Motorsport eNews Issue 60 - June 24-30, 2008 by V8 Sleuth

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Issue No. 060 24 – 30 June 2008

r a F o S , e s o So Cl

AMBROSE’s stunning cup debut

Dual BAthurst Champs Consider Fujitsu Series Entry ...

Tandersport closes in on fujitsu v8s

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

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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.

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

Issue No. 060 | 24 - 30 Jun 2008

news 4 Ambrose

6 Expansion 8 A Dark Day 10 Ford Test 15 Kingsley back ... 16 Outlaws

chat 18 5 minutes with ... opinion 20 Lambden race 22 ARC 26 NASCAR 30 IRL 34 All the OS Action

Win on debut (almost) Tandersport to Fujitsu NHRA loses a friend FG undergoes aero And going quick Farr heads Stateside Garth Tander So Close Bates gets another one The Kyle Busch Show Happy B’day Wheldon Ricciardo smokes them

trade 36 Trade and Industry / Raceshop / Classifieds

welcome What do Craig Lowndes, Garth Tander and Karl Reindler have in common? They are the only people to appear in two eNews videos!

The day Marcos beca NASCAR STATISTICS will show that Marcos Ambrose had a better race at Milwaukee’s Nationwide race than he did in his Sprint Car debut – but stats fall short of what he achieved at Infineon Raceway. Ambrose was classified 42nd after failing to finish the California road race after suffering gearbox problems (see separate story) but the biggest weekend of the 32-yearold’s racing career has proven that he can mix it with the best drivers in Stock Car racing. With four other drivers, Ambrose made the 6000km round trip from the Napa Valley track to the Milwaukee Mile, and after starting from the back, he finished 16th, behind winner Carl Edwards. The dash back to Infineon was tiring but Ambrose made it in plenty of time, and with confidence high. His seventh starting position disguised his pace; after topping the opening practice session, he drove conservatively over the last quarter of the lap to ensure that the one-lap effort ended cleanly. Until that point, his Ford was on course to take pole position, which ultimately went to Kasey Kahne’s Dodge. The race was even better for Ambrose (see other story) but at the end of the day, he had impressed a number of people. “He did what we all expected – to put it up front,” said Wood Bros Racing’s co-owner, Len Wood. “He managed to get up in the top five – pretty much most of the time no worse than a sixth- or seventhplace car. Ambrose will not have to wait long for his next Cup outing – he will race in both NASCAR divisions this weekend at Loudon, New Hampshire.

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

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ame ‘One of the Boys’ How Ambrose made his mark on the Sprint Cup class ... NASCAR A LOWLY 42nd place finish disguises what was an emphatic NASCAR Sprint Cup debut by Marcos Ambrose. The Tasmanian ran with the leaders and was a threat to win the race at Infineon when he was clattered into by Elliot Sadler with 30 laps remaining, while the pair were fighting for second place. He tried to recover but his Ford’s gearbox blew while he was selecting a gear to continue the fight. “It was just really unfortunate,” said Ambrose. “We were racing really good there, the Wood Brothers gave me a great car, we were fighting with Elliott pretty hard. He bumped into the back of us and spun us out, but that wasn’t the problem. I was actually selecting first gear on a downshift and I blew the gearbox as he hit me. It put a hole in the gearbox casing and we were blowing oil out.” Ambrose started conservatively, giving up a place to Robby Gordon on the opening lap but once he found his stride, he

moved up to fifth, passing Ryan Newman on lap nine. He held fourth when he pitted under the first caution on lap 30. With 10 other cars choosing the same strategy, he lined up 17th on the restart and it took him until lap 57 to break into the top 10. He had just moved past Gordon for ninth when a timely pit stop under yellow came with 42 laps remaining, when Gordon, Kurt Busch and Max Papis came together. Ambrose lined up fourth behind the pace car, behind race leader Kyle Busch, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray. Ambrose dove under McMurray entering the final corner hairpin only for Montoya to cut across the nose of both McMurray and Ambrose, the latter spinning Montoya, but to be fair the Tasmanian had no where to go. “I was passing McMurray on the inside and he squeezed me right down on the dirty line and I stopped as much as I could,” said the Aussie. “I don’t know if Montoya’s spotter didn’t call it, but he just came across and I just couldn’t stop. I was

trying to get out of his way, but that’s what happens on restarts sometimes it gets a bit messy.” The green flag uncoiled for the fourth time with Ambrose second behind series points leader Busch, but McMurray had the better restart and bolted by Ambrose before turn one. David Gilliland made the move past Ambrose for third, only for Tony Stewart to follow though also. Elliott Sadler hounded Ambrose, but as they entered the treacherous turn 11, Sadler locked up his front brakes and hit the rear of Ambrose sending him spinning. “It was just one of those deals, but we leave here with our heads held high, we raced hard and we raced well up the front there, it was just a lot of fun. It was an awesome debut, I couldn’t believe here I am passing Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon and racing with [Dale] Earnhardt [Jr]. You know, it’s just fantastic. It’s what I dreamed about, what I dreamed it would be like and it’s certainly like that, it’s just fantastic, it’s just a real shame we couldn’t finish the race. It’s a sad end to a great day.” – MARTIN D CLARK

... and how he nearly broke all the records on his way NASCAR MARCOS Ambrose is the sixth Australian to qualify for a NASCAR ‘Cup’ race, and the first since Geoff Brabham raced in the inaugural Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August 1994. He is the second ATCC/V8 Supercar winner to race a Ford at Infineon (formerly Sears Points). Dick Johnson raced at the track 19 years before Ambrose’s debut. The highest-placed Australian driver in a Cup race is Tony Spanos, who finished 18th at Martinsville in

April 1987. Veteran Robert Pressley qualified Ambrose’s #59 STP Ford for the Milwaukee Nationwide race. Pressley, 49, qualified 19th fastest before Ambrose arrived at the track. Ambrose ran different signage on the #21 Cup Ford because of the religious beliefs of his sponsors. McKee Foods is owned by the McKee family, who as Seventh Day Adventists, observe the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday and the business of promoting sales stops for one day each week.

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

James Smith

Tandersport closer than ever to V8 Supercar debut Leading Formula 3 team closes in on Fujitsu V8 entry for 2009 and beyond FUJITSU V8s

Dirk Klynsmith

GARTH Tander’s plans to enter his personal race team, Tandersport, into the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series is beginning to build momentum towards 2009. There is a strong chance that Tandersport, run by Garth and his racing wife Leanne, will be competing in the Development Series next year – with Leanne at the wheel. Tandersport currently enters three cars in the Australian Formula 3 Championship, with Tander finishing second in last year’s Gold Star. Garth has maintained for some time that he wants to take Tandersport into V8 Supercar competition, and now, it seems, there is a chance it could happen as early as 2009. While Garth was non-committal to his team’s chances of racing in the Development Series, he told eNews that it is closer than ever before. “There’s a few things in the pipeline, but I wouldn’t say it’s set in stone,” he said. “There’s one possibility at the moment, which would include Leanne driving the car in the Development Series, but as

always, it’s totally dependent on budget. “We certainly don’t have the in house budget to do it ourselves. It’s dependent on Leanne finding the required budget. If the deal came off, the budget certainly wouldn’t be as big as it would be with another team in a lease deal. But still it requires some significant funding to get it over the line.” The most logical choice of cars would be ex-Clayton Commodore VZs, as VEs are

illegible until 2010. Besides the cars, Tander says that his team has got just about everything else to compete in V8s. “We’ve got all the infrastructure, the equipment and the people,” he said. “If we can get the budget, we can press the button, but I’ve been in motorsport for a long time and I know that a deal is never done until the money is in the bank.” – GRANT ROWLEY

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V8 SUPERCARS RICK Kelly will debut a new Holden Commodore VE in the next round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Hidden Valley. Kelly, currently fourth in the series, will shake the new HSV Dealer Team car at Winton tomorrow (Tuesday) with a 20 lap run. Team manager Erik Pender told eNews that the car is just

a “little neater.” “It’s the same spec as the cars down the road at HRT,” Pender said. “It’s a small evolution from what we had. It’s a little bit lighter and a little bit neater. “The biggest thing that you’ll see is that it’s got the body computer now, instead of the console. “All of the switches are up on the steering wheel, same as the HRT cars.

Phil Williams

Rick gets new car for Darwin “There’s no console with fuses anymore. Quite a few teams are doing it now – computers control the fuses” The new car seems timely for Kelly who had his worst round result for the year at Sandown, but Pender says that circumstance, rather than a lack of speed was the reason for Kelly’s Sandown results. “The car was speedy, and he was one of the fastest cars on the track,” he said.

“The hardest thing for us was getting hit from behind. If you look back, Rick probably would have won the round at Oran Park last year in the wet, but he got hit from behind. It was the same at Sandown.” This is the first of two new cars for the HSV Dealer Team this year, with Kelly’s teammate Paul Dumbrell expected to receive a new car towards the end of the season. – GRANT ROWLEY

Halliday locks in Irwin drive V8 SUPERCARS MATT Halliday has secured a spot in the V8 Supercars ‘Season of Endurance,’ scoring a ride with Britek Motorsport. The 29-year-old Kiwi will drive with Marcus Marshall in the #26 Irwin Falcon at Phillip Island and Bathurst. “I’m delighted to be teaming up with Marcus and the entire Irwin Racing team for Phillip Island and Bathurst,” he said. “Marcus has always been strong in the endurance races and I’m confident that we will combine to be a strong pairing. Halliday, who lives in Los Angeles, will get his first seat time in the Irwin Tools Falcon at Queensland Raceway’s endurance driver session next month. “I’m keen to be part of the team as quickly as possible,” he said.

“The plan is to test as well as drive in Friday practice sessions at Queensland Raceway and Winton ahead of the Phillip Island 500.” Halliday is an experienced Ford runner in V8 Supercars, having driven for Mark Larkham’s defunct team, and more recently with Ford Performance Racing.

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Vale

Scott Kalitta

Popular Drag Racer dies in tragic accident DRAG RACING

David Ostaszewski

DRAG racer Scott Kalitta died last Saturday as the result of injuries suffered in an accident during the final Funny Car qualifying session at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey during the running of the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals. Kalitta, a two-time former NHRA Top Fuel champion and son of Drag Racing legend Connie Kalitta, was driving his Toyota Solara when his car exploded an engine, resulting in a parachute failure. The car continued at speed towards the sand trap, cleared the catch net, with a second fiery explosion ensuing after a hard impact at the end of the track. Kalitta, 46, was transported to Old Bridge Township Hospital where he was

pronounced dead from multiple injuries. Ironically, Kalitta’s first professional start began in 1982 at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park and went on to be just one of 14 drivers to have won in both of NHRA’s nitro categories. His death represents the second Funny Car fatality in as many years. Eric Medlen died in April 2007, the result of injuries sustained in an accident while testing. In light of the tragedy, the Kalitta Motorsports’ race cars driven by Doug Kalitta, Dave Grubnic and Hillary Will did not compete in the final eliminations of the event. Scott Kalita is survived by wife Kathy and sons Cory and Colin. Motorsport News passes on its sympathies to Scott’s family and friends. – DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

Aussies big victory at E-town DRAG RACING

David Ostaszewski

AUSTRALIAN drag racer Diana Harker secured her first-ever NHRA Drag Racing victory last weekend at Englishtown. Harker drove Randy Meyer’s A/Fuel Dragster to her first career NHRA victory in the Top Alcohol Dragster final round of the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals. Harker clocked a final round 5.57s/251mph to defeat Dave DeAngeles, who shook the tyres and slowed. After qualifying fifth on the ladder at 5.39s, Harker recorded 5.55s/253mph, 5.43s/256mph and 5.39s/259mph round victories over Jackie Fricke, Richard Bourke and Ken Winward to send her into the final. – DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

news

Walkin’ in a straight line Ford’s new FG compared to Holden’s VE at Woomera test facility V8 SUPERCARS AERO testing for Ford’s new FG Falcon has been completed, with Steven Richards undergoing the straightline tests at South Australia’s Woomera test facility. The FG was sent down the strip against the Holden Racing Team’s ride car, driven by the HSV Dealer Team’s Paul Dumbrell.

The objective: to achieve aerodynamic parity between the two brands. Richards has been the driver in charge of all of the FG‘s testing, and while he hasn’t had the opportunity to drive the car flat-out, he does recognise the importance of the testing. “I’ve been the guy right from the outset driving the car and doing the aero testing,” Richo said.

12H: It’s a date Dirk Klynsmith

“While it’s not driving around a track going as fast as you can, it’s a process that has to be followed, and in order to get the best results you’ve got to make sure you’re consistent.” From here, the final FG aero kits will be presented to the V8 Supercar board next month for final homologation approval. When that is achieved, blue oval teams will be able to start to race the new car ...

12 HOUR The 2009 WPS 12 Hour Showroom Enduro has secured a date, with the event slated for February 20-22, 2009. Next year’s event will be the third running of the race. Spherix will again act as the Category Manager and it will be a CAMS National event. Eligible vehicles will be those listed on the eligibility list, or as approved by CAMS, complying

with 2009 CAMS Group 3E eligibility criteria under the $125,000 price cap. There is expected to be a total of 11 classes in the event, including a two categories for diesel-powered cars, a category for V8 Utes and SUV along with a specific MINI category. To ensure further consistency across the board, a threeyear moratorium has been implemented on any major rule changes.

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Tracy looks like a Truckie PT is talking to a NASCAR team – and Derrick Walker

NASCAR

HOLLAND MOVES TO SUPERSPORT WORLD SUPERBIKE

Honda Pro Images

RUSSEL Holland is moving into World Supersport. The Sydney rider, who started this season with the DFX Bertocchi World Superbike team, will replace the injured Tommy Hill at the HANNspree Honda Althea. ”The Hannspree Honda Althea team spoke to me after Nurburgring about completing the season with them,” said Holland.

Ford Racing Media

sutton-im ages.com

PAUL Tracy could be facing a busy few months, with potential programs in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series and, possibly, an IndyCar race. The 2003 Champ Car World Series winner, who ranks third on the all-time win list with 26, will add to his six NASCAR Nationwide starts (best finish: 24th at Daytona) in a Truck this September in Las Vegas. “I tested a month ago for Germain Racing and filled in for Todd Bodine,” said Tracy. “They’ve asked me to do the race in Las Vegas, which will hopefully lead to more races in the future.” “I am free to drive now whatever I want,”

explained Tracy. “I had some talks with people but there wasn’t anything out there.” Sponsorship is still being sought for Tracy to drive in the Edmonton, Canada, IndyCar event for Walker Racing. Team owner Derrick Walker has already returned his Dallara chassis to the Indy Racing League’s pool but Tony George has told him that he will make a car available for Tracy, provided that the funding is found. “I’m still working on trying to run the race in Edmonton with Derrick Walker,” said Tracy. ”I’m open to racing anything, whether it is an endurance car, a Stock Car, or an open wheel car. If the right opportunity comes around, I’m going to go for it.” – MARY MENDEZ

“My focus has been in World Superbike up to now and with the DFX Bertocchi team, we’ve achieved a number of top 15 finishes which I am proud of considering, the competition this year. “However, after speaking with DFX Bertocchi, we agreed that racing with the Hannspree Honda Althea team in supersport provides the best opportunity for me to finish the year in a competitive position.”

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Is this the end of Pacific? Dominguez sits out at Iowa INDYCARS

sutton-images.com

THE future of Pacific Coast Motorsports is in doubt after the team pulled out of last weekend’s Iowa round of the IndyCar Series. PCM owner Tyler Tadevic announced last Thursday that the California-based squad was “re-evaluating” its plans and left Mario Dominguez out of a ride for the weekend. “I’ve decided to keep the team at our headquarters in California to re-evaluate and strengthen our program,” said Tadevic.

“Pacific Coast Motorsports and the Mexico City Tourism Board are committed to IndyCar. PCM has a contract with Mexico City through 2009 and this has always been our building year. Along with our partners, we have determined we are going to take some time to re-evaluate our resources and determine how to strengthen our 2008 program and better prepare for a competitive 2009 season.” PCM, which was the last of Champ Car’s so-called ‘transition’ teams to run a Dallara-Honda, missed out on qualifying for last month’s Indianapolis 500.

Road Warriors in the Chase NASCAR COULD NASCAR’s new Chase for the Sprint Cup include a road race? That is the question being asked by several drivers, with rumours circulating at Infineon Raceway last weekend that there may be a significant overhaul of the 2009 schedule that would, in part, include moving the northern Californian race to October. With the Atlanta Motor Speedway date expected to be moved to the Labor Day weekend in September in 2009, it may

be that right-hand corners will play a part in determining the winner of the USA’s biggest championship. And there are drivers who support the notion and those who don’t. “It would definitely mix things up,” said Kasey Kahne, after taking pole at Infineon. “I like the schedule the way it is now. If [NASCAR] put a road course in the Chase, I wouldn’t care. It would just be different than it is now. “It would probably be better for Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart – some of the

guys that are really good at these courses. Does that matter? I don’t know. I think the schedule is fine the way it is.” Should NASCAR make the change, the June weekend traditionally set for what used to be called Sears Point may be allocated to a race under lights at Kentucky, providing a current lawsuit between the track and NASCAR can be resolved. The move would also mean that drivers wanting to take in both the Cup race and the Milwaukee Mile Nationwide race would be spared the long crosscountry dash between the events.

NASCAR Media

Britek Changes FORMULA FORD THERE has been a change in the Britek Motorsport Scholarship line-up, with New Zealander Andrew Waite taking the Formula Ford seat formerly occupied by Taylor Gore. Gore’s involvement in the Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship was thrown in doubt recently when one of his major backers went broke, putting an insurmountable dent in his budget. But the Minda Motorsport-run seat wasn’t vacant for long, with 17-year-old Waite confirming the spot for the upcoming round in Darwin. Waite has been racing Formula Ford in

NZ, and according to Minda team boss Bruin Beasley, he is an exciting addition. “It’s good to have an international driver on board,” he told eNews. “We have no expectations of him and he has none of himself – it’s a learning curve. I think he tested one of Howard Racing’s Spectrums earlier this year, so at least he has driven one of the cars. And it will be good having one more driver for my guys to work with given Darwin is a new track for us.” But while it is a new track for all of the drivers, Beasley doesn’t believe that will necessarily level the field too much for the new comer. “It might do, but in saying that, the regular guys have done so many miles

in testing this year that after one session they should be able to get their heads around the place.” Waite’s Minda/Britek deal is currently a one-off, but Beasley says it may include more outings this year, and maybe even a full season in 2009. “At the moment it is only for this round, but it really depends how he goes. He plans to do the full year next year, and given that you can’t test at Darwin, this will be a really good warm-up for him.” Robert Munnerley is another driver who will miss the Darwin round, while Glenn Welch will finally debut the Australian Listec chassis, having missed the Sandown meeting. – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Forgan Conclusion FORMULA FORD THERE will be a new name on the grid for Round 4 of the Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship at Darwin, with Ben Forgan making the trek north for his debut. The South Australian has been racing a Duratecpowered Spectrum 011b in the local series at Mallala, and, having done some laps at Hidden Valley in the past, has decided to make the step up to the national championship.

“I’ve had the Duratec for about 10 months now,” he told eNews,“ and Darwin has always been a favourite track of mine. I actually lived there for a year, so it makes a lot of sense to choose there to try my luck with the big boys.” While still relatively inexperienced in a Formula Ford, Forgan is no stranger to open-wheeler racing, having done nine years of Formula Vee (including three state championship wins). “My biggest goal, to be honest, is to finish the

weekend without getting into any trouble,” he said. “My ultimate goal would be a top 10 in one of the races.” At this point the Darwin round is a one-off, with tentative plans to race the following round at Phillip Island. But beyond that Forgan’s plans are still unknown. “I’d love to finish the season off but I’ve had enough trouble scratching the money together for Darwin.” There are 19 cars confirmed for Formula Ford’s first visit

to Hidden Valley, which will accompany the V8 Supercar Championship Series round there in a fortnight. – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

news

Kingsley on the way back John Morris/Mpix

V8 UTES V8 Utes driver Matt Kingsley is back behind the wheel after his horror crash at the Clipsal 500. Since his accident in February, Kingsley has undergone a lot of rehabilitation to get himself back to a state where he can get back to racing. “I’m virtually back to normal now,” said Kingsley, “and I’ve

got my road licence back and I’m doing full hours at work now. “It’s just good to be back doing all the normal things again, which were taken away.” Kingsley recently drove his brand new VE Ute at Morgan Park as the team looks to get the car ready for the Queensland Raceway round of the championship. “I just did a few laps just to run in the engine and gearbox

in the new VE, but it was also to give Allan Jarvis a bit more seat time, because he is going to drive the next two rounds.” Jarvis will fill in for Kingsley at QR and Winton with Kingsley expected to be back for Bathurst. “We’re not going to do Darwin because the car is not ready the way we want it, so the debut for the new car will be at QR. “I’m hoping to get back in the

V8 UTES IT looks as though the whole V8 Utes category will now be buzzing with the news that Championship leader Layton Crambrook has signed Mother Energy for the rest of the season. The new sponsor will fit in well with the category following the recent announcement that Roaring Lion Energy will be the official drink of the category. Crambrook is currently running Lamont Construction sponsorship, and they will

continue with the team, however Mother will feature heavily with sponsorship down both sides of the car. “It came about through some hard work and perseverance,” said Crambrook. “It’s something we’ve been working on for a while and its just come about now before Darwin. “They are going to be our major sponsor along with Lamont Construction who is still a big part of the team. “It’s for the rest of the season at this stage, which is pretty big, and depending

Dirk Klynsmith

More energy for the Utes

car for Bathurst. “I think I could probably get in now but I don’t want to rush it. I want to take it nice and easy. “But it felt good, just normal. I had no problem getting up to speed.” In other Utes news, Glenn McNally has purchased the shareholding from Greg Willis, so that he can run his car for the rest of the season. – PHILLIP MAHONEY

on how that goes we can continue on next year if all goes well. “It’s good for the category itself that big sponsors are willing to come in and look at the category. So the Utes itself is doing really well.” Next up the series heads to Hidden Valley and Crambrook will look to consolidate his championship lead up north “Hopefully we can carry on our form and keep our championship lead in tact for the remainder of the season,” Crambrook said. – PHILLIP MAHONEY

news

Joel Strickland

Has Windus had enough? AUSTRALIAN RALLY

LEFT high and dry at the start of the season when Britek announced their intentions to withdraw from the Australian Rally Championship, West Australian Darren Windus returned to the forests of Queensland last weekend in the Super 2000 Ford Fiesta he last drove at the final round last year. For Windus it was a chance to step back into outright machinery after a drawn out battle to recover funding he had injected into the short-lived Britek off-road venture. While he quickly racked up fastest stage times, the bad luck which has dogged him

throughout his recent rally career was not far away. “I don’t know what to say to be honest,” said a dejected Windus at the final service on Saturday night. “We came here with literally a brand-new car and within the first couple of stages we’d managed to blow the bottom out of four (suspension) struts. I can’t think of ever hearing of a rally driver doing that to one strut, let alone four!” After resolving the issue with a new batch of suspension in each corner, Windus again returned to the forest, although out of sequence and running well down the order, hampered by hanging dust.

“It was just too dangerous to risk doing further damage to the car, so we opted to park up early,” he said. A thorough check of the car provided high hopes for Sunday’s second heat before a complete alternator failure, a problem that had plagued the Britek team last season, forcing an early end to the weekend. “I’m honestly starting to wonder if all the hard work to get to these events is worth it!” Windus questioned. “I’m seriously starting to think that giving up on this whole rally thing might be the best option for my mental well-being.” – RYAN LAHIFF

Farr heads to the US for Outlaws shows SPRINTCAR

Geoff Gracie

AUSTRALIAN Sprintcar Champion Robbie Farr is off to the US for a three-week trip that will see him compete in a host of Outlaw races. Farr who was the runner-up in the World Series SprintCar Series this year, will head to America with his new team, East Coast Pipeline Racing in August. “We’re going to America in August with East Coast Pipeline Racing to do some Outlaw shows over there for about three weeks, so we’ve got that

to look forward to,” said Farr. “I think at this stage it’s a bit of a one off thing, but we might leave a car over there so we have the opportunity to do a few weeks here and there in the future. With the Australian series currently having their offseason, a trip to the United States will give Farr the opportunity to prepare for the upcoming Australian Sprintcar Titles, which have been postponed until later this year. “I think it’s exciting to head over there for a couple of weeks and knock the rust off

so to speak.” – PHILLIP MAHONEY

For more on Farr, check out the Motorsport News, on sale this Wednesday (June 25).

5 Minutes with ...

GARTH TANDER

V8 Supercar’s reigning Champion is trying to send his race team (and his wife) into the GRANT ROWLEY Development Series ...

F3 and V8 Supercars are two different disciplines. What infrastructure are you missing for Tandersport to run a V8 team? We take delivery of our new truck at the end of this month. That’s taken a bit longer than expected. At the end of the day, the truck is going to be exactly what we want. We’d need a little bit of pit

But to be honest, I don’t spend a great amount of my day to do with the Tandersport stuff. That’s all for Leanne’s business so I can concentrate on my V8 commitments.

Dirk Klynsmith

MOTORSPORT NEWS: You made it no secret that you want to move Tandersport into the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, and 2009 is now a real possibility … GARTH TANDER: There’s a few things in the pipeline, but I wouldn’t say it’s set in stone. There’s one possibility at the moment, which would include Leanne driving the car in the Development Series, but as always, it’s totally dependent on budget. We certainly don’t have the in house budget to do it ourselves. It’s dependent on Leanne finding the required budget. If the deal came off, the budget certainly wouldn’t be as big as it would be with another team in a lease deal. But still it requires some significant funding to get it over the line. We’ve got all the infrastructure, the equipment and the people, if we can get the budget, we can press the button, but I’ve been in motorsport for a long time and I know that a deal is never done until the money is in the bank. Until that happens, we are just pressing on with our domination of Formula 3!

gear, but nothing serious. We’ve been building up equipment and infrastructure over the last few years, and we’ve had it in the back of our mind that everything we build has to be appropriate for Carrera Cup, V8s and F3 all together. We’ve pretty much got everything we need except some rattle guns … If Leanne was to do the Development Series, would she concentrate on that, or supplement it with other racing? No, Leanne won’t be doing F3 next year, regardless of how she goes this year or what she gets next year. And this is why Leanne is trying to get a budget together to do the Development Series. That’s the next logical step for her. She’s working on that, and there certainly won’t be any cross over. We’re already talking to people about F3 for next year as well. It certainly wouldn’t be fair to have them hanging out on the limb, waiting for Leanne to decide what she’s doing.

So Tandersport would continue to prepare F3 cars, even if a ‘Tander’ isn’t racing one? In an ideal world, we’ll run a Development Series car, and an F3 car, but in motorsport, the ideal world very rarely happens. At this stage, all options are open. We’re talking to some people about Carrera Cup and the Development Series thing boiling around in the background, but our primary focus for 2009 is ensuring our F3 seats are filled and that’s looking promising already. If the V8 thing comes off, then there’ll be some options there for staff expansion, but we’re pretty much equipped to do it now. You’re a couple of years into this team ownership, coupled with your regular race driving. How are you finding it? Yeah, I’ve been doing it for a while now with Leanne’s stuff. Obviously this year, we’ve got three cars and we’re a lot bigger than we’ve ever been before. Multiple cars, purpose-built facility and all the gear that goes with it.

In your most unbiased opinion, how do you rate Leanne as a driver? It’s very difficult for me to objectively rate how Leanne’s going. I certainly know that she’s driving better than she’s ever driven before. I look at the people who are running at the front in the Development Series, with the equipment they have, and I feel that there’s no doubt she could be winning races there. A bit of a shocker for you in the last round at Sandown. Was there much of a dressing down afterwards? There weren’t any harsh words. You don’t learn anything by yelling and screaming. We had a thorough look at our performance, as far as every aspect of the weekend is concerned. There were some positives, though. We were fastest in Friday practice and went from 12th to fifth in Race 1. The car certainly wasn’t good in Race 2 in the wet, and Race 3, we made a mistake. We set the car up for the wet weather and the rain never came. It was easy to say we had a bad weekend and we had no pace, but there were some glimpses of speed in there. As far as a weekend goes, it was a not performance that we expect …

chat

Dirk Klynsmith

Now THAT is unlucky

Letters

Have your say, email us at mail@mnews.com.au. Keep letters to the point! Awesome You whinge about paying $70 to see V8s on Monday at Sandown. Spare a thought for us Adelaidians who have to pay $220 for a 4-day pit straight pass for the Clipsal. But, it's the best $220 I’ve ever spent. Four days of Girls, V8s and beer. The only thing wrong about Sandown was Channel Seven’s pathetic coverage, where was

qualifying? Oh, it was at the same time as grown men were chasing oval balls around an oval. Peter Burdett Paralowie, SA Parity In response to Peter Schafer’s letter, have you taken you pills lately? For one the VE Commodore won the championship last year and won more rounds.

Fords have had a power advantage before, so the Holden teams were given a new engine to catch up. Now the Ford teams have caught back up, so that says a lot about the engine departments. Parity has never been closer, the brands seem to be pretty even. The drivers have been the biggest differences. Also, Craig Lowndes did not spin or punt Tander off, so

there was no need for a penalty. Tander was on cold rear tyres which would have had very little grip at the fourth turn and in my opinion was blocking and holding up everyone behind him. Anyway, it was good to see a dominant Ford weekend, and good on Frosty and FPR for leading the Championship for the first time. Glen Sansom via email

opinion

opinion Chris Lambden mNews Publisher TWICE now Marcos Ambrose has been in a position to win a NASCAR race (the first was the Busch race in Montreal last year, remember) and twice he’s been turned around at a crucial time. Yesterday, Our Man in NASCAR was desperately unlucky – everyone else who was taken out during an actionpacked race was able to turn around and rejoin. In Marcos’s case, the hit came just as he selected first gear – it broke and spat bits out through the casing. He truly deserved better. Marcos had the car-speed to do it, and it would have raised eyebrows big-time. After all, who was the last driver to win on debut in a Cup race? If that race and all those incidents were here in Australia, there’d be a big fuss. There’d be stewards enquiries and, no doubt, penalties. But that is the huge, and I mean massive, difference between what we (and our

Euro-phile racing categories such as F1) call motor racing and what the Americans call racin’. Had yesterday’s road-course race been held here, there would have been nearly as many drivers in pit lane serving stop-go penalties as there were left on-track, such was the number of nudge-induced spins! But in NASCAR, it’s every man for himself. Hence, the relatively calm acceptance of just about everyone who gets ‘served’ out of a race. It reignites the debate as to which philosophy is best. Or more ‘entertaining’. Or even if that debate is necessary. Emotionally, I’m not sure we could accept the kind of chaos and carnage that ‘let it rip’ NASCAR serves up – besides our V8s cost more than a NASCAR to build and we can’t afford it (that’s another story) … But it’s time for a huge ‘welldone’ for Marcos Ambrose. A road-course is where his V8 Supercar background comes to the fore and he did just great. The result may not have come outright, but people whose opinion matters will have noticed.

eLETTER OF THE WEEK Costing Well I have to agree with the person who wrote about Sandown last week. I live in Brisbane and have a family and there is no way I would take my family to the grog/smut fest that is Indy, so our only option is to pack up the family hack and head west to Ipswich. It takes an hour and a half of “are we there yet?” and then a military hike with packs and garb all the way from the carpark. To get in the gate, the cost on a

Saturday is $60 plus get this another $20 for pit access. $80 per adult to get into QR Paperclip Raceway. Sunday is $95. (three days are $165) They do give a $1520 discount for prepaids. What do we get? Shelter? No. A grubby butt from the dirt mounds and sunburn to boot. Grandstands? No they cost more. Access to the drivers. Only if you can run faster than them or their golf buggies and get them to stand still long enough to do anything. Oh but they do

schedule a strict one-hour session at the end or the start of the day that is not well publicised, strictly limited and the drivers turn up late for anyways ... Oh, did I mention burgers cost $7, chips $5 and water $4! I took my boys to Lakeside last week for free and they loved seeing road cars following each other fast around the track. Not much different to the V8s really. Todd via email

Send your creative letters to mail@mnews.com.au, or Motorsport News PO Box 7072, Brighton, Vic 3186 21

AUSTRALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 3 – RALLY QUEENSLAND

Hot on his Neals Neal Bates saw off the challenge of privateer Eli Evans to win his third-straight ARC round. RYAN LAHIFF reports 22

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Joel Strickland

ARC

ALLY Queensland holds the traditional position on the Australian Rally Championship calendar as the toughest round of the year, and last weekend it proved just that. In one of the closest finishes in recent times, the race to the top spot on the podium focused on Toyota factory driver Neal Bates and Subaru privateer Eli Evans. The two traded times throughout the two day event over 20 competitive stages and despite completing over 250 kilometres in the end the two were split by just 0.6s. A last stage flat tyre on Saturday afternoon ultimately disrupted Evans’ run, allowing Bates, who has so far dominated

the season with victories in Western Australian and Canberra, to claim victory harking back to his very first time on an ARC podium at the Queensland event some 15 years earlier. “Another amazing result for the car, I can quite honestly say I think our form this weekend has far more to do with the unbelievable strength of the Corolla than the ability of the driver,” Bates laughed at the finish. Remarkably, Bates was just about the only front runner to avoid incident on the ever demanding stages north-west of the Sunshine Coast, the list of victims headed by Bates’ Toyota team mate Simon Evans. Reigning Champ Evans, who is lagging behind in the points race after suffering a blown

engine and a heavy impact with a kangaroo at the opening two rounds, had led early in the weekend before crashing dramatically out of the weekend. “I’d built up a good lead and I was both pushing too hard and taking things to casually,” explained Simon. Arriving too quickly into a tightening right hand corner over a cement bridge, Evans admitted he had a split second to decide his fate and opted to crash off the bridge. Evans’ Corolla plunged straight off the road slamming front on into the opposite bank of the creek. Both Simon and co-driving wife Sue were transported to hospital for precautionary checks with Sue reporting back and neck stiffness while Simon had broken his toe in the impact.

“It was a big hit. The telemetry shows it was a more sudden stop than the accident where I broke my leg in Tasmania,” added Simon. Despite the flat on Saturday afternoon which forced Eli Evans to run on a bare rim, the young Victorian came away from the weekend with his first Heat victory. “Really rapt with that,” he said. “It’s something we’ve been working really hard towards and we’ve had our fair share of disappointments but this proves we can do it. Now I need to do it again, and again, and again.” Overcoming two disastrous previous rounds Michael Guest managed to navigate his Pirtek Subaru into third despite a last stage scare on Sunday. “On a really fast section, probably hitting about 180km/h,

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Proving its toughness: Rally Queensland was a car breaker, but not for these guys. Michael Guest finished third overall, while Eli Evans, right was second.

Joel Strickland Joel Strickland

the front right tyre just exploded!” The battle for the minor placings proved to be riddled with mechanical malady and misadventure. Stewart Reid finished fourth on Saturday in the ex-Bates Corolla before a gearbox failure on the final stage on Sunday end his home town run while Darren Windus, returning to the Championship in a Britek prepared Super 2000 Ford Fiesta, retired from both days of competition with blown suspension and an alternator seizure. In the end Spencer Lowndes managed to claim fourth for the weekend in his privateer Mitsubishi ahead of young upand-coming driver Nathan Quinn. The next round of the Australian Rally Championship takes drivers to South Australia and with a heavily revised route on offer.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP ROUND 16 – INFINEON RACEWAY

THE

KYLE HIGH CLUB The Kyle Busch Show – previously known as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – toured California on Sunday, with predictable results. By MARTIN D CLARK 26

NASCAR Media

of fuel on the way to the pits ... The yellow flag put Kyle Busch back out front over Montoya, Jamie McMurray and Marcos Ambrose, who made a move under McMurray in the turn 11 hairpin for third – only for Montoya to cut across the nose of both Roush-Fenwaypowered Fords. Ambrose spun Montoya back to 13th position (he recovered to sixth at the end), but the Tasmanian had nowhere to go and from there, his troubles started (see news pages) that would see him finish shotgun in the 43-car field. From there, Busch led McMurray, Gilliland and Tony Stewart, but when David Reutimann slammed the barrier hard, it brought out another caution, setting up a six lap shoot-out. McMurray entered turn four too fast and was passed by Stewart for second, only for Kevin Harvick to brake too late for the hairpin, bumping McMurray into Stewart and spinning all three cars out. Stewart recovered to finish 10th, McMurray was 17th and Harvick 30th. When Scott Pruett (subbing for Reed Sorenson in a Ganassi Dodge) oiled down the track after some contact, NASCAR threw the red flag, putting the race into the all-too-recently-familiar green-white-checker finish. From that point on, it was all Busch, all the time, the ace heading former local track expert David Gilliland in his Yates Racing Ford, Jeff Gordon (who ran as low as 23rd mid-race), Clint Bowyer and Casey Mears.

SPRINT CUP | DRIVER’S points Point standings; Kyle Busch 2408, Burton 2299, Earnhardt Jr. 2259, Edwards 2150, Johnson 2079.

NASCAR Media

FTER a few disappointing weeks, Kyle Busch put his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota back in victory lane at Infineon Raceway, California, after leading 76 of the 112 laps for his first Sprint Cup Series road course win in seven attempts. “This is pretty special,” said Busch, who started 30th and extended his point lead by 103 over Jeff Burton. “I have to thank this team. We unloaded here this weekend and we were absolutely horrible. We were so bad we didn’t know what was going on. These guys worked their tails off, never gave up, worked on it and worked on it, made changes to everything, and we finally figured it out.” Kasey Kahne continued his recent hot streak, winning the pole and leading the first four laps before Jimmie Johnson took over to head through the first caution on lap 30, after an altercation between Joe Nemechek and David Ragan dumped marker tyres on the track. Ten cars had pitted before the yellow flag unfurled, leaving them with valuable track position in front of what was the lead group, led off pit road by Johnson, while Greg Biffle led the race at the green. Biffle lost traction and spun in the dirt on the first green flag lap, leaving Juan Pablo Montoya the beneficiary up front. But he stuttered in Biffle’s dust cloud, while Busch kept his foot in it to pass Montoya and dominate the mid-section of the race, opening up a lead of four seconds plus before he chose to pit. Several drivers chose to pit, leaving a hardcharging Carl Edwards to lead, but another caution flew when Kurt Busch dived under Robby Gordon, only for Gordon to be hit by Max Papis. To add insult to injury, Robby then ran out

NASCAR Media

Too Easy ‘

Edwards scored his first 08 win at NATIONWIDE

NASCAR Media

Road Racers: Jimmie Johnson led Carl Edwards early in the race, above. With coaching from road race-ace Boris Said, Kasey Kahne took his second pole in three races, below, but finished only 33rd. Ambrose, left, certainly made an impact on his Cup debut.

NASCAR Media

CARL Edwards figured out at Milwaukee what had stopped him winning a Nationwide race in 2008 – it hadn’t been hard enough. The defending Nationwide Series Champion made it as hard as possible to end his 36-race drought by flying in from Infineon, starting at the back of the field and relying on new crew chief Drew Blickensderfer, having missed all of practice and qualifying. But Edwards, who a week ago admitted to the worst drive of his career, made huge ground early and ran down leader Joey Logano mid-race, and fought fellow California flyer Clint Bowyer. After contact, the Roush Yates Ford man took track position and held it to the flag. “I didn’t want to pass Clint that way, I got under him and hit him,” admitted Edwards. “It’s good to be back. My team never gave up, my fans never gave up on me and I

know it’s tough times right now and we’re all doing the best we can. It feels good to win a race again.” The clash left Bowyer in third behind Logano but allows him to extend his points lead. “I’m not OK with that,” said a fuming Bowyer. “I just didn’t expect that from him. We’ve been pretty good friends for a while and always raced each other hard and clean.” It was looking like a second win for Brad Keselowski until Logano, who is clearly not going to be overawed by his elders, elbowed him out of the lead with 79 laps left. The damaged Keselowski Chevy finished eighth. The other drivers who flew in, David Ragan, David Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose, finished in fourth, fifth and 16th places respectively. Points: Bowyer 2506, Keselowski 2318, Reutimann 2316, Edwards 2301, Ragan 2201,Bliss 2192, Busch 2093, M Wallace 2053 [Ambrose 1824, 13th].

INDYCAR ROUND 8 – IOWA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Life begins at 30 Dan Wheldon celebrated turning 30 in the best possible fashion by taking a strong win in Iowa

Honda Racing

Honda Media

and the best for a Japanese driver – while Marco ran with the leaders all day but was not quite a match the speed of the leaders when it mattered. Points leader Scott Dixon came home fourth ahead of AJ Foyt IV and Danica Patrick, but it was a mixed day for the Aussies. Ryan Briscoe battled ill-handling all day and came home seventh, and Will Power delivered his best oval result with ninth. “It was challenging out there today,” said the Penske driver. “I think we just didn’t have enough downforce and we struggled to find grip. We made adjustments throughout the day, and towards the end of the race, we had a solid car.”

Is this Iowa? Dixon leads the field away, top, in the Iowa Corn Indy 250. Wll Power scored his first oval top 10, above, but Dan Wheldon was the man who smiled most at the end of the race, below. Opposite top, the Penske men had mixed days, Marco Andretti finished third, middle, and AJ Foyt scored his first top-five result, below right.

Honda Media

AN Wheldon drove a smart, fuel-strategy race to ensure that his fourth decade started as happily as possible. With 60 laps to run, the Briton decided to roll the dice and went for the finish, while his opposition pitted. He stretched a usual 75-lap fuel range to 90 and held on, assisted by late-race yellow flags caused by Mario Moraes and Tony Kanaan. “We saved fuel for a little bit at the end,” Wheldon explained. “The team knew I was having trouble on restarts, so they really worked hard at giving me time to heat my tyres up. That certainly worked. The more laps I did, the better it [the tyres] was for me. “When they told me to stay out, I looked up and said, ‘Thank you, God.’ I was just incredibly loose. I don’t know why it was so bad, but you could see from the next few restarts on tyres that were not slightly worn, it was great. The car was very comfortable.” Ganassi’s fifth round win in nine races came in front of the Andretti Green pairing of Hideki Mutoh and Marco Andretti. The Japanese rookie scored his best career finish –

Nice Guys finish First

Honda Media

SOMETIMES, even motor racing is touched by things that happen in the ‘real’ world. Iowa has had a tough time recently with the twister season striking the state, and floods have forced thousands of people out of their homes. So the Ganassi 1-4 finish is good news, after the team decided to donate all prizemoney earned at the race to funds assisting the victims of the wild weather. “My wife and I drove from

Chicago to here and we saw the flooding, and it was just heartbreaking,” said Wheldon after the race. “I thought it was something that Scott [Dixon] and I should do and fortunately, we were able to.” Ten out of 10, chaps. Dixon lined up on pole position after qualifying was rained off, and for the weekend traded the traditional red-andwhite Ganassi colours for the blue of Commit firesuits, above.

Honda Media

INDYCAR | IOWA MOTOR SPEEDWAY 1 10 2 27 3 26 4 9 5 2 6 7 7 6 8 17 9 8 10 06

Dan Wheldon GB Hideki Mutoh J Marco Andretti USA Scott Dixon NZ AJ Foyt IV USA Danica Patrick USA Ryan Briscoe Aus Ryan Hunter-Reay USA Will Power Aus Graham Rahal USA

Target Ganassi Racing Andretti Green Andretti Green Target Ganassi Racing Vision Racing Andretti Green Penske Rahal Letterman KV Racing Technology Newman Haas Lanigan

250 laps +0.143s +0.902s +1.272s +1.356s +1.911s +3.978s +4.448s +5.615s +7.788s

Honda Media

INDYCAR | DRIVER’S points Dixon 316, Castroneves 268, Wheldon 267, Kanaan 216, Mutoh 199, Briscoe 195, Patrick 192, Andretti 189, Power 169, Carpenter 166.

GLOBE TROTTER

Renault-Sport

A Sombre Weekend

David Ostaszewski

n DANIEL Ricciardo has continued his impressive early season form with victory in Round 3 of the Formula Renault West European Cup at Valencia in Spain. Ricciardo completed a perfect weekend in Spain by taking pole position and fastest laps in both races to extend his championship lead. “It was a perfect weekend for me, being the quickest driver in all outings here in Valencia,” said Ricciardo. “Some might think both races might have been boring for me, but I enjoyed them massively. Each time I passed our crew at the start/finish and saw the pit board with the increasing gap I pulled, I only got more eager to extend my lead. I really like the Valencia circuit, it is definitely one of my favorites.” In the weekend’s first race, Ricciardo led home Roberto Merhi by six seconds and in Race 2 he extended the gap to finish 16 seconds ahead of his team mate Andrea Caldarelli. Fellow Australian Ash Walsh had a tough weekend that saw him finish 20th in both races. Walsh was making spots in Race 2 until an incident saw him drop down the order. The series heads next to Estoril on July 19.

NHRA A SOMBRE winner’s circle celebration put a close on a sad weekend at the 39th annual Lucas Oil SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park; one day after a qualifying accident took the life of Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta. Following a day of tears and tributes, Tony Schumacher, Tim Wilkerson, Greg Anderson and Chip Ellis were crowned in their respective Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle classes. Schumacher extended his lead in the POWERade standings with his fifth win in 11 starts this year and his first in Englishtown, stopping Brandon Bernstein in the final round on a holeshot, 4.58/325 to 4.56/323. The driver of the U.S. Army dragster also became the first Pro to crack the 1000-point mark this season.

Wilkerson also padded his lead in the Funny Car standings after downing rookie Mike Neff in a rematch of the Madison final, which Wilkerson’s also claimed. After beating Bob Tasca, Gary Densham and Del Worsham earlier, Wilkerson took a 4.87/319 to 4.88/316 victory. Anderson notched his first win since Houston as he defeated Dave Connolly in a final round where both competitors ran into problems just off the starting line. Anderson was able to recover first, winning with a 7.57/200 as Connolly coasted through at 20.28/36. Pro Stock Bike winner Ellis, who has reached the semi-finals in four of the first five events this season, cashed in for the first time since 2005 when Joliet winner Chris Rivas fouled. Ellis recorded a 7.04/187 in the final to Rivas’ fouling 7.10/183. – David Ostaszewski

Boyd’s day in Belgium FFORD UK JAMUN Racing’s Wayne Boyd has continued to extend his championship lead with two victories in the latest round of British Formula Ford at Spa-Fancorchamps. Boyd was untouchable in both races bringing his tally to 13 for the season and when asked how he saw his latest results contributing to his Championship assault a short

reply was all that was needed. “It’s all good,” he said. Boyd’s team mate, Australian Tim Blanchard finished second and fourth in the weekend’s races but had to fight hard in both to maintain his position. On this occasion Blanchard could not match the speed of his team mate and had to settle for a salvage operation. “I managed to close in on Wayne at one point,” said Blanchard, “but then I made

a small mistake and he broke the tow.” Nick Tandy finished second in the second race, while Victor Correa landed the final spot on the podium in third. The other Aussie in the field, Glen Wood struggled in Belgium recording results of 26th and 27th in the two races. Blanchard and Wood will continue their assault on the championship when it heads to Brands Hatch on July 13.

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John Morris/Mpix

Winning Ways STATE – NSW BOB Brewer has firmly established himself as a title contender in the 2008 NSW Combined Touring Car Championship. Brewer won all the races in Round 3 of the NSW State Championships at Oran Park that included the third 20minute enduro. Brewer took the win from Tony Virag and

Matthew Holt. Ryan Simpson continued his domination of the NSW Formula Ford championship with another three race-wins from his team mate Tom Tweedie, with Nathan Morcom also figuring highly in the results. Ryan Brown’s Improved Production winning-streak also continued, although he was beaten by the Mazda RX3

of Justin Keys in one of the races. Chris Jackson and Scott Butler shared the Sports Sedan victories, while Formula Vee produced competitive racing as usual, with Michael Kinsella winning the first two races, before Shane Hart took out the final race. The Green family took the ascendancy in HQ Holdens, with Troy Green and Peter

Green Jr. each winning races. In AF2/Supersports, the 1990s Formula 3 car of Robert Choon took victory after a slow start to the weekend. The Production Sportscar category rounded out the weekend’s action, with former Australian GT competitor Peter Lucas taking the win from the similar Lotus Sport Elise of Tim Mackie. – LACHLAN MANSELL IndyCar Media

Three for Basttini in Iowa INDYLIGHTS INDY Lights rookie Dillon Battistini has taken his third victory of the season at the Jeld-Wen 100 in Iowa. A late pass for the lead on Arie Luyendyk Jr. left Battistini to hold on for victory in a white-flag-victory. Battistini now has a 27-point advantage in the championship over Richard Antinucci, after Antinucci lead

by one point coming in to the Iowa round. “In race conditions, it’s very difficult to pass because our cars are evenly matched on pace,” said Battistini. “It was very hard to get enough of a run, enough of a slipstream to overtake without the intervention of traffic.” “We lapped a few of the cars several times and we both got held up, so I realized if I dropped back a little bit

and when he got held up I might be able to carry pass on him and it worked perfectly.” Ana Beatriz came home in third to equal her career best result, while Brent Sherman finished fourth. Australia’s James Davison came home in 15th on the lead lap after a tough weekend. The next round of the Indy Lights will take place at Watkins Glen on July 5.

rear of grid

Those sensible Iowans

IndyCar Media

INDYCAR raced in Iowa at the weekend, and we could not help but notice this. See, apart from being in America’s mid-west (like Indianapolis) the Buckeye State is largely rural and depends to a great degree on stuff grown in the ground for its economic well-being. And corn plays a big part in that. So it was of little surprise that the state’s official round of the IndyCar Series is called the Iowa Corn Indy 250. Even less of a surprise is that the track has no Gasoline Alley but Ethanol Alley, since ethanol is pretty much made out of … yep, you guessed it, the same stuff that goes into Corn Flakes. In fact, we now wonder why Gasoline Alley at Indy is called Gasoline Alley, when the IndyCars run on ethanol. Okay, NASCAR races there and those cars run on gasoline, so that’s fair enough. And, of course, MotoGP goes to The Speedway for the first time this year. And Formula 1 was there a year ago. And …

Odd Spot

Joel Strickland

AND, for those of you who think a Glock is not a German Formula 1 driver but a sidearm … Coates Rally Queensland took place over the weekend and, so far as we heard, the event took place without any undue problems. So we can only assume that this image of a Queensland Rozzer, with what appears to be a cash register speed gun, was just someone who was spectating at the event. And just happened to have his speedgun with him. We checked with the organisers of the rally and, apart from being a great hit with the fans, there were no reports of anything untoward happening with the law. Good blokes, those Queensland Police fellas. None finer, in our opinion. We will be in the state in a few weeks’ time for the QR V8 round, so we hope they think the same of eNews …