Motorsport eNews Issue 42 - February 19-25, 2008

The world of motorsport every week – directly to your desktop

Issue No. 042 19 – 25 February 2008

ScRamBle W8 HINot!Lap

a V the GP. at age 14 See P

last minute grab for grid spots

Sprint Racer

Ambrose new CUp deal

Indy/Champ car Truce close

Editorial Editor: Grant Rowley grant@mnews.com.au Deputy 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

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

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Issue No. 042 | 19-25 Febuary 2008

news 5 Show us yer Licence Britek grabs the WPS L1

National Sales Manager: Oriana Kennedy oriana@mnews.com.au P 03 9596 5555 F 03 9596 5030

11 We value your call 12 Lots more Ambrose 15 Recycling Champ Car 17 Larkhamisation 20 BMW M4 4 KC

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MD / Publisher

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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

chat 22 5 minutes with ... opinion 24 Crompton 23 Branagan 43 Rear of Grid

race 30 Flyin’ Ryan 25 In the Summertime 38 Tassie Tigers

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

Singapore GP in meltdown New 3-year NASCAR deal Expect white smoke soon New DSO for Carrera Cup Stoner wins Jerez Gp Zero Ryan Newman Seven man sees 10s ... ... who can count to 28 Burning up Sprintcars Newman wins the 500 All the fire from Sum Nats Glenney wins Rally Tas

trade 40 Trade and Industry / Raceshop / Classifieds

welcome Lee Holdsworth and Mount Panorama. Two heroes of V8 Supercar racing!

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

James Smith

D’Alberto/Nash entry safe Tony D set to be on the grid at Clipsal despite court dramas for the RNR licence V8 SUPERCARS THE on-track future of Rod Nash’s ‘Bottle-O’-backed V8 team is secure for now, and the team will line up for this weekend’s Clipsal 500, following the latest court outcome in the protracted wrangle over ownership of the team’s licence.

Nash has become the victim of a legal stoush between former entrant

and licence owner Kieran Wills and Tony Longhurst (who believed he had acquired the licence from Wills and from whom Nash acquired the licence), with ownership of the licence at stake.

While unable to comment officially, V8SA has to date fully supported Nash in what has become an awkward predicament and, we hear, is likely to continue to do so. eNews understands that, while

Longhurst was recently refused leave to appeal to the High Court, the Supreme Court’s decision that the licence belonged to Wills is now reportedly ‘out of date’ and thus requires clarification.

That could take some time.

In the meantime, V8SA has said it will “consider its options when that clarification is complete, but in the interim continue to recognise Nash as the licence holder for the foreseeable future.”

WOW, is that one of Brad’s cars?

V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

THE WOW Sight and Sound sponsorship originally linked to WPS Racing has been hotly pursued by a number of V8 teams since the folding of the WPS team, and last-minute reports are suggesting that Brad Jones Racing could be the lucky winner.

As we ‘closed for press’ MNews’ sources were suggesting that WOW signage would appear on the rear quarters of the BJR VE Commodores this season.

The WOW sponsorship became hot property when WPS/WOW Racing withdrew

from V8 Supercar racing last week, with V8 teams from up and down pit lane approaching the Queensland-based company.

Should the rumoured Team BOC deal be accurate, WOW’s scaled-back motorsport program will come as little surprise, given that the company has recently signed on as the title sponsor of 2006 NRL premiers Brisbane Broncos, and NBL favourites the Cairns Taipans.

It is also a sponsor of Australia Zoo, and an event sponsor at the Indy 300 on the Gold Coast.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

news

Second WPS Licence sold!

Dirk Klynsmith

Britek to ‘do a Larry’ and take on an ex-WPS Level 1 Licence. That means 30 cars for season 2008 V8 SUPERCARS

And the car goes to ...

V8 SUPERCARS WALDEN Motorsport will be on the grid at this weekend’s Clipsal 500.

As late as Monday there had been no deal done, but eNews can reveal that Brian Walden has bought the BF Falcon that was to be used by Max Wilson in WOW colours, and the car will be driven by Walden’s son Garth.

Brian was due to fly to

Brisbane first thing this morning (Tuesday) to collect the car, and then leave Sydney for Adelaide late tomorrow night.

“We’re getting really close now,” Walden told eNews.

“This will get us up and running, then we’ll get everything sorted once the season is happening.”

There was even a chance at one point that Wilson would continue to drive the car,

complete with WOW signage.

However, with that money reportedly headed to Brad Jones Racing, the deal fell through.

Clipsal will be Garth Walden’s first outing in a V8 Supercar since 2004 – however he had some seat time as recently as a week ago, competing in the WPS Bathurst 12 Hour at Mount Panorama.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

John Morris/Mpix

JASON Bright’s fledgling V8 Supercar team will now compete under full ‘Level 1’ status after his team, Britek, this week took steps to acquire the second V8 Supercar licence put on the market by WPS Racing owner Craig Gore.

In a mirror-image of Larry Perkins’ acquisition of the other ex-WPS licence, Britek will ‘trade in’ its existing Level 2 licence.

Britek is upgrading in this fashion in order to avoid going through the process of having its L2s upgraded over the next two seasons. The ‘sell-and-buy’ method of doing so appears to be more economical than the process of paying for the upgrade in instalments.

That will leave 30 ‘live’ V8 licences in play (with only Jim Morton’s all-new team set, with V8SA permission, to miss this weekend’s Clipsal 500).

Of those 30, just three are now ‘Level 2’ and, we hear, V8SA plans to offer all three an ‘upgrade’ package, so that all 30 V8SA cars will race under equal status.

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Fabulous Fabian V8 SUPERCARS THE Paul Cruickshank Racing team sported a new look, a new car, a new driver and a new burst of speed at official testing at Queensland Raceway last Thursday.

Fabian Coulthard was fifth fastest at the QR test,

finishing just 0.3s shy of James Courtney’s best and just outpacing Craig Lowndes.

Ironically, PCR’s new car is the chassis that Lowndes raced in Vodafone colours last season.

“It’s promising and its really put a big smile on my face,” Coulthard told eNews, “but

the true test isn’t until this weekend, so we don’t want to get too hyped up about it at this point.”

Coutlhard was also one of the drivers to run the new sequential gearbox, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

“I really enjoyed it. It’s not

really new to me, having raced Formula Renault and the Supercup race I did at Silverstone in the Porsche 997, so it felt good.

“I’d say we’ll use it throughout the season, unless we have some sort of unforseen problem.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Warren and DJR back in Luff?

V8 SUPERCARS

WARREN Luff and Steve Owen are expected to be named as the Jim Beam Racing endurance drivers for this year.

Luff, a former Dick Johnson Racing driver, drove one of the team’s Falcon’s at the official test day at Queensland Raceway last Thursday, offering a strong indication that he will be signed for the Phillip Island 500 and the Bathurst 1000 races later this year.

But according to Luff, there are no deals in place as of yet.

“I got invited to do a few laps with [DJR] last week, but

nothing is signed yet,” Luff told eNews.

“Its something that we’ve talked about and the ball’s in their court now. It was just great to get back in a car.”

The tight restrictions on testing meant Luff only completed six laps, most of which were installation runs.

Owen is in a similar boat, and is yet to officially sign a deal. But he indicated to eNews that he had spoken to the team regarding the vacant seat and that a deal could be done as soon as this weekend.

The Jim Beam Racing squad need two new drivers for this year’s enduros, with Alex

Davison headed overseas and Andrew Thompson defecting

to Holden and a PWR drive.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

sutton-images.com

FIA Targets Racism FORMULA 1 THE FIA has launched an anti-racism initiative, following the abuse suffered by Lewis Hamilton at last month’s Barcelona Formula 1 test.

– WILL BUXTON

Far from Finnished FORMULA 1 WITH Toyota and Ferrari completing their own tests in Bahrain the week before, the rest of the Formula 1 fraternity convened in Jerez for four days of pre-season testing.

The first day saw Williams and Red Bull, two of the stand out teams of testing thus far, take to the track with David Coulthard coming out on top from his team-mate Mark Webber.

But the second day was the real start to proceedings and Lewis Hamilton wasted no time in getting to grips with proceedings, placing his McLaren at the top of the pile from McLaren tester de la Rosa. With Robert Kubica taking his BMW third, the Pole pointed towards a marked step up in performance by the team.

The third day saw a surprise at the top as for a second time a Red Bull driver finished the day with the fastest time; Mark Webber setting the pace from the Williams duo of Rosberg and Nakajima.

Ultimately however, it was to be Heikki Kovalainen’s final day best which would top the test overall, and by some margin. The

sutton-images.com

“The FIA was appalled by the scenes of racist abuse targeted at Lewis Hamilton,” said an FIA spokesman.

“Formula 1 is a global, multicultural sport and has never encountered such scenes before and will not tolerate them in future.”

The ‘Racing against Racism’ initiative was met with immediate support and approval by the Formula 1 teams, although F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has taken a slightly more guarded and realistic approach to the entire affair.

“I don’t think it’s necessary,” he said. “All it does, like all these things, is give attention to the people who want attention.

“I think in Barcelona it was the group of people who caused the same trouble at the football. I don’t think they’re fans; I don’t think they’re anything, and I don’t think they were supporting (Fernando) Alonso in particular.

“I think they just like to abuse people. It was a one-off, nothing to worry about.”

The next Raikkonen? Kovalainen, top, set the pace at Jerez and appears to have slotted into McLaren well.

Webber, above, topped Day 3.

Finn’s 1:17.974 was half a second faster than Coulthard managed on the final day. Webber’s best from day three was the third quickest lap overall, with Rosberg fourth.

So it is McLaren that seems to be the overall fastest over one lap, but the consistent pace of both Williams and Red Bull will have BMW, Renault and the rest of the midfield hopefuls running scared.

– WILL BUXTON

news

SINGAPORE SLUNG

Formula 1 fans are

THE BIGGEST WINNERS

GP fans fume as ticket booking system crashes on Day 1 FORMULA 1 FANS hoping to attend the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix, and the first Formula 1 race in history to be held at night, have experienced a week of frustration and disappointment as the computer systems set up to handle ticket request consistently failed to live up to expectation and demand.

Tickets went on sale on Thursday morning, but the computer system collapsed at the very start of trading with counter, telephone and internet orders providing little but annoyance to

the thousands of fans who tried, in vain, to purchase grandstand tickets.

The problems were so severe that the Singapore government’s Ministry of Trade and Industry had to issue a statement expressing grave concerns that very evening.

The problems continued throughout the weekend however, and organisers were forced to run a full-page advert in one of the country’s biggest newspapers, The Straits Times, which read “We Are Sorry” in huge, bold type.

“We know the frustrating time that many F1 fans have experienced over the past few days,” the apology read. “The ticketing system has improved considerably, but there may still be some delays at peak periods.

We apologise sincerely for the frustration and inconvenience that the system problems have caused. Rest assured we are doing everything possible to improve the system further.”

FORMULA 1

FORMULA 1 will be seen live in Australia this year.

Network 10 will televise all of the races live on its new highdefinition channel, 10 HD, with the exception of one, 30-minute delay to accommodate the network’s commitment to the Indian Premier League cricket series.

As well, HD will also feature MotoGP events and, as previously reported, live coverage of NASCAR’s Nationwide races, and delayed highlights of the Sprint Cup.

– WILL BUXTON

sutton-images.com

sutton-images.com

Ambrose secures 3-year deal NASCAR MARCOS Ambrose looks set to race full-time for JTG Racing next season.

Motorsport eNews believes that Ambrose has agreed to a three-year deal that will see him end his relationship with Wood Brothers Racing and move to the team that shares the Harrisburg, North Carolina facility.

Ambrose, who raced in the opening round of the Nationwide Series at Daytona last week, races for both teams at present.

His #59 Nationwide entry is run by Walter Giles of JTG, which also employs former Stone Brothers engineers Ken

Douglas and Paul Forgie.

His Sprint Cup program is split in two, running the famed #21 in 12 races for Wood Bros and also racing in another four races in JTG’s #47 car.

The potential sticking point may be sponsorship.

Ambrose will race with the backing of Little Debbie, the American snacks maker and will be seen as the front man for the brand.

Mid-season, Ambrose will take over the entry from Bill Elliott, and should he continue in Little Debbie colours, it may mean that the brand will have to leave Wood Bros.

Regardless, a three-year deal is great for Ambrose and for his growing international fans.

Ingall stars in really cheap ads V8 SUPERCARS SUPERCHEAP Auto is certainly taking the return of Russell Ingall to Holden seriously.

Ingall is the centrepiece of a television campaign that will start this weekend.

The ads, shot in a barn in Brisbane last week, feature the Enforcer putting his foot down on dodgy auto gear.

Peace Deal Imminent

Motegi set for new date: 16 rounds in merged series – will Honda sponsor the 300?

CHAMP CAR-INDYCAR UNIFICATION in the IndyCar-Champ Car world is expected to be announced this week.

Motorsport eNews believes that, following a meeting last week in Japan between Motegi track owners Honda and IndyCar boss Tony George, there will be a single series this season, starting at Homestead on March 19.

While there was no official word from either the IndyCar or Champ Car World Series and this edition of eNews closed,

our sources report than the outcome of the Japan meeting was “positive” and that there will be an announcement about a new date of the Motegi race in the next few days. Once that event’s April 19 date clash with Long Beach is cleared, it is expected that CCWS team owners will be able to formalise their move to what will then be the sole remaining series.

We have been told that the IndyCar series will consist of 11 oval races and five on road/street courses, including the Gold Coast Indy. That race has been sponsored

by Lexmark over the past five years, and its contract concluded with the chequered flag last October.

While no replacement has been named, there is a likely candidate waiting in the wings. Honda backed the Indy 300 between 1998 and 2002, and the sponsorship was one of the centrepieces of its marketing campaign. One contact in Japan said that the company would “jump at the opportunity” to be involved with the race again.

sutton-images.com

And, what do you do with 25 obsolete Champ Cars? This ...

CHAMP CAR-INDYCAR

A number of CCWS team owners have voiced dissatisfaction at the prospect of having a peace deal forced on them prior to the start of the 2008 season, and instantly having their fleet of yearold Panoz DP1 Champ Cars become obsolete. Conquest Racing recently took delivery of

sutton-images.com

ONE of the sticking points of the unification deal between IndyCar and the Champ Car World Series could have an elegant solution – maybe a choice of two.

a new DP1 and stock of spares, while some teams are reckoned to be carry more than US$1m in spares inventory.

But there appears to be a possible solution for the teams.

Elan Motorsport Technologies

is developing the new Super League car, left, and, while that features a normally aspirated V12 built by Menard Competition Technologies, it utilizes the same tub (and some of the same ancilliary systems) as the current Champ Car. Therefore, some of the cost of the Panozes may be recovered.

But there could be an even better plan. IndyCar’s current Dallara IR2 chassis has been racing in the series since 2003 and has been slated for an update in either 2009 or ’10. While the two series use

differing engine packages (a 2.65-litre, turbocharged Cosworth vs a 3-litre normallyaspirated Honda), the Panoz chassis could be updated to become the new IndyCar unit.

“It is possible,” said one prominent technical identity, who spoke to eNews on the condition of anonymity.

“It is actually relatively simple [to transplant engines]. The other work would be to the chassis, which was not designed for ovals. But it makes a lot of sense.”

BRIEFLY... n MINI Challenge organisers are believed to have fielded a lot of interest from competitors in the existing New Zealand series who are keen to join the Australian series when it supports the Bathurst 1000. n At last weeks Swedish Rally, the organisers paid tribute to the memory of Colin McRae by naming the large crest on the Vargasen stage that he made famous ‘Colin’s Crest’.

Works Ford driver Khalid Al Qassimi claimed McRae’s mantle this year, airborne for 36 metres from the crest in his first snow rally.

n Alex Wurz has been

full of praise for his former team-mate Nico Rosberg, rating him the fastest man in Formula 1 over a single lap, “… especially in qualifying, I think he is the best in paddock,” Wurz told Motorsport Aktuell.

Rosberg out-qualified the Austrian, now test driver for Honda, 16 times last year at Williams.

THESE are the colours in which Mark McNally and Brad Jones racing will tackle this year’s Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series.

McNally had his first drive of his VZ Commodore since it has been in Albury at Winton last weekend, and was the quickest of the FV8 cars sporting a

transponder, setting a best of 1:25.2s.

“That’s probably fair pace to what we’ve done in the past,” said McNally after the test.

“But I hadn’t done a 1:25s lap on old tyres before. So it was good to sneak into that 25s bracket on old rubber, and then do those low 25s laps when we put some better tyres on.

“Its just nice to be back out

there after having such a poor finish to last year, it felt like I was really getting some confidence back.

“And I couldn’t be happier after working with the new team. We set some goals at the start of the day and ticked all of those boxes. I feel like I’m fitting in really well and I’m really happy.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Girls galore in Formula 3 FORMULA 3

FAST femme Samantha Reid will return to national competition this weekend at the second round of the Australian Formula 3 Championship.

Reid will join TanderSport in her native South Australia for the Clipsal 500 this weekend, for what will be her second outing in a Formula 3 car.

She will drive the Dallara F304 that Leanne Tander took to second in last year’s Gold Star.

“I’m really excited to have the opportunity to race at Clipsal,” Reid enthused.

“Having raced at the Clipsal 500 in a Formula

Bang, Ouch

KLARK Quinn has a big scare at Rally Tasmania last weekend, surviving a mammoth crash.

Quinn and navigator Natasha Deniese were lucky to escape serious injury when their Impreza ran wide on a righthander and hit and earth bank.

The car was severely damaged, while Quinn suffered a handful of broken ribs and Deniese a broken arm.

Ford for the last three years, I’m confident around the circuit – plus it’s always great to race in front of your home crowd.”

Reid was due to test with the team at Mallala today (Monday).

Ash Budd

n BTCC to keep on trucking. Seven-time British Truck Racing Champion Stuart Oliver will make the switch to the touring cars driving a Lexus IS200 for BTC Racing in the British Championship.

FUJITSU V8s

Dirk Klynsmith

n Brake freedoms, unleaded fuel, a new Hoosier radial tyre, and three former touring car stars are expected to up the pace as the Biante Touring Car Masters kicks off at Clipal this weekend. John Bowe (’69 Camaro) and Glenn Seton (’70 RS1600 Escort) will join Jim Richards (’68 Mustang) in the field, talking on reigning Biante Champion and runner-up Steve Mason (’69 Camaro) and Gavin Bullas (’69 Mustang).

West Coast Warrior

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John Morris/Mpix

Careful boys, Larko’s watching CARRERA CUP MARK Larkham will fill the vacant position of Driving Standards Observer for Carrera Cup Australia, replacing Tomas Mezera who has moved on to officiate in V8 Supercars.

The former V8 driver and team owner is no stranger to the politics of motorsport. He was a founding

member of AVESCO and TEGA, spending eight years on their boards until 2006.

Larkham was also appointed to the board of the Australian Institute of Motor Sport Safety late last year.

“I have always admired the cost effective and competitive concept of the Carrera Cup, which puts significant emphasis on driver performance, which as a consequence will no doubt make

the role of DSO both a challenging and rewarding task,” said Larkham.

“The opportunity to provide guidance to non-professional and rookie drivers is another dimension of the role I embrace”.

“Mark is widely respected in motor sport circles and we are honoured he has taken up the role,” said Carrera Cup CEO Theo Psaros.

BRIEFLY... n Neil McFadyen is the newest recruit to the MINI Challenge.

McFadyen, 24, will join up with M3 Motorsport.

“I’m pumped about being involved in MINI Challenge and with M3 Motorsport,” said the ordinarily reserved McFadyen.

“The fact the car is a true race car and the whole setup of the Series behind the scenes is pretty exciting.

I’ve never raced a frontwheel drive car before, but from what I’m told, the MINI handles like a go-kart, so it should hold me in good stead given my experience in karting.”

McFadyen has won titles at almost every level of the sport, including four national karting championships, the Australian Formula Ford title in 2003 and the Gold Star a year later. n Peugeot has hired Christian Klien, Franck Montagny, Alexander Wurz and Ricardo Zonta to join its three-car team in the 2008 Le Mans 24 Hours, and re-upped with Jacques Villeneuve.

AASA take Targa Tas Famous tarmac rally gives CAMS the flick for 2008/09, slashing costs TARGA TASMANIA IN another blow to CAMS, the 2008 and 2009 Targa Tasmania events will run under the Australian AutoSport Alliance banner.

The switch to AASA is expected to save competitors $450 on the insurance costs, with coverage from Lloyd’s of London, the same insurer used

by CAMS. In a letter to competitors the events organisers Octagon stated, “There are many reasons for this change, largely related to the ongoing commercial viability of Targa Tasmania, coupled with the desire to continue to provide you with the Ultimate Tarmac Rally each year.”

The letter also states that the organisers carried out their due diligence on the AASA coverage and believed it to be “… at least equivalent to

our previous policy and in a number of instances, actually provides the event greater flexibility and protection for all parties.”

Next stop, Orion ...

n Plans have been finalised for a new FIAstandard race circuit that will be built near the Spanish town of Alcaniz, reports the Spanish ‘Diario As’ newspaper. The 3.3mile La Ciudad del Motor de Alcaniz track has been designed by the FIAapproved Formula 1 circuit architects, Tilke GmbH. n Five Formula 1 team principals have been confirmed as panel members at the inaugural Motor Sport Business Forum Middle East, to be held during the run-up to the Bahraini Grand Prix in April.

NEW FALCON THIS will be the basis of Ford’s new V8 Supercar.

The FG Falcon was released over the weekend, complete

with a raft of changes.

According to the motoring press the familiar names such as Fairmont are gone, with the ‘G’ tag being applied liberally.

For example, the G6, pictured,

the G6E and the G6E Turbo.

And of course there is the XR range, complete with a 6, a 6 Turbo, and an 8. And, in the not too distant future, a V8 Supercar.

news

Joel Strickland

Dean still calls Oz home ...

Herridge says he’s not ready to leave the Australian Rally Championship for dead just yet RALLYING DEAN Herridge will still do some rallying in Australia this season, despite confirming programs in both the Chinese Rally Championship and the Pacific Cup. The West Australian is currently tossing up between

doing the opening round of the Australian Rally Championship in Busselton, or converting his Group N Subaru WRX to tarmac form for Targa Tasmania. He might have done both events, but a shortage of parts for the new WRX has prevented plans to run a new 2008-spec car at Targa Tas, and

Trial route released RED CENTRE TO GOLD COAST TRIAL OVER 70 cars have already signed up for the 14th ‘Round Australia’ event, the 2008 Red Centre to Gold Coast Trial.

The historic rally will take up to 120 cars across a 7000km course beginning in Alice Springs on September 8, concluding 10 days later on the Gold Coast (September 20).

The trial will feature many roads never before used on Round Australia, mostly unsealed outback roads that will test the field of pre-1986 vehicles. Its route may be different but the event still retains its roots, competitors will spend several nights sleeping under the stars, as they did during the Redex Trial.

The events founder, 1970 Australian Rally Champion Bob Watson, Plans have been finalised for a new FIAstandard race circuit that will be built near the Spanish town of Alcaniz, reports the Spanish ‘Diario As’ newspaper.

The 3.3-mile La Ciudad del Motor de Alcaniz track has been designed by the FIA-approved Formula 1 circuit architects, Tilke GmbH, declared “this will be an event everyone will remember.”

“It is a serious rally conducted in the spirit of the events

preparation time won’t allow the same car to do both events.

“It’s hard when you’ve been doing the ARC for 10 years to just drop it like a hot potato,” Herridge told eNews.

“So we’re 50-50 on running the Forest Rally at this point.

“The dilemma comes from the fact that we won’t be able

to run an ’08 car at Targa. We haven’t given up on the ARC, but its just dropped down the list of priorities.”

Herridge is currently scheduled to do five events in China, the three rounds of the Pacific Cup and, most likely, the Targa West rally in Perth.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Casey wins a BMW, beats Rossi MOTO GP CASEY Stoner has fired the first shot in the 2008 MotoGP World Championship by topping the ‘qualifying’ session at Jerez.

Stoner won what has become known as Grand Prix Zero and, with it, a BMW Z4 roadster when he led the times in a 40-minute shoot-out in Spain. In drying conditions, he was more than a second faster than Valentino Rossi’s Bridgestone-shod Yamaha.

And, there laid the rub. For all the posturing over the Italian’s dramatic switch in tyres during the off-season, he had never ridden on the rubber in mixed

conditions. Stoner had – and it showed.

“We were able to use the same tyre for the whole session although I actually think I could have gone even faster if we’d have put a new one on at the end,” he grinned later.

“I’m really happy with the way the bike was working in the dry at the end of yesterday and in the wet today.”

For the record, 2007 started in exactly the same manner for Stoner …

Nicky Hayden was third fastest on his Honda, ahead of slip-and-slide guru Anthony West and Andrea Dovizioso, who continues to ride an 800cc GP bike like he has been doing it for years, not weeks.

Of greater concern for Ducati is Marco Melandri. The new recruit continues to struggle on the GP8 and later admitted it was hard to get anything done in the mixed conditions – an unusual thing to say when you are 3s slower than your team-mate. In fact, Melandri

was beaten on the day by Sylvain Guintoli on the D’Antin Ducati.

There were encouraging signs for Rossi. The pneumaticvalve Yamaha continues to be reliable and he was as fast through the speed traps as any other bike. But the flipside of that was, with good top

end and the same tyres to choose from as Stoner, Rossi was 1.3s slower than the World Champion.

As ever, Rossi made the most of the situation; “For me, today, second place is a good result,” he said.

Will we be hearing those words a lot this season?

Gobert goes sprinting at PCR SPEEDWAY

John Morris/Mpix

AUSSIE bike star Aaron Gobert had his first taste of a 800+ horsepower Sprintcar last Saturday night at Parramatta when he hit the clay in his own family-owned machine.

The 2004 AMA Superstock champion ran the regular PCR meeting, with the view of a full on assault next summer.

“I love the dirt, [I] grew up on the dirt [and] raced dirt bikes, it’s really been a part of my life as long as I can remember,” Aaron told eNews.

“It was great, it was very exciting, hard work. Hats off to the guys like Madsen,

Kinser, Danny ‘The Dude’. I love watching these guys and thought I better have a go. It was everything I could have expected, can’t wait to come back.”

Comparing the power of the Sprintcar to what he is used to Aaron said “the Sprintcar doesn’t compare to anything, it’s wide, it’s fast, just awesome!”

Aaron flies to America next week to start his US program and returns in September, when he will contest a number of club events, beliving he needs at least five meetings before he could enter the 2009Australian Sprintcar Title.

– GREG BOSCATO

news

5 Minutes with ...

RYAN NEWMAN

Winning the Daytona 500 is a career highlight and the Penske driver was emotional afterwards QUESTION: Ryan, can you walk us through the last lap?

What were you thinking was going to happen? How did it go?

RYAN NEWMAN: You honestly don’t know. I mean, I would say for sure the leader was a sitting duck on every restart.

I didn’t think the #31 [Jeff Burton] had the greatest car all day. We were fortunate that when they split apart that I got the chance to push Tony [Stewart]. That made a difference, because that lane moved, it gave Kurt [Busch] the opportunity to run the high line, which he wanted to.

Kind of, the moons just aligned.

When I pushed Tony through [Turns] 1 and 2, part of one and two, I was hoping he was going to hang on to it because I was pushing as hard as I could. We broke free.

Kurt came up behind me off of [Turn] 2 and just gave me the push from heaven. It was awesome. Listening to my dad on the radio, spotting for me, all the other things, all the other emotions, all the hard work, people that gave me a shot racing quarter midgets, midgets, Sprintcars, Silver Crown cars. I have to thank everybody, including the fans.

When you’re coming off [Turn] 2 [on] the last lap, you see Tony go low, you must have been dumbfounded.

What were you thinking right then the next two or three seconds?

I know Tony was mirror driving.

I was doing the same thing.

Tony saw his team-mate coming. Obviously, you want that push. You want that push

from your team-mate versus anybody else. I was going to do what I had to, to shuck and jibe him there to make a run down the back straightaway.

You’re right. He opened the door. The seas parted.

Like I said, Kurt was the push from heaven that made it all happen. I have to thank Kurt first and foremost. But, you know, Tony was very much a sportsman. He could have made that Home Depot Dodge [Ed: Toyota] extremely wide, and he chose to race.

Ryan, when you’re coming down the backstretch, you have Kurt Busch underneath you, half a lap to go for the Daytona 500. Is there a moment where you have to push the thoughts of winning the 500 out of your head to finish the job? Talk about that inner struggle. Do you have time to think about that?

My dad was spotting for me. I could hear the tears dripping going down the back straightaway over the radio. He was emotional, as he always is.

confidence that you had, you said you felt really good about your car, your team, whatnot. Do you just sit back and kind of grin and say, ‘Good, I got ‘em where I want ‘em, they’re not talking about me, we can do this without any pressure’?

No, the pressure doesn’t change anything. I’ve been on both sides of that. I don’t think it affects the way I drive or the team’s performance.

I would definitely say, ‘yeah, you’re right’. There was a lot of

IT WAS A TEAM EFFORT ON OUR PART. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, WE DIDN’T BEAT OURSELVES NOT TO MENTION THE $1M BONUS FROM CHRYSLER When you woke up this morning, what did you think your chances were of winning this race?

Really good. I honestly did.

Why? It happens to you, no matter what you do, what sport you’re in. I had people come up to me and say, ‘Today’s your day’. I can feel it. I know it.

And you want to say, ‘yeah, I feel it, too’. You kind of want to go with the flow.

So many things could have happened and taken us out of it. But I felt that we had a car that was capable of winning with the Alltel Dodge.

You know, I felt that way throughout all practices.

We cut our practice short yesterday just to be conservative. You know, like I said, all the moons aligned.

It happened. It happened right.

Rightfully so. He’s put so much effort into making me a racecar driver and the person that I am.

My mother, as well.

But to listen to him, I knew I had a really good push from Kurt. I knew when Kurt pushed me that he was locked in. Granted, if we had the opportunity at the start/finish line, I would have raced him like I raced anybody else. But he did a great job.

It was just awesome. I mean, I got that tingly feeling. You only get that in certain things, you know what I mean (smiling)?

I didn’t get it there; just down my back (smiling). Everybody’s toes curl two ways (winking).

Ryan, all week long I’m sure watching TV or reading or whatnot, all anybody talked about was Toyota, Gibbs, Hendrick, Chevrolet ...

Junior. ... Junior. Having the

talk about Toyota. There was a lot of talk about Hendrick, the strengths that they had. I thought that we were extremely competitive in the Gatorade Duel on Thursday.

[They] had a winning racecar, [they] just didn’t get a chance to show it on that last restart.

I thought that we were capable of beating half the field after Thursday. I didn’t know what the guys were going to have. I thought [the] #8 team was extremely strong today. He [Mark Martin] was stout.

I think the #20 [Stewart] gave up a little bit. He played patience, a little cat and rabbit there. He definitely, obviously, showed up when he needed to.

Either way, I don’t look back after it and say, ‘Hey, man, we just beat those guys’. It was a team effort on our part to beat everybody. And most importantly, we didn’t beat ourselves.

chat

NASCAR MEDIA

Six becomes eight, becomes 10 opinion Neil Crompton Commentator GOING into this weekend’s V8 opener, the Clipsal 500, I have a hunch that the contest at the front of the 2008 V8 Supercar field is going to be more intense than ever.

For most of last season, you could be guaranteed that two HSV cars, two Triple 8 cars, and two HRT cars would be in the mix.

As the year went on, FPR also became a regular factor. Indeed, if they hadn’t had a mini-lull in the middle of the season, Frosty and Richo could easily have been in championship contention. So six became eight.

With all the movement in the off-season, and the revised driver/car pairings, I believe that eight might just about become 10. And if you can say that oneTake eight contenders and add two: Crompton reckons Toddler (left) and the JD Racing third of the field – in any motorsport – has Commodore and James Courtney (right – Jeld-Wen Falcon) will be in the frame in 2008. a genuine, regular, opportunity to take out podiums, then you’ve got a very healthy contest! the team are ready.

Lowndes had a failure, so there’s a bit of an My two fresh contenders? The The other ‘fresh’ factor will, especially unknown element there. interlopers? I reckon that Todd Kelly has in the early races, be the switch – or Weather? For once, it looks like drivers something to prove and, moving across to otherwise – to the new sequential aren’t going to suffer. As I write the LP’s team, will lift the black car into the fray. Holinger gearbox. I’m hearing mixed forecast is 22 degrees for Saturday, 24 The other is James Courtney. It’s time to reports from the test days which suggests degrees for Sunday. deliver, he’s good enough – and although that the jury is out in terms of time gain, All the elements suggest a cracker of a testing results can be deceptive, he did or loss (especially as drivers learn how to race, and a pretty competitive season. enough at QR last week to suggest he and use the sequential best), and I heard that Here we go again …

Letters

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

HD not all-reaching What a bloody joke! Channel 10HD secures the rights to the NASCAR season – that’s great ... as long as you live in the city.

Southern Cross 10, which broadcasts 10HD down here, is not yet capable of handling transmissions. A free-to-air service that is out of reach! At least last year you could watch on pay TV. I wonder how many

other areas are in the same boat? Not much thought went into this bungled deal – what do we lose next?

Tony Bailey, Narooma tonyb73@bigpond.com Numbers all-important I agree with Glen Sansom’s comments about the numbers on the side of the cars but, as an official, having the numbers

in the side windows means it is much easier for us officials to identify which car is which.

The major problem with the old style was that the teams didn’t have a mandatory size and colour for their numbers.

This allowed the teams to merge the numbers in with their sponsors, and if there was an incident or a naughty driver that had to be reported to race

control, in some cases, it made it very hard to identify which car/driver it was.

The testing of revised numbers on Garth Tander’s car at last year’s PI race showed how clear it was to see that it was him and not Rick Kelly.

What I’d like to see is the big door numbers like you see on NASCAR ...

Name/address withheld

Peter Bury

Okay, let’s play the numbers game ... opinion Phil Branagan Executive Editor I HAVE also been thinking about numbers a bit recently.

And by ‘numbers’, I do not mean that goofy-looking guy who solves crimes with calculus and sine curves on Channel 10, or television viewing audiences – which is another interesting topic in itself …

Just recently, a few people Bye bye Bernie?

After reading that ‘Mr FI’ wants to give the Australian race to Russia I can only hope he does.

After last years rubbish I think it would be a good thing.

I have enjoyed all forms of motor racing most of my 61 years, but F1 has lost me.

I believe that the money that is lost on putting the race on could be spent putting on other events – like a 24 Hr at Bathurst like the Daytona 24 Hr. Just look at the name drivers in the field and imagine what it would be like to see some of our blokes racing against them.

Keith Wilson Email supplied (withheld)

have grizzled to me about the reduction in numbers on the V8 Supercar grid. It seems that 30 is not enough, and the 28 or so that will suit up in Adelaide is downright catastrophic.

Sorry, but I fail to see that. I find it hard to register that the number of cars in the V8SCS is not the envy of most series in the world.

Okay, NASCAR’s Sprint Cup is bigger, so is the Nationwide, but that is NASCAR, and an exception. Both Champ Car and IndyCar would rule the

world with that many cars; the World Rally Championship and MotoGP are well below that figure. The DTM? Not close.

The British Touring Car Championship is close and there are any number of Poms who delight in telling me that their series (which I believe resembles golf cart racing in sheer spectacle) rivals our V8s for the number of participants.

When I turn the conversation to depth of field, the mumbling usually starts on the other side.

eLETTER OF THE WEEK Two winners? No more ...

My understanding of the Clipsal 500 is that the winner of Race 2 has been the Clipsal 500 winner – but the winner of the Adelaide round of the championship has been the driver with the most points.

These may not be the

same driver, as in 2000 and 2007 where Garth Tander and Todd Kelly won the Clipsal 500 ‘round’ but Mark Skaife and Rick Kelly won the 500 due to their race 2 wins.

I have heard that V8SA have changed this ruling and that the winner of the Clipsal

And we have not even mentioned Formula 1 yet …

Quality? Tick. V8 Supercars has that, in spades. Quantity?

Still a tick.

Teams lose sponsors in motor racing. Sometimes they recover, even flourish, sometimes they don’t. That is the nature of the beast.

It has been a short offseason, filled with action. But now, with the noise less than 72 hours away, it seems like a long, long time since early December ...

500 round is the winner of Race 2 no matter the point score. Can you confirm this?

I have also heard they have retrospectively changed the round results of the 2000 and 2007 500s. True?

Trevor Campbell trevor.campbell@awmlimited. com.au ED: Yes, and yes. A bi-product was that when Skaife won Eastern Creek last year, he’d actually already broken the 37-round win record ...

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

V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES TESTING SPECIAL

Half the Picture

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Old tyres, new gearboxes, fresh rookies – testing times generally only give you half of the story when it comes to being a form guide. With just days to go before the season-opening Clipsal 500, MOTORSPORT eNEWS presents you with a wrap up of last week’s testing at Winton and Queensland Raceway.

But beware, there is still a big picture to unfold in Adelaide ...

Dirk Klynsmith

I

T’S no secret that testing doesn’t always offer a true indication of who will do what during the new season.

There are big questions marks over who was running what rubber, what systems each driver was installing, who was just running in diffs and gearboxes and etcetera.

But, using last week’s two official V8 Supercar test days from Winton and Queensland Raceway as a guide, there are a few obvious pointers to the form for season 2008.

Take Winton for example.

Topping the timesheets was Garth Tander, whose 1:23.60s was a couple of tenths faster than Rick Kelly – that’s the pole-sitter from Phillip Island last year and the reigning Champion, first and second on the sheets. Sure, Tander may be driving for a new team (sort of ), and sure, Kelly’s HSV squad has a slightly different look

opinion Andrew van Leeuwen eNews Deputy Editor to it than it did in December.

But one thing is for sure – the Clayton Commodores won’t be lacking speed this year.

Third on the sheets at Winton, and basically matching RK’s time, was Lee Holdsworth. The GRM Commodore only has a slight upgrade in horsepower at the moment, with the full Walkinshaw-spec donks due sometime in the first few rounds, but still the car, and its talented young driver, shows plenty of potential.

The fastest Ford in Victoria was Mark Winterbottom, who edged out FPR team-mate Steve Richards and Jason Bright.

There were a few other surprises from the Winton test, Andrew Jones setting the ninth fastest lap, basically matching the FPR cars and

Todd Kelly for speed on his first outing in a VE Commodore.

But team-mate Cam McConville was surprisingly off the pace, a further 0.4s down the road, which were put down to brake balance problems.

It was also the first outing in a V8 Supercar for Michael Patrizi, the open-wheeler regular completing 97 laps of familiarisation in the Speed FX Ford. He may have come from the competitive world of European Formula 3 racing, but a V8 is a unique beast, and by the end of the day his best was 3.2s shy of the front-running pace, and about 1.5s off the times being done by Fujitsu front-runners Mark McNally, Dale Wood and David Reynolds.

In Queensland, there were questions about the surface, but when the Northerners took to the track, times weren’t dissimilar to qualifying pace from last year’s Ipswich round.

Like Winton, there was nothing of a huge surprise at the top of the field, with James Courtney and Jamie Whincup leading the way.

One unusual name near the top was Fabian Coulthard, who was having his first run in the new-look Glenfords Racing entry. He was fifth fastest, matching the times of DJR pair Steve Johnson and Will Davison.

Paul Morris out-paced his new team-mate Russell Ingall, albeit by just a couple of tenths, while Shane Van Gisbergen was bedding in new componentry and about a second off Courtney’s pace.

Karl Reindler was the fastest DVS car at QR, the rookie going a couple of hundredths faster than his very experienced Howard Racing team-mate Dean Canto.

So what can we really glean from all of this? Not too much, except bring on this weekend!

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Marshall Cass

V8 Supercar Championship | Testing times Pos # Driver

Dirk Klynsmith

Testing, testing: Coulthard, top, was fast at Queensland, while Lowndes, below, wasn’t. Andy Jones, above, was fast at Winton, while ‘L Plater’ Patrizi, left, wasn’t.

Team/Car

Fastest Lap

James Smith Marshall Cass

Winton Tuesday February 12 1 1 Garth Tander Holden Racing Team Commodore VE 1:23.6048 2 15 Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team Commodore VE 1:23.8809 3 33 Lee Holdsworth Garry Rogers Motorsport Commodore VE 1:23.8914 4 2 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Commodore VE 1:24.0220 5 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Falcon BF 1:24.2953 6 6 Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Falcon BF 1:24.3145 7 25 Jason Bright Britek Racing Falcon BF 1:24.3570 8 7 Todd Kelly Perkins Engineering Commodore VE 1:24.3633 9 12 Andrew Jones Brad Jones Racing Commodore VE 1:24.4172 10 51 Greg Murphy Tasman Motorsport Commodore VE 1:24.4337 11 16 Paul Dumbrell HSV Dealer Team Commodore VE 1:24.4830 12 11 Shane Price Perkins Engineering Commodore VE 1:24.5552 13 3 Jason Richards Tasman Motorsport Commodore VE 1:24.6215 14 50 Andrew Thompson PWR Racing Commodore VE 1:24.6912 15 34 Michael Caruso Garry Rogers Motorsport Commodore VE 1:24.8856 16 14 Cam McConville Brad Jones Racing Commodore 1:24.8963 17 55 Tony D’Alberto Rod Nash Racing Commodore VE 1:25.2464 18 74 Mark McNally Brad Jones Racing Commodore VZ 1:25.2976 19 46 Dale Wood Greg Murphy Racing Commodore VZ 1:25.4616 20 28 Matthew White Matthew White Racing Falcon BA 1:25.6784 21 47 Sam Walter Greg Murphy Racing Commodore VZ 1:25.6909 22 99 David Reynolds Tony D’Alberto Racing Commodore VZ 1:25.7824 23 26 Marcus Marshall Britek Racing Falcon BF 1:25.9846 24 73 Marcus Zukanovic Action Racing Commodore VZ 1:26.0870 25 777 Michael Patrizi Speed FX Falcon BA 1:26.8554 Queensland Raceway Thursday February 14 1 4 James Courtney Stone Brothers Racing Falcon BF 1:10.5881 2 88 Jamie Whincu Triple 8 Race Engineering Falcon BF 1:10.6422 3 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Falcon BF 1:10.8445 4 18 Will Davison Dick Johnson Racing Falcon BF 1:10.9230 5 111 Fabian Coulthard Paul Cruickshank Racing Falcon BF 1:10.9423 6 888 Craig Lowndes Triple 8 Race Engineering Falcon BF 1:11.2669 7 67 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Commodore VE 1:11.3749 8 39 Russell Ingall Paul Morris Motorsport Commodore VE 1:11.5793 9 9 Shane Van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Racing Falcon BF 1:11.7856 10 27 Karl Reindler Howard Racing Falcon BA 1:12.0199 11 37 Dean Canto Howard Racing Falcon BA 1:12.0426 12 94 Jonathon Webb Stone Brothers Racing Falcon BA 1:12.0550 13 45 Shannon O’Brien O’Brien Motorsport Falcon BA 1:12.3959

NASCAR SPRINT CUP ROUND 1 – DAYTONA 500

race race

Dodge the Bullets NASCAR Media

Just when it looked like an Earnhardt-Stewart fight for the 50th Daytona 500, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Penske scored an historic 1-2. MARTIN D CLARK was there

DALE Earnhardt Jr should have won the Daytona 500. Tony Stewart should have won the Daytona 500.

But they didn’t. Ryan Newman did. And to make the win all the sweeter, when he ended a near-two year winless streak, he did it with Penske team-mate Kurt Busch nailed to his back bumper.

“Kurt Busch is an awesome team-mate,” commented Newman, “I couldn’t have done it without him. Granted, it could have been someone else, but they wouldn’t have pushed my like he did.

“The last restart (with three laps to run) was just plain crazy, we were three and four-wide.

There, going in (Turn) one, I got on Tony’s bumper, he held it straight as I couldn’t afford to let off we got a good run after that with Kurt behind us. It’s all about being in the right place at the right time.”

What should have been was an Earnhardt win. His Hendrick Chev was the class of the field and dominated last week’s Bud Shootout, and took the first of the Gatorade Duels (Denny Hamlin winning the other). But the ominous sight all week was the #88 Chev and Stewart’s #20 Toyota, running side-by-side

and both looking comfortable.

What decided the race was the ‘no call’ for Earnhardt’s crew chief (and cousin) Tony Eury. Junior pitted for fuel and tyres on lap 152; as the other contenders pitted for two or four tyres when the yellows flew late in the race, he didn’t.

When everyone got up to speed, Earnhardt was leading but a sitting duck. He finished ninth.

The race was run at a fearsome pace, with just two cautions in 151 of the 200 laps.

As dusk settled all hell broke loose; Juan Pablo Montoya spun out leader Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson was involved in a wreck with Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex, and the final caution came when Stewart punted out Casey Mears.

Final result; Newman (Dodge), Kurt Busch (Dodge), Stewart (Toyota), Kyle Busch (Toyota), Sorenson (Dodge), Kahne (Dodge), R Gordon (Dodge), Travis Kvapil (Ford), Biffle (Ford).

The Boys in Blue: Newman emerged victorious from a major war on the final laps. The Penske Dodges of Newman and Busch, #2, were the only ones to have speed to challenge Stewart, #20, and Earnhardt, #88.

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First Loves

Junior and Toyota broke the ice in the Duels LOVE is usually in the air on Valentine’s Day – and Dale Earnhardt Jr loves nothing more than winning.

NASCAR Media

When you need your chocolate delivered fast: Hamlin and team-mate Kyle Busch, above, showed some Camry speed in the second Duel, after Earnhardt, far left, won the first.

Ambrose, below in patriotic colours, had a nightmare in the opening Nationwide race of the season.

NASCAR Media

– MARTIN D CLARK

Smoke 1, Tasmania 0

Ford Racing Media

Sterling Marlin, Eric McClure, Boris Said, Ken Schrader, Barrett and Bill Elliott. The former series champion drives for the Wood Brothers, and this was the first time they had missed the 500 since 1962 – and that was by their choice.

This time, their slot was effectively taken by Penske Racing, which swapped owner points from Kurt Busch to Sam Hornish over the winter, getting Hornish in the show on Busch’s 2007 points. Busch used a past champion’s provisional when his Dodge developed electrical issues.

NASCAR Media

Earnhardt continued his winning ways with a victory in the first Gatorade Duel (his first for Hendrick Motorsport) and Toyota scored its first Cup Series win when Denny Hamlin took the spoils in the second.

Junior led 25 of the 60 laps, took over for good with eight laps to run and, with Reed Sorenson pushing, Earnhardt won from Ryan Newman, Casey Mears and Carl Edwards.

Hamlin eased past Joe Gibbs team-mate Tony Stewart on a late ‘overtime’ restart, the pair heading Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin to the flag.

Jacques Villeneuve caused a major shunt in the second race when he got loose and whipped out Dario Franchitti, Jamie McMurray and Stanton Barrett, ending the former F1 champion’s bid at making his first 500.

Others that missed the 50th running of the 500 included Patrick Carpentier, AJ Allmendinger, Carl Long,

While Ambrose struggled, Tony Stewart dominated every aspect of the Nationwide race TONY Stewart did not so much as win Saturday’s Nationwide (formerly Busch) race at Daytona as give a driving lesson.

After qualifying on pole, he led early, stopped to make adjustments on pit road, and then forged back to the front. From there, he received help from his new Joe Gibbs Racing team-mate Kyle Busch, who pushed him to the front for the win in front of Dale Earnhardt Jr, Brian Vickers (in another Toyota) and the Ford of Matt Kenseth.

“I think if we had another 100 laps to run,

they were going to have a hard time as “It’s been a bad day,” remarked Ambrose, long as Kyle and I were together,” remarked “it’s not the way you want to start the Stewart of his run to the chequers. season. We scrubbed the wall just a little Marcos Ambrose glanced the wall – bit, and then cut a tyre about seven or which laps later led to a cut right rear tyre eight laps later. in Turn 1 – and he sideswiped the wall “We came in and fixed it and went back again to further damage sheet metal that out, and then we lost the sheet metal. We after repairs would cut yet another tyre. did everything but crash again, came in Ambrose qualified 33rd and was making and fixed that. Then we cut another tyre. In some headway in the first half until trouble the end we called it day. struck. He ended his day a disappointing “We’ll go back to the shop, set a plan and 39th after completing 103 of the 120-lap see everyone in California next week.”

– MARTIN D CLARK race.

DRAG RACING SUMMER NATIONALS – WSID

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Summer Loving

Records, maiden wins and blow-ups – all the drama was at the Summer Nationals last weekend.

BY DANIEL POWELL

John Morris/Mpix

I

John Morris/Mpix John Bosher

T was an upset Top Fuel final result for Martin Stamatis when he romped to victory over the weekend in the Summer Nationals at Western Sydney International Dragway.

Stamatis took to the final in Top Fuel on his own due to his challenger Steve ‘Pommy’ Read damaging his engine during his semi-final final victory over Amanda Shepherd. But despite being on his lonesome, Stamatis posted a slick 4.806s pass at 238.13mph on his way to victory.

The march to the final for Stamatis saw the Western Australian down Terry Sainty in the opening round, and then took his place in the final by out-pacing former Australian champion Darren Morgan in the semi-final.

Steve Read’s charge saw him too quick for the returning Luke Shepherd in the opening round, and then he out-ran Luke’s cousin Amanda in the semi-final. But unfortunately he was unable to take part in the final due to a lack of replacement engine parts.

Amanda Shepherd continued her impressive rookie season when, after qualifying eighth in the field, she defeated current Australian Champion and fastest qualifier Phil Read in the opening round of eliminations in what was simply a huge boilover.

In the Top Doorslammer action it was a huge turn up for the books when Maurice Fabietti defeated the in-form and current Australian Championship points-leader John Zappia in the final in what was the quickest side-by-side pass ever in the Top Doorslammer category.

Despite Zappia posting a faster pass of 5.958s, Fabietti, with a 6.0s pass, took the victory due to getting a better holeshot off the start line.

Earlier in the preliminaries it was local racer Deno Brijeski who paced the field in qualifying by topping the time sheets by breaking into the 5s bracket.

Fabietti defeated Peter Blake in the opening round of eliminations and then went on to down Ben Bray in the semi-final. Zappia’s charge to the final saw him make easy work of Brijeski, in the opening round and he then went on to eliminate Brett Stevens in the semi-final.

Other Group 1 winners over the weekend were Stevens (Top Alcohol), New Zealander Athol Williams (Top Bike), Jason Lee (Pro Stock – Motorcycles) and Aaron Tremayne (Pro Stock – Sedans).

The other big news of the night was Kath Stevens celebrating her 31st birthday by becoming the first female to run a sub-six second pass in a Doorslammer anywhere in the world.

“This is amazing,” said Stevens.

“We have been working and developing our Brett Stevens Racing-built Ford Falcon Top Doorslammers now for around 18 months and it has all finally paid off.”

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John Morris/Mpix

Ford Versus Holden: Maurice Fabietti won the day in Doorlsammer, above, but Kath Stevens set a World Record, below.

John Bosher

John Morris/Mpix

The WSID of NZ: Kiwi Athol Williams, left, took the honours in Top Bike after Jay Upton’s Triumph went bang.

A modern Tasmanian classic RALLY TASMANIA

minute clear of Roger Paterson in a 1974 Porsche 911 RS while another Perana, driven by David McDonough was third.

“It’s a bit of a relief actually to get to the finish line today.” said Wearing.

“We got to the front early and got a good lead, and today we just thought we should consolidate.”

Ash Budd

STEVE Glenney dominated the Modern class of Rally Tasmania, with Cameron Wearing taking the Classic title in a Ford Capri Perana.

Glenney and co-driver Bernie Webb claimed 18 out 20 stages in his Mitsubishi Evo8 that won last year in the hands of Allan Simonsen.

A minute behind them was the experienced combo of Jim Richards and Barry Oliver with a Porsche GT3 RS, while Tony Longhurst was third in a Les Walkden preped Subaru WRX STI. “The car was faultless and helped us build a good lead early on in the event,” said Glenney.

Wearing finished nearly a

McIntyre’s leads despite Fogg NZ V8s

Defending Champion John McIntyre has retained the NZV8 Series lead despite two wins to Angus Fogg and David Besnard claiming the reverse grid race.

Fogg, leading below, dominated proceedings, starting with pole position after debuting a self-built car. He reset the lap

record in Race 1 before it rained.

He lept away in Race 2 with McIntyre chasing from fifth after a poor start.

Mechanical issues in qualifying saw Besnard start from the rear of the grid for Race 1 and carving his way through the field to seventh in the 14-lap race. Paul Radisich also rebounded from poor opening races, second to Besnard in the reverse

grid race, working up from mid-pack.

Consitencey has paid off for McIntyre. He has finished top-10 in ever round this year.

“It’s very easy to lose points, but hard to gain them back,” said Fogg.

“But it is doubly rewarding to build and race the car.”

Points: McIntyre 737, Fogg 658, Kayne Scott 621, Radisich 520, Paul Manuell 509.

Knight reels in Earl TRS

Ewan Cameron

The Baird’s Blitz SPEEDWAY NZ GT3 CUP

Ewan Cameron

Craig Baird made a clean sweep of the Porsche GT3 Cup at Manfeild, New Zealand.

The series leader was plagued in the first two races

by Daniel Gaunt, the pair blasted past pole man Jono Lester into Turn 1 and despite, establishing an early lead Baird reeled in and passed Gaunt to win the first race.

Baird claimed Race 2 from pole, while NZ team-mate David Reynolds made his way from the back of the grid to sixth after gearbox dramas in the first race.

The pair were the stars of Race 2, speeding clear of the field with Reynolds unable to find a way around Baird, who took the round from Gaunt and a consistent Jody Vincent, to boost his series lead.

The Toyota Racing Series lead of Andy Knight was reduced

by Earl Bamber, who claimed two race wins at Manfeild.

Bamber, pictured below, won the Dan Higgins Trophy feature race after Knight spun with the line in sight, the pair earlier scoring a win each.

Nathan Antunes spun out of early contention, forcing him to pit, while Bamber and Knight

pulled 8s clear of Sam MacNeill.

Knight ended his chances on the last lap, spinning into the gravel before the front straight, Bamber leading home MacNeill and Nelson Hartley.

Bamber earlier lead from pole to claim Race 1 with Knight passing Hatrley to finish second.

In the second race, Knight leapt away with a late mistake from Bamber letting Hartley into second.

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Buemi and Fauzy win in Sentul GP2 ASIA

sutton-images.com

Sebastien Buemi and Fairuz Fauzy recorded a win each during the second round of the GP2 Asia Series at Sentul, Indonesia.

Buemi landed the first blow, claiming the drama-filled feature race win after Luca Fillippi was excluded post-race for using his team-mate’s allocated tyres.

Bruno Senna and Hiroki Yoshimoto fought for lead during much of the race until they both received drive-through penalties for passing the Safety Car before

it reached pit lane.

This granted Filipi the lead from Buemi, with Round 1 winner Romain Grosjean fifth after a poor pitstop sent him back to 18th. Post-race, Buemi was granted the win, Adrian Valles second and rookie Ben Hanley third, with Senna working his way back to seventh.

Fauzy was able to lead the field from start to finish in the partial reverse-grid feature race. The rain-soaked race, run mostly under safety cars and in the limited green laps, Senna challenged Fauzy, both pictured, and was set to pass until a lap car

interfered, nearly costing Senna second place. Buemi made up one position to seventh while Vitaly Petrov claimed third.

Series points: Grosjean 27, Senna 17, Valles 15, Fauzy 14, Buemi 10.

Brooke wings it SPEEDWAY

SPEEDWAY

led impressive rookie Stuart Williams and the ‘gas girl’ Kelly Linigen in the top six finishers.

Sharing the front row with Darley was Roddy BellBowen and he jumped into the feature race lead. A lap 8 incident saw BellBowen spinning out in Turn 3 retiring with front end damage. That gave the lead to Loudoun until Dumesny powered into the lead.

WA star Ken Satori looked fast and had moved into third position but with five to go, Turn 2 caught his Cool sprinter out and he crashed heavily into the outer wall. While the car was junked, Sartori emerged unhurt.

– GREG BOSCATO

Paris Charles

Last Saturday night the rain stayed away long enough for Ian Loudon to win Round 14 of the Parramatta City Raceway track championship.

Second generation racer Mitch Dumesny blasted from position nine to pass race leader Ian Loudoun in the second half of the race and looked to have the race in hand. But with just two laps to run, young Dumesny slid wide exiting turn two and lost momentum.

That was all Loudoun needed to regain control scoring the win over Dumesny with Scott Darley third. A fast-finishing Marty Perovich

John Morris/Mpix

Mitch gifts Ian

Brooke Tatnell showed his class to power home to victory, in the 40-lap Jack Daniels Australian Sprintcar Nationals at Adelaide’s Speedway City.

Such was nature of the event the first three cars into victory lane had all inexplicably suffered front wing component failure.

The homecoming of Trevor Green proved to be a festive occasion, charging hard the entire distance to claim second over Max Dumesny, who had a rugged journey on to the final step of the podium.

He uncharacteristically rolled his Maxim over on two

separate occasions earlier in the program.

Danny Reidy and the hardcharging Luke Dillon rounded out the top five.

Robbie Farr led the feature in the early goings and looked comfortable until his top wing brackets broke, collapsing the sideboard and giving Tatnell the opportunity to reel in the leader. Farr eventually retired to the infield with front end damage after coming together with Tatnell as he made his way past.

Ryan Jones won the 360 Sprintcar National, leading home early race leader Michael Burford and the brothers, Steven and Mark.

– PARIS CHARLES

rear of grid

There will never be truer meaning to the term ‘Hot footing it to the finish line’ than what unfolded during the South Australian Formula 500 Championship.

West Australian Steven Gay dominated the event in his

#19 Sunny Vale Plants Stallard, claiming three heats to lead the race unchallenged.

Inside the cockpit Gay was suffering intense pain with burns to his foot after a radiator line had broken spraying boiling hot coolant

onto his race boot and subsequently burning the top of his right foot.

Gay drove straight to the St. John Ambulance on the infield after greeting the chequered flag and was treated..

The podium presentation

Odd Spot

Paris Charles

Gay hot foots it to the line

was shifted to the back of the ambulance with, pictured left to right, Leigh Van Ginneken second behind Gay, Steve Caunt third and Kym Gower, the best-placed local, in fourth joining the St John officer.

– PARIS CHARLES

Rossi blows out candles Valentino Rossi was presented with a special birthday cake helmet design to coincide with his birthday.

The design created by Aldo Drudi, the man responsible for his often outlandish designs, features ‘Happy Brithday Vale’ written in Italian amongst a number of candles with various other trimmings around the sides.

The helmet, which Rossi unveiled on the opening day of testing at Jerez, was in celebration of his 29th birthday.

Sadly, the mouth-watering safety device did not help Rossi bridge the gap to Casey Stoner on the Sunday so he had to settle on the helmet as birthday gift, missing out on the BMW on offer to the day’s fastest rider.