Motorsport eNews Issue 51 - April 22-28, 2008

The world of motorsport every week – directly to your desktop

Issue No. 051 22-28 April 2008

FIRST & LAST

Danica makes racing history in Japan, while power wins final Long beach GP

Typical tander

reigning champ’s ultimate hamilton debut

Editorial Editor: Grant Rowley grant@mnews.com.au Deputy Editor: Andrew van Leeuwen andrew@mnews.com.au Staff Journalist: Phillip Mahoney philm@mnews.com.au Executive Editor: Phil Branagan editor@mnews.com.au

Australasian

The ‘A’ Team

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Chris Lambden publisher@mnews.com.au

Contributing Writers F1: Will Buxton, 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.

Issue No. 051 | 22-28 April 2008

news 4 Power/Passion 6 Still feeling blue?

11 Trace Out 12 Looking O/S 14 Jay-Jay

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

race 24 V8 Supercars 30 Targa Tas 34 Champ Car 38 gIRL 36 Tin Tops

Will’s will to win Blue Oval deals not done Is PT’s career over?

Fiore Europe bound Verdnik looks to double Fabulous Coulthard Leading Light This guy hates chicanes Heroes of Hamilton Glenney’s Glory Goodbye, says Will That should be IndyCar Willowbank Erupts!

trade 52 Trade and Industry / Raceshop / Classifieds

welcome Get it right, Seb! You French and your red wine, I don’t know ...

International photos supplied by Sutton Images, www.sutton-images.com – click here to check out their exclusive poster deals

Fuelling Power Strategy plays a big part in Power’s win. And Danica’s, too ...

INDYCAR FUEL strategy played a huge role in the wins of Danica Patrick and Will Power on the weekend.

On a unique weekend, which saw IndyCar teams race in two venues on the opposite sides of the Pacific, Patrick became the first female driver to win a major international race when she took the Japan Indy 300 at Motegi on Sunday afternoon, Australian time. On Monday morning, Power took out the final race for Champ Cars in California.

Patrick, 26, used superior fuel management to win on the Honda-owned Motegi oval. Just before the track went green with 58 laps to go, she was one of three

drivers (the others being Helio Castroneves and Ed Carpenter) to pit for a top-up and that was the deciding factor in the race.

One by one, the leaders, led by Scott Dixon, pitted for fuel and Patrick was on the spot to take the twin chequers.

“I knew the last stint would be important,” said Patrick. “It would be close on fuel.

“With about 10 laps to go I started wondering where Helio was. He backed up and seemed to be running out of fuel so I was able to pass him.

I didn’t know I was leading until I looked at the leader board and saw my number 7 car shown at the top. The team told me to use as much fuel as I wanted to the checkered flag.”

Despite the nature of her win, the opposition drivers

were most complimentry of her strategy after the race, with Castroneves saying that he had no answer when she took the lead on lap 198 of the 200-lap race.

Ironically, considering that Patrick has become something of a media darling in her fiveyear Indycar career, the win could not have some as a worse time. The Motegi race, which was rained off from its original Saturday date, was run in the middle of the night in the USA, meaning that almost no-one saw the race live.

However, the time difference between the two events did allow Patrick to make it to Long Beach in time to watch the second half of the race and watch Power dominate the event.

Will says thanks to Seb INDYCAR SEBASTIEN Bourdais was not Will Power’s favourite driver last year but the five-time Champ Car Champion played a role in the Australian’s Long Beach win.

Power credited the Frenchman’s fuel strategy in allowing him to take the KV Racing Panoz to a record-breaking win in the Californian classic.

“I had to get good fuel mileage and still had good speed,” grinned Power after his third win.

“I finally figured out last season what Sebastien Bourdais was doing because he always had great fuel mileage. The alarm came on the dash with five laps to go but it wasn’t anything important. I just really enjoyed my last Champ Car race.”

The win came at the perfect time for Power, who was caught up in an off-season controversy that saw Walker Racing split with Team Australia’s Craig Gore, and both join KV

Racing Technology.

It was Power’s third street course win, the others coming at Las Vegas and Toronto.

“It all fell together this weekend and I had a really relaxing race,” said Power. “Alex Tagliani didn’t get a very good start and I think Justin Wilson had some wheel spin. I decided ‘I’m going to get this lead’ and managed to get through unscathed. It’s tough to pass around Long Beach.”

Power’s win moves him to fifth in the overall IndyCar standings, but may have meant nothing has it kept raining in Japan. Had the Motegi race been rained off, no points would have been awarded at Long Beach, because of the fact that no driver was to be given an advantage in the ‘split round’ weekend.

Power will face Patrick and the rest of the IndyCar opposition in the fourth round of the championship this weekend in Kansas.

FOR FORMULA 1, MOTOGP AND WRC NEWS, OPINION AND ANALYSIS CLICK HERE TO

news

And while we’re in America ...

Well, Mexico anyway. Marcos caps off a great weekend with second place NASCAR MARCOS Ambrose has taken his best finish since moving Stateside, with a chaotic second place in Mexico.

Ambrose’s weekend started out simple enough, the Aussie qualifying a credible fourth on the road course.

But then it all turned sour – sort of.

A clutch issue on his Ford Fusion after qualifying meant his fourth place start was gone, Ambrose instead being forced to start from pit-lane. And after making good headway early on, he was forced back into pit-lane later on after his crew was penalised for jumping pitwall too early for his stop.

But nothing was going to stop Ambrose getting a result, and he charged through the field to finish second.

“On the whole, we’ve had a tough year,” he said post-race.

“We really wanted to have a strong day today. You’re not going to go

and pass 43 cars 15 times like we did today without being aggressive. It was really tough racing.

“It’s some of the hardest racing I’ve ever done there in that last 20 laps.”

But Boris Said thought Ambrose’s racing was a bit too hard, especially when he found himself turned around by Ambrose mid-race. As a result, Said had word’s with Ambrose’s crew chief.

“There’s no point in getting in the crew chief’s face because he’s not

driving the car,” said Ambrose.

“I’m going to ring [Boris] on Monday and hopefully sleep will help him just think through things a little bit more. I value Boris’ friendship and he is a fantastic racer.

“I didn’t mean to do it. I don’t know what happened, to be honest with you. I had pretty square contact and all of a sudden, he’s up speed and off to the left. I caught his rear bumper bar in mine. I don’t know what happened, it wasn’t intentional.

Drivers call for chicane changes V8 SUPERCARS THE only serious downside to Hamilton’s inaugural V8 race – according to a cross-section of drivers – was the four-element chicane on the back straight, a tighter version of a similar chicane at the Gold Coast Indy circuit.

While the Championship’s first trip to the 3.4km street track drew almost universal comments from the majority of drivers, the chicane’s kerbs and tyre bundles were the single-most destructive element of the weekend. The chicanes, or parts of them, accounted for numbers of front spoilers, shock absorbers and other suspension parts, as well as damage to cars which speared off

there – in particular Lee Holdsworth’s unlucky exit from Race 3.

General consensus was that the same effect could be achieved by reducing it to a two-element, leftright chicane, to maintain the same entry speed into the following right-hander.

Removing it completely would,

according to some, make the entry speed to the following corner too high, with insufficient run-off – although it would provide a muchneeded golden passing opportunity.

Expect a number of discussions to be held about the race, which will be run for at least the next four years, and a possible change for 2009.

O ACCESS THE WORLD’S FIRST INTERNATIONAL ‘VIRTUAL’ MOTORSPORT MAGAZINE ...

BRIEFLY... n FPR team boss Tim Edwards was a surprise non-starter for Hamilton.

Edwards had an emergency appendectomy last Tuesday – and is reportedly recovering well. n A delegation from Townsville was on hand in Hamilton to look and learn, including mayor Les Tyrrell, who was scheduled for a hot lap with Jason Bright - but thought better of it after being strapped into the Fujitsu car. n The Australian Institute of Motor Sport Safety will conduct the second of its Head and Neck Restraint information workshops at Sherrin Motorsport in Brisbane this Wednesday at 6:30pm, followed by the third and final seminar on May 1 in Melbourne.

The first workshop in Sydney in March was a popular success.

The workshops will be facilitated by AIMSS Chairman and Fellow of the FIA Institute for Motor Sport Safety, Dr Michael Henderson.

Full information on venues and times can be found at www.aimss.com. au.

– CHRIS LAMBDEN/STAFF

Ford budgets cause

Blue oval driver movements wait on cash contribution fro V8 SUPERCARS A NUMBER of decisions, including the moves in the 2008-09 Driver Silly Season, remain up in the air because of delays in Ford’s V8 Supercar budgeting for next season.

While the factory prepares for the launch of the new Falcon FG road car, and work continues on prototypes of the V8 Supercar race version, two of Ford’s leading race teams still have no confirmation of their budgets for 2009. A second scheduled decision date has come and gone, with no sign yet of a final agreement.

Like competing car company Holden, Ford management is under budget pressures and, with relatively new head men at both companies, there is always the potential for change.

While FPR is currently contracted through to the end of 2009, Triple Eight and SBR are both at renewal point now, but seeking to finalise ongoing deals.

In the case of Stone Brothers Racing, confirmation of Ford’s input into the team is an important element in the discussions over 2009 driver line-up – nothing is likely to be progressed until budgets are finalised, including the potential teams interested in signing James Courtney for next season.

– CHRIS LAMBDEN

news

Dirk Klynsmith

es delay

om the factory

Full House in Hamilton

HAMILTON’S first V8 Supercar street race was a great success – but it may be dwarfed by what happens next year, The city, about 130km south of previous host city Auckland, sold-out the final day of its 60,000limit tickets and is aiming even higher for 2009, with a potential for 80,000 spectatrors for the second event.

New Zealand’s controversial ‘resource consent’ process, which ultimately decides whether events such as this go ahead (and which ‘canned’ both Auckland and Wellington options) limited ticket sales to 60,000 a day for the

opening event.

Promoter Dean Calvert was a relieved man when the weather perked up for Sunday, and the event achieved its first target.

“That’s our limit,” he confirmed. “We need to start thinking about how we can cope with additional numbers next year, when we are able to aim for 80,000.”

An interesting attendee at the weekend was the leader of NZ’s Federal opposition John Key. The Hamilton City Council is hoping to boost government input into the event in future years.

Island Development Rejected V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

THE proposed $300m development on Phillip Island has been rejected by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal .

VCAT has upheld the decision of the Bass Coast Shire’s decision not to approve

the plan for a golf course, a convention centre and a 382 villa units adjacent to the Island’s Grand Prix circuit.

“We are not satisfied that the environmental and landscape values of the site and wider area have been sufficiently acknowledged, respected and protected,” said VCAT deputy

president Helen Gibson.

However, circuit owner Linfox may revise its proposal to a smaller, more environmentally sensitive development, though Linfox’s Andrew Fox has been quoted as saying that the decision may threaten the future of the MotoGP event, and damage the local economy.

88 & 4: New cars on the way Ford teams to get new Falcons for Barbagallo Raceway next month V8 SUPERCARS JAMIE Whincup will get the brand-new Triple 8 Falcon that was destined for teammate Craig Lowndes for Perth.

While the team will repair the car crashed in qualifying in

Hamilton (chassis 12), logistics dictate that the brand new car, currently in the paint shop, will be the best option.

“Craig was originally due to get the new car, with his current car becoming the spare, but it looks like Jamie will get

it now,” Campbell Little told eNews shortly after Saturday’s shunt, “although we’ve got the rest of the weekend to get through – which might change things!” he quipped.

James Courtney too will find himself in a brand new SBR

Falcon in Perth, to replace the former Caltex car driven last season by Russell Ingall.

“It’s always good to get a new car .. so we can retire Russell’s old car ... and I won’t have to get in it ever again!” said Courtney.

25: Brighty too!

Dirk Klynsmith

JASON Bright plans to debut the first all-Britekbuilt Falcon in Perth.

The car is due for a shakedown shortly.

At the same time, Bright is keen to move the team’s engine development programme to the next stage, once his supplies of the latest spec D3 cylinder heads arrive.

“I used one of the WPSsourced engines this weekend,” Bright told eNews on Sunday, “but to be honest it was no better than what we had.

We need to get the power gain from the new model heads as soon as we can hopefully by Sandown.”

– CHRIS LAMBDEN

news

Wanna cheap helmet, mate?

V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

POLICE are investigating the theft of an HSV Team steering wheel and Greg Murphy’s two helmets from a secure area prior to team freight being flown to NZ for last weekend’s Hamilton 400.

According to freight company boss Bill Gibson, the thief went to some trouble – the HSV car was on the top deck of the two-car transport rack – but is unlikely to get away with it.

“Admission to the secure area where the equipment was being held is limited, so the short-list of people with access is quite small,” he told eNews.

One of Gibson’s staff picked up Murph’s other remaining helmet and a back-up from revolution Racegear and hopped on a plane late Thursday, delivering to the Tasman team well before practice began on Friday.

Reports of a number of wheels going astray were apparently incorrect: “The team concerned had left them in their truck!”

– CHRIS LAMBDEN

V8 SUPERCARS FORD Performance Racing is on top of the V8 Supercar Championship Series. Well, the team points, anyway.

The factory Ford team has experienced an expensive start to the season – with one destroyed car and a few others prangs making the team’s damage bill in excess of half a million dollars after just two rounds of the series.

However, Steven Richards finished on the podium at Hamilton last weekend, and along with Winterbottom’s sixth place overall has given FPR the lead in the Team’s

Dirk Klynsmith

FPR’s title lead ...

Championship. It’s not a title that holds the prestige of the Driver’s Championship, but under the team’s tough circumstances this year, it’s a nice reward.

“I’m absolutely rapped for the team,” said. Richo.

“We’ve taken a big step forward in terms of our championship chase. We’ve survived a pretty fraught start so that’s a great result.”

Winterbottom currently sits fourth in the series, with Richards sixth.

Team’s points: FPR 1093, HRT 1052, T8 1015, HSVDT 900, GRM 870, DJR 820, SBR 789, Tasman 770, JDR 630.

BRIEFLY... n DANICA Patrick started a trend that was carried on

by Simona De Silvestro on Sunday.

The Swiss miss, the only female driver in the 23-car field, won Sunday’s Atlantics Championship season opener, her first win in the Champ Car ‘Developmental’ series.

“Danica wins, I win, it’s a perfect weekend,” said the Swiss driver said with a grin.

The win makes De Silvestro, 19, the second female Atlantic winner after Katherine Legge, who now races in the DTM.

10

Pag gets Acura sutton-images.com

n The police were out in force at Long Beach, and not just because Crusher was having a post-race party. Five people were hospitalised with minor injuries after a Saturday night concert got out of hand and the local lawmen responded with over 50 officers in riot gear.

The cause of the fuss appears to have been started by the concert by local punk-rock band Pennywise on Saturday night, which led to crowds trying to get into the already-full event at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center.

Conquest runs out of money – so French rookie is out of a seat

sutton-images.com

n And if all the women have still not had enough, Jamie Little extended the streak in the Celebrity race.

The ESPN pit reporter did not have it easy, and held off NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion Mike Skinner by 0.3s in a field of race-modified Scion tCs to take the 32nd Annual Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race.

“When you interview a winning driver after the race, they always tell you how they just try to get through that last lap,” gushed Little.

“Well, now I know exactly what they’re talking about.”

Opes Prime claims P

ALMS SPORTSCAR FORMER Champ Car star rookie Simon Pagenaud has secured a paid drive in Sportscar racing.

Gil de Ferran, the 2003 Penske Indy 500 winner and two-time Champ Car champion (2000, 2001), has grabbed Pagenaud to be his teammate in the Acura-powered LMP2 class entry for the remaining 2008 American Le Mans season.

De Ferran, 40, came out of retirement after his most recent role as the Sporting Director for Honda in F1. Pagenaud, 23, won the 2006

Atlantic championship which vaulted him to a Champ Car seat at Walker Racing with the Aussie Vineyard banner. De Ferran, who also drove for Walker Racing from 1997 through 1999, has Panasonic as his team sponsor.

“This is a situation of opportunity meeting desire,” said de Ferran, owner of the fourth Acura entry (after Andretti Green, Highcroft and Fernandez Racing). “Despite the fact we are going head to head, Roger (Penske) and I are personal friends, as are a lot of the guys working at Penske. I’ll do whatever I can to beat him.”

– MARY MENDEZ

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Perera sutton-images.com

Is is the end of the road for Paul Tracy?

PT made it to Long Beach – but that may be all INDYCAR PAUL Tracy climbed back into a racing car for the first time this season but it was only a temporary comeback.

The Canadian veteran and car owner Gerald Forsythe came to terms through their lawyers so Tracy could compete in the Champ Car finale at Long Beach.

Although the 2003 champion wants to continue racing in open wheel racing, he is realistic.

“I don’t know where my career is leading from here,” said Tracy, right.

“It’s been very much like a big cobweb. I’m racing, I’m not racing. And now it’s in the

sutton-images.com

AUSTRALIA’S Opes Prime collapse has claimed another victim, with Franck Perera looking like losing his IndyCar drive.

The rookie IndyCar driver and 2007 Atlantic championship runner-up has been informed his season-long contract with Conquest Racing has been jeopardised by a driver bringing money.

Team owner Eric Bachelart, who formed a partnership with Anthony Blumberg of Opes Prime, is replacing the Frenchman with the as-yet unnamed driver who has Indy Lights (Indy Pro Series) experience.

The team was not helped by the fact that it ordered a new Panoz and parts for the 2008 season, only weeks before the announcement that Champ Car was going out of business and that the car was about to become obsolete.

Perera, who ran with no visible sponsorship in his final start with the team at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, earned a second row starting spot (third fastest) and finished sixth his first drive in the Panoz DP-01 chassis for the Champ Car finale.

– MARY MENDEZ

sutton-images.com

INDYCAR

hands of the lawyers. I’ll have no contract after this race. It’s very disappointing. It was my intent this year to go forward.

I’ve had a great career with Gerry and I won his only championship.”

Tracy, 39, who first appeared in what was then CART way back in 1991, is working on having a drive in the Indianapolis 500 and is talking to several unnamed sponsors.

“After this race I can look for another ride. Right now there is nothing available. Long Beach could be my last race as an open wheel driver. It’s not how I want my career to end.”

– MARY MENDEZ

11

Fiore’s Overseas Carrera Cup Championship leader looks to ‘Do a Davo’ and race Sportscars overseas CARRERA CUP

Vale

Geoff Polites

IT is with great sadness that we report the death of Geoff Polites.

The former president of Ford Australia, who had been ill for some time, suddenly became critically ill and died over the weekend. He was 60.

Polites had a fourdecade career in the automotive business with Ford and with City Ford in Sydney, and took on the top job in Australia in 1999. During his time in the job, Ford introduced the Falcon BA and Territory, before Polites moved to Europe, where he became the chief executive of Jaguar and Land Rover.

Polites was a life-long supporter of the AFL’s South Melbourne and later Sydney Swans, and served on the board of the club.

12

DEAN Fiore is looking at racing off Australian shores in 2009 and beyond.

The current Carrera Cup Championship leader is making noises about racing Sportscars overseas, rather than competing on the Australian scene in V8 Supercars.

And Fiore says that he wants to emulate Alex Davison’s race calendar, who this year is racing in multiple Sportscar categories, including the American Le Mans Series, European Le Mans Series and other Carrera Cup races.

“It’s getting harder and harder to get into V8 Supercars,” he said.

“Australia for me is getting less and less attractive, so I’m starting to look overseas and look at the ‘Davison’ path. I

want to try and stay with the brand and try and get something down that path.

“I’ve spoken to a few people overseas to try and get something happening but it’s just chit chat at this stage.

“To be in a position that Craig Baird is in is a pretty good situation. He drives in 24 Hour races, 12 Hour races and lots of others, plus his racing in New Zealand, and he gets to do it in the best cars in the world, I think.

I reckon that’s got to be better than driving an overpowered, under engineered Aussie thing ...”

While Fiore might seem critical of Australia’s homegrown V8 Supercar, he has driven one before and wouldn’t knock back a chance at them full-time.

“I’d still take a good opportunity in V8s with both

hands,” he says.

“I tested with Howard Racing at Queensland Raceway late last year and it was pretty good. Everything happens a bit slower than in the Porsche. But getting the last two or three tenths out of a Supercar is much harder than getting more out of the Cup Car.” Fiore’s next race will be in the fourth round of the Carrera Cup Championship at his home-track at Barbagallo Raceway, but before then, will get his first taste of the Sepang International Circuit in a drive day with Mercedes Benz.

– GRANT ROWLEY For more with Carrera Cup’s rising star Dean Fiore, go to your favourtie newsagent and pick up a copy of Motorsport News – available Wednesday, April 23

news

s Ambition

13

James Smith

VERDNIK’S BIG PLANS Fujitsu V8 Series team looks to expansion ahead of the 2009 season FUJITSU V8s

JAY Motorsport is keen to expand.

The South Australian team, which runs Jay Verdnik in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, is keen to become a two-car operation, and is on the look-out for a second driver.

With Verdnik stepping up to an exWalkinshaw VZ this season, his former

Team Dynamik car is ready to race.

“We’re looking, that’s for sure,” team principal Keith Rennie told eNews.

“The workshop that we operate out of here is big enough and perfectly set-up for two cars, so it’s really just about finding the right person with the right budget to come along and join the team.

“That’s why we bought the Walkinshaw chassis; so Jay could step up and get closer

to the front of the field, and we could find another driver to come in and fill his spot.”

While there are no drivers officially in the frame, Rennie said there were some irons in the fire, and a pre-Sandown test session was not out of the question.

“We’ve had a couple of names thrown around, so it could happen. The car is only a day and a half away from being ready.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Toyota invades Commodore Cup! COMMODORE CUP TOYOTA’S latest advertising campaign says they race all over the world, and now the Japanese auto giant has a new series to compete in – Commodore Cup. Denis Pana will take to Oran Park for this weekend’s Shannons Nationals in a Lander Toyota Lexcen, which, obviously, uses the same body shell and components from a VS Holden Commodore.

It will be the first time ever that a V8powered Toyota has done battle with Holdens.

“Since we last run the car, it has been

totally rebuilt, so it is now completely a new Toyota, with no traces of the old Holden,” Pana told eNews with a laugh.

“I do some work with Lander Toyota, and I realised there were still quite a few Lexcens running around. So I put the question to them: Would they be interested in sponsoring a Toyota in a Holden series?

“I explained the benefits to them and they liked the idea, so here we are.”

In other Commodore Cup news, Steve Owen will not make a start in this weekend’s races due to a lack of car availability.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

FOR FORMULA 1, MOTOGP AND WRC NEWS, OPINION AND ANALYSIS CLICK HERE TO 14

news

Aussies one-off stand alone

Ward to promote his own one-day event AUSSIE RACING CARS

Marshall Cass

THE Aussie Racing Cars will not race on the V8 Supercar schedule at Sandown, instead promoting a onerace meeting itself at Oran Park on May 25.

The ‘Oran Park Challenge’ will see the main racing action come from the fourth round of the Aussie Racing Car Super Series, with support acts including timed sessions for Street Cars.

Also included in the meeting on Oran Park’s short south circuit will be demonstrations and passenger rides from Toyota’s Targa Tasmania-competing Aurions and a couple of Paul Morris Motorsport’s Super School V8 ride cars.

A number of celebrity

racers will also be on hand, with personalities from both Channel 7 and 10 expected to be competing.

“This is a bit of a different meeting,” category manager Phil Ward said.

“It’s a different day with a bit of extra stuff. If you’ve got a road car or race car, you can get involved in timed sessions..

“The one-day program looks like having as many as 16 events run on the day, so there’s something for everyone.”

The Aussie Racing Cars will complete all of their practice, qualifying, and four races on the one day, and there’s also a possibility of a handicapped race or reverse grid for no championship points.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Small entries force Aus GT off Oran Park AUSTRALIAN GT

with CAMS on Wednesday.

Further comment will be made after that time.

But while it is bad news for GT, the rest of the Nationals field looks promising.

Despite the Opes Prime collapse there will still be 19 Formula 3 cars on track, with 16 SuperTrucks, 19 Commodore Cup cars, 23 Saloon Cars, and 23 Biante Touring Car Masters entries.

Meanwhile, former V8 Supercar champ John Bowe won’t make a start in the Biante Touring Car Masters.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

John Morris/Mpix

THE split between the Australian GT Championship and the Porsche Driver’s Challenge has led to the withdrawal of the GT Championship from this weekend’s Shannons Nationals round at Oran Park.

Reportedly just six entries were filed for the meeting, causing the category administrators to pull the pin on the field at short notice.

“These events have created an air of confusion and loss of confidence in

the Championship with competitors, suppliers and corporate partners, resulting in an all time low entry for the Oran Park round,” said as letter to GT competitors from the series’ directors.

“Due to these actions, this position is totally untenable, and as such AGTSG have been regretfully forced to withdraw from the Oran Park CNRC Round.

“We sincerely apologise to those of you who had entered and made arrangements.”

AGTSC is meeting with stakeholders on Tuesday, and

O ACCESS THE WORLD’S FIRST INTERNATIONAL ‘VIRTUAL’ MOTORSPORT MAGAZINE ...

15

New drivers set for Utes V8 UTES

over from Andrew Miedecke for one round as driving standards advisor.

As report by eNews last issue Paul Williams will make his debut at the round for Charlie O’Brien Motorsport.

– PHILLIP MAHONEY

James Smith

THE next round of the V8 Utes at Barbagallo on May 11 will see some new faces and not all of them will be out on the track.

At the same time another West Australian Clint Harvey will also step into the category for the first time.

The 2005 Saloon Car champion and numerous state title winner will drive Grant Johnson’s old car under the Hi Tech Motorsport banner. Harvey has the opportunity to race in the series due to Matt Kingsly’s absence following his Round 1 incident.

For Harvey, it will be the first time he’s raced a Ute. “I’m really looking forward to driving one,” said Harvey. “It looks like a great class to jump into and have a go and I’m

looking forward to getting in one.”

Harvey will get a chance to test the Ute before the round to familiarise himself with the car.

“We have a test Thursday week prior to the race meeting up at Wanneroo. So I’ll get the hang of it on that day there and see how I go” For Harvey a category like the Utes is an obvious next step in his career.

I’ve really wanted to drive a Ute for the last couple of years and I’ve got the opportunity with a couple of good sponsors to get behind the wheel at Wanneroo,” Harvey said.

“If I do well I might be able to do a couple more rounds but we’ll see how I go after this round.”

The series will also invite back a familiar face at Barbagallo in Warren Luff.

The former V8 Utes champion will take

Debut: Clint Harvey, above, will make his debut at Barbagallo in Grant Johnson’s old Commodore, main.

Dirk Klynsmith

16

news

KARTING The return of internationalstyle CIK kart racing in Australia has been delayed yet again.

For the second time, the opening round of the relaunched series has been pushed back a further month, this time to June 14/15 at Newcastle.

However, the revised calendar has expanded back to five events with round four to be held in conjunction

with the NSW Sprint Kart Championships at Port Macquarie on October 4/5.

A number of changes have been announced on the technical front. A sticking point for many potential entrants was whether the hand operated front brakes used in the KF classes overseas would be allowed in Australia.

The International Karting Committee has decided to ban their use for at least this year to cut costs for karters getting back into local CIK competition.

“This decision now allows our top competitors to use their current chassis by simply bolting on the CIK specification engine and tyres rather than having to buy a new chassis with front brakes and associated components,” said KIAA President Ian Black.

A supply problem with the originally tabled Vega tyre has resulted in Dunlop’s DDS being nominated as the spec rubber, which is the same tyre used in the European series.

The AKA has published a

Paris Charles

Official dates set for CIK

list of registered teams for the 2008 series, which will include, Extreme Racing Maranello, Kosmic, PCR, CRG, VanSpeed, IKD, RedSpeed, Azzurro, Zanardi and Zedtec. A couple of notable exceptions are key manufacturers such as Tony Kart and Arrow.

Although a number of these teams are believed to have sorted one or both driver positions, none have as yet officially announced their line-up.

– MARK WICKS

MG Auction Marshall Cass

PSST! Wanna buy a racing car on the internet?

Well, you can. Cars that were acquired as part of a financial settlement between the Sieders family and former car owner Paul Pickett will be sold online next week, with 13 MG chassis, three ready to race, plus many engines, gearboxes and drive trains. There are also five Daewoos ready to race, wheels and interiors (if someone wanted to turn them back into road cars!).

The cars will be sold through the Gray’s Online website from April 23 – www.greysonline.com.au – and will be available for viewing on April 29 at the Sieders Racing Team headquarters in Yarramundi.

17

news

Who you gonna call?

WORLD SUPERBIKES

about it, and there’s the will to do the test, let’s see when and what kind of work they’re thinking of. Even a two-day test can be useful.

“Mugello is a selective track, where Ducati have a lot of reference points. And for me, it wouldn’t be tricky to familiarise again with a MotoGP bike, I don’t think it’s so different from the ones I used to ride.”

The SBK stars may test to get around MotoGP’s testing restrictions, which limit the days that Melandri and Casey Stoner can test the bike.

However Biaggi, below, has ruled out a return to GP racing, which he left in 2005.

“I’ve never thought about it. I’m in Superbikes and I enjoy myself there. I have no regrets about MotoGP,” said Biaggi.

BMW shows off Conan the Bavarian

Ducati Corse Press

IN the midst of a small crisis, Ducati may turn to two old stagers, Max Biaggi and Troy Bayliss, right, to help its MotoGP team.

The two Superbike stars may test for the works squad, which faces the twin problems of a staggeringly out-of-form Marco Melandri and an injured test rider in Vittoriano Guareschi.

The former now looks set to completely change the set-up of his GP8 to try and salvage a disastrous season, while the latter has a bruised coccyx after a testing crash at Mugello.

“If I can help, I’ll be happy to,” the Italian told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“I’ve spoken with [Ducati boss Livio] Suppo

BMW Motorrad

Ducati looks to Bayliss and Biaggi for a testing role

WORLD SUPERBIKES

Sterilgarda Go Eleven

18

BMW HAS confirmed its plans to race in the 2009 World Superbike Championship.

BMW Motorrad General Director Hendrik Von Kuenheim confirmed in Munich last Monday that the company plans to race its new S1000RR, and unveiled pictures of the bike.

“We are confident that we will be able to start the Superbike World Championship next year with a convincing all-round package, and that our series motorcycle will be just as convincing,” Von Kuenheim said.

The bike, which shows many similarities to Yamaha’s R1 and the Honda CBR1000RR, appears to be substantially different to the company’s road bikes, with Ohlins front forks, chain drive, a 1-litre four-cylinder engine and conventional rear suspension and swingarm. It also appears to have traction control, data logging and a power shifter as standard equipment.

BMW will manufacture 1000 of the bikes for sale in 2009, while development of the racer continues in partnership with Alpha Racing. A number of riders are involved in the project and the identity of the race riders will be made at the end of the current season.

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5 Minutes with ...

FABIAN COULTHARD

Coulthard and PCR enjoyed their best V8 Supercar weekend at Hamilton

CHRIS LAMBDEN

MOTORSPORT ENEWS: An awesome weekend for the team – you were never out of the top 10 at any time.

FABIAN COULTHARD: It’s been a big weekend! We set ourselves some goals earlier on in the week – one was to run strongly here and get our best result to date, not only for myself, but for the team also.

To come away with a top five result over the whole weekend, blew all our expectations away. We would have been happy with top 10, never mind top five.

Any technical issues at all through the three races?

None. We had no dramas at all. It was one of those rare, faultless weekends which is nice to have. We came away with a good result, so it’s great.

You drove the old car last year. What are the noticeable upsides with this car? (Craig Lowndes’ car from last year) It’s got a good pedigree!

It had a string of good results last year, so that’s why the team decided to try and

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Dirk Klynsmith

There’s hardly a scratch on the car. Did you come in with absolute resolve on staying away from the kerbs?

Exactly. Paul (Cruickshank) and I sat down after qualifying and resolved that we had three races; that there was no point in going at it silly buggers straight off in the first race. The idea was to be there, look after the car, and have a really good go in the last race.

To come away with a top five result over the whole weekend, blew all expectations awau. fabian coulthard purchase it.

Compared to last year’s car? Actually, I would have been quite happy to run that car, but the team had already done the deal to get the Triple 8 car.

What are the main differences between the two – what do you like about this one?

The chassis. When you move the anti-roll bars, you can feel an immediate change. They work well.

With tyre life not being so long in these cars, it’s important to be on top of the ‘bar’ situation and keep the grip that way. This car responds well to that.

You seem to have gelled well with the team as well.

We knew the first two rounds would be learning – learning a new car, a new engineer and a new team.

So, it was going to best to work into it all steadily. Our main goal then was to go well in New Zealand – and I think we achieved that!

chat

Dirk Klynsmith

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Words to Live By Max Mosley demands reasonable standards of behaviour – but only from others

opinion Phil Branagan eNews Executive Editor ONE of the problems with being the President of an organisation like the FIA is that there are people like me who write down the things that you say.

Such was the case in 1995.

Seemingly as ever, controversy swirled around Formula 1 after two cars, those of Benetton’s Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard’s Williams, were found to have had Elf fuel on-board that did not match the chemical ‘fingerprint’

submitted by the company at the start of the season. The drivers were DQ’d, before being reinstated later. Ferrari cried foul and Elf pleaded innocence through the French media.

What Max Mosley said at the time was telling, particularly in light of recent events.

“The time has come when Formula 1 needs a more adult approach from its participants,” he said.

“It reflects poorly on the sport and, again, shows a lack of an adult attitude.”

But what he said next takes on a whole new angle; “One expects a reasonable standard of behaviour from a

major international company.

When they know something, they should admit it and not keep a campaign going for nearly three weeks, notably in the French press, pretending something that everybody knew was not true.”

In the light of 2008, that would seem to suggest that Mosley is failing to meet the standards he himself called for 13 years ago. But before further comment, more from MM, circa 1995; “Everyone involved – the teams, the sponsors, the technical experts – must bear in mind that fundamentally this is a sport.

“It may involve a great deal

of money, it may have huge commercial interests at stake.

But the moment that anyone involved at the top of F1 is more interested in the money than he is in the result, the whole think will collapse.”

He is right. Apart from being a great many other things, Formula 1 is a sport. It is time for the man at the top to do the sporting thing, and leave with whatever dignity there is left to him.

If he stays where he is, Max Mosley falls short of the high standards he himself has invested in the office, and anything further he says will be nothing but more empty words.

Letters

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

It’s about the fans After years of being disgusted with the way our leading form of motorsport is being run, the events on this past weekend have forced me to write.

In what is promoted as the best "Touring car series in the world", how can it be that the Championship leader be deprived of racing and fans

22

that have paid out in good faith to see a full show not see all the stars. How can it be that teams spend millions of dollars on going fast, not even make the show. Now I understand that in NZ there was probably never a chance of having a spare car, it would however have made no difference if this were a local round.

The cars have far outpriced

themselves in the neverending search of speed and technology, and with little concern about the entertainment factor.

Please let us follow NASCAR's lead. No, I'm not promoting ovals but NASCAR's total dedication to make everything about the fans.

Surely components could be made by common

suppliers, lowering costs. A common chassis should be more seriously looked at, and the cost benefits would be enormous. The teams will always spend what ever they have, and should you wreck during practice Jamie, you don't watch your Championship lead disappear into thin air.

Mark Sanders

opinion

Wanted: Some Bravery opinion

Chris Lambden Publisher eNews HAMILTON? Loved it. Chicane? Get rid of it!

I hate chicanes, especially multi-corner ones that see cars bobbing around like corks. They do nothing for racing, provide no passing opportunity, and – as in Hamilton at the weekend – create

unnecessary mechanical carnage.

It was the only real downer in an extraordinarily well put-together firstup race. There had been a great deal of intelligent thought and planning involved and there wasn’t a serious whinge to be heard. Even the race officials had a wellthought-out Control Tower, complete with banks of TV monitors, to work from.

Remember, Hamilton is a small city – just 140,000 people – so it was an impressive effort. The city centre had,

Dirk Klynsmith

probably, over-catered for nightlife – it was a little quiet for some – but the ability to go for a bigger crowd in ‘09 will help. Townsville’s deputation should have learned a lot, and have something concrete to aim at.

There is the potential for a couple of small track changes which might help create more race action, but top of my list is dumping that chicane completely.

I know the trackmeisters will disagree.

It’ll make the next corner too fast, they’ll say, and there’s not enough run-off.

I disagree. If the current corner speed at turn-in is, say, 140kmh, it’ll still be 140kmh.

The corner won’t be any faster.

The approach speed will be, the braking distance will be considerably longer, and passing may well occur!

Any accident will result in a car leaving the road at much the same speed and trajectory as the current set-up. And there is room, from what I saw, for numbers of layers of tyre barriers for errant cars – albeit not room for a lengthy straight run-off.

I know it’s not politically correct, but for the sake of the racing and the event, that’s what I’d like to see. Let’s be brave. I’m probably dreaming, aren’t I? Well, at least let’s simplify that damned chicane so it’s not so destructive and despatches the cars along the straight just a little faster. Please.

eLETTER OF THE WEEK Lackluster MINI’s Andrew van Leeuwen observed the MINI races at Wakefield Park lacked the noise associated with speed and suggested a fruiter exhaust and some grid reversals might spice it up.

I’d suggest it might be like trying to polish something you don’t want

to step in. The program also included Aussie Racing Cars which sound angry, race so close with four abreast at times, run different lines at every corner and just look exciting. This was everything the MINI races were not.

To see first grade players Paul Morris and Russell Ingall mixing it in there was

icing on the cake. Russell was grinning like a loon back in the pits and he finished in double digits! The MINI races were the disappointment of the day and should stick to the celeb race at the AGP. Geoff Kimmins Geoff.kimmins@ozemail.com.au

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 23

V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES ROUND 3 – HAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND

Easy as 1-2-3 With his main rival sidelined in qualifying, defending champion Garth Tander made victory in Hamilton look all too easy. CHRIS LAMBDEN looked on

24

race

Dirk Klynsmith

25

T

26

podium, and drove a controlled set of three, as did James Courtney, under some pressure to get a result in possibly his last outing in ‘Russell Ingall’s old nail’.

Rick Kelly looked a likely podium contender too, but a sloppy pit stop in Race 2 cost him valuable spots – although he did fight back to fourth in the third race – and went home a 46-point championship leader.

So, up front, the Hamilton 400 wasn’t Same old Rick: Above, Kelly was at his a great cut-and-thrust spectacle, but it consitent best. Courtney, right, grabbed a did provide the platform for a couple of timely podium place. young bucks to enhance their reputation, in particular Fabian Coulthard. The young Having castigated his younger peers Kiwi was never outside the top 10 from for immature first-lap driving in Adelaide, the start of practice, and put together an and then grabbing pre-race headlines by almost faultless string of races, avoiding suggesting that the Hamilton track would the kerb-hopping, car-breaking pitfalls “create carnage”, Russell Ingall was the first that claimed many a more-experienced to create it, initiating a typical street-race pilot to grab fifth overall for the day - a multi-car shunt on the opening lap of Race huge result for the Glenfords team. (see 1, from which he never really recovered.

Five Minutes).

Cam McConville and Lee Holdsworth After being one of those caught out by both looked ‘on’ for a top six overall result, the shortening of Q2 at the crucial twobut both suffered in the final race, Cam minutes-to-go point, and starting from being pinged for squeezing Paul Dumbrell grid 13, Mark Winterbottom patiently into the wall (though what the Autobarn worked his way forward over the three car was doing looking down the outside at races, snaring enough points to stay in that point is a mystery), while Holdsworth the championship chase, albeit 100 points ricocheted off the dreaded back chicane exactly down on Tander. into the wall after a pair of strong opening There were some sad stories among the races. also-rans.

Dirk Klynsmith

HE racing may have not been the most rivetting of all time, but Hamilton’s first-ever V8 Supercar race provided a clinical demonstration of HRT and Garth Tander at their best.

After pole man Steven Richards slipped off half a lap into the opening race, Garth was never challenged. Good starts, and a car which had a vital edge over Richards at Safety Car restarts, ensured the 300-point maximum which puts Tander right back in the championship contest – especially as championship leader (and practice pacesetter) Jamie Whincup scored a big fat zero after an unfortunate qualifying shunt left him spectating.

The only threat to Tander/HRT would come from within and, like most of the top six at the end of the day, there were no mistakes, no heavy kerb-bashing, no breakages. It was, almost easy ...

Compounding the rather static race at the front, Steven Richards – who oh-sonearly missed the top 20 cut in Quallie 1 – made the most of that let-off to nail pole, but then muffed the opening lap to let Tander through. Could he have held HRT’s finest at bay for three lots of 36 laps?

Unlikely - the #1 Toll car did have blistering restart speed .

Richo was happy to be back on the

race

Dirk Klynsmith

V8 Supercar | ROUND 3, HAMILTON, NZ Pos#

Driver

1 1 Garth Tander 2 6 Steven Richards 3 4 James Courtney 4 15 Rick Kelly 5 111 Fabian Coulthard 6 5 Mark Winterbottom 7 14 Cameron McConville 8 33 Lee Holdsworth 9 888 Craig Lowndes 10 25 Jason Bright 11 7 Todd Kelly 12 3 Jason Richards 13 12 Andrew Jones 14 34 Michael Caruso 15 17 Steven Johnson 16 2 Mark Skaife 17 9 Shane Van Gisbergen 18 55 Tony D’Alberto 19 67 Paul Morris 20 16 Paul Dumbrell 21 18 Will Davison 22 26 Marcus Marshall 23 021 Kayne Scott 24 11 Shane Price 25 777 Michael Patrizi 26 39 Russell Ingall 27 51 Greg Murphy 28 50 Andrew Thompson 29 88 Jamie Whincup

Team/Car

Q R1

Toll HRT Commodore VE FPR Falcon BF Jeld-Wen Falcon BF HSVDT Commodore VE Glenfords Falcon BF FPR Falcon BF Team WOW Commodore VE GRM Commodore VE Team Vodafone Falcon BF Fujitsu Falcon BF Jack Daniel’s Commodore VE Sprint Gas Commodore VE Team BOC Commodore VE GRM Commodore VE Jim Beam Falcon BF Toll HRT Commodore VE SP Tools Falcon BF Rod Nash Commodore VE Supercheap Auto Commodore VE Autobarn Commodore VE Jim Beam Falcon BF IRWIN Falcon BF Team Kiwi Falcon BF Jack Daniel’s Commodore VE Ausdrill Ford Falcon BF Supercheap Auto Commodore VE Sprint Gas Commodore VE PWR Commodore VE Team Vodafone Falcon BF

2 1 4 3 10 13 6 5 21 15 19 25 14 8 18 9 12 29 24 23 16 26 28 17 27 22 7 20 11

R2 R3

1 1 1 3 2 2 4 3 3 2 6 4 7 8 6 10 7 5 6 5 20 5 4 DNF 19 14 7 11 12 13 8 19 15 20 9 14 22 15 9 12 18 17 DNF 13 8 18 23 12 21 26 10 13 10 DNF 24 17 18 14 11 DNF 9 22 DNF 16 16 DNF 17 20 DNF DNF 24 16 DNF 21 19 DNF DNF 11 23 25 DNF 15 DNF DNS DNS DNS DNS

Dirk Klynsmith

Points: R Kelly 672, Tander 626, Holdsworth 580, Win terbottom 572, Whincup 540, S Richards 521, Lowndes 440, T Kelly 440, Davison 438, Coulthard 431, Skaife 426, Courtney 423, McConville 421, J Richards 400, Johnson 384, Murphy 374, Van Gisbergen 366, Ingall 303, Bright 302, Jones 292, Caruso 268, Morris 235, Marshall 234, Dumbrell 230, D’Alberto 204, Price 190, Thompson 173, Scott 168, Patrizi 60, Pither 58.

27

Dirk Klynsmith

Fine margins between hero and zero Flyaway limits keep Triple Eight off track ASK Jamie Whincup. Triple Eight’s young charger had pretty much dominated the Hamilton weekend, until three minutes before the end of the second qualifying session.

A few seconds later, his car was fit for nothing and Whincup’s interest in the weekend was over, other than for a stint in the on-course commentary box.

That’s street racing. And it’s also a limitation of flyaway races.

“If we were back at an Australian race, we could probably fix it,” explained team engineer Campbell Little.

“We have pre-built ‘clips’ so we can replace a front or rear end quickly, but they’re among the things we can’t bring to these races – freight limitations.”

Whincup’s demise also cost several likely Top 10 runners who were timing their run perfectly, on a drying track with two minutes to go, on fresh tyres.

Van Giz was on a quick one when Whincup crashed. Frosty too would have expected to make it, but he too was affected.

– CHRIS LAMBDEN

Expect the Unexpected

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Dirk Klynsmith

OKAY, forgetting the extra FROM THE 30 minutes that the backmarkers got in practice in COUCH Hamilton, last weekend’s Andrew van Leeuwen race meeting was a levelplaying field.

It was a new track, and a But I digress. How about street track at that, so things Michael Caruso? Rookie couldn’t have been more even. session or no rookie sessions, And what did we see at the to qualify so far up and have front of the field? Some old the race pace he had was very faces, and some (interesting) impressive. new faces.

He could see Lee Seeing the likes of Tander Holdsworth at the end of the and Richards S doing well second race, and had he not wasn’t a surprise; experienced been penalised for having drivers, good equipment, and “driven in a careless manner” clever blokes turning the according to the stewards, he spanners. These guys will be would have come away with a fast anywhere, and surely great result. that’s a worry for Whincup Ditto to Shane Van and T8, especially the form Gisbergen. Lots of pressure that Tander is showing. this weekend, but he looked

like a pro. If it hadn’t been for that Race 1 flat tyre, Van Giz would have been one to watch late in the weekend.

The Stones must be happy boys.

And then there was Fabian Coulthard. In NZ he looked

comfortable, clever, and very, very fast. We had a feeling he had all of those qualities, but to see him prove so at such a challenging round of the series was nice. I would imagine it was even moreso for Paul Cruickshank ...

race

Red dominance...

but the Fat Lady hasn’t appeared yet opinion Chris Lambden mNews Publisher of ‘young blokes’ able to exhibit that level of mental control on this occasion, so the future is bright. Step forward Shane van Gizbergen, Michael Caruso and Fabian Coulthard in particular.

At the end of the day, however, there is undeniably a huge degree of fortune, or sheer bad luck, involved in street races – ask Jamie Whincup. So, while Garth Tander’s disarming dominance of this weekend was eerily reminiscent of those halcyon HRT days when Team Red could mow everyone down week after week, it might be a bit early to punt your hardearned on a championship double for the lanky Tander.

The series now moves to a series of wide-open venues where sheer pace, and a little less luck, particularly of the bad kind, should determine who survives and who doesn’t.

Three championship rounds to date,

Dirk Klynsmith

A CURSORY glance at the podium for Sunday’s Hamilton 400 suggests that experience remains the key ingredient for success on these toughest-of-all street circuits.

Messrs Tander, 30 Richards, 34 and Courtney, 28 – all, interestingly, of similar vintage – have bucketloads between them and, as Races 2 and 3 illustrated, were prepared to take a wait-and-see approach.

However, a similarly quick glance back towards the ‘ruck’ end of the field reveals a number of names with every bit as much experience as the winning trio. I counted three former champions, among others, locked in the mid-field melee for most of the weekend, with bits of bodywork flying in all directions.

So, whether you’re a past champion or a V8 wannabe, the formula for street races is the same, you simply must qualify well enough to be out of the ruck and you must take a long-term approach to the weekend. And you need a modicum of luck.

There was an encouragingly good list

Repeat offenders dull event shine Crompton: First-up street effort gets ‘A’ grading

opinion Neil Crompton Commentator effort of those who were on or around the podium, I have to say I still find some of our ‘stars’ lacking in street smarts.

This was our second street race in four races this year and, again, there’s a degree of madness out there. It’s a madness which, I believe, cheapens our product (although I know I’m a purist, and a degree of madness can be seen as ‘entertainment’)

and gives some ammo to detractors.

It seems to me there are some repeat offenders.

What to do? A Dope-ometer perhaps? You don’t have to have much imagination to understand that there’s a high chance of trouble at Turn 1 in a tight street race, yet .

Did it really take 11 laps to actually start the motor race in Race 1?

On the upside, it’s great to see a number of different teams and drivers having the opportunity to shine –º teams like BJR, PCR and GRM.

Dirk Klynsmith

I’M not alone, I’m sure, in pouring accolades on the promoters and people of Hamilton for a great first-up event.

The city isn’t a major metropolis, yet the attention to detail in planning the circuit and its surrounding services and access was very high.

Sunday provided a ‘sell-out’ 60,000 crowd. A big tick.

There’ll be a couple of things to fine tune – like the kerbs at Turns 4 and 6 – but really, it is just fine tuning.

Putting aside the quality

29

TARGA TASMANIA TASMANIA

Consistency is the key

Steve Glenney and Bernie Webb put on a consistently fast display in Tasman victory and hold off the undersputed kings of Targa Jim Richards and Barry

30

race

nia to claim outright Oliver

photowagon.com.au

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S

OUTH Australian Steve Glenney and codriver Bernie Webb have taken overall honours at the 2008 Targa Tasmania.

Glenney and Webb beat home seven-time champions Jim Richards and Barry Oliver in a 2008 Porsche 911 GT2, in what was a tight end to the five-day event that saw the two cars separated by only 1m30s at rally’s end.

The 2006 ARC round winner in South Australia had a stellar weekend in a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9, claiming four out of the five legs by consistent margins, with only a small loss recorded in Leg 1.

It could have been a lot closer though, after some

32

of the outright favourites experienced difficulties on the challenging roads. Kevin Weeks’ charge was ended prematurely after contact with a rough edge of the road produced a puncture on his 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera.

With Weeks out of contention, fellow Lamborghini pilot Jason White took over the charge and looked set to challenge the top two, but he too struck dramas after a high-speed moment saw him leave the road and make contact with some rocks.

Dean Herridge and Glen Macneall finished third outright in a 2007 Subaru Impreza STi, under a minute

down on Richards and Oliver.

Herridge was able to capitalise on others’ misfortune and drove consistently to round out the podium.

Ray Vandersee was just edged off the podium but still managed fourth in his Skelta alongside his co-driver Jenna Kelley. Rounding out the top five was Jamie and Simon Vandenberg in their Evo 9 after a solid event.

The remainder of the top 10 was an all Porsche, Subaru and Mitsubishi affair, with the favoured makes dominating the event.

As ever Targa saw some of our rally stars take to the winding roads with Neal Bates and Coral Taylor placing 21st in their 2007 Toyota TRD Aurion.

Each and every year Tasmania brings out a range of exotic and rare cars that compete across a range of categories.

Pure Tasmania Showroom 2WD saw Alister McRae take the victory in his Mazada 3 MPS while Tony Warren in an Evo 9 took out 4WD. Rex Broadbent wrapped up Shannons Outright Classic for the second time in a row while Barry Faux and John Siddens took out Late and Early Classic Competition respectively.

Rookie Rally saw Stephen Bradford take out Modern as David Griffiths cleaned up in Classic.

John Lawson in a 1938 Alfa Romeo won vintage Rally.

race

Joel Strickland

Classic Targa: Gentleman Jim and Barry Oliver, left, just missed out on an eighth title. Dean Herridge, above, finished third outright in his STi, while the TRD Aurion, right, made its Tarmac Rally debut in the hands of Neal Bates. Steve Glenney and Bernie Webb, below, celebrated in style.

photowagon.com.au

Joel Strickland Joel Strickland Joel Strickland

Carnage: Targa produced some mega crashes, below, but for those that kept it on the road the rewards were there to be had. Steve Glenney, far left, was first outright in what was a solid field. Just managing to out-do Richards and Oliver.

photowagon.com.au

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INDYCAR ROUND 3 – LONG BEACH

Will Power put aside the emotion of the final ‘Champ Car’ race to stomp on the opposition in California 34

OverPowering

IndyCar Media

35

K

V RACING Technology did not quite get it right during qualifying at Long Beach.

Okay, you could have expected that Justin Wilson would have been on pole for Newman Haas Lanigan, but Will Power was only fourth, behind rookie Franck Perera and returnee Alex Tagliani. Less than you might have expected.

But Tag did not get a good start, and Wilson spun his wheels. Power was in the lead by the second corner and from there, controlled the race, stretching his fuel mileage and taking what is the final ‘Champ Car’ race.

“The [low fuel] alarm came on the dash with five laps to go but it wasn't anything important,” said the Toowoomba driver after his third career win.

He also suggested that he had learned how former archrival Sebastien Bourdais saved fuel during his title-winning dynasty at NHL but he did not share the information.

It was not much of a surprise that Power won, as he was one

sutton-images.com

IndyCar Media

36

of the pre-season favourites and his two previous wins came on street circuit, at Las Vegas and Toronto. But the manner in which he won, leading all but one lap of the race, only makes one wonder what might have happened, had Champ Car gone ahead with its 2008 plans ...

For the rest of the podium finishers, it truly was the end of an era. In his first race, Perera took second in what is likely to be Gerry Forsythe final outing as a team owner, while the same can be said for Mario Domninguez, who returned to the series to give Pacific Coast

Not Will Power, Grey Power Vasser was the best of the rocking chair brigade in California was tough, and I think I caught up very quickly,” said Moreno.

“On the positive side, it was very good to be back racing and see how quick I could get up to speed. On the bad side, I can see that all that is missing is the opportunity. I am chasing the opportunity to drive and my next goal is to try and do (the) Indy (500).”

You’b better hurry to get something together, Roberto. In February, that will be 50 candles you are blowing out ... sutton-images.com

IF it is true that age shall not weary them, maybe it will slow them down a little.

The Champ Car grey brigade came back to the streets of Long Beach, and it was Jimmy Vasser, above, who took the honours. The former CART champion, 42, was a little rusty but did a good job on the California streets to come in 10th, ahead of Paul Tracy and well ahead of the other ‘Over 40’ driver in the race, Roberto Moreno.

“Overall we had a great weekend, because coming here without driving for a few years

INDYCAR | LONG BEACH GP, LONG BEACH

sutton-images.com

Motorsports a good sendoff after one season in the category. Both driver stayed out of trouble and reaped the rewards.

Which is more than can be said for Graham Rahal. After an early spin, the St Pete winner settled down and looked set for a good points finish but, on the final lap, he drove his Panoz into a tyre barrier and fell to 13th.

Wilson was no better off.

The lanky Brit wasted his pole position, and led the chasers in the early going until a rare mechanical failure put paid to his race.

And with that, the Champ Car era ended. All sentimentality will be put aside as the ‘Champ Car’ teams rush home to get their Dallaras ready to join their jet-lagged compatriots who are straight off the plane from Tokyo.

Kansas starts this Friday and, with it, what will finally be the one and unified open-wheel series.

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Wills and Boon: Power, far left, was in a class of his own on the streets of Long Beach. Justin Wilson took pole, above, but a rare mechanical failure stopped his Panoz.

Franck Montagny, below left, took second and now faces a year of not knowing what happens next.

Who the hell are you?

Mario Dominguez, here following unknown Finn Juho Annala, took third.

1 8 2 7 3 96 4 36 5 5 6 34 7 15 8 37 9 33 10 12

Will Power Aus Franck Montagny F Mario Dominguez Mex Enrique Bernoldi Br Oriol Servia E Franck Perera F Alex Tagliani Can David Martinez Mex EJ Viso YV Jimmy Vasser USA

Team Australia/KV 83 laps Forsythe/Pettit +5.09s Pacific Coast Motorsports +15.51s Conquest Racing +25.67s KV Racing +26.27s Conquest Racing +28.06s Walker Racing +36.51s Forsythe/Pettit Racing +37.12s PDVSA HVM Racing +44.94s KV Racing +48.63s

INDYCAR | DRIVER’S points Castroneves 112, Dixon 100, Patrick 98, Kanaan 89, Power 87, Wheldon 85, Bernoldi and Servia 74, Rahal and Carpenter 70.

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INDYCAR ROUND 3 – MOTEGI

FIRST LADY While others got it wrong in Japan, Danica Patrick and the Andretti Greens came up trumps and made

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Teaming up: Team Penske took second place, with Helio Castroneves, #3, running near the front for most of the day. Ryan Briscoe, #6, was one of those caught out by a late stop for fuel. Marty Roth’s car, below, came home on the end of a tow hook after making heavy contact with the SAFER barriers.

IndyCar Media

Team co-owner Michael Andretti was equally pleased, despite knowing that his son Marco spun out of the race on the opening lap.

“I think Danica is such a fantastic person and I’m thrilled for her that the monkey is finally off of her back,” he said.

“We have all believed in her and she proved today that she is a winner. Frankly, I think this is the first of many.”

After qualifying was washed out, the grid formed on championship positions, giving Castroneves pole. After a 22hour rain delay, the story of the race was all about Scott Dixon, who was clearly the fastest man in Japan and who at one stage built a 6s lead. But the yellow changed all that, and when Dixon, Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan all came in for fuel, Patrick passed Castroneves on lap 198 and held on for the win.

Ryan Briscoe ran in the top six all race and looked set for fifth until he dropped to ninth in the final pit cycle, while Ed Carpenter was the leading American driver, taking sixth for Vision Racing.

IndyCar Media

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A

WOMAN may be elected President of the United States this year. And, if Hillary Clinton does win office, perhaps she should ask Danica Patrick to drive her to the inauguration.

Patrick, 26, won her 50th career IndyCar start and put the talk about her being a token female driver, known better for her Sports Illustrated swimsuit images than her driving, behind her with a smart, fuel strategy victory at a raindelayed race at Motegi in Japan.

When the leaders pitted for fuel with 58 laps left, they knew it was going to be touch-andgo to get to the finish. So did Patrick, who pitted for a topup that allowed her to pass the leaders as they accepted their inevitable fate.

“It’s a long time coming.

Finally,” Patrick said.

“It was a fuel strategy race, but my team called it perfectly for me. I knew I was on the same strategy as Helio [Castroneves] and when I passed him for the lead, I couldn’t believe it. This is fabulous.”

Not in Kansas any more

IndyCar Media

Scottland the Brave

Dixon was red-hot in Japan and is running into form just as May beckons

IndyCar Media

Start and FInish: Marco Andretti had an early shower, below, when his Alpine car got away from him on the opening lap of the race.

INDYCAR | INDY JAPAN 300, TWIN RING MOTEGI 1 7 Danica Partick USA Andretti Green 2 3 Helio Castroneves Br Team Penske 3 9 Scott Dixon NZ Target Ganassi 4 10 Dan Wheldon GB Target Ganassi 5 11 Tony Kanaan Br Andretti Green 6 20 Ed Carpenter USA Vision 7 17 Ryan Hunter-Reay USA Rahal Letterman 8 14 Darren Manning GB AJ Foyt Enterprises 9 6 Ryan Briscoe Aus Team Penske Penske 10 23 Townsend Bell USA Dreyer & Reinbold Fastest lap: Castroneves, 27.6476, 197.98mph

200 laps +5.859s +10.05 +13.11 +16.07 +16.82 +17.51 +1 lap +1 lap +1 lap

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SCOTT Dixon has never won in Japan or Indianapolis but the pace that the New Zealander showed at Motegi was an indicator that both of those situations may be temporary.

During the second half of the race at Motegi, the former Gold Star winner was in a class of his own. While other drivers spent the last quarter of the race playing fuel strategies, Dixon controlled the race from the front of the field and pulled away from the field, seemingly as it suited him.

At one stage, he was a halfsecond a lap quicker than every other driver in the field, a staggering achievement in a field of basically identical cars on a track where a lap time is little more than 27 seconds.

It was even more impressive if you factor into the equation all the lost track time the teams suffered in the buildup to the race.

No Australian driver, or a New Zealander, has ever won the Indianapolis 500. But on May 25, the Queensland-born Kiwi could be the man to beat and, if he does, he will fulfill the first criteria – and Aussies we will ‘steal’ him for a few moments ...

WHEN Honda decided to build Japan’s first oval track in 1997, they moved mountains to do it.

Actually, it didn’t so much move moutains as slice the top off a volcano to build a 2.49km oval track, plus a road course. Then, in the CART era, when different manufacturers fought out the engine wars, Honda couldn’t win its own race in the first six years.

So, it was a surprise when the problem that could not be resolved was the date clash between Motegi’s and Long Beach’s IndyCar rounds, leaving two races on two continents on the same weekend.

But even Honda can’t change the weather.

Practice and qualifying were rained off, leaving Helio Castroneves, below, on pole position because he led the championship.

But the rain stopped and the race happened, 22 hours later than planned.

Had it not, it could not have been any further postponed; the next round is in Kansas, this weekend, and the car need to be bumped into the garages on Thursday to be on-track the next day.

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NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES ROUND 9 MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

Busch Fire!

Kyle Busch won his third straight Nationwide race in Mexico, but Marcos Ambrose pushed him right to the end. MARTIN D CLARK reports

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race

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NATIONWIDE KYLE Busch held off a charging Marcos Ambrose for his third straight win in his Joe Gibbs Toyota, this time at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit in Mexico City on Sunday.

Scott Pruett who, along with Busch, had dominated the race, finished third, with Carl Edwards fourth and Patrick Carpentier in fifth.

“Everyone wants to come to Mexico and win this,” said Busch. “Only one person gets to come home with the trophy and I’m so glad it’s us. “I love winning, these Joe Gibbs guys do a phenomenal job.”

After qualifying a career-best fourth it seemed as though everything and everyone was against Ambrose as he looked for his first Nationwide win.

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“We had a tough old day,” commented Ambrose of his best NASCAR result to date.

“We started at the back had a penalty and went back to the back again, in two laps we would have got Kyle, I’m just really proud of our effort.”

A late clutch change saw Ambrose start from pitlane, effectively last, and battle his way through the field early. However more bad luck was on its way.

NASCAR officials deemed his JTG Motorsports crew had jumped over pit wall too early during his stop and he was given a ‘drive through’ penalty, dropping him back to 32nd.

After being forced to battle through once again, Ambrose got into the rear of Boris Said at the restart, spinning the road race veteran out of eighth place.

Having made his way to fourth,

Ambrose dived past Scott Pruett with six laps to run and set about catching Busch.

Unfortunately for Ambrose, he ran out of laps before he could catch and pass the Gibbs Toyota driver. But for Ambrose his career best finish in a difficult race was a great result.

“We fought all day and never gave up,” said Ambrose.

“I think if we had another two laps we would have had something for Kyle because he was really starting to go off.

I’m proud of my finish. This is my best finish since I’ve been in NASCAR. I’ve got to be pleased.

Point: Bowyer 1339, Edwards 1330, Busch 1273, Reutimann 1192, Ragan 1165, (Ambrose 943, 13th).

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NASCAR Media

Almost: Marcos Ambrose, left, was so close in Mexico and ended up second behind a rampant Kyle Busch after a difficult race. Nationwide took to a circuit, above, for the first time this season and it was Busch, below and below left, who celebrated for the third race in succession.

NASCAR Media

NASCAR Media NASCAR Media

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CASTROL EDGE TIN TOP TITLES WILLOWBANK RACEWAY, QLD

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race

Zip and Zapped John Zappia secured another Top Doorslammer title at Willowbank’s Tin Top Titles. KEN FERGUSON reports

Ken Ferguson

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HE ‘Zap’s Rat’ HQ Monaro of John Zappia and the ‘Tremaniac’ Chev Cobalt of Aaron Tremayne wrapped up the national championships in their respective Top Doorslammer and Pro Stock categories on Saturday night’s Tin Top Titles at Willowbank Raceway.

Tremayne, above, went on to take victory in the Pro Stock class, while Zappia had to settle for a semi-final loss, following the wildest side-by-side pass seen between two Doorslammers. His opponent Sean Mifsud went on to take victory in the final.

Mifsud, piloting his Camp Stanleytuned ’41 Willys, turned heads over the weekend. He qualified in the top half of the 16 car field, produced his best numbers ever, recorded his first pass in the 6.0s, and got past Zappia in a wild ride in the semi final. And this was all before he grabbed victory in the final with his first win in the class!

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Mifsud recorded a 6.12s in Round 1 to dispose of Steve Packman, before recording his quickest-ever pass – a 6.08s to defeat the B & L Steel Corvette of Aaron Lynch.

His third round 7.09s was good enough to down Zappia after both cars peddled it several times, going from nearly hitting the wall to nearly crossing the centre line. Cold track temperatures saw an early shutoff nine-second pass take the win in the final, while his opponent, Maurice Fabietti simply staged and shut down.

Fabietti had damaged the differential in his Monaro in the previous round.

On wrapping up the Doorslammer championship, Zappia later stated that the championship win has lifted a lot of pressure from him.

“It is just excellent to have finally wrapped this up in the Striker Crushing and Screening Monaro,” he said.

“I am two inches taller, it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.”

Tremayne survived a scare by Pro Stock

newcomer Lee Bektash to take a hardfought win in the final.

Tremayne had earlier top qualified with a 7.16s to edge out Bektash’s 7.17s in his Dodge Avenger. Both cars were separated by only hundredths of a second throughout eliminations, recording passes in the ‘teens,’ but it was Tremayne who produced the best for last to take the win.

“This is unreal,” he said.

“To be honest, it hasn’t really sunk in as yet, but it was what I was chasing. It was the ultimate goal after placing third in my debut season and second last year, so to have it now is just great.”

Winners in other categories included Steve Ham in Competition in his brand new AA/Funny car, Colin Lloyd in Super Stock, David Rundmann in Comp Bike, Bill Fletcher in Supercharged Outlaws, Graeme Frawley in Modified, Ashley Wanchap in Super Sedan, Simon Isherwood in Super Gas, Geoff Trapnell in Pro Street and Jimmy Agate in Junior Dragster.

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Ken Ferguson

Ken Ferguson

Winners and Champions: Top, Aaron Tremayne collected the Pro Stock crown, beating Lee Bektash. Left, Sean Mifsud won the Top Doorslammer bracket, while John Zappia took the big spoils, winning the Top Doorslammer crown for 2007/08.

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A day in the sun

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ALMS ROUND 3 of the American Le Mans Series has been taken out by Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner in an Audi white-wash at Long Beach last weekend.

The Luhr/Werner Audi led home team-mates Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro in Audi’s first ALMS 1-2 since St.

Petersburg last year. The twohour long race saw plenty of action as the Audis made their way to the front after starting down in the order.

Werner and Luhr have now won two on the trot following their win at St. Petersburg last time out.

Australia was well represented at Long Beach,

with David Brabham and Alex Davison placing well.

Brabham and Scott Sharp raced to their first LMP2 victory in their Acura after a penultimate lap dive by Brabham got them into the lead.

Their LMP2 victory also saw them finish third overall for the second time in-a-row behind

the Audi duo.

“To win this race like we did is something special,” said Brabham.

“I knew I didn't have long and if I had a chance I needed to go for it.”

Davison teamed up with Marc Basseng in a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR to finish 19th overall and sixth in the GT2 class.

Drewer tests at Road Atlanta IMSA LIGHTS

AUSTRALIAN WEST Racing driver Tom Drewer has completed a successful twoday test at Road Atlanta in Georgia.

PVM Racing and Drewer, along with team-mate Eric Vassian, both recorded promising times as the team tested set-ups on the new spec tunnel floor WEST racecar.

Drewer, who went two seconds quicker than PVM had gone previously in his first

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appearance at the track was excited to be at Road Atlanta.

“It was my first time at Road Atlanta, and my impression was that it was a little like a Bathurst with plenty of undulation,” said Drewer.

“We didn’t put new tyres on the car to go for an ultimate time, and I took a fairly conservative approach, so I figure there is a little more in both me and the car.”

The next round of the IMSA Lights is on May 17-18 at Miller Motorsport Park in Utah.

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THE first round of the 2008 FIA GT Championship got underway with a two-hour race at Silverstone last weekend.

Karl Wendlinger and Ryan Sharp took the honours in an Aston Martin DBR9 in the GT1 class as rain and fog played havoc throughout the race.

Conditions did improve gradually thoughout the race and allowed the drivers to get onto slicks by races’ end.

Andrea Bertolini and Michael Bartels took second outright in a Masarati MC12 while frequent Australian GT Championship driver Allan Simonsen and Phillipp Peter took third in an Aston.

A late Safety Car closed up the pack but Sharp was too strong in the end and was able to pull away.

Christophe Bouchut and Xavier Maassen took fourth in a Corvette C6R. Round 2 of the series will be in Monza in May.

Rain kings: Karl Wendlinger and Ryan Sharp, above, took the win, while adopted Aussie Allan Simonsen, main, grabbed third overall.

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Two in a row IHRA IHRA newcomer Spencer Massey collected his second straight IHRA Nitro Jam Drag Racing series event.

Massey upset number one qualifier and defending series Champion Bruce Litton to win the 37th annual Knoll Gas Spring Nationals at Rockingham Dragway.

Massey’s 4.71/313 pass defeated Litton's 4.76/310.

Massey won the season-opening Amalie Texas Nationals at San Antonio just six days after qualifying for his Top Fuel licence and hooking up with car owner Mitch King.

In Pro Modified, Canada’s Kenny Lang drove his 1953 Chevy Corvette to an uncontested 6.54/194 victory over defending World Champion Scotty Cannon.

Other winners included Funny Car

David Ostaszewski

rookie Matt Hagan, who defeated Paul Lee, 5.22/269 to 5.36/244. Elijah Morton, drove to a winning 6.34/219 to upset defending Champion John Montecalvo in the Pro Stock final and Laurie Cannister

kept her 2008 record perfect in the Alcohol Funny Car class by stopping former series champ Rob Atchison, 5.71/231 to 5.87/244.

– David Ostaszewski

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rear of grid

Across the ditch, over a long white cloud, through Dirk’s lense ...

Sic, ehh, bro: This guy, above, looks pretty damn mean.

Right, this pic could have been taken at any round, but not without the Klynsmith touch ... Not that he was

Odd Spot HANDS up here who watches American Idol.

Any takers? Probably not.

So in that case, you probably hadn’t heard of Michael John.

For the record, Michael was controversially evicted last week from Idol – the American reality TV program.

But being West Australian made

John’s Power him a perfect candidate to hang out with Team Australia during the final Long Beach Grand Prix.

Did it inspire Will Power to victory? Probably not. Did it give them extra press coverage. Yes! The Americans seem to be obsessed with the wanna-be singer, and hanging out with Will was a guaranteed winner ....

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