Motorsport eNews Issue 56 - May 27-June 2, 2008

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Issue No. 056 27 May – 2 June 2008

GREAT SCOTT DIXON MAKES HISTORY AT THE BRICKYARD

o g o 2 t

RACE IS ON FOR FINAL ‘SEASON OF ENDURANCE’ SEATS

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

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. 056 | 27 May - 2 Jun 2008

news 4 Enduro Spots

5 Kiwi delight 9 Le Mans 24 Davo 12 GT and The Rat 16 Stamatis chassis

chat 18 5 minutes with ... opinion 20 Hawkins race 22 Indy 500

26 Coca Cola 600 30 Winton Historics 34 Aussie Racing Cars 36 Drift and more

Just two to go ...

Indy 500 win for Qld! Alex in for Sportscar classic Jr Rat, that is ...

Steaming wreak replaced Scott Dixon Great day to be a Kiwi The Greatest Spectacle Kasey’s Buddy Boy History in the Making Doing it alone at OP Finking of the future

trade 40 Trade and Industry / Raceshop / Classifieds

welcome Possibly the greatest worst eNews video ...

EVER!

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

Peter Bury

Take your seats!

Britek narrows enduro candidates to three as seats almost full for PI500 & B1000 V8 SUPERCAR

ONLY two V8 Supercar seats remain open for the 2008 ‘Season of Endurance,’ with the race on to secure the rides at Garry Rogers Motorsport and Britek Motorsport.

Traditionally, Garry Rogers leaves his enduro decisions to the last minute, and this year seems to be no different. Rogers is testing Middle Eastern Lumina CSV Champion Fahad Al Musalam in one of his team’s VE Commodores, and Rogers has said that he was not going to make a decision on his fourth driver until he tested Al Musalam.

As mooted in past issues of eNews, Fujitsu V8 winner Tim Slade is considered

one of the favourites for the ride.

For Britek, three drivers are on its shortlist, with Bathurst regular Steven Ellery and Kiwis Matt Halliday and Johnny McIntyre in the running for the drive at Phillip Island and Bathurst.

Ellery has the most experience of the trio, having finished on the podium twice at Bathurst. Halliday and McIntyre both have V8 experience, driving for FPR and Team Kiwi last year.

Britek General Manager Chris Jewell said that the team’s next test (June 17) will determine who will get the fourth seat.

“We certainty plan to run the successful candidate at our next test, or maybe even run two of them to see who will fill the

role,” he said.

One thing that can be confirmed is that team boss/lead driver Jason Bright will definitely be partnered by Adam Macrow in the recently-debuted #25 Fujitsu Racing Falcon BF. “The good thing with Adam, you know that he can race with the best of the V8 drivers in any conditions,” Jewell said.

“We are more than comfortable with having Adam with Jason, now we need to find a suitable candidate for the Irwin car.”

The only other seat not confirmed yet is the #16 Autobarn Commodore seat, which is being fought out between Marcus Zukanovic and David Reynolds (see last issue).

– GRANT ROWLEY

Max gets first taste of BJR Commodore V8 SUPERCARS MAX Wilson returned to the cockpit of a V8 Supercar at Winton today (Monday) but it may not necessarily lead to a drive.

The Brazilian drove a Holden Commodore for the first time in his familiar Wow Sight & Sound colours.

Also present were BJR regulars Andrew Jones and

Cameron McConville, and Brad Jones.

Team boss Kim Jones was firm about whether Wilson, who has made 79 starts in a V8, would feature in the team’s endurance plans.

“This is part of the normal process,” he said.

“We are assessing a number of options and it is too early to say what might happen at this stage.”

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

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Kiwi wins Indianapolis 500 V8 SUPERCAR SCOTT Dixon’s Indianapolis 500 win may not be the last time that the Silver Fern flies over the famous Brickyard.

According to MotorSport New Zealand President Steven Kennedy, Dixon may be the first in a number of flying Kiwis to take the country’s sporting prowess onto the world’s biggest stage.

“We have a raft of good young drivers over here, who are all raring to go to knock down Scott’s door,” said Kennedy today.

Dixon, a product of both NZ and Australian racing environments, became the first New Zealander to drink the milk in Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s famous Victory Lane after dominating the 92nd running of the

epic race.

While the NZ sports media would ordinarily be focused solely on this weekend’s Super 14 Rugby final between Canterbury and New South Wales, it seems that the press has discovered that a local lad – even if he was born in Queensland – races cars in America.

“The media here have been absolutely fantastic today,” said Kennedy.

“Formula 1 may be the pinnacle of international motor racing, but everyone knows how big the Indy 500 is. It is the biggest one-day sporting event in the world.”

NZ racing legend Chris Amon ranked Dixon’s win as the highest achievement in the country’s motor racing history – higher than his own Le Mans win he shared with Bruce McLaren in 1966, or Denny Hulme’s F1 title the following year.

“It’s marvellous, it’s just incredible,” Amon told the NZPA. “The Americans call it the world’s greatest sporting event – and when you consider the buildup to the race and its many traditions – they’re probably not far wrong.

“In terms of one single motor race it is the oldest race and certainly one of the greatest. There’s no one race in Formula 1 that matches Indy.”

Dixon shared his early racing exploits between the two countries, starting racing in the NZ Nissan Sentra series shortly before his 13th birthday in 1993. He won titles in Formula Vee and Formula Ford before moving to the Australian Formula Holden series, winning the Rookie crown in 1997 and the title proper (and Gold Star) a year later.

In 1999, he raced in the USA for the first time, taking fifth in the Indy Lights series before winning the title the following year. In 2001, he moved to Champ Cars, leading his first race and winning his third.

In 2002, he moved to Chip Ganassi’s team and, when that squad defected to the Indy Racing League in 2003, Dixon took the title at his first attempt.

His best finish at Indy was second last year behind Dario Franchitti and, with the win and pole position, Dixon, now 27, leads the 2008 IndyCar Championship, which resumes this weekend in Milwaukee.

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

BRIEFLY... n Victorian V8 Supercars teams were testing in earnest today and tomorrow at Winton.

Jason Bargwanna had his first spin in the Tony D’Alberto Racing VE Commodore, the squad he will drive for in the enduros.

The shoot-out between David Reynolds and Marcus Zukanovic to partner Paul Dumbrell in the enduros, as revealed in last week’s eNews, was also in full flight.

Jason Bright was doing his bit as team boss/driver, doing a stint in Marcus Marshall’s IRWIN Tools Falcon. n The blue oval’s annual Ford Fan Day will be held this weekend at the Melbourne Showground.

The indoor show is a free day, and is open to all the public. All of Ford’s V8 Supercar drivers will be there, along with Geelong Football Club players, V8 Supercar displays and engineering talks, race transporter tours and activities for the kids all day. n Now that open

Fun in the Sun V8 SUPERCARS SOLAR-powered lights may sound like a punchline to a joke – who needs a light when the sun is out?

Well, at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway, they are all the rage.

Australian Racing Drivers Club CEO Geoff Arnold and Eastern Creek’s electrician Keith Hodgson have developed a system of solarpowered corner warning lights, believed to be a world-first in motor racing safety, and the ARDC will market the system internationally.

A purpose-developed PC-based program allows a track controller to alert drivers to upcoming danger and, while the system is not designed to replace flag marshals, it does lend itself to use for track days.

Locally-developed solar panels supply charge to a series of compact 12-volt batteries which power each light pod and activate the PC-based wireless module. Each pod consists of two yellow flashing lights and a central red light, which stays on when activated.

Denyer sticks with MWR

n Dario Franchitti remains sidelined with a broken left ankle sustained in a April Talladega Nationwide Series race and due to that incident Larry Gunselman who T-boned rookie Franchitti and caused the break has had his track status reduced by NASCAR.

Dirk Klynsmith

wheel racing is united and Paul Newman is no longer at odds with Tony George, McDonald’s has become the official Quick Service Restaurant of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indy 500, and the Allstate 400 (NASCAR).

McDonald’s also agreed to sponsor the Pit Stop Challenge.

V8 SUPERCARS GRANT Denyer will finish the 2008 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series with Matthew White Racing.

Denyer competed with MWR in the first two rounds of the championship, scoring strong results but has not confirmed his continued ride with the team until now.

Along with his ride in the Fujitsu V8 Series,

Denyer will drive with Ford Rising Star Racing in the V8 endurance races, and will get his first laps in the Michael Patrizi Falcon at Sandown’s endurance session on Saturday.

Denyer is in the midst of a busy racing year, competing in Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series and MINI Challenge. He qualified second in the last Fujitsu V8 round at Wakefield Park and currently sits seventh in the Development series.

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West Aussie saga continues V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

INTERNATIONAL consulting company GHD has been drafted in by the West Australian State Government to “assess what works are required to attract and maintain racing events such as the V8 Supercars” in Perth.

The news is the latest scene in the ongoing drama regarding the future of the V8 Supercars in WA, with V8 Supercars Australia calling for upgrades to Barbagallo Raceway, or a whole new circuit, before a new sanction agreement is signed post-2009.

“The State Government is keen to maintain major sporting events in WA, including V8 racing,” said WA’s Minister for Sport and Recreation John Kobelke.

“Mr Cattach’s interest in WA remaining part of the national series is welcome and the State Government has already begun assessment of what is required at the State’s premier motorsports facility, Barbagallo Raceway.

“Financial modelling will be undertaken during the investigation to identify the most effective funding mix to deliver a facility, including the option of replacing Barbagallo with a greenfields track site if an appropriate and viable business case can be demonstrated.

“The State Government is supportive of one permanent premier facility that could be utilised year round and to the benefit of all levels of motorsport, not just for one weekend a year.”

The West Australian Sporting Car Club has also chimed into the argument, releasing a statement denying any management crisis.

“There is a misconception

that the club is somehow poorly managed because it has not had a permanent manager for some months,” said President Phil Johnson in the statement.

“In fact this could not be further from the truth. The Committee had appointed one of its own to the position of Acting General manager so as to supervise the organisation of the WASCC up to and through the successful V8 Supercar meeting.

“The success of the event is no small part due to the 300 plus volunteers who worked at the event. The outstanding effort put in beforehand by the WASCC staff, committee and volunteers and the valued co-operation of the WA Police Service, City of Wanneroo and other civil authorities.

“We have to say the Club is extremely disappointed that various meetings and discussions have recently taken place directly affects our Club and its future, without any reference to the WASCC.”

John Morris/Mpix

NASCUP to invade OZ NASCUP

FOLLOWING on from Phil Ward’s successful Aussie Racing Cars concept, the veteran racer has introduced a new class of car to the Australian motor racing market.

NASCUP cars are half sized

replicas of the famous NASCAR Sprint Cup Super Speedway cars that race every weekend on America’s traditional oval layouts.

They employ a strong typically American NASCAR type space frame chassis powered by a 1.3 litre Yamaha engine with water cooling. The

chassis is draped in a fibreglass shell that replicates the NASCAR body styles.

Early plans will be that the NASCUP cars will be integrated in to other CAMS classes, and as more cars come on stream and fields grow to acceptable levels, stand-alone events will be sanctioned.

Cars are available in a whole range of complete ready to race and kit form options. The home mechanic can assemble a car from a kit. The best and most cost effective package is just $19,995, which includes all the major parts to get your car rolling, less engine and its ancillaries.

WANTED: Carrera and MINI managers Carrera Cup and MINI need new category managers as Sherrin opts out CATEGORY MANAGEMENT

Dirk Klynsmith

IAIN Sherrin will withdraw as category manager of the Carrera Cup Championship and the MINI Challenge at the end of this year.

Sherrin took on the Carrera Cup category management in Australia in 2007, and Motorsport Event Management (MEM) took on MINI Challenge this year.

However, the decision has been made

by Sherrin to cease ownership of the management agreements at the end of 2008.

Both Carrera Cup and MINI Challenge enjoy strong support from their respective manufacturers (Porsche and BMW) and both have pledged to continue their support to whoever takes over ownership.

“We will work with Iain to have an arrangement in place by the end of this season to ensure a seamless and smooth

transition into 2009,” Porsche Cars Australia managing director Michael Winkler said.

“Until then, it is racing and business as usual!”

MINI’s management also pledged to maintain its five-year plan for its category.

“MINI is confident that any sale of MEM will be to a suitable purchaser who will continue to manage the increasingly popular MINI Challenge series exactly in line with the arrangements MINI put in place with MEM,” said Justin Hocevar, National Manager, MINI. “MINI had a five-year plan for MINI Challenge and we see no reason to deviate from that plan with the new owner of MEM.” Beyond 2009, Sherrin says that he will remain in the sport via his team Sherrin Motorsport and will continue to enter cars in both the Carrera Cup and MINI Challenge categories.

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sutton-images.com

Alex Davo secures Le Mans

Mr Versatile to get first taste of Le Mans 24 Hour this year SPORTSCARS ALEX Davison will race in this year’s classic Le Mans 24 Hour.

The versatile Victorian will drive the #77 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the GT2 class for Team Felbermayr-Proton.

His team-mates will be Wolf Henzler and team owner Horst Felbermayr Sr. The Le Mans event, held annually since 1923 in Sarthe, France, will be run on June 14-15.

Davison is rapt to be competing in the world’s most famous Sportscar race.

“Le Mans is one of those iconic races you dream about racing in as a kid, I can’t wait to get out there,” he said.

“I know the car and team well from the LMS races, and we’ve been competitive in GT2 all year, so hopefully we can carry some of that form over.

“We had a productive test

at Magny Cours last week, and we’ll pick up from there in the official Le Mans test this weekend.

“The circuit is amazing and it’s such a tough race, where getting to the end is a massive achievement itself, I’m really looking forward to the challenge.”

Davison has been dividing his time between the American and European Le Mans Series, securing solid results along with way with regular team-mate Marc Lieb.

Due to his overseas Sportscar commitments, Davison will only be able to head back to Australia for one V8 Supercar endurance race at Bathurst, missing the Phillip Island race.

Davison will drive at Bathurst with Fabian Coulthard at Paul Cruickshank Racing, as exclusively reported by eNews (Issue #052).

– GRANT ROWLEY

NASCAR seizes Wicked Wings

Haas CNC wing brackets prompt action in Charlotte NASCAR

NASCAR Media

TWO Chevrolet NASCARs were confiscated to examine their wing mounts at Charlotte last weekend.

The Haas CNC Racing Chevs of Scott Riggs and Johnny Sauter were confiscated by NASCAR and taken to its R&D Centre after the governing body was tipped off that the cars had illegal rear wing mounts prior to two of Saturday’s Cup practice sessions. Both teams unloaded backup cars and started at the rear of the field in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600.

No results of the examinations were available when eNews went live. But as a reference, Dale Earnhardt Jr was docked 100 championship points and crew chief Tony Eury Jr suspended for six races and fined US$100,000 last year for having what NASCAR deemed to be illegal rear wing brackets.

– MARTIN D CLARK

Riggs rigged: Scott Riggs and Johnny Sauter raced their backup cars after NASCAR took their primary Chevrolets to the shop for a look at their rear wing mounts.

Guess who’s Staying? sutton-images.com

INDYCAR HONDA is staying in IndyCar for the long haul.

American Honda, the sole engine supplier to the IndyCar series, announced it has extended its contract from 2009 to 2013. Currently, Honda supplies a 3.5-litre normallyaspirated V8 engine.

The future IndyCar engine formula will be decided from input at an industry

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roundtable held near the end of June and introduced by 2011, the 100th anniversary of the first 500 mile race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Brian Barnhart, President of Competition and Operations, stated he anticipated looking forward to having exclusive chassis and tyre manufacturers, with multiple engine suppliers that can offer better marketing activation to grow the series.

– MARY MENDEZ

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GIBBS PRODIGY STEPS UP

Joey Logano takes over #20 NW ride: Is he the next Busch?

NASCAR JOEY Logano celebrated his 18th birthday in Charlotte last weekend by announcing that he will take over Joe Gibbs Racing’s #20 Nationwide entry.

JGR’s development driver debuts this coming Saturday at the one-mile Dover oval in the colours of video game retailer GameStop. The teen will race in 19 Nationwide plus ARCA Series races this year, now that he is eligible to compete in NASCAR’s top three divisions.

Logano won the pole and race in his first ARCA start at Rockingham Speedway last month.

“Getting that first start finally at Dover, it seems like I’ve been waiting 18 years for it to come“ remarked Logano.

“I’m really, really excited to get in that 20 car.”

Although team owner Gibbs is trying to ease the pressure on Logano – with the #20 Toyota winning six races and JGR claiming eight of the 13 Nationwide races so far this season – Logano has some big shoes to fill.

“Our very first meeting, we kind of hit it off,” said Gibbs.

“He has had a total of about 32 tests in our cars, we have tried to keep him in everything we could and we want to get him in everything as fast as we can.

“At the same time, we want to make sure we don’t put undue pressure on Joey. I think it’s exciting for us to see young people [who] have great talent and have a tremendous desire.”

– MARTIN D CLARK

NASCAR Media

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news

Radisich teams with Tander Tandersport to prepare The Rat Jr’s F3 for the remainder of the season FORMULA 3 RADISICH and Tander will be racing together at Phillip Island this year – but it has nothing to do with V8 Supercars.

Mathew Radisich, nephew of V8 Supercar driver Paul, will join the TanderSport team from the next round of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship at The Island, bolstering the squad to three cars, with Leanne Tander and Ben Crighton in the other two entries.

Radisich will campaign the same McDonalds/HT Leads/DBA Dallara F304 he has been running himself this season, which is being stripped and rebuilt by

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TanderSport.

According to Radisich, the switch has come around thanks to a desire to learn from a big team.

“There’s not one or two reasons, there are a whole lot of reasons,” Radisich told eNews.

“The big reason is that it means I can go to a track and not worry as much about setting the car up and all the other things that go along with running your own team, but just worry about what I’m doing, and becoming a better driver.

“I’d hope to learn a lot about driving techniques, by both overlaying my data with Leanne’s, and getting some pointers from Garth. I’ll also be learning about

working with a team, and what a great team to be starting with …”

Radisich is currently running fifth in the National Class of the championship.

But Phillip Island won’t be the first time the Radisich and Tander names have been together. Paul and Garth drove for the Toll HSV Dealer Team at last year’s Sandown and Bathurst endurance races – the team which Garth won the championship for.

So, has Mathew asked Uncle Paul how to work with GT? “I haven’t actually, but that’s a good point! Garth is a really nice guy, and I get along with the team well, so there are no problems there.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

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Making the switch

KARTING FORMER KartSars and Australian Champion Jason Pringle has made the jump from Arrow to CRG chassis after a long relationship with Arrow karts.

Pringle, 22, from Melbourne, completed a day of testing with the new chassis at VACC Park on May 24 and set some respectable lap times in his first outing in the Kart.

His first race will be Round 3 of the Victorian All Star Series at Geelong this weekend, May 31 – June 1.

“The CRG chassis performed great first time out at VACC Park and I’m really looking forward to Geelong,” said Pringle.

“Arrow has been absolutely great to me over the years but it was time for a change. The CRG chassis, combined with Pro Karting engines, should be a good package. Once we got on top of things I hope to be challenging for wins.

“Kenny and Chris from CRG Australia, as well as Stan from Concept Karting have been fantastic in putting this whole deal together and I look forward to repaying their faith with good results in the second half of this season.”

In making the switch to CRG, Pringle will join his brother Rick as a CRG Australia Team driver.

ARC LAST week’s official announcement that the NSW Round of the Australian Rally Championship would relocate from Forster to Coffs Harbour has sparked controversy in the local media for the New South Wales town.

In a front page story in last week’s Great Lakes Advocate,

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Council Tourism Manager Richard Old confirmed the departure of the rally after finding out the news himself via a website.

“It’s sort of frustrating first hearing about it through the internet,” commented Old. “If they knew about it for some time it would have been nice to at least get a phone call that it wasn’t happening.”

The Great Lakes Rally organisers had sighted a lack of local support for the event as a major reason behind the move to Coffs Harbour, however Old turned the tables by saying the organisers hadn’t provided locals with enough clear information on ticket outlets, vantage points and even the race route.

“Every driver and competing

Joel Strickland

Locals Slam Rally Departure

team was full of praise for the Great Lakes location, but there were major issues with the organisers,” Old added.

“It’s a shame that it’s going after just a year. It’s hard to know the impact it’ll have on local tourism because it hadn’t been going long, but it definitely brought people to town and gave us exposure.”

– RYAN LAHIFF

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Utes Franchises up for Sale V8 UTES

Marshall Cass

THERE are three V8 Ute franchises for sale.

Two Ford franchises and one Holden entry are on the market, with the Darren Palmer-owned Ford entry and Greg Willis’s Ford and Holden entries for sale.

Rhys Hansford leased the Palmer entry earlier this year, and Paul Williams will use it at Hidden Valley. Glenn McNally utilises the Willis’s Ford franchise, but while they are safe for the coming rounds, they may have to make alternate arrangements, depending on who the licences are sold to.

Also, the sale of Willis’s Holden entry will not affect the sponsorship of reigning Champion Grant Johnson, who will continue to enjoy Willis’s support through his Grove Fruit Juice business.

V8 Utes boss Craig Denyer told eNews that the sale of these licences opens up an

opportunity for new entrants into the popular class.

“The shareholding of the Utes has been very stable over the last few years,” he said.

“We generally have two or three franchises change hands

a year, and that always gives us an opportunity to have new names into the series.”

“Greg Willis has been a longtime supporter of V8 Utes and its good to know that his support with continue with

Grant Johnson.”

Jack Elsegood’s franchise was on the market, now has decided to compete for the remainder of the year with Coopers sponsorship.

– GRANT ROWLEY

V8 UTES ANDREW Miedecke has relinquished his role as V8 Ute’s Driver Standards Advisor to concentrate on family issues and the progress of his racer son, George.

Warren Luff filled the Driver’s Standards role at Barbagallo Raceway and will again be employed in that role for the next round at Hidden Valley, however, a full-

time replacement has not been confirmed yet.

Miedecke told eNews that he enjoyed his time in the role, but has decided to concentrate his energies on the everimproving form of his son.

“George is getting more competitive and is at the top end of my expectations at the moment,” he said.

“I felt that at race meetings, I was too busy doing my job and not concentrating

Dirk Klynsmith

Miedecke to concentrate on Miedecke

on him, and before he starts to drive for teams that don’t like dads hanging around the garage, I thought I’d help while I can!

“I think he’s going really well. He hasn’t got a round win yet, but cards haven’t fallen his way and some of those factors have been out of his control. He has the speed and the level head to do it.”

George Miedecke is currently ninth in the V8 Utes series.

– GRANT ROWLEY

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New chassis on the way DRAG RACING

John Morris/ Mpix

MARTIN Stamatis will use a new chassis in the final round of the Australian Top Fuel Championship at the Castrol Edge Winternationals in two weeks.

After his recent round-winning car was destroyed when a tyre exploded at the Nitro Champs at WSID earlier this month, the Jim Read Racing driver was out at WSID last Friday night, testing his replacement Top Fueller.

Phil Read also carried out some driving duties on Friday night, collecting data with a run only out to 300ft. The team are now confident they will be ready and competitive for the upcoming Winternationals.

– JOHN BOSHER

A success already David Ostaszewski

DRAG RACING NHRA’S first visit to Charlotte is going to be a success, if reaction to the new ZMAX Dragway is any indication.

Funny Car legend John Force joined Jeg Coughlin, Antron Brown, Mike Neff, Angie McBride and Matt Smith at Lowe’s Motor Speedway over the weekend to announce the September NHRA event at the

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still-under-construction track, which sits across the highway from from the Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

The new US$60m facility, only the second NHRA-sanctioned track to feature a concrete strip (Dallas is the other), will be named after Force and have a grandstand bearing Force’s name from which there will be a tunnel under the strip taking spectators to pit area.

“I take it as a real honor that Bruton Smith would recognize me in that way at one of their great facilities,” Force said.

“When I go to stadiums around the country, I see grandstands with the names of Darrell Waltrip, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Those were my heroes in NASCAR and the fact that in drag racing, I would be honored in the same way means a lot to me,

especially at this point in my career.

“But just because my name’s going on the stands doesn’t mean I’m getting out of the seat,” Force continued.

“I plan to be out here a long time. Besides, if I retired, what would I do? This is what I love, driving my hot rod and being out here with my team. I’m just looking forward to racing at the new track this fall.”

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Into the ‘fives’ for Stevens DRAG RACING

John Bosher

BRETT Stevens looks to have hit peek form coming into the seasonending Winternationals after recording his first ever sub six second pass.

Stevens recorded a 5.99 second pass at 244.04mph following a string of low six second passes.

“It has been a personal goal of mine for a couple of years now to get that ‘five’ after being so close for so long so I am over the moon,” said Stevens.

“But what is even more exciting coming into the Castrol EDGE

Winternationals is the consistency we now have in our set-ups to run these types of numbers in full race trim without any issues with the car.

“I can’t wait to get back out to Willowbank Raceway in a couple of weeks and try to replicate what we have done over the last few days, the whole team is buzzing with excitement.“ By breaking into the ‘fives’, Stevens became just the fifth person in Australia to run a five second pass in a Top Doorslamer.

The Winternationals will take place at Willowbank Raceway on June 5-8.

Lynch learning the ropes DRAG RACING AUSTRALIAN drag racer Aaron Lynch continues to gain experience in the United States with American racer Gary Densham.

B&L Steel’s Lynch joined Densham and his Nitro Funny Car team at the O’Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol Tennessee for the latest round of the NHRA Powerade Series, gaining further his experience in the nitro ranks by getting to know Gary and his team.

After the event, Lynch went testing with

Densham, clocking a 5.02s at 299mph with an early shut off.

“This trip was all about getting further in what I wanted to do last year and to get to know Gary, his family and crew a little better, Lynch said.

“Unfortunately we didn’t get the first lap in until just before lunch due to a minor mechanical problem, and the track proved to be a bit slippery.

“But after a couple of laps where the car smoked the tyres, we managed to get it down the quarter mile in 5.02s with an early shut off.

“I had a ball with Gary’s team and see a huge similarity between their team and the B&L Steel’s whole race team. I can’t wait to come back to finish off what we’ve started and get down to racing with the most exciting race cars imaginable.”

Both Lynch and Densham will come back to Australia and race in the USA verses Australia Nitro Funny Car challenge in January 2009.

“Gary’s really looking forward to coming to Australia to race and I’m really looking forward to showing them how we operate.

It’s a great cultural mix.”

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5 Minutes with ...

SCOTT DIXON

The Indy 500 winner was one happy New Zealander after the Greatest Spectacle in Racing QUESTION: You all sat there ‘What if we have a bad pit stop the same spot two weeks or we have a problem of some ago talking about being sort mechanically that’s going aggressive coming here for to take you out of it?’ That’s out Pole Day, being aggressive this of your hands. year. Was the approach the I think there was no point same for Race Day? in the race where I knew we SCOTT DIXON: Yeah, the whole were over-confident or could month has, but it’s tough to win this thing easy. Especially be aggressive when you don’t toward the end, maybe, with 20 have the equipment. You know, or 40 laps to go when you have this year I think with everybody sleepers like [Vitor] Meira come at the workshop, people that out, and he was super-fast. So stay back at the workshop and there’s definitely guys like that. don’t come to the races, a lot of You could see Helio people that work out on these [Castroneves] was coming up; cars to try and make them fast.

Marco [Andretti], we knew all But this month for me was day was fast. I think he had a a month where you could be problem in the pits at some aggressive because you had point. But at no point did I the tools to do it, and I think think we had this in the bag that was what it came down and [I] was almost waiting for to – everybody’s hard work in something to go wrong. the off-season and coming into the season. I think the team has You didn’t think you had it in been unstoppable almost, the bag, you’re leading, you I think, over the first five races. had some really good cars It’s nice to be aggressive, nice to trying to chase you down the have the confidence level and last 20 laps or so. What was even better to come away with going through your mind? a win like this.

The corner in front, man, that’s what I was looking at each time, When the race went down, did the corner in front. you feel pretty good that you With about four or five laps were comfortable with the to go, the traffic was definitely way things went? Or was there going through my mind. We ever a time you were a little started to catch at least four or worried [about how it might] five cars, and I didn’t want it turn out? to play out that way, get stuck I think I was worried going behind one of them. Because into the race, just because we as soon as you lose momentum had had such a smooth month. around here, those guys, you It was one of those things know, breathing down your where you’re sort of waiting for neck are going to blow by you something to go wrong. with a couple laps to go.

We only had it coming down I think for me was just, you to the Race Day, and it’s the last know, I started going stiffer on day you want something to go the rear bar, putting the weight wrong. But going in, you always all the way to the left to try and have high expectations, but in make the car as fast as possible the back of the mind you’re like, for those last few laps. But I

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think for me it was just always concentrating on the corner and trying to make a perfect lap every lap.

Scott, what were your emotions when you pulled in Victory Lane? You kind of looked a little almost maybe shocked at first.

I was shocked. I think, just almost dumbfounded. It’s such a strange feeling, and for me, I don’t show emotions too much.

I don’t know, it’s almost like you’re in a dreamland. It was quite crazy.

It’s something that you sort of expect somebody to maybe pinch you, and you wake up and you’re sleeping in your bed back home. It still hasn’t sunk in yet, and it feels so special. I think the parade lap and seeing everybody still out there and driving around such a magnificent circuit with three other people with you and everybody sort of yelling your name was something that I wish I had witnessed previous to now, but it makes you want to go and win this race once again.

Scott, at any time on that cool-down lap did you allow yourself any emotion? Did you have some that you can admit to doing? I know, as you said, it’s probably too early to tell, but I mean, you talked about always wanting to win this race. Just how big is it?

I was definitely yelling a lot on the radio and punching my fist in the air. I think I took out nearly three cars on the cooldown lap that were trying to go around me because I was going so slow.

But no, everybody is different to how they throw their emotions out there. It’s such a special moment, but all you’re wanting to do is get back to the pits and see everybody that helped you get there. It’s not just me, it’s tons of people that worked on the team, it’s Mike, it’s Chip, it filters down. And my wife, Emma, for cooking me pancakes this morning kind of thing. [Laughter] So you feel on the last 30 laps, you feel quite alone out there.

You’re like, ‘Oh, shit, it’s actually down to me on this, I better not mess up because everybody has given me the tools to do it and it does fall on you a little bit there.’ But when you do win it, you do want to get back and see everybody.

This is a great sport achievement by a New Zealander. How does that make you feel?

Pretty special. I think it’s so hard to see that part. Definitely a lot of support from New Zealand today, which I’ve never seen before. So winning the pole, I think, got a few people out here.

I don’t know, I think until I go home, because you’re so far away over here. You just talk to people on the phone and do the occasional interview with TVNZ over here. It’s hard to really feel what people have done for me back in New Zealand, and definitely the support I’ve had and the amount of people that have helped me get to where I’ve been.

But it feels really special to be part of something that’s going to go down in history books, and moreso in New Zealand.

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On Top of the Bottom of the World

Letters

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

Keeping to the Schedule Thank you Channel 10 for not being able to maintain a programming schedule.

Despite programming to record an hour and half either side of scheduled qualifying coverage, I still ended up missing Q3.

Scheduled for 4am the coverage started at 6am. Its handling of F1 coverage is terrible. If they cannot do the sport justice it should also

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be available to Fox like the MotoGP. Anthony Zahra via email Rainman Anyone who watched the Monaco Grand Prix will agree with me that even though it is the jewel in the crown that is Formula One, the principality does not always offer the most exciting.

However Sunday’s race was,

in my opinion, the best of the season.

For once in Formula 1, everyone forgot about Max Mosely and various other offtrack issues and talked about the racing.

And the answer to this excitement is quite simply, rain.

If you want an exciting Formula 1 race just add some water and behold, crashes, great perfromances and plenty of mistakes from more

experienced drivers.

Rain is what we need to make Formula One exciting, well to the end of the year at least. Hopefully, next year’s rule changes will go some way towards improving the sport we all love.

James Graham via email ED: We couldn’t agree with you more James. What a great race it was. Bring on next year!

opinion

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COTT Dixon’s history-making win in the Indianapolis John Hawkins came as welcome Publisher, NZ Racer news to four million of his fellow Kiwis struggling to come to grips with the effects of the recession, the onset of a winter of possible power shortages and a couple of high profile murder cases involving infants and teenagers.

Dixon’s image was beamed into thousands of homes as headlining items on both of the country’s major news channels and the news was greeted as warmly that which normally follows an All Black win.

With rugby, league and cricket not available to them, the big free-to-air channels have promoted motorsports more keenly. The V8 Supercars have switched this year from TV One to TV3, but the state owned TV One still airs a popular Sunday afternoon motorsport show, and the channel sent a crew to Indianapolis to set the scene prior to the race. Dixon annexing pole position certainly ensured most kiwis were aware that the race was happening.

It should be remembered that Dixon had a long build-up in domestic racing before making the move to The States and started out as the country’s youngest competition license holder at 13. His name became increasingly familiar to the public through his exploits in Formulas First (Vee), Ford and Holden.

Like their Aussie counterparts, the kiwis love their sport, but over recent years New Zealand sportsmen and teams have found success hard to come by. The All Black failure at the World Cup last year triggered at least a month of soul searching and national mourning.

This lack of sporting success, combined with the economic slump that is being keenly felt in such a small country, has served to increase the average New Zealander’s awareness of the magnitude of Dixon’s feat.

After all, a win in the Indianapolis 500 must surely earn Dixon a place alongside the country’s famous “Trio at the Top’’ (Denny Hulme, Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon) in New Zealand sporting history.

opinion

eLETTER OF THE WEEK We deserve better As an avid motorsport fan for many years, I feel it is time to speak up.

I have read much praise for Channel 10 on their motorsports coverage and, to be honest, I don’t understand why.

We had 17-odd hours of coverage over our AGP weekend, but got no drivers’

press conference.

We get five (now six) races in our region but still have to wait until after Idol, Big Brother, Dance and a bunch of other shows until we get to see the few races we could be enjoying at a Sunday afternoon BBQ. And this despite being promised ‘live’

F1 on 10HD. Even qualifying is delayed from its scheduled time. How many times have you set your VCR for 3-4:15am Sunday morning only to find you have missed the last two minutes of Q3?

Denis Barbaro Ryde, NSW

Send your creative letters to mail@mnews.com.au, or Motorsport News PO Box 7072, Brighton, Vic 3186

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INDYCARS ROUND 5 – INDIANAPOLIS 500

Box Ticked

New Zealand’s Scott Dixon carried the weight of favouritism lightly and took a polished first Indianapolis 500 victory 22

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Choice 500, Bro! Scott Dixon, left, was the class of the field this year and ended the day smelling like a dairy.

Ganassi was well-served by slick pit work, above, and Will Power, right, was steady in his first 500, finished 13th. Marco Andretti, #26, took out team-mate Tony Kanaan, below, while Newman Haas Lanigan had a terrible race, with Graham Rahal and Justin Wilson, below, both out of the race early.

I

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drivers. Tony Kanaan, the sentimental favourite in the eyes of many, took over the lead and looked to be the biggest threat to the red Target cars. But he was taken down by friendly fire, when teammate Marco Andretti tried to sneak down the inside of the Brazilian. Kanaan spun into the wall and into the path of Sarah Fisher, the only good news that neither was hurt. Andretti, who went on to finish third, later apologised for the gaff.

The surprises of the race were those who have not raced the whole season. Vitor Meira is becoming something of a quiet threat at the 500 and took the lead in an audacious dive between Dixon and Ed Carpenter.

He did not have enough speed to hold on to Dixon at the final reckoning but took his

second second place.

The other contender was Tomas Scheckter, who put nearly a year out of the cockpit quickly out his mind. The South African was in the top three until a driveshaft failed, putting him out.

It was not a great race for Team Penske. Helio Castroneves was fourth, Andretti flying by late in the race, while Ryan Briscoe got tangled up with Danica Patrick in the pitlane and ended the day 23rd.

Will Power ran an impressive first 500, moving up to 13th (second-placed rookie) and staying out of trouble during all the yellow flags.

“I’m really happy for the guys and finished in a good position for us,” he said.

“We moved 10 places up so, I’m just exhausted.”

Honda Racing Medi

T rarely happens in motor racing that the best man wins. But the 92nd Indianapolis 500 will stand as a proof that, sometimes, he does.

He did at Indy. Scott Dixon arrived at the Speedway in career-best form, slid his Ganassi Dallara-Honda onto pole easily and he and teammate Dan Wheldon dominated the first half of the race. But after 250 miles, Andretti Green and Penske lined up to take down the men in the red cars.

All failed and, when Wheldon’s handling fell off, Dixon stepped up to become the first New Zealander the drink the milk.

“What a day!” he exclaimed in Victory Lane.

“I just can’t believe it, I thought something was going to go wrong.”

The wrongs befell the other

Parallel Parking “We both have a brake pedal in our cars, and from what I can tell, there was still plenty of room for her to get around me.”

Patrick, right, had a much different opinion and was pretty blunt; “You just don’t come out of your pit box and swing three lanes out,” she said.

“That’s why there is a ‘get up to speed’ lane and an ‘at speed’ lane. I was at speed.”

Milwaukee should be fun ...

IndyCar Media

IndyCar Media

IT is not unusual for drivers to not see eye-to-eye over what happened to cause collisions, and that happened again this year when Ryan Briscoe and Danica Patrick got together in pitlane.

“From what I can see, there was still plenty of room on the right side for her to get around and there are people pointing fingers, but that’s not the way we are,” said the Aussie after the race.

IndyCar Media

IndyCar Media

INDYCAR | 92ND INDIANAPOLIS 500 1 9 2 4 3 26 4 3 5 20 6 17 7 27 8 15 9 02 10 99 13 8 23 6

Scott Dixon NZ Vitor Meira Br Marco Andretti USA Helio Castroneves Br Ed Carpenter USA Ryan Hunter-Reay USA Hideki Mutoh J Buddy Rice USA Darren Manning GB Townsend Bell USA Will Power Aus Ryan Briscoe Aus

Target Ganassi Racing Panther Andretti Green Team Penske Vision Rahal Letterman Andretti Green Dreyer & Reinbold Foyt Dreyer & Reinbold KV Racing Technology Team Penske

200 laps +1.74s +2.31s +6.26s +6.55s +6.98s +7.87s +8.87s +9.20 +9.45s +31.66s 171 laps

IndyCar Media

INDYCAR | DRIVER’S points Dixon 191, Castroneves 176, Wheldon 153, Kanaan 139, Andretti 130, Patrick 122, Carpenter 120, Power 114, Mutoh 113, Servia 112.

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NASCAR SPRINT CUP ROUND 12 – CHARLOTTE, NC Kasey Kahne took his second chequered flag within a week in the Coca Cola 600.

By MARTIN D CLARK

NASCAR Media

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AND ON THE SEVENTH DAY ...

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Coke a long a were l and Ku

Martin D Clark

Martin D Clark

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TONY Stewart had this one in the bag.

At 600 miles, the 400-lap Coca Cola 600 is a marathon every driver wants to win and, when most of the front runners found themselves coming up short at the end of the race, Smoke was leading. The Joe Gibbs Toyota started lap 397 5s clear of the field but then, it all went horribly wrong …

In an orange flash, the #20 Toyota was in the wall. A tyre had blown and Stewart was out of the race.

Kasey Kahne was the man on the spot to take his second win

in seven days, with Greg Biffle second, poleman Kyle Busch third (after having to change a battery in a pitstop) and Jeff Gordon in fourth.

Kahne, the sixth man to take the All Star-600 double, took his last points Cup win at Lowe’s in October, 2006.

“We were one of the best cars all night long,” said Kahne.

“We’ve really stepped it up in the last couple of weeks. It’s really been a long season in the first part, but the cars, the shocks and everything we’re doing is really, really good and we can keep up with Kyle

Busch it goin The the le but o Hamli race a Johns powe 351 an fuel g the fin from Oth Kurt B (slapp JJ Yele

by Ed

GIBBS GETS AMBUSCHED

NASCAR Media

and beer: Kahne celebrated for the second Sunday in a row, after Kyle Busch led the field away, above. The other Dodges less convincing, Juan Pablo Montoya mowing the grass, below, urt Busch pitting for repairs, left.

Martin D Clark

Apart from the Gibbs armada, one other Toyota driver to impress was Brian Vickers. For the second straight year, his Toyota led the race but, also for the second straight year, a wheel came off his Camry and the Red Bull ended up in the White Wall.

SPRINT CUP

DRIVER’S points

Points: Busch 1865, Burton 1766, Earnhardt 1721, Hamlin 1611, Bowyer 1578, Edwards 1538, Harvick 1517, Stewart 1511, Johnson 1493, J Gordon 1486.

NASCAR Media

h. Now, if we can just keep ng ...” e Gibbs cars were near ead for much of the race, others struggled. Denny in hit the wall late in the and fell to 24th, Jimmie son battled a down-oner engine that quit on lap nd Carl Edwards lost a gamble, running dry on nal lap and dropping second to ninth. hers to have contact were Busch (cut tyre), Earnhardt ped a wall and rammed by ey) and Martin Truex (hit dwards).

TONY Stewart, Denny Hamlin a bump and Hamlin retaliated by and Kyle Busch won six straight sideswiping the Jr Motorsports Chev, Nationwide Series races for Joe crushing in the left front fender and Gibbs Racing. Seven looked ending any chance Keselowski had a formality, even against the of a win. strongest NW field of the season.

“He (Hamlin) doesn’t like it when But the streak ended, in a weird guys race him hard,” said Keselowski, way. Busch won, but he did so in a “but that’s what I do. He didn’t think guest appearance in a Braun Racing it was cool.”

Toyota.

After that incident, Jr moved past Busch’s Braun crew had a very his driver while still under yellow slow pit stop under a lap 125 conditions and popped Hamlin in caution and a decision was made to the rear. All this lead to a massive conserve fuel and run the remainder brawl on pit road between the Joe of the race without stopping for fuel Gibbs and Jr Motorsports teams, and tyres. A bevy of cautions in the with Hamlin’s crew chief Dave latter half played into their strategy Rogers being called to the NASCAR and an overtime green-whitetrailer post race. chequer finish, brought about by a Keselowski held on for third (a wrecking Josh Wise, only helped the personal best for the team and situation, with Busch shutting his car driver) with Jr fourth and Brian off several times under the caution Vickers in a second Braun Toyota laps. third.

Just before the Wise wreck, Brad Marcos Ambrose finished a strong Keselowski and his car owner Dale 14th place, running in the lead Earnhardt Jr were putting pressure group and on the lead lap after on the pair of leading Toyotas, with qualifying his JTG Ford in 19th place.

Keselowski running to the outside – MDC of Hamlin on several occasions Points: Bowyer 1890, Kyle Busch 1823, in an attempt to pass. Under Edwards 1714, Reutimann, Keselowski caution, Keselowski gave a Hamlin 1670, Ambrose 1370 (14th).

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WINTON HISTORICS WINTON MOTOR RACEWAY, VIC

History’s Day A major turn out and numerous anniversaries highlighted the Winton Historics

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race

Neil Hammond

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T

HE 32nd Winton Historic meeting was run over the weekend and well over 400 Historic Cars and Bikes celebrated a swag of anniversaries in perfect autumn sunshine. This year’s event commemorated many milestones from motor racing history.

Holden fans celebrated 100 years of the General Motors brand and the 60th anniversary of the Holden 48-215 model, later to be known as the FX Holden.

Ford followers celebrated 100 years since the launch of the Model T, the iconic vehicle built to make motoring affordable for the working classes. Seven Model Ts joined the parade along with the racing versions.

As part of the extended celebrations of Bugatti’s success in early Grand Prix meetings, Bugattis gathered from far and wide to make the largest collection at any Historic event for many years.

The Austin Healey ‘Bug Eye’ was

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launched 50 years ago for the princely sum of $699 and as a low cost Sportscar, and it soon became one of the most popular cars around. The AH Sprite Club displayed many wonderful examples in the Classic Car Park.

Also reaching the 50 year milestone is the Wahgunyah Speedway, which originally conducted meetings under the direction of the Corowa Motor Sports Club.

Some of the ‘Howling Humpy Holdens’ that regularly competed were on display in the Shannons Classic Car Park.

Other events of note included the 40 years of the Australian Bolwell, 80 years since the Austin 7 victory in the 1928 Australian Grand Prix and a parade of Great Aussie Specials. Chris Terdich displayed the last remaining Wanderer race car from the early 1920s.

Racing saw Sean Whelan take all three races in the PQR class with Andrew Robson and John Bowe fighting out the placings.

Richard Braune led Michael Hibbert

in a battle of the Chargers for both nonhandicap Group Nc races whilst the Minis of Anthony Ramadge, Ian Pringle and Henry Draper fought over the Nb honours.

J&K Class saw Trevor Eastwood take out the Lou Molina Trophy whilst Mark Woodberry took the Col Arthur Waite Trophy and Bruce Hartwig the Douglas Briese Trophy.

Norman Falkiner took out the George Coad Memorial Trophy Handicap in Group Lb and Derek McLaughlan claimed the Mark Dymond Trophy.

Richard Carter took a clean sweep of MO&FF races collecting the Phil Irving Trophy with Laurie Bennett following.

Ian Ross in the Shelby GT350, claimed the Alan Jones Trophy in Group S after spinning in the first race on Saturday.

Ian Ross claimed two of the three races in MOQ Sports in his Elfin 360 with Max Brunninghausen taking the other win and a second in his Chevron B8.

– JAMES SMITH

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James Smith James Smith

Mini humps: Humpy Holdens, above and Morris Minors, below, were part of the action. Top, Sean Whelan won the PQR class.

Neil Hammond James Smith

Cars and stars at Winton: The Historic Touring Cars were as popular as ever, above.

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AUSSIE RACING CARS NON CHAMPIONSHIP – ORAN PARK

Rap Attack Richie Rappa took Aussie Racing Car’s nonchampionship honours at Oran Park AUSSIE RACING CARS

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ICHIE Rappa has dominated the inaugural Aussie Racing Cars ‘Need For Speed’ event at Oran Park last weekend.

With almost 30 cars entered for the non-series event, it was pride that was

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on the line as the ‘pocket rockets’ took to the short circuit.

TV personalities Greg Rust (Channel 10’s RPM), and Network Seven’s Daniel Gibson and Grant Denyer, took up the invitation to race, while for the regular competitors, the meeting was decided on a mixture

of finishing positions and lap times with the top 18 competing in a reverse-grid shoot-out to decide the overall winner.

And it was Rappa who carved his way to the front of the field in a performance that is become regular for the young Sydneysider.

Darren Chamberlin made

his way to the podium for the first time with second place and Kyle Clews finished third.

Rappa also claimed fastest lap of the meeting.

In addition to the Aussie Racing Cars, there were street car sessions and the Piccolo Scuderia F3 driven by Justin Tate making the most of the circuit.

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Round 3 to Fink

Phil Williams

DRIFT

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Phil Williams

LUKE Fink won Round 3 of the Toyo Tires Drift Australia Series at Adelaide’s Mallala Motorsport Park, reigniting the championship battle after runaway series leader Leighton Fine struck mechanical problems.

Fink (Holford Motors Nissan Silvia) entered the weekend second in the championship, 199 points behind Fine, but slashed the gap to just 36 with two rounds remaining.

Fink, who resides in Melbourne, topped qualifying and advanced through each round of knockout battles to book a place in the final against Beau Yates (Toyota Racing Developments Toyota Sprinter AE86).

After a re-run, it was Fink who scored the win, his second in the series having won on debut in 2006.

“Everything fell into place for us this weekend. I couldn’t have asked for anything more,” Fink said.

“The car was awesome, as

it has been all year, to pick up the win and move within striking distance of the championship lead is fantastic.

“We’ve got nothing to lose from here, so we'll be giving it everything.”

Second-place is Yates’ best result of the year as he looks to add to his 2006 crown.

The Sydneysider moves up to fourth in the championship, ahead of the final two rounds at Eastern Creek and Oran Park.

“We did a lot of work to the car over the off-season, but things didn’t quite go our way in the first two rounds,” Yates said.

“Second puts us back in championship contention and the last two rounds are at our home tracks, so we can’t wait.”

While Fink and Yates were celebrating, it was a tough day for the leading two South Australian drivers in front of a strong home crowd.

First and third in the championship entering the event, Fine (Commercial Truck Sales Nissan 180SX) and

Sideways action: Luke Fink, top, closed in on his main championship rival, Leighton Fine, above, in Round 3 of the series at Mallala.

Christian Pickering (Senwill Civil Nissan Silvia) were eliminated in the Top 16 after suffering mechanical problems.

“Unfortunately we had some driveshaft problems which put us out for the day,” Fine lamented.

“Even with that, we’re leading the championship so hopefully we can bounce

back at Eastern Creek.”

Darren Appleton (Peer Industries Nissan Silvia) took third place over Tom Monkhouse (Japanese Motorsport Nissan Silvia), who was the best of the locals and who earlier eliminated reigning series Champion Robbie Bolger (VIP Petfoods Holden Monaro) in the Top 16.

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NSW STATE Ryan Simpson has continued his perfect start to 2008 by taking out the second round of the New South Wales Formula Ford 1600 Championship at Eastern Creek Raceway last weekend.

Like his opening round performance, which saw him win all three races, Simpson had to yet again contend with team-mate Tom Tweedie and it was the latter that broke

through for his maiden win on this occasion by taking out Race 2 ahead of Simpson and former Australian Touring Car racer John Smith.

In Race 1 and 3 it was all Simpson, but he had to work hard for both wins with pressure coming from Tweedie throughout the weekend and it is certainly shaping up to be a two horse race in this year’s NSW Championship.

Earlier in the weekend, it was Simpson that topped

the time sheets in qualifying ahead of Tweedie and Smith.

For Smith third place for the weekend was a great effort, considering that he was driving one of the oldest cars in the field, a Reynard FF89.

Queenslander Shane Hart took out victory in Formula Vee by defeating Matthew Pearce and Adam Proctor in the ‘Trophy Race’. Opening round winner Michael Kinsella had a weekend that he would rather forget after he failed to finish the final race due to

John Morris/Mpix

Simpson continues his charge

engine woes.

Other winners over the course of the weekend in the NSW Championship included: Chris Jackson (Sports Sedans), Greg King (HQ Holdens), Peter Lucas (Production Sports), Bob Brewer (Combined Touring), Robert Choon (AF2/Supersports/Clubman Challenge), Ryan Brown (Improved Production Over 2 Litre) and Bob Jowett (Improved Production Under 2 Litre).

– DANIEL POWELL

Aussies still in Championship hunt SPEEDWAY GP

Mike Pactrick

Leigh Adams lies fourth in the Speedway Grand Prix standings despite failing to qualify for the Grand Final in Gothenburg.

Jason Crump won through to the final but trailed in last behind the meeting winner Rune Holta, the Swede Freddie Lindgren and current World Champion and current championship leader Nicki Pedersen.

The Norwegian, Holta won an eventful meeting with a spectacular move on the first lap of the Final at Gothenburg.

Fredrik Lindgren had been unbeaten from his previous races but had to settle for second place, although he did score the most points from the meeting.

Nicki Pedersen extended his series

lead to ten points with third place, whilst Andreas Jonsson was lucky to escape serious injury after a high-speed crash, he took no further part in the meeting.

Adams and Crump remain in contention in the race for this year’s world title but they will have to work hard to catch Pedersen who has Poland’s Tomasz Gollob as his main challenger.

But even Gollob is already 10 points adrift.

Both the Australians won safely through their five qualifying races but none too comfortably, Crump had 10 points and Adams 8 to take them into the semi-finals.

Adams led from the tapes but was passed by Lindgren and Holta on lap two and failed to make the final.

Crump finished second behind

Pedersen but had a disappointing final in which he failed to make the gate and was never able to get in touch with the leaders eventually finishing last.

– TONY MILLARD Points: Pedersen 49, Gollob 39, Lindgren 36, Adams 34, Greg Hancock 34, Crump 30, Jonsson 29, Andersen 28, Holta 26, Niels Kristian Iversen 20.

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Nurburgring wins out NURBURGRING 24HR EACH year, more and more Australian-based teams are making their way to Germany to race in the famed Nurburgring 24-hour race.

This year did not bode well

for the Aussie teams, with many of the combinations struggling for a result on the legendary circuit.

Layton Crambrook, Anthony Robson, Barrie Nesbritt and Mal Rose where the best of the Aussies in 125th, while

Picture Perfect RENAULT WS CHARLES Pic has won the latest round of the World Series by Renault in a dominant display in Monaco last weekend.

Pic showed his class in front of the Formula 1 paddock taking a clean sweep with, pole position, the fastest lap and the race win.

The start of the race saw horrendous weather conditions, which forced the race to be started under

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n WITH a Bank Holiday day in the UK much of the racing will be completed on Monday.

Four Australians are in action at Rockingham, with British Formula 3 having rounds seven and eight and British Formula Ford completing rounds 12 and 14.

As eNews went live, Formula 3 had not completed any races however after qualifying, Sam Abay will start from fourth and 23rd in rounds seven and eight respectively, while John Martin will start from 13th and 14th. A wet track greeted the drivers for qualifying providing some difficult driving conditions.

“It’s great to be up on the second row of the grid again and I’m content with our pace and starting position for Race 1,” said Abay.

“The error at the start of the second session was a huge disappointment, because there’s no reason we shouldn’t have been right up the front again. We just need to get the head down and charge from the back for Race 2.”

In British Formula Ford Race 1 has been completed with Tim Blanchard taking the win after starting from pole.

Glen Wood had a good qualifying session and ended up fourth. However an unfortunate spin while running second ended his Race 1 hopes.

A full wrap of the weekend’s results will be in eNews next week.

the safety car.

The field was kept bunched up throughout the race thanks to a number of safety car periods brought about by rain-induced incidents with it eventually finishing under the safety car.

Geido van der Garde finished second with Fairuz Fauzy rounding out the podium in third.

As ever at Monaco start position was vital with the race, aside from incidents, mimicking a parade.

Andrew Taplin, Dean Grant, Peter Fitzgerald and Paul Kelly came home in 138th.

The combinations of Malcolm Niall, Brett Niall, Clint Harvey and Mark Pillati, and Tony Quinn, Klark Quinn, Craig Baird and Jonathan Webb both had DNF results.

Timo Bernhard, Marc Lieb, Romain Dumas and Marcel Tiemann brought their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR home in first place in the 24-hour race.

About 220,000 fans turned up to cheer on the drivers at the infamous 25km circuit.

Team boss Olaf Manthey had a great weekend and rapped up his third straight Nurburgring title as team boss. His second car came home in second place with Armin Hahne, Christian Haarmann, Jochen Krumback and Pierre Kaffer giving the former DTM driver plenty to be happy about.

“This hat-trick of victories is the crowning glory of my career as a team boss,” said Manthey.

Porsche swept the podium, with Sabine Scmitz bringing home the 997 with teammates Klaus Abbelen, Edgar Althoff and Kenneth Heyer.

race

INDY LIGHTS DILLION Battistini has won the Firestone Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 24.

Battistini lead almost all of the 40 laps after starting from the pole. Only two other drivers lead laps all weekend, with Australian James Davison one of the two.

Having started from second position, Davison raced strongly until contact on

lap 30 with J.R Hildebrand forced the pair to pit for flat tyres, eventually finishing 17th.

“It was my first experience running up there for the lead,” said Davison.

“I learned a lot. We did have a bit of push in the car. I learned some things and applied it at the end. We went threewide into [Turn] 1, me, Hildebrand and Antinucci, and we were banging wheels.

“It appears J.R’s wing got into my right

Indycar Media

Davison shines at Indy

rear, and that ended any chances of winning.

“We made some good step forward this weekend. We started on the front row, we raced for the lead, we did lead the race, we made a good move three-wide. The race results are not there yet, but it’s going to be there.”

Antinucci finished second and in doing so regained the championship lead, while Wade Cunningham finished third.

The girls are taking over in the US NHRA

David Ostaszewski

With rain plaguing the O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals from early in the day, Melanie Troxel became the second woman in the history of NHRA Drag Racing to win in a nitro Funny Car. Other Pro winners included Top Fuel winner, Tony Schumacher and Pro Stock’s Dave Connolly.

Troxel denied Mike Neff in the Funny Car final, clocking a winning 5.06/310 to Neff’s motor blowing 6.47/146.

The Pro Care RX Dodge Charger had managed to advance earlier past defending series Champion Tony Pedregon, Ashley Force, and Jim Head. She also becomes the first woman to win in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. Point leader Schumacher, clocked a 4.55/306 in the final round to defeat Larry Dixon.

The U.S. Army dragster qualified on top at 4.50/327, and scored 4.51/325, 4.51/321, and 4.50/329 wins over Alan Bradshaw, J.R. Todd, and

Hillary Will.

Dave Connolly used a holeshot in the final to defeat Greg Stanfield, 6.73/204 to 6.71/204. Despite missing

the first five events of 2008, Connolly has moved to 14th in the standings, just four rounds out of the top 10.

– David Ostaszewski

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rear of grid

Just a lad with Big Dreams OKAY, we admit it. We have been hanging on to this image for a while.

Y’see, here in the offices of Motorsport News, we get sent all sorts of pics, and some of them fall into the ‘Why on Earth would they think we were interested?’ file. But when we got a pic of a keen teen kiddie in a road car with his dad, well, somehow, we just couldn’t chuck it out.

Good thing, too. See, that slightly chubby kiddie is one Scott Dixon, and the fella behind the beard is proud dad Ron. Dixon Jr had just turned 13 – yep, 13 – and had received a dispensation from MotorSport New Zealand to suit up for the Nissan Sentra onemake sedan series.

Seems that someone at MSNZ thought that Scott might add up to something, someday. Perhaps it was in that spirit that we filed the pic away with that intention of giving it some air, one day in the future.

The cherubic little ‘ranga has grown up to be an Indy 500 winner. We reckon that congrats are in order to Dixon, Ron and MSNZ. As President Steven Kennedy said, “It’s a pretty good day to be a New Zealander …”

Odd Spot

Martin D Clark

SUV. I haven’t had a ticket in six years.”

And, for those who have followed the increasingly heated Network 10-Seven rivalry of recent weeks, it was good to see that the on-air talent is still on speaking terms.

Grant Denyer and Greg Rust faced off in the Aussie Racers at Oran Park on the weekend and were still matey afterwards.

Who won? We reckon that it was the sport ...

– MARTIN D CLARK/STAFF

John Morris/Mpix

THING are looking up for Petty Enterprises.

The crew certainly is. In Charlotte, the Petty regulars were joined by Yao Ming, the 2.29m basketball star, who spent some time watching the crew perform a mock pit stop and serving as honorary pit crew member for Kyle Petty.

The stunt was part of CocaCola’s celebration of the 2008 Beijing Olympic games.

When asked what car he drives, Yao, “A custom built

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