.com

For a chance to win yourself a pair of Dirty Dog sunglasses, send your opinions to mail@mnews.com. au, or via snail mail Motorsport News PO Box 7072, Brighton, Vic 3186 23

FORMULA 1 ROUND 11 – HUNGARY

iLewis

Despite the off-track politics and the inner-team rivalry, Lewis Hamilton wrapped up another win in robot-fashion. By JOE SAWARD

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MID a maelstrom of controversy, Lewis Hamilton took his third victory of the year with a brilliant drive at the Hungaroring. He led from flag to flag and held off Kimi Raikkonen for most of the afternoon. The cars were very evenly matched but Hamilton was the man in the driving seat – and barring biblical weather, as we saw last year, the Budapest track is not noted as a venue for epic races. Hamilton’s win extends his World Championship lead over Fernando Alonso to seven points. He is 20 clear of Raikkonen with six races remaining. Barring outside interference, that should be a margin that can be defended, provided McLaren’s performance and reliability remain as they are now. A rookie World Champion is a very real possibility. But there are signs that people are now beginning to fray at the edges: McLaren and Ferrari are at ‘daggers drawn’ over Stepneygate. Alonso pulled off a sneaky stunt in qualifying and deprived Lewis of the chance to go for pole. The Spaniard got caught and deserved to be punished. Hamilton jumped into an immediate lead at the start, as the the dirty side of the track had its usual effect with most of those on the left getting the jump on those on the right. Then the field settled down to the usual snake of cars with very little overtaking. Alonso’s five-place

penalty worked against Nick Heidfeld and Raikkonen got the jump on him. Initially, Hamilton sprinted clear, opening a gap of 4.6s over Raikkonen by lap 13, and then the Finn lost 1.6s in one lap. “I ran wide in two corners in the last sector,” he admitted sheepishly. After that, however, he began to look dangerous. The first stints ended on lap 19 for both men and they remained in first and second as others had all stopped earlier. During the second stint Raikkonen carried less fuel, and was faster. Hamilton had a problem with his steering and so was struggling just a little. “I had an idea we might be slightly stronger than Kimi because we had good pace considering we were slightly heavier,” he said. “But then the front wheels began locking up under braking because of a steering problem. The front end felt a lot different to the first stint. The car was steering to the right, and that enabled Kimi to catch up. I decided to stay off the kerbs and, though the team said that it was not too much of a problem, it still affected me. It was difficult.” The gap between the two men shrunk to as little as half a second and the biggest problem was traffic, notably involving Felipe Massa (who was never able to make up for the qualifying mess and was having a horrible afternoon, stuck in the midfield). The aerodynamic effect of following a

car is debilitating insofar as it steals frontend downforce. That was the problem Raikkonen had getting too close to Hamilton; now Hamilton experienced it before Massa finally moved over. Raikkonen refuelled again on lap 46 and for the next four laps Hamilton was flatout. By the time he accelerated out of the pits, he had a lead of 4.4s and was on the same tyres as Raikkonen. Kimi closed in but there was no overtaking. “I would have tried if we’d had the chance,” he said, referring to the slightest visible chink in Hamilton’s armour giving him an opportunity to challenge, “but there was no point to be stupid.” They finished together, but the 10 points went to Hamilton. Further back, the disgruntled Alonso could do nothing about Heidfeld, who drove a terrific race. Hamilton called it the toughest weekend of his F1 career. He had fallen out with the team, argued with his mentor Ron Dennis. But then he delivered the goods in the most emphatic way possible. “It was difficult to stay focused, and with the team not getting any points I didn’t know whether they blamed me or not, or just the situation,” he said. “I just tried to come in with a smile on my face and do the same procedures as always, so I went round to all of the team and only one person didn’t wish me good luck. That didn’t really affect me; I just got in the car and did my job.”

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All pics: sutton-images.com

Round the ‘ring: Top, Nick Heidfeld got his first podium of the year, joining Hamilton and Raikkonen. Above, Rosberg was seventh. Left, Ralf Schumacher impressed in an improving Toyota. Below left, Alonso got past Kubica. Below, Button had another disaster.

Why was McLaren punished?

ERNANDO Alonso deserved the punishment he got from the FIA stewards after qualifying in Hungary. But it is hard to comprehend why the McLaren team was also punished. The official explanation was insufficient and the penalty seemed to be well in excess of what – if anything – was deserved. McLaren left Lewis Hamilton just enough time to get round to start his last qualifying run. It was only the additional 10s that Alonso added that meant that Lewis had no chance of achieving it. If there was more to it than that, if there was collusion between the team and Alonso to punish Hamilton for not obeying a diktat earlier in

ANALYSIS Joe Saward Formula 1 the session, then the ruling should have explained it. It did not. There have been many, many events that have passed without comment from the FIA over the years that were far worse than what happened in qualifying, so why was there a punishment? Why is McLaren being dragged to the International Court of Appeal over the Stepneygate business when Toyota’s proven espionage a couple of years ago was not even mentioned? Why was a McLaren internal dispute bringing the sport

THERE HAVE BEEN MANY, MANY EVENTS THAT HAVE PASSED WITHOUT COMMENT FROM THE FIA into disrepute while a team manager allegedly thumping his driver, as happened recently at Scuderia Toro Rosso, is not considered bad for the sport? And why is McLaren in court over a wayward employee while Ferrari has a wayward employee but no-one ever even considers the fact that the Scuderia should be punished as well? At the core of the sport there should always be a governing body that can be trusted to be objective and respected. One does not have to agree with all the decisions,

but should at least understand them and feel that they were made for the right reasons. These are the things that people are saying in the paddock in the summer of 2007, and it is such a shame because we are having one the best seasons of F1 racing for many a year, full of interest and excitement. It is a delight to have two teams, each with two drivers capable of winning and actually allowed to win. That is what it is all about. So let the lawyers and pseudo lawyers stay at home and let’s get on with the sport.

Collusion or confusion?

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THE qualifying crisis in Hungary was the big story of the weekend and it was not until midnight on Saturday night – nine hours after qualifying ended – that there was finally a decision. It was a complicated matter, involving Lewis Hamilton ignoring a pre-arranged agreement to let Fernando Alonso take advantage of the fuel-burning segment of the Q3 session. This caused some stresses and strains on the pitwall. In the end the team called in Alonso and arranged for him to sit for 20s to get the correct gap for his final flying lap. There was still time (just) for Hamilton to get round and start his final lap.And that was when Alonso decided to sit there for an extra 10 seconds. He told the stewards it was because he was discussing tyres but they did not accept that one. Fernando was dumped five places down the grid. – JOE SAWARD

Chinese whispers: Lewis Hamilton and Nick Heifeld debrief after the Hungarian Grand Prix.

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Add and subtract USUALLY, Formula 1 engineers add wings and flip-ups to their cars at tracks such as the Hungaroring, which has a relatively low-grip surface and low lap average speed. But McLaren bucked that trend this year. The mid-section ‘horn’ winglets came off the MP4/22 in Germany two weeks ago and did not reappear in Hungary. The other part of the update is an all-new rear wing, which requires less assistance from add-ons that otherwise manufacture cleaner, uninterrupted air. In truth, the ‘horns’ were not downforceproducing devices so much as airflow ‘conditioners’. It is not yet clear whether this is a permanent, definitive solution or whether the team will ‘rehorn’ the car for Turkey and the faster tracks coming up. – PAOLO FILISETTI

F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | Round 11 HUNGARY Pos #

Driver

Team

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

Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari Nick Heidfeld BMW Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes Robert Kubica BMW Ralf Schumacher Toyota Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota Heikki Kovalainen Renault Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault Jarno Trulli Toyota David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault Giancarlo Fisichella Renault Felipe Massa Ferrari Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari Rubens Barrichello Honda Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Ferrari Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda Jenson Button Honda Sakon Yamamoto Spyker-Ferrari

laps

time

Qual

70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 69 69 69 69 69 69 69 68 68 42 41 35 4

1:35:52.991 +0.7 secs +43.1 secs +44.8 secs +47.6 secs +50.6 secs +59.1 secs +68.1 secs +76.3 secs +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +2 Laps +2 Laps Electrical Accident Throttle Accident

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Fastest Lap: Alonso on lap 44, 1m15.284s

F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | DRIVER'S points Points: Hamilton 80, Alonso 73, Raikkonen 60, Massa 59, Heidfeld 42, Kubica 28, Fisichella 17, Kovalainen 16, Wurz 13, Webber 8, Coulthard 8. sutton-images.com

F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | Constructor’s points Points: McLaren-Mercedes 138, Ferrari 119, BMW 71, Renault 33, Williams-Toyota 20, Red Bull-Renault 16, Toyota 12, Super Aguri-Honda 4, Honda 1.

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 9 – FINLAND

MIRROR

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People may call Sebastien Loeb the Michael Schumacher of World Rallying, but Marcus Gronholm has now won the Rally of Finland seven times ...

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N the modern ‘Loeb-conquers-all’ era of World Rallying, it’s easy to overlook just how good Marcus Gronholm is. But in Finland last weekend, the lanky local reminded the world that he too can rewrite the record books, becoming the first driver in the current WRC era to win the same event seven times. That’s right; SEVEN. It’s often said that the locals are all but impossible to beat in Finland, and Mikko Hirvonen added weight to the theory by shadowing Gronholm home for second place. Sebastien Loeb, desperately trying to hang on to Gronholm in the World Championship, was a distant third. Gronholm’s seventh Rally Finland win was as straightforward as any. He was just 0.1s behind Hirvonen after the first loop of stages, and was just 4s ahead of Hirvonen at the end of the first leg. By the end of the second leg Gronholm

had edged out to a 20s lead, and by the time he finished the last stage he was 24s clear of Hirvonen and Loeb. “When I started driving at 19, I never thought I could win Rally Finland on seven occasions,” said Grönholm. “Mikko pushed me incredibly hard all weekend and there was never an opportunity to relax. One small error on my part and he would have been passed me. “[But] I’m happy that he helped my championship challenge by finishing in front of Loeb.” Hirvonen was happy with second place, despite not being able to match his teammate for outright speed. “It’s a big step up mentally for me to be up there matching Marcus,” he said. “I knew I could be fast here but the fact I was able to maintain that pace throughout the weekend was really satisfying. I loved every minute of it.”

Loeb, meanwhile, was not so satisfied with third: “I tried my best all weekend and every stage was the same – I was always behind,” he rued at the finish.

ourth for the weekend was Australian Chris Atkinson, who had a stellar event for the Subaru World Rally Team. ‘Atko’ kicked things off in fine style, winning the rally-opening Super Special Stage on the Thursday night. He then ran a lonely three legs to finish a superb fourth. “We just tried to keep the pace of the car right through the weekend,” said Atkinson. “To be able to do those times for the first day and a half was great, and let’s hope we can continue it for the rest of the year. “The car is performing well on tarmac at the moment, so we’re confident we can continue this pace in Germany. I’m pleased with the way we have gone this weekend, and think it is encouraging for the team.”

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High Flyer: ‘Atko’ was on fire in Finland, out-pacing his team-mate Petter Solberg and finishing fourth on the road.

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Yumps and Bumps: Sebastien Loeb, above left, and Mikko Hirvonen, above, rounded out the Finnish podium. JWRC driver Jan Molden has to work on his landings, left, while Henning Solberg, below, was fifth, another consistent finish.

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WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP | Driver’s points Points: Gronholm 65, Loeb 56, Hirvonen 49, Sordo 28, P Solberg 26, H Solberg 24, Atkinson 15, Latvala 12, Carlson 9, Stohl 9, Gardemeister 8.

Adam Again GP2

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AN inspiring piece of strategy saw Adam Carroll take his second GP2 feature win in Hungary last weekend. Carroll started the race sixth, but ran the Safety Car gauntlet when Pastor Maldonado crashed early in the race. He then pitted when the Safety Car was

deployed thanks to a threecar pile-up later in the race, and just managed to keep his place at the front of the queue. The sprint race went to Javier Villa, who made the most of the reversegrid format to lead home Carroll. Points: Timo Glock 55, Lucas di Grassi 51, Luca Filippi 35, Kazuki Nakajima 33, Giorgio Pantano 28.

Tose’s Land WORLD SUPERBIKES

JAMES Toseland will race in MotoGP next season, and the premier category does not appear at Brands Hatch. So he may never get to race a motorcycle at his home track again – and made sure he enjoyed his final outing. Troy Bayliss beat him to Superpole but past that, the Honda ace was untouchable. After Bayliss decked it on lap 5, Toseland cruised the opening race from Troy Corser and Brands first-timer Max Biaggi, after Noriyuki Haga ran off at Surtees. Toseland won the second race from Haga and Corser, with Bayliss seventh. To add to the Ten Kate team’s great weekend, Kenan Sofuoglu banked the team’s sixth straight Supersport title after following Aussie Broc Parkes home in the race. Points: Toseland 355, Haga 289, Biaggi 286, Bayliss 258, Corser 227, Xaus 163, Lanzi 161, Rolfo 146.

IRL INDYCAR TONY Kanaan has out-sped team-mate Marco Andretti to victory in the Firestone Indy 400 at Michigan – but a mulitcar wreck that eliminated AGR pilot Dario Franchitti scored all the headlines. The Scot was leading the race, and was duelling with Dan Wheldon on the back straight when the two tangled wheels on lap 144 of 200.

Franchitti soared into the air, came crashing down upside down onto Scott Dixon and then AJ Foyt IV, Tomas Scheckter, Sam Hornish Jr and Ed Carpenter all became involved. “I was just trying to stay ahead of Dan,” said Franchitti, who was uninjured. “All of a sudden I found myself up in the air, backwards about 30 feet in the air. I was just thinking, ‘Hang on tight.’

IndyCar Media

Tony wins, Dario flys!

“I’m a lucky guy.” Only seven cars of the 20 starters finished the race. Points: Franchitti 494, Dixon 470, Kanaan 413, Wheldon 375, Hornish Jr 367.

Burns Means Business KARTING JASON Burns won the Formula 100 Nationals at Geelong last weekend. Burns (Kosmic/Parilla) took a narrow but controlled win over Barclay Holden (SQ Racing), with rapid local Aaron Ivermee (Arrow) third. David Sera (Arrow) made his debut in the class with pole position and wins in his heats, however a loose engine mount resulted in a DNF in the pre-final. He recovered to sixth in the final, which became fifth after Simon Salvatico (Tony Kart) was excluded for contact with outgoing champion Matthew Wall. Trent James was fourth. Clinton Purdie won the Heavy division of the race (11th outright) and Ben Albanese was the best placed Over 40s driver (17th outright). – MARK WICKS

The Lite Stuff

NASCAR

NASCAR Media

KURT Busch snapped a 51 race winless streak at Pocono on Sunday, laying a whippin’ on the field by leading 175 of the 200 laps as the Penske driver vies to enter the crucial top 12 points contenders who will be eligible to win the championship. Busch’s win knocked race runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr to 13th in points, with ‘Junior’ taking home second and followed home by Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. “It’s good to be back in victory lane,” said Busch, who overcame a bad pit stop. “I feel spoiled to have this kind of car, it was great. Penske Racing deserve the credit, I just hold the wheel.” Gordon had the quote of the race: “If the #2 car (Busch) didn’t exist today then maybe

some of us had a chance of winning. Wow is all I can say!” Earnhardt Jr took advantage of a rain delay mid-qualifying and set the pole speed on a cooler track, his first since September 2002. It knocked Busch from pole position, but ‘Junior’ would battle an ill-handling car until he spun to bring out the fourth caution. His DEI team changed the left front shock absorber that, along with a twotyre pit stop, would get him all-important track position and was key in his late race performance. Jamie McMurray was involved in three cautions, the third involved four other cars when Carl Edwards appeared to tag Reed Sorenson and swept others into the melee. – MARTIN D CLARK Points: Jeff Gordon 3236, Denny Hamlin 2870, Matt Kenseth 2825, Jeff Burton 2763, Tony Stewart 2749.

Kevin the First Neil Hammond

NASCAR Media

Camm’s day at Winton VMRC

BUSCH SERIES WHILE Marcos Ambrose perhaps should have won the first NASCAR Busch Series race held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal on Saturday, the history books show it went to Kevin Harvick. With Ambrose and Robby Gordon coming to grief (see news pages), Harvick beat home Quebec favourite Patrick Carpentier after starting

from the rear due to missing qualifying, despite Gordon crossing the line first. Road race ace Max Papis was third clear of Ron Fellows, with Ambrose recovering for seventh. Points leader Carl Edwards finished 30th after losing 10 laps with a broken suspension arm mount. Points: Edwards 3467, Reutimann 2680, Harvick 2548, Leffler 2532, Ragan 2486 (8. Ambrose 2271).

THE Victorian Motor Racing Championship’s fourth round at Winton last weekend provided a duel in Over 2-litres between Dean Camm and Rod Smith. Camm won all three races. Mazda RX7s dominated Improved Production, with brothers Kane and Daniel Vereker leading the way. David Frith and Andrew McLaughlin shared the Formula Vee wins between them. John Agosta (VK

Commodore) recovered from a spin in Race 3 to score round spoils in Super TT ahead of Ian Cowley, while Bruin Beasley won the open wheelers/sportscars field with two wins. Neil Hopwood won all four MG races while closest rival Danny Meyer suffered a mechanical issue in Race 3. Two race victories cemented round spoils for John Wood in HQs, his first round win for the year. Craig Munro once again dominated the BMW E30. – AARON SHAW

rear of grid

Marcos: Robbed by Robby

HAVE seen some amazing animal acts on television over the years. I have seen bears on bicycles, lions leaping though burning hoops and dogs walking on their back legs. But I never saw a chimpanzee dress in a helmet and a racesuit, squeeze inside a NASCAR and drive around an island in Canada. Until last weekend. I admit that I am not the biggest fan of NASCAR oval track racing. I will watch Daytona and some other races, and the fact that most of the races are on Monday morning here is not that convenient. I also admit to not having been a huge Marcos Ambrose fan when he was racing in V8 Supercars; I did not dislike him, I guess, I just liked other drivers better. But the form he showed leading the Montreal road race had me in front of the screen on Sunday – and what a great race we saw. Even in the final laps, Ambrose gave it as well and took it, until Robby Gordon went crazy with two laps to run. Everyone watching knew what was going to happen but there was nothing that could be done about it. From what they said on TV after the race, Ambrose came out of this looking like a gentleman and Gordon looking like an idiot. I used to rate the bloke when I watched him in Champ Cars but, if Robby genuinely thinks that he was a deserving winner of that race, he is a fool. I have never been a fan of officials punishing drivers (I reckon they overdo it) but on this occasion, NASCAR should suspend Gordon for at least a month. In my opinion, Robby Gordon is a spoilt dickhead who is out of touch. The sooner he hangs up his helmet, the better for the sport.

Odd Spot

EVERYONE KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN BUT THERE WAS NOTHING THAT COULD BE DONE ABOUT IT

Is this photo in Focus?

sutton-images.com Dirk Klynsmith

DISGRACEFUL pun, agreed, but can you blame us? This sexy little set-up is the 10 Ford Focuses that took part in the Neste Oil Rally Finland. Keen-eyed readers will notice some additional signage on the factory cars spruiking the benefits of travelling to Abu Dhabi, and a third factory Focus in the background of the photo. Welcome Shaikh Khalid Al Qasimi, Middle East Rally Championship leader and WRC debutant as of Finland. He finished 16th.

punter@mnews.com.au