Motorsport eNews Issue 62 - July 8-14, 2008

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Issue No. 062 8-14 July 2008

BLUE BLOODS FORD BACKS FPR & STONES, BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

HOMEBUSH ... or BUST Eastern creek out, oran park gone. it’s homebush or nothing for v8SA

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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Issue No. 062 | 8 - 14 Jul 2008

news 4 Fords Funding

6 Reaction ...

8 Sydney ...

10 USA 14 Tim and Taz 16 Commodore Cup

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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.

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chat 18 5 minutes with ... opinion 20 Branagan race 24 Richo’s win 30 FFord 32 Bowe V Richo 34 IndyCar 38 NASCAR

Rules the weekend What the players think Or no Sydney All the news Stateside FV8 boys get new colours Another Holdsworth Ray Price It’s not doom and gloom Hidden Valley V8s Percat smokes them Biante Masters in Darwin All-American hero Daytona 400

trade 44 Classifieds

welcome James Winslow is ready for this weekend’s Eastern Creek Shannons Round ...

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

– NEWS OF THE WEEK –

Ford’s new direction

Dirk Klynsmith

10 QUESTIONS ... AND THE ANSWERS YOU NEED Will there be a third manufacturer in V8 Supercars in 2009?

No. Given the time involved in homologating the Commodore VE and Falcon FG, it would be practically impossible to do a new car, from scratch, in time for the 2009 season.

So, what will there be?

There will be teams with Fords, teams with Holdens and teams with ‘unbranded V8 Supercars’. For instance, a team spokesperson said that the TeamVodafone cars would run no marque badging of any kind next year.

What will the other teams do?

They have not been abandoned per se, as Ford has confirmed that it will supply bodyshells, panels and technical backup to the teams. And those teams will be able to sell the panel space previously allocated to Ford decals.

How does this affect Craig Lowndes’s Ford deal?

That deal runs until the end of this year.

Lowndes will have a relatively small Ford badge on his racesuit and, perhaps, helmet

next season. No-one else in the team, including Jamie Whincup, will wear any Ford ID at all.

Will SBR supply its engines to FPR? No. FPR’s in-house engine program will continue but there will be a degree of technical commonality and part-sharing between Ford’s two ‘works’ programs.

Who will build the other teams’ FG racecars?

Some will build their own from the Fordsupplied body shells – DJR has indicated that they will build their own, for instance – but others will buy ‘customer’ technology from the already established teams.

Will SBR change its colours next season?

Both the team and Ford have indicated that there will be a greater percentage of corporate blue on the cars next season.

Ross Stone says that he does not insist on blue road cars for the team – but he does not allow red ones …

Will TeamVodafone run Holdens next year?

Or even one Ford/one Holden?

In a sport where ‘never say never’ is a strong slogan, it is hard to see this happening.

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T8 has supply programs to Ford teams in place and, if Holden Motorsport does prefer Walkinshaw Performance to supply its customer teams, it is difficult to see Roland Dane doing a deal with Tom Walkinshaw.

Lowndes back in a Holden? Nooooo …

Why didn’t TeamVodafone just change its colours from red to blue, in a bid to keep Ford on-side?

The team’s Vodafone deal is much bigger than its Ford deal, so even it there had been a choice to make, it would have been a nobrainer. In a funny way, the loss of Ford may actually help stimulate merchandising sales.

For instance, at Bathurst, there are separate Holden and Ford merchandising areas and now, T8 can have a presence in both.

Why did Ford take so long to make its announcement?

The exit of Tom Gorman and the arrival of Bill Osborne in the President’s office did not help, and the company claims its priority was the launch of the G-Series road car, not its race program. But all that time does make the decision to inform the teams of the decision after telling a media outlet seem a bit … odd.

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news

Stones, FPR keep Ford dollars Dirk Klynsmith

TRIPLE 8 Race Engineering and Dick Johnson Racing appear to be the losers, at least in the short-term, in Ford’s realignment of its V8 Supercar efforts.

After months of delays, Ford revealed its plans last week, and while Ford Performance Racing’s positions as the marque’s works team continues as expected, the biggest shock was that TeamVodafone will run without direct Ford backing in the future.

While the news that Johnson’s direct links with Ford would end after a threedecade association took much of the early headlines, the news about T8 came as something of a bigger shock. The team has consistently challenged for titles in recent years and won four of the last six V8 Supercar endurance races. While FPR’s stocks have taken an upswing after a shakey start, T8 was and is, clearly, a contender in the series.

Furthermore, T8 played a significant role in the development of the 2009 FG racer, which was unveiled in somewhat awkward circumstances at Sandown when Ford’s first choice of a driver, Craig Lowndes, was ruled out of taking the wheel because of

a contract stipulation that prevented him from wearing a Ford racesuit rather than a Vodafone one.

The other news that was unexpected in some quarters was that Stone Brothers Racing will continue to be supported. The three-time championship winning team was largely expected to continue feature in Ford’s plans but the preference that the company appears to have for that team, over T8, has caused a few eyebrows to be raised in pitlane.

While the news is being digested, there

is much still to be sorted. For instance, along with a number of other teams, TeamVodafone is a customer of SBR Engines, but the current deal between the two runs only until the end of this season. Likewise, T8 supplies chassis technology to both DJR and Paul Cruickshank Racing, and none of those teams has works backing from the end of this season.

Despite speculation to the contrary that one or other of those teams will swap to a different make next season, all three teams look certain to race Falcon FGs in 2009.

And the Silly Season gets moving ...

V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

Speculation is rife that Courtney and SBR will part FORD’S confirmed V8 Supercar ways, but a well-placed Ford program is expected to push source told eNews on the the Silly Season into fast weekend that there was a ’50forward and James Courtney 50 chance’ of the 28-year-old is expecting confirmation of continuing alongside Shane his 2009 plans soon.

Van Gisbergen next season.

With Ford Performance Should Courtney leave, the Racing and Stone Brothers man who appears well-placed to Racing receiving the make’s replace him is Will Davison. The front-line support, the JeldJim Beam team confirmed on the Wen driver is expecting to have weekend that his contract is up a clear future soon. at the end of the year and that “This [the announcement] “there is a bit of talk” going on helps a lot,” said Courtney in about his 2009 plans, though noDarwin. one would elaborate.

“I think that we should have Davison is highly-rated at something sorted soon and Ford and his presence in one have something to say in about of the factory-supported cars a month.” next season looks to be a good

match. But while his current team boss Dick Johnson said that he was talking to both his drivers about 2009, there is no absolute certainty that Davison will be the only DJR driver looking around. Steven Johnson is also out of contract at the end of the season.

That talk led to one, apparently, odd rumour doing the rounds in Darwin: DJR/Courtney/Davison, with Johnson Jr stepping into a management role. It does sound far-fetched but the truth should be out there, and soon.

– PHIL BRANAGAN

FOR FORMULA 1, MOTOGP AND WRC NEWS, OPINION AND ANALYSIS CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE WORLD’S FIRST INTERNATIONAL ‘VIRTUAL’ MOTORSPORT MAGAZINE ...

– NEWS OF THE WEEK –

Ford’s new direction

Reaction from the players Roland Dane, Triple Eight Race Engineering

Dirk Klynsmith

“Our deal with SBR for engines comes up at the end of this year and I am talking to Ross Stone about that at the moment.

“We will replace most of the dollars but we would have been able to replace them all, if we had been given a bit more time.

“If everyone who has asked for an FG puts their hand in their pocket and slaps the deposit down on the table, we would be riding a lot more than four. We are building three for ourselves.

Deadline?

We will run a Triple 8, TeamVodafone V8 Supercar next year. It could be anything, but I am not sure whether that is going to be a Ford or something else.

There is no chance [of another make in 09]. Everyone needs to understand in Australia that you can isolate these activities from those in the rest of the world. There are no Australian motor companies, there are those companies whose decisions are made when the international market is changing. We will watch and keep an eye on it

Tim Edwards, Ford Performance Racing

Dirk Klynsmith

“It’s business as usual. A lot of people have lost sight of the fact that we have a deal for next year anyway. We stayed out of the whole discussion because we were already moving forward and getting on with plans for 2009.

“There will be two cars run out of here for next season because we have two licences. Personally, I have no intention of buying another licence and trucks, and so on. We want to focus on our core business, which is racing two cars.

“Jim’s (Morton) contract ends at the end of the year but we are starting to talk about renewing that for 2009 and 2010. It is a good business model for us and good for Jim. “What people don’t know is that Ross and I have been talking for some time, something completely separate to Ford’s decision, about how we can work together. That is the way that the industry is going. If I can make 20 widgets, I would rather give 10 to him, if he can produce 20 widgets, half of which I can use. We have to work on economies of scale when we build these cars, and Ross and I have been talking about that for months. We will try to work together, on a cost-containment level. We should both end up with a better mousetrap, as well.

“It is loose discussions and, over the next month, we need to talk seriously about that. There are some parts of their engines that we like and I am sure that there are some parts of ours they like. We just have to decide the exact pieces that make up our cars next year, but we are not going to wind up with four identical engines and four identical chassis.”

Ross Stone, Stone Brothers Racing

Dirk Klynsmith

“It has only just all happened so this week, we will have to settle down and think about what it does mean.

“You would like to think that your team was always going to be there [with Ford support] but, when it came to the final outcome, we just had to sit tight and see how the cards were going to fall.

“The sponsorship is under control. Even in the short time that we have had, we have been able to be relaxed about that. It is a big plus for the team.

“As far as I am concerned, the relationship between the engines and the teams is fine. The Triple 8 contract is up at the end of the year but that is another issue.”

news

John Morris/Mpix

Will Holden follow Putting plans into action suit?

WHILE there are a number of changes in the wind for some Ford teams, there are also those that have already been moving forward with their 2009 plans.

Here is the what the blue (and not so blue) teams will be doing in 2009 ...

Ford Performance Racing Ford’s go-to team will remain, now with a stronger alliance to Stone Brothers Racing.

Two cars definitely, with a possible third entry (using Jim Morton’s Ford Rising Star licence).

“Our program with Ford was discussed and locked away last December and yesterday’s announcement provided no real surprises to us. These announcements do not affect our planning for 2009 in any way.”

Stone Brothers Racing The blue oval’s championship-winning team will now be blue by name and nature.

Ford Rising Star Racing Jim Morton owns the licence and the team’s brand, but the car is essentially a third Ford factory car. How that will change for 2009 remains to be seen ...

Triple Eight Race Engineering The highest-profile team to be hit by the news. The team will continue to build its own chassis and receive body shells from Ford.

Dick Johnson Racing No financial support from the factory for the team that has represented Ford for 30 years. DJR will receive body shells and other technical support.

Britek Motorsport: Britek will field two FG Ford Falcons for 2009, continuing with its existing, yet limited, support:

Paul Cruickshank Racing: Dropped out of the Ford system at the start of 2007 and almost certain to continue with its engine and chassis deals with SBR and T8.

“I have spoken to both Ross [Stone] and Roland [Dane] and our deals are fine, to continue on to next year and beyond. We will go through this and the category has to get used to life without manufacturer money.

Team Kiwi Racing The Kiwi team is set to remain backed by Ford New Zealand.

FOLLOWING Ford’s cutbacks, Holden teams should be bracing themselves for similar news.

That’s the view of an informed Holden insider, who told eNews that “they were wanting to save some money this year, but didn’t want to be the first to move.

“If you followed the same logic [as Ford]. Clayton will be safe – but if I was Larry Perkins, Tasman Motorsport, or Garry Rogers, I’d be starting to worry.”

Holden Motorsport boss Simon MacNamara was a popular bloke in Darwin, but offered no real comment on the subject.

But with GM in dire straits in the US and looking for every bit of help from its Aussie outpost, don’t be surprised if things change on the Red side of the V8 fence.

Sydney set to miss V8s in

It’s Homebush or bust as Cochrane and Eastern Creek can’t s

V8 SUPERCARS IT appears likely that there will be no V8 Supercar Championship round in Sydney next season.

V8 Supercars Australia Chairman Tony Cochrane has virtually ruled out a return to the city in 2009, unless the Homebush race gets up in the near future, and on Sunday fired a broadside at the Australian Racing Drivers’ Club, the tenants of Eastern Creek.

Cochrane described the ARDC as “losers” after comments in the media from ARDC President John Cotter (see story above right).

“We have no intention of going back to Eastern Creek, irrespective of what happens in Sydney,” said Cochrane at Hidden Valley.

“We made that very clear. If Mr Cotter feels that he can jump into the press and have his 10 cents’ worth, we will have out 10 cents’ worth.

“They have a shocking history and the only thing they’re good [at] is losing.”

Cochrane made the comments in response to a reported loss made at the last two V8 rounds at the Western Sydney track, which hosted a Queen’s Birthday Monday round in 2007.

“They had 1500 corporates in a city of nearly five million people,” he said.

“Here, this weekend in Darwin, where there are 125,000 people, you have 6200 corporates. So, I would suggest that, what the ARDC ought to start doing, instead of firing their mouth off, is start

to buy a book on how to be a promoter. Because, they have absolutely no idea, zero idea.”

A problem now facing V8SA is where the series will go next season, and Cochrane ruled out V8 Supercar Events hosting an event at the track itself.

“No. Why would we? We have plenty of places that want us, that do really well out of it. Thirty percent of the population of the Northern Territory turn out for this event. We go to Sydney and they couldn’t organise a root in a brothel.”

That leaves Homebush, with considerable speculation clouding who knows exactly where the project stands at present (“Neither do we, to be honest,” said Cochrane) but he remains confident of getting his race up.

“Sydney is a tough market.

You have to do it right, you have to cross your Ts and dot your Is. We think that, if you turn Sydney into a big enough event, the Sydneysiders will get out to it.

But they aren’t very keen on average events, that it true.

“We, V8 Supercars Australia believe, that we can run an event in Sydney. We believe that we can make it financially stack up, and that we will take the risk. We are the ones writing the cheque, if it is a loss.

“So, just like we take that risk at Bathurst, and we take the risk now at the 500 at Phillip Island, and next year at Townsville, we are prepared to take that risk on the streets of Sydney. We are putting our money where our mouth is.”

news

n 2009

EC: Business as usual V8 SUPERCARS

see eye-to-eye

John Morris/Mpix

WHILE V8 Supercars does not look like going back to Eastern Creek, the Australian Racing Drivers’ Club was keen – with reservations – on having the V8s back for the next three years.

ARDC President John Cotter said that the Club wanted the category back in 2009, but on its terms.

“We would have loved to have the V8s back,” said Cotter. “We wrote a letter that said, in part, if we do [have the series back], we wanted it in the middle weekend in August and we wanted to pay a $200,000 sanction fee.”

Cotter said that he strong disagreed with the description of the Club’s V8 event as a “financial bloodbath”.

“They [V8 Supercars Australia] put their hand out for $500,000 and there is about $180,000 in incidental expenses. We take the risk, they don’t.”

Cotter also refuted claims that the Club “lost” the A1GP round, that has been held at the track for the last three years.

“That was largely because [New South

Wales] Major Events turned down the revised financial requirements, which I believe had a much bigger sanction fee than previous events. But that was their call, and perhaps a sign that this government is quite astute when making decisions about these matters.

“It is a shame, and that I think that V8 Supercars is a great category. But I think that there are a few governments, and one manufacturer, who might think that V8s is not the financial panacea that they thought it was.”

As for the immediate future, the Creek continues to promote its other race meetings, like this weekend’s Shannon’s Nationals. The 18-race program will feature the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship, Australian GT Championship, Kerrick Sports Sedan National Series, Commodore Cup, Saloon Cars, Shannons V8 Touring Car Series and Superkarts.

With spectators charged $20 for getting into the track, and kids under 12 for free – and both include a grandstand seat and access to the paddock – that comes out to around $1.11 per race.

Dirk Klynsmith

Cochrane also said that it was not certain that a track would host two rounds next season (“I would not jump to that conclusion”) but hinted that there was a solution, although that would not be Singapore, which he suggested would not be ready to host V8 Supercars until 2010 at the earliest.

“We have a duty of care,” he said, “and one of our key duties of care is to get our

sport in front of as many people as humanly possible.

We have that duty of care for our teams, that duty of care for our two manufacturers and all the sponsors of the championship. So, if you can have the opportunity to be in front of 200,000, instead of 28,300, I don’t think anybody in this room would not take that. That’s all we are attempting to do here.”

– PHIL BRANAGAN

Martin D Clark

Dario out of #40

Indy Champ loses Cup ride: Ganassi sacks 71 staff NASCAR

Road Burner NASCAR

sutton-images.com

WE have heard of drivers being described as “on fire” but this is ridiculous.

The trailer that transports Marcos Ambrose’s Nationwide Ford to and from the tracks had a trailer wheel bearing seize and catch fire on its return from the New Hampshire race a week ago.

The fire caused extensive damage to the trailer lower compartment, and ruined equipment including spare shocks, springs and a shock dynometer.

The cars on the upper deck were also apparently harmed, to the point where they may have to be replaced in the fleet.

Although most of the fire was contained to the rear lower section, the trailer suffered extensive smoke and water damage.

– MARTIN D CLARK

Rick grabs Veteran NASCAR

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NASCAR Media

MARK Martin will replace Casey Mears in the #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in 2009.

As expected, Martin, 49, a four time runner-up in the Sprint Cup Series and 35-time race winner, will make a run for the championship alongside his three new team-mates Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. “This an opportunity that I could not let pass by,” said a

delighted Martin, right.

“I could see myself on my deathbed saying, ‘I wish I had driven that five car for Rick’, and I don’t want that to happen. Most people can’t comprehend what an honour it will be for me to drive this car.

“After two years of catching my breath, I’ve enjoyed it [the break]. I’ve also rekindled by passion for racing and what it means for me, and to give me a taste for what it would be to not have that in my life.”

– MARTIN D CLARK

IT has been a big week of layoffs at Chip Ganassi Racing, and Dario Franchitti’s future in NASCAR hangs in mid-air.

The Scot’s #40 Dodge has been withdrawn from the Sprint Cup Series due to lack of sponsorship after an unsuccessful maiden attempt at the Stock Car Series.

Franchitti has been given the option by team bosses Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates of continuing in the Nationwide Series, aboard the #40 Dodge, starting this Friday at Chicago, or to return to IndyCar, where he is the defending series and Indy 500 Champion.

Franchitti leaves his Cup ride after qualifying for 10 of 17 rounds, and he sat 41st in points prior to Daytona’s Saturday race. He had one top-30 finish in the series at – remarkably – the half-mile Martinsville bullring.

It’s been a rough year for Ganassi, with all three Cup teams having lacklustre results.

Juan Pablo Montoya sits 21st and Reed Sorenson 32nd.

As part of the clean-out, the team has shed 71 staff, with four engine department employees released, the composite shop shut and many middle management and support positions dissolved.

Many other multi-car teams have released employees over the last few months, due mainly to the COT design car, which needs less manpower than the older-style ‘aero’ cars. With the US economy in the doldrums, Ganassi won’t be the last to add skilled race team members to the unemployment line this year.

– MARTIN D CLARK

news

PT’S BACK! INDYCAR PAUL Tracy is finally going to get off the couch and race in the IndyCar Series after a complicated, multi-team deal.

According to SpeedTV in the USA Tracy, 39, has been offered a ride by Indianapolis Motor Speedway boss Tony George in one of his Vision Racing Dallaras. But because the team’s crew is already fully committed to running Ed Carpenter and A.J. Foyt IV, Walker Racing is expected to provide the crew to manage Tracy’s ride. The

deal is still being finalized but expect to see Tracy at Edmonton, Infineon, Detroit and Surfer’s Paradise, all road courses.

“I’ve had no time in the car,” Tracy told the Edmonton Journal. “But I told Derrick [Walker] to just let me know, I’m game. I know the Edmonton track and finished on the podium. A lot of guys will be going there for the first time.”

This week Tracy will shed some rust when he straps back in the cockpit to drive several vintage cars at Goodwood’s Festival of Speed.

– MARY MENDEZ

Mario, Milka & Jay return INDYCAR MARIO Dominguez and his Pacific Coast Motorsports team returned to competition at Watkins Glen after missing the two short oval races at both Iowa and Richmond.

“If we had gone to all the races, we would have always been behind,” said Dominguez.

“The car is in perfect shape.

We still haven’t had time to test in a wind tunnel or on the shaker rig like the big teams do.”

Milka Duno also returned, for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, and Jay Howard returned to Roth Racing’s second car which has been piloted by John Andretti for the last five races after Roth chose not to compete this weekend.

11

Tas makes historic ARC inclusion AUSTRALIAN RALLYING THERE has been a trifecta of big announcements for the Australian Rally Championship in the last week, with the Rally of Melbourne being cancelled, and, in its place, the Tasmanian Tarmac Challenge being included, heralding a return to Tasmania for the ARC. The news of the Victorian round’s cancellation broke last Tuesday, and came as little surprise after paddock rumours at the recent Rally Queensland had suggested there were troubled times ahead for the event.

According to a statement from event director Neil Cuthbert, the event has been placed “on hold” due to a sponsorship shortfall.

“It’s an unfortunate fact that conditions in the global economy, which have nothing to do with the viability of our event, can indirectly impact on our sport,” said Cuthbert.

“Instead, we have made the decision to hold over all work on this year’s event to focus on something special for 2009.”

With the RoM fall-out leaving a hole at the end of the six-round series, Rallye Burnie, otherwise known as the Tasmanian Tarmac Challenge, organisers immediately submitted and expression of interest in making its October event a round of the ARC. And it was a successful application, ARC bosses ARCom announcing last Friday the event would be the final round of the 2008 ARC.

12

The Tasmanian Tarmac Challenge will be the first proper all-tarmac event in the 41-year history of the ARC, and will run on October 4-5 in the state’s north. It is also the first ARC round to be held in Tassie since 2006.

“It is widely acknowledged that Tasmania has the best driving roads in the country, and some of the best in the world,” event chairman Les Walkden said.

“We’re lucky that so many of them are in the bordering Burnie and Waratah/ Wynyard Shires, and that the Tasmanian Tarmac Challenge already uses them on an annual basis.

“So we can incorporate the ARC event into our event and have a fantastic showcase of cars and competitors.”

ARCom chairman Col Trinder agreed that the new arrangement was a positive for the sport.

“Tasmanian Tarmac Challenge was on the front foot indicating their willingness to step into the breech, and I believe it is a great outcome for the sport,” Trinder said.

“Tarmac rallies are definitely part of the future of the sport. Look at the World Rally Championship - it tests its competitors on a range of surfaces. We think our calendar should reflect what is happening in the ultimate evolution of the sport. Chris Atkinson is doing a great job showcasing Australian talent in the World Championship at the moment, but when he went there four years ago he had no tarmac experience at all.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

news

I think a tarmac rally is a very good thing for the sport.

A tarmac event is something that has been spoken about for probably 10 years. It’s a real shame not to have Rally of Melbourne, but as an event I think this will be something very exciting and very different for the championship, and its something that probably should have happened sooner.

It’ll be interesting to see how it goes. There are probably a few competitors with reservations, but I think once they do it, they’ll really enjoy it.

As for making the Corolla S2000 into a tarmac car, look, you’re the first to tell me about this, so I haven’t even thought about it yet. Obviously we will have to develop a tarmac set-up, but, you know, that’s probably something we need to do if we’re going to homologate the car anyway. I don’t think it will require too much modification. But we’ll certainly be going to a circuit somewhere to do some set-up.

Incorporating different surfaces is the right thing to do. If you look at rallying, and you look at the World Championship, they have snow events, and tarmac event, and gravel events. In the whole history of the Australian Rally Championship we’ve

Joel Strickland

Bated breath opinion Neal Bates ARC series leader only ever had gravel events, but rallying is all abut driving on all surfaces, so it’s a very good thing. And for people with World Championship aspirations, it’s a very a good thing. To be honest, it won’t do the gravel people any harm to look at the different ways of driving and the style required for tarmac, either.

I have actually competed at Rallye Burnie before, but not for many years. Its hard to remember back about the actual roads, but all of the roads in Tasmania are incredibly good. For rally cars, when you think about a tarmac rally, you need to look at using the tightest roads available, because when you are using restrictors in a Group N car or our S2000 cars, the top speeds aren’t huge.

The speeds are definitely higher on the bitumen, but Coral and I have done many Targa Tasmanias together, we won Targa many years ago now, so she knows all about tarmac. I think she probably finds it more relaxing, because tarmac rallies are less busy on the notes.

Tarmac event suits young hopefuls AUSTRALIAN RALLYING on tarmac, in their rally car,

Joel Strickland

Joel Strickland

WHILE a full spectrum of reaction from the current crop of ARC drivers over the tarmac inclusion is yet to be gauged, it seems the younger drivers are certainly supporting the inclusion of the new event.

Eli Evans, younger brother of double Champ Simon Evans and first-time heat winner in Queensland, is one such driver to throw his support behind the Tasmanian Tarmac Challenge.

Evans says the inclusion of a different surface will help youngsters with WRC ambitions like himself prepare for the world stage.

“You’ve only got to see what Chris Atkinson has done,” Evans said.

“He’s made the step up to the WRC and when he did that he had no experience on tarmac whatsoever, so if another Australian is going to do it, they need to be

driving flat out, so when they do get the chance, they are ready to go. That’s why we’ve done tarmac rounds previously that weren’t associated with the ARC, so we had a head start for one day when I get to the WRC, or, like what’s happened now, a tarmac round gets included in the ARC. We’ve learnt, done the homework and learnt the secrets.”

Evans and co-driver Chris Murphy are no strangers to the Tassie blacktop, having run in last year’s Rally Tasmania, which utilises many of the roads from Rallye Burnie.

“They’re awesome roads.

Stages like Savage River and Hellyer Gorge I’m assuming will be included, and they are a dream to drive on.

They’re about 25km long, and we were hitting speeds in the tarmac car of about 210kmh, so its exciting stuff.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

13

Douglas links with PMM Paul Morris Motorsport to prepare Commodore VZ for Douglas at QR FUJITSU V8s

Doing a done deal: Douglas, right, will campgain the Commodore VZ that Chris Pither used last year in the Fujitsu V8 Series, above.

learning how the car works, and how the team works. If I can do that, keep it clean, then there’s every chance I’ll finish the season with the team.”

Douglas is currently running 29th in the Fujitsu Series after three of the seven rounds.

John Morris/Mpix

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Dirk Klynsmith

TAZ Douglas is on the move for the next round of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, taking over the wheel of a Paul Morris Motorsport Commodore for Queensland Raceway.

The Victorian has been running an ageing AU Falcon under the guidance of Terry Whyoon and Image Racing this season, but has decided to do a one-off round with PMM. He will drive the ex-Chris Pither car at QR, and may carry on with the team for the rest of the season.

“What I do after Queensland Raceway really depends on how we go there,” said Douglas.

“It’s up to me to do a good job and impress the team. If I can do that, then yeah, I’d like to finish the season off with them.”

Regardless of whether it is a one-off or not, Douglas is looking forward to working

with a Level 1 team.

“At the end of the day, this is nothing to do with not wanting to run with Terry [Wyhoon] any more. He was doing a great job with the old car, but the opportunity to drive for a main game team is too good to refuse. That’s why we’ve made this decision, it is too good an opportunity to pass up.”

Douglas has driven a Commodore before, competing in the Wakefield Park round of the series in 2007 as a one-off for Syndey Star while he was still running fulltime in Formula Ford. But he is yet to drive a V8 Supercar at the Ipswich track, and will not get a chance to sample the PMM hardware until he rolls out of pit-lane for Practice in two Fridays time.

“Practice will be the first time out in the car, which isn’t exactly ideal,” Douglas added.

“But at the end of the day the weekend will be about

news

Slade can see a rainbow

Fujitsu V8 round winner secures Autopro sponsorship for remainder of the year FUJITSU V8s TIM Slade will carry backing from Autopro for the rest of the 2008 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series.

Slade, driving his self-entered ex-Perkins Commodore VZ, has secured the backing which will guarantee his entry for the season.

“It helps pay some of the bills, and take s a little bit of strain off the team,” Slade told eNews.

“The deal was done on Wednesday before the last round at Sandown. It was a last minute thing and we only ran the Autopro stickers on the

car’s doors.

“Now, we’ve had a bit of time to get the car looking right and I think it’s turned out pretty good.”

Slade, who won the second Fujitsu round at Wakefield Park, struggled in the last event at Sandown Raceway.

“Yeah, Sandown was terrible,” he said.

“We did not tested after Wakefield and we got off to a slow start. Our pace was pretty good in the last race, but just got caught up in incidents all weekend. Hopefully that’s my bad one out of the way for the weekend.

“I can’t see any reason why

we can’t be where we were at Clipsal and Wakefield for the rest of the year.”

Slade currently sits seventh

in the FV8 Series. The next round is at Queensland Raceway on July 18-20.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Departure leaves Wyhoon in doubt FUJITSU V8s

James Smith

WHETHER or not Image Racing will finish the 2008 Fujitsu Series season is in doubt following the departure of Taz Douglas from the team.

It is not yet known whether or not Douglas’ departure is temporary or not, but if it is, team owner Terry Wyhoon says there are no hard and fast plans for the rest of the season.

“We’ll wait and see what Taz wants to do,” he said.

“We’ve got some other people interested in the drive, so it depends on a few things what we do.”

But Wyhoon did confirm he will not be at Queensland Raceway, an unsurprising decision due to the closeness of the event.

Twelve months ago at the Ipswich track, Wyhoon had one of his cars impounded

by Police over a legal dispute between two of its previous owners.

“I’ve got bad memories of the place!” he joked.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

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John Morris/Mpix

Keeping it in the family Father Holdsworth secures CAMS licence and set to compete this weekend COMMODORE CUP HOLDSWORTH will compete in this weekend’s round of Commodore Cup at Eastern Creek, but it’s not V8 star Lee, and it’s not his brother Brett, either.

Series Director and father of racing pair, Glen Holdsworth will, for the first time, compete in a motor race.

And instead of his usual task of engineering the car for

Brett or Lee at the track, the brothers will turn the spanners for dad.

“It’s more of a test for my pit crew rather than myself,” said Holdsworth.

“Everytime I engineer the car it ends up the front, so it will be interesting to see what Brett and Lee can do!

“I’ve got a car sitting in the garage and all the gear and I haven’t got a driver and if I don’t do it now I never will, so

I thought I might as well give it a shot.”

Having never competed before, Holdsworth will run on P-plates after recently obtaining his CAMS licence.

“I’ve never been in a race car before in my life. I’ve never even driven a Commodore Cup car before, so the first run around was the test day at Oran Park yesterday [Sunday].

“I was reasonably on the pace and had Brett looking after me,

which was a bit of a worry in the first place!” he joked.

Holdsworth will run the car that Lee campaigned at Oran Park earlier in the year, pictured above, taking pole and three race wins.

“My first ambition is to break the lap record and I reckon I’ll do that in the first lap!

“No, I really have no real aims, I’m just having a one-off for a bit of fun.”

– PHILLIP MAHONEY

FOR FORMULA 1, MOTOGP AND WRC NEWS, OPINION AND ANALYSIS CLICK HERE TO 16

news

Independent Race Series postponed James Smith

SPORT SEDANS THE first proposed round of the Independent Race Series at Oran Park has been postponed.

Due to a clash with the Shannons Nationals round at Eastern Creek this weekend, series organiser Garry Willmington told eNews that CAMS asked him to delay the inaugural round.

“CAMS told us that we got a permit when we shouldn’t have and we’ve been asked to vacate the date,” he said.

“We didn’t believe that there was any impact at all but we’re pressing on regardless.“ Willmington said that they had over

80 entrants confirmed for the first round of the IRS, consisting mainly of competitors from the Australian Motor Racing Championships. The categories will be almost the same as those competing on the AMRC bill, just with slightly different names. Some of these include Formula Tasman (OzBoss), LM Sports (for prototype Sportscars), as well as Production Cars and The Independent Race Series will be making an announcement later this week on the debut of the series, which is set to be based on the east coast.

“We’re tieing up a few loose ends at the moment,” Willmington said.

“Once we get things in place, then we

Mygale wins in NZ FORMULA Ford constructor has taken its first victory in New Zealand.

The Mygale SJ08a was piloted by Richie Stanaway and recorded a dominant weekend at Manfield, winning two races and taking second in the other.

Booked out! Hossack has a busy weekend ahead SPORT SEDANS

James Smith

IF you see Darren Hossack sprinting through pit lane this weekend at Eastern Creek, don’t hold him up.

The versatile driver will be at busy boy at the fifth round of the Shannons Nationals, competing in both the Kerrick Sport Sedan Series and the Australian Superkart Championship.

Hossack certainly knows his way around both disciplines, but says there will be more challenges than simply swapping between his fireproof race suits and leathers.

“We’ve been fortunate that the program has ended up that there is a class between my two races, so there will be a bit of time to get ready,” he said.

“But I think changing between leathers to

fireproofs is the least of my problems.

“The braking capabilities of a Superkart is twice as good as a Sports Sedan, but the Sport Sedan has twice as much power! I’ll just need to adapt as quickly as possible to whatever I’m driving.”

Hossack curretly sits second in the Sport Sedan title (behind Luke Youlden who isn’t competing in this weekend’s round), and last raced a Superkart at the category’s one-off meeting at Eastern Creek in March, winning a race.

“We’re pretty confident that we’ve got a set-up in the Superkart that we’re quite comfortable with,” he said.

“We haven’t run the Sport Sedan there and that will be a challenge to get to right, but we were quick at Phillip Island so it shouldn’t take to long to get on top of it.”

– GRANT ROWLEY

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

17

news

Group test for Porsches Carrera Cuppers gather at QR for test session and charity

CARRERA CUP CARRERA Cup will conduct its firstever group test at Queensland Raceway next week.

All 20 Porsches will hit the track, using the day as a test session, as well as conducting hot laps for corporate guests, sponsors and CanTeen kids.

Carrera Cup CEO Theo Psaros said the day will be competitive and fun.

“It’s a significant event because it’s not often our sponsors and the media have access to this many Porsches in one day,” he said.

“It’s great to see our teams taking advantage of this opportunity, especially with the season reaching its climax. It again highlights our team’s competitveness and professionalism.

“Also, having the CanTeen Kids go for hot laps with the drivers will be a highlight. We’re proud to be able to offer this opportunity to those who have suffered in the past.”

The next round of the Australian Carrera Cup Championship will be at Queensland Raceway on July 18-20.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Juniper Racing bound for Spa 24 Hour CARRERA CUP JUNIPER Racing will contest the Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hour Endurance Race in Belgium.

Shaun Juniper, joint managing director of the Juniper Development Group and Carrera Cup driver, will be joined by current Australian champoionship leader Craig Baird and regular Porsche steerer Max Twigg and Craig Baird. It will be the first time that the Juniper Racing Team will compete in the prestigious Spa event.

The team will use its 2008 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, pictured right.

The race will be held from July 31 to August 3.

18

19

5 Minutes with ...

RAY PRICE

Ford’s decision to readjust its V8 Supercar funding was the talking point in the NT

Is the company’s spend the same level as it has been in previous years?

In terms of motorsport, no.

Overall sponsorship? Yes. What we are doing in diversifying our sponsorship.

We are going into some lifestyle markets we are not currently in.

We need to do that to stimulate some of the marketing of some of the other vehicles that we currently have. Once that happens, our whole business will be helped.

What is the duration of the new V8 Supercar program?

I am not exactly sure. It is for a number of years. All contracts run for multiple years and they are renewed on that basis.

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Do you foresee any other, similar changes coming up in the short-to-medium term?

Not at all.

This is the strategy. It is a difficult one, for some people.

The thing is, we are worth more to more people by staying here [in V8 Supercars] than if we aren’t. That is the hard part; we have said, “Yes, we are staying in motorsport.” That is not going to change but we want to realign some of our sponsorship arrangements and look at sponsorship in a different way.

The market of motorsport if not the only sponsorship out there and our customers require that we make this decision now and move on.

How was the decision made?

Did this come from Detroit, or did it come from Bill Osborne, or whom?

It was a decision made by the company. These things are never decided by one person.

In a small business, the boss makes the decision. In a big business, they don’t. The decision was made by the company and that is where it stands.

Did the Sandown thing [Ed: When Craig Lowndes was forced to stand down from driving the Falcon FG because of a contractual clash] have any affect?

Not at all. The Sandown thing was an oversight that we did not catch until it was too late.

By the time I found out what commercial arrangements were in place, we were on the back foot, a little bit, at that point.

Happily, that was resolved.

John Morris/Mpix

MOTORSPORT NEWS: Do you see Ford’s decision and a positive one for the future?

RAY PRICE: I think that it is the decision that the company had to make.

We are changing our direction going forward but we are not walking away from motorsport. We have done that before and we are not going to do that again. We are readjusting or realigning some of our strategy, with some of the teams. It is something that I think will be good for the brand, once it works its way forward, but there is lot of work to be done.

We have a technical strategy that means that we will continue to support all the Ford teams going forward. We have introduced a shell program, that will see us supplying a spec shell to all the currentlycontracted teams. So, all in all, it is business as usual.

PHIL BRANAGAN

From the outside, this has been a lengthy process. Why the delays?

The delay came because we have been trying to understand the market, and where the FG was, and how it was going to stimulate the market.

The process has been about determining how the sponsorships would work out and what we would move forward, how they were changing. The market has moved significantly over the last 18 months, nobody can doubt that. In this period of time, from the beginning of this year, we have seen even more change. Petrol prices looked like they were stabilising and then they went up again.

The way people handle their personal and leisure time is different to what it was even 18 months ago.

To this point, both Ford and Holden have been protective of their status as the only two makes in V8 Supercars. What is the company’s position now?

We are still protective. It is still a Ford versus Holden category.

As I have always said, and I think that the Board owes it to everybody here in the paddock that has a vested interested in

it, they [any new manufacturer needs to] do their homework on it.

Will a third manufacturer be good for the business?

Everybody wants to know the answer to that. We are not saying ‘yes’ and we are not saying ‘no’. We are saying, ‘go out and do the research on it’, as far as the competitors, the spectators, the sport.

What is the position of Ford regarding Formula Ford?

We want to continue to support Formula Ford, for a number of years going forward. It has been a category that we have been very proud of, proud of the development of many drivers.

Look at the paddock here, it is interesting that from Formula Ford, two very successful drivers who didn’t win the championship are Mark Webber and Marcos Ambrose. The guys that beat them are here in this category, and that shows what we have got. We are very passionate about if.

Ford supports the category technically and financially and Genuine Ford Parts are the sponsor. We are behind Formula Ford and will continue to be so.

chat

Dirk Klynsmith

21

Letters

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

Ambrose Fan I’m writing in response to Peter Ryan's letter ‘Mixed Results’ from last week’s issue (#061).

I have been following NASCAR for about eight years now and I totally object to what Peter has said about Marcos Ambrose making a fool out of himself and that he needs more practice before trying Cup on an oval.

Marcos was driving for the

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Wood Brothers, who have failed to qualify for a good majority of the races they have entered in the past two seasons with all their drivers, including former Cup champion Bill Elliot.

They are not a top team and quite frankly, it would have been a miracle if Marcos had made the field in the #21 especially on a very difficult flat short track like New Hampshire.

Maybe before you judge his performance you should learn a little more about NASCAR. Chris McRae Ryde, NSW Hello from the U.S.!

I just wanted to pass along a big ‘thank you’ to your publication.

It is well written, has incredible photos and has comprehensive coverage – who could ask for anything

more?

I also appreciate getting the Aussie perspective on how Marcos is doing in NASCAR. I know that he is missed over there in Australia.

We love him over here in America too. He brings a fresh perspective and a positive winning attitude that more drivers need to have.

Thanks again.

Indira Newell Battle Ground, Washington

opinion

Evolution in Darwin opinion Phil Branagan Executive Editor I WALKED out of the hotel in Darwin on Sunday and the sky had not fallen. It was still blue, too.

The way some people were talking at Hidden Valley, both those things may have been come as a shock. Ford is staying in V8 Supercars, but its support of two race-winning teams – in fact, almost all its teams – will take a different shape in the future.

The first report of the news, inevitably, read like a negative. DJR dumped; TeamVodafone kicked out. Dick Johnson got the headlines because he is a household name. Roland Dane isn’t; Craig Lowndes is, but him having a Ford deal for ’09, and his team

not, is hard to explain in a newspaper headline.

Context is important here.

The two car companies involved in V8 Supercars are American, not Australian, and June was a catastrophic month for the US auto market. It took gasoline hitting $4 a gallon to make Americans understand that economy cars are not F150s and Suburbans, but Camrys and Civics.

And Ford is particularly badly-placed for that realisation; for instance, the Focus sold in the ‘States is a full generation behind the model sold everywhere else, including here. Sales of FSeries pickups dropped by 26,000 in June; to put that in perspective, Aussies bought 33,000 Falcons in the whole of 2007.

So, the local news is not all bad. Most of the ‘other’ Ford teams (the ones that are not

FPR and SBR) were expecting it, and getting on with things already. Plans are being made to have their FGs ready for testing in February. Talk of anyone hopping over the fence is just that, talk, at least for now.

The other thing that needs to be said is, regardless of the news, this episode was far from a PR triumph for Ford.

Whatever merit there was in informing one member of the media of the decision before the team owners themselves were told – and that after lengthy deliberation – was poor form. The company’s Public Affairs Manager Sinead McAlary hastily headed to Darwin to put out the flames and was only partially successful. That said, there would have been some negative comments from the team owners, regardless of whether the PR department played a blinder or not.

Of course, now we are all waiting for the other shoe to drop. Holden’s Simon McNamara took on a somewhat Minogue-like air in Darwin, clicking cameras detailing many of his paddock conversations over the course of the weekend. He said little to the media, but Ford’s actions clear the way for Holden to trim its sails, should it so choose, without painting McNamara or Holden as villains.

Times change. Motor racing survived the end of the Group A era, which sounded time for Nissan and BMW, and the federal government’s inevitable curtain on tobacco advertising in sport. The sport now is bigger than it has ever been, and the business model has always adapted to the prevailing conditions. It will in the future, so don’t think that the sky will fall any time soon.

eLETTER OF THE WEEK Blue Blooded I am a blue blood Ford man through and through, but right now I am seriously pissed off with Ray Price and his men.

Now, I understand that the company is doing it tough, but how could they cut their most victorious team in Triple 8 from their stable?

Especially if, as I understand, they are not spending any less money in cutting back to two teams, just allocating it

differently.

It just doesn't make any sense.

And the argument of only supporting ‘blue’ teams is just stupid – what colour is one of the FPR cars? Oh yeah, red! (and green).

I don't think Ford could have got any worse publicity in the last week if they tried!

Did they really think that Roland and Dick would have nothing to say?

I hope more than anything else that they will get a wake up call from this week's press and change their mind, however I think that this could be the beginning of the end for my support, and many others, of Ford in V8 land – and no, I will NOT switch to Holden , I will just have to find something else to fill my life.

Dean Turner via email

Send your creative letters to mail@mnews.com.au, or Motorsport News PO Box 7072, Brighton, Vic 3186 23

V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES ROUND 6 – HIDDEN VALLEY, NT

Lights to Flag 24

Ford Performance R with a win for Steve PHIL BRANAGAN

Dirk Klynsmith

Racing was unstoppable at Hidden Valley and flew south from Darwin en Richards and an extended points lead for Mark Winterbottom. By

race

25

S

OME races are decided by coloured flags but a red flag almost changed the course of the sixth round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series in Darwin.

Until a red Holden flag fell onto the pit straight during Race 2, prompting a Safety Car period, Ford Performance Racing was heading for an all-star weekend, with a 1-2 in qualifying and the first two races seemingly within reach. But the yellow flag for the red flag allowed Garth Tander a glimmer of hope; a great restart and a sticky gearchange in Steven Richards’s car did the rest and in a trice, GT had won Race 2 from the Falcon pair.

That turned around a deficit between Race 1 winner Mark Winterbottom and

26

Tander, who led the FPR resistance, of 17 seconds. But once the factory Fords were uncorked in the final 42-lapper, they couldn’t be stopped. Richards got the best of the pit cycle, took over the lead and led the parade home.

“Naturally, I was disappointed with the Safety Car,” said Richards.

“It all just worked absolutely perfectly. I had to get my act together to qualify a bit better, and I did that.”

Frosty was equally happy to finish on the ‘wrong’ side of the blue 1-2; “When you get to stand next to your team-mate, it’s just that much better,” he said.

Tander was the best of Holden’s men on a weekend when, clearly, there were more fast Falcons than Commodores. He and Richo disagreed on the flag incident

(“It was very, very dangerous,” smiled GT. “I think it was Garth’s brothers’s flag,” countered Richards) but the truth was, to get near the flying Fords after Race 1 was a win in itself.

Russell Ingall was fourth, once again displaying consistency and some speed to be the second-best of the Holden drivers in the north, but there was friendly fire elsewhere in the Holden camp, particularly when Jason Richards, showing form in the Sprint Gas car, hammered into the back of Mark Skaife on the pit entry, ending any hopes of a good result for both of them.

The racing was a little processional but there was a huge crowd in the place, the biggest in seven years, and much to play for in the coming races.

race

Dirk Klynsmith

Hanging in there: Garth Tander finished third, first and third, cementing second place in the series. However, Tander was docked 12 championship points for his bump-and-run on Jamie Whincup.

V8 Supercar | ROUND 6, HIDDEN VALLEY, NT Pos#

Dirk Klynsmith Dirk Klynsmith

Starting to gas: Jason Richards and Sprint Gas Racing are starting to piece together a very fast Commodore.

Driver

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

Team/Car

Q R1

R2 R3

Ford Performance Racing Falcon 2 2 2 1 Ford Performance Racing Falcon 1 1 3 2 Toll Holden Racing Team Commodore 4 3 1 3 Team Vodafone Falcon 3 4 5 8 Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore 7 7 6 4 Jim Beam Racing Falcon 9 8 10 5 HSV Dealer Team Commodore 13 9 9 6 Team Vodafone Falcon 5 5 4 DNF SP Tools Racing Falcon 22 12 16 9 Jeld-Wen Motorsport Falcon 11 10 24 7 Sprint Gas Racing Commodore 6 6 7 DNF Autobarn Racing Team Commodore 20 17 11 14 Valvoline Cummins Commodore 27 16 12 15 Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore 12 20 14 13 Valvoline Cummins Commodore 8 13 18 16 Toll Holden Racing Team Commodore 10 25 8 18 Sprint Gas Racing Commodore 19 18 23 10 Jack Daniel’s Racing Commodore 16 11 29 11 Jim Beam Racing Falcon 12 15 20 17 Rod Nash Racing Commodore 14 19 15 23 Glenfords Racing Falcon 15 14 25 22 IRWIN Racing Falcon 13 21 22 20 Team WOW Commodore 18 DNF 17 12 Ausdrill Ford Rising Stars Falcon 24 26 21 19 Jack Daniel’s Racing Commodore 25 22 13 DNF Team BOC Commodore 21 23 27 21 Team Kiwi Racing Falcon 29 DNF 26 24 PWR Performance Commodore 28 24 28 DNF Fujitsu Racing Falcon 17 DNF 19 DNF

Points: Winterbottom 1402, Tander 1332, Whincup 1276, R. Kelly 1208, S. Richards 1123, Lowndes 1051, Courtney 949, Davison 938, Holdsworth 876, T. Kelly 834, Van Gisbergen 832, Ingall 797, Johnson 788, Coulthard 759, McConville 745, Skaife 744, Murphy 690, J. Richards 660, Jones 606, Dumbrell 566, Caruso 552, Morris 547, Bright 502, Marshall 462, D’Alberto 442, Price 424, Thompson 345, Scott 320, Patrizi 246, Pither 58.

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Timing is everything FORD Performance Racing has a chequered past. That is no secret.

When the team was set up five years ago, it was done as a Ford version of the dominant Holden Racing Team and, while there have been successes, there have been many failures. We still remember that there were many giggles about the lack of performance for the team, but those memories are getting faint.

This round may be a turning point for the championship

and in the history of FPR. For the first time, a 1-2 weekend, which is almost the last box to be ticked in the journey to success. There are two more; a Bathurst win and a championship.

TeamVodafone was on the wrong end of Ford’s decision (in the team’s eyes) and, if FPR’s timing could not have been better, T8’s was the opposite. On the very last lap of the weekend, Craig Lowndes

suddenly slowed and pulled off the track, a rare blown engine forcing him out. So rare, in fact, that the last such failure was one for Jamie Whincup at Oran Park two years ago.

“It was a slight vibration,” said Lowndes. “The straightline speed was fine (on that lap) but at Turn 1, it just went, ‘brrrrrr’ and stopped real fast.”

Whincup had to work hard in order to maintain his perfect top-10-in-all-races record and came back from clangs in the final two races to salvage fourth overall.

Jamie is a strong qualifier, and so are Mark Winterbottom and Garth Tander. But Steve Richards now appears to have unlocked the secret to going fast over a lap; it may be him, it may be the new tyres, but it is particularly telling now.

“The back side of Winton will see how things work out,” Richo said through his trademark grin, post-race.

He is right. We’re going to know a lot more about who is going to prevail this year in the next month.

– PHIL BRANAGAN

Dirk Klynsmith

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race

The heat is on (everyone) now COMMENT Phil Branagan Executive Editor real, and figure out what their futures hold. The shrinking funds on the Ford side may be a temporary glitch, or it may be a new era. Only time will tell.

What Holden does next will be telling. As if the pressure of performing for the usual reasons is not high enough, the roles of the two makes in the series will focus attention on drivers and the good and bad that they do. There are some worried team principals out there; any public errors

James Smith

THE heat was on in Darwin, in more ways than one.

Yes, the weather made sure that the perspiration factor was fairly high, and in itself, that made a welcome change for many travellers, who were accustomed to the July temperatures in Melbourne.

For that matter, even the SEQbased teams were enjoying the difference.

The drivers, less so. Apart from the challenge of dealing with exorbitant cabin temperatures, the heat now is really on in the driver market.

Now that Ford has broken cover, drivers can start their decision making processes for

by their resident superstars may amplify the strengths and weaknesses of the teams themselves. Loyalties will be stretched; relationships will be tested.

Motor racing is a survivalist sport. While the concept is

not a welcome one to many drivers, there will be casualties along the way, as there always are. There are not that many certainties, except for this one; there are going to be a lot of driver changes in the next few years …

John Morris/Mpix

Nachos, blue ovals and a balancing act I HAD the second best weekend I could have possibly had.

The only way my Saturday and Sunday could have been better was if I was in Darwin, soaking up the sun, enjoying the everything the Northern Territory has to offer.

But I can’t complain. I sat on the couch with my mates, watched the racing while eating nachos. All in all, it was a treat. Okay, the racing wasn’t terrific, but the perfect distribution of cheese and sour cream made up for any issues that unfolded on the flat screen.

Another treat was that Ford’s big money-to-teams news story broke before

FROM THE COUCH

Grant Rowley

Darwin, and it gave the Channel Seven’s team a chance to tear apart the story.

As you guys know, the team here at Motorsport eNews love a tasty news story, and this one is just about the biggest of the year – one that will potentially change the face of V8 Supercars as we know it.

Seven’s analysis of the story was detailed, if a little slanted, in my opinion.

Now, I’m not TV bashing here, not at all.

It was great to see Seven offer most of its non-race coverage to an important news topic, but it seemed that we only got to hear the tale of woe from Roland Dane (Triple 8) and Dick Johnson – the guys who have effectively been dumped from Ford’s racing portfolio.

What I also wanted to hear was chat from the likes of FPR, Stone Brothers and Ray Price – the players who will lead Ford’s restructured campaign.

Perhaps Seven were dealing with time constraints? I’m not too sure but, from the couch, I would have prefered a more evenhanded report.

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FORMULA FORD ROUND 4 – HIDDEN VALLEY

In the Nick of time Nick Percat got his Formula Ford Championship back on track in The Valley FDORMULA FORD UNTIL he headed to Hidden Valley, Nick Percat had never won a Formula Ford round, let alone scored a three-race sweep.

But that is what he did in Darwin, the Walkinshaw Performance Mygale taking all three wins after a battle with Paul Laskazeski in the Factory Enterprisesbacked Spectrum.

Despite Percat running off the track on lap 5 of Race 1, he kept cool in the heat to place himself in title contention.

“The team has worked hard to get the car set-up right, we’ve managed to win all three races and take the round win, so we couldn’t be happier with the result,” said Percat after the weekend.

“Queensland Raceway is only two weeks away and the aim is to close the gap on Laskazeski, after this weekend I definitely have my eye on the title.”

The weekend started promisingly for CAMS Rising Star Daniel Erickson, who

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chased the pair home for third in Race 1.

But he got into chase mode after a Race 2 setback and was pushing hard to get up to the leaders when he dropped back for 14th and 10th in the final two races.

That allowed Ben Morley to move to third overall for the weekend, while the consistent Scott Pye took fourth overall.

At the mid-point of the series,

Laskazeski’s lead is a commanding 59 points, but Percat has shown enough speed to indicate that the series is far from a cakewalk for the Spectrums just yet.

Points: Laskazeski 182, Morley 123, Percat 121, Graham 110, Lindbom and Pye 104, Erickson 71, Lowe 62.

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Dirk Klynsmith

John Morris/Mpix

The cow is coming home: Ben Morley, above, continues to run second in the Australian Formula Ford Championship, but is under attack from Nick Percat, main above, who won all three races at Hidden Valley. It was the first time that the Formula Fords had raced at the Northern Territory track, and it was also the first time for Kiwi Andrew Waite, left, in the competitive series.

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Dirk Klynsmith

f o r e h t o M e h T V8 UTES

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rewarding him with the ‘SS Inductions Drive of the Day.’ Crambrook leads the championship over Jane as the series heads to Queensland Raceway on July 20.

Also at Darwin was the local Improved Production/ Commodore Cup/HQ Holden class with Edward Austin taking

wins in Races 1 and 4, while Adam Uebergang and Radek Saitz shared the remaining race wins.

Points: Crambrook 360, Jane 313, Johnson 292, Andrew Fisher 270, Ryan Harris 267, Miedecke 259, Colin Corkery 244, Gary Baxter 225, Yanis Derums 225, Gary MacDonald 224.

James Smith

DARWIN driver Layton Crambrook has taken out Round 4 of the series at Hidden Valley raceway.

Crambrook used some local knowledge to ensure the round win by taking out Races 1 and 3.

It was a perfect result for the Ford pilot after recently signing a sponsorship with Mother Energy for the remaining races of the season.

“It’s been a great day,” said Crambrook.

“I’ve done plenty of laps around the circuit and had no doubt I could hold the lead through to the finish “It’s just icing on the cake to gain such a top result in front of all the other key supporters we have turning out here in Darwin.”

Grant Johnson and Glenn McNally looked set for a podium result until contact between the two Holden

drivers forced McNally to retire and dropped Johnson back to eighth position.

“I got off to a good start and ran with Grant and had a really good pace with him,” said McNally.

“He was chasing hard and going into turn one, he was going to have a go so I moved over to block and in the process locked up and took out Grant.

“It was disappointing but at least I know I have the pace to run with the fast guys.”

Kim Jane benefited from others misfortune to come home second for the round, while another Ford driver was George Miedecke.

Miedecke ensured his third position for the weekend by taking out the reverse grid second race.

An hounourable mention must go to Craig Dontas, who overtook 18 cars in one race after starting from the back of the grid with his efforts

s n i w l l a

Capatalise: Kim Jane had a consistent weekend but couldn’t have expected to end up second for the round.An incident between McNally and Johnson ensured the the podium result.

race James Smith

Bowe and Richards battle it out in Darwin BIANTE TOURING CARS

RACE SHOP

to brother Cameron, whose Valiant Pacer had expired with melted pistons from running the unleaded fuel.

After battling through the field, he went off into the sandtrap while trying to pass Phil Brock and finished ninth.

– JAMES SMITH

James Smith

JOHN Bowe took the honours in the Biante Touring Car Masters at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway with three wins from three starts, driving Tony Hunter’s Chev Camaro.

Jim Richards debuted his new Falcon Sprint and finished with a fourth and two seconds, although he appeared to clearly cross the line first in the final race only to have the timing record give the race to JB by four hundredths of a second.

After the race, Richards was delighted with the car.

“I qualified in third place but it’s a little slow off the start,” said Richards, “so I had to work hard to make up places

before the end of each race, but the car is lighter and therefore a little easier on the tyres.

“It made for an exciting finish as JB struggled with tyres and lack of brakes.”

Bowe was equally excited racing against his old rival.

“It’s great to be back racing against Jim,” said Bowe.

“I think we’ve been doing it for around 25 years and he’s just as good and just as competitive as ever.

“The category is full of great guys and the cars are really competitive. I’m having a ball.”

Gavin Bullas finished third in all three races in his Boss Mustang, while Brad Tilley struggled with the flu, finishing second and fourth before handing over

Top-end Sprint: Richo brought out the Sprint, above, for the first time and almost took the round away from Bowe.

Where the motorsport industry advertises CLICK on the centre of any advertisement for more information ADVERTISE for as little as $75 per issue – special monthly packages Contact Oriana Kennedy: oriana@mnews.com.au

03 9596 5555 or 0422 624 349 33

INDYCAR SERIES ROUND 10 – WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

American Boy

Ryan Hunter-Reay came away from Watkins Glen with Victory after many of the favourites had dramas in an eventful race

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race sutton-images.com

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R

YAN Hunter-Reay has recorded his first IndyCar series victory after 16 races by holding off Darren Manning at Watkins Glen last weekend.

The win is the first for Rahal Letterman Racing since August 2004.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Hunter-Reay, who became the seventh different winner this season.

“American kid winning with ethanol on the side of the car.

“Bobby Rahal gave me the job and now we’re in Victory Circle. I can’t tell you how happy I am. This is amazing!”

“We were pushing so hard, I was driving my rear end off there at the end.

“The car was great. I have to give it to the team.”

Hunter-Reay grabbed the lead from Manning after a lap 51 restart and hung

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on till the end of the race.

“I just got a good run on Darren, stuffed it down in there, and said I’ll deal with it when it happens,” Hunter-Reay said.

“Then I got to the top of the hill, Darren popped to the outside so I stuck to the inside and we held on to it from there.”

Hunter-Reay seemed to have things go his way all day and inherited positions after Scott Dixon and pole-sitter Ryan Briscoe came together under the Safety Car. Dixon was warming his tyres and spun, collecting Briscoe. Both were able to pit for repairs but finished well down.

“I feel bad. I was a complete idiot,” Dixon said.

“My guys lost very valuable points today.

I was just trying to burn the front tyres up a bit because of the new tyres and the restarts. I got a bit aggressive and went a little higher into the turn and I saw it and

the steering wheel snapped on me. I feel more down for Briscoe and his boys.”

“It’s unfortunate what happened out there today,” said Briscoe.

“I know how Scott feels. There’s nothing you can do in that situation – I just wish I didn’t get caught up in it.”

Dixon remains in the points lead and actually extended his advantage over Helio Castroneves who finished down in 16th after failing to record a time in qualifying.

Will Power had a tough weekend in the Aussie Vineyards car, finishing down in 15th.

“Unfortunately I ran out of electrical power,” said Power.

“Something kept draining the power and I had to keep coming into the pits to charge the battery, which was really unfortunate.

“We are going to have a good weekend one time this year, surely, one time”

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sutton-images.com sutton-images.com

sutton-images.com

Not yet: Briscoe, left, put it on pole, set the fastest lap early in the race and looked to be on for the win until Dixon spun into him under the Safety Car. Danica Patrick, above, continued her run of bad luck with a crash in pit lane that saw her finish down the order.

Fellow Aussie Will Power, below, had battery troubles that ruined his day at the Glen, while Ryan Hunter-Reay, right, made his way to victory circle for the first time in his 16-race IndyCar career.

INDYCAR | WATKINS GLEN 1 17 2 14 3 11 4 15 5 26 6 18 7 19 8 06 9 27 10 33 12 6 25 8

Ryan Hunter-Reay USA Darren Manning GB Tony Kanaan Br Buddy Rice USA Marco Andretti USA Bruno Junqueira Br Mario Moraes Br Graham Rahal USA Hideki Mutoh Jap EJ Viso Ven Ryan Briscoe Aus Will Power Aus

Rahal Letterman Racing AJ Foyt Enterprises Andretti Green Racing Dreyer & Reinbold Andretti Green Dale Coyne Racing Dale Coyne Racing Newman/Haas/Lanigan Andretti Green PDVSA HVM Racing Penske KV Racing Technology

60 laps +2.401s +4.105s +4.811s +5.313s +5.808s +8.625s +9.456s +10.18s +10.86s +11.60s +38.10s

IndyCar Media

INDYCAR | DRIVER’S points Dixon 370, Castroneves 322, Wheldon 311, Kanaan 304, Andretti 241, Mutoh 238, Patrick 236, Briscoe 231, Hunter-Reay 220, (12th Power 194).

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NASCAR SPRINT CUP ROUND 18 – DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Zero Tolerance

Kyle Busch and Toyota won at Daytona under caution, but the result could have been very different. MARTIN D CLARK reports

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NASCAR Media

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NASCAR Media

K

YLE Busch took his sixth win of the year and second in three races under lights at Daytona Beach on Saturday night.

The race appeared as if NASCAR forgot to tell the drivers they were at the 2.5 mile Daytona Speedway and not the half mile Bristol bull-ring.

“I don’t remember passing Jeff for the lead,” said Busch of his move with four laps to run.

“He got on the outside to block and I just stayed on the bottom and Edwards stayed

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glued to my rear bumper.

Luckily were able to get by before the caution (tenth) came out.”

After almost crashing out of the 400 miler on lap 83 with drafting contact coming from his team-mate Denny Hamlin, Busch did a great job of controlling his Joe Gibbs Toyota and rebounded from 37th at the time, after originally starting ninth.

A multi-car crash ended the already extended race under caution with Busch just a metre ahead and inside Carl Edwards who was making a

charge on the outside when the yellow lights flashed in turn one.

“I wanted to beat him real bad,” said Edwards, “but I guess it’s safety first when they threw the caution. I hate to lose that thing like that I wish we could have raced a little longer.”

The 10th caution was caused when Jimmie Johnson spun with three laps to run, collecting six other cars and putting the race into overtime, with Jeff Gordon heading Busch, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth.

As the cars gathered speed on the frontstretch, Gordon moved to block Edwards and was turned into the infield. The race stayed under the green flag, but half a lap later, five more cars scattered, exiting Turn 2 forcing a yellow flag finish.

Matt Kenseth came home third with Kurt Busch fourth in a back up Penske Dodge, having wrecked his primary in practice with David Ragan fifth.

Points: Busch 2686, Earnhardt Jr. 2504, Burton 2484, Edwards 2437, Johnson 2319.

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NASCAR Media

Cautioned finish: Sprint Cup finished under caution after a last lap accident mid-pack. Kyle Busch took the win, left, from Carl Edwards.

Meanwhile Denny Hamlin, right, led home the field in Nationwide followed by Busch and Earnhardt Jr, below.

NATIONWIDE

NASCAR Media

FOR the ninth time in 2008, the number 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota found itself in victory lane at Daytona this past Friday night.

“A monkey could win in that car, it’s not even testing their talents right now,” commented points leader Clint Bowyer.

There was no monkey behind the wheel, but Denny Hamlin was the lucky driver celebrating in victory lane.

“This car was amazing tonight,” said Hamlin, who had communication issues and pitted a lap after his Gibbs team-mate Kyle Busch, but rallied back from a 2s deficit in the final 10 laps.

“I’ve got to thank Kyle for sticking with me right there at the end.

The only way we weren’t going to win was if he went for it.”

Hamlin has now finished no worse than second in each of his last five series starts.

Kyle Busch, in a second Gibbs Camry, came home behind Hamlin for his third straight runner-up finish in the Nationwide Series at Daytona, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr, Bowyer and Carl Edwards who was annoyed with NASCAR’s scoring on the final restart, claiming he was in front of Bowyer.

There were only four cautions throughout the 103-lap race, with the last coming as the winner took the chequers when Mike Wallace got spun into the wall entering the front stretch.

Ambrose started 34th in front of a sparse crowd on Friday night and ran in the high teens all race, forging ahead a handful spots in the closing laps to end his night 15th and hold on to 13th in the standings.

– MARTIN D CLARK Point: Bowyer 2814, Keselowski 2621, Edwards 2596, Reutimann 2588, Bliss 2489. (Ambrose 13th 2048).

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INDYLIGHTS THE Firestone IndyLights twin 29-lap races at Watkins Glen have created many winners and losers as circuit drivers excelled.

Raphael Matos and Richard Antinucci shared the wins at the Glen to confirm their places at the top of the Championship standings with Antinucci leading Matos by 27 points.

“I’m not unhappy,” said Antinucci.

“This was an awkward day. It’s the only day of the year we do

two races in one day. You can’t let your emotions go, you can’t spray champagne because your suit will stink for the second race. I didn’t want to let it go. I was pretty happy with second.

That’s what we deserved in the first.

“No one caught points on us this weekend, which is excellent. We’ve won on both weekends a second and a first place, on both road course weekends this year.”

Matos was equally happy to come away from the duel with a handy swag of points.

IndyCar Media

Winning the Duel “I think it was definitely very important for us that we were able to recover in the championship,” Matos said.

“We just approach it race by race. First you have to finish the race before you try to win. And, obviously, you have to collect points every single race.

“I’m ready to fight from now until the end.” the dual race format didn’t suit all though, with Dillon Battistini struggling with mechanical dramas which caused him to relinquish the championship lead.

“It’s been the toughest weekend that I’ve been through in a long time,” Battistini said.

“We suffered from missing the test, and we were behind on track time. Unfortunately we weren’t able to challenge for the lead today.

“It’s been a weekend to forget.

Now we need to focus on next weekend.”

Australian James Davison had a tough weekend at Watkins Glen recording a lowly first race finish of 21st, while a fightback in the second race saw him finish in 11th.

The Italian Stallions battle it out QLD STATE THE second round of Queensland Raceway’s Drivers Championship series was held under dark and gloomy last weekend.

The largest field of the weekend was the Italian challenge in which a group Alfa Romeos went up against some Ferraris.

The races were split two each between the two marques with Andrew Wilson (Alfetta GTV) winning the weekend from Charlie Clements (Ferrari 308 GTB), both

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taking two race wins. Philip Simmie (Alfa Romeo GTV 2000) inherited third place for the weekend after a mechanical issue claimed Trevor Basset (Ferrari 365 GTC4).

The QR Hire Karts Gemini Series saw Melissa Thompson win the first race and the round over Race 2 and 3 winner Ben Tomlin, with Dan Cassar third for the round.

Jamie Furness won two races in the HQ Holden Gemini Classic with teammate Ian Mundell and Dion Cidoni

winning the others.

Jason James (Short F1 FDM) blitzed the Sidecar field, winning four from four ahead of Michael Hickman (Suzuki) and Doug Chivas.

The slim Group N was won Peter Baguley (Torana XU1) from Russell Wright (GTHO Falcon) and Craig Lind (Escort).

The Sports/Sedan car class was claimed

by Mark Papendall (VH Commodore) from Henri van Roden (Mazda MX-5) and Richard Price (VN Commodore).

– MARK JONES

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A Perfect Weekend EUROCUP CHAMPIONSHIP leader Daniel Ricciardo has continued his dominance of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 series by sweeping the latest round at the Hungaroring.

The Australian had the perfect weekend, taking pole position for both races and lead home his SG Formula team-mate Andrea Caldarelli both times.

“We’ve really worked hard at SG Formula,” said Ricciardo.

“We found the right set-up straight away and my car just got better and better as the weekend went on.

“Everything worked out well. It’s a good result coming before the summer break.”

Roberto Mehri finished third in Race 1 after withstanding some intense pressure late in the race from his team-mate, while Tobias Hegewald grabbed his first podium of the year finishing in third place in the second race of the weekend.

The second race saw plenty of carnage that brought out the Safety Car and bunched up the field. Ricciardo was too good on the restart, pulling away to win comfortably.

Ricciardo has now won four of the six races this season, which further extends his lead at the top of the championship table as the series heads towards its summer break.

The championship heads to the Nurburgring for Round 4 on August 30.

Van der Garde back on top WORLD SERIES

P1 Motorsport driver Giedo Van der Garde has returned to the top of the World Series by Renault by winning Race 1 at the Hungaroring last weekend.

The championship leader held off Julien Jousse and Fabio Carbone all the way to the finish to record the victory in the reverse grid race.

“We’ve worked hard to make the car consistent in races,” said Van der Garde.

“I made a very good start and then I made the most of [Alexandre] Marsoin’s penalty.

“It’s a good result. Tomorrow it will be equally wide open!”

And he was right.

Carbone took SuperPole, and led from start to finish in Race 2, but the action

was all behind him as Jousse and Van der Garde battled hard.

An incident on the first lap saw the Safety Car deployed before many of the main players pitted for tyres on lap 5.

Carbone pitted late on lap 12 and managed to come out just ahead of Jousse, who jumped Miguel Molina after a miscalculated late pitstop left the Spaniard in third.

“We have struggled since the start of the season,” said Carbone.

“This weekend has been perfect.

Everyone’s done a great job.

“I’m certain that we can continue this run and fight for the title. The season is far from over!”

Van der Garde leads the championship race by some margin over Jousse with Carboen now third following his result in Hungary.

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rear of grid

Odd Spot

NY Tourism

FOR this week’s last look at motorsport, we have to go all the way to the USA. Richard Petty celebrates his 50th year in motorsport this season and, as part of the season-long celebration of all things King-like, he unveiled a special paint scheme for the Petty Enterprises Dodges at Daytona on the weekend.

In keeping with the occasion, King Richard also brought along a recreation of the ’57 Oldsmobile that he used to race in NASCAR’s Convertible division (yep, they used to race ragtops, on ovals. Go figure).

The King ran the car for two seasons before things got more and more serious.

Of course, the summer Daytona race was where Petty scored his 200th Cup victory, and the final win of his amazing driving career in 1984.

And he did it in front of US President Ronald Reagan. On the Fourth of July. All you can say is, God Bless America.

NASCAR Media

The King’s new Clothes

AT the other end of the country, IndyCar has made its presence felt in New York’s famed Times Square.

Among the neon hardware that turns night into day on the corner of Broadway and Seventh Ave in Manhattan, there is the Izod billboard, which changes monthly to display the wares of the sportswear brand. This month, the man in the spotlight is none other than Ryan HunterReay, who took his maiden IndyCar win at Watkins Glen on the weekend.

Of course, we would have been a bit happier if the other Ryan, Briscoe, greeted the chequer. But, given that RHR is on the billboard in the country’s busiest pedestrian intersection, and his team owner David Letterman works just up Broadway, we should be gracious about these things.

Dammit.

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