Motorsport eNews Issue 20 - September 4-10, 2007 by V8 Sleuth

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Issue No. 020 4 – 10 September 2007

MATE vs MATE

the defending champion AND SERIES LEADER go HEAD-to-HEAD for sandown 500

y o t w e n s ’ x Ma WPS Racing to debut its first new car

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. 020 | 4 – 10 September 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

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

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

news 4 I’ll take ‘Starts with R’ The Rat and The Rick 7 Wow! A new car! 8 Fernando? Ren No 11 No VE for Fabian

chat 18 5 minutes with ... opinion 20 Van Leeuwen 21 Lambden 42 The Punter

race 22 Three Tenths! 26 Something He Eight 32 Happy Father’s Day

Wilson’s new ride Alonso buyback ruled out PMM sticks with VZ FF leader Tim Blanchard FF racing anomaly Masters Stroke WRC’s classic showdown

Gronholm, Loeb war in NZ! Stoner just keeps winning Muscle Car Masters a hit

trade 38 Trade and Industry / Raceshop 41 Classifieds

welcome Weely coming to the fore (but who was that bloke in the background?) Check out the latest State Racing supplements via http://www.mnews.com.au

One year on: Low-key Brock memorials V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

DJR/Gore: TEGA barriers? V8 SUPERCARS

Courtney ... and Helio! V8 SUPERCARS JAMES Courtney is not the only racing driver who thinks he can dance. As exclusively revealed in eNews, the V8 star will take part in the seventh series of the Seven Network series Dancing with the Stars. The regular pilot of the #4 Jeld-Wen Ford will take on a number of celebrities, including comedians Anh Do and Corinne Grant, actor Bridie Carter, entertainers Patti Newton and David Hobson, swim stars Michael Klim and Elka Graham and former Today co-host, Jessica Rowe. And just to make Courtney feel at home, Seven pitlane reporter and sports-head Mark Beretta is competing as well! What is it about racing drivers and tap shoes? Stateside, former Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves takes on 11 other celebrities later this month in the US version of Dancing. The Brazilian, known as Spiderman for his signature fence-climbing postwin celebrations, will take on

singers Wayne Newton and Marie Osmond, actresses Jane Seymour and Jennie Garth, Mel ‘Scary Spice’ Brown and former heavyweight boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr in the competition, which airs on America’s ABC network.

Marshall Cass

A RUMOURED investment in Dick Johnson Racing by WPS team boss Craig Gore has implications that may affect its ability to take place. The rumours, to date unconfirmed, suggest that Gore is talking to DJR about acquiring a 50 percent stake in the team. However, V8 team’s group TEGA rules on team ownership would require Gore to relinquish ownership of his current team in order to take up ownership elsewhere – unless the parties can dream up some form of arrangement to circumvent the requirement.

eNews understands that no official notification or approach has been made to TEGA on any such deal. In the meantime, on the basis of the team’s strong ontrack performances, despite its financial constraints, we hear that primary sponsor Jim Beam has stepped up to the plate with increased sponsorship input to assist the team over the latter part of the season. After a number of strong top ten performances to date by regular duo Steven Johnson and Will Davison, the pair – together in the lead DJR car for the forthcoming enduros – could well be one of the Bathurst dark horses.

THERE is to be no major commemoration of the first anniversary of Peter Brock’s tragic death, while competing on the Targa West Rally, this Saturday. While co-driver Mick Hone, Brock’s partner Julie Bamford and brother Lewis plan to attend Targa West – where some stages are to be named and run in Brock’s honour – eNews understands there will be no major formal anniversary commemoration of Brock’s passing. Brock’s hometown, Hurstbridge, will host a Brock Foundation gathering on Saturday, linked to the announcement of a Brock Bike Trail in the area. Sadly, a year after the accident, Brock’s former partner Bev and Ms Bamford, along with Brock’s family, remain locked in mediation over Brock’s estate.

news

John Morris/Mpix

Rick and The Rat paired Kelly/Radisich and Tander/Baird for leading team V8 SUPERCARS TOLL HSV is planning to split its two regular drivers at next week’s Sandown 500. The championship-leading team tested last week at Winton and Holden insiders have told eNews that so impressed was the team with the form of both ‘imports’ that it has no qualms over splitting its regular duo. Former Team Kiwi driver Radisich was down to competitive times straight away and, given that he is a slightly closer physical match for Kelly, will be slotted into the #1 Commodore. The team was also pleased with the form of Craig Baird, who took slightly longer to adjust to the challenge of driving a V8 after his season in

a left-hand-drive, sequentialshifter Carrera Cup Porsche GT3, but subsequently settled in well. Officially, the team is maintaining its line that no decision about its pairings will be made prior to qualifying at Sandown, and all four drivers are cross-entered in both cars for the two events. However, eNews expects that Rick/Rat, Garth/Bairdo pairings will line up at Sandown. What is less clear is whether the team will keep the same pairings for Bathurst. With Tander and Kelly 1-2 in the series, should one have problems at Sandown, the way would be clear to match them at Bathurst. Also affecting the decision is what might happen at Sandown with the Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup entry.

What is certain is the lineup at the Holden Racing Team. Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly will drive the #2 VE and Nathan Pretty/Glenn Seton will be aboard #22.

Standing tall: Take note of the order in which The Rat, Rick, GT and Bairdo are standing, above – eNews sources say that it’s a dead-set giveaway ...

BRIEFLY...

n The exclusive V8 Supercar Charity Edition of Monopoly went on-sale last Friday, just in time for Fathers’ Day. The game is available exclusively at Supercheap Auto stores throughout Australia for $79.95. n Fancy scrambled eggs with Skaifey? Muesli with Max? Well, get to Melbourne’s Federation Square on Thursday November 29 from 7.30am, for the traditional V8 Supercar Championship Series grand final breakfast. Zinc restaurant will host the breakfast, all 31 drivers will be in attendance, and all proceeds go to Variety, the children’s charity. Ticketek has the details on 132 849. n When you think A1 Grand Prix, you will now be thinking Green. Apart from tuning its cars to run on a 30 percent biofuel ethanol blend, the World Cup of Motorsport series is to implement a waste-reduction policy and a carbon-offset program.

Denyer for Main Series?

V8’s TV man could race with the big boys if Ford’s Stars start Rising ... FUJITSU V8s JIM Morton is still on the hunt for an available licence for next year’s V8 Supercar Championship Series – and if he gets one, Grant Denyer will, in part, drive it. Morton, owner of Fujitsu V8 Series team Ford Rising Stars Racing, is currently on the sponsorship hunt, firming up dollars for the 2008 season, while also keeping score of the latest in team and licence movements. At this stage, Morton rates his chances 50/50 to break into the main series, but if he does, television personality Denyer

John Morris/Mpix

Team BOC has a big couple of weeks ahead of it before Sandown after a testing accident at Winton yesterday (Monday). The team’s endurance driver Damien White was at the wheel when the the #14 Falcon hit hard. n

will contest selected races, with Michael Caruso doing the others. There is still a long way to go in the 2008 driver/team Silly Season, but Morton is hanging some of his hopes on Denyer’s off-track appeal. “Grant can’t do the full main series due to his other commitments, so a share drive would give his a chance to drive

in the fulfil his dream,” Morton said. “From a commercial partner’s point of view, it makes sense for Grant to be involved. That’s what we’ve been pushing along.” “But if it all turns out to be nothing, we’ll run the Fujitsu Series again next year ...” – GRANT ROWLEY

Calder Park in upgrade mode CALDER Park Raceway is undergoing an upgrade in order to have it return to the frontline of motor racing circuits. The track in Melbourne’s west has just had $1m spent on an upgrade to facilities on the road circuit and drag racing facility, with an emphasis on improved spectator viewing areas. The track is also undergoing inspections prior to a resurfacing program that,

according to current plans, will also be implemented on the banked Thunderdome. Local eNews sources report that independent examiners have visited the track and that there is a possibility of the facility receiving an injection of government funding. The Victorian authorities are reportedly interested in establishing an upgraded driver training facility in the growing area and Calder is

a likely centrepiece in the program. A spokesman for the track said that no funds had yet been earmarked for such an upgrade, but that there had been discussions with government instrumentalities. He declined to comment on the amounts being discussed, thoughwe hear that as much as $10m is being allocated for a variety of projects, of which Calder may be a part.

news

New Falcon for WPS Racing V8 SUPERCARS MAX Wilson will debut WPS Racing’s first brand-new Ford Falcon BF in the Sandown 500. While some V8 Supercar teams will build as many as four new chassis per year, the independent Queensland team has competed throughout its four-year existence using the same two Falcons, which were first built by 00 Motorsport in 2003.

When WPS Racing opened its doors in 2004, the Craig Gore-owned team acquired the cars and some of the team’s hardware. The cars have been driven over the years by a host of drivers, including David Besnard, Craig Baird, Alex Yoong, Johnny McIntyre, Alex Tagliani and Marcus Marshall. For some time, a Beehag shell has sat in the team’s workshop and it seems that now, finally, WPS Racing will debut its firstever brand-new Falcon.

Wilson is the man who’ll steer the new car in WOW colours and, while the team remain tight-lipped regarding driver pairings, it seems logical that Wilson and regular WPS man Jason Bargwanna will drive together. The team will test this Thursday at Queensland Raceway with endurance drivers Michael Caruso and Grant Denyer, after which the pairings are expected to be confirmed. – GRANT ROWLEY

Formula 3 driver wants V8 future FUJITSU V8s

drive at Winton. Mapelli, currently fifth in the Aussie F3 title, plans to test a V8 again after Bathurst to try and confirm a seat for 2008. In other F3 news, Charlie Hollings had a steer of a PWR Racing Commodore at Winton on the same day as Mapelli. – GRANT ROWLEY

Dirk Klynsmith

AUSTRALIAN Formula 3 driver Marco Mapelli tested a V8 Supercar last week at Winton, and is aiming to contest next year’s Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series. The Italian drove Tony D’Alberto’s championship-

leading Holden Commodore VZ, in what was his first-ever drive of a tin-top race car. “It’s a very good car, but very different compared to F3,” Mapelli told eNews. “It was the first time I’d driven a Saloon Car. The cars are awesome.” The test was also his first

BRIEFLY... n Malaysia has concluded a deal to hold its Grand Prix until 2015. It is believed that FOM was willing to give such a long-term deal because the Malaysians were willing to agree to night races.

n Sir Jack Brabham has

n Panasonic Toyota Racing has hired Frank Dernie to help the team on aerodynamic and chassis-related matters, although he will not be based in Germany and will not be attending races on a regular basis. The veteran F1 engineer will, however, help the team to develop the TF107 and will advise on the design of the TF108. – JOE SAWARD

RENAULT boss Carlos Ghosn has made it clear that he does not believe that one man makes the difference between success and failure in F1, a hint that the company is not going to fund a bid to re-hire Fernando Alonso.

The World Champion is not happy at McLaren but is unlikely to be released by the team without a huge financial offer. If Alonso does not want to race for McLaren in 2008, he may have to spend the year on the bench unless he comes up with a

deal that makes sense for McLaren. “Success in F1 is always the product of teamwork,” Ghosn, with Alonso right, said. “It needs a perfect car, chassis, engine, tyres, team effort, and driver of course. The best driver cannot succeed without a perfect team and vice versa. “I demand from the team to compete at the highest level. If we cannot come first we have to be at least runnerup. But I do not interfere with the daily operations – for this we have Flavio [Briatore]

sutton-images.com

recently begun kidney dialysis treatment. His son David says that his 81-year-old father cannot now travel as a result of a need to make regular visits to a hospital for his treatment.

FORMULA 1

Racedeadline

n Tests are due to take place at Paul Ricard later this month with the Airstar company expected to show FIA inspectors the latest lighting ‘balloons’. These are helium-filled balloons fitted with halogen discharge lamps which produce nonglaring, 360-degree light without any shadows. They are quick to install, versatile and apparently have a lower power consumption than traditional floodlights.

Alonso Buy Back? Non, merci and Alain [Dassas]. The team know what it takes to win. “This year, we had to get used to new tyres, a new driver. But I am absolutely confident we will be successful in 2008.”

– JOE SAWARD

news

sutton-images.com

Lemme In!

... but will Todt make way for Ross Brawn? FORMULA 1 ROSS Brawn has recently held talks with Ferrari boss Jean Todt about a possible return to the team – the problem is that Todt has the job Brawn wants, and doesn’t want to quit just yet!

A year ago, it was expected that Todt would retire when Michael Schumacher quit. However, it was announced that Todt would stay on as head of the racing department on an ‘interim’ basis and Brawn decided to take a year off. It was assumed at the time that the job was being kept open for Brawn, but now that the time has come for that to be negotiated, Todt is making it clear that he thinks he is too

young to retire! It is possible that Todt could remain in his current role, with Brawn in charge of the racing. But in Turkey, Todt made a number of comments that suggested that he wants to remain in charge of racing as well, which would mean there is nowhere for Brawn to go. “We are just discussing about his options, our options,” said Todt. “Maybe we will find some common point, maybe we will not find some common point. He has been doing a tremendous work at Ferrari and Ferrari has given him a lot.

good for him and good for Ferrari.” The implication is that Todt feels that neither party owes anything to the other. This has resulted in speculation that Fiat/Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo is trying to edge Todt out in order to complete the restructuring he talked about a year ago. If this is the case Montezemolo may simply have to wait. If Ferrari fails to win either World Championship for a third consecutive season, Todt may be on shaky ground … – JOE SAWARD

“So our partnership has been

FORMULA 1 THE Singapore government has begun construction work in preparation for its first Grand Prix in a year’s time.

– JOE SAWARD

Singapore

visitsingapore.com

There was a ground-breaking ceremony last week to begin work on the pit buildings. The building work is expected to take nine months, allowing plenty of time to get everything in place before the first race, which is scheduled to take place on September 28 next year. Singapore’s Land Transport Authority will begin its work on the roads next month. The aim remains for the Singapore race to take place at night and as a result there has been work going on to test out lighting techniques with the first trials of the light balloons which will be used taking in place in France (where they are manufactured) in July. There is to be a second test in October before the FIA confirms that it is safe to race at night.

The work starts in

Indian close to Spyker deal FORMULA 1 INDIAN industrialist Vijay Mallya, in league with Spyker Cars shareholder Michiel Mol, looks set to take over the financially ailing Spyker F1 team from the parent Spyker Cars company.

The bid is worth US$109m although there are no further details of how this breaks down. Given that the Mol Family holding company Strongwind has made substantial loans to Spyker Cars in recent months – secured by the shares of the F1 team – it is unlikely that Mol has had to put in much cash. Mallya, the controlling shareholder of the vast UB Group, the world's third biggest liquor company will be paying cash … “Team India is on the F1 grid,” Mallya, above, declared in a press conference in Mumbai. “I have been dreaming about owning a Formula One team. I was looking at the right opportunity to show up at the right time. The deal is good for Formula 1. It's good for India and it's good for Formula One Management because viewership is going to shoot up now. “I would like to say that it would give me immense pleasure to see an Indian drive an Indian Formula 1 car, but we have to consult with the team principal and the chief technical officer.”

– JOE SAWARD

BRIEFLY...

JV ready for Cup

n Texas Motor Speedway will continue to host a round of the IndyCar Series. The Bruton Smith-owned 1.5-mile track in Fort Worth, which proclaims itself as the “second home of the Indy Racing League”, has signed on to run events in 2008 and 2009.

Former world champ on Bill Davis Racing’s books NASCAR

n Elfin’s competition return came with a touch of success. Tony D’Alberto steered his Elfin MS8 Clubman to a class win, taking 18th overall in the Victorian Dutton Rally. Former Australian touring car driver Peter Gazzard won the event outright in his Mitsubishi Evo IX. The next time the Elfin will be seen is in the hands of David Reynolds at the Mount Buller Sprint in November.

Phoenix chopped off Champ Car calendar CHAMP CAR CHAMP Car’s chaotic 2007 calendar has what is likely to be its final modification with the confirmation that the event scheculed for Phoenix has been cancelled. The Arizona race, which was to close the curtain on

the season on December 2, was called off last week due to a lack of sponsor and community support. Champ Car World Series’ proposed event for China was cancelled earlier in the season, leaving the Mexico City race on November 11 the 14th and final round of the season.

sutton-images.com

n All racing has been suspended at Morgan Park until further notice due to the outbreak of the Equine Influenza at the adjacent Morgan Park Polo Grounds. Police informed Bill Campbell (WDSCC President) that last weekend’s Super Sprint race meeting could not take place. “We are unsure just how long the this will last – we had heard that nothing can happen here until 30 days after the last horse gets sick” said Campbell. The halt in racing may put the National Formula Vee and Improved Production meeting at Morgan Park in jeopardy.

BILL Davis Racing has confirmed plans for former Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve to run in a second or third Toyota Sprint (Nextel) Cup team in 2008. BDR tested with Villeneuve, the 1997 F1 world champion, at Chicagoland Speedway last week in Toyota Truck with the operation planning for him to run the Truck Series race at Las Vegas on September 22 in the number 22 Toyota. “He gives incredible feedback and adapted to the truck very well,” said BDR Truck team manager Mark Chambers. Davis will also field a Toyota

for him in the ARCA race at Talladega in October in preparation for the possibility of running some Cup races later this year before running the full Cup schedule in 2008. Villeneuve, 36, also a former Indy Car and Indianapolis 500 champion, is also slated for some heavy testing in the new-design Cup car during the coming weeks with crew chief Richard ‘Slugger’ Labbe calling the shots. At the same time, Scott Speed met with Team Red Bull NASCAR team officials last week and there is a possibility he could run some Busch Series events for the team before any step to the Cup level.

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Coulthard keeps the old girl V8 SUPERCARS FABIAN Coulthard won’t get to race a VE Commodore this year. The Paul Morris Motorsport V8 Supercar driver will contest the rest of his season in his VZ, nicknamed ‘Astro.’ “The initial plan was to have the VE ready for Fabian for the endurance races, but incidents and accidents and other things have made it less of a priority,” team manager Nigel Barcley told eNews. PMM is the only two-car Holden team that doesn’t compete with two of the new VE Commodores. Coulthard and his Sandown and Bathurst co-driver Chris Pither will test at Queensland Raceway this Thursday. – GRANT ROWLEY

John Morris/Mpix

Keeping his VZ: Coulthard will see out his time at PMM in his trusty Commodore VZ.

Booze has its place on The Mountain BATHURST 1000

Peter Bury

Alcohol will, according to a joint V8 Supercars Australia, Bathurst Council and NEW security and safety measures, NSW Police statement, be available at primarily affecting alcohol purchase and “reasonable cost.” consumption, are to be introduced at the Campers will still be able to bring alcohol Bathurst 1000. into the camping areas but discretionary Implementation of stringent NSW limits will be applied by Police and security. legislation will stop race fans bringing alcohol That alcohol can then only be consumed in with them, and require them to buy and those areas. consume their drinks within designated V8 Supercar Events is planning nightlicensed areas. time entertainment on and off track for Those licenced areas will be located on the campers. pit straight viewing area as well as areas of This includes nightly screening of race the Reid and Sulman Parks. action on a big screen, a concert including No alcohol will be able to be taken into or the Hilltop Hoods and other bands as well as out of these areas. movie nights for families and spectators.

BRIEFLY... n Rallycorp has a new Operations Manager – Chris Chrystiuk. The 27-year-old replaces Simon Larkin, who is off to pursue commitments in the UK after three years in the job. n Jim Richards celebrated the big 60 last Sunday. eNews extends birthday wishes to motorsport’s Mr Evergreen! n Look for a host of GP cars

to take part in the Speed on Tweed this weekend. A total of 57 cars which competed in (mainly Australian) Grand Prix racing are expected to participate, with Jack Brabham’s 1966 Repco Brabham and the ex-Alan Jones Beatrice Lola Hart leading the way.

n The Australian GT Championship has announced a new sponsor, CompliSpace, for Round 7, to be held at Sydney’s Oran Park circuit in November.

Do ARC drivers want control tyres? AUSTRALIAN RALLYING

COMPETITORS will play a vital role in deciding the future of the Australian Rally Championship’s tyre regulations, and whether or not a control tyre will be introduced to the ARC in the near future. An official survey has been issued on behalf of Rallycorp to all of the ARC’s registered competitors, quizzing them about existing tyre deals, expectations regarding the quality of any control products, and current tyre expenditure. “Introducing a control tyre is a long way from a done deal, but we want to canvas the opinion of competitors,” Rallycorp’s Operations Manager Simon Larkin told eNews. “At the end of the day we have to make sure that if this does happen, there will be key sporting and commercial benefits. “So if it comes back that 80 percent of competitors are paying, for example, $200 for a

Joel Strickland

n Mum, Bargs is on the telly! Jason Bargwanna will feature on Foxtel’s Disney Channel on What a Life, a kids’ program that features his son Jake reporting on life within the WPS V8 Supercar team. The program started yesterday [Monday] and will be reshown later today, so check your local Foxtel listings for times.

And the Survey Says:

tyre, and we can get a control tyre deal for $150, then maybe it’ll be for the greater good.” In a letter that was forwarded to all ARC competitors with the survey, Rallycorp states the following: ‘At this stage it should be pointed out that Rallycorp does not have the power to implement a control tyre in the ARC – this would only be implemented following a regulation change by the

Australian Rally Commission – who would act on information provided by the ARC Working Group.’ Current tyre manufacturers involved in the ARC are Michelin, Yokohama, Pirelli, Dunlop, Silverstone and MRF. If you want to have your say, a separate survey has been linked to the ARC’s official website (www.rally.com.au) for non-competitors. – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

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AUSTRALIAN RALLYING WHILE Chris Atkinson appears set to be retained by the Subaru World Rally Team, rumours are suggesting that his Subaru teammate Petter Solberg is pushing for a switch to either Ford or Citroen next year. With poor performance continuing to plague the latest specification Impreza World Rally Car, Solberg has grown increasingly desperate to return to winning form and appears prepared to break his long-term contract with Subaru to jump into a rival vehicle. It is believed that management within both Ford and Citroen have expressed an interest in

sutton-images.com

Atko staying, but is Solberg?

securing the services of Solberg – although the financial demands of the Norwegian may prove too difficult to justify. At the weekend, Atkinson refused to confirm an imminent announcement by Subaru to resign the Australian to their World Rally team for 2008, but he also refused to deny the suggestion circulating the service park at last weekend’s Rally New Zealand. “At this stage we have some options open to us but I can’t announce anything yet,” he said. An announcement is expected in the break between New Zealand and the next round of the World Rally Championship in Spain. – RYAN LAHIFF

Grataloup gives QLD two thumbs up! RALLY AUSTRALIA FORMER WRC co-driver Daniel Grataloup has praised Rally Australia’s new home in Queensland following a pre-New Zealand shakedown of the proposed roads. Grataloup, who now works for Citroen as an event coordinator, says the new course will make for a good round of the World Championship. “I think it will be a good rally for the drivers, I think

they will like it very much,” Grataloup told eNews. “From my point of view I like very much the landscape – it was very, very beautiful to drive through and I think the drivers will like it very much.” One area that Grataloup remained critical of during his co-driving career was what he deemed to be the dangerous nature of the West Australian roads, with trees growing right to the very edge of many of the roads utilised by the event. “It will be good to run in

this new area because I think it will be less dangerous than it was in Perth, I can say because I had two very big accidents with the trees being very close to the road,” Grataloup said. “On this one there are some big trees close to the road in places but I hear that they are going to protect them from cars that lose control and maybe the event will use chicanes in braking areas to slow cars down near big trees.” – RYAN LAHIFF

COMING THIS WEEK

Australia

CAMS Nationals – Wakefield Park

International F1 – Monza WSBK – Lausitzring NASCAR – Richmond Indycar – Illinois

NexT Week (SEPT 15-16) Australia

Sandown 500 International F1 Belgium MotoGP Portugal

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news

Timmy’s Thinking England FORMULA FORD

Dirk Klynsmith

TIM Blanchard is eyeing a move overseas in 2008 – but not because he wants to be a Formula 1 driver. The Australian Formula Ford Championship leader is looking at heading to England for a season of Formula Ford or Formula Renault in a bid to gain some valuable racing experience before stepping into V8 Supercars. “It’s all about experience,” Blanchard told eNews. “If you look at most of the top guys in V8 Supercars they’ve got European experience. If you go over there you have to fend for yourself, and the racing is so competitive that when you come back to V8

Supercars it has to help you in the long term.” At just 20 years of age Blanchard is young enough to spend a year overseas before continuing his career in Australia. If he does so,

he’ll join the likes of Marcos Ambrose, Russell Ingall and James Courtney, all of whom have used overseas openwheeler experience to forge successful careers in V8 Supercars.

Blanchard’s other option for 2008 is the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series. – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN For more with Tim Blanchard see ‘Five Minutes With’ on page 18. Chris Carter

IFM 4 Oz? INTERNATIONAL

Bumper FFord field for Sandown FORMULA FORD STATE Formula Forder Michael Pereira will make his Australian Formula Ford Championship debut at Sandown next week. The Minda Motorsport driver is currently converting his Van Diemen to Duratec power, and will have his first taste of the new power plant at Winton this Friday.

He will then make his AFFC debut when the series hits Sandown late next week. “Using Queensland as a guide I’m expecting it to be a lot more competitive [than the state series],” Pereira told eNews. “I think a Top 10 finish would be fantastic. At the end of the day it’s a big learning curve, but it should help me a lot for next year

when I’ll be racing in the national series full time.” Asher Johnston will be making his return to the series for G-Force after missing every round since the season opener at the Clipsal 500, while Daniel Pappas will be another new face, replacing Victoria Whitely in the King Gee Van Diemen RF06. – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

AN Australasian version of the International Formula Master series is being mooted for 2008. A press release was issued by Sub Latitude Racing Series Group Limited last Sunday stating that a series “based entirely on the same technical and sporting regulations as the International Formula Master Series” will kick off in New Zealand next March. It also states that rounds will be held in Australia, China, Indonesia and The Phillipines. “This could be a stepping stone to hone drivers for bigger formulas”, Didier Debae, Managing Director of Sub Latitude Racing Series Group Limited said.

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BRIEFLY... n The FIM has announced amendments to the provisional calendar for the 2008 MotoGP World Championship. The events in Portugal and Valencia will be held a week earlier than originally scheduled, while Japan and Australia have exchanged their dates. The Phillip Island race was going to be held on September 28, which is AFL Grand FInal weekend. It will now be on October 5, the week before the Bathurst 1000. n Mat Mladin has won his third straight ‘double’ victory in the penultimate round of the AMA Superbike Championship. The Aussie was unstoppable at Road Atlanta and now has a 3-point lead over Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Ben Spies. The final round is at Laguna Seca is in 10 days’ time.

MOTOGP THERE will be a night GP next season – but on two wheels, not four.

It was confirmed in Italy last weekend that the opening round of the 2008 MotoGP circus will take place at Qatar in March. The Losail track will undertake the biggest lighting project in the world for any sporting event, with more than 3700 individual lights. Apart from the obvious cachet of being the first GP at night, Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta confirmed that the race was being scheduled to align with European TV schedules.

“Changing the Qatar race to a night time schedule allows for a better synchronisation with European television schedules, where the race can be made available in the prime-time Sunday slot,” he said. “This is obviously a big boost for the broadcasters, and a landmark moment for MotoGP.” Last year year, Valentino Rossi, Loris Capirossi and Kenny Roberts Jr, below, rode street bikes around the circuit under temporary lighting and commented that more work was needed prior to committing to the race. American firm Musco Lighting will install the system, which will be tested in the off-season.

Honda Pro Images

The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) has announced its new e-Newsletter. The free publication will be distributed on a monthly basis, with information on topics such as circuit racing, rallying, off road, historics, technical, medical, safety, risk management, licensing, officiating, state news, upcoming events and a dedicated introduction from the CEO. n

Dorna confirms Qatar MotoGP under lights in 2008

Rizla Suzuki Racing

n Wayne Gardner may miss the Legends’ demonstration at Phillip Island next month because of his wedding but The Whiz is keeping his hand in. Gardner was in action at the Goodwood Revival last weekend and took both wins and the overall honours in the Barry Sheene Trophy events. The 1987 World 500cc champion rode a 1966 Matchless G50 in the races and won from the Manx Nortons of Michael Rutter and Jeremy McWilliams.

Midnight at the Oasis

Tyre/Eng MOTOGP THE war of words over MotoGP’s tyre war took an interesting turn when Suzuki fired a shot at Valentino Rossi and Yamaha.

In his post-race media comments, Rizla Suzuki Team Manager Paul Denning, right, took the rare opportunity to single out an opposition rider, Casey Stoner, for praise. “Rizla Suzuki would also like to congratulate Casey Stoner on another unbelievable

news

KAWA KEEPS WEST

Valentino gets his Airhead

MOTOGP

ANTHONY West will continue his MotoGP career with Kawasaki.

MOTOGP YAMAHA raced its new pneumatic valve engine at Misano but its debut was a disaster.

gine Nonsense: Suzuki Rizla Suzuki Racing

Ezpeleta described the current 31-tyre rule “an error” and laid the blame at the feet of the tyre companies. However, it has been Rossi and team-mate Colin Edwards who have been the most vocal critics of the rule, changed this season to negate what had been seen as a huge advantage Michelin teams had. In 13 races this season, Bridgestone has won nine times and Michelin four.

Though the team’s postrace media releases did not specifically mention the new motor, Valentino Rossi used it to (temporarily) grab pole position and start the race, which ended with an undisclosed engine failure on lap 6. Fiat Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio was not very forthcoming after the race. “We used the new engine today and unfortunately something went wrong. We don't know yet exactly what, we won't be able to tell until our engineers have had a lot more time to look at it. It might not have been anything to do with the new technology. We need to check, but this can happen and this is racing.” Colin Edwards rode to ninth with the conventional motor. Both Yamaha riders were due to test at Misano on Monday and Tuesday.

Yamaha Racing

performance today,” he said. “There has been a lot of nonsense spoken in MotoGP this year regarding tyre regulations, engine performance, etc. etc. I believe that the difference at the moment is Casey and we’re focusing our best efforts to improve our own performance to beat him and that’s what everybody should be doing at this time!” The comments came a week after Dorna CEO Carmelo

Kawasaki Racing Team

The Queenslander has signed a deal with the team until the end of the 2008 season and will partner John Hopkins next year. The confirmation justifies an amazing gamble for West, who bought his way out of a deal to race a Yamaha in the World SuperSports Championship so he could replace Olivier Jacque in the works Kawasaki team. West had replaced Kevin Curtain at Yamaha and, with two wins and a third had looked to have had a lucrative future on the productionbased bikes – when the Kawasaki deal came along: “As you can imagine, it's a huge weight off my shoulders,” said West last week. “This is definitely something I've been stressing about: whether I can stay in MotoGP and, if so, for which team. But this really is the best opportunity for me, to stay with Kawasaki, as I'm really happy here. It's such a good team and a great bike with all the support from the factory. Now, I've got one thing less to worry about so I can just concentrate on riding.”

5 Minutes with ...

TIM BLANCHARD

On winning in Formula Ford, driving a V8 Supercar, and plans for 2008

ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

MOTORSPORT NEWS: Three rounds to go in the Australian Formula Ford Championship and you’re on top of the points table. Feeling the pressure? TIM BLANCHARD: I think there’s more pressure on [Ash] Walsh and [James] Moffat because if I make a mistake, then we’re all on equal points. But if they make a mistake, then I’m almost a round ahead on points. So the pressure is on them not to make any mistakes. Obviously there’s a bit of pressure on me to not make a mistake and win races, but I’d say there’s more pressure on them.

If you have a good round at Sandown and Walsh and Moffat don’t, there’s a chance you’ll wrap the title up at Symmons Plains. Are you thinking about that at all? It’s not something you can really think about because Walsh and Moffat are both really good drivers and they’ll be keen to take it down to Phillip Island. The key is to win races, and if we wrap up the title before

John Morris/Mpix

Walsh has won the last six races, have you got the speed to get a few back from here on in? Well we were really quick at the first three rounds, it’s just been the last couple where we weren’t right on the pace. But the last three rounds are at tracks where I had plenty of pace at last year. They’re tracks that I really like, so I think we should be able to get back to the top.

The last three rounds are at tracks where I had plenty of pace last year – tim blanchard is feeling good about the 07 title Phillip Island then great, but I’m not thinking about it! Looking ahead to next year, what are your thoughts on where you might be? At the moment it’s still undecided, but I think it’ll come down to either the Fujitsu Series, or going to Europe and doing Formula Ford or Formula Renault. But is that about becoming a Formula 1 driver, or just for some experience? It’s all about experience. If you look at most of the top

guys in V8 Supercars they’ve got European experience. If you go over there you have to fend for yourself, and the racing is so competitive that when you come back to V8 Supercars it has to help you in the long term. And It’s a life experience too … Yeah exactly. If I go I’ll be moving out of home and living on my own, which will be really good too. When do you want to have a more definite idea of what’s going on?

I’ll be talking to people over the Sandown 500 weekend and hopefully in a few weeks after that I’ll know what I’m doing. That’s the plan anyway … You had a pedal of a Triple 8 car the other day. What are your thoughts on that? They’re great cars. And it’s such a professional team – they really know what they’re doing. So it was a good chance to experience how the top teams operate in V8 Supercars, because that’s where I want to be.

chat

Grant Rowley

It’s a tyre(ing) argument opinion

Marshall Cass

FACT: Motorsport is a bloody expensive pastime. It doesn’t really matter Andrew van Leeuwen what you do or what cost mNews National Editor containment rules you put in place, racing cars and bikes will always be a hobby/business that costs a pretty penny. Take Formula Ford as an example. The category was born when a dime-a-dozen Cortina engine was married to a simple tube chassis, making it the ultimate budget class. Nowadays young driving talent has to talk nearly $200k before even thinking about a season in the Australian Championship. As someone who talks to people about motor racing for a living, I know how expensive it is. But despite having a fairly good grasp on how important the almighty dollar is in this game, what I saw at Phillip Island last Sunday still blew my mind. It was the final round of the Victorian Formula Ford 1600 Series and, as you would expect, most of the drivers started the weekend with new tyres for qualifying. That makes sense. What didn’t make sense was seeing the same guys strap on brand new boots for the final race on Sunday afternoon. Two sets of $1100 tyres in one weekend is complete and utter excess. Even at National Formula Ford level you can only use one set of tyres per meeting. In the NSW state series the same rule applies. If you want to play Formula Ford in WA, you can only use three sets for the entire season (which is eight meetings). The fact that Victoria doesn’t have any tyre rules in place is madness. The gap between the rich and the poor is wide enough … the sport doesn’t need anomalies like that making it wider.

Letters

Have your say, email us at mail@mnews.com.au. Keep letters to the point. Too little too late Next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix will start at 10pm live our time, however Network Ten will show qualifying at 4.15am Sunday, and the race itself at 2.00am Monday – thanks to the Rugby World Cup. Compared to this, last week’s mockery of the Turkish Grand Prix (where 11-year-old movie Happy Gilmore was aired before the race) looks almost good. Is there any way we can get

through to Ten to either get them to handle the coverage and fans with a little respect, or just stop being selfish and relinquish the sole rights so that another channel can treat it properly? Utterly pathetic. Mark Szwadiak Webber_racing@hotmail.com Line Astern I love eNews! How you guys come up with this every week, for free, is

amazing. Keep up the good work and I will keep buying the monthly! I spent some time reading the Formula 1 report last week [Ed: Istanbul] and noticed something interesting. In the Drivers’ points, the drivers are paired off in team order; McLaren, Ferrari, BMW, Renault, Williams, Red Bull and Toyota. In fact, there are two ‘Honda’ drivers next, Sato leading Button. Next time someone says that

F1 is not predictable, they will get an argument from me! Ron Garrett Ferntree Gully, Vic Atko is A-OK So let me get this straight – Petter Solberg gets paid a bucket by Subaru, while Chris Atkinson is a ‘pay driver’ of sorts. I hope the cheque-signers watched Rally NZ ... Ben Mettala bmet@gmail.com

opinion

Goodwood

Down

THE success of last weekend’s third Muscle Car Masters at Eastern Creek reflects the booming market in nostalgia in many sports. Historic racing across all forms of racing, is a growing phenomenon, with the number of strong events on the up – things like the Tasman Revival, for the openwheeler types, and the regular cross-category historic meets around the country. The Muscle Car Masters, similarly, for those with an interest in or feel for, the history of motorsport was a terrific day out. As ‘racing with

James Smith

Under

a roof’ started to take over from open-wheeler racing as the prime focus in Australia once the Tasman Series faded away in the 70s, so it is now increasingly the focus for the nostalgia nuts. Enter the Muscle Car Masters, an interesting concept, at which the on-track racing virtually provides a background for what is going on off-track – enthusiasts swarming around the cars that made Australian motorsport history, along with quite a few of the drivers who drove them. Like the Goodwood Festival in the UK, the Muscle Car

eLETTER OF DIRTY DOG THE WEEK Streets Behind I am disappointed that the V8SA is still pushing for a street race at Homebush. Spectators who attend will only be able to see a short stretch of the track

(the same as Clipsal and Indy I suppose), but from my previous experiences attending events in the area, they will probably have to mortgage their houses to afford the overpriced food

Masters will continue to grow – Fathers Day, Eastern Creek. Lock it in for ’08.

t is a year, this Saturday, since Peter Brock left the building. A year ago, motorsport was shocked, and saddened, that one of its brightest stars could meet his end in such an innocuous way. As with any tragic accident, or illness, it is the family and friends left behind for whom it is toughest – and there are issues still to be sorted out in that area in Brock’s case. I hope the anniversary doesn’t become too much of

and drink which will be on sale. I lament the passing of tracks like Oran Park, where spectators can see about 90 percent of the track. I believe that this condition has been brought about by weak-kneed governments, who cave in to any noisy minority who move into an area, complain about something that was there long before they arrived, and demand that things are changed to suit them.

opinion Chris Lambden mNews Publisher a media circus, rehashing all the same old stuff – other than the recent ‘Legends’ book, just about everything that needed to be said was said a year ago. It’s time to move on. The Muscle Car Masters promoters got it right. Given the timing of the event, it could have become an overthe-top Brock Fest, but a brief but respectful procession of Brock cars conveyed exactly the right sentiment.

Street races have an important place in the V8 Supercar championship since they provide a bit of variety, but I feel that we are being swamped by them. The concrete canyons of street races also carry additional inherent risks. With the push for a street race in Townsville and Sydney being resurrected, it seems that the street races will soon outnumber circuit races. Peter Hickey Shortland, NSW

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 21

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 11 – NEW ZEALAND

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Closest. Finish. Ever. Marcus Gronholm and Sebastien Loeb made World Rally Championship history in New Zealand, and it took Ford’s Flying Fin one step closer to the 2007 title. By JODY SEABRIGHT

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arcus Gronholm finished just 0.3s ahead of Sebastien Loeb in New Zealand last weekend. World Rally Championship history was made – the closest ever WRC finish. Having made a rare and costly mistake on the final stage in Germany a fortnight ago, Gronholm was determined to seize back control of the World Championship. “Losing second place on the final stage in Germany has increased my determination,” he said. “My focus and concentration is already high but I have to try to raise them even higher to avoid the kind of mistake I made then.” Gronholm pushed hard from the outset and leapt to an early lead on the first morning. But by the second day, Loeb was putting the pressure on, and a deficit of 13s was turned into a 1.7s lead by the end, setting up the last day for a nail-biting finish. On the first stage Gronholm snatched back the lead by 0.1s, only to lose it on the next stage. With just 0.9s separating the two over the 29.8km Whaanga Coast stage it was enough to give Gronholm the lead by 0.7s, with only the Super Special stage to decide the outcome. Loeb won the stage, but only by 0.4s, leaving Gronholm to jump on his roof in delight at the 0.3s win. “It was an incredible fight all weekend and this win is fantastic for my championship hopes,” Gronholm said. “It’s the closest and best battle of my career and I’m delighted to have won it”. Gronholm’s Ford team-mate Mikko Hirvonen was third, a boost for M-Sport’s manufacturer title hopes. Australian Chris Atkinson recorded a fine fourth place after his own battle with Fin Jari-Matti Latvala. Reasonably confident with the handling of his Subaru prior to the start, Atkinson was initially fourth, building a 7.8s lead on Latvala on the first day. He lost it on the second day, dropping down to fifth by 10.5s. Still down by 4.5s halfway through the last day, Atkinson continued to battle on. “We changed the set-up of the car yesterday afternoon and it seemed to work better, and we knew if it was going to be slippery we had a better chance,” he said. A flying run through Whaanga Coast was rewarded, Atko taking back fourth by 2.7s. “Okay, we would have liked to be on the podium,” he said. “But I think that’s the best we could have hoped for this weekend.” Fellow Aussie Scott Pedder never really got the chance to challenge for Group N honours, a first day crash ruling him out of contention. He got going again, and finished 41st after setting competitive stage times throughout Legs 2 and 3.

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Slide Tackle: Seb threw everything at Gronholm in New Zealand, but fell a measly 0.3s short of closing the World Championship gap. sutton-images.com sutton-images.com

Who’s got the Blues? ‘Atko’ was the fastest Impreza in NZ, finishing a solid fourth after a troublefree rally, left. But Petter Solberg redeemed himself with this massive jump, above.

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Car Park: This off, left, put Scott Pedder out of contention, but he wasn’t the only one to be caught out. Neil McShea also had a spin in his Group N WRX, right.

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP | DRIVER'S points Gronholm 90, Loeb 80, Hrivonen 69, Dani Sordo 31, Petter Solberg 31, Henning Solberg 28, Chris Atkinson 25, Jari-Matti Latvala.

MOTO GP ROUND 12 – MISANO

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Domin Eight So close to Valentino Rossi’s hometown that his fans could walk to the track, Casey Stoner wrote another chapter in his astonishing 2007 story at Misano

Greetings from

Sunny Misano

Ducati Corse

VALENTINO Rossi only made it to lap five in his ‘home’ race, the GP Cinzano di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini but that did not mean that Casey Stoner ‘stole’ his eighth win of the season.

Rizla Suzuki Racing

The Blue Brothers: Chris Vermeulen came from behind to take second in a Suzuki 2-3, above. Valentino Rossi, below, delighted the faithful for a minute when he took provisional pole. Ant West, right, enjoyed a scrap with Alex Barros’ Ducati.

I tried to catch Casey and thought I was doing so, but I think I used up a bit too much of my rear tyre trying to catch him and at the end he pulled away a bit.” It must be noted by the opposition, surely, that Suzuki, not Honda and Yamaha, have stepped up and that the battle to watch for the rest of the season is whether Vermeulen

Kawasaki Racing Team

The reality is that the Australian was untouchable on the Adriatic track, less than 10km from Rossi’s childhood home. The Italian hero was already waving to the crowd and celebrating his pole position when, with 30 seconds to go, Stoner snatched it away from him to take his fourth pole of the year. And the lap chart simply featured a line of 27s, Stoner leading every lap of the race to take his eighth win of 2007, and fourth in a row. “I’m still taking the championship race-by-race,” he said later. “It was unfortunate what happened to Valentino and to Dani [Pedrosa, ] today, but I was out in front doing my own thing, I had enough pressure myself.” Yep. In other words, ‘Take that’. For Stoner, a great result. For Aussie, an even better one, with Chris Vermeulen chasing Stoner home for their second 1-2 of the year. It was a great performance by Vermeulen, who topped the raceday warmup and passed Rossi and John Hopkins early in the race. “I got up to fourth early on, but I still had to pass John and Valentino – two of the hardest guys in the paddock to get around,” he said later. “After I got through them

Yamaha Racing

or Hopkins can get by Rossi for second in the title. HRC’s 25 anniversary could have gone worse, but not much. Dani Pedrosa was clouted from behind at the first corner by Randy De Puniet and, when the dust cleared both were out. Nicky Hayden was caught up in the mess and was last, again, motoring around to a lonely (and unrepresentative) 13th place. In their absence, Marco Melandro salvaged some pride for Honda with fourth, the already-injured Italian

adding to the pain when he was thrown off his bike in Saturday’s extended practice session. Toni Elias, about 60 percent fit, brought the other Gresini Honda home seventh, the two split by Loris Capirossi. The Italian veteran may not be an ardent fan of his Ducati but the speed of the Suzukis might be putting a smile on his face. Anthony West brought some solace to Kawasaki, celebrating his 2008 deal [see news pages] with more points in eighth.

MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | RIDer’s points Points: Stoner 271, Rossi 186, Pedrosa 168, Vermeulen 144, Hopkins 140, Melandri 126, Edwards 100, Capirossi 98, Hayden 92, Barros 83.

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Rizla Suzuki Racing

Painful Memories

RANDY De Puniet was an unhappy man after the race.

Ducati Corse Press Aprilia

Floods and Pestilence: Friday practice was lost when the track flooded following a passing shower, Italian-style ...

ANDREA Dovizioso looked like a match for Jorge Lorenzo but the hometown hero was let down by his Honda.

Ducati Corse Press

As Lorenzo sped on to win his eighth race of the year, above, KTM teammates Hiroshi Aoyama and Mika Kallio took on Hector Barbera for second, but Kallio highsided off his KTM, leaving Aoyama to take second from Barbera and Thomas Luthi.

Points: Lorenzo 241, De Angelis 187, Dovizioso 186, Bautista 135, barbera 119, Aoyama 108, Kallio 94, Luthi 85.

MATTIA Pasini took his third 125cc round of the season when he broke away from the field mid-race.

It was a race of carnage, with Lukas Pesek falling early and Simone Corsi and Hector Faubel tumbling with two laps to go. Gabor Talmacsi took second from KTM’s Tommy Koyama and Sergio Gadea. Points: Talmasci 189, Faubel 179, Koyama 145, Pesek 129, Corsi 119, Gadea 118, Pasini 111.

The Frenchman qualified on the second row but his race lasted only until the second corner, when he hit Dani Pedrosa. Both men were out on the spot. ”I don’t know what happened,” he said later. “We have to check the data because when I tried to change direction, entering the left corner, I lost the rear, touched Pedrosa and crashed. “I feel I did really well over the weekend so, to finish the race at the second corner is not very good. Luckily, there aren’t any big injuries: the footpeg went in to my back when I crashed, and that hurts, but it’s nothing major.” That last part was slightly alarming. This was the first premier series race at Misano since 1993 – it was at that event that Wayne Rainey suffered his career-ending injuries. The American was paralyzed from the waist down when struck in the back by the footpeg of his Yamaha. De Puniet is right to be upset about the crash, and was the man who copped most of the blame post-race. But there are worse things than walking away from an accident.

GLOBE TROTTER

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F3 EURO

DTM MARTIN Tomczyk took a comfortable win in last weekend’s DTM race at the Nurburgring, leading home Canadian Mercedes driver Bruno Spengler and title protagonist Mattias Ekstrom. There are now just four points seperating Ekstrom and Tomczyk.

BTCC DARREN Turner took a pair of BTCC wins at Knockhill on the weekend. It was a Halfords one-two in the final, with George Shedden and Matt Neal taking the honours. Shedden was recovering from a Race 1 clash with Turner.

ALMS AUDI’S ALMS drought continues after another victory for Porsche’s Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard in Detroit at the weekend. David Brabham was the bestplaced Aussie with fifth, while Ryan Briscoe finished ninth.

Wilson Loves Assen CHAMP CAR

JUSTIN Wilson took his first win of the season at the Champ Car World Series’ last European stop, at Assen in Holland, on the weekend. It was a lights-to-flag win for Wilson who jumped into the lead on the run to the first corner and stayed there. The only other driver to lead the race was Bruno Junquiera, who hit the front thanks to an odd fuel strategy.

“It’s a great result for the #9 CDW/RuSPORT team,” said Wilson.. “I’ve got to thank the whole team – they’ve done brilliantly and they deserve this win so much. The pit-stops were good and my engineer Mike Talbott did a great job working out a set-up with no running in the warm-up. “ [And] the crowd seemed to me as good, if not better, than any Formula 1 race I’ve been to.” Jan Heylen was second with

Champ Car Media

AUSSIE Michael Patrizi failed to get a result at the latest round of the Formula 3 Euroseries at the Nurburgring, finishing 16th in Race 1 and 22nd in Race 2. German A1GP star Nico Hulkenberg won the first race while Harald Schlegelmilch won the second.

Junquiera third. Sebastien Bourdais finished seventh, wrapping up the Phanos Champ Car European Team Cup for Newman/Haas/ Lanigan Racing. It was a sad day out for Will Power, the Aussie finishing a lowly 14th and dropping to fourth in the standings after running out of gas in pit lane. Points: Bourdais 301, Wilson 243, Robert Doornbos 238, Power 228, Graham Rahal 209.

One race to go, three points the difference IRL INDYCAR A BIZARE Detroit Indy Grand Prix has led to an intriguing situation in the IRL IndyCar Series with just a round to go. Tony Kanaan took his fifth victory of the season on the streets of Detroit, but it was the action behind him that was most interesting. Title protagonists Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon got caught up in a late race fracas, with the former finishing two spots clear of the latter. The

result; three points the difference in the title fight heading into the final round. The crash came when Dixon made contact with Buddy Rice, an incident that Franchitti also got caught in. Franchitti stalled, but was restarted by the Safety Car team in time to make the finish, and re-take the lead of the series. Danica Patrick and Dan Wheldon joined Kanaan on the podium. Points: Franchitti 587, Dixon 584, kanaan 548, Wheldon 449, Sam Hornish Jr 427.

Fontana Nights NASCAR JIMMIE Johnson came on strong in the second half of the 500mile race at California Speedway on Sunday night for his fifth win of the year, holding off Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr in the extreme heat. “There were a couple of different lines working through the night,” said Johnson of the wide oval. “I stayed to the bottom, worked the top a few times, but didn’t have a lot of success with it. I knew the bottom would be place and we had our stuff together at the end when it mattered. We’re really hitting our stride when we need to entering The Chase.” Pole-sitter Kurt Busch, his brother Kyle and Dale Earnhardt Jr headed the early going and spiced up the rather uneventful race as has become the norm in Fontana in front of a sparse crowd. Michael Waltrip had a scary moment when a left front tyre exploded, rupturing oil lines and engulfing his Toyota in flames early in the race. Edwards did well to finish second after a heavy knock with Juan Pablo Montoya on pit road. Edwards left his pit area as Montoya was entering, poor communication from Edwards crew to blame. JPM finishing 33rd. – MARTIN D CLARK NASCAR Media

Points: Jeff Gordon 3679, Tony Stewart 3362, Denny Hamlin 3335, Edwards 3330, Matt Kenseth 3309, Johnson 3249, J Burton 3219, Kyle Busch 3199, Clint Bowyer 3047, Martin Truex 3042, Kurt Busch 3022, Kevin Harvick 3009.

Jeff’s 300 BUSCH SERIES

Points: Carl Edwards 3828, Kevin Harvick 3174, David Reutimann 3171, Jason Leffler 3042, Ragan 2975, (Ambrose 2677).

NASCAR Media

JEFF Burton won the Camping World 300 Busch Series race at California Speedway last weekend. With a fresh set of tyres at his disposal, Burton surged past leader Kyle Bush with eight laps to run, recording a 2.8s win. “You’re never sure you can get around Kyle Busch,” Burton said. “He’s an incredible racecar driver. We had much better tyres than he did at that point, and that made my job easier. But by no means did I think it was a gimme.” Denny Hamlin was third, while rookie Brad Keselowski wound up in hospital after a

close look at the wall. Marcos Ambrose was unlucky not to score a Top 10 finish, although his 13th position wasn’t a bad effort. He was the second best finishing driver not racing in the Nextel Cup, and second best rookie behind David Ragan. “We’re making good progress and for us it’s been a really good night to learn more about the package that we’ve got,” said Ambrose. “I think we’re just going to keep working at our car – it’s going to get better and better for us.”

MUSCLE CAR MASTERS EASTERN CREEK, NSW

Happy Father’s Day MUSCLE CAR MASTERS LEGENDARY cars and drivers highlighted the third Muscle Car Masters, which attracted a substantial crowd to Eastern Creek last weekend. “We don’t put out crowd figures,” quipped a beaming event manager Phil Harrison (ARDC), “because they’re so often overinflated …” but there seemed little doubt that the event had drawn a domestic race crowd probably only exceeded by V8 Supercars – and there were those who were convinced that the roll-up more than matched that which attended the experimental Queens Birthday Monday V8 race in June. Either way, the crowd was large, and happy. Attention was divided between the ontrack action – featuring Group N and Group

A/C Touring Cars, NZ Muscle Cars and Australia’s Biante Touring Car Masters series – and a paddock full of the cars and drivers that combined to make Australian touring car history. Most sought-after signatures proved to be Allan Moffat, literally on the spot next to the 1977 Bathurst-winning Falcon all day long and, a few metres away, Bob Jane, sandwiched for the duration between two of his most famous cars – the 3.8 Jaguar and the ’69 Camaro, which between them delivered four ATCC crowns. Kevin Bartlett, Harry Firth, Bob Morris, Leo Geoghegan, John French, John Goss, Fred Gibson, John Harvey, Peter McLeod … and many more, were all on hand, as were an array of Bathurst and ATCC-winning cars. Missing, of course, was Peter Brock, although a procession of 60 Brock street

and race cars paid appropriate tribute. On track, Steve Mason took out the Biante Touring Car feature, his Camaro SS prevailing over Gavin Bullas’ Boss Mustang and the Falcon XYGT of Brad Tilley. The Group N features went to Simon Phillips (Torana) from Jack Elsegood’s Falcon in Over 3 Litre, while V8 Supercar racer Jason Bargwanna took out the Under 3 Litre race, in his Dad’s Capri, from Wayne Rogerson’s RX2 Mazda. Richard Gatward’s Mustand walked away with the NZ Muscle Car feature, while the Group A/C finale saw a Nissan Skyline 1-2, Chris Le Rosa’s example just heading home the ex-Skaife car driven by Craig Markland. – CHRIS LAMBDEN Full coverage of the Muscle Car Masters will be in Motorsport News’s monthly print magazine – available September 26.

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Marshall Cass

Heroes, past and present: Jason Bargwanna and Glenn Seton lined up in their respective family cars, above left. Allan Moffat, right, spent Father’s Day 2007 signing autographs, while on the track, there was plenty of racing – some of the old variety, above right, and some not-so-old, below.

John Morris/Mpix

James Smith

EAST COAST NATIONALS ROUND 1 – WSID

Bla

The 2007/08 A Western

John Morris/Mpix

ast off!

Australian Drag Racing season kicked off at Sydney International Raceway with a bang

Great balls of fire: Top Fuellers Allan Dobson, above, and Mark Mariani, left, found it hot. At least Dobson won ... as did Aaron Tremayne, below, in Pro Stock.

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DRAG RACING

John Morris/Mpix

THE AC Delco Nationals at Western Sydney International Dragway over the weekend kicked off the 2007/08 Australian Drag Racing Championship. In Top Fuel, Western Australian Allan Dobson scored an upset victory in the final by defeating reigning Australian Top Fuel Champion Phil Read. After both drivers qualified down the order, in sixth and fifth respectively, Dobson and Read fought their way through the elimination rounds to face off in the final. Dobson was able to get off the line quicker and carried that advantage all the way to the finish line and recorded a 5.744s pass. Read was unable to get off the line quickly, buzzing the tyres, and that cost him any chance of victory. Amanda Shepherd, the first Australian female Top Fuel driver since Rachelle Splatt, made an impressive Top Fuel debut after only gaining her full licence less than a week before. The 19year-old from Bringelly, NSW,

qualified a fantastic fourth, but unfortunately her weekend came to an end in the opening round of eliminations, despite a gallant effort to drive through some tyre shake at quarter track distance. Earlier in the AC Delco Nationals meeting, ‘Pommy’ Steve Read topped the qualifying list ahead of ‘The Giant Killer’ Terry Sainty. Both Read and Sainty were unable to advance further than the semi-finals. Former Australian Top Fuel Champion Darren Morgan debuted his brand-new car and just scraped into the field with the eighth fastest pass but failed to make it past the opening round of eliminations. Joining Dobson as Group 1 winners were the likes of Aaron Hambridge (Top Alcohol), John Zappia (Top Doorslammer), Brett Stevens (Top Bike), Aaron Tremayne (Pro Stock), and Jason Lee (Pro Stock Motorcycle). – DANIEL POWELL Full coverage of the AC Delco Nationals will be in the next issue of Motorsport News magazine – available September 26.

Dirk Klynsmith

Mawer Than Enough SHANNONS NATIONALS

Dirk Klynsmith

Lambowe: JB did some winning in GTs, top, and then had some stern words with Allan Simonsen, above. Meanwhile, Leanne Tander took control of the F3 title fight, right.

Dirk Klynsmith

BARTON Mawer and James Winslow won the battles but Leanne Tander won the war when the seventh round of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship was held at Symmons Plains Raceway last weekend. Winslow took out Race 1 after a ferocious battle with Tander that lasted most of the race, while Mawer won the Country Club Tasmania Formula 3 SuperPrix and the John Bowe trophy with a lightsto-flag victory in the second race. But after the round Tander who leads the race for the Australian Drivers Championship with just one round to go, using pace and consistency – and a bit of luck – to grab a four-point lead over Tim Macrow heading into the season finale. After grabbing the series lead after the first race, a broken gearbox in Race 2 hurt Charlie Hollings’ progress, relegating him to ninth at the finish and third in the championship. Tander, Macrow and Hollings are now the only three realistic

championship contenders with the three drivers split by seven points. John Bowe won his second consecutive Australian GT Championship round, winning two of the three races on home turf to continue his impressive return to the series A controversial third race was marred by an incident which saw Allan Simonsen’s Ferrari run up the back of Bowe’s Lamborghini under brakes mid-race. The pair had a heated exchange in pit lane after the event but the real winner was David Wall who, after a tough season, came through to grab the race win – his first for the year. Bowe, Simonsen and Wall completed the round podium, whilst Paul Tressider won his first ever Porsche Drivers Challenge event in his GT3. Geoff Emery won another round of the Commodore Cup, beating a depleted field in all three races to put a stranglehold on another series title. Local drivers Andrew Toth and Andrew Bird split the wins in the four HQ Holden races. – RICHARD CRAILL More on the CAMS Nationals in the next issue of Motorsport News magazine

Hederics the Hero SAFARI

Brian White Media

JOHN Hederics has now won the last three Australian Safari’s following a dominant victory during last week’s re-born event in Western Australia. Hederics and the PWR Holden Team stormed through the Kununurra-toPerth trek in 16 hours, 10 minutes and 18 seconds, securing his third auto win by over an hour from Reg Owen’s Nissan Patrol. Hederics’ only challenge came from third placed Terry Denham, who was in contention for the lead until a tailshaft broke on the sixth leg between Meekatharra

and Leonora. “The first time is always the best time,” Hederics said. “Having the lead, we didn’t really feel the pressure. But you never know, anything can happen. The pace at the start was the fastest I’ve ever done. We said ‘one of us is going to break’, and the Denhams did. “[So] I’m relieved just to be here” The win is Hederic’s ninth in the Safari, adding to his six wins on two wheels. This year’s bike winner was Safari debetant Ben Grabham, who completed the final six stages of the course with a broken collarbone after a fall. He led home Jacob Smith and Adrian Channing.

‘Chappo’ the Champ VIC STATE JAKE Chapman clinched the coveted Victorian Formula Ford state title at Phillip Island last weekend during the final round of the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships. Chapman went into the round a mere five points ahead of Trent Harrison, but came out victorious after winning Race 2 under Safety Car conditions, and finishing second behind Harrison in the final. Formula Vee round spoils belonged to David Frith who scored two emphatic victories. The Aston Martin of John Kaias was unstoppable in all three Sports Car races. Daniel Hodge won his first HQ race in Race 2 but failed to finish the final. Saloon Cars victory went to Andrew Nowland (Falcon) as he dominated the field with three straight wins while Rod Smith (Falcon EL) capitalised on his close rivals mechanical woes in Sports Sedans. Kane Vereker (Mazda RX7) proved too good in the all-important final Improved Production race, holding out Rick Newman (TE50) for round victory. Tony Hubbard (Chev Camaro) decimated the Historic Touring Car field by winning all three races comfortably. Despite starting from the rear of the grid in Race 1, Mort Fitzgerald cruised to victory in the MG’s and continued to do so in Races 2 and 3. Youngster Justin Tate showed exceptional pace to claim round victory in Porsche 944s. – AARON SHAW Full coverage (Vic State Racer) in the next issue of Motorsport News

David on the double KARTING DAVID Sera was unstoppable on the weekend, winning Rotax Light and Rotax Pro at the Bridgestone Formula Rotax Nationals at Ipswich. In doing so he became the first Light driver to win a second title (he was also champion in 2005). His Pro win has earned him Australia’s slot in the Senior MAX field at the Rotax World Final later this year. In both categories, the Melbourne Arrow driver was simply the class of the field.

Qualifying fastest, he won everything in Light other than the opening heat where he was bumped back to seventh at the start. Local favourite Scott Auld (Arrow) was second, ahead of Matthew Wall, who fended off a late race challenge from Mick Robson. Sera beat Kel Treseder (Arrow) and Jason Hryniuk (CRG) to the Pro class win. Troy Woolston was strong in the heats but didn’t feature in the final. – MARK WICKS

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Playing in the dirt, keeping clean

AM not a huge fan of racing on dirt. The wife’s brother, who has made some fairly strange choices of road cars over the years, is a big fan of blokes going sideways in the desert, but I reckon that is more of a fetish than a sport. I prefer to watch circuit racing but there are times that even I have to admit that there are some good efforts elsewhere. I caught some of the New Zealand WRC round on TV over the weekend and was pretty impressed. The very idea that Gronholm and Loeb, in two completely different cars, could finish up after three days racing, separated by three-tenths of a second, is just crazy. Often, rallies end up with the guy in second place cruising home so he does not fly off the road, but not this time. Ford and Citroen are doing a top job at the moment, and Subaru looks like it is gaining all the time. Chris Atkinson has had a rough couple of seasons but his form at the moment indicates that he has the speed to mix it up the front. I hope that the 2008 Impreza goes as well as it looks. I might even be tempted to get out there and have a look in person when the WRC comes back to Australia. If I am honest, I would admit I do not understand what gain there is by having a WRC round every two years [Ed: Join the club] so all I can say is that I hope that the powers who make these decision are not about the screw up something pretty good, just when it looks like an Aussie is about the get into the winner’s circle.

Throat poke

LEANNE Tander took the lead in the Australia Formula 3 championship at the weekend, while husband Garth leads the V8 Supercars. Is this the first time that a married couple have simultaneously led national motor racing championships?

WHAT would you do if a scantily-clad Maori, standing on one foot, was pointing a stick at your throat. Don’t tell us your jocks wouldn’t be soiled. All this had little effect on Mikko Hirvonen, right, who went on to take third in Rally NZ. Indeed, the office Kiwi tells us this is in fact a Maori welcome. Really?

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Dirk Klynsmith

I DON’t UNDERSTAND WHAT GAIN THERE IS BY HAVING A WRC ROUND EVERY 2 YEARS

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Odd Spot

punter@mnews.com.au