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Issue No. 019 28 August – 3 September 2007
SKAIFE’S LARRY TEST Holden’s hero tries out A JDR commodore
SUZUKI WANTS IN! japanese manufacturer confirms australian rally pLAns
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. 019 | 28 August – 3 September 2007
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news 6 Red & White in Black Skaife has a Jack ride 8 Alronzo? Fernando, Ron disagree 11 Freeze! I have a Glock Toyota to move Ralfy 14 Drag this, baby! Shepherd and Bray news
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chat 20 5 minutes with ... opinion 22 Branagan 21 Rowley 38 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.
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Team BOC’s Damien White Save the Production Cars Not Happy, Gilmore Martin, OK. James, not!
race 24 The ‘Is Stan Bull’ Ring Massa (yawn) wins (zzz) 30 Seb is Almost Home
Bourdais wins at Zolder
trade 34 Trade and Industry / Raceshop 37 Classifieds
welcome Simon’s brother had a car: Eli, Eli, Oh Eli Evans says hi ... Check out the latest eNews supplements via http://www.mnews.com.au
Suzuki aims at 2009 ARC debut AUSTRALIAN RALLY SUZUKI is likely to provide a third, or even fourth, factory team in the 2009 Australian Rally Championship. The Japanese manufacturer already has a strong presence in World Rallying, frontrunning the Junior World Rally Championship with Super 1600-spec Swifts. It will step up to the big time in next year’s World Rally Championship with a WRC version of it’s SX4.
But it is the JWRC cars that are the key to a potential manufacturer presence in the ARC, with Suzuki’s Public Relations manager Andrew Ellis confirming its interest in getting involved. “We’ve looked at it, and now it’s just a case of weighing up the investment,” Ellis told eNews. “It’s something we’d love to do. It’ll be interesting to see how the WRC program goes next year.” While the probable
outcome involves the conversion of JWRC Swifts to Super 2000 specification (similar to Ford’s development of the Fiesta), there may also be scope for Suzuki’s new Swift Sport Rally Cup. The Swift Cup-spec car was released at last March’s Geneva International Motor Show. It could, as an alternate to full ARC competition, be used in a one-make ‘Cup’ series within the ARC. The cars are based on the
Europe-spec Swift Sports, with a global program expected to complement the WRC involvement. And Australia may well be part of the plans ... Should Suzuki come on board, there could be four manufacturers in the 2009 ARC, with Ford and Toyota already involved, and rumours surrounding Mitsubishi’s return (as exclusively reported in Issue #17 of eNews) intensifying. – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN
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Last stop Sydney, maybe Homebush? V8 SUPERCARS HOMEBUSH may be back on the V8 Supercar radar – for a round of the 2008 Championship. Tomorrow’s Motorsport News magazine will report that the long-wished-for (by V8SA) race around Sydney Olympic precinct is “back on the agenda” and might be an inclusion as the last round of next
year’s series, if a rumoured new push for it comes to fruition. Our sources suggest that the preliminary 2008 calendar includes a final race in ‘Sydney’ – which may be Homebush or, if funding is not forthcoming, Eastern Creek. As we reported last week, the 2007 calendar will feature a six-week latewinter hiatus, to accommodate the Seven Network’s extensive coverage of the
Beijing Olympic Games, which will be held in August. The season is expected to resume with the Sandown 500 on the second weekend of September. In a busy start to the season, the WA round will be slotted in between the Clipsal opener (February 21-24) and the Grand Prix (March 13-16), with the Hamilton round also locked in (April 18-20).
news
Skaife lends Larry a hand
HRT team leader tests ‘Young Blokes’ Commodore – to provide an experienced driver’s input V8 SUPERCARS
Dirk Klynsmith
MARK Skaife has tested a Jack Daniel’s Racing Commodore as Perkins Motorsport looks to assist the performance of its young driving duo – Jack Perkins and Shane Price. The Holden Racing Team driver and owner stepped into the car on Monday at Winton, as a favour to his old mate and sparring partner, team owner Larry Perkins. Skaife drove the car Shane Price and Jack Perkins will share at Sandown next month to provide technical input from an experienced driver’s perspective. “It was just a low-key thing,” said Perkins. “We had some discussion
about having a top-shelf driver having a drive of one of our cars. We have been going with the young blokes for a year and we wanted to have another view of the car, from an experienced driver. There are not many drivers of the quality of Mark around. “When I asked him if he would have a drive, he said yes. He drove the car, and I am pleased that he did.” Ironically, Skaife’s 2006 Bathurst 1000 ended on the opening lap when, experiencing clutch problems and struggling to climb Mountain Straight, he was hit from behind by an unsighted Perkins Jr. Skaife is the second ‘guest’ driver to have a run in a Perkins
car in a week. Current V8 Supercar Champion Rick Kelly drove the team’s ride car on the Monday after the Oran Park round and reported that he was happy with the car, according to Perkins Sr. There is no restriction on a driver getting behind the wheel of another team’s car, so long as it fits within TEGA’s testing rules. Earlier this year, Britek’s Jason Bright tested a
Team BOC Falcon at Winton, prior to racing a BJR-based car as a replacement for the one crashed at Barbagallo. The team owner said that, while Skaife drove the car as a favour, there would be a form of payment for Skaife’s input: “I will probably give him a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, if he wants one! There’s no reason why he should not have the best ...”
BRIEFLY... n Paddock chat in Istanbul suggested Ross Braun had a meeting at Maranello last week regarding his future with the Ferrari Formula 1 team. The news further fuels rumours that Braun will take over Ferrari’s F1 program as soon as next year.
n Renault F1 ran some new development parts on its R27 Formula 1 cars in Istanbul at the weekend but technical director Bob Bell revealed that the team’s technical resources are now “focusing intently” on its 2008 racecar.
McLaren two seconds faster than earlier in the year? FORMULA 1 McLAREN boss Ron Dennis has played down claims by Fernando Alonso that he “brought five or six-tenths” to the team when he joined, which hasn’t, in Alonso’s mind, been rewarded. The world champ made the claim when answering questions at the weekend about his ongoing status within the team and suggestions that he may be able to move to another team in 2008. While there are sources which suggest that Alonso may be able to get out of his McLaren contract (although the buy-out figure would be massive) and perhaps join Renault, this seems unlikely. “There are not many options I think and I have a contract with McLaren so the possibilities for the near future are around here,
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n The national government in Malaysia has signed a five-year extension to the contract with Formula One Management to stage a Formula 1 Grand Prix at Sepang. It means that the race will remain on the calendar through 2015, and will possibly be run on the Sunday evenings like the Singapore race. It has emerged that the new contract commits the circuit to hold the race at night “at any time upon notification” by FOM.
Dennis/Alonso still swapping barbs
driving for McLaren,” Alonso told reporters. “As far as I know that is the only possibility.” Alonso said he is happy to have a winning car but pointedly criticised the team by saying that “I gave the team a lot. When I arrived in December, I remember the car I drove; I remember the results they had in 2006. And now, you know, I brought to the team half a second, six tenths, whatever, and I don’t see
anything giving me back.” Dennis’ quite expansive response, reported by autosport.com, suggested that yes, while the team acknowledged Fernando’s contribution, there were a number of additional factors behind the team’s improvement in 2007! ... Intriguingly, Dennis claimed the McLaren was “two seconds a lap faster now than it was at the beginning of the season.” –SAWARD/STAFF
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FORMULA 1
WHILE Fernando Alonso continues to complain about McLaren, it seems that the Woking team has already secured its other prime asset – Lewis Hamilton – for at least the next five years. The word in Turkey was that the British driver had a number of new demands after the flare-up with Alonso in Budapest but that some of these have now been met. It is no secret that Lewis also wants a better financial deal to reflect what he has
achieved in his F1 debut season. Hamilton hinted that a pay rise was on the way when he told reporters in Turkey that he is thinking about moving abroad to escape the invasive UK media. Over the break, various papers linked Lewis with a bevy of women – most of whom turned out to be daughters of McLaren shareholder Mansour Ojjeh, all long-time Hamilton friends, and all present on Ojjeh’s yacht with their respective boyfriends! “It’s becoming more and more difficult,” Hamilton told the motorsport press. “Every
sutton-images.com
But Lewis is locked in
time I go to London, cameras appear from God knows where. “Pressure on the track doesn’t get to me, I’m able to manage it and get on with the job. But in your personal life, it affects you. All they do is read what’s in the papers and all the rubbish that’s put out. “You just have to brush it off, but some people can do that better than others.” “My whole holiday was in the papers,” he said. “I was on the boat trying to relax but I couldn’t swim because I knew the cameras were waiting.” – JOE SAWARD
Is Pedro a Prodriver? FORMULA 1
sutton-images.com
McLAREN boss Ron Dennis says that any announcement of a deal to supply the Prodrive F1 team will have to come from Prodrive boss Dave Richards. Dennis was responding to suggestions that a deal was close, and that current McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa would be one of the race drivers – but pointed
out, as has Richards, that there are two other companies possibly in the frame to supply the all-new F1 team. However, industry insiders are confident that a McLaren/Prodrive partnership, under which Richards will run a ‘satellite’ McLaren team (at a start-up cost a fraction of the norm) will be by far the most productive one and expect an announcement in the near future.
BMW hangs on to it’s men sutton-images.com
FORMULA 1
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sutton-images.com
BMW has given up on the possibility that Fernando Alonso may be available next year and has re-signed its current drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica. The Munich manufacturer had delayed the decision to see if there was any chance that Alonso might be able to negotiate his way out of his McLaren contract, following indications that the Spanish driver was not happy with the Woking team. The fact that BMW has now firmed up its driver line-up is a clear indication that Alonso is not available and so will either have to stay with McLaren until the end of his contract or spend at least a year on the sidelines if he can’t stand the thought of remaining alongside Lewis Hamilton. The news of BMW’s decision also suggests that Renault will have to give up on its ambitions to get Fernando back and thus it is anticipated that a decision will soon be made regarding its driver line-up for next year. The team has Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen on its books and must now decide whether this duo is strong enough for the future. Nelson Piquet Jr is waiting in the wings but he has no F1 racing experience, although there are rumours from Holland (Nelson Jr is half-Dutch) that a deal is already done and that he will replace Fisichella in 2008. The logic for delaying the decision is to try to keep Fisichella motivated for the rest of the season. – JOE SAWARD
And grabs Honda Aero man FORMULA 1 MARIANO Alperin has quit Honda, where he was chief aerodynamicist, and will move to BMW Sauber next year. Alperin had been responsible for the aerodynamic department in Brackley in recent months, but his team has failed to produce a good car this year and as a result the team has hired a whole group of new wind tunnel engineers. BMW Sauber currently employs Willem Toet, an exHonda man, and it is thought that his influence has resulted in the recruitment of Alperin. – JOE SAWARD
news
Is this
Toyota’s new F1 driver? sutton-images.com
FORMULA ONE GP2 racer Timo Glock is rumoured to have signed to replace Ralf Schumacher at Toyota. Glock is known to have visited the Toyota factory in recent weeks and has no ties at BMW, which has signed up Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica and not nominated a reserve driver. Glock does have a BMW deal but we believe there is a get-out clause if he has the chance to race in F1. An announcement is expected in due course. This aside, there are clear signs that the Schumacher is
on his way out, with Toyota team boss John Howett saying at the weekend that the German was just one of a number of drivers under consideration for the job. There were rumours at the weekend that Schumacher had been offered just a third of his current retainer as a bestcase scenario – although there are those who consider even that to be over-payment … If Glock is signed by the team, there is little chance that Schumacher will get another ride. His performance this year has been very disappointing and no serious team is looking at him at the moment. – JOE SAWARD
Clarke: Boned! CHAMP CAR DAN Clarke was banned from competing in Sunday’s Zolder Champ Car race after causing a four-car incident in practice. The Team Minardi USA driver clipped Justin Wilson’s right front wheel with his left rear before bouncing into Jan Heylen’s Conquest Racing Panoz. Paul Tracy arrived at the scene witrh locked brakes and ran into the back of Wilson. Clarke was already on notice over another incident involving Wilson at San Jose, and was suspended by CCWS
Competition Director Dan Cotman. “What happened out there was totally unacceptable,” said Cotman. “It was an installation lap, there was no need to get that aggressive that early, and he was travelling between 25 and 50 per cent faster than the people he crashed into. “I have studied the data from all the cars involved, and in fact seven or eight cars. It was pretty clear what went on out there.” Team Minardi USA brought in Mario Dominguez to sub for Clarke in qualifying and the race.
Champ Car Media
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BRIEFLY... PSST! Are you a Ford fan? Then prepare for the Ford Fan Day at Sandown on September 9. The family day will feature Fords of all shapes and sized between 11am and 3pm, with remote controlled racecars, the Jeld-Wen Simulator and Grant Denyer. Admission is free. n
2008 Outlaws Down Under V at Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway on January 17-19 has a new naming rights sponsor – East Coast Pipeline, a specialist in pipeline construction and installation of high-pressure gas, oil and service pipelines with over 30 years experience in the industry. n
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V8 SUPERCARS
TEAM BOC has confirmed that Damien White will drive with the Albury-based team in the V8 Supercar races at Sandown and Bathurst this year. As reported in eNews #016, the Fujitsu V8 Supercar frontrunner will join Andrew Jones, team owner Brad Jones and mid-season recruit Simon Wills in the Ford team. White told eNews that if it was his choice, he’d like to tackle The Mountain with the team owner. “I reckon it would be a buzz to drive with Brad Jones at Bathurst,” White said. “Given that he’s announced his retirement from full-time racing, I don’t know if this is his last Bathurst, but he’s pretty pacy around there. “I’d like to do it with him, but
John Morris/Mpix
n Eight-time Australian Safari winner John Hederics holds a seven minute lead after the first three days of competition in this year’s Australian Safari, being staged in Western Australia. Hederics and navigator John Williams have won seven out of the 10 competitive stages to date in their PWR/Holden Rally Team V8 Rodeo, finishing second in the other three. Father and son team Terry and Michael Denham are currently running second in their new Mitsubishi Triton utility, with Terry Connor and Wayne Smith (Nissan Patrol), a further 14 minutes back.
White confirmed
having said that, Andrew and Simon have done a great job all year evolving the team and they are making improvements. There is no better evidence of that than Andrew’s Race 3 result at Oran Park.” It will be White’s fourth Bathurst start. His last was with Britek Motorsport in 2005, where
he finished 17th with Jose Fernandez. Also in Ford endurance land, Team Kiwi Racing recently confirmed Johnny McIntyre to partner rookie standout Shane Van Gisbergen in the Stone Brothers-prepared Falcon. – GRANT ROWLEY For more – see 5 Minutes with Damien White, page 20
Status quo for the round rubber things DESPITE discussions about a change in V8 Supercar tyre spec for 2008 and beyond – either by compound change or even the introduction of an ‘Option’ tyre – there is most likely to be no change for 2008. All else aside, production logistics and deadlines are set to defer any change until 2009. Dunlop recently successfully re-tendered for the V8 contract and motorsport
manager Kevin Fitzsimons told eNews that “production for the first part of next year is close to happening, so I’d expect that next year’s tyre will be unchanged. “Because of the schedules at the factory, it’s necessary to work a fair way ahead, so it’s too late now to change anything. There’s a significant time involved in producing and testing anything different, so I’d expect any change would now be for 2009.”
news
John Morris/Mpix
Swapping a Porsche for a Ford Carrera Cup racer David Wall to drive PCR Falcon in Fujitsu V8 Series in 2008 FUJITSU V8s DAVID Wall will drive in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series next year. The Carrera Cup racer will drive for Paul Cruickshank Racing, for whom he currently
drives in the all-Porsche Championship. Wall will use John Bowe’s current Ford Falcon chassis, while PCR is likely step up to a newer Triple 8 chassis for its main series program. “He drives a V8 very well,”
Cruickshank told eNews. “I think he drives it better than a Porsche, and that’s what John Bowe reckons as well. “He’s done a ride day last year, a ride day this year, plus a couple of short stints on
test days. John was pretty impressed. I think he’ll go good.” Wall’s move to the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series will see PCR scale back to three cars for Carrera Cup next year. – GRANT ROWLEY
On the Production line John Morris/Mpix
CAMS is looking for a new Category Manager for the Australian Production Car Championship. The Confederation is seeking expressions of interest for 2008 and beyond for the APCC, which is struggling to survive with grids in the mid-teens. CAMS is also offering to, perhaps, assign the APCC with the Australian Manufacturers Championship, should the successful tenderer meet the Confederation’s requirements.
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John Bosher
DRAG RACING AUSTRALIAN drag racing’s newest female racer, Amanda Shepherd, has secured her Top Fuel licence and will compete in the East Coast Nationals at
Western Sydney International Raceway this weekend. Shepherd, the daughter of drag racing Top Fuel competitor Bob, completed her licensing with a full pass, recording a 5.23s@271mph.
John Bosher
Amanda set to race at WSID
Amanda’s debut this weekend means that, for the time being, Bob will step aside from the driving duties to allow Amanda to focus on gaining valuable seat time. – JOHN BOSHER
Team Bray gets extra Armor DRAG RACING
Fuchs renews involvement DRAG RACING
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John Morris/Mpix
FUCHS Lubricants has announced its biggestever sponsorship of Australian Drag Racing with the Fuchs logo to appear on four Group 1 cars. Fuchs’ Managing Director Wayne Hoiles has announced that the lubricant company will support Lamattina Top Fuel Racing as naming rights sponsor, current Top Fuel Champs Jim Read Racing, as well as world record holder John Zappia in Top Doorslammer. “Fuchs has been a supporter of drag racing in some shape or form for many years but our greater involvement started three years ago,” he said. “Our decision to increase our exposure into the sport is a reflection on the returns we have received. Drag racing has proved to be an excellent platform to promote our products to the automotive, mining, industrial and agricultural industries.”
TEAM Bray, has signed a new naming rights sponsorship deal with Armor All for the 2007/08 season. Ben Bray’s 2005/06 championshipwinning Top Alcohol Funny Car will change from its silver ‘shark’ livery and debut in the Armor All trademark black, orange and yellow colours at the opening round of the new season, the East Coast Nationals, at Sydney’s Western Sydney International Dragway this weekend. The team will use the added funding to conduct more testing and development work in an attempt to secure Bray Jr another Group 1 drag racing title. “Over the last couple of years the Funny Car hasn’t had a dedicated sponsor and that’s made things pretty hard,” he said. “With Armor All supporting us we’ll be able to give the car a big upgrade and buy some parts that we’ve always needed.”
news
TD has Elfin on his mind DUTTON RALLY TONY D’Alberto will be driving a V8 super car this weekend, but it won’t be the VZ Commodore he usually drives. As we reported a while back, the Fujitsu Series leader will take to the wheel of a V8powered Elfin Clubman for
this weekend’s Alphera Dutton Rally, and says he can’t wait to get into the Walkinshawprepped sports car. “It’s really nice to be doing something different,” D’Alberto told eNews. “There’s no pressure, just the chance to do something that’s not V8 Supercars for a change. I’m looking forward to it.”
D’Alberto, who did the Dutton Rally back in 2004, will drive the Elfin for the first time at Calder tomorrow (Wednesday). The car will make more tarmac rally outings before the year is out, with David Reynolds and Leanne Tander also involved on the driving side. – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN
Reid to debut in Formula 3 FORMULA 3
SAMANTHA Reid will make her debut in the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship at Symmons Plains this weekend. Adelaide-based Reid will drive a Trophy Class Dallara F396 for Melbourne team Scud Racing at the Tasmanian circuit. The ‘Trophy’ Class is made up of the late
model cars in the field and is a stepping stone to the outright championship class cars that contest the Australian Drivers Championship. It will be a return to competition for Reid, who has sat on the sidelines for the majoriy of the year due to a lack of budget. Reid has been a regular in the Australian Formula Ford Championship over the past couple of years, and also drove with
Holden Motorsport in the Bathurst 12 hour endurance race in April this year – her first production car start. ”This will be a great opportunity to finally get behind the wheel of a Formula 3 car,” she said. ”I have always followed Formula 3 racing closely and have been working hard all year to raise money with an eye on racing in the series full time next year.”
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news
Herridge in for Rally NSW AUSTRALIAN RALLY
Neil Blackbourn
DEAN Herridge will contest next month’s Rally of Great Lakes in New South Wales, despite earlier suggestions that Rally SA was his last Australian Rally Championship appearance of the season. The West Australian was undecided on whether he would run the fifth and penultimate round until recently, but has decided to have one more blast on Australian roads before the season is out. “We looked long and hard at it,” Herridge told eNews. “But we’ve decided to go for it – and that’s great.”
However, the Subaru privateer is unlikely to run the season-ending NGK Rally of Melbourne, which clashes with a factory deal Herridge has with Subaru in the Chinese Rally Championship.
“I’d say it’s more than likely we’ll miss that one at this stage,” Herridge added. “Looking at the future, we’ve already started talks with China about 2008, so that has to take priority.
“[But] if we do NSW then we’ve done five of six ARC rounds, and if we can walk away with another privateers’ championship from that, well we’re punching well above our weight.”
New 125cc Class for AKA KARTING THE AKA is set to formulate a performance-restricted 125cc category for beginners and C-grade licence holders. That’s the main decision to come from the AKA’s annual national conference on the weekend. Re-elected AKA President Richard Erdmann said the development was not a reaction to the outburst of dissatisfaction from competitors and industry regarding the removal of C-grade drivers from 125cc categories in 2008. “It was a natural carry on of what we are doing with the licences” he said. “There was no talk of going back at all.” A technical formula for the category will be worked on for the next NKC meeting in November. Other outcomes include a change of tyre for the Rotax classes (MG for Rotax Light, Bridgestone for Rotax Heavy), removal of the AKA ‘practice’ licence and the C-provisional replaced by a D-grade competition version. The new SQ 125cc Cheetah engine has received homologation but only for recreational purposes at this stage. The previous AKA executive was returned to office with most of the other key positions remaining the same. Erdmann also said that the AKA has 16 teams for a CIK series in 2008. “We are awaiting a confirmation of engine prices from Europe (from a short list of three manufacturers) and some time this week there will be an expression of interest distributed for the supply of tyres.” – MARK WICKS
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Father’s Day? Gotta be MCM HISTORICS ENTRIES for nearly 200 cars in the racing segments alone are suggesting a packed programme at this Sunday’s third Muscle Car Masters, at Eastern Creek. The race programme includes events for 28 NZ Muscle Cars, which race to a slightly less restrictive set of regulations, and should provide an interesting spectacle, along with events for the Australian Biante Touring Car Masters Series. At the same time, off-track action will be as interestpacked as ever, with a
significant number of former stars on hand, along with current V8 stars Jason Richards, Jason Bargwanna, Paul Morris and Glenn Seton – all expected behind the wheel. Two key ‘themes’ of the weekend are the 40th anniversary of the Falcon GT – with many pristine road and race examples on hand – and the fast approaching first anniversary of the passing of the great man, Peter Brock. Heading a display of many of the unique Muscle Cars that PB created will be the #10 Commodore with which he sealed his ninth, and last, Bathurst 1000 win.
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tAKing v8 SUPERCARS onwARdS And UPwARdS
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Honda Pro Images
BRIEFLY... n This weekend’s 13th round of the MotoGP World Championship will feature extra practice for the riders, most of whom have never raced at the Adriatic circuit before. MotoGP riders will have an extra hour’s practice to learn the 4.1km track, with 250 and 125 pilots getting an extra 30 and 15 minutes respectively. Michelin and Bridgestone’s MotoGP riders will get an extra three tyres to cover the extra time, one front and two rears.
COMING THIS WEEK
Australia
Muscle Car Masters – E Creek CAMS Nationals – TAS Rotax Nationals – QLD East Coast Drag Nats – WSID
International
WRC – NZ MotoGP – San Marino Indycar – Detroit Champ Car – Zandvoort NASCAR – California
NexT Week(SEPT 8-9)
Australia
International F1 – Monza WSBK – Lausitzring NASCAR – Richmond Indycar – Illinois
NEED A CAR? CLICK HERE
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MOTOGP MOTOGP’S 2008 lineup is a little clearer this week, with confirmation that Randy de Puniet will move to Honda. The Frenchman will race with Lucio Cecchinello’s single-bike LCR team for the next two years. The move means that Anthony West is now well-placed to stay in the Kawasaki team alongside John Hopkins, though there are also reports that former rider Shinya Nakano may return to Kawasaki.
De Puniet, inset, raced in LCR’s 250 Aprilia team in 2003-04, taking four wins and 17 podium finishes. “We are very happy to work with Randy again,” said Cecchinello. “Our past collaboration gave the team some impressive results, and thanks to Honda, our technical partners and our sponsors’ support, Randy will be able to demonstrate his huge potential once again in the most prestigious and competitive class in the world during 2008.”
SBK RETURNS: IT’S MILLE WORLD SUPERBIKE THE World Superbike Championship will return to the USA next season. The series will host a round at Miller Motorsports Park circuit near Salt Lake City, Utah, on June 1. Series promoter FGSport has signed a multiyear agreement with the company owned by circuit owner, Larry Miller, who also owns NBA team Utah Jazz. “After having built a very successful USA race in Laguna
Suzuki Racing
AUSTRALIA CAMS Nationals – Wakefield Park
Randy for a Honda Kawasaki Racing nTeam
n Kawasaki will run a third entry at Motegi on September 23. Veteran tester Akira Yanagawa, who maintains his racing form in the All Japan Superbike Champiopnship, will race a ZR-RR for the first time, alongside Randy de Puniet and Ant West.
Suzukis lead: The AMA bikes will share the bill with their SBK cousins.
news
The new Techxas Tornado
Yamaha Racing
EDWARDS: Five to Tech 3
ER TIME! NAKANO: Bye bye Honda?
DOVIZIOSO: Moving up
THE Edwards and de Puniet deals have started to settle the MotoGP Silly Season. Edwards will replace Silvain Guintoli, who is expected to move to the Pramac D’Antin team. The Ducati satellite had also approached 250 aces Andrea Dovizioso, Alex De Angelis and Hiroshi Aoyama, the latter looking the most likely to move up, with De Angelis now likely to join
Toni Elias at Gresini Honda, replacing Ducati-bound Marco Melandri. Dovizioso’s management is placing a high cost on his signature, with the Montiron/ Konica Minolta Honda team not a likely destination, replacing Nakano. All this appears to end the careers of veterans Alex Barros and Carlos Checa, with the former a likely Ten Kate Honda SBK pilot and the latter still searching for a seat. Honda Pro Images
Honda Pro Images
Seca which for many years has been at the top of motorcycle racing in North America with over 100,000 spectators,” said Maurizio Flammini, President of the FGSport Group. “Our people are now working on doubling this success with the Utah race.” There will now be three international events in the country next season, with the MotoGP rounds at Laguna and Indianapolis. World Superbikes last raced in the USA at Laguna in 2003.
Silly Season hits Top Gear MOTOGP
Honda Pro Images
COLIN Edwards has confirmed that he will ride for Tech 3 Yamaha next season. The move means that the Texan will rejoin Briton James Toseland, the pair having raced together previously in Castrol Honda’s SBK squad. While team owner Herve Poncharal has his riders set, less certain is what brand of rubber will be on the bikes, with major sponsor Dunlop leaving the team and Michelin or Bridgestone taking over. Edwards looks set to complete his MotoGP career in 2008, before moving back to the USA to spearhead a Yamaha assault on the AMA Superbike Championship, which has been dominated by Suzuki in recent years. The move also paves the way for Yamaha to move 250cc World Champion Jorge Lorenzo into its Fiatbacked works team alongside Valentino Rossi. Two Latins in the same team ... stand by for fireworks.
Yamaha Racing
MOTOGP
BARROS: Raced a Honda Superbike in 2006. Will he return with Ten Kate?
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5 Minutes with ...
DAMIEN WHITE
Fujitsu Series podium man is ready for another assault on The Mountain
GRANT ROWLEY
MOTORSPORT NEWS: You’ve secured the endurance drive with Team BOC – what’s your expectation for the two races? DAMIEN WHITE: It’s great to get the endurance drive after having a year off. The step up I’ve made to the Fujitsu Series from the V8 Utes this year has proved that I can cut it in a V8. The expectations are to deliver whatever Brad Jones Racing expects of me. We haven’t gone into any detail yet, but naturally I’ll be playing it out as it comes and giving it a good crack.
MN: Your Fujitsu V8 program is coming along quite well now. You scored a podium at Oran Park. The weather played its part. Was that a factor in the result?
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Marshall Cass
MN: The team has said its not going to decide on driver combinations until after the test next week. It’s a pretty good selection of drivers that you’ll be paired with – Andrew and Brad Jones or Simon Wills – Do you have any preferences? DW: I reckon it would be a buzz to drive with Brad at Bathurst. Given that he’s announced his retirement from full-time racing, I don’t know if this is his last Bathurst, but he’s pretty pacey around there. I’d like to do it with him, but having said that, Andrew and Simon have done a great job all year evolving the team and they are making improvements. There is no better evidence of that than Andrew’s Race 3 result at Oran Park. But I think the expected answer to this question is “I’d be happy with any of them!”
I RECKON IT WOULD BE A BUZZ TO DRIVE WITH BRAD JONES AT BATHURST DAMIEN WHITE DW: The weather allowed us to demonstrate what we can do as a team unit. I stalled at the start of Race 2 and, while Owen Kelly’s drive from pit lane was outstanding, we only just got beaten ... All year, we’ve had good pace. If you compare the car we have to where the other cars have come from, we’ve done very well. There are three Holden Motorsport cars in front of us, an FPR car and an SBR car. In terms of our relative experience and the guidance from Paul Morris Motorsport, we’re stoked with the progress we’ve made and we are looking forward to Bathurst. You have Paul Morris talking to you during your races. What is his role?
You’ll find that Paul is very vocal during qualifying and the race. He’s been around a long time and, despite the canning he’s received in other motorsport press, I value his opinion and feedback. He’s been doing it longer than me, and if you can’t learn something off the next bloke, then you’re kidding yourself. I’m happy to have him barking away in my ear. But he shares himself around during the Fujitsu races. He’ll help anyone who has a Paul Morris car. You’ll find sometimes he’s talking to Scott Loadsman, sometimes he’s talking to Chris Pither, and it’s all about the service that PMM offers to its customer base. There are a lot of PMM cars on the grid and I expect in the future you’ll see even more.
Bathurst is the next stop on the Fujitsu calendar. Assuming it’s dry, do you have a top three car? Without question. At Bathurst, you need good grunt, you need good power to pull you up the hill. With Jamie Noonan on board at PMM in the engine shop, they’ve made good progress and we’ve been lucky enough to receive some of those gains. If you look at Nathan Pretty last year in a PMM car, he was pretty quick early on. I’ve done over 1300 laps of the joint and I’m confident that I can roll out of pit lane and be on the money. There’s no reason that we could not only finish on the podium but also win the event.
chat
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Great movie, but ... HAPPY Gilmore is one of my favourite movies of all-time. It’s a simple, Grant Rowley low-budget flick that Editor eNews makes me laugh over and over and over. But why did I have to watch Happy get boned from the hockey squad at 10pm on Sunday night, when in Turkey, the Grand Prix was getting the green lights? Network 10 had the perfect opportunity to show the GP absolutely live, but instead, aired a movie that we’ve all seen 1000 times before. Only God knows how much I love Happy Gilmore, but only God knows how disappointed I was to have to watch the F1 race on live timing on the internet. While I’m a big fan of all things on the web, I would prefer to watch the race unfold with pictures, not numbers. For the record, I watched Happy Gilmore, and I didn’t stay up to watch the race on television ... Network Ten’s programming department would probably try and tell us that an Adam Sandler golf comedy rates higher than a crucial round of the Formula 1 world championship – so what hope do we have? At this stage, it’s not as simple as buying Foxtel and watching the F1 races live. Other than going to very selected pubs around town, the only option is to buy a giant satellite to wedge on your roof and receive weird (but oddly interesting) Asian television – which carries live F1. Hopefully, it won’t be long before Bernie allows his races to be broadcast over the internet. If he makes me pay, I will.
opinion
Letters
Have your say, email us at mail@mnews.com.au. Keep letters to the point. Gizza is a prior pro ... I enjoyed your comments about young Shane Van Gisbergen’s impressive debut, but take issue with the Australian TV commentator who described Oran Park as his “first professional opportunity.” Ross and Jimmy are real pros and will bring some overdue respectability to the TKR brand. However Shane actually comes to you from a very professional team based further Down Under.
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He was teamed up with Daniel Gaunt at Lyall Williams’ International Race Team for our Toyota Racing Series during the 2006/2007 season. Although still a rookie, Shane finished runner-up to Daniel. Lyall fields front running cars in New Zealand V8s, our oneyear-old MINI Challenge series and our three-year-old Toyota Racing Series. This Auckland-based team regularly prepares as many as 20 cars at a race meeting.
That’s what I call professional and deserving of recognition. Incidentally, Shane is only one of the young kiwi singleseater drivers to benefit from elements of MotorSport New Zealand’s ‘stairway to heaven’ strategy – karting followed by Formula First (Vee), Formula Ford and Toyota Racing. We’ve got plenty more now being groomed to send over the ditch ... or beyond! PS: Your eNews is fast becoming a Tuesday highlight
for we lesser Australasians. Murray Taylor New Zealand Here’s a riddle Why is it in V8 Supercar racing that after qualifying the four ‘Clayton’ cars are always right up the front? Easy! On the Friday practice session before the race meeting, most cars cover about 40 laps of free practice. Therefore a two car team has 80 laps of data to assist
opinion
For Sale: One Australian Championship PRODUCTION Car racing has been a poor relation of ‘other’ forms of the sport in this country for a generation and it appears that, barring a miracle, not much is going to change. The Australian Production Car Championship is up for grabs. CAMS is seeking expressions of interest for the management and promotion of the series for 2008 and it would be hoping that would be the catalyst for a boom in numbers, and competition, for the category. Numbers have been relatively low this season, with mid-teens about the average grid size.
with setting the cars up for qualifying. But not the ‘Clayton’ cars. They all cover about 40 laps each, which means they have 160 laps of data and therefore have a huge setup advantage over all of the other teams. This is very basic mathematics, certainly not rocket science, although the additional data does turn their cars into rockets! Obviously the grouping rules that cover test days should also cover free practice, and make it a fair playing field for the other teams David Allen Research, VIC
With a big push, the Confederation would be hoping that the series could be reborn and attract sponsorship, spectators and television coverage. The Australian Performance Car Championship is not a great deal bigger than the APCC but it has network TV coverage, a slot on the V8 Supercars support program and Donut King branding the series. No-one is ever going to confuse the series for the Nextel Cup in terms of its popularity but it would appear that it is not a bad place to start. CAMS may be considering
wiping the slate clean when it hands the APCC over to a new entity next season. If it does, not many people would much care, including me. But it “may” also assign the new series the Australian Manufacturers Championship, an recognisable title that is worth something. By necessity, the Confederation must live in the real, commercial world; parties interested in the APCC must, for instance, purchase a $500 information dossier before expressing interest. But surely, Performance Cars has some valuable assets to bring to any discussion about a ‘merger’?
eLETTER OF DIRTY DOG THE WEEK Crompton Confusion With regard to Neil Crompton’s comment on the TV coverage and in your last issue from the Oran Park race: Neil, you really should look
at the bigger picture. Sitting in the lounge with friends who had never watched the V8 coverage before, they found the last restart mayhem really entertaining. The racing year to date has
opinion Phil Branagan Executive Editor Two small, similar series will never flourish like a single, bigger one; there are countless examples of that in motor racing. CAMS and Performance Cars should be urged to seek common ground before someone strikes out on a new and, perhaps, alreadycompromised path. Before someone else steps in to reinvent the wheel, sit, eat donuts and talk. Otherwise, the Australian Manufacturers’ Championship may mean little.
been a yawn, apart from the wet races, and hearing your comments left them confused. All the drivers were having a go – no wants to see F1style procession racing. Bring back the biff or keep it up so our sport makes sports news headlines more regularly. And one last thing V8 Supercars – keep the Hpattern gearboxes. It’s about the last thing everyday people can relate to ... David Andrews Melbourne, Vic
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 12 – TURKEY
Red Hot Turkey Felipe Massa led home a Ferrari one-two, setting up a fascinating final five Formula 1 rounds. JOE SAWARD reports 24
race sutton-images.com
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F
ELIPE Massa won a rather tiresome Turkish Grand Prix at the Istanbul Park racing circuit on Sunday, beating his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen. The win meant that the Brazilian moved to third in the Drivers’ World Championship, behind the two McLaren drivers - and Ferrari closed the gap on McLaren in the Constructors’ title. The sad reality, however, was that while Massa drove a great race, most of the eyes were on the two McLaren drivers. Lewis Hamilton again showed better than Fernando Alonso but it was the Spaniard’s lucky day because, on lap 43, Hamilton suffered a tyre failure and dropped from third to fifth. “Nothing changed to be honest,” said Fernando. “It is only two points difference. I recovered two points here, but I lost five in Hungary. So it is still the same. All the top cars finish all the races and so the gaps do not increase or decrease very much.” Massa’s pole came after he completed a perfect qualifying run. “It has been good to put
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everything together here,” he said. “It’s hard to get a perfect lap but I was able to put one together when it counted. The balance was right and I just managed to put it together.” The margin between the Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren was a tiny 0.05s and the pair were two-tenths of a second ahead of Raikkonen, who admitted making a mistake in the final ess bend. After the race Kimi Raikkonen made the point that Massa’s pole had won him the race: “Whenever two teams mates are fighting, whoever is first is going to stay there,” said Kimi. “I got a good start, hoping to gain at least one place but then I ended up following Felipe all the way. It was a bit boring. You know after the first pit stop when the other car will be stopping and so you cannot doing anything.” Hamilton once again showed his class by plucking a lap time from nowhere, just when he needed it. “I really put everything together,” he said. “I just hung it out and I’m very happy with the result. We’ve been as quick as the Ferraris; there’s not a lot in it, but I think we will have
the edge in the race.” Lewis seemed to be as happy that he had beaten Alonso. The Spaniard was fourth but his lap time had been well off the pace. BMW Sauber team remains the team that is ready to pick up the pieces if the top four collide with one another. Most agreed that there was not a great deal of difference between the two available tyre compounds. The soft tyres were quicker on the first timed lap but then lost their performance a bit. The harder rubber was more consistent.
this would give the cars more traction at the start. This would later prove to be significant … Kubica’s strategy of a short first stint ruined his chances and Alonso got ahead of Heidfeld at the first stops. He was thus fourth but made no impression after that. Hamilton held on as best he could but dropped away tenth by tenth, hoping to gain time at the end when he switched to the softer rubber when the Ferraris went on to their harder tyres. Who knows if it would have worked? On lap 43 Hamilton great deal would depend suffered a tyre failure. There on the start and for Ferrari was a suggestion that the this was the key. If the two red lower presuure might have cars could get off the line well, contributed. There was a strong possibility Heidfeld was happy to pick that the 1-3 in qualifying would up fourth and Hamilton was become a 1-2 in the race. pretty lucky to hold onto And that is what happened. fifth given the delay and the The McLarens struggled in damage done to the front wing the dust and Raikkonen was and right bargeboard of the car. able to get up to second, and Kovalainen was right behind while Hamilton held off a him at the end but delighted ‘lightweight’ Kubica, Alonso to be sixth. He thus overtook could do nothing and found Fisichella in the Drivers’ World himself behind both the BMWs. Championship. The McLarens had decided There was but one retirement to start on the harder rubber – and inevitably it was Mark but had gambled on low tyre Webber with an hydraulic pressures in the hope that problem.
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race
All tyred out: Hamilton, top, had a right front explode near the end of his second stint. Above, Trulli was turned around in the first corner mess. Rubens had this off on the warm-up lap, right, while Renault’s Kovalainen had a strong finish in sixth.
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Reasons to retire – Part X
Another race, another retirement. When is life going to get better for Mark Webber? MARK Webber’s diabolical run of mechanical outs continued in Turkey. “It looks like it was hydraulics. It’s a shame because I was fuelled to go for a long stint, longer than those directly ahead of us and I was just sitting in there, ready to go for it for the rest of the race,” he reported post-race. “On the lap before I stopped I started to have problems with downshifting and then the team called me in to retire.” Webber left the circuit, headed for two days of pre-race testing at Monza. In most surroundings, the Red Bull has shown competitive terminal speeds – maybe Italy will bring the turnaround …
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I STARTED TO HAVE PROBLEMS WITH DOWNSHIFTING AND THEN THE TEAM CALLED ME IN
Couldn’t give a XXXX: This Mark Webber fan possible likes beer, and possibly didn’t like the fact that Webber retired after a handful of laps.
race
Massa’s Family Day Out FELIPE Massa was delighted with his second consecutive Turkish Grand Prix victory – especially as his mother and father, pictured right, were at the track to watch the action. Raikkonen apart, his sole problem was the need to tear off a helmet cooling duct which had worked loose and was disturbing his concentration. “I love the track, this place, it’s fantastic for me,” he said.
“Here is where my career made a switch, where I started winning races and fighting the front runners.” The win this year is also significant for Massa, as he overtook Raikkonen and is now third behind the two McLaren men. Hamilton still leads the World Championship with 84 points, Alonso is up to 79 and Massa and Raikkonen have 69 and 68 respectively. Get set for a close finish ... – JOE SAWARD
Hot Turkey
Technical Editor PAOLO FILISETTI looks at McLaren’s cooling ISTANBUL’S race places* a premium on cooling and McLaren showed an interesting innovation in Turkey. Like the Ferrari F2007, McLaren’s MP4/22 maximises cooling while minimising frontal area but unlike the Italian car (which has breathing ‘gills’) McLaren has gone for completely enclosed sidepods. The radiators are installed at an angle of around 68 degrees, which aids installation within the sidepods without compromising cooling. Both marques proved that their approaches work; in spite of track temperatures of over 50 degrees, there were no reports of overheating.
F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | Round 12 TURKEY Pos #
Driver
Team
1 5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 2 6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 3 1 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 4 9 Nick Heidfeld BMW 5 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 6 4 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 7 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 8 10 Robert Kubica BMW 9 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 10 14 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 11 17 Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota 12 11 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 13 7 Jenson Button Honda 14 23 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 15 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 16 12 Jarno Trulli Toyota 17 8 Rubens Barrichello Honda 18 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 19 19 Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 20 21 Sakon Yamamoto Spyker-Ferrari 21 20 Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari Ret 15 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault Fastest Lap: Raikkonen on lap 57 1m27.295s
Laps
Time
Qual
58 58 58 58 58 58 58 58 58 58 58 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 56 53 9
1h26m42.161 2.275s 26.181s 39.674s 45.085s 46.169s 55.778s 56.707s 59.491s 1m11.009s 1m19.628s 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 1 Lap 2 Laps 5 Laps Hydraulics
1 3 4 6 2 7 8 5 10 13 16 18 15 11 17 9 14 19 20 22 21 12
F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | DRIVER'S points Points: Hamilton 84, Alonso 79, Massa 69, Raikkonen 68, Heidfeld 47, Kubica 29, Kovalainen 19, Fisichella 17, Wurz 13, Rosberg 9, Webber and Coulthard 8, Trulli 7, Schumacher 5, Sato 4, Button and Vettel 1.
F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | Constructor’s points Points: McLaren 148, Ferrari 137, BMW 77, Renault 36, Williams-Toyota 22, Red BullRenault 16, Toyota 12, Super Aguri-Honda 4, Honda 1.
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GLOBE TROTTER STAR MASDA
SPEEDWAY GP LEIGH Adams from Mildura won his second successive Speedway Grand Prix in Latvia last weekend. In doing so, the Australian won his sixth GP overall and has now moved to within 21 points of championship leader Nicki Pedersen, with three meetings to go. – TONY MILLARD
GP2 LUCAS di Grassi and Timo Glock took a GP2 win each at Istanbul on the weekend, continuing their see-saw battle for the title. The feature race win was di Grassi’s first of the season, while Glock regained his points lead by winning the sprint race.
BRITISH F3 AUSSIE John Martin had another tough British F3 meeting at Thruxton last weekend, failing to finish the first race and coming home 17th in the second. Atte Mustonen and Stephen Jelley shared the wins.
WTCC
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CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES SEBASTIEN Bourdais has made a fourth consecutive Champ Car World Series title look all the more promising with a devastating display in Belgium last weekend. The Frenchman made the most of being back in his native continent, taking pole, fastest lap and a comfortable win to secure maximum points. The make matters even better for Bourdais, neither of his closest title rivals, Will Power and Robert Doornbos, could make a real impression on the field. Power finished fourth, behind Bruno Junqueira and Graham Rahal,
while Doornbos was down in seventh. “It was a great weekend once again,” said Bourdais, who has won the last two races. “It wasn’t exactly the target to go after the win but we would obviously go for it if we could. The McDonald’s team did a fantastic job.” Junqueira’s second place was the best-ever CCWS finish for Dale Coyne in his 24 years as a team owner, while Rahal’s third place was his fourth podium finish this year. Champ Car’s European swing continues at Holland’s Assen circuit this weekend. Points: Bourdais 283, Doornbos 230, Power 221, Justin Wilson 211, Rahal 196.
Dixon passes Dario IRL INDYCAR KIWI Scott Dixon has taken the lead of the IRL IndyCar Series after winning the latest round at the Infineon road course. The race, and potentially the title, took a dramatic turn with 11 laps to run when points-leader Dario Franchitti made contact with his teammate Marco Andretti heading into Turn 2. The team decided to leave Franchitti on track with his damaged car to try and salvage points, a task he completed successfully, limping to third. But it wasn’t enough to stop Dixon from taking the win and the points lead, having held off
Helio Castroneves in the dying laps. “The race was all about strategies,” said Dixon. “We were trying to save fuel early on. All kinds of people were trying to do the same things. [It was] very hard to tell what was going on until sort of the last stint.” Franchitti, however, was less enthusiastic post-race. “A case of, I guess, [Marco] had his priorities, I had mine,” he said. “I really want to look at it and talk to Marco. We’re teammates; We look after each other and that shouldn’t happen.” Points: Dixon 560, Franchitti 556, Tony Kanaan 498, Dan Wheldon 414, Sam Hornish Jr 409.
IRL IndyCar
YVAN Muller and Seat took the first diesel-powered win in WTCC history at Oschersleben on the weekend. Augusto Farfus won Race 2.
Big In Belgium
Champ Car Media
JAMES Davison has taken a win in last weekend’s Star Mazda series race at Mosport. The Victorian made the most of confusion regarding an early downpour and tyre choices, leaping from his fifth place on the grid to the lead when the running order was resumed. He hung on to win from Canadian local Lorenzo Mandarino and series leader Dane Cameron.
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NASCAR CARL Edwards dominated the latter laps at Bristol last Saturday night on the new progressively banked concrete surface, which made the racing somewhat uneventful by Bristol standards. Edwards starred in the 500-lapper along with runner-up Kasey Kahne, the pair heading 182 and 305 laps respectively, with Clint Bowyer coming home third. “This is it,” said Edwards, who scored his second win of the year and passed Kahne
who was held up by the twice-lapped Michael Waltrip. “It’s the biggest win of my career yet and I’m so excited, it means the world to win this race.” Denny Hamlin blew his engine to air caution #2, and, amazingly, record just his second DNF of his Cup career. The race may not have been the usual bump and grind in the Bristol bowl, but there was plenty of two and sometimes three wide racing, something not seen at the venue since it was asphalt. “This is an A-plus,” said Tony Stewart of
NASCAR Media
Backflip if you’re a winner
the new pavement. “This place was awesome. It was fun tonight because you could go from the bottom to the top. I hope for the race fans it was as much [fun] as it was to drive on.” MEANWHILE, Kurt Busch won his second race from the last three with a victory at Michigan Speedway on Tuesday August 21, after rain delayed the event two days. – MARTIN D CLARK Points: Jeff Gordon 3582, Tony Stewart 3233, Hamlin 3229, Matt Kenseth 3163, Edwards 3160.
Kahne, Newman: Battle of Bristol BUSCH SERIES
NASCAR Media
KASEY Kahne won a belter of a Busch Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway last Friday. Kahne took the lead with eight to run after he and Jason Leffler hunted down early leader Tyan Newman. The trio found themselves three wide, which resulted in minor contact and a flat tyre for Newman. A late stop from Leffler allowed Kahne to take the win. “I went around the outside, [but] there wasn’t enough room on the backstretch,” Kahne said.
“I thought I was going to hurt the car. The front is beat up, [but] you can still win with a beat-up car.” Kyle Busch had been in contention for the win, but was penalised for touching the blend line for pit road. NASCAR officials later said it was an incorrect call on their behalf. Marcos Ambrose qualified 12th and was running strongly before contact with Danny O’Quinn saw him drop down the field. Points: Carl Edwards 3743, David Reutimann 3053, Kevin Harvick 3028, Leffler 2921, David Ragan 2841, (Ambrose 2553).
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James Smith
Crash & Bang AMRS
James Smith
Winners are Grinners: Duncan MacKellar, top, Ty Hanger, above, and Luke Searle, below, all visited Winton’s Victory Lane last weekend.
James Smith
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Neil Hammond
ROUND 6 of the AMRS series, held at Winton last weekend, provided plenty of controversy in the Touring Car Challenge, with two red flags from the three races. An opening lap altercation between Scott Loadsman and Tom Drewer resulted in the former being turned around, while the chasing pack of Darren Formosa and Darren Saillard were forced to avoid the carnage. Unfortunately for Formosa he ended up in the wall, ending his weekend. The Safety Car was then deployed, but the leading two drivers in John Vergotis and Amin Chada proceeded to drive straight past the Safety Car down the main straight, causing much confusion. The race was eventually re-started and Vergotis claimed victory. Race 2 was a handicapped affair and many were handicapped out of the race leaving Gary Leaton to take victory from Philip Groeneveld and John English. Race 3 was as controversial as the first, with another red-flag. Competitors were then left waiting on the start line for several minutes, resulting in Leaten overheating on the line. He expressed his displeasure by driving down pit-lane the wrong way. The race was won by Saillard, with Loadsman and Vergotis behind. Overall victory, on points, went to category debutant Drewer. Intermarque had a one-hour endurance race that involved a driver change for a couple of competitors. Duncan Mackellar led for most of the way and scored a comfortable victory from Kane Rose while Paul Whitmarsh was third. Production Touring Car Challenge was dominated by the Class A BMW 130s of Luke Searle and Peter Kelly. Searle won all three races. Natalie Wilmington cemented third overall in front of George Miedecke on a count-back. Naturally, Ty Hanger decimated the Ozboss field in both races, lapping the entire field in the 18-lap Race 2 after second placed Matthew Fox retired late with mechanical dramas. Super TT had four separate race winners in Luke Everson, Scott Loadsman, Gary Carson and Daniel Natoli. – AARON SHAW
Magic at Mallala SA STATE
Paris Charles
MALLALA hosted Round 3 of the South Australian Motor Racing Championship last weekend. Bruce Heinrich proved too strong for his fellow HQ competitors to clean sweep all three races. Gavin Porteous claimed two seconds and third in the final race to finish behind Neil Corey who claimed third in Race 2. James Sutton dominated two of the three Improved Production events – however a determined Clint Sharp claimed Race1 only to finish runner up in the final two events. Wayne King pole-axed the Saloon Car field to win Races 1 and 2, however King’s clean sweep ended with a DNF just one lap from the flag in the final event. Nelson Brown inherited the victory ahead of
Gary Raymond and Craig Smith, who had a consistent run for the day with two thirds and a second. Chris Smerdon’s AU Falcon proved too strong for the nimbler array of Porsches in Sports Sedans, claming the final two events and a runner up position in Race 1. Adam Wallis stepped up to claim the Race 1 win. The Nissan 260Z driven
by Peter Hall proved to be the weapon of choice in the Historic Touring Car category, Hall claiming the first two heats before being beaten in the final by Bradley Deluca in the Falcon Rally Sprint Mike O’Donnell snared the first and last Formula Vee events with runner-up Robert Surman slotting in to claim Race 2. Mark Foster, Barrie Pinder
and Robert Munnerley each claimed a race win in the Formula Ford events. Nick Percat notched up a perfect 3 from 3 to claim the 2007 Stillwell Ford Duratec Challenge Trophy over Troy Woodger. The three Historic Racing Car handicapped race victories were shared by Malcolm Miller, Guy Chick and Jim Doig. – PARIS CHARLES
Zavaglia wins @ Morgan Park QLD STATE THE fourth round of Queensland’s state championship racing played host to the Pacific Superkart Challenge last weekend, Australia’s richest Superkart prize. Warren McIlveen (StockmanHonda) took all five race victories, but the class-based points system awarded the trophy to 125cc champ Sam Zavaglia (Stockman-Honda). McIlveen, Bodine Antrobus (GladiatorHonda), Sean Whitfield (HypermaxRotax) and Todd Gardner (CRG Maximo) won the classes. Brett Phillips and Benn Wilson shared the Gemini victories, with Wilson taking the lap record. Three wins and a Sportscar lap record were claimed by Steve Morcombe (Chiron LMP305).
Stephen Thompson (Mazda RX-7) clean swept the Improved Production class with Graeme Wilkinson (Ford Escort) taking two seconds and a third. Tim Hamilton (Jacer 99) took two wins in Formula Vee, while Bob McLoughlin (Commodore-Chev) claimed the long standing lap record as well as both wins in Sports Sedans. Lindsay Kearns (EA Falcon) took three wins in Saloon Cars, cutting back Tim Young’s series points lead. Fantastic racing saw Shannon O’Brien (Van Diemen RF03) and James Mann (Van Diemen RF96) finish first and second in all three Formula Ford races. In HQ’s Darren Aspinall and Gary Bonwick shared the HQ victories after Bonwick spun last corner to give Aspinall the win. – MARK JONES
Rotax Raring to Go KARTING
THE 2007 Bridgestone Formula Rotax Nationals will be held at Ipswich this weekend. Capacity fields have registered for the two championship classes of Light and Heavy. Reigning champion Hayden McBride heads up the Light field and local Scott Auld will also be strong. However, the winner could be one of a dozen different drivers. William Yarwood, Kel Treseder and Brett Davidson are favourites for the Heavy title. A number of the top drivers from Light and Heavy will do double duty by trying to win the Pro class as well. The reason? The winner will receive a moneycan’t-buy ticket to race at the Rotax World Final at Al Ain, UAE, later this year. – MARK WICKS
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rear of grid
Sterility and bump starts in F1!
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HEN a chief TV commentator, and former star of the sport, describes his sport as ‘sterile’, you’d hope people would start to listen. That’s exactly how Martin Brundle described F1 as he elaborated on yet another dulling-down of the post-race celebrations, after Sunday’s Turkish F1 race. No longer are we to see drivers rushing over and hugging their crew, who are now held further back until their man has gone up to the podium. Brundle joked that it was to “stop a team-member slipping some lead down the back of the driver’s race suit for the weigh in …” but that’s pretty much it. Brundle, like most of us, believes we should be seeing doughnuts on slowdown laps, and cited Valentino Rossi’s victory-lap crowd interaction as a terrific example. In F1? No show. Good on you Martin Brundle – nothing will change unless smart people speak out.
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Monday RDO meant that the Punter could actually stay up to watch the Turkish GP, but I have to admit to going to bed grumbling about much of what I saw – when I eventually saw it. Yet again, the broadcast started well after it was meant to. Ten, if
Odd Spot
you’re going to drag stuff like Idol overtime, then dump the repeat movies that follow. Do it properly, or let punter@mnews.com.au someone else have a go. The race BRUNDLE WAS left having to itself? Predictable embarrassingly correct his (even Mark workmate ... Webber’s early retirement – you have to feel for the guy), only disrupted by a puncture affecting Lewis Hamilton’s progress to the world title (or so commentator James Allen would have you believe). Viewers are entitled to believe that the highly-paid commentators flown around the globe to cover these races know what they’re on about – if so then it’s time for Allen to go. “Oh no,” he cried, “It’s a disaster – he’s got half a lap to go until he gets to the pits …” Hardly had the words left his mouth than the McLaren veered directly into … the pits. Later, Brundle, who like our own Crompton, is terrific, was left having to embarrassingly correct his workmate, who seriously suggested that a car (a Spyker, I recall) being given a bit of a push out into pit lane by its crew was being “bump-started”. I kid you not. Even Mrs Punter fell on the floor at that one …
Preserving the fauna ...
Darin Mandy
38
NEW signal boards were used for the first time last weekend at the Queensland State Championship meeting at Morgan Park Raceway. The ‘Kangaroo’ boards were the brainchild of flag marshals, who were concerned about the safety of both drivers and the Aussie icons. Morgan Park’s bush surrounds are home to kangaroos and wallabies, often seen inside the circuit precinct, and reports of them crossing the track are not uncommon. The warning
boards were used numerous times over the weekend when Kangaroo ‘mobs’ were seen crossing the circuit during racing. After consultation with drivers it was decided the boards would be tested. Bill Campbell, President of the Warwick District Sporting Car Club which run Morgan Park Raceway, suggested the boards could be used at Bathurst, where ‘roos are also very prevalent. Just ask Jim Richards! – DARIN MANDY