Motorsport eNews Issue 52 - April 29-May 5, 2008 by V8 Sleuth

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Issue No. 052 29 April - 5 May 2008

Bathurst Only

alex Davison to drive glenfords falcon AT the mountain

TKR DEFIANT ALL BLACKS DENY REPORTS OF team TAKE OVEr biD eastern creek ramps up fORMULA 1 plan

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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MD / Publisher

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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. 052 | 29 April - 5 May 2008

news 4 Another Davo

6 Brock’s Statue 9 FG to debut? 12 Stewart 16 Hear it Roar

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

Alex for 1000 only A controversial issue Car by Sandown. Maybe. Switching teams? New sponsor for Utes Dan Wheldon He might fall ... PCR is getting there

race 24 Shannon’s Nationals Oran Park action 28 AMRC 30 IndyCar 34 NASCAR 40 Superbikes

Calder ignites A guy wins! Talladega Knights Bayliss wins again

trade 44 Trade and Industry / Raceshop / Classifieds

welcome I wanna be just like my dad ...

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

Davo 1000, only Euro clash means Davo misses PI 500, but locks in B1000 ride V8 SUPERCARS ALEX Davison will drive in the Supercheap Auto 1000 at Bathurst with Fabian Coulthard in the Glenfords Tool Centres Falcon this year. Due to his commitments in Sportscar racing in Europe, Davison, right, will not be available to compete in the L&H 500 at Phillip Island, but the 28-year-old is taking the opportunity to drive with Paul Cruickshank’s up-and-coming V8 team in the biggest race of the season. While Cruickshank and Davison work through the finer details of their deal, the Ford team boss told eNews that he was the logical choice for them to have an outright chance at Bathurst. “He’s agreed to drive for us, we’ve just got to work through some of the finer details with him,” Cruickshank told eNews. “His record driving these cars is good and the last two or three years, he’s been very quick.”

Davison has previous experience with the PCR organisation, having driven for it in Carrera Cup back in 2006. “Obviously, he has some familiarisation with our team and with our sponsors, and he’s about the same size as Fabian as well, so that frees up some options. “What you need at Bathurst now is anyone of your guys in the car in the last session that will be able to do the job for you. “I can see why he kind of got left out of the equation with other teams (due to missing Phillip Island), but we figure that it’s better to have a good shot at Bathurst.” Considering Coulthard’s top five result in the last round of the series at Hamilton, Cruickshank wants a big result at Bathurst, but he admits that finishing in a podium place on The Mountain is a tough ask. “It’s hard to get a podium at Bathurst,” he says. “The ideal scenario is to go up there and run in that

top eight or 10 cars all day and then give yourself a chance at the end of the race to do something, like what happened last year. “The idea of having two strong guys is that you can position yourself to be in a position at the end of the day where if an opportunity arises, you are there to grab it.” With Davison locked into Bathurst, a spot available with Glenfords exists for the L&H 500 at Phillip Island. Cruickshank is expected to make a decision on that driver in due course. Davison’s unavailability comes due to his commitments in the sixth and final round of the European Le Mans Series – the Silverstone 1000km. Davison is competing in both the European and American Le Mans Series this year with Marc Lieb in a Porsche in the GT2 class. Davison will compete in the Petit Le Mans at Road America the week before Bathurst. – GRANT ROWLEY

Dirk Klynsmith

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

news

TKR boss slams TV report V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

TEAM Kiwi principal David John has slammed V8 Supercars Television over a report aired on Saturday about the team’s current situation. John has criticised V8 Xtra reporter Aaron Noonan after a news segment that suggested that the team was fighting off closure with revenue from merchandise sales from the Hamilton street race. “It is a classic case of not fact-checking,” John fumed. “We all know that Bernie Gillon is keen to take over the team, should the opportunity ever come up. But to say that the team is in receivership is an outright lie.” John is particularly upset that the program was aired in both Australia and New Zealand and has been receiving calls of support from both countries. “The show was shot here, in New Zealand, but I was not here when he was talking about it.” John has confirmed that the team will be at Perth for the next round of the V8 series at Barbagallo Raceway. “It will be business as usual. We have

a brand new factory in Queensland, we have just hired a new staff member and he will be starting tomorrow morning [Tuesday]. We do it tough, that is not a secret but so do almost all the teams in pitlane. But they have these things that they throw at us and we have to defend ourselves. They are not true, otherwise, we would not be here. “The only thing that we ask people to do is to pick up the phone, as you have done. It is damaging to a team and a business, and it is disappointing that someone like Aaron Noonan, who is so closely associated with V8 Supercars, would put

out something like that.” Further rumours circulating last week about TKR’s difficulties have proven unfounded. There were suggestions from one quarter that the team’s Falcon BF had been repossessed by Triple 8 Race Engineering, but team principal Roland Dane has confirmed that the car was picked up at the airport by TeamVodafone as a favour because of the late departure from NZ of the TKR crew. eNews was told that the team’s spares container was picked up by Stone Brothers Racing for similar reasons. – PHIL BRANAGAN

EC F1 feasibility is go ... V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

ANY bid to move Australia’s Formula 1 Grand Prix to Sydney stepped up a notch today with confirmation that a feasibility study into enhancements at Eastern Creek is to be conducted. The Australian Racing Drivers Club has commissioned Apex Circuit Design Ltd to carry out the $350,000 study. Apex is responsible for major motorsports developments in the Middle East, and is involved with the redevelopment plan for Britain’s Silverstone GP circuit. The aim of the study, due to report in the second half of 2008, is to details upgrades required for the facility to host two tracks that can be used simultaneously, and develop

infrastructure suitable for major spectator events other than circuit racing. Upgrades to the primary track will be designed to the highest standards, including Formula 1 and MotoGP. ARDC President John Cotter said the feasibility study was an essential first step in ensuring that Australia remained relevant in world motorsport. ”There has been some talk of persuading the NSW government to spend substantial money on a nonpermanent street circuit less than 20 kilometres from Eastern Creek Raceway, a model similar to that of Melbourne’s Albert Park F1 track and the Surfers Paradise Indy Car track,” he said. ”The impending closure of Oran Park Raceway in Sydney’s south-west will

leave the Sydney basin with only Eastern Creek Raceway, and its use is already at near full capacity.” The track, built in 1990, is due for a resurfacing program in the next few years and the ARDC, which since 2000 has turned the track from a loss-maker into a profitable concern, is the tenant of the State-government-owned facility. Any feasibility plan will be presented to the State Government for funding consideration.

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

BRIEFLY... n Did you miss Dean Fiore coming second in the last forty Carrera Cup races? Never fear, they are all online right now. Carrera Cup Australia, in conjunction with Autolexe TV, has uploaded all of it’s races for online, on-demand viewing on the web. Head to www.joost. com and type in ‘Carrera Cup’ to have a gander.

Taz or no Taz? Fujitsu Series driver Taz Douglas will be on Channel Seven’s Deal or No Deal as a contestant tonight (Tuesday) at 5:30pm. Tune in to see if he wins big … n

n AKA karting received a sponsorship shot in the arm during the week with Orrcon signing up as a ‘platform’ sponsor of the Association. The Aussie steel tube manufacturer is the first of what is expected to be several commercial partnerships signed by the AKA. “All of the funds generated by the involvement of platform sponsors will be put directly back into the marketing of the sport” said AKA President Richard Erdmann. – MARK WICKS/STAFF

Controversy over PB statue V8 SUPERCARS THE long-awaited tribute to Peter Brock at Bathurst is surrounded by controversy because of cigarette connection. A bronze statue by Melbourne artist Julie Squires has attracted the ire of the antismoking lobby because the life-size Brock is standing on

top of a Commodore VK with Marlboro signwriting. The $100,000 tribute, which is funded entirely by the Bathurst Council, has been criticized by Simon Chapman, a Professor in Public Health at the University of Sydney. “It just doesn’t need to have the Marlboro association with it,” he told ABC Radio. “What would be wrong with

simply having him with the type of cars that he raced, or just a statue of him on his own. I mean everybody knows what he did. Everybody knows his association with the Bathurst track. The Marlboro thing is just really gratuitous.” Work on the sculpture is continuing in Melbourne, prior to the unveiling of the statue in October.

Garry considers young bloke for enduro V8 SUPERCARS GARRY Rogers is weighing up his options for his fourth and final V8 Supercar endurance seat at Phillip Island and Bathurst. Rogers, renowned for his development and fostering of young talent, is considering an up and coming local driver to slot in alongside confirmed enduro expert Greg Ritter. One name that has emerged as a contender for the drive is Tim Slade. The winner of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series at Wakefield Park earlier this

month has put the youngster in with a shot at the drive, but Rogers isn’t getting too committal just yet. “We’d like to get a young driver, and what I’ve observed of Tim Slade, I think he is very capable,” Rogers said. “And I’m not saying that based on his Fujitsu V8 stuff, I’m saying that from his Formula Ford racing. “I’m always a fan of the ones who have come from Michael Ritter’s place (Slade finished second in the 2006 Formula Ford title). I think Mick is streets ahead of any of the

others in the Formula Ford business. “I’ve only met Tim once, and to me he seems like a very decent young fella. He’s doing the Fujitsu Series in a way that he’s going to go quite well but at this point in time, I’m not saying that Tim Slade is out of the equation, but I’m not saying that he’s in it either. “I’m just really looking at what options there are, particularly Australia. I’m not that fussed on the overseas type drivers, but mind you, we do have this test with the Bahrainian fellow (Fahad Al

Musalam).” Al Musalam, the 33-yearold who took out the 2008 Lumina CSV Championship at the Bahrain Circuit, won a test of a GRM VE Commodore as part of his success in Middle Eastern Championship. He will complete that drive later this month at Winton. Regardless, Rogers isn’t going to rush a decision. “October is a long way away. If I found someone I really wanted, I do the deal now, but I’m remaining pretty open-minded.” – GRANT ROWLEY

news

Marshall Cass

Bargwanna back with Holden V8 SUPERCARS JASON Bargwanna will return to his Holden roots for the endurance races. The former Bathurst winner will race alongside Tony D’Alberto at Phillip Island and on the Mountain this season and is relishing the chance to make an impression in the races. “I am excited about this opportunity,” said Bargwanna.

“The car that I raced over the last few years was, clearly, not one of the grid’s state-of-the-art vehicles, but this one is. Tony is very keen and, in my opinion, wellplaced to get a good result, with sixth last year as a good reference point.” Bargwanna had discussions with a number of teams about the races and, at the end of the day, saw the Rod Nashbacked car as one of his best chances to get to the pointy end of the field.

“It is not a matter of ego. It is a matter of getting in and doing a good job, earning a good result.” Bargs is not expecting to race in any other categories in the meantime and, indeed, has taken on a ‘weekend’ job. He will line up with expert comments on BigPond’s Sports Weekend show, providing insights into V8 Supercars from a driver’s point of view. – PHIL BRANAGAN

news

Dirk Klynsmith

Will we see the FG at Sandown?

Ford aims at first public unveil of anticipated new Falcon at Sandown’s V8 round V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

FORD is aiming to unveil its new FG Falcon race car at Sandown’s June V8 Supercar meeting. Two prototypes of the much-anticipated Falcon are being built – one by Ford Performance Racing and the other at Triple Eight Race Engineering. The FPRversion is in the final stages of its build, and Ford Racing boss Ray Price told eNews that a launch at Melbourne’s Sandown is the ideal date for blue oval fans to get their first glimpse of the new car. “That would be nice, but to be honest, I don’t know how our timing fits in with it,” he said. “We are about three-quarters of the way through it, and until we start to fit all of the components, we’re not going to know if we have a problem or not. “Yes, it would be nice to have it for Sandown, but at this point, I can’t confirm

until we know that everything fits and everything works.” Unlike Ford’s last prototype Falcon (the BA, which was launched at Bathurst in 2002, pictured above), these new cars will be built as a proper race cars, similar to Holden’s recent VE. However, there is no guarantee that it will compete in a race. Like the last car, it could be used simply as a ride/promotional car. “We are well underway with aero production and race car assembly,” he said. “We’re just waiting for everything to be fit, but we won’t roll it out until it is finished.” Whatever circuit the car does get publicly unveiled at, Ford is hoping that it will be able to cut a couple of promotional laps of track. Price, right, expects a decision on its roll out date to come sometime in the next two weeks. – GRANT ROWLEY

INDYCAR FORMER Gold Coast Indy 300 winner Mario Dominguez has a full-time IndyCar seat. Tyler Tavedic, who purchased Pacific Coast Motorsports from Tom Figge (driver Alex’s father), has signed the 2002 Indy winner for the remainder of the IndyCar season. Dominguez, who earned a podium finish at the Grand Prix of Long Beach for PCM, will compete at Indy 500 as a rookie under Mexico’s tourism ‘Visit Mexico’ tourism program. – MARY MENDEZ

INDYCAR

sutton-images.com

JAMIE Camara is the new driver at Conquest Racing. The Brazilian replaces Franck Perera in the #34 entry, with backing from Sangari, below, a science and education company. “It’s a great opportunity for me to be driving for Conquest Racing,” said Camera, 27, winner of three Indy Lights races. “This has always been a goal for me, to

get to the IndyCar Series. I never looked at going to Europe to try different series; it was always here.” Camara replaces the Frenchman after the loss of sponsors Opes Prime and ARES. Team Owner Eric Bachelart confirmed that Perera will now be the team’s reserve driver for the remainder of the year but he will be released should a racing seat be available for him with another team. – MARY MENDEZ

sutton-images.com

MARIO RETURNS Lights! Camara! Action!

INDYCAR MEDIA

news

CLARKE James the Ovalteen PARKED

Davison III heads to Indy looking for more results

INDYCAR

INDYCAR MEDIA

INDY LIGHTS

sutton-images.com

THERE is nothing like driving on an oval, according to James Davison. Despite never having driven on ovals before, the 21-year old Aussie has been one of the fastest of Indy Lights’ 26 drivers all season. “Watching on TV the ovals look easy,” explained Davison. “On ovals, when you are driving in traffic, you aren’t as relaxed. The car behaves very differently in turbulent air. That’s when you are

in the hands of the other competitors, who sometimes run down on you or don’t hold their line in the corners. “If they take the air off your front wing, you’ll pick up a big push and can get into trouble with understeer. These cars aren’t easy to drive on road courses because they are very heavy. It’s like an open wheel car with NASCAR physics.” Davo’s next race will be at Indianapolis at the end of the month. – MARY MENDEZ

DAN Clarke hopes to land a ride at Indy and get back with his old Champ Car team, HVM. “I’ve been working on an Indy-only ride,” said Clarke. “I have a potential American sponsor. The total budget needed for the month of May is [US] $800,000. And, the IRL will help with $250,000 of that in their team support program. It’s possible I’ll be in a second car at HVM or with another team if I can bring the money. “I have a good relationship with Keith [Wiggins]. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll go back to England and return with a budget for next season.” – MARY MENDEZ

Smoke and Mirrors Stewart admits he has options – but Gibbs wants to keep its man

NASCAR TWO-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart has admitted that he is looking at options apart from Joe Gibbs Racing for the future. On Thursday – 10 days after Motorsport eNews broke the story – Stewart held court at Talladega in response to the news surfacing on the internet the previous night, and confessed a part-ownership of Haas CNC Racing is one of two ownership options on the table. “We’ve got multiple offers on the table right now,” said Stewart, whose contract with Gibbs doesn’t expire until the end of 2009, the same time frame as JGR’s deal with the sponsor of the #20 car, Home Depot. “There’s a couple in particular that really have caught our interest. It’s very humbling to know that many teams are interested in what my future is going to be. A wise person told me it never cost a dime to listen, so right now, we’re all ears. It’s just a matter of figuring out what we want to do and being smart, we’ve had a great run at Joe Gibbs Racing and it doesn’t mean it’s over.” Stewart admitted he hasn’t asked to get out of his contract, but said it was a scenario he had discussed with JGR president JD Gibbs, who made it clear he would keep Stewart to his contract. “Our hope is, we do our job and he retires here,” said Gibbs. Stewart won Saturday’s Nationwide Series race and again made no mention of Toyota in his victory lane speech. “I’m still passionate about Chevrolet, we have a great relationship with General Motors, they’re our powerplant and sponsor in the open wheel series,” he continued on Thursday, referring to his Outlaw Sprintcar and USAC Midget teams. Stewart also admitted he has no interest in running the Indianapolis 500 again and that no offers have included that scenario. – MARTIN D CLARK

NASCAR Media

news

A LITTLE BIT OF INTIMIDATION sutton-images.com

The Past may show us how this will work out in the Future Stewart’s strong ties with GM rather go against his Gibbs/Toyota deal. And THE questions remain – Stewart’s strongest links of where, when and with support go to John Menard, whom will Tony Stewart do whose Menard’s retail stores his deal? There is another possibility are direct competitors to Home Depot. – that Stewart’s may take While they may be an ownership role with a willing to allow Smoke to third-party team, while still run a team under another driving with JGR. That is not unprecedented; in fact, Dale manufacturer’s banner, Earnhardt did just that when it would be an entirely different matter to race he founded Dale Earnhardt Incorporated and continued against it in NASCAR, rather to race for Richard Childress, than watch it compete from a distance in a completely not to mention a parallel V8 separate series. Supercar example involving Of course, this may all Jason Bright, Britek and Ford be just a lot of smoke Performance Racing. – a carefully-planned The complicating negotiating ploy to raise factor in the Stewart his contract package with scenario is that both those Gibbs ... examples involved a single manufacturer and that

NASCAR

Franchitti hurt in Crash

Stremme subs for Indy 500 winner NASCAR DARIO Franchitti will be rested from the next few NASCAR Sprint Cup races after sustaining an ankle injury last weekend. The Scot was stretchered from the track after his Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Dodge slammed into a wall at Talledega in a multi-car melee. On lap 11, Franchitti’s Fastenal car blew a right-rear

tyre, triggering the wreck. He was treated at the Talladega Superspeedway infield care centre and then driven to Physicians Medical Center Carraway in nearby Birmingham, where he was further evaluated, treated and released. Franchitti’s seat in the Sprint Cup race the following day was filled by David Stremme, who is expected to drive the car in the next two races.

GM Racing

The Clean-up Continues John Morris/ Mpix

FUJITSU V8 BRETT Hobson will take to a backup chassis for the next round of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Championship Series, with his regular car still not repaired following the pile-up at Wakefield Park earlier this month. Hobson was part of the Race 3, Turn 1 crash that claimed 10 cars from the FV8 field at the last round, and Sydney Star team boss Robert Tebb confirmed that the ex-Lee

Holdsworth VZ won’t be fixed for Sandown. “It certainly won’t be racing at this point,” Tebb told eNews. “We have four ex-GRM chassis, numbers 04 through to 07, so Brett is more than likely going to step back to 05 for the next round.” Tebb confirmed that chassis 07 will be fixed later this year. Another car on the ‘maybe’ list for Sandown is the AU Falcon of Colin Sieders. The ex-Anthony Tratt Ford copped a big hit in the shunt, and

is unlikely to be on-track at Sandown, however, like the Hobsons, there are plans in place to fix the car. But it’s not all bad news for those involved. Taz Douglas’s AU is one car that was badly crunched at Wakefield, but will still be racing at Sandown. Mark McNally is in a similar boat, with his BJR-prepared VZ Commodore expected to be online again for the next round. “The boys did a great job stripping the car, assessing it and getting it off to be

repaired straight away,” said McNally. “It should be back at BJR before the end of the month.” Shane Beikoff’s AU was also hit hard, but he too says the car should be a goer come Sandown. “We have plenty of time, we’re just a bit short of money,” he said. “So we expect to be at Sandown fit and ready, we just have some corporate work to do before then.” – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

FUJITSU V8

Dirk Klynsmith

RACE Image Motorsport will take over the complete running of Damien Assaillit’s Ford Falcon BA in the Fujitsu V8 Series after car preparer Prodigy Motorsport recently pulled out of the sport. Race Image’s owner David McMahon told eNews that all of Prodigy’s key staff, including renowned engineer Greg Wheeler, will move to Race Image’s base in Newcastle. “Effectively, nothing changes,” he said. “All of the guys who were employed by Prodigy will now work for Race Image Motorsport. “There’s really no change. Bruce Partington is going to continue to be crew manager. “When we bought the cars from Dick Johnson Racing at the end of 2005, we always had a plan to run the team ourselves. But being the new kids on the block, we wanted to sit back and tough it out, watch how people do it and learn, and gradually move into doing it ourselves. “This move however has come five rounds earlier than expected.” Assaillit, currently 15th in the Fujitsu V8 Series, has had two different team-mates in the first two rounds (Gene Rollinson and Clayton Pyne) but McMahon is in discussions with two drivers to compete in the rest of the season. – GRANT ROWLEY

news

Dirk Klynsmith

Formula for Carnage FORMULA 3 THE 2008 Formula 3 Championship campaigns of three competitors have been thrown into extreme doubt following a major crash in the second practice session in Round 2 of the championship on Friday. The crash, involving Graeme Holmes, Jesse Wakeman and Mathew Radisich, occurred 10 minutes into the session and prompted a lengthy red-flag period while the damaged cars were cleared away. The incident was triggered by a spin from

Graeme Holmes on the exit of Turn seven. Holmes’s car stalled in a precarious position and he was unable to move in time to avoid being collected by Leanne Tander, who was closely following another car and didn’t see Holmes until it was too late. Mathew Radisich was the next to be involved, bouncing into the wall where he was collected by the hapless Mat Sofi, while Wakeman nailed the other side of Holmes’s car. Both Tander and Sofi were spared the worst of the damage, but Radisich, Wakeman and Holmes’ came away

with destroyed chassis and suspension components, while Wakeman and Holmes also suffered engine damage. The chances of these drivers appearing on the F3 grid again in 2008 would seem remote. Fortunately, there were no injuries in the incident – testament to the safety measures in a modern F3 car. However, questions were raised in relation to the lack of adequate yellow flags to warn drivers about the incident. The practice session was held on the Friday when only a limited number of officials were in attendance. – LACHLAN MANSELL

December 11–13, 2008 Orlando, Florida • USA

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EVERYTHING HAPPENS HERE FIRST! 15

3/14/08 8:43:59 AM

Dirk Klynsmith

Utes secure big sponsor V8 UTES ROARING Lion Energy Drink has been announced as the official drink supplier of the V8 Utes. Roaring Lion is a relatively new energy drink on the market in Australia, having originated out of the US. “It’s really great,” said Roaring Lions merchandising and events coordinator Pat Perre.

“[The V8 Utes] are very family orientated which reflects well with Roaring Lion Energy Drink, as we are a very family orientated organisation as well. So we tie together quite well and it’s been great so far.” The signing of a two-year deal is good news for the category after it lost Coopers as the category drink sponsor recently. Roaring Lion driver Craig

Dontas, who sits third in the championship after two rounds, will also benefit from the deal, with continued support and a live in-car camera being placed in his car for the next two years. “We sat down last year and put a whole V8 Utes package together,” said Dontas, “so for us its something that is well above where we thought we would be.

“The guys at Roaring Lion have seen a real value to take up the sponsorship in the category. “I think they’re achieving what they want to do and seeing the benefits. To have a sponsor like Roaring Lion is phenomenal, it’s something which we wanted to burst onto the scene with, and make a real impact in the series.” – PHILLIP MAHONEY

Son of a Gun! Dirk Klynsmith

Who’s a busy man? V8 UTES V8 UTES driver Colin Corkery is a busy man at the moment, with driving commitments split between New Zealand and Australia. Corkery is currently in his second year of V8 Ute racing in Australia, and is looking to expand into the Fujitsu V8 series full-time next year. The WPR driver is racing a 3-

hour enduro in New Zealand with GT Radials in their ride car this weekend, which required him to test the car last Friday. He will then jet over to Perth to test his V8 Ute on Thursday and will return back to NZ to race the enduro at Taupo. His Utes schedule will then see him fly back to Perth for the next round at Barbagallo Raceway on May 11. – PHILLIP MAHONEY

Schumacher Junior has first kart race KARTING

MICHAEL Schumacher’s son, Mick, has taken up kart racing. The nine-year old was entered in a low key race in Spain under his mother’s maiden name (Betsch) to avoid media attention. Ironically, the young German made his debut aboard an Alonso Kart which is the spec chassis for the Cadet level class in which he was competing. With dad Michael not present, Schu Jr was attended to by Grandfather Rolf. He grabbed 10th and eighth in his two races at the Sils circuit and plans to contest the remaining three rounds of the Spanish series. Schumacher senior is a part owner of the KSM Motorsport kart team in Germany which runs Tony Kart chassis in the KF classes in Europe. – MARK WICKS

news

MINI gets Wanless, wants West Aussies MINI CHALLENGE

A CALL for local drivers to join the MINI Challenge in Western Australia next month isn’t a bad sign for the fledgling category, according to officials. A notice was posted on the West Australian Sporting Car Club’s website recently offering one-off drives for the Bigpond 400 support race at Barbagallo Raceway. But Paul Powell, MINI Challenge motorsport operations manager, says the lack of entries is the due to the

nature of the long-haul event. “Being a long-haul event, there were always going to be a few regular guys who would struggle to make it,” said Powell. “We expected it to be like this, which is why we hope to get a few of the local drivers out on track. “We’d really like to have 18 cars on track in Perth. And we’ve had a few enquiries, but there are no deals done yet.” According to Powell, the going rate is just under $20,000 for a fully-prepped

ride in the West. “It really depends at what experience the individual has, and whether or not they need to car prepared for them.” “But if someone with an NC license needs a car prepared by us, they probably looking at around $18,000 for the round.” In other MINI news, multiple Australian Speedway Champion Todd Wanless will join the series from the Barbagallo Raceway round onwards, in a Motorline MINI Garage-entered car. – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Dirk Klynsmith

Glenney: Back to the ARC AUSTRALIAN RALLY

doing some more tarmac rallies like Rallye Burnie, Mount Buller Sprint, and a possible appearance at Classic Adelaide later in the year. “I’d love to do all of those including Classic Adelaide at the end of the year if we can find a car to do that as well,” Glenney said. “We’re going to sit down over the next couple of weeks and work out a program and see what we come up with.” – PHILLIP MAHONEY

Joel Strickland

SOUTH Australian privateer and Targa Tasmania outright winner Steve Glenney has told eNews about his plans to race in selected rounds of the Australian Rally Championship this season. Glenney, who has just come of the back of an impressive Targa Tasmania win, has had some success at the South Australian round of the ARC, finishing second their last

year and taking outright honours the year before as a privateer. “We are looking at doing at least a couple of gravel events this year,” said Glenney. “Obviously Adelaide is an easy one for us because it’s local, but maybe Melbourne and NSW, we’ll have a look at them and hopefully we can include them in our plans [this year].” In between his ARC plans Glenney is also looking at

news

Push bike stack can’t halt TB

Ducati star crashes his ‘pushy’ one week, dominates at Assen the next ... WORLD SUPERBIKES YOU can’t keep Troy Bayliss down, even when he is hurt. Bayliss, 39, dominated the fourth round of the World Superbike Championship at Assen last weekend, despite carry a back injury incurred the week prior to the race.

The keen cyclist was out one of his training rides with his personal trainer when, riding down a hill and sitting up, he noticed that he was heading right for an uncovered manhole. Bayliss tried to jump the bike over the hole but came crashing down to the pavement, and was lucky to avoid being hit by passers-by in their cars.

The Taree, NSW rider suffered cuts and bruises and a sore back, and delayed his flight to Assen to get treatment. However, such was the pace that the two-time World champion showed in the Netherlands that you can expect the opposition to be throwing themselves off their treadlies in the near future …

NHRA Goes Full Throttle in 2009 NHRA

‘GO Full Throttle or Go Home’ will be the the new slogan for the NHRA beginning in 2009, as Coca-Cola North America’s Full Throttle energy drink succeeds POWERade as the title sponsor of NHRA’s premier professional drag racing series. The new series will be titled as the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. The agreement between NHRA and Coca-Cola North America, with support from Coca-Cola Enterprises, includes a two-year partnership extension through the 2013 season. – DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

5 Minutes with ...

DAN WHELDON

Dan Wheldon heads to Indianapolis 500 full of confidence after winning in Kansas QUESTION: Dan, congratulations, talk about your day.

DAN WELDON: I bet the media centre is busier when Danica wins, right? No, it was just a fantastic, weekend for everybody at Target Chip Ganassi Racing.

In days of old, the race before Indianapolis was Phoenix. It always turned out that if you did well at Phoenix, you'd come in and do well at Indianapolis. Does Kansas help you, racing here and racing prior to going to the speedway? Is there anything you carry from here, or is it just you’re going to come in and you’ve got a win and feel good and have confidence? I think the biggest thing is confidence for everybody involved. We definitely have

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Many of us tab you as the favourite to win the Indy 500 after your win here last year, and the month didn’t quite go as well as you wanted. How can you use today’s victory as a catalyst to an outstanding month of may this year? Well, I think the circumstances are definitely different [to] last year. I think you could focus on Indianapolis a little bit earlier. I think the win is good, but the biggest thing that you notice about this year is, you know, pick up the wins when you can. But you can’t have races out of the top five, because the points are just that close. So it was important to score wins. I think this will help going into the month of May, but I don’t think it means too much because it’s just going to be tight there.

For me, it’s my passion. it’s the race where you can be in the car for the whole month. DAN WhELDON been fast this year. Towards the end of last year things perhaps didn't always – in fact, not a lot went my way. I never really had a patch like that in my IndyCar career. So it’s nice, to, kind of, see something and maybe that luck change a little bit. How do you feel about having so much time in between this race and the Indy 500? I wouldn’t say so much time. We have to be there Saturday. So I wouldn’t say it’s too much. Maybe I should get your job (laughing). You know, I think, honestly, as competitive as this season has been, or it certainly seems to be the case, there are a lot of things you can improve on. But there’s a lot of data to go over with the races on consecutive weekends like the Japanese race and this race. You don't get to sit down with your engineer, purely because he

doesn’t have enough time to do a proper debrief on that race. So we’ll probably take a little bit of time to look at the trend and the way our race car has been in these first four races, and use that time to get through there and start the month of May. Indy is, if not the biggest, one of the biggest events in Motorsports. Talk about what it means to you to be able to race in this and how big this event is to you? Well, it’s my opinion, but there’s no doubt the Indianapolis 500 is the biggest race in the world. But for me, it’s my passion. It’s the race where you can be in the race car for the whole month. It’s incredibly competitive, and there’s a lot of pressure on everybody within the team. I put a lot on myself to perform well. So it’s, you know, it’s a new race. There’s history and tradition that no other sporting event has.

Having been a previous winner, you get to feel what it has done for, and I’ve felt what it’s done for my career. I want that feeling again. It can be a cruel place, too. I felt how cruel it was last year, certainly having, as people said, we went into the month of may with a lot of momentum. We were very strong the first three or four days of Indianapolis, and then it just kind of went downhill from there. I think we have, and actually back to your question, we use time that we have as well to look at the previous couple of years to see if there’s a trend in the way the race car has gone as the month has gone on, and we’ll use that time, too. But I was so mad about the Indianapolis performance last year. We’ve already looked at that and we have a good idea as to why we weren’t very good there in the race. But we’ll continue to look at that, too.

chat

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Brock on a Car? I’m not sure opinion Phil Branagan eNews Executive Editor I HAVE a problem with the Peter Brock memorial at Bathurst. There are plans to have a bronze statue depicting a lifesize Brock standing on the roof of the Marlboro Commodore after one of his numerous victories. And my problem has nothing to do with cigarettes. Yes, the anti-smoking zealots have got their macrobiotic knickers in a twist about the cigarette logos, no doubt claiming that such evils will encourage many kiddies to run, not walk, to the nearest tobacconist, purchase some evil sticks and light up three at once. I say; what a load of rubbish. History is history, and it records that Peter did, for better or worse, carry ciggy advertising on his cars for much of his career. So did Lotus, and McLaren. In motor racing, there are all kinds of horrors that we wished never happened, like Dick Johnson’s 1979 sideburns, or John Goss’s cravats. Hell, in at least one

Grand Prix, Alan Jones raced with sponsorship from the Bin Laden family. I am not one for airbrushing away the finer points of history. It happened. Live with it and, perhaps, muse on the fact that Peter eventually quit smoking. [And, for those who wonder if I have an axe to grind, I am a reformed smoker myself ]. Surely, there are things more

important to worry about in this day and age? Which, brings me to my problem; Brock was not a carstander. Without pretending to be an expert on the subject, I can’t remember him clambering onto the roof of any of his numerous racing cars over the years. I needed an oracle, so I asked Tim ‘Plastic’ Pemberton;

“No, mate,” he said soothingly. “The only time he did it that I recall was when we were doing a Monaro pic at Brock’s Hill at Albert Park. He said, ‘Plastic, I am scared I might fall off!’ and I replied, ‘Shuddup Brock, and get on the roof!’ And he did.” So, if I can live with Brock on the roof at Bathurst, maybe the cigarette militia will look for some other way to annoy

Letters

Have your say, email us at mail@mnews.com.au. Keep letters to the point. Reservations I can’t say I found Mr Lambden’s assertion that the only issue with the Hamilton 400 being the problem chicanes. As for it being an extraordinary event, I have my reservations. Apparently it’s not sport any more, entertainment is the catchphrase used by V8SA. On that account, the racing delivered on Saturday and

Sunday fails on those criteria. Much was made about the success of the Sunday crowd. What is being overlooked is why would anyone of those fans, return again in 2009. The Hamilton 400 is what it is, a short-sighted money grab by V8SA that does nothing for the sporting contest. Daniel Blattman email address withheld

Options I was wondering if you could tell me what and if Jamie had any options after he was taken out in qualifying for the H400. Was there any chance that as the best team driver he could have driven the 888 car instead? It certainly would have kept things interesting, especially as he was a young gun showing

his worth. Russell Ingall also showed that he was as good as his mouth at H400 with his disastrous inside overtaking move. Hamilton was good, but overtaking was non-existent, but you Kiwis have scored 8 out of 10 with me. John Gray jjgray@skymesh.com.au

opinion

Standing up to the Task opinion Paul Cruickshank V8 Supercar team boss

Dirk Klynsmith

IT was great to breakthrough and get a good result at Hamilton last week. The Glenfords Falcon was faultless, Fabian did a top job and we really stood up. You continually tell people what you can do and how well you can do it, but to actually stand up and do it, you sit back and think, “that’s alright!” And it was great to do it at my home track, too. If we had done that at Winton or somewhere else like that, it would have carried less significance. Certainly the attention we’ve had out of New Zealand over the past week has been really good. We’ve been making steady progress this year. At Adelaide, we had good speed. At Eastern Creek, we expected to struggle a bit because we didn’t have a lot of great information from last year. It’s a hard track to get right. At the Grand Prix, we played it pretty conservative but the signs are there that we are making some really good progress.

Fabian did a fantastic job amongst all the rubble at Hamilton and we probably had the least amount of damage out of any team. Again, it was an outstanding result. The Hamilton street track is great. The Hamilton people have done an awesome job. Logistically, it was an exceptionally easy round for us guys to do, and the

whole group around there has a positive can-do attitude. Things that you wanted done got done. I think a lot of the circuit people over here in Australia could take a lot of notice from what they’re doing there. There will be a few little things about the track and a few of the viewing stands, but I bet they be fixed for next year ...

Hamilton is only a small town, or small city, so to do what they got through is pretty amazing. I think the event has the opportunity to be one of our glamour events. The race was sold out, and the way the people and the town conducted it, some other circuits could take a lesson from it. If Townsville is anything like

eLETTER OF THE WEEK Have another look Ok, so let me get this straight. Todd Kelly admits on camera that he had just left the pits, was on an out-lap, was on cold tyres, saw that Jamie Whincup was coming up behind him. He admits he then made a mistake and ran wide and then, when he pulls back onto the

racing line and into Whincup he has the gall to say that it is all Whincup’s fault for not giving him any room? I hope Todd can have a good look at the replay and realise that if only he took his foot off the throttle, he could have let the car that was on a hot lap through without issue. I have always

been under the impression that cars on an out-lap give way to other traffic, or at least, that is what the competent drivers do . . . I’m sure whenever Todd gets held up he’s the first to complain Geordie Pugh Zillmere Qld

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

SHANNONS NATIONALS ROUND 2 – ORAN PARK, NSW

Winning Winslow After lowly qualifying efforts, dynamite starts ensured James Winslow won the Oran Park Formula 3 round, taking the championship lead in the process

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Dirk Klynsmith

FORMULA 3

Winners are grinners: Above, Winslow, Tander and Caratti celebrate on the podium after Race 1. Below, McFadyen was dominant early, but couldn’t get his Dallara off the line.

Dirk Klynsmith

JAMES Winslow has taken the lead in the Australian Formula 3 Championship after finishing first and second in the two races held at Oran Park on the weekend. Winslow only qualified fourth and fifth for the two races, but made brilliant starts in both races. It was a timely win for Winslow, who was suffering after the collapse of major sponsor Opes Prime. However, a one-off deal with Astuti Motorsport gave him the opportunity to come away with a strong result. “I’m now leading the championship so hopefully we can get some new backers on the car to continue the year and the championship assault,” Winslow said. Leanne Tander won the weekend’s opening race, before finishing fifth in the second race, to move back into contention for the title after a tough start to the season. The other main podium contender was Nathan Caratti, who

qualified second for both races and came home with finishes of second and third. The series-leader coming into the weekend, Neil McFadyen, displayed dominant pace in practice and qualifying, taking pole position for both races. However, McFadyen struggled with his starts, particularly in Race 1, when he stalled on the grid. Nevertheless, he recovered with finishes of fifth and third in the two races to accumulate a solid points haul. The weekend was marred by a major crash in Friday practice in greasy conditions. The crash occurred after National Class competitor Graeme Holmes spun and was subsequently collected by Leanne Tander, Mat Sofi, Jesse Wakeman and Mathew Radisich. While Tander and Sofi escaped the worst of the damage, the cars of Wakeman, Radisich and Holmes were eliminated from the event. Wakeman and Holmes in particular ending up with destroyed race cars. – LACHLAN MANSELL

Marshall Cass

Mix and match: Bullas, above, Falk, below and Lovell, right won their respective classes in Sydney.

James Smith

National pride at Oran Park SHANNONS NATS THE second round of the Shannons Nationals at Oran Park on the weekend was boosted by the participation of some of Australia’s best drivers in the Biante Touring Car Masters and the Commodore Cup national series. In the Touring Car Masters, Jim Richards piloted a Ford Mustang while his son, FPR V8 Supercar driver Steven, steered

a Ford Escort. The father-and-son duo entertained the crowd with a thrilling battle in all three races, although Steven suffered a gearbox problem in Race 2. Jim Richards’s best result was third in Race 3, behind Gavin Bullas, who won all three races in his Mustang after early pressure in each race from Brad Tilley. Garry Rogers Motorsport V8 Supercar star Lee Holdsworth won all three Commodore Cup races to take the early

ascendancy in the series. Holdsworth made a stellar return to the category, which he last contested in 2003. For spectators, the highlight was Holdsworth’s thrilling battle with Michael Tancredi in the top-10 reverse-grid Race 2, with Lee waiting until the very last corner to overtake Tancredi for the win. Tancredi eventually finished second overall ahead of Adam Lloyd. Other categories provided close racing as well, with

Matt Lovell taking the roundwin in the Supaloc Saloon Cars from series-leader Steve Kwiatkowski and John Goodacre. Kris Walton won Race 1, but failed to finish Race 2 due to mechanical problems. In the Tankworld Supertrucks, John Falk won two races in his return to the class, but defending Champion Bob Middleton won the round thanks to his consistency across the weekend. – LACHLAN MANSELL

Holdsone: Lee Holdsworth missed out on pole but won all three races in his return to Commodore Cup. The series was supported by Holden at the first round.

AUSTRALIAN MOTOR RACING CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 2 – CALDER PARK, VIC

Calm at Calder

Small fields, but the racing was tough in a variety of categories at Calder Park

HE second round of the Australian Motor Racing Championships was held at Calder Park Raceway last weekend. The Pirelli Gran Turisimo category saw Ross Lilley’s Lamborghini Gallardo, formerly raced by John Bowe, work hard for two race wins, while David Stevens in his Ferrari 430 Challenge took the other win. Roger Lago (Porsche GT3) had three podium places with the superb Maseratis of Rod Wilson and Jim Manolis along with Russell Kempnich GT3 rounding out the field. Bob Muir’s Reynard Lexus secured both wins in Thundersports, despite the best efforts of the Wests of Mark Laucke and Shane Otten. Michael Gibson had the new Saker Spring racing until an unfortunate on board fire curtailed his day. Also in the Thundersports class was the little Future Racer rockets, which showed off their new and improved wheels, tyres and bodywork. Two race wins were taken by Jade Barnes, while the other winners

Neil Hammond

AMRC

Bobby done good: Bob Muir won Thundersports, while Ross Lilley took the Gran Turismo, above. were Kerran Del Masso and series stalwart Chris Clearihan. In the Australian Touring Car Challenge, a three-way battle unfolded between Darren Saillard and Darren Formosa. Saillard won the first event which failed to run the distance when Formosa contacted with Sean Holes’s Subaru. Peter McNiven’s Commodore VX was third. In the next race, Formosa’s repaired Commodore narrowly won from Saillard with the team coloured cars of John English (Magna V8) and Gary Leaton (Monaro) next. The final saw Saillard regained victory with

the ex-Youlden Falcon BA ride car. Super TT was Joe McGinnes’s speciality, despite two handicap races from the back of the grid. The NZ Muscle XY GT lead all three races, while Daniel Orr recorded two seconds and a third from Keith Linnell’s V8 Cortina. Falcon driver David Heath took three from three wins in Production cars, but Jeremy Gray’s similar example spent time in front, ensuring that Heath’s wins were earned. Joshua Riehs worked his Cooper S hard in the field to gain two third places. – NEIL HAMMOND

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Neil Hammond

Power plus: Darren Formosa, above, was involved in a Race 1 accident, but his team repaired his Commodore for the remaining events. Below, Darren Saillard took two comfortable wins in his ex-Youlden ride car. Bottom left, David Heath won Proddies, while the Future Racers, bottom right, were looking tough in their new kit.

Neil Hammond Neil Hammond

Neil Hammond

INDYCARS ROUND 4 – KANSAS

Sensitive, New Age Dan Just in case anyone in the USA forgot, Dan Wheldon reminded everyone that men race IndyCars too with a dominant performance in Kansas 30

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IndyCar Media

On Target: Wheldon was too fast, above, and they came from everywhere to see him win, right. Kanaan was second, left, after fighting off the attentions of Ryan Briscoe. Hideki Mutoh’s impressive rookie season continued, below left, while KV Racing continued its oval track education, below.

IndyCar Media

AN Wheldon lost the race to pole position to Scott Dixon at Kansas but had the last laugh when he took out the race for the second successive year. The Target Ganassi teammates were in dominant form at the first ‘reunited’ race in IndyCar’s landmark season and became the first repeat winner on the 1.5-mile oval in eight events. Wheldon inherited the lead on lap 152 when teammate Dixon pitted under green, only for a yellow to fly straight afterwards, and the Brit held on despite a lap 172 restart. Wheldon will be hoping that 2007 does not repeat itself; he won a year ago in Kansas but did not see the chequer for the rest of the year. “It’s fantastic,” Wheldon said. “It’s been a year (since his last victory).” Wheldon led home Tony Kanaan, who felt that he was hampered by lapped traffic over the final laps, and Dixon. Marco Andretti and Helio Castroneves followed, the series leader maintaining his consistent season. It was mixed news for the Australian drivers. Ryan Briscoe finished right behind his Team Penske team-mate, while Will Power was out of the race early when he hit the wall in the KV Racing Dallara. Once again, the oval track showed the superiority of the established IndyCar teams, with Ganassi, Andretti Green and Penkse lining up, in order, before the transition teams took their positions. The best of the new drivers was Newman Haas Lanigan’s Justin Wilson in eighth place. This may change at the next race, with plenty of track time for the newer teams to come to grips with the famed 2.5mile oval at Indianapolis. Rookie Orientation will start proceedings on May 4, and Australian eyes will be on Power and he takes to the biggest track in his adopted hometown.

Just Maid for the Media America and CNN’s American Morning, did ESPN’s First Take and the nationally-networked radio show of namesake Dan Patrick, and even reunited with her former team owner David Letterman in New York on The Late Show. The final stop of the whirlwind was, suitably, in Kansas, before which she did CBS’s The Early Show, The View, Fox News, NPR and Late Night with Conan O’Brien. After all that, Patrick qualified third, right behind the two Ganassi cars, and looked good for a top-six finish in the race until she stopped with a wheel hub problem.

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IndyCar Media

AT the end of a hard week, Danica Patrick breathed a sigh of relief and stepped into her Dallara to relax. The first women to win an IndyCar race had no time to herself the week after her Motegi win. As soon as she stepped from the podium, there was the post-race press conference and a rushed flight back to California, on which she grabbed two hours sleep. She needed them. Danica Fever swept America. Will Power taking the chequered flag at Long Beach was almost an aside, as Danica was in the commentary box. She was interviewed by all the major breakfast shows on Monday, including Good Morning

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IndyCar Media

INDYCAR | INDY 300, KANSAS SPEEDWAY 1 10 2 11 3 9 4 26 5 3 6 6 7 27 8 2 9 02 10 20 27 8

Dan Wheldon GB Tony Kanaan Br Scott Dixon NZ Marco Andretti USA Helio Castroneves Br Ryan Briscoe Aus Hideki Mutoh J AJ Foyt IV USA Justin Wilson GB Ed Carpenter USA Will Power Aus

Target Ganassi Racing 200 laps Andretti Green +1.92s Target Ganassi Racing +4.32s Andretti Green +1 lap Team Penske +1 lap Team Penske +1 lap Andretti Green +1 lap Vision Racing +1 lap Newman Haas Lanigan +1 lap Vision Racing +2 laps KV Racing Technology +177 laps

IndyCar Media

INDYCAR | DRIVER’S points Castroneves 144, Dixon 138, Wheldon 135, Kanaan 129, Patrick 110, Power 97, Andretti 95, Servia 93, Carpenter 90, Rahal 88.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP ROUND 9 – TALLADEGA SUPER SPEEDWAY

The Smile on Kyle

Kyle Busch continued his dominace of NASCAR, this time winning his second Sprint Cu MARTIN D CLARK reports

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e’s Dial

up in a row.

NASCAR Media

SPRINT CUP KYLE Busch continued his dominance in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup with a win at Talladega Super Speedway on Sunday. But it wasn’t easy; Busch missed his pit stall early in the 188-lap event and dropped a lap. He then sideswiped with Jamie McMurray, the two sideways at close to 200 mph. A timely caution saw him return to the lead lap and exercise patience until he needed to be up front in an exciting race that featured 52 lead changes among 20 drivers. Busch was running third on the final restart with five laps to run, Michael Waltrip headed Jimmie Johnson, but Johnson dived under Waltrip only for Busch to do the same on Johnson with six laps run. This left Busch up front with Juan Pablo Montoya glued to his bumper. Denny Hamlin ended his day third, with David Ragan and Brian Vickers in his Red Bull Toyota rounding out the top five. “Our plan was to block as best we could,” said Busch, who moved within 13 points of Jeff Burton for the points lead. “If Juan had of pulled out, we were

hoping our team mate (Hamlin) would have gone with us in order to give a one-two finish for Joe Gibbs Racing. It was all thanks to Jeff Gordon and Montoya there at the end of the race, those guys were really helping us out a tremendous amount.” There were two of the famous restrictor plate ‘big ones’ the first was inevitable with some four-wide racing with 16 laps to run which saw race dominators Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. make contact and wipe out Martin Truex, Jamie McMurray, Bobby Labonte and Kurt Busch. The major wreck occurred after the frontrunners had taken the white flag and Jamie McMurray appeared to get loose and wiped out the cars of Burton, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Johnson, pole sitter Joe Nemechek and David Stremme, who was subbing for the injured Dario Franchitti. All the action left Busch to take his second win on the trot with the one finishing under the caution. – MARTIN D CLARK Points: Burton 1332, Busch 1325, Earnhardt Jr. 1268, Johnson 1251, Hamlin 1248.

NASCAR Media NASCAR Media

Still on fire: Kyle Busch, above, below and right, won his second Sprint Cup race in a row in Talladega, leading home Montoya, above left. Paul Menard’s spin, left, through the infield brought out just one of many cautions. NASCAR Media

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Stewart Wins

NASCAR Media

NATIONWIDE

NASCAR Media NASCAR Media

USING the same Joe Gibbs Toyota he won with at Daytona in February, Tony Stewart dominated the Talladega Nationwide Series race last Saturday. David Stremme came through to finish second in his Rusty Wallace-owned Chev ahead of Bobby Hamilton Jr., Jason Leffler and Mark Green. “I don’t care if it’s a bicycle race, I finally won a race at Talladega,” Stewart remarked of his first ever ‘Dega’ win. “I wish I could put into words what this means to me, but I can’t. I figured eventually I was bound to win here, this place means a lot to me it was important to me.” A lack of Cup drivers in

the top slots was brought about by some errant driving from Kevin Lepage, who had pitted for a loose wheel and returned to the track in the wrong place at the wrong time. The first few cars avoided him, but running nose to tail in the draft, others didn’t see him and it was Carl Edwards who launched himself off the rear of Lepage’s car. When the smoke cleared 16 cars were swept into the proverbial ‘big one’. Eight of the top 10 point contenders suffered damage, including Kyle Busch who was gunning for a fourth straight series victory. Marcos Ambrose qualified 30th, using a race set-up under his Ford Fusion, and had worked his way inside the top 20 on the lead lap

before being swept into the big wreck. He ended his day 28th after returning to the track to make some token points laps. “We were running to plan, just hanging out there in the lead pack and getting ready to make a run at the front,” said Ambrose. “I took the conservative approach like a lot of others, and it was all running pretty smoothly but once the wreck started there was no stopping it. “We’re certainly not the only ones that got caught up in it, Talladega looked like a parking lot after the dust settled!” – MARTIN D CLARK Points: Bowyer 1427, Edwards 1400, Busch 1388, Reutimann 1298, Bliss 1282, (Ambrose 14th 1022).

NASCAR Media

Smash bang crash: A huge 15-car crash, top, put pay to many of the leading driver’s races including Australian Marcos Ambrose. Tony Stewart, left, managed to get through the carnage to take the win.

GLOBE TROTTER

INDY Lights rookie J.R Hildebrand took his first win of the season in Kansas City last weekend. A lap 59 restart saw an eightlap sprint to the line with Hildebrand holding off Robbie Pecorari in the smallest of

margins. “It feels so good for the team; everybody has worked so hard,” said Hildebrand. “To be able to come away with a win in just the fourth race has put us in a really good spot in the championship. I didn’t think our first win would come on an oval but we’ll take

it and keep going with Indy coming up and then the height of the season.” The win moves Hildebrand into the championship lead after the first four rounds. Australia’s James Davison had a good weekend in Kansas finishing on the lead lap in a season-high 11th.

Move over Danica NHRA Ashley Force became the first woman in the history of NHRA Drag Racing to win in a nitro Funny Car. Force, having advanced into the past two final rounds on the NHRA POWERade tour, defeated her father John Force in the final of the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals near Atlanta, Georgia. After defeating Gainesville winner Del Worsham, Jim Head, and Ron Capps, Force clocked a winning 4.83/320 to stop her dad, who lost traction at the start, and was denied his 1000th round win. She holds the current points lead in Funny Car. Other winners included Top Fuel winner Antron Brown, who used a holeshot to stop Tony Schumacher and take

his second win of the season, 4.53/325 to 4.52/329. Mike Edwards cut a stellar .009 reaction time in the Pro Stock final to defeat Jason Line, 6.68/206 to 6.68/206. It was Edwards’ first win since Madison in 2006. Andrew Hines took the Pro Stock Motorcycle points lead with a win over Chip Ellis, 6.94/191 to 6.95/190. – David Ostaszewski

David Ostaszewski

INDY LIGHTS

David Ostaszewski

n Stephan Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy won the Monza 1000 last weekend for Peugeot. Allan Simonsen finished second in a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR in the GT2 class, while Australian Alex Davison finished eighth in the same class. The race was marred by a huge accident involving Stephan Ortelli in an LC70-Judd.

Season Best

IndyCar Media

n Tomasz Gollob, from Poland won Speedway’s first Grand Prix of the season following a dramatic meeting in Krsko. He won the final ahead of World Champion Nicki Pedersen and the Dane Hans Andersson, after Andreas Jonsson of Sweden was excluded for touching the tapes. It was a disappointing opening to the series for the two Australians in the field, Leigh Adams and former world champion Jason Crump. Crump opened with two third places but recovered well with two seconds and a heat victory to earn a place in the semi-finals where he came up against Gollob, Andersson and American Greg Hancock. A third place behind Gollob and Andersson meant he failed to make the Grand Final and had to be content with 10 GP points. Adams had little going right and he had machine problems all meeting. He finished last in three of his five qualifiers and with only a single heat victory and a second place only Bjarne Pedersen of Denmark took less points from the meeting. The second GP takes place at Lezsno in Poland on May 10. – TONY MILLARD

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Boyd’s weekend FORMULA FORD CHAMPIONSHIP leader Wayne Boyd has had a great weekend in Round 3 of the British Formula Ford Championship at Croft taking all three race wins. Boyd was unstoppable

and literally swept the entire weekend, backing up his three wins with pole position and fastest lap in all three races. Australian Tim Blanchard continued his good form in this year’s championship with two second places in a

competitive field. However unfortunatly for Blanchard a DNF in the third race saw him finish a little down on points putting a dent in his championship. The other Australian in the field, Glen Wood, had an average weekend compared

to Blanchard, placing ninth and 12th in the first two races, but a fourth in the final gave him something to smile about. Boyd now leads the championship by a large margin as the series heads to Brands Hatch on May 4.

Aussies struggle FORMULA 3

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ROUND 3 and 4 of the British Formula 3 Championship has been run and won over the weekend at Croft, with Mexican Sergio Perez taking his maiden win in the first race. The Mugen-Honda driver led from lights to flag in dominant display leading home Sebastian Hohenthal. New Zealand’s Brendon Hartley won an aggregate second race from Perez. In a disappointing day for the Australians, Sam Abay finished 10th in Race 1 and had a DNF in Race 2, while John Martin, right, had a similar weekend, finishing ninth and 21st in Races 1 and 2 respectively.

WORLD SUPERBIKES ROUND 4 – ASSEN

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PURE CLASSEN

On his final race at the classic Dutch track, Troy Bayliss cleaned up, with pole and two convincing victories 41

backing up second in Race 1 with third in Race 2, while the other consistent man was Max Neukirchner. The German was the best of the Suzukis, with a third and a fifth (with brake problems) in the two races. The fallen included Haga, Fonsi Nieto, Michael Fabrizio and Ruben Xaus in the opening

race, though Xaus remounted, and recovered to a strong fourth in the second race. Bayliss aside, the other veterans battled in Holland. Troy Corser was fifth and 10th with set-up issues, while Max Biaggi continues to struggle with his injuries, taking 10th and 12th.

WORLD SUPERBIKE RIDER’S points

Bayliss 178, Checa 108, Corser 89, Nieto 85, Xaus 81, Haga 67, Neukirchner 88, Biaggi 54, Lavilla 48, Lanzi 42.

Yamaha Racing

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ROY Bayliss will never race a Superbike at Assen again – but when he left the track, he had a smile on his face, 50 points in his pocket and a lot of good memories. The Ducati veteran was in career-best form in the Netherlands, taking Superpole and both race wins. But while the first race was a pretty comfortable affair, the second was far from it, Noriyuki Haga pushing his great rival all the way on his backup Yamaha – again – after crashing out of Race 1. “I’m very happy of course, it’s been an incredible weekend,” said Bayliss. This is the last time I’ll race Superbikes here at Assen. It’s perfect, in that the first time I raced at this track, I had a big battle with Nori and now again here this year.” What flew under the radar a little was that Bayliss was riding hurt after a training accident the week prior to the race. Carlos Checa continues to be Honda’s shining light,

Pitt scores Ten out of Ten

ANDREW Pitt qualified on the third row for the Supersport race but won a heart-stopping encounter with his Honda rivals. Team-mate Jonathan Rea led and Pitt had to fight him off, and Joan Lascorz, to take top spot in a Honda 1-2-3. Right behind were the Yamahas of Fabien Foret and Broc Parkes, and Josh Brookes on the other Ten Kate Honda. In fact, so tight was the finish that Brookes was only 0.5s from taking the win.

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Points: Lascorz 70, Pitt 50, Parkes 49, Foret 46, Brookes 43, Rea 41, Jones 39, Harms 28, Vizziello 26, Lagrive/Walker 20.

Suzuki Racing Suzuki Racing

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Carbon Copy: Troy Bayliss, opposite top, was the class of the field at Assen. Troy Corser, #11, has set-up problems with his Yamaha. Carlos Checa, left, continues to be Honda’s shining light, while Fonsi Nieto, above, fought back in Race 2 after a get-off in Race 1. Max Biaggi, following, continues to battle to overcome his Phillip Island injuries. Max Neukirchner, right, is showing some of his more experienced rivals how it’s done on the Suzuki K8.

rear of grid

Brocky’s in Flavour Country NICE pic, huh? Even if you are a Peter Brock fan, chances are you may not have seen this image before. It was used in a calendar a couple of years ago and is a composite of different shots from 1984, the year PB tore a hole in the sport in the famed Holden

Dealer Team Commodore VK. The car and the driver are the talk of the sport at present, with some controversy swirling around the statue that will be unveiled to the public in October (see news pages). The problem is the Marlboro livery of the car, legal then but not now.

For Sale: Murph’s Lid EVERYONE relax! Murph’s helmets have been found. The crisis is over. While stealing stuff is a serious issue, and therefore probably doesn’t belong in Odd Spot, the recovery of two of Greg Murphy’s helmets and a Rick Kelly steering wheel stolen from Avalon Airport means we can have a little fun with it.

Of course, if we were in France, running even an old image with cigarette advertising on it would be against the law. But we are not, so we can take in the Last of the Big Bangers in all its glory. So, enjoy the pic, and try not to rush out and buy any Marlboros, okay?

Odd Spot

The stuff, totalling a cool 30 grand, was nicked from the airport as the cargo was preparing to leave for New Zealand recently, and while the official line is that “an anonymous tip has led to the recovery,” eNews prefers to believe the items were found in the Trading Post. “$30,000 for some Kiwi’s helmet? Tell him he’s dreaming!”