Motorsport eNews Issue 39 - January 29-February 4, 2008

The world of motorsport every week – directly to your desktop

Issue No. 039 29 January – 4 February 2008

Rising Stars Strike GOLD

!Lap IN W t o 8H

a V e GP. at th side See in er cov

Morton secures patrizi for main series debut

Look who’s coming to bathurst!

Said & Neal Set for v8 endurance drives

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

Australasian

The ‘A’ Team

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Contributing Writers F1: Mark Glendenning, 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, Geoff Gracie, 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

Issue No. 039 | 29 Jan – 04 Feb 2008

news 5 A Western Force?

6 True Colours 9 Horny, Baby 13 Canto’s Comeback 11 GC, not CC 15 ‘Strayer!

17 Reynolds in NZ!

chat 20 5 minutes with ... opinion 22 Mezera 23 Branagan

Patrizi up for Main Game Teams break covers for ‘08 BMW bring back the horns Howard take on Dean CCWS/Indy 300 link to end?

Martin ready for home race David crosses the ditch Michael Patrizi Tomas says so long ...

A letter to The Premier

race 24 WRC

Seb 1, Atko 3!

28 Grand Annual Classic Madsen Madness 32 Dayton 24 Hour Ganassi win again

trade 34 Trade and Industry / Raceshop / Classifieds

welcome John Martin may be a big shot in British F3, but this weekend he’s got to win for the Aussies at the Sydney round of A1GP!

Right Said Neal Said and Neal to drive with PMM’s SCAR in 2008 V8 SUPERCARS

Peter Bury

MATT Neal and Boris Said will compete in the V8 Supercar endurance races with Paul Morris Motorsport this year.

Neal, a former British Touring Car champion, and Said, an expert NASCAR road racer, will suit up in the second Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore VE at the Phillip Island 500 and the Bathurst 1000.

SCAR team owner Paul Morris told eNews that the deals have been agreed to and he is looking forward to them racing with his team.

“They’ll go good,” he said.

“They are both very tall so no one is going to mess with them!

“Boris has raced at the Nurburgring, he’s raced a lot of things and it’s something he

wants to do. He always said he wanted to come to Australia and race a V8 Supercar and when I bumped into him at Daytona last week he said he wanted to do it.”

While Said will be a V8 rookie, Neal isn’t. The BTCC stalwart made his V8 debut at Oran Park in 2000 (and crashed the car in practice). He also raced with Morris in the endurance races.

Morris is confident that he’ll do a good job.

“Matt is a good mate and I wouldn’t put him in the car if I didn’t think he could do it. I want him to do well.”

The pair are said to be able to attend at least three of the four official test days each, and may even get to drive the cars in the rookie/endurance driver practice sessions at four of the early season events.

– GRANT ROWLEY

The Dude and The Hair: Boris Said, left, will drive with British Touring Car star Matt Neal in the Supercheap Auto Racing Commodores at Phillip Island and Bathurst this year.

V8 SUPERCARS

TWO weeks after it appeared likely that only 29 cars would compete in the V8 Supercar Championship Series, 32 cars will take their places in the majority of races.

Confirmation of Michael Patrizi and Andrew Thompson’s rides [see separate stories] vaulted the number to 31.

John Morris?mpix

A full field

Brian Walden is certain that his Sydney-based team will make it to the grid, though he is yet to lock in a car an a driver.

Tony D’Alberto has confirmed a deal to run under the licence held by Rod Nash Racing, though there is a court challenge to the owership of the licence that was used by Marty Brant’s Autobarn entry for Steve Owen last season.

Factory Primed V8 SUPERCARS

Ash Budd

OPES Prime will be the major sponsor of Rick Kelly’s HSV Dealer Team Commodore VE this year.

The car will be black and silver, with major signage from both Opes Prime and HSV. Opes Prime owner Anthony Blumberg is only a relative newcomer to the motor

racing scene, but has sure made his presence felt. The stockbroker is a sponsor and co-owner of Champ Car team Conquest Racing, he also sponsors Marcus Zukanovic’s Fujitsu V8 Series Commodore, and is a major sponsor of the Australian Formula 3, plus F3 teams BRM and Piccola Scuderia.

– GRANT ROWLEY

news

Chance and Challenge sutton-images.com

West Australian Michael Patrizi and Ford Rising Stars to make main series debuts in 2008 V8 SUPERCARS FORD Rising Stars Racing will compete in the V8 Supercar Championship Series this year, starting at Eastern Creek’s second round, in March.

The Fujitsu V8 Series graduate team will enter a factory-prepared Ford Performance Racing Falcon BF for West Australian Michael Patrizi.

Patrizi, who has spent the past three seasons racing Formula BMW and Formula 3 in Asia and Europe, has never driven a V8 Supercar before.

With the late confirmation of the deal, FPR may not have enough time to properly prepare the car for the Clipsal 500, and so the #777 entry may well not be seen until Eastern Creek, or possibly the Australian Grand Prix support race at Albert Park at the very latest.

Team owner Jim Morton said that his step into the main series fulfils a long-time ambition: “It’s been late getting over the line but I’m glad it’s finally there,” he told eNews.

“It’s a big step. We don’t underestimate the challenge of getting out there and

being competitive. It’s been our ambition for a long time so it’s good to get it across the line.

“There just wasn’t enough time logistically to get it all ready (for Clipsal).

FPR have got to find extra people and order all the extra parts for the car so it was just too much of a rush.”

After four seasons in the Fujitsu V8 Series, Morton steps into new territory this year. With FPR preparing the car that Patrizi will drive, it leaves Morton to manage the team and take care of the commercial responsibilities.

“This is the model that is similar to NASCAR, where a lot of the organisations

run a lot of cars for a whole bunch of teams for different people. FPR will prepare the car, but in terms of managing the team and our commercial partners, those decisions stay to with us. It makes a lot of sense.”

One of the decisions that is Morton’s responsibility is the driver. What Patrizi lacks in V8 miles should be made up with international experience. The 23-year-old isn’t daunted by the huge learning curve.

“My main goal and objectives was always to be in Formula 1, but if not, I’d return home to V8 Supercars,” he said.

“Now that such a great opportunity has arrived, I’m going to take it with both hands.

“I was never going to come home for a second-rate effort. This is a great opportunity to make myself a career in the sport.”

The FRSR team has secured support from Ausdrill, a diversified mining and services company with operations in Australia, United Kingdom and Africa.

– GRANT ROWLEY For more with Patrizi, see Five Minutes page 18.

BRIEFLY... n Tomas Mezera has, as we first told you a couple of months back, been confirmed as the new Driving Standards Observer for V8 Supercars, replacing Colin Bond.

Mezera, who has held a similar role with the Carrera Cup series for the past two seasons, has already had some impact on his area of jurisdiction, pushing for a number of recentlyconfirmed changes to the V8 rules as he considered the job offer.

It seems that revised jump-start penalties and a tidy-up of Safety Car intervention and blue flag criteria have followed suggestion by V8’s new Chief of Police … (For more from Tomas, see page 22). n James Courtney is now

a proud dad. His wife Carys gave birth to a daughter, Zara Eve, on Thursday afternoon.

“I was present at the birth and I’m a very excited father,” said first time dad James.

“It was a quick delivery with no complications. I’m proud of ‘mum and bub’.” n V8 Supercars has a new ‘voice’. Former Ford Peformance Racing PR man Paul Marinelli will now be the main commentator in the V8 Series, as well as the front man for a greatly enhanced radio coverage for the series. n Volkswagen has named its Formula 3 Euroseries drivers. RC Motorsport will field Germans Max Götz and Jens Klingmann, China’s Cong Fu ‘Frankie’ Cheng and Martin Plowman (Great Britain). The French Signature enters Stefano Coletti (Monaco), France’s Jean Karl Vernay and Franck Mailleux and Italy’s Eduardo Mortara.

TEAM BOC PICS

First look, check back here 12:05 Tue

Thommo’s Ride PWR Racing gets star, and Starr, for 2008 assault V8 SUPERCARS ANDREW Thompson will move into the V8 Supercar Championship Series this season after PWR Racing committed to run a single-car team this season.

As first reported postBathurst last October, the youngster has signed a deal with the Dandenong, Melbourne-based team, which trims its effort from two cars.

The 20-year-old will race the

#50 Walkinshaw Performanceassisted VE, with backing from Hog’s Breath Café and InvestQld.com.

But the other big news involving the team is that Thompson and team owner Kees Weel will have Rob Starr on board this season. The very experienced Starr moves into the role from the Holden Racing Team, where he was a fixture for 17 years. With the arrival of Rob Crawford

WPS/WOW RACING will start the season with its existing Ford Falcons.

As reported last issue, there has been a delay with the acquisition of FPR Falcons, however, the team is still in negotiations to get the cars.

The Queensland-based team has unveiled the livery of Max Wilson’s WOW Falcon,

from HSV Dealer Team, there was room for only one team manager and Starr’s input will be valuable at PWR. “I have been chipping away at a V8 ‘main game’ deal for the past six to seven months and it’s taken some work,” Thompson said.

“I’ve had to be patient and wait until it was all signed and sealed, and now it’s full steam ahead.”

pictured, while the livery of Jason Bargwanna’s WPS Falcon will remain largely the same as its previous designs.

The team has welcomed in LG Electronics and The Coffee Club as subsidiary sponsors for the 2008 season.

– GRANT ROWLEY

news

HRT goes for Seton, Baird V8 SUPERCARS THE Holden Racing Team will unveil its 2008 colours in Melbourne on Wednesday – and is expected to name Glenn Seton and Craig Baird as its endurance drivers.

– PHIL BRANAGAN

Phil Williams

The two veterans of racing will suit up in red for Phillip Island and Bathurst, Seton for the second time after making his Holden debut last year. This will be Baird’s first start with HRT, though he did race with the other ‘Clayton’ team, HSVDT, in 2007.

The Kiwi, a regular in the Carrera Cup Series, was one of the standouts in the endurance races last year, with a fourth at Sandown. He also won the Bathurst 12 Hour in a BMW. HRT’s new look reflects the team’s major transformation during the off-season, with the arrival of Champion driver Garth Tander, his team manager Rob Crawford, engineer Matt Nilsson and sponsor Toll Holdings.

HRT LAUNCH PICS

First look, check back here 13:05 Wed

BRIEFLY... n The Malaysian Grand

Prix, which will mark its 10th anniversary this year, is likely to be the first of the established Formula 1 races to be run under floodlights.

The promoters at the Sepang International Circuit are collaborating with the organisers of the Singapore Grand Prix, which will become the first night race in F1 history this September, with a view to following suit in 2009.

SIC will monitor the inaugural Singapore event and will use the same floodlighting contractor, said its chairman, Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir.

With McLaren, Ferrari, BMW, Toyota and Red Bull having all launched their cars in the run up to the previous week’s Jerez test, both Williams and Renault ran their new challengers at Valencia. So too did Honda, which brought its new car out for the final two days of the test.

Most impressive of all straight out of the box was Williams. After an initial shakedown run on the Monday, the car took its first full day in its stride at the hands of Nico Rosberg who set the third fastest time of the day.

Kazuki Nakajima followed suit on the final day, taking the car fourth. But while the team was the talk of the paddock, team co-owner Patrick Head talked down early expectations, admitting that while the car, main pic, was clearly faster than the FW29, there was still a long way to go to catch the Ferraris.

Renault’s new challenger, above, made a

fairly quiet debut at the hands of Fernando Alonso. The team will host its official launch later this week in Paris, but both race drivers Fernando Alonso and Nelsinho Piquet declared themselves content with the new car and pointed towards its high level of promise.

After a tough 2007, Renault will be keen

to pick themselves back up and fight for podiums again. An unexpectedly strong Williams, a tough talking BMW and reinvigored Toyota could stand in their way, but we will only begin to see their true hand once the R28 is launched for real.

Meanwhile, over at Honda, the team’s new

car, the RA108, ran 198 laps. Nowhere near as pretty as any of its contemporaries, the new car initially proved to be nowhere near as fast either.

While the team declared themselves happy with the test, there were rumours that Jenson Button (16th on the day and three quarters of a second slower than Fisi in the Force India car) had said he wouldn’t be getting back in the car until he’d had a proper seat fitting.

Read into that what you will …

sutton-images.com

– SPURRING/ADDISON

TESTING at Valencia last week gave F1 followers a real chance to see the majority of Formula 1’s 2008 cars in action.

sutton-images.com

n News is expected this week confirming a Formula 1 involvement for Narain Karthikeyan. He was absent from his planned Speedcar drive last week and a Speedcar source suggested that he would not be returning as he has “a deal that is very good for him.”

When pressed as to whether it was in F1, he would not deny the suggestion.

FORMULA 1

sutton-images.com

n Nigel Stepney, the disgraced former head of performance development at Ferrari, has accepted a new post in motorsport.

Stepney will work as the director of race technologies for Gigawave, a UK company that develops on-board camera systems for motorsport applications.

The company has established a new FIA GT Championship team, based in Colchester, Essex. It will contest a full season with a pair of Aston Martins, a GT1 DBR9 and one of the new Vantage GT2 cars.

The GT1 drivers will be Austrian sportscar veteran Philipp Peter and Allan Simonsen.

FW30 hits the Heights

Williams impresses at Valencia

news

Beauty is only skin deep FORMULA 1 HAS BMW discovered an aero balance problem with its all-new Formula 1 challenger?

sutton-images.com

Despite optimism at the car’s launch, there are suggestions that the new F1.08 isn’t everything the team had hoped for on-track.

The suggestions gained some momentum when the car turned up at Valencia sporting not one but two pairs of ‘horns’ – designed to direct airflow even more directly over and around the car.

Whether this is an interim measure remains to be seen – but the team wouldn’t be the first to suffer from wind tunnel data not necessarily being matched on-track …

BMW pulls out the Ugly Stick in search of some speed

I am coming in, for fuel, tyres and extra wings: BMW had more wings than KFC in Valencia, when they threw all manner of add-ons at the F1.08 in an effort to give the car some downforce and clean aero.

CAMS responds to Ford withdrawal ... ... as AASA reveal the details of its first rally round in Bathurst AUSTRALIAN RALLYING

Joel Strickland

THE Confederation of Australian Motor Sport has officially reacted to last week’s news that Pirtek Ford Rally Team would no longer compete in the Australian Rally Championship.

Chairman of the Australian Rally Commission Colin Trinder said he was disappointed with the situation, but that it could lead to a “renewal” in rallying.

“Whilst it is extremely disappointing that the factory supported Fords will be missing from the ARC line-up in 2008, there remains a strong possibility that these exciting cars will be sold to private competitors and therefore still be competing in the championship,” said Trinder in a statement.

“The withdrawal of the Pirtek Rally Team underlines how important the process of ‘renewal’ in rallying is going to be. While motor sport at the very highest levels can be

expensive, it is imperative that we address the issues of cost in all areas including fuel, tyres and the arms race in expensive rally technology. These are all interlinked issues that have defied resolution in the past.

“ARCom has agreed on limiting numbers of tyres, removal of confidential tyres and a move to cheaper fuels such as those used

for everyday road transport.

These are reforms that will be implemented in 2008 with the specific details to be announced shortly as part of a major reform package for the ARC competition. ARCom is confident that these changes will go a long way towards attracting new privateers and manufacturers to the ARC.” Meanwhile, the newly-

mooted AASA Australian Rally Championship has officially released details of its first round, to be held in Bathurst on May 24-25.

The event will be heavily centred in the Sunny Corner State Forest, and will feature 250km of competitive roads.

Threee classes are being offered; 4WD, 2WD and Classics.

Ford Changes Direction on CoT NASCAR FORD has made a major change to its NASCAR Car of Tomorrow program, and taken responsibility for overall chassis development.

Dan Davis, head of Ford Racing, confirmed last week that a seven-post rig installed

by Ford at Roush Fenway Racing’s facility in North Carolina will be available to all Ford teams. The company will also deploy one of its engineers to each Ford team to assist in the development of the car, which will compete in

all events this season.

This is a logical response to Hendrick Motorsport’s domination of the CoT races last year, and follows on from Ford’s policy which sees all Ford-supported teams use the same Roush Yates NASCAR engines. Effectively, teams will now source identical chassis and engines and it will be up to individual engineers to get the best out of them.

“To me, the way the engine program worked is you had the best of what Jack was doing, the best of what Robert Yates was doing and

you combined the two,” said Davis.

“One plus one equaled four in that case, in my opinion. So what we’re going to try to do is the same thing.”

Two of the most obvious benefactors of the initiative will be Wood Brothers Racing and JTG Racing, both of which will field Sprint Cup entries for Marcos Ambrose this season.

news

CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES THE Champ Car World Series may make its final appearance on the streets on the Gold Coast in October.

The Lexmark Indy 300, which dates back to 1991, faces the prospect of ending its association with the CCWS, which faces an uncertain future. The Queensland race, one of the marquee events of the series, is a joint venture between the state government, through Queensland Events, and promoter IMG and is in the final year of a five-year commitment to stage the event.

The issue is coming to a head now after Tony George, the boss of the rival IndyCar Series, is reported to have made CCWS owners an offer they almost can’t refuse.

While an Indianapolis Motor Speedway spokesman has refused to comment, it appears that George has offered free Dallara chassis and free Honda engine

leases to any CCWS team that wishes to join his series full-time.

This comes at a time when only five drivers are confirmed starters for the CCWS, with Team Australia’s Will Power, Graham Rahal of Newman Haas Linigen, Forythe veteran Paul Tracy, PKV’s Oriol Servia and Pacific Coast Motorsport’s Alex Figge having seats confirmed.

George’s offer would appear to have support from teams owners such as Team Australia’s Derrick Walker and Newman Haas Linigen’s Carl Haas. It has also transpired that the latter held discussions regarding moving to the IndyCar Series in October, despite denials at the time.

Champ Car racing has been in severe difficulty for several years, and Champ Car itself was formed when the former category manager, CART, went bankrupt in 2003. The series primary owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe bought Cosworth Engineering from Ford

Marshall Cass

Will Indy 300 drop CCWS?

in November 2004, primarily to ensure continued engine supply for the series, and were sufficiently bullish about the future that advances from Honda to become involved in the series again were rebuffed the following season.

But Cosworth found itself with no Formula 1 revenue when Williams and Scuderia Toro Rosso switched to Toyota and Ferrari engines respectively at the end of the 2006 season and the prospect of continuing to support the engineering company, in the face of already-high costs of supporting the teams, may prove too much for the series benefactors.

While the IndyCar series is hardly a model of economic health itself, the prospect of a united series, featuring the Indianapolis 500, is hard to beat. The obvious attraction for George is adding the successful CCWS events – Long Beach, Toronto, Edmonton, Mexico City and Queensland – to his calendar.

Both pics Dirk Klynsmith

The Fastest and the first of the losers ...

TAG Motorsport secures the fastest and the second-fastest V8 Supercars in Bathurst history FUJITSU V8s TAG Motorsport owns the two fastest cars ever to lap Bathurst – and it will race them in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series this year.

Geoff Emery has secured the Commodore VZ that Kayne Scott raced in the FV8

Series last year. It was formerly steered by Mark Skaife in 2006 when he qualified on pole at Bathurst. It was the secondfastest lap time around The Mountain.

Emery’s TAG team-mate Tony Bates has also secured an ex-Clayton Commodore – the car that Greg Murphy took

to the amazing 2m06s lap in the 2003 Bathurst qualifying Shoot Out. It remains the fastest car ever to lap Mount Panorama.

“We have the two fastest cars ever to lap Bathurst, so that can’t be too bad!” Emery said.

“We’ll struggle to get a handle on it at the start, but by mid-season, we should be going okay.

“We’ve got a bit of infrastructure to put in place to try and support the two cars. It’s a lot of work but something we are absolutely going to enjoy.”

Both Emery and Bates were regular Commodore Cup runners, with Emery winning

the series an unprecedented five times. He drove a Smiths Trucks Commodore in the Fujitsu V8 Series in 2006, but now that he’s running his own team out of their Narre Warren means that he can control his own destiny.

“Running our own cars makes more sense,” he said.

“We’re going to make mistakes in our first year, everyone does. It’s a twoyear program for us, so that’s where we are aiming.”

Emery will start the season at Round 1 at Clipsal, while the late delivery of Bates’s car means that he won’t be ready until Wakefield Park.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Scott for British Formula Renault JOSHUA Scott will drive in the British Formula Renault championship with Apotex Scorpio Motorsport this year.

Scott, who finished sixth in the Australian Formula Ford

title last year, tested with the team, which finished third in the series in 2007.

Former champions of the class include Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen and Heikki Kovalainen.

news

New squad for Howard Racing Dirk Klynsmith

Canto and Reindler set to roll up for former champion Fujitsu team FUJITSU V8s DEAN Canto and Karl Reindler look set to saddle up for Howard Racing in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series this season.

After missing out on a drive in the main series, Canto will get a chance to re-establish his V8 career in the Fujitsu Series

– the category he has already won on two occasions (2000 and 2005).

Canto will be partnered by Reindler, who will make his V8 Supercar debut this year.

The 22-year-old West Australian has spent the past few years driving a range of different open-wheelers, including British Formula 3 and A1GP.

The expected appointment of Canto and Reindler means that regular Howard Racing driver Adam Sharpe will not drive in the two-car squad.

Canto and Reindler are expected to be seen for the first time testing at Queensland Raceway during the official V8 Supercar test on February 14.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Cooper’s full stint FUJITSU V8s ASHLEY Cooper will have a fresh set of wheels heading into this year’s Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series.

Cooper, who did three DVS rounds with Sydney Star last year, will tackle this year’s series with the ex-Paul Morris Motorsport ‘Astro’ VZ Commodore chassis, as raced by Fabian Coulthard and Owen Kelly.

“It’s certainly a big move from leasing a drive with an existing Supercar team, to then purchase a car, and put everything in place to run your own race team,” said Cooper.

“All of us here at Ashley Cooper Motorsport, including our partners Capital Finance and The Warranty Group, realise the enormity of the task ahead of us this year.”

COMING THIS WEEK

Australia

A1GP- Eastern Ck, incl F3, Aust GT ...

Drag Racing – Perth Top Fuel

NexT Week (February 9-10) InternationAl

World Rally –Sweden Australia

Bathurst Motor Festival incl WPS 12-Hour

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Wagon Wheels

BMF IF THE wagon’s a-rockin’ then don’t come a-knockin’ …

Holden has confirmed that it will enter one of its new VE Commdore Sportwagons at this year’s WPS Bathurst 12-Hour, and it is to be backed by Jack Daniel’s, as

exclusively reported in eNews.

V8 Supercar regulars Shane Price, Cameron McConville and Nathan Pretty will drive the 6.0L V8-powered Wagon.

“Holden has a great history of success at Mount Panorama, so what better place for the new ultra cool Sportwagon to be showcased

than on the track at Bathurst?” said Holden’s Executive Director of Sales, Marketing and Aftersales Alan Batey.

“The 12 Hour is a race for production cars so is an ideal event for us to spotlight new models in the Holden range.”

In other 12-Hour news, soon-to-be Fujitsu Series

driver Michael Trimble has been confirmed to share a Mitsubishi Evo VIII with Mark King and Mark Brame, while the Mazda3 MPS that Rick Bates took to top 10 outright at last year’s Targa Tasmania has been entered by Jake Camilleri, Timothy Sipp and Scott Nicholas.

Jim has the passion GENTLEMAN JIM

MINI Mania MINI CHALLENGE THE Minis are on their way …

As you read this, 25 Minis will be airfreighted to Australia in four shipments, with the last due to arrive around the February 17.

The picture, above, was taken at Hockenheim in Germany recently after the cars were put through a rigorous testing session.

Australia’s newest racing category has locked in 15 seats, and is expecting more than 20 entries for the first round at

Eastern Creek.

“Now that the cars are about to be delivered there is palpable excitement throughout the category,” Theo Psaros said.

“The cars are due to arrive in early February and they will be handed over to teams on the 20th of February at Oran Park.

“We are the first country in the world to have the MINI Cooper Works R56 Challenge cars and we can’t wait for them to hit the track at Eastern Creek for the first round.”

– GRANT ROWLEY

JIM Richards is the new face of Shannons.

The touring car legend will carry the insurance company’s colours in both his circuit racing and rally programs this season, in what will be a longterm deal.

“This, together with my existing sponsor group, would form the most comprehensive support program in my 43-year racing career,” said the veteran.

Richo will drive a large variety of cars this season, with GT2 and GT3 Porsches, a 1967 Mustang and a 1964 Falcon Sprint in Historic Touring Cars, a Porsche 944 Turbo in Classic Adelaide. His team will also prepare a 997 for David Wall to race in the Carrera Cup Championship.

news

Aussie Aussie Aussie

John John John!

John Martin prepares to represent Australia on home soil as A1GP heads to Eastern Creek A1GP in AUSTRALIA

A1GP

QUALIFYING will be the key to success for A1 Team Australia at this weekend’s Eastern Creek round of the A1GP series, according to driver John Martin.

Martin, a former Australian Formula Ford Champion, debuted for the team at the recent New Zealand round, and finished ninth in the Sprint Race, the best result for the team all year. And Martin says it could have been even better if he’d been stronger in qualifying.

“I just need to get my head around the qualifying,” Martin told eNews ahead of this weekend’s Australian round.

“We’ve got really good race pace, but I just put a bit too much pressure on myself going into qualifying [in New Zealand], and it cost us.

“But I’ve done a fair few laps around

Eastern Creek, so it will be nice to be able to drive straight out on the track and concentrate on set-up, not learning the track.”

As the series heads to Australia, it is interestingly poised, with Team NZ on 82 points, leading France and Switzerland by just two points.

And Martin says Australia is capable of joining the front-running group this weekend.

“Top five is a realistic goal, that’s where I’d like to be, although you could say I won’t be totally happy unless I pole it and win both races!”

The A1GP meeting will make Australian history when the 22 nations compete in the with biofuel in their tanks. A1GP is the first global motorsport series to race on a 30 percent biofuel mix.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Not Cricket: John Martin and Indian Narain Karthikeyan will do battle this weeked.

Brothers in Dallaras FORMULA 3 THIS year’s Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship will feature two younger brothers of former F3 champions.

Nathan Carrati, 22-year-old brother of 2005 champion Aaron, will be joined by Christopher Reindler, whose older brother Karl claimed the 2004 title.

Caratti, right, will steer a Dallara F307 for Opes Prime Team BRM, having previously competed in Formula Renault UK as well as Formula Ford.

“I’ve got plenty of experience in open-wheelers so it was a choice of either staying in Formula Renault in the UK, or coming home to step into F3

– which was the decision we made in the end,” said Caratti.

“I’m very happy to be joining Team BRM – they have won a lot of championships and have been very successful.”

Carrati will be joined at Team BRM by 17-year-old Kiwi Earl Bamber, who claimed the 2006 Asian Formula BMW title, and has also raced Toyota Racing Series and tested A1GP. “It’s a great series to learn in and I think it will help my driving a fantastic amount,” said Bamber.

“It’s all just a big learning curve at the moment, you learn a lot about engineering and set-up with these things, so that’s the whole aim of it.”

Reindler will make his F3 debut for TanderSport in the

National Class at the wheel of the F304 that carried Leanne Tander to second in last year’s championship. ”I was really impressed with the car and really impressed with the team,” said Reindler.

“It’s only my first Formula 3 race so I don’t have huge expectations, but I would really like to challenge for the National Class win.”

Reindler’s team-mate Tander is keen to get her 2008 campaign off to a strong start at the opening round this weekend. ”It is a priority to start the season strongly and be in contention from the very first round of the championship,” said Tander.

“We came so close last

season – If we had found two more points throughout the season it would have been a different result, so scoring strongly at the first round is absolutely important.”

The championship kicks off at Eastern Creek this weekend.

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Speedy McSchumi?

SPEEDCAR COULD Michael Schumacher race in a Speedcar?

It isn’t as far-fetched as you might think. Series boss Benoit Lamonerie is promising bigger grids for subsequent rounds, including Phoenix Racing

running a second car.

Motorsport eNews understands this will be driven by a different highprofile guest driver at each event.

Schumacher was an interested spectator in Dubai last week (where he has property development interests) and had dinner with his old mate, and

OZ Day Honours

Pringle switches to CRG in search of another OZ title

AUSTRALIA DAY

KARTING

John Morris/Mpix

TWO of Australia’s World Champions were honoured in the Australia Day Awards last week.

Sir Jack Brabham, motor racing’s first knight, was named an officer in the Order of Australia for his service to motor sport as an ambassador, mentor and promoter of safety, and to the community through support of charitable organisations.

Casey Stoner, right, was also honoured, the 22-year-old MotoGP World Champion named Young Australian of the Year. Stoner received the award last Friday in Canberra, prior to heading south to Melbourne for this week’s MotoGP test at Phillip Island.

current Speedcar pilot, Jean Alesi post-race.

So how about it? The Adenaubased team could be in the frame for a Schumi return – or maybe little brother might be wanting something to drive ...

– DAVID ADDISON

AUSTRALIAN CRG importer Chris Dell has completed an off-season coup by bringing 2006 Australian Leopard Heavy champion Rick Pringle over to the Italian chassis for 2008.

Pringle, who has been an Arrow driver for much of his career,

will run a new CRG chassis at the Victorian Open Championships at Geelong on February 8-10, a meeting that has drawn over 400 entries.

Pringle will then seek to reclaim his Australian Leopard Heavy title in the CRG kart at the Yamaha Australian Sprint Kart Championships in Launceston, Tasmania on March 21-23.

news

Reynolds gets NZ chance Australian Carrera Cup Champion set for Kiwi Porsche debut with Triple X Racing

John Morris/Mpix

CARRERA CUP DAVID Reynolds will compete in the final four rounds of the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge championship in New Zealand.

The reigning Carrera Cup Champion will drive for Triple X Racing, replacing Matthew Halliday.

Reynolds has never raced in New Zealand but is looking forward to getting stuck into the Kiwis.

“It should be an interesting experiencing racing over there,” Reynolds said.

“I’ve never raced in New Zealand before. I know the cars quite well so it’s just a matter of learning the tracks. I think I can go quite well.”

Reynolds’ stint in the NZ series will not affect his Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series campaign, as there are no clashes. Reynolds will drive the #99 Tony D’Alberto Racing Commodore VZ. – GRANT ROWLEY

New tyres, cars in Ute land V8 UTES V8 UTE Racing is ready for another stellar season with the announcement that its title sponsor Yokohama will continue its support for another three years.

The Japanese tyre-maker, whose involvement with the series began in

2005, will also supply a bigger 18 inch tyre for this year.

The upgrade from 17 to 18 inch ADVAN A048 tyres will allow for a more efficient braking package while a smaller sidewall will increase stability and improve handling by reducing bodyroll.

“With television exposure grossing over 3 million viewers and almost a

million spectators on track last year alone the V8 Utes are providing Yokohama with exceptional value for money brand exposure,” explained Yokohama Motorsport Manager Christian Hansen.

The series will start at the Cllipsal 500 in under a month with Holden drivers set to debut the new VE Ute, currently being prepared by Brock Engineering.

Dirk Klynsmith

news

The Empires Fight Back

Honda and Michelin Men set the pace at Sepang: Rossi struggles Overall times

MOTOGP HONDA led all three days of tyre testing at Sepang in Malaysia last week – but not in the way many expected.

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1 Hayden Honda M 2:00.326 2 Stoner Ducati B 2:00.660 3 Lorenzo Yamaha M 2:00.766 4 Edwards Yamaha M 2:01.179 5 Hopkins Kawasaki B 2:01.198 6 Rossi Yamaha B 2:01.425 7 Dovizioso Honda M 2:01.447 8 Toseland Yamaha M 2:01.745 9 Vermeulen Suzuki B 2:01.748 10 Capirossi Suzuki B 2:01.778 11 De Puniet Honda Day 2 M 2:01.139 12 Pedrosa Honda Day 1 M 2:01.864 13 Nakano Honda M 2:02.032 14 De Angelis Honda B 2:02.198 15 Melandri Ducati B 2:02.725 16 West Kawasaki D2 B 2:02.579 17 Elias Ducati B 2:02.995 18 Jacque Kawasaki B 2:03.030 19 Guintoli Ducati B 2:03.628 20 Canepa Ducati Test B 2:03.703 21 Serizawa Kawasaki B 2:04.354

Randy and Ready: De Puniet topped the first two days at Sepang.

Ow! Dani Boy! Pedrosa injured MOTOGP DANI Pedrosa’s 2008 MotoGP program is in disarray after breaking his hand in Malaysia.

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Vale:

The 2007 runner-up in the GP series is expected to miss five days’ pre-season testing after having his second metacarpal on his right hand plated during

surgery in Barcelona.

The Spaniard, left, was thrown off his Honda RC212V last Tuesday and landed heavily.

The bike was virtually destroyed by fire when the fuel tank split.

Estimates of Pedrosa’s recovery time vary, but he is expected to be ready to race at Qatar on March 9.

Anders Olofsson

ANDERS Olofsson has died in his sleep, aged 55.

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The Swedish racer was one of the world’s most versatile drivers, and raced in the Bathurst 1000 four times, finishing second on debut in 1992, fourth in 1993 and ’95 and sixth in 1994.

Olofsson, from Goteborg, made his mark by winning backto-back Swedish Formula 3 titles in 1977 and ’78, both years finishing second in the European title. He moved up to F3000 but failed to gain a foothold, so moved to Touring and Sportscar racing.

In Japan, he won Touring Cars titles in 1989, 90 and 91 and in Sports Prototype (1990) with Nissan, and drove a GT-R to an outright win in the 1991 Spa 24 Hour race. It was this link that brought him to Bathurst with Gibson Motorsport.

After taking a class win (and second outright) at Le Mans in 1997, he retired and concentrated on driver management with long-time friend, countryman Eje Elgh.

While Honda’s sole ‘07 GP winner was flying home for surgery, Nicky Hayden topped the final day’s test after Randy de Puniet led the first two days. The Kawasaki reject, on Michelins, was in fine form and his LCR Honda, running a conventional V4 engine and looking composed until a fall at the end of Day 3.

That day was all Hayden’s, the American riding, then parking, his pneumatic-valved engine, and using a 2008 Honda chassis, fitted with an ’07 motor, to pip Casey Stoner.

“Today’s gone a lot better than the last couple and we’re feeling positive,” said the Kentuckian, “I feel like I’m a lot closer than I was a year ago here.”

Stoner ran solidly on all three days, and appears to have nearly recovered from his shoulder injury. But the concern for Ducati continues to be the lack of speed from Marco Melandri.

The other talking point was that Valentino Rossi struggled.

The Italian spent much of the test trying to sort Yamaha’s pneumatic valve engine but, at the end of the test, he was topped even for fastest Yamaha time by team-mate Jorge Lorenzo and Colin Edwards.

Ant West had a minor fall as team-mate John Hopkins got himself accustomed to the Kawasaki and test rider Tamaki Serizawa tested what appears to be a new, ‘screamer’ engine.

Testing continues this week at Phillip Island.

5 Minutes with ...

MICHAEL PATRIZI

A new year presents a new challenge for V8 Supercars newest talent

It was a character-building season last year. Did you achieve learn as much as you could before coming back home?

You never stop learning in this sport. This year, I’m going to learn as much as I did last year.

Your first year in a Formula 3 car is supposed to be the biggest year in your racing career, you learn so much more than in any other category, so you take what you’ve learnt and implement it in GP2 or Formula 1. But for me, I’m going from a F3 car to a Touring Car. That’s going to be a complete different challenge of learning how a Touring Car is driven, because essentially, it’s a one-car team. But we should be right.

That’s right, it’s a one-car team, but the car will be

Marshall Cass

MOTORSPORT NEWS: It’s going to be quite a different year for you in 2008 …

MICHAEL PATRIZI: Yep, that’s right. I always planned to be in Europe to broaden my skills as a racing driver.

I found out that you learn a hell of a lot more over there than you learn in the lower categories here in Australia. My main goal and objectives was always to be in Formula 1, but if not, I’d return home to V8 Supercars and now that such a great opportunity has arrived, I’m going to take it with both hands.

I’m also glad to give West Australian Ford fans someone to follow. They’ve got Garth Tander in a Holden, and I hope I can give the Ford followers someone to support.

GRANT ROWLEY

From this to this: F3 one year, V8 Supercar the next. Michael Patrizi has another steep learning curve.

housed and maintained by Ford Performance Racing. You certainly won’t be lacking in the equipment department …

I was never going to come home for a second-rate effort.

This is a great opportunity to make myself a career in the sport. I’ve been very good friends with Jim (Morton) in the past and he has never done anything half-hearted.

And with the tie-in with FPR, it’s certainly an opportunity of showing what I’m capable of.

It’s going to be another challenge for me this year, and another tick in the box of things that I’ve done.

I’m looking forward to learning how to drive these V8.

Everyone talks about the ‘new kids on the block’ getting the short back and sides from the established V8 Supercar drivers. Are you expecting that?

Well, five guys I raced against last year have Formula 1 contracts. As far as I know, James (Courtney) is the only guy in V8 Supercars who has had a F1 contract.

We all have two hands and two feet and a steering wheel.

We can all rub shoulders and get on with it – we’re all big boys.

I’m not really concerned by that at all.

With your background, the

new sequential gear shift is surely going to help your cause …

In Europe, no-one right foot brakes, everyone left foot brakes, and with the sequential gearbox, that is going to be a huge advantage for my learning curve. I haven’t driven a V8 Supercar yet, but I think its going to make it a lot easier to get my head around.

So, what’s your initial expectation?

I want to be running in the top half of the field midway through the year. I reckon that is probably a bit low, I think we can do a lot better job than that.

chat

Dirk Klynsmith

And it’s goodbye from him V8 Supercar’s gain is Motorsport eNews’ loss. Stepping into his new role as the V8 Driving Standards Observer brings to an end the forthright and up-front analysis of V8 racing from Tomas Mezera that we’ve enjoyed since the launch of eNews. The former Bathurst winner will bring that same no-fuss honesty to his new gig …

OPINION Tomas Mezera Bathurst champion To me, the job is, in theory, quite simple. I’ll be meeting with the drivers at Clipsal and clearly agreeing with them where the limits are; at what point a driver should back-off rather than drive his rival off the road. Once that’s agreed and clear, implementing it should generally be a matter of logic.

I’m sure it won’t be that simple, and everyone – including me – can make a mistake, but the over-riding guiding factor will be simple, common sense.

The biggest cause of accidents, in my view, is ego – and there is a little bit of that going around in motorsport!

But at the end of the day, if we are agreed on the point at

Dirk Klynsmith

WHEN V8 Supercars, via Wayne Cattach, approached me later on in 2007 to take on this job, we were both more prepared than when, once previously, the subject had come up.

Having explained my views to Wayne, which included three or four things which, as a driver, used to drive me mad, and which it made sense to look at – purely to make the job easier – I’m pleased to say that the V8 Board has taken the same view and introduced a few small changes which all make sense to me in terms of reducing needless shunts.

As a result, you’ll see more reasonable penalties applying to jumped starts, a better use of the Safety Car (to avoid lapped cars ending up at the head of the queue if the race leader chooses to pit at that time), and better use of blue flags.

which drivers MUST give each other room, then the situation should be quite clear.

Of course, my role is an advisory one. The actual decision and penalty is made by the Stewards, based on my advice. From my time doing this job with Carrera Cup, I reckon the Stewards agreed with me about 95 percent of the time. The other five? Fair enough! It is their call – I’m just providing an opinion.

So my time as an eNews columnist comes to an end. It’s been fun and I hope I didn’t upset too many people! I must admit, after being one of those who wasn’t sure about not having the news in print.

But I’m a complete convert and every Tuesday morning my first instinct is to get on eNews and read it through. I’ll still be doing that, but hoping that my name doesn’t make the news that often!

Letters

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

The Giz Kid I’d like to congratulate Stone Brothers on taking a punt with Van Gisbergen to partner James Courtney this season.

Okay, so maybe a punt is the wrong word, but surely a more conservative choice would have been David Besnard, as you guys mooted.

But good on SBR for

choosing Van Giz, because he proved with TKR that he has what it takes to be a V8 driver, and that’s not something ‘Bezzy’ has ever really done.

Next big thing? Maybe …

Nick Ellison Hamilton, NZ Go Go Atko I was just checking out the

WRC results from Monte Carlo on the net, and I thought I’d email to say well done to Chris Atkinson.

As far as I can tell that’s his first podium on the black top, and in the process he withstood pressure from Francois Duval, and outclassed Petter Solberg.

If the new Subaru Impreza is

any good, maybe just maybe Atko can get that first win this year. If Loeb crashes, that is …

John Gregsen Melbourne, VIC

opinion

Dear Premier Bligh, particular, for keeping their dream alive. They were dedicated and committed much of their own fortunes to the fight. But it was too much. They lost and now, all Champ Car is doing is stopping open-wheeler racing from moving forward.

There are alternatives. Tony George has the Indy 500, Honda in his corner and an offer on the table that no team owner can refuse. A1 Grand Prix has an international audience and, in 2009, the lure of Ferrari.

Champ Car? It has a few marquee events, and not much else. High on that list of events is the Gold Coast Indy and, with no contract in place to continue with the Champ Cars after October, now is the time to declare that era over and side with new partners.

It is time for the tough decision and, for better or for worse, your constituents have put you in the hot seat. Contracts and such make it impossible that change can happen now, but it is clear that Champ Car is the past and A1 or IndyCar is the future.

And please, act soon and put us out of our misery.

Cheers,

Phil Branagan eLETTER OF THE WEEK

Motor Mouths?

Your magazines do some good interviews with drivers and administrators of our much loved sport, but how about some interviews with the forgotten the people of our sport, ones that put it all together; the mechanics and support staff of our V8 Supercar teams?

I just read the Greg Murphy

interview (Five Minutes, Issue 038) with comments about the staff from last season (2007) and the present staff.

And they have no right of reply to defend themselves (remembering its not the first time he has made comments like these).

The things the staff put up the with, like long hours, and abuse and innuendo from drivers who like to blame someone for their inadequacies and lack of results.

If you spoke to these people, you might receive a

different slant on our sport, in which our teams are taking advantage of these people just because they love motorsport. And when I say love, that is what they do it for.

Denis Spooner Email 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

John Morris/Mpix

I AM writing to ask you to do something that I never thought I would ask. I want you to make sure that the Champ Car World Series’ 2008 visit to Australia, and specifically to the Gold Coast Indy 300, is its last.

You see, Champ Car is finished.

It’s dead, in the same way that people die but medical machines can keep their engines ticking over so that someone else can benefit from organ donation. Someone needs to pull the plug, and that job is now yours.

Champ Car used to mean something. It was about motor racing’s great names – Andretti, Fittipaldi, Unser, Mansell – streaking around tracks at nearFormula 1 speeds. It was a real spectacle. Now, it is about a bunch of second-level and worse drivers, doing their best.

Everyone has left. All the manufacturers, most of the sponsors, the TV networks and most of the media. As if anyone needed reminding, the main attraction at the Indy is now the V8 Supercars.

I admire the efforts of Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerry Forsythe, in

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1 – MONTE CARLO

race

The Count of Monte Carlo Sebastien Loeb took his fifth Monte Carlo win, comfortably, making a perfect start to a fifth consecutive World Title. Did anyone really expect anything different?

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S

EBASTIEN Loeb welcomed the 2008 World Rally Championship season in predictable style, taking record fifth Monte Carlo win last weekend.

Loeb was dominant on the icy principality roads, taking the lead of the rally on the second stage and never relinquishing it. He pulled away in each leg of the event, and had whopping 2:34s up his sleeve over Ford’s leads driver Mikko Hirvonen by the end of the rally.

“More than the fact that this was our 37th WRC victory and our fifth Monte win, I think the most significant thing is the way we won this year,” said Loeb.

“Our C4 performed faultlessly throughout and the set-up we chose for the start proved excellent, which shows how well we worked upstream. The C4 and the Pirelli tyres also functioned well together on these asphalt stages, which were often damp.

“It’s always nice to start the season with

a win, but I have no intention of getting carried away because there are some very difficult rallies to come.”

While the battle for the lead between Loeb and Hirvonen was mostly unexciting, the same couldn’t be said of the battle for third place. Australian Chris Atkinson and Francois Duval spent the whole four legs locked in a tense battle, with just 1.1s separating them heading into the final stage. The two youngsters set an identical time, handing the final podium place to Atkinson.

“To finish third is fantastic for me and the team,” said Atkinson.

“The pressure today was huge, we just had to drive flat out and do everything we could to stay ahead. Duval is such a fast guy, and I always knew today would be really tough going up against him.

“I’m so happy for the team. All of the guys have done such a great job and we deserved this. It’s a fantastic start to the year.”

Atkinson’s third place was made even more impressive by the fact that he outperformed his team-mate, however Petter Solberg wasn’t exactly off the pace, finishing fifth in the other Impreza.

The final three point paying positions were all surprises. WRC returnee Gigi Galli was sixth for Stobart Ford, while French privateer Jean-Marie Cuoq was seventh.

Eighth place went to reigning Junior World Champion PG Andersson, who scored the first ever WRC point for Suzuki in its new SX4.

It was a tough weekend for the two big factory team’s second entries. Dani Sordo looked good early, challenging teammate Loeb in the opening stages before settling into second place. But an engine problem in his Citroen ended his charge prematurely.

Jari-Matti Latvala had an equally tough debut for the lead Ford team, clipping a wall and damaging his Focus on the first stage of the rally.

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Streets Ahead: Chris Atkinson had a bumper start to WRC season ‘08, surviving a tight battle with Duval to take third, while Solberg was fifth.

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Good point, and well made ...

Current Junior World Rally Champion PG Andersson made a solid step up to the main game, taking the Suzuki SX4 WRC to its first ever World Championship point with a handy eighth, above. Speaking of debuts, Olivier Burri made the first competitive outing with the new Group N Subaru Impreza in Monte, above right. Mikko Hirvonen, right, was second at his first rally as Ford’s lead driver, albeit very distantly to winner Loeb.

Loeb 10, Hirvonen 8, Atkinson 6, Duval 5, P Solberg 4, Galli 3, Cuoq 2, Andersson 1.

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WRC | DRIVER'S points

GRAND ANNUAL SPRINTCAR CLASSIC SUNGOLD STADIUM

Madsen on the record Kerry Madsen sets a blistering pace to win the Sprintcar Classic in Warnambool. GEOFF ROUNDS reports

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Ash Budd

Ash Budd

K

ERRY Madsen broke a 22-year-old track record on his way to winning a recordequalling third successive The Standard Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic at Premier Speedway Warrnambool on Sunday night.

Madsen lowered Garry Rush’s 1986 time of 9m, 20.96s to 8m 55.57s in the 40-lap, non-stop feature race.

He came from the second row to beat home American Jason Johnson and polesitter Max Dumesny.

Madsen won the race in 2005 and 2007 (2006 was a washout) and equals US driver Danny Smith, who claimed a hat-trick of victories in the race in 1987, ’88 and ’89.

A jubilant Madsen screamed in delight as he emerged from his car, climbing onto the top wing after winning one of the most memorable Classic races in history.

His weekend started badly after a vicious crash in time trials, and then he was relegated to the rear from the front in his final heat for jumping the start. He stormed past seven cars to second within two laps and had to be content with second.

Madsen’s Classic drive was just that, although he did have his tight moments.

Dumesny won the start from Ian Loudoun and quickly opened up a handy break as Madsen slipped into third.

Lapped traffic came into play

and Madsen closed the gap on lap eight but, it took another seven laps before his opening came on the inside through turn one.

Johnson was also on the move and made his move on Dumesny for second through turn four with 19 laps left on the clock.

On lap 31 Johnson was right on Madsen’s tail tank.

Four laps later a nudge to the rear of Madsen had the race well and truly up for grabs.

Three laps to go and the key moment came, when in lapped traffic Madsen found a way through and Johnson was baulked, losing his momentum.

It was then all over and Madsen would go on to grab the winner’s cheque of $30,000.

“Anyone will tell you this is the hardest race in Australia to win,” Madsen said.

“You have to have everything go your way to win the Classic things really have to be perfect for the whole weekend.

“We were far from it, crashing in time trials and kept our nose clean after that and just kept diggin’ away and did what we had to do.

“We hung on, we just hung on, so it’s pretty good.”

Former Classic winner Garry Brazier started in position nine before splitting an oil tank and stalling his efforts, while Brooke Tatnell charged from position 12 before finishing fourth in a stellar drive prior to this weekend’s Australian Sprintcar Championships.

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Ash Budd

Mighty Madsen: Kerry, left, rebounded from a crash to grab his third classic.

Max Dumsney and Ian Loudoun, above, were the only two to challenge Madsen. Garry Brazier, below, was sidelined by a split oil tank while Chris Campbell , bottom, went over to the delight of a fan.

Geoff Gracie Ash Budd

Ash Budd

Gannasi takes three in row DAYTONA 24HR

came close to that elusive first Rolex 24 win, again finishing second in the GAINSCO Pontiac Riley with co-drivers Alex Gurney, Jon Fogarty and Jimmy Vasser.

Rounding out the podium was the No. 9 Penske-Taylor Racing Pontiac Riley with drivers Helio Castroneves, Kurt Busch and Ryan Briscoe.

The competition was tight throughout the Rolex 24. There were a record 15 different race leaders across the 695 laps

completed in the race.

In the GT class, the SpeedSource Mazda RX8 with drivers Sylvain Tremblay, David Haskell, Nick Ham and Raphael Matos finished ninth overall and captured the class victory by a margin of seven laps over the previouslly all-conquering Porsche 911’s.

Karl Reindler finished 27th in his class with four others in a Matt Connolly Motrsports prepared Pontiac GTO-R. – MARTIN D. CLARK

Martin D. Clark

CHIP Ganassi Racing continued its dominance of North America’s most prestigious sportscar race by capturing its third straight overall victory on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway in the Rolex 24.

The foursome of Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas and Dario Franchitti in a Lexus Riley won the 46th anniversary of the Rolex 24 by a margin of three laps and is the first time a team has won the overall Rolex 24 in three consecutive years. A slow and steady strategy paid off.

“This is over the top to come here and win this thing overall, now back-to-back and three in a row for Chip,” said Pruett, who was behind the wheel for the chequred flag.

Franchitti, who is making the jump to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Ganassi, becomes the third Indy 500 driver to win the Rolex 24 the following year.

“It’s been a helluva year,” Franchitti said.

“These guys, the preparation they put into this car is the reason why we’re here. We just

tried to stay out of trouble and here we are, bloody brilliant.”

Montoya was behind the wheel and running second to the Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley in hour 21 when the Riley driven by Ian James hit a pothole on a curb and was forced to make repairs. From that point, the Ganassi Riley was in control.

Two-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and 2006 Daytona 500 Champion Jimmie Johnson

All Class: the Ganassi entry, above, took overall honours while the Mazda RX8, below left, took the GT class win in dominating fashion. Karl Reindler brought the GTO, below right, home 27th in class.

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race

Romain reigns in Dubai GP2 ASIA

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Romain Grosjean dominated the opening GP2 Asia races at the Dubai Autodrome, the reigning F3 Euro Series Champion bagging two wins in impressive style.

His Race 1 success was a relatively easy win in his maiden GP2 race from pole position, helped by a superb fight behind him that delayed Andy Soucek’s DPR-run car and iSport’s Bruno Senna. Only an inspired late race move

by Senna around the outside gave him the place.

Race 2 had a hectic start, with early leader Adrian Valles retiring on lap one and Luca Fillipi’s gearbox expiring during a caution period induced by Senna coiding with Kamui Kobayashi.

Several spinners also helped Grosjean move from eighth on the grid to challenge Fairuz Fauzy for the lead, the Malaysian settling for second after strugling with oversteer ahead of Karun Chandhok who fought up to third after a poor start.

– DAVID ADDISON

Dubai Delight: Romain Grosjean, above and left, celebrates his wins while Fariuz Fauzy, below, was Grosjean’s biggest challenger.

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Morbidelli cleans up the field SPEEDCAR

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Gianni Morbidelli dominated the first round of Speedcar with two wins from as many races.

His easy Race 2 victory from pole should have been mirrored by Nicolas Navarro in Race 2 until he suffered a spectacular tyre blow-out that gave Morbidelli, pictured, the win.

Race 2 had loads of contact

with a full reverse-grid claiming seven cars including Jean Alesi and Johnny Herbert.

Morbidelli took the two wins, with Uwe Alzen second in Race 1 and Matthias Lauda the runner-up in Race 2 after Alzen was black flagged for corner-cutting.

Hasher Al Maktoum made it onto the podium with a fifth and third place in the stockcar series.

– DAVID ADDISON

opinion Andrew van Leeuwen mNews National Editor

rear of grid

Hill Busted ...

A BUST of two-time F1 world champion Graham Hill stolen in 1999 has been recovered and returned to its home at the British Racing Drivers Club Clubhouse at Silverstone.

The bust, valued at $22,500

was returned to Hill’s son Damon, now BRDC president, after a 47-year-old man was arrested in relation to the burglary.

“We recovered the bronze bust in December following a

joint investigation with Greater Manchester Police.“ said Detective Chief Inspector Tricia Kirk of Northamptonshire Police.

A replacement was only recentley commissioned but in

the light of its return, the BRDC will hand the replacement over to the British National Motor Museum.

The Punter is on Vacation

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Is he over-compensating?

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t o p S Odd

IT seems the size of motorsport silverware is starting to border on the ridiculous.

We all would love a fully stocked trophy cabinet, or even just a few good trophies for the pool room.

However these twin awards brandished by a rather satisfied Romain Grosjean after a clean sweep of GP2 Asia fully illustrate the seriousness of this situation.

Forget G-force pressures, the physical strain of lugging these rewards is a high price to pay for success.

Although it may be a cost effective weight penalty ...