Motorsport eNews Issue 87 - January 13-19, 2009

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Issue No. 087 13 – 19 January 2009

DUMBRELL:

I’m IN

‘PD’ Confirms his v8 supercar entry after emotional month

open house

Customers take over t8 to build new cars

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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MD / Publisher

Chris Lambden publisher@mnews.com.au

Contributing Writers F1: Will Buxton, Mark Glendenning, Paolo Filisetti Europe: Quentin Spurring, David Addison US: Martin D. Clark, Phil Morris Speedway: Greg Boscato, Geoff Rounds, Darren Sutton, Tony Millard (UK) Rally: Ryan Lahiff Drag Racing: Dave Ostaszewski (USA), Ken Ferguson, John Bosher National: Mark Wicks, Mark Jones, Aaron Shaw, Daniel Powell

Photographers Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Marshall Cass, John Morris/Mpix, AF1 Images, James Smith, Peter Bury, Neil Blackbourn, Chris Carter, Coopers Photography, Geoff Gracie, Ash Budd, Paris Charles, Neil Hammond, Joel Strickland, Mike Patrick (UK)

Australasian

The ‘A’ Team

Issue No. 087 | 13 – 19 Jan 2009

news 4 Sticking With It

PD to stay in V8s 7 Let’s work as a team ... Ford bands together 11 10’s the ONE Digital dynamo!

13 Great Dane(ica) It wasn’t her fault ...

15 Helping the Poms Brit FF team heading to Oz 16 Sainz of the times WRC champ taiming Dakar

chat 20 5 minutes with ... opinion 26 Branagan 27 Lambden

race 24 Dubai 24 Hour 28 Speedway 34 New Zealand

Paul Dumbrell Dakar-riffic!

Jacques Attacques Germans too good Americans too good too New Zealandes too good

trade 42 Classifieds Nathan Pretty: World Champion! Nafey took out the Jetsprint Chemz Group A in New Zealand on the weekend. Top work, mate!

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

Dumbrell commits to V8 Supe

Despite his brother’s life-changing crash, Paul Dumbrell has confirmed his entry in the 2009 V8 Supercar Cha V8 SUPERCARS PAUL Dumbrell has committed to competing in the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series with the HSV Dealer Team.

After contemplating an early retirement from the sport in the wake of his younger brother Lucas’ debilitating accident at Oran Park in December, Dumbrell has confirmed to eNews that he

will race for the HSV Dealer Team this year – and he’s keen to prove a point.

Dumbrell joined the thenreigning title-winning team at the start of 2008 but failed to make the impression that he desired.

In the wake of Lucas’ incident, in which the 19-year-old became a quadriplegic after a series of horrific roll-overs at the Sydney circuit, Dumbrell had initially considered retiring

from racing to concentrate on non-racing activities, including assisting in the rehabilitation of his younger brother.

But he has now, with his brother’s urging and support, decided to continue with his racing career and is as motivated as ever to reach the top of his chosen sport.

“For most of December, I was feeling the opposite to how I feel now, but it’s been good to have a couple of weeks away

and keep things low-key,” he said.

“I’ve been doing some training to clear my head and take everything in.

“I still think I’ve got something to give to the sport and something to achieve. I wanted to make sure that I made the decision for the right reasons.”

The 26-year-old said that his passion for the sport has not been altered in light of the

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ercar racing

ampionship Series difficult past month.

“I’ve got the same amount of passion,” he said.

“If the passion wasn’t there, it wouldn’t matter who told me I should race or whatever, I wouldn’t do it.

“If you don’t have the passion, you’re not going to give it the time or the dedication or commitment to be successful. And as the sport moves forward, that commitment is required more and more.”

Dumbrell is confident that team changes at the HSV Dealer Team,

including the mooted addition of David Reynolds to the outfit, will help move him up the grid.

“Obviously, there have been a lot of changes with the HSV Dealer Team which have been positive and I think that we’ll have all the ingredients there.

I didn’t do what I needed to do last year, but it was always a two-year plan and this year is the second year of that.”

– GRANT ROWLEY For more on this, and the latest on Lucas Dumbrell’s recovery, see ‘5 Minutes with Paul Dumbrell’ on page 20.

30

That’s V8’s new number V8 SUPERCARS A MAXIMUM of 30 V8 Supercars will contest the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series.

The #24 Walden-owned licence (which was not used in competition during 2008) is now in the hands of V8 Supercars Australia and will be sold in the very near future. As previously reported by eNews, the likely buyer of the licence is Walkinshaw Racing – negotiations were well underway before the end of last year. It is understood that David Reynolds will drive an HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore VE. Once this deal is finialised, only Larry Perkins’ two licences need to be ‘sorted’ for the new season. The early suggestion was that both of LP’s licences would be run out of the new Kelly Racing Team with Jack Perkins driving one car and the other car TBA. The only element that could change this is that Ford Performance Racing want to run a third car. Could Larry lease or sell a licence to the factory team? That is one of the possible outcomes.

Jonothan Webb and Andrew Thompson are both seemingly in competition to use that final licence to fulfil their plans – which boil down to either a fourth Kelly Racing-Perkins Commodore (Webb), or the third Ford Performance Racing Falcon (Thompson).

How this pans out will cement the final starting grid for the 2009 V8 series.

In other related news, Cole Hitchcock, V8 Supercars Australia’s Media Manager, has told eNews that a news report on the V8 Supercar website, which stated that 31 (not 30) cars would contest the 2009 season, was incorrect.

Bright: Bring on JV V8 SUPERCARS THE news that Jacques Villeneuve is potentially in the frame for a V8 Supercar drive with Paul Morris Motorsport may have sparked mixed debate amongst the paddock, but Jason Bright is hoping it comes true.

The Stone Brothers Racing driver, and former team owner, says that the inclusion of the 1997 World Formula 1 champion on the Clipsal 500 grid in March would be a huge benefit for the sport.

“I think it would be awesome,” Bright told eNews.

“He’s certainly done well in a lot of categories, so I think it would be great for the category to have him come out here. It just remains to be seen whether it actually happens or not.

“It would certainly be a tough first year for him. I think as far as categories go, V8 Supercars is still a little bit underrated as to how competitive it is. He’d be on a similar time frame to what Max Wilson was on at the start; really good flashes of speed, but having to learn all new tracks.”

And while any possible deal with Villeneuve may limit the chances of young drivers more decorated in local terms, such as Steve Owen or Dean Canto, Bright reckons that anything that stems the flow of ‘pay drivers’ is a positive.

“It would be good to see more guys coming from overseas. It would be a problem if it were guys coming from overseas and just buying their way in, but that’s not the case.”

The news was broken by The Herald Sun newspaper in Melbourne last Friday, with Paul Morris quoted as saying “this is real.

Absolutely. [Villeneuve] is pretty keen to do it.

“It would be the full season. Not just one race. If we can make a bit of a buzz about it then I think it can definitely happen.”

Morris is reportedly going to further discuss the potential deal with expatriate Aussie Barry Green, who is part of Villeneuve’s management team, in the United States later this month. ‘The Dude’ is headed Stateside to compete in the Daytona 24 Hour race with NASCAR driver and ’08 PMM endurance pilot Boris Said.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Option tyre approved V8 SUPERCARS V8 SUPERCAR teams have successfully tested and selected an option tyre to be used throughout this year’s season at selected rounds.

The option tyre looks set to make its debut at Winton in May, and according to Dunlop Operations Manager Kevin Fitzsimons, the new tyre is sure to spice up the racing.

“The criteria we were asked to meet was a tyre around one to one-and-a-half seconds, per 60 second lap, faster than what they have now, and they didn’t want the tyre to have a lifespan of much more than 80 percent of the shorter race,” said

Fitzsimons.

“The biggest thing is the closing speed between the cars on different tyres.

“The driving styles will also be different because the tyre should allow some different lines through corners and it should bring a fair bit of strategy into the races.

“The tyre is significantly quicker over the first eight laps and then over the next eight to 10 laps, it peters off to a level slightly quicker than the current control tyre.

“After about lap 25 at both circuits it was like flicking a switch and the tyre took a big dive performance wise.”

V8 Supercars has targeted

six events at which it wants to run the new tyre, those being Winton, Symmons Plains, Sandown, Queensland Raceway, Darwin and Perth.

That means that the tyres will only be available at the new sprint rounds, which have the altered format for this year of a shorter race on Saturday and a longer feature race on Sunday.

With the tyres only going into production next month to be ready around the time the series is in Hamilton, teams may not get a chance to test the new tyre prior to the Winton round.

Dunlop has inquired to V8SA about doing a test at Winton, which is being considered.

– PHILLIP MAHONEY

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Let’s stick together ...

V8 SUPERCARS

sutton-images.com Dirk Klynsmith

A TOUCH of European racing culture has entered the world of V8 Supercars.

With the build of the new Falcon FGs underway, Triple Eight Race Engineering has opened its doors to Dick Johnson Racing and Paul Cruickshank Racing’s mechanics to let them work on the final construction of the new Falcons, allowing them to get familiar with their new machinery.

It’s a process that was orchestrated by Triple Eight team owner Roland Dane, DJR manager Adrian Burgess and PCR’s Cruickshank – all of whom learned their craft in the cut-throat European racing environment.

“This is a completely normal process and I wanted to make sure that we were as close to doing what happens in the racing car industry as possible,” Dane told eNews.

“For people like Paul Cruickshank and Adrian Burgess who worked in Formula 3, this is an entirely normal practice.

“The mechanics who are going to run the cars come

in and help assemble their own cars. That’s what you do in Europe. If you’re going to buy a brand-new race car, it’s normal to go in and put it together.

“There’s no good buying a race car and not know how to put it together. You’d spend three weeks pulling it apart and three weeks putting it back together. It’s much better that they will be involved in the assembly of the cars.

“This was flagged months ago when we first did the deals with PCR and DJR that it would be part of the process.

They’ll be starting to do that very shortly in the build of their cars.”

Holden’s key chassis constructor Walkinshaw Racing has also used a similar process over the past few years, although never have multiple teams converged on their doorsteps during the one build process.

In the highly-secretive world of V8 Supercars, T8s FG construction harks to a new era in open-house race car building in Australia.

“We’ve got a very open policy in terms of what we do here

and at the track,” Dane said.

“We don’t make a big song and dance about keeping every last little thing secret. We haven’t done that in the past

John Morris/Mpix

Ford teams work together to get FG build done in time

and we haven’t done that now.

T8’s build process started this week and will be run over the next few weeks.

– GRANT ROWLEY

BRIEFLY...

n Australian motor racing icon Bob Jane will return as the Grand Marshall of the 2009 WPS Bathurst 12 Hour.

Jane, who grew up in the inner Melbourne suburb of Brunswick, was the Grand Marshall for the 2007 Event and had a passion for cars at a young age, starting his competitive career in 1956.

The 2009 WPS Bathurst 12 Hour to be held at Mount Panorama February 20-22.

LEANNE Tander’s V8 Supercar plans are up in the air and may be a victim of the hard times facing business.

The former Formula 3 driver looked set to move up to the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series this season but TanderSport’s sponsorship plans fell through when the economy turned around in late-2008.

“We had three sponsors looking positive,” team co-owner Garth Tander said last week.

“Two were just about set but, when things went bad, all three decided that they could not commit to any new spending.”

Leanne was set to step into the series full-time but now, the her plans to race a Commodore in the series appear to be over. The team still may race in the series, if a driver with a budget can be placed, but Leanne’s open-wheeler career is definitely over.

“Leanne may do some races in other series,” Garth confirmed, “we are working on a number of things connected to that. But no, no more F3.”

The Tanders plan to race “at least two entries” at the opening round of the F3 championship in Adelaide in March. One of the drivers will be Ben Crighton, who raced for the team in the National Class last season and who moves into one of TS’s 07 Dallaras for 2009.

– PHIL BRANAGAN eNews last week.

“Leanne may do some FUJITSU V8s “Two were just about set races in other series,” Garth but, when things went bad, confirmed, “we are working on LEANNE Tander’s V8 Supercar all three decided that they a number of things connected plans are up in the air and could not commit to any new to that. But no, no more F3.” may be a victim of the hard spending.”

The Tanders plan to race times facing business.

Leanne was set to step “at least two entries” at the The former Formula 3 driver into the series full-time but opening round of the F3 looked set to move up to the now, the her plans to race championship in Adelaide in Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series a Commodore in the series March. One of the drivers will this season but TanderSport’s appear to be over. The team be Ben Crighton, who raced sponsorship plans fell through still may race in the series, if a for the team in the National when the economy turned driver with a budget can be Class last season and who around in late-2008. placed, but Leanne’s openmoves into one of TS’s 07 “We had three sponsors wheeler career is definitely Dallaras for 2009. looking positive,” team coover.

– PHIL BRANAGAN owner Garth Tander told

Crunch Time

A move from TanderSport into the Fujitsu Championship looks unlikely due to the tough economic climate ...

Dirk Klynsmith

n New Zealand stand-out Richie Stanaway will race in the 2009 Australian Formula Ford Championship for Team BRM. The Kiwi races a Mygale across the ditch, and comes into the Adelaidebased squad since they too switched to the French cars.

“It will be a very exciting year racing at tracks such as Albert Park and Surfers Paradise, as well as learning all the Australian tracks that I have not yet raced on,” Stanaway told eNews.

John Morris/Mpix

n Newly-crowned Australian Formula Ford Championship-winning team Synergy Motorsport has unveiled its new–look driver line-up for 2009.

Chaz Mostert, Ryan Simpson and ex ARC competitor Nick Simmons will spearhead the Sydney team’s championship charge and will look to emulate the success of Paul Laskazeski from last year.

"Chaz and Ryan did the last couple of rounds with us, while Nick only signed up with us on the Sunday at Oran Park after Laska had wrapped up the title,” team boss Justin Cotter said.

“Chaz and Ryan have enough experience in these things to run at the front, and Nick has shown good speed in everything he's driven.”

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John Morris/ Mpix

Ricciardello: I’m not done V8 SUPERCARS

James Smith

FIVE-time Australian Sports Sedan champion Tony Ricciardello has revealed he has “unfinished business” in V8 Supercars, and still has options to be on the main series grid in 2009.

The West Aussie is currently speaking to an undisclosed team about doing a deal for 2009, and waiting to see whether the appropriate support can be gathered for the program. If it all comes together, he is keen to get back behind the wheel of a V8 and prove he has what it takes.

“I’ve got unfinished business in V8s,” he said.

“I want to go back and prove myself, because I know I can drive the cars and drive the cars fast, but I need to get into the right team to show what I can do.

“I also need a year of learning, because I need to understand how to drive the cars properly so that I can do a good job.”

While the 2009 grid is almost set, there are still some question marks, namely a potential third or fourth seat at the Kelly Racing Team, and a potential third entry at Ford Performance Racing.

Ricciardello is not a complete stranger to the V8 Supercar paddock, having run a Dick Johnson Racing-prepped Falcon in the development series back in 2003,

and competed for Britek Motorsport in selected rounds back in 2006.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Richards: I’m not Honda’s saviour FORMULA 1 THERE is no saviour yet for the Honda Formula 1 team – but it won’t be David Richards.

The Prodrive boss has ruled himself out of buying out the team on the grounds of the team not being financially attractive in its current guise.

Speaking at the Autosport International Show in Birmingham, Richards said that “all I can say is that I have made it very clear that the only terms (under which) I would ever consider a return or an involvement was if I felt we could be competitive – and nobody expects to win in their first year of Formula 1.”

“It has also got to be financially viable. You expect to (have to) invest but you also expect it to work. I just personally feel that the current environment is too unsettled.”

Richards was referring to the raft of cost-cutting measure introduced by the Formula One Teams Association which, he feels, do not go far enough.

“I would regard those as modest inroads if I am honest with you,” he said.

“When you make changes to thing, and you have to make a radical shift to get back to a sustainable level, you make that one-hit, one cut very quickly to get it done and then move forward from that point.

“You don’t do it by a series of 1000 cuts. If I was involved I would be pushed hard for a lot deeper cuts a lot quicker.”

With Richards ruling himself out of a bid for the team, speculation has moved to a bid by businessman Achilleas Kallakis. The London-based Greek has moved much of his business from shipping to property in recent years and the 40-year-old, who is also highprofile poker player, is said to be worth $500m.

Seb #3 for STR FORMULA 1 HAVE you heard the one about the three guys named Sebastien going into a bar?

“What will it be?” says the barman.

“Red Bulls all ’round!” says the Sebs in unison.

Pretty terrible joke, that. But it could happen after Sebastien Buemi was confirmed as a Scuderia Toro Rosso driver last week.

“We are delighted to welcome Sebastien, who was already part of the Red Bull family, to our team,” said STR’s Franz Tost.

“Our engineers have been impressed with his speed in the car and his ability to learn and progress during the testing he has carried out for us last year. That, along with some impressive performances in GP2 was enough to convince us to give him the drive.”

The announcement marks a fork in the road for the Red Bull Junior Driver program. To this point, the energy drink giant has spent millions developing drivers in the lower formulae, only to abandon them when they were at the point of stepping into Grand prix racing.

Red Bull Racing hired Mark Webber and David Coulthard from other teams, rather than promote from within its own ranks, and Sebastian Vettel looked to be heading towards the same fate. Red Bull only reclaimed the German ace after he

Sing-ing in the streets FORMULA 1 CHANGES are afoot for the Singapore Grand Prix circuit.

The Marina Bay track is to be widened in a bid to encourage more overtaking on the track, the venue for Formula 1’s only night race.

“Turns one, two and three – the chicane area – could be modified to open it up a little bit more,” event chairman Teo

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Hock Seng told ChannelNews Asia, “and perhaps Stamford corner could be extended so that there is a little bit more access for overtaking.”

Another two sections of the track, the, the St Andrews Road complex and Turn 22, which claimed a number of cars last year, may see their run-off areas extended to encourage drivers to make overtaking attempts without the threat of raceending damage to their cars.

was called on by BMW to be its ‘third’ driver in 2006, and to race in Indianapolis in 2007.

Speculation now turns to who will partner Buemi, 20, at STR this year. Rumours have connected a number of drivers to the seat, in particular former Honda racers Takuma Sato and Jenson Button but eNews believes that Sebastien Bourdais will retain his seat. The Frenchman had an up-and-down season last year but impressed with his results late in the season, particularly in qualifying fourth at Monza.

Bourdais has been mentioned in connection with a number of IndyCar seats but we believe that he will, in fact, stay in Formula 1. However, should that happen and with Vettel moving to Red Bull, we place no credence in the suggestion that Mark Webber will change his name to Sebastian Webber to avoid confusion.

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sutton-images.com

Formula ONE HD ON THE BOX

sutton-images.com

MOTORSPORT fans look like being the big winners when Network Ten’s new free-to-air sports channel begins in March.

Enhanced coverage of Formula 1 Grand Prix racing is likely when Ten starts its 24-hour-aday ONE HD channel in March. According to eNews sources, ONE will broadcast expanded coverage of qualifying and the races, including a preview, and the ‘unilateral’ media and analysis conference post-race, in a three-hour broadcast.

As well, we believe that there will be a replay of the events, possibly in edited format, shown at prime time during the week following the races.

There is also likely to be similar, expanded coverage of the MotoGP World Championship, which will also be replayed in user-friendly time slots.

Previous reports have suggested that ONE will launch in April but we believe that the last weekend in March, which is a blockbuster for sports fans, will see ONE’s debut. The first game of the Round 1 of the AFL season, Richmond v Carlton from the MCG, will be shown on ONE, on Thursday March 26.

The same weekend see the GP season start at the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix. Over the course of the weekend, Albert Park’s maiden ‘dusk’ GP will be broadcast on Ten but, when the network takes its other commitments (ie, the 5pm news), ONE will continue to show motor racing.

Another bonus for sports fans may be less interruptions for advertising than its regular channel. Leonard Asper, the President and CEO of Ten’s major shareholder, CanWest Global Communications, told The Australian last month that the new channel would secure sponsorship, which would reduce the number of ad breaks.

“We’re pushing for sponsorship to begin with to get a revenue base, and then we’ll be getting advertising after that,” he said.

US sources have informed eNews that the entire NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will be shown in Australia – and replayed – and that other sports to be shown on ONE will be Swimming and Netball, America’s NFL Football, Major League Baseball, NBA Basketball and Golf Majors, and India’s IPL Twenty20 Cricket.

ONE will broadcast on two channels, in high-definition on channel 1 and in standard definition on channel 12.

sutton-images.com

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AMBROSE IN FOR DAYTONA

Team mergers put JTG Daugherty Toyota in top 35 for 2009 NASCAR SPRINT CUP IT’S official; Marcos Ambrose is in the field for the Daytona 500.

As exclusively reported in eNews, the recent mergers among in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup teams have prompted the governing body to reassess the top 35 in the 2008 Owners’ Points, which determine the guaranteed starting spots for the first five races of the 2009 season.

As a result Ambrose, whose entry officially ended the 2008 season in 36th position, moves to 34th in the points, putting him into the field for the Florida

classic and the next four races.

The change comes after the effective demise of DEI’s #15 and #01 entries, prompted by the merger between the team and Chip Gasnassi Racing with Felix Sabates.

“Everybody will just shift up,” NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp told ESPN. “We will use the top 35 at the track.”

Along with Ambrose’s #47 JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota, TBA (formerly Gillett Evernham Motorsports) gains a spot in the 35 with its #10 entry (which was 37th).

But there may yet be more changes.

The future of Bill Davis Racing is still unclear, and that team’s #22 entry is currently 31st in points. Should the entry drop out, the winner would be Team Penske, whose #77 entry is the next in line. If BDR’s entry stays in the series, Penske is likely to swap Sam Hornish’s entry with #2, as Kurt Busch can make the 500 on a past champions’ provisional.

But that is also risky, as Tony Stewart’s new team does not have a top-35 position for his #14 entry. Should he take a past champions’ option, Busch would be required to make the 500 field through the qualifying procedures.

Toyota Motorsports

PETTY-GEM DONE DEAL

will drive the #19 Dodge, with Reed Sorenson in the famed THE merger between Gillett #43 entry, backed by five Evernham Motorsports and ‘rotating’ sponsors (including Petty Enterprises is official. the US Air Force). Kasey Kahne, The two organisations will be who won two races last season, combined into a to-be-named will race the #9 Budweiserteam that will field three fullbacked entry. time and one part-time entry What is less clear in what in the Sprint Cup. It is expected happens to AJ Allmendinger. to be based at GEM’s Statesville, It was expected that he, not NC headquarters, after PE Sadler, would race the #19 but recently released all but two of the current state of affairs is its 70 staff members. such that it appears the former Drivers and details are still to Toyota man will be the one be finalised but Elliott Sadler standing when the music stops,

NASCAR SPRINT CUP

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and run the part-time season.

The role of Richard Petty, who sold a controlling interest in his family’s team to Boston Ventures last year, is unclear, though he is likely to be a figurehead only. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the team will be named Richard Petty Motorsports, in order to maximise the value of the racing’s legend profile.

One name missing for media announcements was that of Kyle Petty, who is not expected to have any role with the team.

Hawaiian Ryan INDYCAR RYAN Briscoe is getting married.

The Team Penske IndyCar popped the question to his girlfriend Nicole Manske on Lizard Island, when both were in Australia for Christmas.

Briscoe, 27, plans to swap vows with Nicole, who is host of ESPN TV’s NASCAR Now program, in December in Hawaii, a location chosen as it is half-way between their family’s homes in Sydney and Roscoe, Illinois.

– MARY MENDEZ

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Danica: The team was Bad

Patrick calls for more speed from Andretti Green Racing INDYCAR DANICA Patrick has pulled no punches and blames her team for a recent lack of success.

The popular Andretti Green Racing IndyCar driver, who earned her maiden victory last April on the oval at Motegi, Japan, didn’t try to hide her frustration

with her team in an interview with the LA Times.

“The whole performance of the team was bad,” said Patrick, who scored only three top-five finishes in 18 races during the 2008 season.

“I don’t think it was just me. We definitely didn’t have the year. The team had 10 wins last year (2007), over half of

the races. That was not the case this year.

We just lacked a little bit of speed. We missed something on the road courses.

Our short ovals were OK. And then on the mile-and-a-halves (ovals), the Ganassi team was just the strongest.

“How can it really be my fault when we just didn’t have the goods?”

– MARY MENDEZ

Honda Racing

Door Opens amid Closures NASCAR SPRINT CUP

NASCAR Media

AT a time when, quite literally, hundreds of NASCAR team members and people working for related companies have lost their jobs, one man is bucking the trend and opening a new, unsponsored Sprint Cup team.

Tommy Baldwin Racing was launched last week and the Mooresville, NC team will run a single Toyota entry in the series. Baldwin, left, son of racer Tom Baldwin, has a decade’s experience as a crew chief, first with Junie Donlevey, then Ultra Motorsports, Evernham Motorsports, Robert Yates Racing and Bill Davis Racing.

“With tough economic times upon us, the timing for starting this team is right,” said Baldwin.

“Our overhead is low and we have a great group of talented mechanics and specialists to choose from. We can offer sponsors the chance to get into Sprint Cup racing at a fraction of the costs, without compromising on-track performance, due to our low overhead.”

No driver has been named for the team, though Baldwin has been linked with Dave Blaney. Likewise, no sponsor is in the frame, but Baldwin could turn that potential weakness into a strength. With even last place in a Cup race offering prizemoney of between $50,000 and $250,000, and 36 races in the Cup schedule, Baldwin may have just hit on a cheap and cheerful way of introducing a new – and potentially growing – sponsor to the sport.

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ARC hit for six AUSTRALIAN RALLYING

THE Australian Rally Championship schedule will only feature seven rallies in 2009, not eight as originally proposed.

And of those seven rallies, only six will be official rounds of the Australian Rally Championship, with the return of Australia to the World Rally Championship calendar making for a nonchampionship event in September.

The 2009 ARC schedule was originally slated to be eight rallies in length, but organisers have decided to stop pursuing the return of a Victorian round.

“The withdrawal of Subaru

and Suzuki from the WRC and Honda from F1, combined with domestic concerns about where the economic situation might leave our competitors, sponsors, organisers and volunteers, has caused ARCom to rethink the planned ARC program for 2009,” ARCom’s Colin Trinder said.

“ARCom has decided to limit the 2009 ARC program to six events.

ARCom will not progress plans for the ARC event in Victoria for the 2009 competition season.”

In other ARC news, Chris Chrystiuk has left his position as chairman of Rallycorp to “take on new challenges in another sporting organisation.”

2009 Australian Rally Championship

4 Rally QLD 9-10 May

1 Rally Tasmania 13-15 Feb

5 Coffs Coast Rally 27-28 June

2 Rally of Canberra 7-8 March

6 Rally SA 1-2 August

3 WA Forest Rally 4-5 April

NC Rally Australia 4-6 September

Tricky Ricci eyes 12 Hour BATHURST 12 HOUR TONY Ricciardello and Stuart Kostera will join forces at this year’s WPS Bathurst 12 Hour, with a campaign that will start the race as one of the favourites.

Joining the two West Aussies will be fellow sandgroper Glyn Crimp, who has spearheaded the campaign so far. And the trio will line up in a Ralliart-prepared Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, the

latest version of the technical package that won the event last year with Damien White, Rod Salmon and Graham Alexander.

To make the entry as Perthorientated as possible, WAowned clothing label West surfing products will be the major sponsor.

“When Glyn Crimp decided to put this together, we were thinking about just going and having some fun,” said

Chappo: Lone Ranger

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Ricciardello.

“But the further we get into it, the more professional it is becoming. Obviously the car is going to be professionally built and looked after, and now we have a major sponsor on the car, so we’re not going there to drive around, we’re going to there to go well. We’ll be looking to be the quiet achievers and stay out of trouble.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

FORMULA FORD JAKE Chapman will compete in the first round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Albert Park, but he can’t commit to the full season at this point.

The former CAMS Rising Star is leasing the Spectrum 011b chassis that he raced in last year. The chassis has been purchased by a close friend of Chapman and the 19-year-old will prepare and enter the car himself.

Chapman is keen to have a second crack at the national championship after finishing eighth in last year’s title, but needs to finalise his sponsorship

package first.

“We’re still looking for a bit of budget,” he said.

“That’s the cheapest option for us and we’re having the car lent to us for next to nothing.

“Last time we ran our own car, I won the Victorian Series, so we know how to do the job.

“We’re definitely doing the Grand Prix meeting, but that’s as far as we can go. Hopefully we’ll get some results and go from there.”

The first round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship will be held at the Albert Park (March 26-29).

– GRANT ROWLEY

news

Australian test for Brits Race winning British FFord team headed to Australia to test cars and driver FORMULA FORD BRITISH Formula Ford team owner Kevin Mills is currently bound for Australia ahead of a testing mission on our shores.

Mills’ team Kevin Mills Racing runs Australian-built Spectrum chassis in the Formula Ford UK series, and is set to run CAMS Rising Star Daniel Erickson in the British series this year.

Mills and Borland Racing

Developments, who build the Spectrums in Melbourne, will test a UK-specification car for four days at Wakefield Park, and a day each at Eastern Creek and Winton, starting tomorrow (Tuesday).

Erickson will do the driving, further aligning him with the British drive this season.

“We’re very close,” confirmed Erickson.

“It’s at the stage where we are just finalising the budget. I’m really pumped about it; I can’t wait to get over there and

get into it all.”

KMR has run Aussies in England before, with Glen Wood piloting a KMR Spectrum in the UK series in 2008. He was joined by Brit Adrian Campfield, who won a race at Brands Hatch, the second British national race win for a spectrum.

This year, it will be Alex Jones who will uphold the local pommy honour for KMR, moving from the Scholarship class to the ‘main game’ in British Formula Ford.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Joel Strickland sutton-images.com

Marshall Cass Ash Budd

Sera’s Florida Flurry KARTING DAVID Sera notched up another international karting win last weekend, taking out the opening round of the Florida Winter Tour in the United States of America.

The Victorian pedalled an Aussie-built Arrow chassis to victory against a competitive field, which included five drivers from the World Rotax Challenge field against whom Sera raced in Italy late last year.

“It was a great event, I’m delighted to have done myself, Arrow Karts and every Australian karter proud by showing that we can take on the best and win,” said Sera.

“The track was different to what we race on in Australia, it was a temporary circuit – which took a little bit to get used to – but it was very fast and enjoyable to race on.”

Sera will miss the second round of the Winter Tour because it clashes with Puckapunyal’s Victorian Championships.

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news

SAINZ COMES MARCHING IN DAKAR VOLKSWAGEN is dominating the 2009 Dakar, which has taken its toll on a number of teams.

The second week of the brutal event started as the first week ended, with VW Touaregs running 1-2-3 ahead of a chasing pack. Carlos Sainz, who rolled his car in the opening week, has won four stages to lead from Giniel De Villiers and Mark Miller. Nani Roma’s Mitsubishi is fourth ahead of the big surprise, Robby Gordon plundering the sand and mud aboard his 2WD Hummer H2, which has become a crowd favourite.

What has been notable is the fall from grace of the Mitsubishi. After losing two cars early in the event, Stephane Peterhansel fell foul of an engine gremlin, which led to a fire. The nine-time winner’s car had already been rebuilt following a crash, which forced him to drive more than 100km with almost no engine cooling. But ultimately, he had to retire, and dropped out just before the rest day in Valparaiso because digging the car out of thick mud made his co-driver so ill, he had to be airlifted to hospital.

Another casualty was BMW star Nasser Al-Attiyah. The Qatari led the event and looked VW’s only serious challenger, but when he missed a number of concealed timing waypoints on the sixth stage (in order to preserve an overheating engine) he was disqualified.

After problems early in the event, things have certainly picked up for Aussies Bruce Garland and Harry Suzuki. Their Isuzu D Max is up to 16th outright and looks strong in the harrowing conditions, which even Dakar regulars are describing as tough. A number of stages have been shortened to allow teams to cope with the strict time controls.

On two wheels, Marc Coma leads on his KTM but Frenchman David Fretigne is challenging the authority of the Austrian machines in second on his Yamaha, though the gap between the leading pair is 66 minutes.

As ever, the event has been touched by tragedy. French Yamaha rider Pascal Terry radioed organisers that he had run out of petrol, then reported that he had sourced fuel and was continuing.

But when he was found to be missing some time later, a search was launched, then cancelled, then restarted when it was found that the ‘Terry’ who had logged into control was his brother on another entry.

Pascal Terry’s body was found three days after his initial report, 100m off the course.

The 49-year-old, who was found to have suffered heart failure, is the 51st fatality in the event’s three-decade history.

Volkswagen

Kawasaki confirms MotoGP exit: now what?

MOTOGP

Kawasaki Racing Team

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KAWASAKI has confirmed it is out of MotoGP racing – but the factory’s bikes may still appear in the hands of a private team.

Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta confirmed last week that talks aimed at placing the bikes with a private team were ongoing.

The Madrid-based promoter would not confirm with which team or teams it was in talks, but clearly, leading 125cc and 250cc team Aspar is involved.

“We had a meeting in Osaka on Thursday where Kawasaki explained their problems and the difficulties they had with continuing as a factory team,” Ezpeleta said on the official MotoGP website.

“Under these circumstances we agreed to co-operate collectively, in order to find a possible solution to their problems which may allow them to continue as a privateer team.”

Kawasaki team manager Michael Bartholemy is said to be a pivotal player in the discussions.

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Pro Stocks add more flare DRAG RACING THE ENZED International Nightfire New Year Series on January 16-17 at Willowbank Raceway not only served up the USA vs Aus Nitro Funny Car Showdown, Top Fuelers and Top Bikes, but also five machines from the professional ANDRA Pro Stock category.

In their last outing at Willowbank Raceway, the Pro Stock bracket had the crowd in awe with the entire field supplying amazing performances which saw it as the quickest

Pro Stock field in the country, headed by record-trading brothers Aaron and Tyronne Tremayne.

While not a Championship round for the category, the five keen Pro Stock racers will be running exhibition runs throughout the two-day event – with the field including the Tremaynes who are the reigning Australian champion (Aaron) and runner-up (Tyronne) from Bundaberg, Ayr’s John Barbagallo, Jason Hedges of Windsor in Sydney and Petrie’s Dave Newcombe.

Back in the Winner’s Circle DRAG RACING Drag Racing stalwart Gary Phillips is back in the winner’s circle posting his first win of the ANDRA Championship season in the Top Alcohol Lucas Oil Products Funny Car. After switching from a Top Alcohol dragster, it has taken some time for Phillips to find the right tune-up but the performances have continued to improve. At the recent Enzed Nightfire event, Phillips not only won the event, but took a clean sweep of the round posting the fastest time and subsequently personal best of 5.59 sec for the 400m journey and top speed of 254mph, (408km/h) elevating him to second on the national points table.

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“This is fantastic,” said an elated Phillips, happy to clinch his first win for the season. “We had our major sponsors at the event and it all went like clockwork to bring home the win.

“You never get sick of winning that’s for sure, and this win with the bonus points for taking top speed and fastest time will put us back in the race well and truly.

But not far from his thoughts despite the win was long time opponent and close friend Steve Reed who faced Phillips in the final, only to have a savage explosion turn his car into a 250mph fireball, completely blowing the body of the chassis.

“It all happened behind me thankfully for us, but no one

likes to see a fellow racer go out like that, and that’s a cruel blow for the whole Reed family,” said a sympathetic Phillips, having watched the race already posted on internet video website ‘YouTube’ with almost 9000 views since Sunday.

Phillips’s next outing in the Top Alcohol Funny Car however will be at the famed Perth Motorplex at the end of January, where there is the very real opportunity to take his stand at the top of the points tally with only four rounds remaining in the national title, before returning to Western Sydney for double driving duties again for both Top Alcohol and Top Doorslammer at the same event.

news

Heading into a new

’ e r e h p s ‘Stratu Super Stock Champion secures factory Dodge with the intent of competing in the Pro Stock Championship DRAG RACING

R

eigning Australian Super Stock Drag Racing Champion Nino Cavallo has moved into a new ‘Stratusphere’ after securing an ex-NHRA Pro Stock Mopar factory Dodge Stratus chassis.

The state-of-the-art car, built by the renowned Jerry Haas Race Cars in the USA, was previously campaigned on the NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series tour by the championship-winning Don Schumacher Racing team and driven by multi-national event winner Richie Stevens Jr. Cavallo will initially run the Stratus in the semiprofessional Group Two bracket before an anticipated move to the professional Pro Stock class in the near future.

The Stratus complete with its factory Mopar branding and ‘camo’ livery, arrived in the country last week.

Cavallo’s new car will replace his former Mopar USA factory car, the popular Dodge Avenger of former NHRA Pro Stock Champion Darrell Alderman.

Cavallo used that car to secure the 2007/08 ANDRA Super Stock championship with a record-setting performance at the seasonending Castrol Edge Winternationals at Willowbank

Raceway in Queensland last June.

In his quest for back-to-back titles, with another national

record setting performance Cavallo won Super Stock at Willowbank’s Spring Top Fuel Championships event

in October – Round 2 of the 2008/09 ANDRA Rocket All Stars – and he again leads the series points.

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5 Minutes with ...

PAUL DUMBRELL

It’s been a difficult month for Paul Dumbrell and his family after the horrific incident involving his younger brother Lucas GRANT ROWLEY MOTORSPORT NEWS: After a bit of deliberation, you’ve decided to saddle up for another year ...

PAUL DUMBRELL: That’s where we’re heading at the moment – giving it one last shake.

Obviously, there has been a lot of changes with the HSV Dealer Team which have been positive and I think that we’ll have all the ingredients there.

I didn’t do what I needed to do last year, but it was always a two-year plan and this year is the second year of that.

Does this give you even more inspiration to get back out there and do the best job you possibly can?

Yeah. Regardless of Lucas’s injuries, that should be what happens anyway. These incidents makes you analyse what’s important in life.

This sport is safe, but there are some massive things that need to be changed which have been talked about for a few years that haven’t happened yet. V8 Supercars has done a fantastic job with insurance for its drivers but that needs to be looked at from a CAMS point of view for the rest of its drivers. There are also some other things that have come up on the agenda now that I really want to focus on to help motorsport overall – not only me, but for the rest of the sport as well.

As we speak now, do you still have passion for the sport?

I’ve got the same amount of passion. If the passion wasn’t there, it wouldn’t matter who told me I should race or whatever, I wouldn’t do it. If you don’t have the passion, you’re not going to give it the time or the dedication or commitment to be successful. And as the sport moves forward, that commitment is required more and more.

If you’re doing this for the fun of it, then you probably just go and race the endurance races, concentrate on those and do a reasonable job.

To race all of the 14 rounds, you need to be committed to getting the most out of

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IF THE passion wasn’t there, i wouldn’t do it.

Paul dumbrell yourself and the team.

What’s your gut feeling about continuing in the sport?

For most of December, I was feeling the opposite to how I feel now but it’s been good to have a couple of weeks away and keep things low-key. I’ve been doing some training to clear my head and take everything in.

I still think I’ve got something to give to the sport and something to achieve.

Now, I want to make sure that I made the decision for the right reasons. I didn’t want to just commit to it and continue on for three meetings and realise I didn’t want to do it. Likewise, if I pulled the pin and then it gets to Clipsal and I start jumping up and down, I would have been kicking myself. You only get one chance at making this decision and I wanted to make sure I made the right one.

Personally, how have you dealt with the past month?

You can never be prepared for something like this. I’ve never jumped in a race car and thought that I could die or injure myself. It’s never actually crossed my mind.

When you see it happen, like at Bathurst with Paul Radisch and Mark Porter and then at Adelaide with Ashley Cooper, you know that there’s risk there, but when it

happens right in your own backyard with a family member, it completely blows your mind. Not only is it difficult for Lucas, but for everyone around him.

One thing we can’t do is change what has happened, as much as we wish and hope and pray, it’s not going to do anything, but you can influence the future.

Unfortunately, you have to move on.

Over the last four weeks, Lucas and I have become very close and I’m very thankful for that. It’s not the best circumstances, but our relationship is better for it and its been incredible. He’s led the way for the rest of the family as well.

What’s the future for Lucas and your family from here?

He’ll be in an extensive rehab program.

He’s been in and out of the Austin Hospital for the last while and has been in the spinal unit. Hopefully he’ll move into the Royal Talbot which is a rehabilitation centre in the next couple of weeks and then he’ll be there for a number of months. After that, he’ll come home.

He’s only 19, he’s as fit as what he was which is a great benefit, so he’s got everything on his side. He’s got family support behind him, so there’s no reason why he won’t be fine, all things considered.

chat

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Deserts Stormed WHAT are you doing at 6pm tonight?

If you are like me, there is a straightforward answer to that question. I am watching SBS-TV’s coverage of Dakar. No cooking, no talking. Don’t ring me. I won’t answer.

Dakar is a crazy event. So far as I can tell, it is contested by minority groups, like goofy Frenchmen on motorcycles as tall as two Dean Cantos, a herd of Spaniards all named either ‘Carlos’, ‘Coma’ or both, and some loony Russian truckers who, somehow, all get bored of the Moscow-to-Vladivostock delivery run – at the same time, every January – and decide to get some sun. That’s not the loony part. But they drive their trucks through deserts, for fun.

Now, that’s loony.

Previously, it was through African deserts. Now, it is through South America and not just deserts; it’s swamps, mountain, up the Andes, down the Andes. Usually, all in one day.

I was worried that the move from Africa to the Americas would finish the event. Quite the opposite; with predictable enthusiasm, the locals have not just embraced the event, they have done so in vast numbers. At the start, at estimated half-a-million spectators turned up. In little more than a week, the local

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opinion Phil Branagan Executive Editor Argentine and Chilean crowds have made the Dakar their own.

And what an event; even by the standards of previous Dakars, this one has been fearsome. Stages shortened by weather have proven brutal and the event has served up the unmissable combination of heroism, struggle and, unfortunately, tragedy.

What memorable sights – Carlos Sainz’s Volkswagen on its roof; the all-nighter to rebuild Stephane Peterhansel’s Mitsubishi; an inconsolable Nasser Al-Attiyah after he was DQ’d (while leading); the

choking dust inside the cars and trucks; the tragic death of Pascal Terry.

The Dakar was already one of the landmark rally events. Now, in South America, it is showing that it could, in the very near future, assume the mantle of rare races than transcend the limits of motorsport. The ‘one-word’ events do that – Indianapolis, Le Mans (okay, two words), Bathurst. Dakar is now in that company.

opinion

opinion Chris Lambden mNews Publisher THE left-field news story in last week’s News Ltd papers, by Paul Gover, revealing Paul Morris’s plan to try and tempt Jacques Villeneuve into a V8 Supercar, has certainly raised some eyebrows.

Would it work? How big an impact would it make on V8 racing’s profile? Would he be competitive? Why do this at the expense of a ‘young Aussie’ getting the seat? All interesting stuff …

There’s no doubt the name itself and the ex-Formula 1 champ tag would create a surge of initial interest and there would be a great deal of media focus … and expectation.

The latter is, of course, the problem. There are many, I fear, who would anticipate that

an ex-F1 star, a world champion no less, would simply strap himself into a PMM Commodore and, after a bit of testing, be right up there with Jamie, Craig, Garth, and the boys.

The fact is, that won’t happen. Time out, and other factors mean I wouldn’t actually expect him to match his more V8-savvy and V8-experienced team-mate Russell Ingall.

Sacrilege, I know, but think about it.

Giving up, or being forced to give up, driving something as mind-blowing and elitist as an F1 car (ask Cam McConville!) must be the toughest thing in the world.

There can be nothing to replace it and, faced with that yawning gap, there are those who move into entirely different spheres, and there are those who have to drive … something.

Our own Mark Webber will be one of the former – don’t expect him to line up at Mount Panorama when the F1 journey

is over. He’ll do the Tour de France or something!

Mika Hakkinen and, more recently Ralf Schumacher, couldn’t resist the lure of the German DTM series. Inevitably, they – and others departing F1 – are past their very best. They are back to being simply competent racing drivers at best. Ralf hasn’t, let’s face it, set the DTM alight.

Jacques was a real racer in his prime – the late Champ Car and early (Williams) F1 era in particular. Someone had to take it to a rising Michael Schumacher and Ferrari and Jacques was the man. But that was a decade ago. Time, and motivation, catches up with us all.

That said, Villeneuve could be an interesting personality addition to our series. If it happens (and you wouldn’t doubt the flamboyant Morris’s ability to pull it off), take it for what it is and enjoy it.

Just don’t expect too much.

The Jacques Factor

sutton-images.com

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TOYO TYRES 24 HOURS OF DUBAI DUBAI AUTODROME

Close as they come The Dubai 24 Hours was a close run thing, eventually won by the German outfit Land Motorsports

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race

25

A

FTER 24 hours of racing at the Dubai Autodrome, just under 50 seconds separated first and second-place in the fourth running of the Toyo Tires 24 Hours of Dubai.

After a thrilling final hour of the race that saw no less than three changes of the lead, the Porsche 997 GT3 Cup of German team Land Motorsport came out on top, only just defending its lead from the charging Al Faisal Racing Team’s BMW Z4 M Coupé.

Land’s drivers Carsten Tilke, Gabriël Abergel, Andrzej Dzikevic and Niclas Kentenich took the win in the closest-ever Dubai 24 Hours event.

Kentenich steered the Porsche across the line for the win but said after the race that the win was never a sure thing.

“It was quite close as I really had to be conservative with my fuel in the final laps

26

and I also was having brake problems,” he said.

“Claudia (Hürtgen) was pushing very hard, but fortunately, I was able to bring victory home. Winning this race is a very special feeling, it hasn’t really sunk in yet, but that will come.”

Second was the BMW shared by Abdualziz Al Faisal, Paul Spooner, Claudia Hürtgen and Stian Sorlie. Hürtgen was disappointed to place second after a long race.

“This could have been my maiden overall win in a 24 hour race and I really wanted that, but it wasn’t to be,” he said.

“I was aware of the problems the Land Motorsport Porsche was having, so I pushed as hard as I could, but the race was just a few minutes too short.”

Third place was taken by another Porsche, the Besaplast Racing Team entry

of Martin Tschornia, Franjo Kovac, former DTM-champion Kurt Thiim and the fatherand-son pairing of Roland and Sebastian Asch.

The pole-sitting car of the AutorlandoPorsche entry lost about 45 minutes in the pits when the rear section of the car needed repair after another driver had run in to it.

While it was good luck for the winning Land Motorsport’s car, its sister car was not enjoying the same level of success.

The #41 car (driven by Hermann Tilke, Marc Basseng, Christian Land, Dirk Adorf ) was left sidelined its car caught fire. The incident caused the third of six Safety Car periods.

Australia was represented by specialist international racers Mal Rose Racing – steered by Rose, Peter Leemhuis and Tony Alford. The trio, racing their ex-Garry

race

Night and day: The winning Land Motorsport’s Porsche, left, finished 49.6s ahead of the fast BMW, above. Below, the podium celebrations.

Rogers Motorsport Commodore VX, qualified 21st (fourth in the SP2 class) and finished 33rd outright (fifth in class).

The Commodore team completed 494 laps, compared to the 573 laps of the winning drivers.

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Countdown!

The countdown is on and as the Summer of Speedway draws to a close in 2008/09 all the players are making their move towards the front ...

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race

John Morris/ Mpix

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Madsen on top at Parramatta NSW AUSSIE World of Outlaws star Kerry Madsen took out a superb Sprintcar A Main victory at Parramatta City Raceway last Saturday night.

American based Aussie Madsen defeated Jackson with local hero Marty Perovich third.

Racing his Outlaws TK Concrete Maxim Madsen, took charge of the 30-lap A Main

after battling closely with both Mitch Dumesny and Jackson.

“It was awesome, it was fun racing with Mitch, it was good fun but we got away with the win and I’m very happy about that,” said Madsen.

“My car was OK, it wasn’t perfect tonight but my guys did a great job, it never missed a beat.”

Dumesny lost his second

place but looked to be heading into a secure third unitl with just one lap to go Mitchell spun out and was hit by an unlucky Kelly Linigen.

Dumesny was suprisingly able to restart and ended up in 11th position.

Dumesny was fastest in qualifying with Grant Tunks and a fast Linigen following in time trails.

The heats saw wins to Jeremy Cross, Wayne Skipper,

Martin Lawes and Loudoun while Tunks was the C Main winner and Linigen taking out the B Main.

Grant Anderson was too strong in winning the opening dash but had to start the A from position 15 after not returning to the scales after his dash victory.

– GREG BOSCATO Points: Dumesny 2296, Tunks 2209, Linigen 2149, Lawes 2147, Thompson 2102.

John Morris/ Mpix

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race

VICTORIA WARRNAMBOOL’S Darren Mollenoyux took out Round 6 of the SRA series at Horsham’s Blue Ribbon Raceway last Saturday night.

Driving a new Maxim car that was built during the week, Mollenoyux drove to victory and moved to within 50 points of series leader Matthew Reed.

“Full credit to the crew,'” said Mollenoyux.

His only blemish of the night was the fact he set the third fastest time in the top six time-trial, which resulted in him starting the 30-lap final from the second row.

Pole position was earned by Mount

Gambier’s Steven Lines, while next to him was Simpson youngster Tim Rankin.

When lap traffic was heavy, the Warrnambool driver was classy, handling the conditions well to edge further away from the pack.

At one stage, he was close to lapping Reed.

Mollenoyux, who believed he was lucky to hit the lead so early, proved that time flies when you’re having fun.

“I didn’t make any mistakes throughout the race and was actually surprised how quick the feature went,” he said.

“The chequered flag took me by surprise but I was very happy to see it.”

Geoff Rounds

Reed in the pressure cooker

Glen Sutherland took advantage of Lines and Rankin getting caught up in a turn and ended up finishing second, while Mike Van Bremen was third.

Harley Bishop produced one of the best drives of the night by winning the B-Main and then charged from 13th on the grid to finish fourth in the A-Main feature.

The next round of the Eureka Sheds and Garages SRA series will be held at Western Speedway, Hamilton on Saturday, February 21.

– GEOFF ROUNDS Points: Reed 1827, Mollenoyux 1777, Van Bremen 1652, Bishop 1460, Rankin 1446.

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Schatz wins ... And then leaves WORLD SERIES

AMERICAN Donny Schatz claimed the $20,000 prize by taking victory in Round 13 of the Wanless World Series Sprintcars in Queensland.

Schatz dominated the field, lapping every car over the 50lap race.

“It was a great race for me,” said Schatz.

“You can do things like that (lap the entire field) if your

32

car’s good.

“Those other guys, I don’t think they had their cars as good as they wanted to, and we were just in the right place at the right time to capitalise on it.”

This event rounded out a successful stint for the Schatz in Queensland, after he claimed victory at the opening race on Wednesday night.

Although no match for Schatz, fellow Americans Brent

Keading and Danny Smith came home second and fourth with Aussie Brooke Tatnell in third.

Round 14 saw the circus head to Toowomba for the penultimate round of the series, minus Schatz, who had to head home to America.

Max Dumensy proved he has lost none of his fine form racing from position five to claim the win ahead of polesitter Trevor Green and

the locally registered cars driven by Andrew Scheuerle, James McFadden, Robbie Farr and Peter Thorley.

The series will now head back to Sydney for the Grand Finale to be held over two nights at the Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway.

– PARIS CHARLES Points: Tatnell 2111, Farr 2020, Dumesny 1988, Green 1829, Peter Lack 1636.

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VICTORIA LEIGH Adams wrote his name into the record books by winning his 10th Australian Solo Speedway Championship Gillman Speedway on Saturday night.

Adams produced a flawless display in the final round by winning all of his heats as well as the A-Final, to make it 18 wins from 18 starts in Australia this summer.

Adams came out of the blocks firing, winning his first heat by more than five seconds and setting a new Gillman race record of 54.90s in the process.

Not even Holder, who finished third on the night and second overall in the

championship, could spoil Adams’ perfect summer spell in Australia.

Troy Batchelor, who triumphantly won the B-Final to qualify for the main race, managed to take second spot on the night but was also no match for Adams.

While Rory Schlein’s second placing in the B-Final was enough to give him third place overall in the championship.

“I’m stoked,” said Adams after his win.

“It was a pretty tough night. All the boys were on the gas and the bike was working good. It was fast, but it wasn’t making starts so I was making hard work of it.

“I’m happy to come away with the win, obviously to be undefeated is pretty cool.”

Paris Charles

Re-writing the History books

Adams admitted that despite being unbeaten, the series proves that Australian Speedway is of the highest standard and has a bright future ahead.

“I wanted to clean-sweep it, and I knew it was going to be tough with the competition that was there.

“I had some real battles with a lot of guys right throughout the series.

“It’s great and it’s good for Australian Speedway that they’re catching up – even though I went through undefeated they are right there, I promise you!”

– PARIS CHARLES Points: Adams 60, Holder 52, Schlein 48, Batchelor 45, Dave Watt 43.

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Scott extends lead BNT V8s

KAYNE Scott has extended his lead in the BNT V8s Championship in New Zealand after taking out Round 4 at the Timaru International Motor Raceway.

Scott dominated the weekend, taking pole position and winning two of the three races and now has a 31-point

lead over John McIntyre at the halfway point in the series.

In the final reverse grid race, Luke Youlden finished first in a one-off drive in the Powerbuilt Ford.

Craig Baird was second for the round with a string of consistent results over the course of the weekend.

‘Bairdo’ finished the weekend with three fourth positions in

what was a busy weekend for the New Zealander, having also competed in the Carrera Cup races.

McIntyre was third for the weekend and slightly disappointed after two third positions in the first two races.

However he struggled through the field in the reverse grid field and could only manage eighth position.

Angus Fogg looked on for a good result with two second places but he too had an awful run in the final race and could only manage 15th.

Round five of the championship will take place at Teretonga Park outside Invercargill this weekend.

Points: Scott 719, McIntyre 688, Andy Booth 531, Baird 521, Fogg 462.

Pye on fire in New Zealand TOYOTA RACING SERIES AUSTRALIAN Scott Pye has continued his run in the Toyota Racing Series by taking overall victory at Timaru last weekend.

Pye claimed victory in two of the three races, while British driver William Buller won the other race.

The CAMS Rising Star also took out the 20-lap feature race for the Timaru Herald Trophy after an intense duel with Buller.

Buller eventually pushed too hard and slid off the track and rejoined in last

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position.

Current series leader Mitch Cunningham maintained his points lead after a consistent run.

He now has a 23-point lead over Pye, with Sam MacNeill 60 behind.

“To win this series you have to go out focussed on building up points, and that’s how I approached this weekend,” said Cunningham.

Although Cunningham leads the series, Pye now leads the International series, which is set to conclude at the A1GP

meeting at Taupo, from Cunnigham and Buller.

race

The Master and the Apprentice GT3 CUP CHALLENGE THE Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge championship has stepped into top gear with David Reynolds dominating the latest round at Timaru.

Reynolds was untouchable all weekend and claimed an impressive clean sweep of Round 3 taking all three race wins and pole position to close the gap to Craig Baird from 91 to 60 points.

“It’s unbelievable really but, you know, sometimes it just happens like this. The car’s been fantastic and I’ve just felt in tune with it all weekend,” said Reynolds.

“It’s pretty special, pole as well – we’ve been hard to fault all weekend to be fair.

“Dan (Gaunt) and Craig (Baird) have been pretty fast. But Craig has had his weekends and I have mine.

Now we go to Invercargill and it could go either way.”

‘Bairdo’ didn’t make it easy for his team-mate, matching him throughout the three races, but he didn’t quite have the pace to make a move on Reynolds.

Despite a disappointing final race, Daniel Gaunt still took the last remaining spot on the podium after a third and two fourth positions.

The battle for the title will continue next weekend at Tetetonga Park Raceway.

Points: Baird 628, Reynolds 568, Gaunt 469, Jono Lester 442, Ant Pedersen 397.

Trading places: David Reynolds took a clean sweep in Timaru ahead of last years champion Craig Baird. Although Reynolds still trails Baird in the title it could signal a changing of the guard. Daniel Gaunt had a consistent run to third position.

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rear of grid

Odd Spot

The Holdsworth Sprinters FORGET winning his first V8 Supercar round at Oran Park in 2007. Forget the fact that Lee Holdsworth is a wanted man in the V8 paddock. Last week was his “career highlight.”

Holdsworth won the second-annual Holdsworth Sprint Challenge, held last Thursday Paul Morris’s Holden Performance Driving Centre in Norwell Queensland.

Holdsworth defeated brother Brett and father Glen in the three-timed sprints format.

Lee’s victory means that he remains

the only Holdsworth to have won The Holdsworth Sprint, having wrapped up the inaugural event in 2008.

In the final results, Lee beat Brett by 0.7s with only two seconds separating Brett from Glen.

But that doesn’t really tell the full story.

Lee broke the first car that was used on the “Sugar Bowl” layout. After the secondtimed run, Lee was placed second behind Brett until a spirited fightback netted Lee a come-from-behind win.

Winner Holdsworth was stoked with his overall win.

“I tried my hardest and came out on top,” “Brett had me worried for a bit so I went all-out. It’s a big win for me. Something I’ll treasure for a long time. Oran Park is only a distant memory after this. I’ll live off this for a while.

Loser Holdsworth was sceptical about the tactics employed by his racing sons.

“The finishing positions were seriously affected by me having to go out first on cold tyres and then having to cope with flat spotted tyres caused by Brett and Lee,” Glen said.

Holds One, Two and Three: Glen, Brett and Lee battled out the second Holdsworth Sprint at the “Sugar Bowl” at Norwell.

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