Motorsport eNews Issue 35 - December 18, 2007 - January 7, 2008

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Issue No. 035 18 December 2007 – 7 January 2008

Bezzy’s reincarnation

Besnard ‘FAvourite’ for return to SBR – in Autobarn Falcon

Whincup’s T8 Deal extension

Editorial Editor: Grant Rowley grant@mnews.com.au National Editor: Andrew van Leeuwen andrew@mnews.com.au Staff Journalist: Bill Riddell bill@mnews.com.au Executive Editor: Phil Branagan editor@mnews.com.au

Australasi an

The ‘A’ Team

Issue No. 035 | 18 December 2007 – 7 January 2008

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

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news 4 Bezzy’s return

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6 Hella fella 9 F1 grid sorted 10 McLarengate 14 Proddies merge

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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, Ash Budd, Paris Charles, 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

chat 20 5 minutes with ...

McConville opinion 20 21 Branahan 33 Punter

SBR’s lifeline for DB F1 lighting solved Alonso and Co find rides Ron can finally rest New regs, still poo fights Jamie Whincup Thank God its Xmas Lighting up Exec Ed’s life The inaugural Punters

race 22 A1 Grand Prix

Bollywood Classic 26 Race of Champions Ekstrom wins!

28 World Series Sprinters The US Express

trade 32 Trade and Industry / Raceshop / Classifieds

welcome eNews is going on a two week break, but as a parting gift, here is some bloke called Earnhardt ...

Check out the latest eNews supplements via http://www.mnews.com.au

Bezzy to get SBR gig Autobarn/Bezzy – Van Giz in third SBR car – Wills to Team Kiwi. That’s what they’re saying ...

V8 SUPERCARS WITH virtually all of the key elements falling into place over the past two weeks, the identity of James Courtney’s 2008 team-mate at Stone Brothers Racing remains the final major piece of the V8 Supercar jigsaw.

There are conflicting suggestions as to when an announcement may come from the three-time champion team – from as early as this week to as late as the week prior to the Feb 12/14 TEGA tests.

Regardless, eNews believes that the previous four-driver field to steer the

#9 Falcon has now narrowed down – to one.

Solid sources are telling eNews that SBR has indeed locked in the Autobarn sponsorship deal and that the driver will be David Besnard – whose efforts alongside Courtney at Sandown and Bathurst raised eyebrows. Watch this space, as they say.

Ross Stone wouldn’t comment on the suggestion, but was happy to confirm that the team is very much in the frame for a third V8 licence – which has been made available by Kees Weel’s exit from the championship.

Old faces, new seats V8 SUPERCARS

Coulthard and Marshall locked in for Falcon seats

IRWIN as the primary sponsor on the second car, and will have Marcus Marshall in the seat (hinted in eNews #027).

The drive will mark Marshall’s full-time return to the category and return to a Falcon after he spent the closing rounds of the 2007 season at Jack Daniels Racing.

“This is a great opportunity for me and I’m really looking forward to working with the entire team, especially Jason,” said Marshall.

Dirk Klynsmith

TWO more seats for the 2008 V8 Supercar season are now locked away, with Paul Cruickshank Racing and Britek Motorsport both announcing their final driver line-ups.

As exclusively reported in eNews (#027), Fabian Coulthard will replace the retiring John Bowe at PCR. It will be his second time round in Glenfords Tools colours, the Kiwi having

won the 2005 Carrera Cup in a Glenford’s backed Greg Murphy Racing Porsche.

“I’m really excited about joining the Glenfords team for ‘08 and ‘09,” he said.

“V8 Supercars is such a hard category to break into. The V8 racing I’ve done in the last couple of years gave me good grounding. I’m really stoked that Paul (Cruickshank) has given me this opportunity.

Meanwhile, Britek has confirmed that it will retain

“There’s a fair bit happening at present,” he told us on Monday, “and things are changing every day, but that’s our aim.”

And if successful, Stone plans to run young Kiwi Shane Van Gisbergen. “He’s a talented young man,” said Stone.

At the same time, SBR is negotiating to again run a car for Team Kiwi – albeit with a different driver if SBR’s third licence prospects come to fruition.

The driver of the black car could well be ... Simon Wills, who after a brief stint with Brad Jones Racing is looking for something to do in 2008 ...

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Ingall’s return to Red

35 down, and counting

The Enforcer raves about his return to Holden – and Jr drives one too!

Grant Rowley Editor eNews

V8 SUPERCARS RUSSELL Ingall conducted his first Supercheap PMM Commodore test; Dale Earnhardt lapped impressively in a sister car; and Dale and Marcos (Ambrose) had fun at PMM HQ – it’s been a busy week in one corner of Queensland!

Queensland Raceway was an interesting place last Thursday. Ingall strapped himself into PMM’s brand new VE, turned out in a temporary ‘ghostly white’ testing livery and professed himself more than happy to be back in a Commodore, “which suits my natural driving style better.”

Ingall describes PMM as “the best-kept secret in Australian motorsport.

“I’m sure there’ll be some

sceptics out there, but longterm they’ll see this was a smart move.”

Alongside in pit lane, Paul Morris’ regular race car had a distinguished guest at the wheel – none other than Dale Earnhardt Jr, on holiday and, after ‘choppering in to watch Phillip Island, keen to turn some laps of his own.

Observers reckon Jr took the whole thing very seriously, and put in a lot of laps as he accustomed to right-handdrive, right-hand corners and left-hand gearchange!

There were no times issued officially, but we hear the NASCAR star got to within a second of the pace – considered pretty good first time out – and impressed everyone with his professionalism.

Ingall, top, debuted a brand new PMM car, while Earnhardt Jnr took his drive seriously – and looked goood ...

Wally leaves Tasman Motorsport V8 SUPERCARS FURTHER off-season engineer movement has seen longtime V8 Supercar engineer Wally Storey leave Tasman Motorsport.

Storey, who was part of the

original HRT engineering lineup back in 1993, is thought to have a couple of potential team destinations, including the about-to-switch-to-Holden Brad Jones Racing, or Craig Gore’s WPS Racing, which approached him in the past.

Although not in a position to comment on what may be coming up, Storey did comment that “it is disappointing that my time at Tasman has ended – but that’s the nature of the industry, and we move on …”

IN the past 35 weeks, a lot has happened.

A Victorian team won the AFL (shock), Australia had a change of Prime Minister (don’t stuff it, Kev) and Motorsport News went digital.

Which of those events is most significant? As far as I’m concerned, it was eNews.

Footy and politics aren’t my cup of tea, but motorsport is, and for the past 35 weeks, the team at MNews has been bringing you more news, more often.

MNews has always been about being first to the big stories. And I’m proud to say now, in the magazine’s latest-generation format, we’re able to be first to break even more of the news yarns that you want to read.

PWR for sale; Brad Jones to retire; The Rat to Toll/HSV; SBR/TKR; Ingall/Morris and Sandown losing the 500 were just a handful of stories that you read here first.

So, stick with eNews – if for no other reason, it’s free!

A big thanks should be paid to the many, many folk who have supported our brave move into the digital world – including industrytypes, commercial partners and punters.

The ‘A’ team (as someone famous calls us) is having a couple of weeks off. This issue of eNews remains live throughout, and we’ll be back with a new eNews 9pm Monday January 7.

Merry Christmas to all our eNews readers and best wishes for a safe New Year.

BRIEFLY... n Having been successfully tested during practice at Bahrain, V8 teams are set to switch to the up-graded 72-vane Alcon control front discs in 2008.

Sufficient stocks of the variant are expected to be on hand to enable all teams to utilise them for the first three races of the season, after which a confirming decision will be taken to continue their use. n Ford Performance Racing announced that it has signed a multi-year major sponsorship with Hagemeyer Australia.

Formally a sponsor of Jim Morton’s Ford Rising Stars team, Hagemeyer, which trade under the Lawrence & Hanson and Auslec brands will be on both the FPR BFs.

n Marcus Gronholm will be replaced at the BP Ford World Rally Team by fellow Finn Jari-Matti Latvala.

Latvala, 22, has had a stellar season with Stobart Ford this year, and the announcement of his appointment in the factory line-up is confirmation of paddock speculation since Gronholm announced his retirement in September.

He will partner Mikko Hirvonen, who will step up to lead driver duties.

Nights into Days Hella’s new, Aussie-developed lighting system seeks world approval MOTOR racing under lights just got a whole lot easier with the news of Hella’s new lighting system.

The new ARTIS system was tested during a confidential demonstration held at Calder Park on November 12, and received the thumbs-up from Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber, five-time World 500cc champion Mick Doohan, both which lit around a quarter of the 2.4km track, right, and Australian Formula 3 Championship was set-up in 11 hours, and Hella engineers driver Leanne Tander. estimate that a Grand Prix-standard track The test was overseen by representatives could be set-up in less than five days. of the FIA and CAMS, as well as a camera “There was very little glare,” said Tander, team from Formula One Management (FOM). “there was no problem at all seeing the apexes.

Images were tested from several television Sometimes, when you are driving from light to camera points located throughout the venue light, you can get a strobing affect but there as well as on the test vehicles. was none of that with this system.

The Australian-developed system has “I was actually surprised how good it was. I several advantages over existing set-ups, even would be confident to race under the lights, it those developed for night races in Singapore would be fun too. It looks different and it was (Formula 1) and Qatar (MotoGP). The ARTIS a different atmosphere.” system is glare-free in both dry and wet The amazing part was that the test was conditions, and is able to be set-up and taken conducted in such confidentiality and stayed down quickly. The Calder demonstration, quiet for so long …

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Whincup’s new T8 Deal V8 SUPERCARS CHANGES are afoot at TeamVodafone – but the core of the team is staying as it is.

Dirk Klynsmith

Jamie Whincup has had his contract torn up and replaced with a new one. His former deal was until the end of 2008 but his new – and higherpaying – contract runs until the end of 2009. “[Team principal] Roland [Dane] approached my management and I before the final round of the Championship and I am delighted we were both able to agree to terms so quickly,” said Whincup.

“With TeamVodafone, I have achieved many of the things on my career to do list and now there is really only one thing remaining. After coming close this year I look forward to having another shot at the title

with the team in 2008.”

At the other end of the garage, Craig Lowndes will have a new engineer in Jeromy Moore overseeing his #888

Falcon next season – but Campbell Little is not leaving the team.

Little himself confirmed this week that the team

Testing Times ahead in February V8 SUPERCARS V8 SUPERCAR teams will kick off their 2008 testing at a pair of test days in February, coordinated by V8 Supercars Australia.

While not ‘compulsory’,

the days – which will be on February 12 at Winton for Victorian-based teams and February 14 at Queensland Raceway for Queenslandbased teams – will count as one of a team’s four 2008

test days, regardless of whether they attend or not.

There is, therefore, every incentive for all to attend, and most teams can be expected to attend the two sessions.

would “bring in another young engineer to look after Craig’s car, while I’ll move to a role overseeing both – you have to give young guys the opportunity.”

The move follows on from the successful introduction of Mark Dutton as Whincup’s engineer this year. Dutton worked to such effect during the season that he was entrusted with the team’s lead car at Sandown and Bathurst, and he oversaw Whincup’s assault on the title which fell just four points short from the crown.

news

McLaren-Renault Driver Swap

Fernando goes home to Renault, Kovalainen becomes McLaren’s latest Finn

at Renault.

But hang on; you can drive a McLaren. Smile for the camera ...

FORMULA 1 RENAULT and McLaren have swapped drivers, with Fernando Alonso returning to Renault and Heikki Kovalainen filling the empty seat alongside Lewis Hamilton.

McLaren

Renault has confirmed that the two-time World champion will be partnered by Brazilian rookie Nelson Piquet Jr in 2008, and supported by reigning 2007 Formula 3 Euroseries Champion Frenchman Romain Grosjean, the who will be the team’s test driver.

Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa will remain McLaren’s third driver while Gary Paffett will continue to assist the team with its testing when required.

“It is time for us to begin a new chapter together,” said Alonso.

“I am very excited about working with this great team

once more, and confident that together we can move back to the front of the field. I am confident they can produce a fast and competitive car and be back at the top in 2008.”

Much will depend on the competitiveness of the Renault R28, which will run for the first time in Valencia between January 22-24 and will then

be launched at Renault’s corporate communications headquarters in Paris on Thursday January 28.

“Heikki’s most impressive performance was at the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji where he finished second behind Lewis in extremely

treacherous wet conditions,” said Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug.

“He is not only a quick driver but also one of the most consistent, having finished in every Grand Prix except the last, which puts him in the top five together with our drivers who covered most laps in 2007.”

The McLaren MP4-23 is scheduled to commence its on-track testing programme at an exclusive test at the Jerez circuit in Spain during the second week of January 2008.

There are currently no plans for a public launch.

– JOE SAWARD

A Big Week: Heikki, bad news mate; You are out

Strong, the Force is, with this one FORMULA 1 GIANCARLO Fisichella has signed to drive for the Force India F1 team in 2008.

– JOE SAWARD

sutton-images.com

The 34-year-old Italian was dropped by Renault after a disappointing 2007 season but his F1 career has been saved by the new management at Force India, which seems to have been impressed by Fisichella’s high profile rather than his most recent performances.

Fisichella’s chief rival for the drive was fellow countryman Tonio Liuzzi, who seemed to offer rather more in terms of potential and ambition. The fact that Liuzzi may end up without a drive in F1 is bizarre given that he did as well as the much-vaunted novice Sebastian Vettel in the second half of the season when the two were together at Scuderia Toro Rosso.

For Fisichella, it is a return of sorts, as he drove for the team when it was known as Jordan in 2002 and 2003, winning that year’s Brazilian GP in somewhat fortunate circumstances.

Spygate Closes McLaren apology prompts FIA to call off the hounds FORMULA 1 THE McLaren Spygate Saga appears to be over.

The FIA has called off its further investigations into McLaren following an announcement by the team that “it has become clear that Ferrari information was more widely disseminated within McLaren than was previously communicated” and has apologised to the FIA, Ferrari, the F1 community, the F1 fans.

The team can thus go into the 2008 season without any fears of FIA action.

As part of the agreement McLaren has agreed to suspend development in three areas (a quickshift, fast-fill tanks and the use of CO as a tyre gas). This will mean that the team 2will have a disadvantage, as the other teams are already likely to be working on these items after they were revealed in the FIA transcripts of the McLaren case back in the summer.

McLaren seems to have decided that it is a necessary evil to do certain things to survive.

Ferrari says it will go on with its legal actions in Italy. That could take five years, given the pace of the Italian legal system.

The good news is that once the transcript

of the Renault case has been published by the FIA and that has been suitably analysed the story will disappear and F1 can start to try to repair the damage that has been done. It is unlikely that the bad feeling that exists in respect of all this will ever go away until some of the people involved change. That means that there will always be a danger of a flareup again.

– JOE SAWARD

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FORMULA 1 NICO Hulkenberg has joined Williams as its test driver.

Williams gets

The 20-year-old German tested for the team last week in Jerez and did a decent job, although there have been a few questions about him in the Formula 3 Euroseries where he did not figure as strongly as had been hoped.

His ASM team-mate Romain Grosjrean won the title, and six wins to Hulkenberg’s four.

There is no doubt that the youngster does have talent. He has won 25 victories in 68 starts in his racing career.

sutton-images.com

HULKAMANIA! Tander: Asian Spice Girl FORMULA ASIA V6

LEANNE Tander may be racing in Asia next year, following a successful two-day test in a Formula V6 Asia car in Malaysia last weekend.

Tander, who finished runner-up in the Australian Formula 3 championship, tested the 3.5-litre, 400hp car at Sepang, in wet conditions. By Day 2, she was matching the times of the series front-running drivers.

“It was a bit disappointing that it was wet,” said Tander. “I had to learn the track and the car at the same time and, apart from the power and weight, I had to use a hand clutch and gearchange on the [steering] wheel for the first time.”

Tander will now discuss the test with sponsor Anthony Blumberg from Opes Prime, with a view to racing in the six-round

– JOE SAWARD

Reynolds/TDR link DAVID Reynolds is in the frame to drive for Tony D’Alberto Racing in 2008.

The reigning Carrera Cup Champion looks set to join the Melbourne team, which won the Fujitsu V8 Series this year.

The combination of Reynolds and TDR should be a formidable one, and they would enter the 2008 FV8 Series as favourites.

With Reynolds likely to join the team, it wouldn’t be a surprise

to see him pair up with Tony D’Alberto in the endurance races at Sandown and Bathurst.

D’Alberto is set to make the step up the main V8 Series in 2008, driving for him own team under the Rod Nash Racing licence.

TDR could also enter a second car in the Fujitsu V8 Series for Italian Formula 3 driver Marco Mapelli, but there are a number of details still to be firmed up before the deal is locked away. Mapelli tested with TDR earlier in 2007 at Winton.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Dirk Klynsmith

FUJITSU SERIES

Uncertain Future FUJITSU SERIES

Dirk Klynsmith

DAMIEN White’s V8 Supercar future is up in the air after WPR Racing announced that White will not contest the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Championship Series with them in 2008.

White is now on the hunt for a drive in 2008 and is considering his options in both the Fujitsu V8 Series, as well as other support categories.

WPR Racing will continue to prepare V8 Utes for a number of customers in both the Yokohama V8 Ute Series and the Australian Motor Racing Championships (formally AMRS). The team may still run a Fujitsu V8 program, but only for a driver with suitable budget.

The split between WPR and White was amicable, but has left the Wollongong driver with some Christmas uncertainty.

“The decision has come late, which means it could be difficult to secure a drive, so I’m exploring what opportunities exist,” White told eNews.

White had a solid 2007 season in his ex-Paul Morris Motorsport Commodore VZ, scoring three overall podium places.

“Given that our team was a rookie in V8s and that there were up against some strong Level 1 teams, I’d say we did an awesome job. Three podiums in seven events isn’t a bad result.”

– GRANT ROWLEY

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Licence dramas for Perkins?

Jack looking to FV8 return in 2008, but health problems threaten to hold him back FUJITSU SERIES

Marshall Cass

JACK Perkins is planning to enter the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series in 2008, assuming he can obtain a CAMS licence.

Perkins is in negotiations to run a Perkins-built Commodore VZ with Independent Race Cars in the FV8 Series, but his only hurdle at this stage seems to be with his race licence.

CAMS has flagged a possible issue with Jack’s Type 1 diabetes, that may rule him out of securing a domestic and/or international licence.

Perkins told eNews that he is likely to have no drama obtaining a domestic licence, but the same could not be said for an international licence, which is required for the Sandown and Bathurst endurance races.

“The plan is to race next year,” he said.

“CAMS aren’t quite sure on their stance of a few things. Principally, I’ll be able to race in the development series, but the endurances races may be different, and that has affected me chasing sponsors and locking away deals.

“But CAMS has said it will have an answer for me later this week. I hope there are no dramas.”

In the meantime, Perkins is focussed on making his likely step back into the Fujitsu

Series a successful one.

“I have a couple of options, but the best option is a Perkins car.

“I’ve got a second chance at the game here and I want to make the most of it. I know if we run a car or some else runs one of our cars, I know that it’s going to be a

good thing.”

Perkins also confirmed that he will be an ambassador for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a world-wide charity-based organising that raises awareness for the disease.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Phil Williams

Another snag in the Production line PRODUCTION CARS THE Australian Production Car Championship has announced a new set of technical regulations for 2008, but fractions remain within the group.

The changes were implemented to entice the Production Cars and Performance Cars to combine as one.

However, negotiations between CAMS and potential category manager Craig Nayda broke down last week.

Nayda, who is the category manager for the Performance Cars, is now looking at setting up his own series, to be run over three rounds in an endurance

format. With no room on the V8 Supercar bill and little meaningful dialogue between himself and CAMS, it would seem that Nayda will be forced to run his own events at different circuits. Nayda is in discussions with several circuits and other support categories to join him in selected one-off events.

Nayda told eNews that the Performance Cars would continue to run under the same technical rules as they did in 2007.

As a result of the breakdown, CAMS itself has announced a tentative sevenround calendar for the Production Car category, operating on the Shannons

Nationals support card. The Production Cars will kick off its season at the WPS Bathurst 12 Hour in February, with subsequent rounds at Mallala, Eastern Creek, Phillip Island, Oran Park, Symmons Plains and Sandown.

Trevor Keene has been elected as the President, with Garry Holt Vice President.

The Production Association continues to be a 25 percent stakeholder in the Shannons Nationals CAMS has also announced that the Australian Manufacturer’s Championship will be revived and contested under the new regulations for Production Cars.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Blanchard locks in BFF You can’t pull JB away ...

FORMULA FORD

John Morris/Mpix

TIM Blanchard has confirmed that he will race for Jamun in the upcoming British Formula Ford season.

The reigning Australian Formula Ford Champion will tackle the British series for the reigning British championship team. And it will be a schedule with an exciting twist.

Blanchard and Jamun will contest a single round of the Dutch series – at none other circuit than Spa Francorchamps.

According to Blanchard the one-off is purely and simply about sampling the famous Belgian circuit.

“That’s pretty much all it’s about,” he told eNews.

“It’s the best track in the world, and this is my chance to race it, so why not? I’m going to have the car and the team just a few hours down the road, so I’d be crazy not to do it.”

He will also race the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, which jamun won last year with Callum MacLeod.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

HE may be retired, but John Bowe will be back at Mount Panorama in February for the WPS Bathurst 12-Hour.

Bowe will team up with Chris Delfsma in the Century 21 Falcon XR8 for the second year running, and this year the pair will be joined by Historic Tourers regular Paul Stubber.

“I think the WPS Bathurst 12 Hour is a terrific event and I wholeheartedly support it, which is why I am doing it, really,” said Bowe.

“I believe in the concept of a production race and last year was a really good experience for me – it was fun and it was meaningful to the motoring industry which I

feel is important.

“Chris is a really good bloke, I really enjoyed the experience of driving with him last year and I also know Paul as I have seen him around the traps for years when he raced his Camaro, so I’m really looking forward to getting in there with them both.”

The Bowe/Delfsma entry finished ninth outright and first in class at this year’s 12-Hour.

news

Mawer looks at Carrera Cup Newly-crowned Champ is on the move, leaving a seat open at Clayton. So who’s a chance?

CARRERA CUP

James Smith

BART Mawer is preparing for a season in Carrera Cup competition in 2008.

The former Formula 3 racer has been linked to make his debut in the Carrera Cup Championship, driving David Wall’s Porsche that he raced last year, pictured right.

Wall is moving to Jim Richards Racing, replacing Alex Davison.

Another new driver suggested for the all-Porsche

category is Andrew Moffat.

Moffat, the son of racing legend Allan, is one name that has popped up as a potential for Peter Fitzgerald’s team.

Fitzgerald’s hopes to be able to confirm his new year driver soon.

If Andrew does drive in Carrera Cup, it would mean that he would be competeing against his half-brother, James Moffat, who’ll drive Sonic Motor Racing’s Bob Jane TMarts entry.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Joel Strickland

Sue’s big gong CAMS AWARDS

Taz tests for Sonic

Leading privateer bags first laps with championship-winning team V8 SUPERCARS

TAZ Douglas and Nick Percat both had their first taste of a Sonic Motor Racing Mygale at Winton last Friday.

Douglas, who ran a privately-entered Mygale in this season’s Australian Formula Ford Championship, above, was happy with the test, but is yet to sign a deal with the team for 2008.

“The car is really good,” said Douglas.

“After a couple of sessions it felt amazing, so I was happy with how it went from that point of view. But we still haven’t done a deal for next year.”

The test was Percat’s first run in a recent Mygale, and he too was happy with the car.

“It’s a fair bit different to what I’m used to,” he told eNews.

“But there’s plenty of potential there given how well we were going by the end of the first day.”

SUE Evans was the big winner at the end of season CAMS dinner last Friday night, held at Subaru Interactive at Docklands, Victoria.

Evans, co-driver to her husband and back-to-back Australian Rally Champion Simon Evans, secured the prestigious ‘Personality of the Year’ as voted by the public.

All Australian Championship and series winners were presented with their awards, while other honourable awarded winners were Will Power (Sir Jack Brabham, O.B.E. Award), Ashley Walsh (Most Outstanding CAMS Rising Star), Peter Drew (Australian Motor Sport Official of the Year), Jon Davison (CAMS Service Star), Neal Bates (Phil Irving Award), Vern Schuppan (CAMS Member of Honour) and Bruce Nicol (CAMS Award of Merit).

– GRANT ROWLEY

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AMC, Giant Killers and Gran Turismo Changes afoot for the AMRS – new name, new series, new sponsors and much more AMC

James Smith

THE Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS) is evolving, now to be known as the Australian Motor Racing Championships (AMC).

After three years of steady growth the Australian Auto Sport Alliance (AASA) sanctioned events will feature longer races, the elimination of a handicap system, online entry for competitors, a whole new catergory and the addition of a new sub-catergory.

The changes form the first phase of a five year plan by series organisers.

The Pirelli Gran Turismo Championship will join the roster, a new series for GT cars.

“Most of them initially will be high performance, late model Maseratis, with a few Lotus and Porsche models ready to register,” said Michael Ronke.

The existing AASA Australian Touring Car Championship grid will be bolstered by the inclusion of a “Giant Killer” for up to 3-litre turbo-charged cars.

The championship will be held over nine rounds at Calder Park, Winton

Motor Raceway, Adelaide International Raceway, Wakefield Park and Queensland Raceway and will be sponsored by Bob Jane T-Marts.

“This series answers the call by drivers and fans for affordable motor racing,”

Ronke said.

“And they'll find it friendly and enjoyable as well.”

The series, which will kick off March 2 at Wakefield Park, hopes to announce details of television package soon, expected to be a highlights package from each round.

The Celebrity 500, by Fiat AUSTRALIAN GP THE Australian Grand Prix Corporation has unveiled a new car for its Celebrity Challenge next year, the allnew Fiat 500.

The 500, which will be launched in Australian in March, has already won the 2008 European Car of the Year award.

Under the theme of ‘Sporting Legends’, a full grid of sporting stars will compete in the race, with former AFL stars Nathan Buckley and Luke Darcy, and retired Wallaby Ben Tune already

confirmed starters.

“After so many years battling it out on the footy field, I cant wait to get behind the wheel at Albert Park to take part in a completely different kind of battle,” said Darcy.

Indeed, it seems the sporting rivalry has already begun.

“I’ll be out to make sure Buckley doesn’t win at all costs – even if I have to take him out myself,” declared Darcy.

Other sporting stars are expected to be named shortly.

Now, who do we know with links to sport and Fiat?

– BILL RIDDELL

5 Minutes with ...

JAMIE WHINCUP

With a new, two-year deal in his pocket, Whincup is going skiing MOTORSPORT NEWS: Tell us about your new deal with TeamVodafone.

JAMIE WHINCUP: I originally did a three-year deal with the team, but after last year’s efforts, the team approached me to do a new, two-year deal, starting from January 1.

Really, all we have done is renegotiated the last year of the old deal and extended the period for another year.

win a championship, but if I am going to lose it, one point is better than a lot.

The fact that I was so close makes me proud of the team, proud of everyone. We were championship contenders going into the last round but, as I said at the time, we got beaten by a better team on the day.

We strive now to make sure that does not happen again.

So, what is different?

It’s another 12 minths and the terms and conditions are better suited to my on-track performances.

The team was in the same position in the championship in 2006.

Did you learn from that experience, even though it was Craig and not you in contention then?

Definitely. He explained the whole situation to me as well and made me aware of situations that I needed to know about. I took that on board and really, I went out there to do the best job that I could.

I was proud of the efforts that we put in at the end of the season.

Do you analyse things greatly? Can you identify things that you do better now than you did in past years?

I analyse everything. All the positives, all the negatives, and I analyse the competition. We are aware of exactly what happened this year and you need to

More money, Jamie?

I never said that!

Perhaps they will pay your phone bill!

They have increased my phone allowance now. There are more people to ring now, so we had to renegotiate.

It has been a very solid year for you, the best of your career.

It has. Last year was, by far, the best year that I have had in my career but at the same time, I hope that it is not the best that I ever have in my career.

I have a great tool to work with and I am surrounded by good people, so we can’t be anything but happy with the result.

But not quite as happy as you might have been. Four points; is it easier to lose a title by such a small margin, or is it better to lose by a thousand?

No, of course, I would rather

be aware of everything that went on, so that you can improve.

What do you think your strengths are now?

My strengths now are … staying on the track! [Laughs] That was a big improvement from last year.

There are all the one percenters. That is what you need to improve, because the competition is so close, you need to focus on that.

We are all competing on an extremely high level and we are all looking at the one percenters, all the time. There are no big chunks now, I have just improved in a lot of different areas.

I still have strengths and weaknesses and all you can do is to try to improve your strengths and minimise your weaknesses.

Do you feel like, as an experienced driver now, you can pace yourself through the course of a race weekend better than when you were a rookie?

[Long pause] Good question.

[Long pause] It’s patience, but I would not say that I am patient. No-one is very patient out there, it is just a matter of realising that you are going too fast to be patient! I have learned to control my aggression, my

PHIL BRANAGAN youthful exuberance, as you might put it. It is not backing off, I am just a bit smarter. I am taking less risks – no, not taking less risks, I am taking the same amount. I am just better educated about them this time.

Is that the purest benefit of experience?

Exactly. I am making better decisions, on the same amount of risks.

What do you want to do away from the racetrack now? You are older, you are into the heart of your career now.

I would like to generate a bit more of a connection with the fans. That is important, now that I am proving to be a contender. I am getting more attention from the fans now and I would like to have more involvement with them now.

I want them to be closer to the teams and the drivers.

And, what does a V8 Supercar driver do in the off-season?

I am going away, I need to go away and do what I have done for the last 24 years, going water-skiing with Mum and Dad, on the Murray River. Now that I am a big V8 Supercar driver, that does not mean I am going to change that!

I WOULD LIKE TO GENERATE A BIT MORE OF A CONNECTION WITH THE FANS WHINCUP IS GOING TO BE A BUSY MAN IN THE PADDOCK IN 2008

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Holden Motorsdport

Learning the language

Peter Bury

THERE has been a lot of changes on the workshop side of V8 Supercar racing recently.

Cam McConville You have to say that’s the v8 supercar driver nature of the beast. The sport’s getting harder and harder and we are getting the odd extra race, so the guys are burning out. Its hard to find people who have been in the industry for more than five years now – they sort of come in, do their thing and then seek a quieter job somewhere else.

But I suppose people’s circumstances change too. They start with a race team as single guy or girl, then they meet someone or have a family and it makes it harder for them.

So that’s another variable, but the common thing along pit-lane is how hard the guys are working. So if we do increase the races in the future, well then the teams will have to increase the staff.

And you also got team’s doing customer stuff now like Stone Brothers and Walkinshaw, so that’s a big workload. So we will see plenty of turnover in staff as things become tougher at the top.

I think unitl there is an increase in the income streams at teams, or a cap in the budget, then getting more staff into teams just isn’t going to happen. The guys are just going to get worked harder, because its difficult to see how putting more staff on can be sustainable.

So until there’s a way to cap the budget, then teams have to expect that their guys will rise up to the task and then when they’re burnt out they’ll need someone else to fill the roll.

Gelling with a new engineer is an issue, and it takes a while. I suppose it depends on the individual driver and engineer, but it can take two or three rounds or even half a season.

So it will influence the results for probably the first three rounds.

You only have to look at Steven Richards at FPR, he’s had to learn a new language. It will be the same for myself and Paul Dumbrell, but good teams make sure that relationship is taken seriously and will provide the right support to make sure the relationship connects sooner rather than later, because it does have an impact on the final result.

opinion

Letters

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

Counting Costs I’ve got to say I’m a little bemused as to why Paul Dumbrell will be driving what is essentially the reigning championship winning entry next season.

I don’t mean to be unfair to Paul – he seems to be an adequate driver and probably made better use of the SCAR equipment than Cam McConville did this season just

gone – but if he was a worldbeater we would have seen that by now.

There’s little chance that Paul was selected based on raw talent, and I know enough about the commercial realities of motor racing to deduce what the contributing factor to the deal was.

It just seems a bit of a shame that the title-winning team has to go down that path.

Tom Diffam Box Hill, Vic Schu-horned I never actually thought I’d say this, but congratulations Ralf Schumacher.

No, not on a stellar Grand Prix career (although the bloke did win a couple races, people seem to forget), but on making the right decision when it came to calling it quits.

I don’t know if he was ever in with a real shot at a Force India drive, but even if he was, he would have been crazy to do it. He seems to have lost the raw speed over the last couple of seasons, so why would you emphasis that problem by driving an under performing car, and probably get his rear end handed to him by that Adrian Sutil kid (who seems pretty quick)?

opinion

It’s been one Hella of a year ACCORDING to recent stats, Aussies will spend almost seven percent more Christmas shopping in 2007 than they did last year.

This is despite the fact that the drought goes on, there has been a recent change of government and Ralf Schumacher is unemployed. I was thinking about the latter in terms of the most expected headlines of the season: Stoner wins Championship Michael Schumacher fastest in testing comeback Lewis flees British Press to Switzerland Ingall returns to Holden Hendrick Drivers in Nextel Cup battle

Quite a Heik. Or is he ...

It seems to me that Heikki Kovalainen has got pretty lucky with this McLaren deal.

When Kimi got the nod to suit up in silver, it happened after a bumper first season with Sauber.

But Heikki has had an okay first season with the reinging championship team, and that’s about it.

Dylan Bruce Canberra, ACT

Phil Branagan Executive Editor Loeb takes fourth title Tander turns Red Jodie Foster comes out Okay, that last one has little to do with motor racing. But gee, what a shock. Not. The fact is, sometimes the news can be telegraphed a mile away but it still makes news. And change is good, it is the only way that things can get better. Flogging away at the same thing, unsuccessfully, for years and years never gets you anywhere.

[I wonder if Giancarlo Fisichella, or anyone at Force India, reads eNews?]

But the beauty of motor racing is that, from time to time, something happens that you never saw coming. Hella’s lighting system is such a development; from what we can see, it works and it is inexpensive.

We have split opinions at Motorsport News about the virtues of night races but, if the ARTIS system turns out to be what it looks like, we will be seeing races under lights in the not-too-distant future.

Such is my mind, that even while enjoying Christmas, I wonder if Ron Walker will be getting a whole lot of pressies with ‘Hella’ writ large on the boxes?

eLETTER OF THE WEEK Evans above, Sue did it!

There have been many occasions when women have written to motor racing magazines to complain about something sexist, but can I write to say congratulations to Sue Evans on winning the CAMS Motorsport Personality of the Year award?

Not only does Sue

compete, and beat, the best co-drivers in the Australian Rally Championship, but she does it without making a huge fuss about her gender, and does it as a mum. After seeing so many competitors over the years make a big thing of being a woman competing against men, and then achieve absolutely nothing on the track, this is a

Joel Strickland

Nope, Ralfy made the right call. He grabbed his cash and ran. Perhaps he should have had a word to Fisi on his way through …

Terry Lawrence Devonport, Tas

opinion

refreshing change.

Sue really is a role model, which is all too rare in this day and age of young starlets behaving badly and getting all this publicity. All I can say is, well done Sue, and Simon, you are a lucky man!

Louise Cummins Email address withheld

Horspwr Clothing is giving away a t-shirt each week for the most creative letter. Send yours to mail@mnews.com.au, or Motorsport News PO Box 7072, Brighton, Vic 3186

A1GP ROUND 4 – ZHUHAI

The World’s Fastest Indian

Some slick work in the pits is all it took for Narain Karthikeyan and A1 Team India to bag their first win

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A1GP

I

A1GP

NDIA is the latest team to join the A1GP winner’s list, with Narain Karthikeyan taking out the Feature Race at last weekend’s fourth round in Zhuhai, China.

Pit-stops played a big part in the feature race, with the second round of stops taking both the early leaders, Britain and Switzerland, out of contention thanks to technical issues.

The demise of the leaders promoted Karthikeyan to the front of the field, a position he retained until the finish despite immense pressure from Jonny Reid.

“The team has been working really hard at pit stop practices and they’ve done a really good job this weekend,” said an elated Karthikeyan.

“Both the pit-stops were excellent and we got ahead but unfortunately I got stuck behind Pakistan on my out lap so I couldn’t push. But I came out just ahead of Jonny.

“There was a lot of pressure towards the end but then his tyres went off as well as mine and then we were equal – after that I just got the job done.”

While he may have finished only second, Reid was the big mover in the pack, coming from 10th on the grid. He made up a handful of places on the track in the early laps, before taking a further advantage at the stops.

“It was a fantastic team effort,” he said.

“Obviously I’m very pleased to come from 10th on the grid and having struggled in qualifying to threaten for the win in the end.

“My in laps were good, my out laps were good, and there were few mistakes from my side of the fence so overall I’m very pleased with the whole team this weekend.

Fantastic effort.”

It was a similar story for third-placed South African Adrian Zaugg, who came from ninth on the grid and withstood pressure from Michael Ammermuller in the closing laps to take the final podium place.

While Ammermuller couldn’t get the place in the Feature, he did take Germany’s first win for the season in the Sprint Race.

Neel Jani did his best to steal the win from Ammermuller, and even set the fastest lap of the race, but had to settle for second place.

It was another mediocre weekend for Ian Dyk and A1 Team Australia. Dyk’s best finish was 13th in the Sprint Race, despite a first-lap incident, while he came home 15th in the Feature. Chris Alajajian failed to finish the first race for Lebanon after slipping off on the first lap, before finishing 13th in the Feature.

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A1GP

Back on top: Germany got its first win of the season on the board in the sprint, above, while it was another tough weekend in the office for Australia’s Ian Dyk, left.

Switzerland retained its lead in the series thanks to a consistent showing by Neel Jani, below left, while Jonny Reid came from nowhere to finish second in the Feature, below.

A1GP A1GP

A1GP | DRIVER'S points A1GP

Points: Switzerland 79, France 60, New Zealand 59, Great Britain 48, South Africa 47, Netherlands 41, Ireland 39, Germany 37, China 28, India 27, (Australia 2) .

RACE OF CHAMPIONS WEMBLEY STADIUM

Ekstrom ROC’s Wembley M

attias Ekstrom has again been crowned Champion of Champions at Wembley Stadiums Race of Champions while, the Nations Cup went to Team Germany.

Michael Schumacher and Sebastien Vettel overcame last year’s winners, Finland, in the final. Schumacher stalled in the first race to hand victory to Heikki Kovalainenand to the delight of spectators Kovalainen caught, then passed Schumacher after he stalled on the grid.

Vettel turned the tide, beating Marcus Gronholm then winning a tie-breaker with Kovalainen.

Finland defeated the Team Norway duo of Petter and

Henning Solberg in the Semi final after topping Scandanavia, Tom Kristensen and Ekstrom in the quarter-final.

Germany overcame Jimmie Johnson and Travis Pastrana of Team USA, Pastrana beating Vettel and forcing a tiebreaker only to be defeated by Schumacher. They then beat home town heroes Jenson Button and Andy Priaulx to make it to the final.

“In the first heat of the final I just stalled the car and that was it!” said Schumacher.

“Then I was waiting for Heikki to come back round so at least we could have some fun. I knew I could rely on Sebastian!

Actually it turned out really good; the two young ones could fight whilst the two

retired drivers could relax!”

In the main event eight time X-Games Champion Pastrana caused an early upset, bundling out twice World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm.

Two-time DTM Champion Erkstrom had a fairly straight forward run to the semi-finals, overcoming Priaulx while Schumacher defeated Button and Sebastien Bourdais.

For Colin: much of the event was dedicated to the memory of Colin McRae, his brother Alister competed and showcased Colin’s title winning Subaru, above.

Below, Erkstrom leads Schumacher in the Evolution F touring cars. Both wore armbands to show their respect.

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y – Champ of Champions The pair claimed a win each, forcing a third race.

Ekstrom built a gap quickly, Schumacher pushed to get closer but spun with the finish in sight.

“Whether it’s seven-time Formula 1 Champion or fourtime Touring Car Champion, all of the drivers are very good,” said Erkstrom.

“If you get your rhythm going, any one of them could win.”

There was a fair share of carnage, Sebastien Bourdais crashed after the throttle stuck open in his buggy while Heikki Kovalainen clouted a barrier in his Aston Martin.

When champions do battle: Vettel and Schumacher, top right , did it for Germany while Frenchman Bourdais, above, crashed. Erkstrom, right, flew the flag proudly while Kovalainen passes Schumacher.

American Pie in Tasmania whi WANLESS WORLD SERIES SPRINTCARS

ROUND 8

equipment on the mainland, but he always impresses against Australia’s best.

Dumesny came home fourth to remain in touch with Tatnell heading into Speedweek, while the improved Jason Dawkins rounded out the top five.

Local Jamie Bricknell was an impressive sixth, while last start winner, Robbie Farr was a little further back in seventh.

The Latrobe event now completes the Tasmanian swing for this season and teams enter a Christmas recess before powering into Speedweek at Speedway City on Boxing Day. The Championship continues to create interest right around the country, with Tatnell the only driver to have recorded more than one victory.

– MATT PAYNE POINTS AFTER 8 OF 14: Brooke Tatnell 1146, Max Dumesny 1116, Robert Farr 1104, Trevor Green 1074, David Murcott 1050.

Ash Budd

American Jason Johnson became the seventh victor from the eight rounds conducted of Wanless World Series Sprintcars at Latrobe Speedway in Tasmania.

Johnson took a hard earned first victory of the season, where yet again track position was vitally important.

After securing a front row start alongside Max Dumesny, the Supaloc Eagle driver powered away at the start.

Choosing a harder tyre, Brooke Tatnell struggled to get heat in his Krikke Motorsports right rear, particularly after a number of race stoppages.

Again, Tatnell’s consistency shined through – setting quick time, top points and finishimg second in the feature to continue building on his WWSS points lead.

Finishing third was the spectacular Tasmanian Adrian Redpath. Amazingly, Redpath still hasn’t been given an opportunity in top-ranked

Paris Charles

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ile Dumsney still trails Tatnell

Darren Sutton

Take it away JJ: American Jason Johnson, above, claimed round eight with a dominating drive. Dumesny, top left, held onto second place in the series, Tatnell easing away.

Speedcar Controversey SPEEDWAY

Bridge specialist and the defending series Champion, with Dillon claiming the round win. Sydney-sider Mark Cooper

finished third, while Brown’s series lead continued to increase.

– MATT PAYNE

John Morris/Mpix John Morris/Mpix

THE Australian Speedcar fraternity were plunged further into controversy following a ruling by the National Association of Speedway Racing (NASR) on the eve of the Speedcar Super Series event at Murray Bridge Speedway.

Following on from a number of off-track incidents at previous rounds, Speedcars Australia handed suspensions and fines to two drivers – Dene McAllan and Brett Morris.

A board member of Speedcars Australia took the

McAllan ruling to NASR for review and sensationally, the National Body overturned the ruling, which allowed him to re-enter competition.

A reported mutiny at Murray Bridge from many top competitors failed to materialise and the round went ahead as planned, with McAllan setting the quickest time in qualifying.

The feature race was being led by local driver Luke Dillon with Mark Brown and McAllan pressuring him, before the West Aussie spun in the late stages. It set up a thrilling run to the flag between the Murray

rear of grid

Flying time and lots of D’oh! are The Punter Awards, a handful of extraordinarily prestigious gongs for those who stood out in 2007: The Homer Simpson ‘D’oh, why did I do that!’: It’s a tie – Garth Tander (Tasmania) and Rick Kelly (Bahrain).

The Federer (for gracious losing as well as winning): Jamie Whincup.

The Bondy (for turning financial stress into performance-plus): Dick Johnson Racing.

The Gilles Villeneuve Award (for superb come back drives): Previous winners include Messrs Skaife (from the glory HRT days) and Lowndes and Tander (Clipsal), but this year’s winner must be …Tony Cochrane.

The Polly (for political-speak):

punter@mnews.com.au

Dirk Klynsmith

IT doesn’t seem that long ago that the Punter’s eyes were well and truly fixed on the Clipsal 500 – yet here we are with just over eight weeks to go to the 2008 V8 Supercar season opener.

And with the number of drivers moving from team to team, there’s going to be a lot to get used to in a hurry in February – not to mention the potential for a bit of on-track aggro as drivers come across vehicles from their old team, which they may or may not have left voluntarily …

With the most spiteful drama of the past season occurring off-track – you know what I mean – the on-track stuff has been as good as any year I can remember, and so, for the very first time, here

Kees Weel –“We’ll be here next year”, 10 days before team closure announcement.

And finally; The Inventors Award: to the

guys at MN for coming up with such a great idea – and giving me a gig within it!

Cheers. Happy Christmas, and roll on 2008.

Odd Spot

And the award for most spectacular prize giving goes to …

THE NSW SuperSports Race Car Club held its Trophy Day in the North Western Suburbs of Sydney recently and it turned into the most dramatic of shows.

The presentations had just finished when a violent storm whipped through the area causing millions of dollars of damage.

Unluckiest was club Vice President and host George Davis, whose classic BMW was neatly flattened by a fallen tree. Davis has owned the classic 635i for 28 years, and was in the middle of a full restoration …

The showbiz continued with the arrival of the neighbours to help – the Goodrem

family, including the daughter of the household, who’s been known to belt out the odd tune. On this occasion, nothing could console George …

He did at least nab the runner-up cup for the Club Championship, behind Alex Kenny.