Motorsport eNews Issue 96 - March 17-23, 2009 by V8 Sleuth

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Issue No. 096 17 – 23 March 2009

BATHURST

Still an Option AS Skaife MAkes TV DEbut this weekend

n io in p o d an s w ie v e r p , s w e N 0 All the pre-50

Editorial Editor: Grant Rowley grant@mnews.com.au Deputy Editor: Andrew van Leeuwen andrew@mnews.com.au Executive Editor: Phil Branagan editor@mnews.com.au

Australasian

The ‘A’ Team

Production Graphic Design & Web: Jayne Uthmeyer design@mnews.com.au

Advertising National Sales Manager: Oriana Kennedy oriana@mnews.com.au P 03 9596 5555 F 03 9596 5030

Administration 357 Nepean Highway, Brighton East, VIC, 3187 (PO Box 7072, Brighton, VIC, 3186) P 03 9596 5555 F 03 9596 5030 admin@mnews.com.au

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) Drag Racing: Dave Ostaszewski (USA), Ken Ferguson, John Bosher, Luke Nieuwhof National: Lachlan Mansell, Mark Jones, Aaron Shaw.

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, Paris Charles, Neil Hammond, Joel Strickland, Ash Budd, Mike Patrick (UK) Motorsport eNews is published by Australasian Motorsport News ABN 55 125 120 702 Publisher: C Lambden

Issue No. 095 | 17–23 March 2009

news 5 We’ll be back after this Skaife opens enduro door 7 Black Beauty 8 Beam Boom 10 V8 Moffat 15 The 5000 16 Arrrrgggghhh 15!

chat 20 5 minutes with ... opinion 22 Jewell

Last minute issues for 021 James I tops QR V8 test James II set for FV8 seat Huge big bangers for AGP Audi talks up/down Sebring Jonathon Webb

23 Rowley

No splinters here ... Racing. Phew!!!

32 Island of Rain 36 Q for Qatar 40 Farr and George

Place your [modest] bets Wet Historics still impress Spies smacks them. Again The Tatnell Memorial

race 24 Clipsal 500 is go! trade 42 Classifieds

Remember doin’ the Time Warp? Wow; a Sauber-Mercedes and a Porsche 962 lead a Veskanda-Chev, at PI, in the 21st century.

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.

Mark Higgins

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

Dirk Klynsmith

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

news

Skaife: Enduros still an option for ‘09 V8 SUPERCARS

MARK Skaife is admitting to nerves before he steps into his new role as a television commentator in Adelaide this weekend – but the door is open for him to step back into a V8 Supercar for the endurance races. Skaife, who will call the races on Seven Sport with long-time friend and former team-mate Neil Crompton, confirmed to eNews that, while he is committed to the series in his new role, he does have the option to race in the endurance races at Phillip Island and Bathurst. According to our sources, his ‘locked in’ TV deal covers 12 of the 14 rounds of the V8 Supercar Championship Series. “There’s no need to rush [a decision],” Skaifey said. “In the next three to four weeks, I will think about those things. I want to go to a couple of race meetings and see how things go, and how I feel about it.” Having said that, Skaife reported that the nerves were working well before his first meetin, in his new media role – this weekend’s Clipsal 500. “It is a step. If you were not nervous about it, it would

mean that you are not serious about doing the best job you can.” As one would expect from a man who spent two decades meticulously preparing for every race he entered, Skaife has been hard at work in his new role, assembling as much information as he has been able to gather to be up to speed for the two 250km races on the street circuit this weekend: “More than anything, I have done an in-depth analysis of the teams,” he says. “I have visited all the Melbourne-based teams, to get my brain around their business cases, and to see what they are all about. I will visit the Queensland-based teams after the Australian Grand Prix, and I will be interested to see the different approaches, and how they map out. Up until now, they have been a bunch of guys in pitlane, in opposition teams, and it will be interesting to see how it looks.” Apart from Crompton and Skaife, Seven will have Matt White hosting, as well as the Marks, Larkham and Beretta, in pit lane, and Aaron Noonan on supports.

I want to go to a couple of race meetings and see how I feel about it mark skaife on when he will decide his bathurst future Skaife on the Box! Holden’s retired hero will make his professional TV debut this weekend. But Bathurst is still a question Mark, (pun intended ...)

Go the Grand Prix ‘In Style!’ competition CHRIS BUCKMAN of Narrabri, New South Wales, has won

Sarah Biggins

our latest Subscriber Competition, and will spend next weekend watching Formula 1 cars, V8s and The Who at Albert Park. As our winner, Chris and wife Neisha will enjoy flights, accomodation and grandstand seats at this year’s Grand Prix, courtesy of the Grand Prix Corporation. And according to Chris, it’s a timely win ... “The boss has been bugging me to take some time off,” he told us when we called with the news, “and what a great way to take a holiday!” Another happy eNews reader!

SS GPWEEK – THE WORLD’S FIRST INTERNATIONAL ‘VIRTUAL’ MOTORSPORT MAGAZINE ...

BRIEFLY... You will be able to vote for your favourite V8 Supercar make, and support the Heart Foundation, this weekend in Adelaide. Simply SMS your name and the word ‘Holden’ or ‘Ford’ to 199HEART (199 43278) and you will receive a personalised video message from one of the Clipsal Impress Grid Girls. A tally of who is voting for what will be broadcast ontrack over the weekend, and proceeds support the Heart Foundation of SA. n

n Ahead of this weekend’s opening round of the 2009 V8 Supercar season, threetime series champion Craig Lowndes has launched his new website. Fans of the popular TeamVodafone driver can follow his progress at the allnew www.craiglowndes.com. au. Lowndes has also unveiled a major new feature for members of Lowndes Force, his official fan club, which will increase contact with his fans.

Former SBR techo whiz tuning DJR’s Falcons at QR V8 SUPERCARS EXPERIENCED V8 Supercar engineer Ken Douglas is back in the business in Australia. Douglas, who moved to the USA in late 2007 to join Wood Bros Racing and then JTG Racing, was at Queensland Raceway last week, assisting a number of teams with development. Most notably, he worked with Jim Beam Racing, but his role is that of a consultant, not a team member. “We would like to think that it is an ongoing relationship,” said JB team manager Adrian Burgess. “He has been helping us out

with the new ECU, and his experience on that side of it has been invaluable. He is not replacing anyone, he is in a freelance position.” One of the changes brought in this year limits the number of people permitted to work on a car to seven. It means that anyone is Douglas’ position would be unlikely to join a team at a racetrack. Douglas, right with Jim Stone, who was technical director at Stone Brothers Racing when Marcos Ambrose and Russell Ingall won three straight titles in 2003-04-05, was JTG’s technical director before the team was joined by Brad Daugherty and a link was

forged with Michael Waltrip’s Toyota team. At Wood Bros, Douglas worked with Paul Forgie, who will be with SBR in Adelaide this weekend for his first race with the team since his return in January. – PHIL BRANAGAN

Dirk Klynsmith

n St John Ambulance Australia (Vic) has been named as the official charity for the 2009 Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix.

Douglas: Back in Australia, lending a hand ...

news

Team Kiwi’s new man V8 SUPERCARS

TEAM Kiwi Racing’s entry will be on the grid at the Clipsal 500 with Dean Fiore behind the wheel of the Paul Morris Motorsport Commodore VE. The all-black team, which is set to celebrate its 10th year in the V8 Supercar Championship Series this year, has again been involved in a tumultuous off-season, with licence and team owner David John being declared bankrupt by the New Zealand courts over an outstanding debt to the ANZ bank.

Despite this setback, TKR ran a Paul Morris Motorsport Commodore during the Queensland leg of the official V8 Supercars test. Carrera Cup driver Fiore, Kiwi Jonny Reid, and car owner Morris ran the car in the weather-affected test, with Morris completing most of the time in the car. Fiore and Reid were restricted to only a handful of laps each. PMM has, basically, taken on the running of the #021 TKR car and will complete the preparation and running of the car in Adelaide. With only two days before

the race cars are to be rolled into pitlane, the driver of the car was up in the air, but a late decision – revealed to eNews by a PMM spokesman – will see Fiore make his V8 Supercar debut at the famous Clipsal 500. TKR’s website has revealed the livery of the 2009 TKR Commodore, sporting support from regular backers BNT, Castrol, Dunlop and 3M. As eNews closed for press, John said that the financial problems that have disabled him over the past three seasons would be sorted in the coming days with the sale

of assets. In regards to John’s financial position, any situation that may affect John as an individual does not impact currently on the team’s commitments and responsibilities under the Racing Entitlements’ Contract according to a V8 Supercars Australia spokesman. “The company that owns the REC is not insolvent,” said V8SA spokesman Cole Hitchcock. “We expect the team to be in Adelaide and business as usual.” – GRANT ROWLEY

Howard wants PI and 1000 V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

HOWARD Racing will apply for a wild card entry for the Phillip Island and Bathurst 1000 endurance races. The stalwart Fujitsu Series team, which won the 2006 Series with Adam Macrow, will pull out all stops to secure a grid slot in the two Main Series V8 Supercar events. New rules will allow as many as six extra entries to beef up the 30-car grid for the enduros. Submissions aren’t restricted to Fujitsu Series teams, with Main Series teams allowed to apply for extra entries, if they see fit. Howard Racing’s team manager Warren Davis, who only has one entry for this year’s feeder series, sees the perfect opportunity for his team to make its Main Series debut. “It’s a good opportunity for some of the drivers who miss out of the Main Game,” Davis said. “There are drivers in the Development series who are capable of being in those high-profile races, but the opportunities are limited. “We’ve done a few things in the past enduros. We did the 12 Hour, plus some endurance racing in Queensland and New Zealand. Our team is absolutely right into having a shot at those two races. I think we’re capable of stepping up to the plate for them both.” Upgrading a Fujitsu Series chassis to a Main Series will be costly, but according to Davis, manageable. “Fuel, wiring, in-car camera, pit stop lights and a few other things need to be changed within our cars,” he says. “They are only wiring upgrades to bring them fully up to speed for the Main Series.” – GRANT ROWLEY

Courtney tops QR

V8 SUPERCARS THE ‘Queensland’ V8 Supercar teams completed their preseason testing at Queensland Raceway last week and it was James Courtney who danced away with the biggest grin. Jim Beam’s new best buddy topped the times at the session, with former Stone Brothers Racing team-mate Russell Ingall not far behind. “Pressure is what you make of it and no-one could put any more pressure on me than I do myself,” Courtney said. “There are two ways to look at pressure – you either hide from it or use it to your advantage. It was a productive day today that went to plan. To finish on top on your first day for a new team is always a good result.”

Craig Lowndes had the best of the times at TeamVodafone, the red Fords looking to be focusing on fuel testing, while

Beaming Smile: James Courtney was fastest in the QR test, left. Fabian Coulthard showed speed in the immaculate Wilson Falcon, above, while Leanne Tander, right, had her first drive of the car she will co-drive at Phillip Island and Bathurst. Alex Davison and Tim Slade settled in to SBR and SCAR respectively and looked fairly comfortable.

V8 Supercar Testing – Queensland Raceway 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

James Courtney Russell Ingall Craig Lowndes Fabian Coulthard Jamie Whincup Steven Johnson Alex Davison Tim Slade Shane Van Gisbergen David Russell Jason Bright Michael Patrizi Colin Corkery Grant Denyer Marcus Marshall Daniel Gaunt Brett Hobson Jonny Reid

Jim Beam Falcon FG Supercheap Auto Commodore VE TeamVodafone Falcon FG Wilson Security Falcon FG TeamVodafone Falcon FG Jim Beam Falcon FG Irwin Tools Falcon FG Supercheap Auto Commodore VE SP Tools Falcon FG Howard Racing Falcon BF Fujitsu Falcon BF Wilson Security Falcon BF PMM Commodore VZ DJR Racing Falcon BF Team Intaracing Falcon BF McElrea Racing Falcon BF Hobson Motorsport Falcon BA PMM/TKR Commodore VE

1:11.1119 1:11.2424 1:11.2812 1:11.4823 1:11.6609 1:11.6678 1:11.8996 1:12.0585 1:12.0792 1:12.1339 1:12.2240 1:12.3710 1:12.5196 1:13.3428 1:13.7030 1:13.7239 1:14.1657 1:14.3206

news

R Test Jones: Halt the Changes you will find that we have twice as many tyres as we had last year. Now you have more practice tyres. It is a no-no to dismount and re-mount KIM Jones has criticised the costs associated tyres. So now, you need to have more rims, and with the rule changes made for the 2009 V8 they are over $1100 each. Supercar Championship Series. “We have new ECUs, which have required us to The BJR co-owner claims that the rules have change the wiring looms in the cars. The other cost his team, and others, money without ones were antiquated.” providing benefits they were designed to bring. Jones is also critical of the change to “The problem is that there appears to be a qualifying and gridding, which will see cars line number of rule changes made on the pretence of saving us money when, in reality, they haven’t,” up in the order in which they qualified, rather than the previous and long-standing system he told Motorsport eNews. of gridding the cars for Race 2 and, where “One of those is the shock absorbers rule. At applicable, Race 3 in the order in which they the end of the day, where does it save me finished the preceding race. money? I can show you where it has cost us “If you were cynical, you could argue that this money, because we have had to go out and buy has been put in place to maintain the edge of pistons and bits and pieces to comply to that the people who qualify at the front of the field,” rule. Suppliers need to have enough parts and Jones states. bit and pieces to be able to service the people “I think that the qualifying format that has who have changed things.” been chosen potentially does not produce the Jones has also criticised the change to E85 best results.” fuel, on which both V8 Supercar series will Jones has made the suggestion that stability is race exclusively this season, and the new tyre the best policy to manage the current economic allocation guidelines. realities. “I know we need to spice up the racing and “My solution is, lock down the rules; no rule we need to change the engines in the cars. The changes for two years. We have all spent the fuel is a little bit cheaper, but it is going to take a long time to recoup the costs. I have had a guy money. Why do we need to have new rules two minutes prior to the start of the season? It’s a working flat-out for a week to make the fuel rigs knock-on effect. We know what the rules are. work for the Clipsal. “It seems to me to be rule changes for the sake “This year, we will probably only ever use the of changing rules.” tyres once. If you go through the tyre allocation,

V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith Dirk Klynsmith

Corkery’s FV8 debut FUJITSU V8s PAUL Morris Motorsport will enter Steve Owen’s Fujitsu Series-winning Commodore VZ in the Development Series for Colin Corkery this year. The former V8 Utes driver tested the car at Queensland Raceway last weekend and was pleased with his day. “Yeah it was all good,” he said. “The car proved last year it was good. I’ve had pretty limited experience in the cars so there’s no pressure yet. “Paul and the team know what they are doing. They have been running them for a long time. Corkery, who finished sixth in the V8 Ute Series last year, isn’t laying his expectation cards out on the table ... just yet. “I don’t really have an expectation,” he said. “I’ll give you one after practice! “I don’t know who else is going to be there. We’ll just have to see who turns up. “I was pretty quick at Clipsal last year and it’s a place that I definitely love driving. We’ll see how it pans out.” – GRANT ROWLEY

Sonic’s first V8s FUJITSU V8s JAMES Moffat has been confirmed as Sonic Motor Racing Service’s second Fujitsu Series driver for 2009. While it has been no secret that Moffat was Boom time: James Moffat’s ex-T8 Falcon, top, and Bryce Washington’s the likely driver to partner ADRAD example, above. Bryce Washington as the squad enters V8 Supercar competition for the first time, and obviously very exciting, onwards. it has only now been officially to have this deal. And in “I would hope we’ll be,” he confirmed. hindsight, I’m ready for it now, added. “We have excellent This is the third time Moffat and I probably wouldn’t have cars and a great team. The has tried to enter the Fujitsu been a couple of years ago.” advantage I have is continuity. Series, but only the first time Despite how last-minute I’ve been with the team for he has been successful … the actual deal is, Moffat four years and I’m involved “In 2006 it was close, and it has completed a couple of on a daily basis. We’ve done a was nearly on again in 2007,” tests in the ex-Triple Eight few testing miles now, so we he told eNews, “but both BF Falcon he will campaign. should be competitive straight times it fell through at the And he says the team should away.” last minute. So it’s a relief, be competitive from Clipsal – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

McNally geared up for another attack FUJISTU V8s MARK McNally will contest at least the first four rounds of this year’s Fujitsu Series – and is confident he will end up doing the whole season. While it was originally expected that McNally would end the technical alignment that he had with Brad Jones Racing last year, he has also confirmed that the Albury-squad will continue to prepare and run his VZ Commodore. According to McNally, it is all about making sure he has a genuine crack at the 2009 title. “I definitely want to do the whole season,” he told eNews.

“I had a really good test [at Winton] last Tuesday, and we made some changes and went pretty quick. I’m hoping for a strong year. We were running top five at Oran Park at the end of last year, so its time to

build on that.” This will be McNally’s third season in the development series, and his car will feature a revised livery, pictured. – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

news

Webb’s new Fujitsu ride Former SBR driver jumps to Matthew White’s FPR-supported Ford team FUJITSU V8s

“Damien has had some good experience in the series. Brad tested well with us and set a competitive time, and at the same time, I was rapt with Webby. He worked very positively on any comments we had made with his data. Whatever we suggested, he was on it straight away. “I’m really looking forward to the year. We’ve got three strong drivers with three strong cars.” The first round of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series kicks off this weekend at the Clipsal 500 meeting in Adelaide. – GRANT ROWLEY For more with Jono Webb, click to page 20.

Dirk Klynsmith

JONOTHAN Webb has secured a late deal to race for Matthew White Motorsport in the 2009 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series. The 25 year old Gold Coast based driver will lead the three car team after a brief but successful test at Winton two weeks ago. Webb will drive Steven Richards’ ex-FPR Falcon BF (backed by Gulf Western Oils) and will be joined by Brad Lowe in Mark Winterbottom’s ex-FPR Falcon, while Damien Assaillit will fill the role in the third car, driving the MWMbuilt Falcon. Webb is excited to be involved with the team,

considering its close technical ties with FPR. “I’m going in there with high hopes, for sure,” he said. “We’ve lost (Steve) Owen and (Dean) Canto who were my biggest rivals last year. I ended up finishing third in the championship so hopefully we should only be able to move forward from there. “I’ve got a good car, good team, good support from FPR. I think we’ll have a fair crack at winning a couple of races.” Team owner Matthew White said that 2009 is his team’s best chance of winning the Fujitsu Series. “I think we’ve got a very strong line-up this year,” White said.

Denyer: Eyes on the MINI prize Last year’s runner-up keen for title tilt after DecoRug confirms entry MINI CHALLENGE GRANT Denyer is intent on going one better in this year’s MINI Challenge and taking out the title he so narrowly missed out on in 2008. Denyer and team-mate Paul Stokell have been confirmed for this year’s series, and will run in the same DecoRug colours they campaigned last season. “I’m fighting fit and ready to pick up where I left off last year,” said Denyer. “There is definitely some unfinished business I need to attend to in MINI Challenge and I intend to do that right from Round 1 at the Grand Prix. “The MINI is a sensational racecar and the race team Bill [Gremos, DecoRug boss] turns out is incredibly professional and equal to that anywhere in the country.” Stokell, a former Gold Star winner, was also a front-runner last season, and expects to challenge for more wins this year. “Last year was a tough season for us, for sure,” Stokell added. “We had a lot of bad luck and a few problems here and there, but by the end of the season, we were right where we wanted to be and showed some fantastic pace. “[That’s] is in the past and I’m aiming to be right up the front from the beginning of the year. If it’s Grant that I’m battling with at the head of the pack, then it can only be a good thing for Bill and DecoRug.” In other MINI news, Grant Doulman will drive the M3 Motorsport car that Neil McFadyen won the title in last season.

Whitmore force to pull pin on Star drive FORMULA FORD THERE has been a change in the CAMS Rising Star program for 2009, with Ben Jurczak replacing David Whitmore in the Victorian Formula Ford Championship. Whitmore was forced to withdraw due to the economic crisis, opening up the opportunity for Queenslander Jurczak to jump on board. He will be the youngest Rising Star ever at just 15 years of age. Borland Racing Development’s Paul Zsidy, who spearheads the Rising Star program for the team, says this isn’t the end of the road for Whitmore. “We’ll keep in contact with him,” he said.

“David was very impressive and showed a lot of potential in testing. Its hard to tell after one day, but he seemed to have the right ingredients to go a long way.” Jurczak will be joined in BRD’s state series plans by West Aussie Jordan Oon. However, Oon will run the Vic Series in a non-CAMS backed Spectrum, having crashed during the Rising Star evaluation day at Winton last year. “We’re wrapped to have Jordan,” Zsidy continued. “He was very unlucky that day at Winton. He wasn’t driving out of control or off the dial, he just made one mistake that bit him very hard. He’ll do well this year.” – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

news

Crambrook ready to defend title as huge field gets ready for Clipsal

2009 Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Series Round 1 – Clipsal 500, Adelaide

Dirk Klynsmith Neil Hammond

1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 24 25 26 27 32 37 41 43 44 45 47 55 58 69 85 88 99

Driver

Sponsor

Layton Crambrook Mother Energy Drink/Maxibon Bits Stephen Robinson Tusker Beer/Air Vanuatu Gary Baxter Sage Automation/NHP Electrical/TAD/Icon Peter Burnitt Big Gun Racing Justin Van Twest Madashell Motorsport George Miedecke Country Energy/Lubrimaxx Noel Edge SEW-Eurodrive Racing Andrew Fisher Jesus All About Life Racing Jack Elsegood Coopers Pale Ale Racing Glenn McNally West Coast Racing/NRW Holdings Ltd Gary Carson WPR Racing/Select TV Brad Patton Big Gun Racing Wayne Lamont Lamont Constructions Racing Robert Jarvis BVC RACING/Brunswick Valley Coaches Scott Jennings United Oil/NT Shipping Nandi Kiss JFTA/ Protec/Treloar Paul Williams GBF Underground Mining Ben Kavich Collision Repairs Kim Jane Bob Jane T-Marts/Trading Post Kurt Wimmer Wilson Brothers Racing Jason Gomersall Velocity Motorport/iseek Communications Yanis Derums Caveat Loans/Mangomedia Steve Hodges ISRI Truck Seats Greg Willis Grove Juice Racing/Grove Fruit Juice Craig Dontas Thirsty Camel Racing Grant Johnson Grove Fruit Juice/Permacoat George Elliot Vittoria Coffee Ryal Harris Global Trading School Racing Charlie Kovacs RED Racing/ RED Express Deliveries Shanan Sidebottom Australian Rubber Manufacturers Warren Millet Wake Up Racing/Wake Up Backpackers Colin Dunn Storage King/Wilson Fabrics

V8 UTES LAYTON Crambrook might be hoping to become the third driver to win back-toback V8 Ute titles, but he’ll have to beat 31 other Utes at this weekend’s Clipsal 500 if he wants to win the first round … Crambrook will have a brand-new livery for Round 1, pictured inset, as he tries to emulate Warren Luff (2002 and 2003) and Damien White (2004

Marshall Cass

Ute Beaut

and 2005) as two-time champs. “It’s my ultimate goal to win the series again,” he confirmed. “We pulled together really well last year, had some great rounds and [we have] a great team.” In the fight for top rookie honours, which brings with it the 2009 Racer Industries Rookie of the Year and the Ashley Cooper Memorial trophies, Gary Carson, Jason Gomersall and Paul Williams will all be eligible.

Winslow’s American Dream ATLANTICS REIGNING Formula 3 Australian Drivers’ Champion James Winslow has signed a deal with Conquest Racing to compete in the 2009 Atlantic Championship. Winslow was offered the drive by team owner Eric Bacherlart after the Brit was in heavy discussions with several Fujitsu V8 Supercar series teams prior to confirming his Atlantic Championship drive. “I’m jumping straight in the

car without much preparation but I’m sure Conquest Racing and I will do well together,” said Winslow, who will make his Atlantic debut at the famous Sebring 12 Hour event in Florida. “I know the team, having tested a Champ Car with them before in 2007 and got on with them really well. I’m very confident that they will put out a very strong car this year and I’m looking forward to repaying their faith in selecting me as one of their drivers this year.”

Conquest Racing will this year run cars in both the Atlantic Championship and the IndyCar series, having ended 2008 on a high by placing driver Alex Tagliani inside the top five in the final IndyCar race held on the streets of the Gold Coast. This year’s Atlantic Championship will present a US$1million cash prize to the champion and $500,000 to second place as part of a record $3 million dollar prize fund for the year.

Bigger V8 Touring Car fields V8 TOURING CARS THE Shannons V8 Touring Car field has enjoyed a productive off-season, with more cars and a longer season confirmed. The five-round series (for ex-V8 Supercars) will kick off at Round 2 of the Shannons Nationals at Wakefield Park on

25-26 April. Heading the list of new cars is Team Smerdon Racing who will enter two cars for the 2009 series. Team owner Chris Smerdon will be in the ex Stone Brothers AU in which he raced and won last year’s inaugural series. He has now a second AU and that will be driven by Michael Bartsch.

Image Racing’s Terry Wyhoon will prepare three cars – one for himself and the other two for Leigh Moran and Mark Sheppard. Anther new competitor signed up for this season is West Australian Paul Stubber. Paul has an ex-Perkins VX and will be one to watch if his form in his mighty Chev Camaro is

anything to go by. There are also a few other potential competitors about, one is that we could see a second two-car team from NSW and that one of the drivers is very talented young racer. Another team owner/driver is also rumoured to be looking at bringing his race-winning Commodore into the series.

Sprintcars continue to evolve SPEEDWAY THE next step in the evolution of Australian Sprintcar racing will happen next season, with Sprintcar Racing Pty Ltd launching a new National Sprintcar Championship. The company, which was formed in 2007 when a group of competitors and team owners developed a license or franchise-based system, will run its own series in the 2009-2010 season, with a new-look media and promotional package. The news comes after Sprintcar Promotions Australia moved to return its management rights of the World Series of Sprintcars (WSS) to the NASR a year early. “The decision by Sprintcar Promotions

to hand back the rights to WSS a year early has encouraged Sprintcar Racing Pty Ltd to officially launch their product into the market place and make its intensions clear for the coming summer,” said SR’s CEO Dale Rodgers. “We have the majority of key stakeholders involved and I am sure once

self-interest is put aside and a complete understanding of how good this new structure will be is realised, then our progress will be accelerated. “We have some passionate and smart people involved with this project and we intend to keep surrounding ourselves with the best people in their respective fields – whether that is event management, media management, sales, logistics or competitors.” The group’s board is made up of Tony Noske as Chairman, Shane Krikke, Robbie Farr, Noel Gessner and John Farrell. The teams that have taken a stake are Krikke Motorsport/Brooke Tatnell, Max Dumsney, Robbie Farr, Ryan Farrell, Luch Monte, Bill Mann, Graham and Wendy Erhart/Peter Lack, Anderson Motorsport and Danny Reidy.

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Bumper F5000 field at AGP F5000 A huge grid of 33 Formula 5000 cars will bring the sounds of the 70s to Albert Park when they line up competitively for the first time at the 2009 Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix. Formula 5000 will join the V8 Supercar Championship Series, Formula Ford, MINI Challenge, Australian GT Championship and the Aussie Racing Cars in the largest support field in over a decade. A huge grid of cars will greet the starting lights in Melbourne, full of drivers from Australia, New Zealand, the UK and a sole American driver (listed right). Prior to the Australian Grand Prix joining the FIA Formula 1 World Championship in Adeliade in 1985, Formula 5000 had long been the premier open wheel category in Australia. Formula 5000 ran in different countries around the world from 1968-1982 as a lowcost series for open wheel cars. In Australia, the category replaced the

Tasman Series from 1970 onwards and ran during the European winter and Formula 1 off-season. The series gave birth to some of Australia and New Zealand’s best openwheel racers of the era, including Frank Matich and Kevin Bartlett. Perhaps one of the most talented races from the time was Italian-Australian Alfredo Costanzo, who won four Australian Drivers’ Championships between 1981 and 1983. “I think the crowds at the Grand Prix are really going to love the cars,” said Costanzo. “They look and sound spectacular with all the noise and big wheels and big wings, but they are quite different to what they have today – they don’t sit very low to the ground. “In the late 1970s the series was very competitive and used to attract big crowds because the racing was very spectacular. The car itself was very spectacular especially the high speed on the straights.”

James Smith

F5000 entries – Albert Park Aaron Burson Aaron Lewis David Abbott Ken Smith Tony Floreani D’arcy Russell Kerry Anderson Bruce Leeson Bill Hemming Ken James Steve Ross Russell Greer Frank Lyons Tony Roberts Lindsay O’Donnell Tony Richards Stan Redmond Bob Harborow Ian Clements Shayne Windelburn John Mackinlay Kerry McIntosh Phillip Lewis Poul Christie Peter Burson Mark Dwyer Andrew Robson Michael Lyons Roger Williams Judy Lyons Chris Hocking Sefton Gibb Graham Smith

NZ NSW NZ NZ Vic Vic NZ USA Vic Qld NZ NZ UK NZ NZ NZ NZ Vic NZ NZ NZ NZ NSW NZ NZ UK Vic UK NZ UK Vic NZ Vic

Talon MR1A Chevron B24 Lola T430 Lola T430 HU1 Elfin MR5 Lola T330 Lola T142 McLaren M10B Elfin MR8 AC Elfin MR8 Lola T142 Lola T332 Lola T332 McLaren M22 Begg FM5 Lola T332 Lola T332 Lola T192 Lola T332 Lola T400 March 73A/2 Begg FM2 Matich A50 Lola T190 McRae GM1 Lola T400 Lola T332 Lola T400 Lola T332 Eagle FA74 Matich A53 Lola T332 March 732A

news

Mixed Messages from Audi ALMS THIS weekend’s Sebring 12 Hour race promises to be the clash of the titans – and Audi is going into the event with mixed messages. Scottish ace Allan McNish is predicting a win for the team’s new R15 but the second-generation diesel racer is a little underprepared, according to Audi Sport Team Joest Technical Director, Ralf Juttner. “We are not as well prepared as we would like to be but this is actually always

the case with a new car. Unfortunately, it hurt us a lot this year that the tests in Europe were affected constantly by bad weather and we have not run in hot conditions like we can expect at Sebring. On the other hand, McNish wants to see the chequered flag first-up with the new car. “My target is to claim the first victory for the Audi R15 TDI on its debut. This means that we cannot afford to make any mistakes as the competition is very, very tough this year. We'll have to run at

a fast pace. The new Audi R15 TDI has a smaller, lighter engine, but there is an enormous amount of work going on in the background to compensate as best as possible for the restrictions enforced by the regulations.” Audi will face Acura’s new ARX-02a LMP01 car, with Patron Highcroft Racing and de Ferran Motorsports entering one car each, and Peugeot’s refined 908 HDi FAP. The French team will stay on at the track for a further two days of testing after the race.

Audi Motorsport

Volkswagen preparing for Dakar Double DAKAR

Volkswagen Motorsport

VOLKSWAGEN will defend its Dakar title in 2010. After taking an historic 1-2 in the South American event this year, the first win in the desert classic by a diesel-engined car, the German team will again mount a challenge when it returns to Argentina and Chile next January. “No doubt, the 2009 Dakar Rally contributed to the fact that the Volkswagen brand is now shining even brighter around the world,” said Prof Dr Martin Winterkorn, Chairman

of the Executive Board of the Volkswagen Group, last week. “Therefore, our participation in this event is a good investment in the future of our company and that’s why we decided to again compete in the Dakar Rally in 2010.” Preparations for the 9500km, two-week event has already started. “We’ve got quick drivers, a reliable car and an experienced team – in other words, everything we need to again contest the ‘Dakar’ and to fight for victory,” said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen.

New Solaras hit their straps early Sexy Solara’s go fast in first run at WSID DRAG RACING TWO of the newest and soon to be fastest cars in the Sport Compact area, the Pac Performance Mazda 6 and the Gas Motorsports Toyota Solara both started to turn up the wick at Sydney’s Compak Attak event, held last weekend. Western Sydney International Dragway put

on a picture perfect scene with great weather and a very excited crowd, eager to see two of the ‘Hi Tech’ giants of drag racing. Both cars improved their PB’s even though both vehicles are still in their infancy in terms of the development process. The Gas Motorsports car ran a lightening quick 6.8second pass and the Pac team managed a 7.1 second

pass over the course of the weekend. “We are coming to terms with the new car,” explained Pac Performance’s Rocky Rehayem. “It’s still got a few little bugs in there that we are working our way around. But it was a good weekend for us and our team and we will be doing some more testing with the new car before the Karcher Nitro Champs.”

news

Judd down, but not out

A controversial first round loss at the recent 38th annual Westernationals at Perth Motorplex, Kwinana Beach, was a bitter blow to Perth-based Robin Judd’s chances of winning the 2008/09 Australian Top Doorslammer championship series. Judd, Australia’s quickest-ever Top Doorslammer drag racer went into the Perth event in second place in the championship series, 30 points behind fellow Perth racer John Zappia. While Judd is still in second spot, he has slipped 128pts behind Zappia, who won the event. After the first qualifying session, Judd (6.634sec at 233.16mph) was in seventh place. While he (6.443/233.76) went quicker in the second session, Judd slipped to eighth spot in the eight-car field. In the third and final session, Judd reeled off a 6.036sec at 241.28mph pass to

qualify fourth behind top qualifier Zappia (5.946/242.58). In Round 1 of eliminations, Judd (6.208/240.64) lost to Dennis Brijeski (6.229/233.16) after the time clocks showed both drivers pulled a red light. While Brijeski (6.187/234.37) lost to Zappia (5.935/242.58) in the semi final, Judd ran a 5.948sec at 242.58mph nonelimination pass just after the semi finals were run. “We had some silly things go wrong in the first two qualifiers, which put us on the back foot. Zap (Zappia) ran 5.93sec in his semi and I ran a 5.94sec exhibition pass just after that so with a better light (reaction time), I may have been able to knock him out and the points scenario would have been very different, but there is no point thinking what might have been,” a disappointed Judd said after the pass.

Ken Ferguson

The Judd team had installed a new motor in the William Buck/K & B Exclusive ’59 Studebaker in January and had planned to go to the Westernationals with a fully sorted tune-up, but with both the Sydney Summernationals in mid-February and a test day at Kwinana three days before the Perth event rained-out, they did not get the opportunity to test. The team will now use the next Kwinana event to test before heading east for the remaining championship rounds. “Our preparation for the Perth event was disrupted. We lost valuable track time due to rain, so we will now test by running Top Comp at the March 21 (Kwinana) event to get a good handle on the new motor before going to the Tin Tops at Willowbank (Qld) in April. We have not given up on winning the championship, but we know it is going to be hard. We are determined to fight it out to the last round,” Judd said.

Upton on the up and up THE weather hasn’t been kind to Jay Upton and his Top Fuel Promotions, Honda MPE, Gates-backed Drag Race Team in recent weeks. Firstly, the WA-based outfit lost racing opportunities at the Wynns Summernationals due to bad weather and then a test day prior to the Westernationals also due inclement weather. “Losing the test day in Perth really put us behind the eight ball,”Upton explained. “We had installed a new version of the Honda engine and needed the track time

to get a handle on it prior to the race. We didn’t get any test time so had to draw on the team’s experience to get through the event.” The team qualified third and progressed to the semi final before losing to former champion Ian Ashelford. “Under the circumstances I feel we did pretty well. We maintained our second place in the Championship and the new engines proved reliable.” The team will test again in Perth at an upcoming regional event to continue development.

The Upton crew confirmed that the first half performances of the new Honda combination are way ahead of the opposition. Once the team get the second half sorted they should prove every bit as

dominant as they have in the past. Jay and the team will be out to win at the next round, the Karcher Nitro Champs held over two day at Western Sydney International Dragway, May 1-2.

5 Minutes with ...

JONOTHAN WEBB

With Matthew White Motorsport, in Steven Richards’ ex-FPR Falcon, is Webb the GRANT ROWLEY early season favourite for the Fujitsu V8 Series? MOTORSPORT NEWS: Given that this is your third season in the Fujitsu V8 Series, what is your early expectation? JONOTHAN WEBB: As you know, I was trying to do the Main Series and put that deal all together but times are a bit tough financially at the moment so it didn’t end up happening. I got a call from Matthew White last week and he was keen to have us come on board and do it. My first words to him were to make sure had a good car, a good team and some good support from FPR to do it, based on the fact that I want to go out there, win some races and certainly aim to win the championship. That’s what we need to do this year after being pretty close the last few years. It is definitely time for me to stand up and kick some arse.

Kicking off the season with a good result at Clipsal is going to very important if you are to achieve your goal. Do you agree with that? For sure. It’s a bit unfortunate that the deal was done so late. I only did 15 or 20 laps in the car at Winton, which isn’t ideal. We’ll get to Clipsal and I’ll just try and keep the car straight. The car is very good, I’ve been there before so I guess a couple of clean races towards the pointy end of the field and get some solid points in the bag is going to be the key. Knowing that Winton is the second round, which is now my home test track, and the team’s home track, I want to be able to get to that round in good shape in the series so we are in a strong position.

James Smith

So in your eyes, anything less than a championship win is going to be a disappointment? Definitely, yes. Last year I went in there feeling pretty confident that we could have a good crack. It didn’t really work out for me when things didn’t go our way but this year, there aren’t going to be many excuses.

What about the endurance races? You’ve done the past two (with PCR and SBR). Have you made any initial plans there? I’ve got a couple of things bouncing around at the moment. I’m certainly talking to a few people but I’m a long way from confirming any news like that yet. Those events remain pretty important for yourself, though … Yeah, definitely. It’s very important to try and get a good seat this year. Last year was great with Shane (van Gisbergen). It is important that I get a good partnership for this year, if not better than what I had last year. I want to try and get more miles in a good car around Phillip Island and Bathurst. And even though you said that last year was going to be your final season in the Fujitsu Series, it didn’t turn out that way.

Is this your last year in this series? As I said last year, I did what I could to move up a step this year, but it just wasn’t to be. The last thing that I wanted do was end up with no drive at all, so it was definitely the second option for this year, but I think it has turned out better than I could have expected as far as team and support is concerned. Did you keep yourself fit and active over the off-season, even if your future was in the air? Until two weeks ago, there was still a chance that I could have a Main Series drive. Knowing that the Clipsal 500 could have been my debut, I’ve been working superhard on trying to stay fit. In the last three days, I’ve done 150km on my bike, as well as the gym and everything else. I’ve done what I can to stay on top of it.

chat

Dirk Klynsmith

Big questions, bold predictions WE are all heading to Adelaide this week to scrape off the rust and watch the CHRIS JEWELL wheels go around, V8 commentator and with the number of changes that have been made in the off-season, there will be plenty to focus on. You will never see more technical fouls in qualifying than you will see this weekend, as drivers place themselves in the ‘right’ place to make sure that their team-mate(s) finish up in the right position. Expect to hear some noises over that one. It’s only a matter of time before one of the teams gets up in arms and gets the board to review the qualifying format. It will go the same way as Reverse Grid racing; how long did that last? I really wonder if we will not see a change as we move into the meat of the championship. Other than that, there will be plenty to see inside the cars. Will Kelly Racing finish in the top eight? Have they completely underestimated what is required to go that fast, that soon? The pressure will be on them. Will there be a return to form of some of the over30 drivers? Tyre conservation and strategy will be at a premium, not like we have seen in the past with three sprint races, which suited 20-something chargers, who blazed away. Look at the list of drivers over 30 – there are some over 40 – and look at the results on Sunday evening. This year, the races are like a mini-Bathurst; I think that wiser and maybe older heads just might prevail. And this; Shane Van Gisbergen will become the youngest-ever race winner this year, perhaps even in time for his 20th birthday. In fact, if it rains in Hamilton, nobody will see which way he goes. I don’t like sitting on the fence. I may be wrong about some of this, but it will be fun finding out!

opinion

Dirk Klynsmith

Letters

Have your say – email us at mail@mnews.com.au. Camp Quality? A couple of weeks ago I received my campsite booking letter for this years Bathurst 1000 and I am not happy with the new booking format. I have been attending since 2000 and normally I go to Bathurst with 10 or 15 others.

We’d arrive on either the Tuesday or Wednesday, leave on the Monday, and I have done all the bookings and organising for our group since 2003. We had three sites in the paddock near The Chase and loved it there. However, due to the

changes introduced this year, only two of us were willing and able to commit, at this early stage of the year, to attending. For starters, there was the increase in price of the sites. Secondly, a lot of us are unable to get our holidays approved more than six months in

advance. And now there is the requirement of ‘Proof of Purchase’ of tickets needed before being able to purchase the campsites. And to make matters even more difficult you can only get a refund on any unneeded sites up until 29th May instead of the previous

opinion

Peter Bury

Stop your whinging – it’s race time AN unpleasant theme reccurred during the latter stages of the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series – everyone wanted it over and done with – drivers, team members, the media, the officials, and even some of the punters! After a busy end to the series, and the champion all-but crowned, almost everyone wanted the season to be over and out of their hair. They thought it was time for a well-deserved break. Well, as Chopper Reid’s impersonator would say ‘Harden the f*** up!’

August date of earlier years. So unfortunately, we will not be attending this year’s event, I only hope that not too many others have been affected in the same manner as we have been. Col F Coffs Harbour, NSW ‘Owen the factory line It’s fantastic news to hear that Steve Owen has a factory drive at the enduros. The fact that he was not picked up by a single team to

opinion Grant Rowley Editor eNews Less than a month after the flag fell on the 2008 season, a number of V8 identities told me how they thought that the off-season was too long and that they wanted to get back into it! And some of these people were the ones whinging that the previous season had dragged on too long! Harden up! This year, there is no Olympic coverage to deal with, so the scheduling of the

drive throughout the season is a major disappointment, as he has been the standout driver of the Fujitsu Series, and he won the championship. What more does he have to do? The guy is fast, consistent and doesn’t bend cars. Some teams could regret their new signings once they see their damage bills for the season. Matt Wilson Christchurch, NZ ED: Steve hasn’t officially been signed to HRT yet, although

events has better spacing, although there is still the late season rush that we’ve been accustomed to over the past few years. So, take this as an early warning – I’m not going to listen to people crying that they are tired and sick of being at race tracks in November/December. Enjoy your racing, and then enjoy your Christmas break – it only comes around once a year. In the meantime, stop the whining and let’s get cracking on another racing season – starting this weekend, and what a way to

launch the new year. First up, the Clipsal 500 – Australia’s best race meeting (in my opinion). One week later, the Australian Grand Prix, and the first time we get to see the new-generation Formula 1 cars, racing in the late afternoon. But before we see green lights, check out eNews’ comprehensive team-by-team V8 season preview (it’s just a click away on page 24). Check out our guide, print it off, take it to the track and see if you agree/disagree with our ‘experts’ pre-season predictions ...

the points you make about his ability are still relevant.

true indicator of where we really are right now,” but that excuse can be trotted out by any team. What I can say is bring on the season proper and the real racing we saw last year, forget about parity and whinging, and let’s see a Bathurst foursome (no pressure CL & JW) . Both brands look as tough as nails so for me Adelaide can’t get here soon enough to see them fire in anger. Warren Furze Via email

Pie in the eye I wonder if Simon McNamara left Winton last Monday and started looking for his cook book for Humble Pie? After his comments last season in this publication following Bathurst and Indy about parity, he had 15 tried and tested VEs at Winton and only two could split the pair of FGs. I realise this is only testing and “times aren’t a

V8 SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES SEASON PREVIEW

race preview

Go!

New season. New teams. New drivers. New cars. New rules. It’s a season of change for the V8 Supercar Championship Series, and the outcome is going to be fascinating – but will it be hard to predict? The MOTORSPORT eNEWS team goes through the contenders and pretenders for 2009 before this weekend’s Clipsal 500

Marshall Cass

Triple Eight #1 – Jamie Whincup #888 – Craig Lowndes

Dirk Klynsmith

PRO: Hands down, the best team of 2008. With Number 1 on the doors (err, windows), Roland Dane’s boys will be pushing to keep them there. Two of the best drivers in the best funded team. QUERY: The only way is down for this team. Reigning Champs and winners of the past three Bathurst 1000s. There is nothing this team hasn’t won in V8 Supercar competition. It will also be interesting to see how the team deals with so many customer cars and if this has a bearing on its own efforts.

HRT #2 – Garth Tander #22 – Will Davison

Dirk Klynsmith

PRO: This team has everything at its disposal – great cars, tonnes of data, two of the best drivers in the pack and a strong management team. HRT should be the Holden team that everyone is chasing. QUERY: In all honesty, there aren’t many question marks here. New driver Will Davo will offer Garth Tander his fiercest opposition in some time. Will that be a factor? Maybe, but from the factory team’s perspective, it’s a good problem to have ...

Tasman #3 – Jason Bargwanna #51 – Greg Murphy

Dirk Klynsmith

PRO: Forget last year’s performance, Greg Murphy is a bloody fast driver. He needs to show us that form again. New team man Jason Bargwanna should keep him on his toes. Expect improved team harmony in 2009, with all of its resources based at its Dandenong (Vic) base. QUERY: The 2008 cars were hard to drive. Eventhough they are the same actual chassis, the 2009 cars will need to have significantly improved to be able to match the likes of the Walkinshaw, Kelly and PMM mounts.

race preview

Stone Bros. #4 – Alex Davison #9 – Shane van Gisbergen

Dirk Klynsmith

PRO: SBR had a hand in the design of the new FG Falcon, which may give them an advantage. And like FPR, Stones only have a commitment to building three or four FGs this year – keeping its focus on racing. Alex Davison’s ‘no bullshit’ style is sure to be a hit with SBR. QUERY: Who is the lead driver in this team? Davison is back from Europe, van Gisbergen is the rising star and Jason Bright (Britek) is in an old BF. Could the race to be ‘teacher’s favourite’ bring them undone?

FPR #5 – Mark Winterbottom #6 – Steven Richards

Dirk Klynsmith

PRO: If stability counts, start clearing out space on the mantelpiece. Frosty is as fast as anyone else in the series and Richo has experience times 10. The new FGs appear to be missiles, which would help even a lame team. And this is not a lame team. QUERY: The team has got everything except trophies. It needs to win a title or a Bathurst 1000 to tick the few vacant boxes left on the clipboard. The Big Win is the only monkey still on the back.

Kelly Racing #7 – Todd Kelly #11 – Jack Perkins #15 – Rick Kelly #16 – Dale Wood

Dirk Klynsmith

PRO: There’s no apparent lack of resources, and there’s two potential title-contending drivers in Kelly, T and Kelly, R. And never underestimate revenge as a motivator ... how much do you think the Kellys want to beat the Walkinshaws on the track? QUERY: Regardless of the spin from the team, there is bound to be an experience and speed gap between the Kellys, and Perkins and Wood. Starting a four-car team from nearly scratch is a huge ask.

BJR #8 – Jason Richards #14 – Cameron McConville

Dirk Klynsmith

PRO: The 2009 season marks the first post-Jones era of BJR in V8 Supercars. Both Jason Richards and Cameron McConville have been hired to fire the Albury team to the top. Richards is lightening in qualifying and should prove to be the team leader ... QUERY: ... unless the car ends in the fence. For all of JR’s speed, he has had the tendancy to hit things. Admittedly, he’s been driving cars that have been on the edge. These well-sorted WR Commodores should suit him better.

DJR #17 – Steven Johnson #18 – James Courtney

Dirk Klynsmith

PRO: The signing of a hungry James Courtney is a big plus for the team. At last week’s Queensland Raceway test, he was the fastest, and Steven Johnson, on his day, in no slouch. Brand-new FG Fords (the team’s first new cars since 2003!) is a big plus as well. QUERY: While both drivers are strong, they have yet to prove themselves as regular race winners – and they will both be putting themselves under a lot of pressure to ensure that the cars are up the front.

Walkinshaw #10 – David Reynolds #20 – Paul Dumbrell

Dirk Klynsmith

PRO: Great hardware, and Paul Dumbrell has talent and a heap of experience. Reynolds is a star in the making, and bringing a new, household brand sponsor into the series is a plus (and one bound to be popular with the media). QUERY: Pressure. It is, literally, now or never for Dumbrell. If he repeats 2008, he should retire at season’s end. If Reynolds outscores him in the opening half of the season, PD should pack it in by August. Really.

race preview

GRM #33 – Lee Holdsworth #34 – Michael Caruso

Dirk Klynsmith

PRO: Two identical cars, both with WR motors, will be a big help. Holdsworth is a mature and regular race contender, and Caruso is looking to build on a strong finish to 2008 with effective results. Everyone loves an underdog. QUERY: The team lacks the resources of the mega teams, but that may be less of a factor under 2009 rules. What may be a minor setback for the big kids could be a drama for GRM.

PMM #39 – Russell Ingall #67 – Tim Slade

Dirk Klynsmith

PRO: Good funding, great cars, two strong drivers ... and the cars look pretty trick. Both Ingall and Morris finished inside the top 20 last year – 2009 should be the year where ‘The Enforcer’ and new recruit Tim Slade finish well within the top 15. QUERY: Qualifying. Both Ingall and Slade need to deliver on Saturday – or face a weekend of hard-fought mid-pack warfare. Race pace shouldn’t be a problem, but we all know what happens in the middle of the field ...

RNR #55 – Tony D’Alberto

Dirk Klynsmith

PRO: A number of years in the Fujitsu Series (including a series win) and one season of Main Series competition under his belt. Tony D’Alberto is not lacking any V8 experience and is a steady progresser. Having Glenn Seton as race engineer will help somewhat ... QUERY: While D’Alberto has been steady, he hasn’t been lightning, and will need to surpass all of his previous performances to haul the team up the V8 grid.

TKR #021 – TBA

Dirk Klynsmith

PRO: The Kiwis have scored support from Paul Morris Motorsport this year. That’s a big plus. The team may be at the end of PMM’s food chain, but there are worst teams you could be associated with. Also, if they secure the services of Jonny Reid or Dean Fiore, that will be a big plus. QUERY: There’s lots of these, but the one that stands out the most is the fact that the team has simply struggled to put together a consistent effort over the past few seasons. Just when things start to look OK, something happens – whether its a bad rumour or a bad debt.

Britek #25 – Jason Bright

Dirk Klynsmith

PRO: Jason Bright is one of the category’s marque drivers, and strapped inside one of Stone Brothers’ old BFs, Brighty should be on the pace from Practice 1. While still entered as ‘Britek Racing,’ the entry is a fully-fledged SBR contender. QUERY: Bright is an integral part of SBR in 2009, but he won’t be anywhere near the other two SBR cars in pitlane. The green Ford will be planted in the middle. Will distance make Bright’s entry a forgotten entry? Doubtful, but its an issue worth noting.

PCR #111 – Fabian Coulthard #333 – Michael Patrizi

Dirk Klynsmith

PRO: Triple Eight hardware, sound and realistic thinking from team owner Paul Cruickshank, and Coulthard. Fabian was, maybe, THE breakout driver of 2008 and he can be on the podium if the momentum keeps going. QUERY: Expanding to a two-car team is a difficult process, and Patrizi needs to understand what everyone else does; this is not Formula 1, he is not going thre, and he is not the lead driver in this team. He is there to learn, and to support Coulthard.

race preview

IntaRacing #77 – Marcus Marshall

Dirk Klynsmith

PRO: With the use of one of Triple Eight’s cars from last year, Marcus Marshall’s equipment is unlikely to want for inital pace. He has some very skilled and experienced guys working for him, and with a small team, communication shouldn’t be an issue. QUERY: Marshall’s form as a driver is a small, yet significant question. He can be really fast, given the right environment. Is his own team the right fit? You’d imagine that if he can’t be comfortable here, then he can’t anywhere ...

... eNews says ... eNews says ... eNews says ... GRANT ROWLEY, Editor

PHIL BRANAGAN, Exec Editor

Driver’s Champion: Garth Tander Why: Tander is at the peak of his powers, and with a new, faster team-mate, Tander will grow a few extra centermetres and rise to the occasion.

Driver’s Champion: Jamie Whincup Why: On a roll, with the confidence that comes from ticking the ‘Win-the-Title’ box. Great qualifier (which will be telling), in an excellent team environment.

Team’s Champion: Triple Eight Why: In my opinion, Tander will be Champ, but there’s no doubting T8’s ability as a unit to get the most out of its drivers and equipment. My early tip for a fourth-straight Bathurst win ... Driver to watch: Fabian Coulthard Why: The Paul Cruickshank Racing driver was one of last year’s unsung heroes. Now with two cars in the squad, Coulthard will take even more leaps forward. Best looking car: James Courtney’s Jim Beam Racing Falcon Worst looking car: Jack Perkins’ Dodo Commodore Looking forward to ... Sydney’s Grand Finale at Homebush. Should be a belter. Not looking forward to ... Qualifying formats at all meetings. In amongst some good regulation changes, this one stands out as the dud.

ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN, eNews Deputy Editor Driver’s Champion: Craig Lowndes Why: Despite the smiles, CL must be getting sick of looking at the back of the artist formerly known as #88. Still fast enough, and he’ll want it more this year.

CHRIS LAMBDEN, Publisher Driver’s Champion: James Courtney Why: Quasi-Triple 8 car, and the need to prove that the errors of the past two seasons were blips on the radar. Bit of an outside bet, but ... Team’s Champion: HRT Why: Will be very close, but have a suspicion that the Reds will prove to have a cohesive pairing and slight pace gap over the range of circuits.

Team’s Champion: Triple Eight Why: Unless a silent revolution happened during the summer, T8 is he best team in every department. The new engine partnership is a query, but there are already unknowns in the power wars because of E85. Otherwise, 10 out of 10.

Team’s Champion: FPR Why: If you look at both 2008 car speed and 2009 preparation, there’s not a lot between FPR and T8. But FPR have only had to build cars for itself, and that might make a massive difference ...

Driver to watch: Michael Caruso Why: GRM now has both cars on the same sheet music, enough Walkinshaw motors to go around, and ‘Robbo’ showed speed and potential last year.

Driver to watch: Tim Slade Why: Never really been slow in anything he’s driven, and there’s no reason why he would start now. A smart kid who will make the most of the chance to learn off Russell Ingall.

Best looking car: Paul Dumbrell’s Autobarn Commodore

Best looking car: Jason Richards’s Team BOC Commodore

Worst looking car: Jason Bright’s Fujitsu Falcon

Worst looking car: Marcus Marshall’s IntaRacing Falcon.

Looking forward to ... Sunday morning at Bathurst – the best moment of the season.

Looking forward to ... The Clipsal 500! It’s time to go racing.

Looking forward to ... The smell, the sight and the sound – it’s been a long break – and you can only cop so much cricket.

Not looking forward to ... The inevitable pitlane SNAFU – and it is inevitable – and the fuss that will come afterwards.

Not looking forward to ... The bad news stories that will keep breaking while this recession continues.

Not looking forward to ... Early morning flights, late night flights ... other than that, bring it on!

Driver to watch: Jason Bright Why: Having added his chapter to the ‘racers should never be team owners’ debate, Brighty is back with a team with which he has past success. Best looking car: Colourwise? The Autobarn Commodore. Sponsor-ID-wise? TeamVodafone. Worst looking car: Dodo car looks to have been thrown together; FPR – didn’t your Mum tell you about green and blue? ...

CLASSIC FESTIVAL OF MOTORSPORT PHILLIP ISLAND

James Smith

race

Phillip Island: Classic ... It was cold, it was wet, and it was still spectacular. You could say the weather at the 2009 ‘Goodwood of the South’ was, well, vintage. By ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Dark and stormy: Here Richard Carter leads the M&O race, but in the background, Laurie Bennett’s black McLaren was coming on strong ...

HILE the annual Phillip Island Classic meeting was, as usual, more about the cars than the stars, there was one weekend-long rivalry that was all about the drivers. On a weekend when the 40th anniversary of Formula Ford was being celebrated, two of the series’ most experienced alumni, Laurie Bennett and Richard Carter, showed they can still race hard. Although these days it’s Formula 2spec Elfin 600s, not FFords, that they take to the limit … Having struggled with an engine misfire in practice, Bennett lost out in qualifying to Carter. Not that it mattered; Bennett decided to campaign a McLaren sports car, not his Elfin, in the first race, meaning he had to start from P18. But despite having

only sat in the car for the first time a day earlier, and the car’s brutal V8 engine having to deal with a very greasy track, Bennett made his way through the field to pass Carter just metres before the line to take a stirring Race 1 win. A switch back to the Elfin for Race 2 again relegated Bennett to the back of the grid while Carter started from pole. But in a display of sportsmanship, Carter controlled the pace at the front of the field while Bennett again cut his way through. The pair turned it on for a final lap all-out sprint to the flag, Carter holding on by just 0.001s to take the win. Just when it looked like the duel between the two couldn’t get more exciting, the rain came moments before the start of the final. After tip-toeing around for the first lap in the lead, Carter

lost control of his Elfin in the middle of the main straight on Lap 2, remarkably missing Bennet and the pit-wall as he spun. He got going again to finish second, Bennett winning the weekend with his second win of the weekend. Other winners at Phillip Island included Tom Tweedie, who was surprisingly dominant ahead of a 53-car Formula Ford field to comfortably win all three races Glenn Seton took two wins in the Group A&C Touring Cars class aboard a BMW M3, while Tim Davies and his Ralt RT4 Formula Atlantic quite amazingly split the Group Q&R Racing Cars wins with Guido Belgiorno-Nettis and his 1986 Ferrari Formula 1 car. Terry Spiridis (Groups S), Darren Pearce (Group Nc), Jason Black (Group Nb) and David Reid (Group J, K&L) also won races.

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James Smith

Gold ‘n’ Old: Tim Davies (#8) did well to stay so close to a genuine Ferrari F1 car during the open-wheeler races, above, while Tom Tweedie was a lone ranger in Formula Ford, below. There were plenty of Minis, below right, while David Reid was a race winner in his Special, bottom right.

James Smith James Smith

James Smith

WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 2 – LOSAIL, QATAR

Pole. Superpole. Two wins. No, we are not reminiscing about Troy Bayliss. Ben Spies was dominant in the Middle East

The

Ducati Corse

Big Ben Theory

Yamaha Racing

IN the last three rounds in the World Superbike Championship, Ben Spies has started from pole position, come from behind in the races and taken the lead in emphatic fashion to win from Noriyuki Haga. In the last two of those three, Max Biaggi been third. Sounds boring, right? Not quite. Such has been the impact of Spies on the series that the 2008 form book has gone out the window, as the personable Texan on his ‘big bang’ Yamaha R1 sends shivers through the opposition. “I was lacking a little bit off the last corner and it was very hard to make the pass, but once past, I put my head down and was able to keep it clean for the win despite a couple of mistakes,” said Spies. Haga has been amazingly consistent, with 1-2-2-2 results in four races, but Spies has sent the message that he will take some beating. Biaggi led early in both races in Qatar and, Spies apart, the speed of Aprilia’s RSV4 has been the revelation of the season. Shinya Nakano backed

him up with fourth in Race 1, but a better tyre choice allowed his countryman Ryuichi Kiyonari (eighth in Race 1) to take the spot in Race 1. His team-mate Carlos Chea went the other way, with fifth and 13th in the two races as he struggled with brake chatter. The best of the Aussie riders was again Troy Corser, the BMW team continuing to show decent form with two ninth places. Haga still leads the series, and he and Spies have now opened a gap on the opposition. Early days yet, but the Yamaha and the Ducati teams look like engaging in a season-long fight. HONDA dominated the Supersport results, again, but this time, it was Brit Eugene Laverty who took the win, his first, for the Parkalgar team. Andrew Pitt was second from Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow, and the Aussie now leads teammate Kenan Sofuoglu (who was fourth) by five points. Superbike Points: Haga 85, Spies 75, Neukirchner 40, Biaggi 38, Haslam 36, Sykes 32, Rea and Laconi 30, Nakano 27, Kagayama 25.

Beam me up, Scotty Kayne Scott secured the 2008/09 BNT NZ V8s title with last-race victory thriller at Pukekohe NZ V8s FORD driver Kayne Scott won his second BNT V8s championship after victory in a thrilling reverse grid race in the series final at Pukekohe, snatching the championship title by just nine points from John McIntyre, the defending champion and series leader coming into this final round. United Video Ford driver Craig Baird won the weekend’s first two races and, with pressure from other top drivers Angus Fogg, Andy Booth and Tim Edgell, Scott, was able to finish in front of McIntyre in both races, gaining a slim points’ advantage each time. Coming into this final seventh BNT V8s event, McIntyre was ahead of Scott by 38 points, but by the time competitors lined up for the final reverse grid race, Scott was only 21 points adrift of McIntyre and starting right behind McIntyre for the rolling start. Amongst the confusion that often reigns in a reverse grid race, Scott drove with great skill and some luck to quickly get past McIntyre and work his

way through the field. The defining moment came on the 19th lap when Scott passed Angus Fogg and Andrew Porter at the hairpin to snatch the lead. Until then, McIntyre was within two or three places of Scott, holding just enough of a points’ advantage to keep his championship hopes alive. But with Scott leaping into the lead as McIntyre held sixth, Scott gained a nine point lead over Johnny Mac to take the overall championship title for 2008-09. “Craig’s shown us in other

reverse grid races that you’ve got to go for it in these races, and boy, I’ve been listening to advice from everyone all weekend that I just had to go for it,” smiled Scott wryly after the surprise win. “It’s been quite a stressful weekend actually. We arrived in great shape and were doing well in qualifying until Craig showed us all how to do qualify fastest. “Going into turn one at the back of the field in this last race with all the grass and dirt flying is pretty scary. Then every time I looked in my rear vision mirror,

thinking I’d gained a bit of a gap on John, I’d see John passing another car behind me. But I’m pretty happy. I didn’t realise I’d won the championship until halfway down the back straight on the last lap when my team got the message through to me on the radio.” Final points: Kayne Scott 1179, John McIntyre 1170, Craig Baird 1048, Andy Booth 983, Paul Manuell 832, Angus Fogg 789, Eddie Bell 711, Andrew Anderson 694, Adam Brook 647, Tim Edgell 631.

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Who else but Baird?

No great shock as Craig Baird races to another New Zealand Porsche title NZ PORSCHE

Craig Baird was always going to be tough to beat in this season’s New Zealand Porsche GT3 Cup title, and at last weekend’s final round at Pukekohe, he secured his fifthconsecutive title. Each season, the Queenslandbased Kiwi has had strong competition, initially from young Kiwis Matt Halliday and Fabian Coulthard and latterly top Aussie drivers Alex Davison and David Reynolds, but each

season he has come out on top. Reynolds offered Baird a reasonable challenge this season, with the pair taking three pole positions each, but when it came to the races, Baird was almost unstoppable. He won 12 of the 18 races and five of the six rounds. The other six races were shared by Reynolds (five wins) and Jono Lester, who took his sole win in the reverse top six grid final race at the first round of this season’s Battery Town at Pukekohe in November.

Other than that, the 2008/09 title was a Baird cake-walk. “It’s been tough this year but, you know, it’s always been tough,” he said. “There’s always been a Jim (Richards) or a Matty (Matt Halliday) or Fabian (Coulthard) and this year it’s been David Reynolds. He’s had a little bit more speed than me in some places this year and he’s very, very good at qualifying so I’ve had to be on the top of my game every time I’ve gone out on the track.

In the final round at Pukekohe, Baird won the first two races with ease, but was fortunate to take the final when Jody Vincent experienced a tyre problem with the flag in sight in the last race. Final points: Craig Baird 1295, David Reynolds 1112, Daniel Gaunt 935, Jono Lester 821, Rodney Forbes 747, Jody Vincent 747, Ant Pedersen 739, Darryn Henderson 690, Mark Russ 669, Shane McKillen 626.

No baloney Ponies at Queensland QUEENSLAND STATE Queensland Raceway’s QRDC series got underway for 2009, the highlight of which was the debut of the new Transam Cars category. Ten American 60s and 70s pony cars (Camaros, Mustangs, Galaxies and Pontiacs) qualified with Chevvy Camaro drivers taking all the race wins with Grant Wilson (‘74 Camaro) taking the weekend from Alex Schuttloffel (‘69 Camaro) from Glenn Osborne (‘69 Camaro). Improved Production was dominated by new Australian champion Justin Keys (Mazda RX-3) . Tony Isarasena (Mazda RX-7) was second ahead of David

Skillender’s popular V8 Supercar-powered Commodore Cup car. The Gemini Challenge saw Tracey Whale break through for her first Gemini event win ahead of Ben Tomlin and Dave Hinton in a hard fought weekend. QR Sedans was won by Michael Antonieff (Westfield-Toyota) after a meeting long battle with Brian Smallwood

(Subaru WRX). Mike McLean (Datsun 1600) was third on consistency. Dave Buxton and Jon Williams (Suzuki) won the Sidecar fight while the thin racing car field, which saw the debut of Gary Whittaker’s Audi R8 look-a-like Hondapowered Supersport, was won by Bevan Carrick (Dallara F304). – MARK JONES

FanTaska! NHRA Bob Tasca III followed his first career top qualifying effort with his first career Pro win before an overflowing crowd at Gainesville Raceway during the 40th annual ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals. In the other categories, Larry Dixon won his first title as a driver for Alan Johnson in Top Fuel, Jason Line backed up his Winternationals Pro Stock victory to extend his points lead and Hector Arana holds the first points lead of his career with his Pro Stock Motorcycle win. Tasca defeated Tony Pedregon to claim his first Funny Car Wally, driving around Pedregon’s better

starting line reaction to take the win with his Motorcraft/ Quick Lane Mustang, 4.20/280 to 4.53/210. Tasca drove the Chris Cunningham-wrenched Ford to a series of steady passes to the final. He used a pair of 4.19s to stop Jim Head and teammate Tim Wilkerson and a semifinal 4.17 bested 14-time series champ John Force to reach the final. Tasca had appeared in four finals in Alcohol Funny Car, where he claimed two wins. No one doubted that the team of Dixon and Johnson, would yield race wins, and after a disappointing DNQ at the rain-shortened season opener, the duo struck payday at the season’s third event by defeating Cory McClenathan

in the final round, 3.89/311 to McClenathan’s tractionplagued 4.57/192 pass. Dixon, in his first season driving for Alan Johnson and the new Alan Johnson/AlAnabi team, top-qualified at 3.88 then clocked a 3.88/312 in round one to stop Doug Kalitta. Dixon followed with a 3.86/311 to trailer Morgan Lucas and a 4.09/260 defeated last year’s runner-up, Brandon Bernstein. Dixon’s run would have been much quicker had not the throttle pedal broken; fortunately for Dixon, Bernstein had already smoked the tires. Dixon’s final-round appearance was his seventh at Gainesville raceway and the 84th of his career. Line scored his second win

of ‘09 on a holeshot victory over Allen Johnson, 6.61/209 to 6.60/209, to claim the 16th title of his Pro career. Point leader Line, reached his 36th career Pro Stock final with the Summit Racing GXP with a string of low 6.6-second passes. After beating former world champ Jim Yates in round one with a 6.60, Line powered past Kurt Johnson with a 6.61 and upset-minded Rickie Jones with a 6.61. Arana, a 19-year veteran of the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, scored his second career NHRA national event win by defeating Matt Smith, in the final round, 6.97/191 to 7.13/185 after Smith’s bike slowed at the finish line. – DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

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The best, Farr and away SPEEDWAY ‘One man, one life, one celebration’ was the theme of the night as some of Australia’s best Sprintcar competitors gathered at Truckworks Speedway City for the running of the second annual George Tatnell Sprintcar Cup. By the end of the evening, no one was celebrating harder than Robbie Farr and the East Coast Pipelines Racing Team who took a thrilling win after 35 laps on a track that produced plenty of passing opportunity. Starting from position nine, Farr had his work cut out for him and with the likes of Trevor Green, Ricky Maiolo, Philip March and co starting up the pointy end. Green pounced away to the lead and

looked in command as he set the pace, however Farr was on a mission and by lap 20 he was in second place. Three laps later, he blasted around the outside of Green and from that point on he stormed on to victory. Steven Lines, Trevor Green and David Murcott rounded out the podium. One spot back was Ricky Maiolo who produced his best form of the season, in doing so lowered the lap record earlier in the evening to a staggering 11:851s. Close behind Maiolo was the tightly bunched group of Luke Dillon, Matt Egel, Philip March and Mark Reuter. Next was Daniel Pestka and rounding out the top dozen was Jamie Cobby and Allan Barlee. Also in South Australia last weekend, local hero Ryan Jones drove from

the rear of the field to claim backto-back Australian 360ci Sprintcar Championships at the Moore Engineering Murray Bridge Speedway. After two nights of heat racing, the reigning Champion had not qualified for the championship race however as the defending Champ, Jones was granted a wild card start from the back row of the field. From there, he produced what many are heralding as the ‘Drive of the decade’ in the 360 Sprintcar division. Victoria’s Rick Barrand was second to cross the line, narrowly holding out the fast finishing Allan Barlee who had also stormed his way from the back of the field after transferring from the B-Main event. – PARIS CHARLES

Fiore back in the winning business WEST AUSTRALIA THE Western Australia racing season kicked off last weekend, with class returnee Todd Fiore winning the first Formula Ford round at the Smarter than Smoking Night Masters. Fiore was unstoppable on Barbagallo’s short circuit,

winning all three races from pole. Rhys McNally and preseason favourite Bryce Moore sharing the second places. Formula Vee had an upset result. Regular race winner Jez Hammond set the pace, winning the first race, but was struck by gearbox problems in the second. Myles Lockett picked up the pieces, winning

Race 2 and 3 from Ben Riley and Derek Burns. In the 1200cc class, Deni Razmovski and Jacob Parsons shared the wins. In Sports Cars and Sedans, Rex Meechin and Peter McKenzie shared the wins. Meechin went on to win two of the three Night Masters heats. The other went to David Turner.

Grant Howlett set the pace in HQ Holden, winning two races to Stephen Raisin’s one, while Nathan Callaghan dominated the Saloon Cars, Robert Marcon winning the EA/VN class. Kerry Wade won three Street Car races ahead of his old sparring partner Grant Johnson.

rear of grid

Aston Martin Racing

THERE’S really nothing we want to write here. Not the news yarn that makes you open your eyes wide and say, ‘Wow! I didn’t know that!’. Not the comment piece that will start an argument between you and your mates in the pub.

Not even a smarty pants comment (see below for that). It’s just that this is a great image, and we needed an excuse to run it. So we ran it here. For the record, it is Aston Martin’s new Lola LMP1 car, testing at Paul Ricard last week. Stunning. Just stunning.

Odd Spot

Phil Williams

MAYBE we should call this Odd Spot ‘Spot the Oddity’. No, it’s not the new grandstand at Adelaide, just waiting for the fans to arrive in their thousands for this weekend’s Clipsal 500. No, it’s not the temporary roofing, which will allow the punters to view the two 250km races, plus support events, in shade and comfort. It’s not even the Holden Commodore VE, which would be a barrel of monkeys to drive on the road, with all that signwriting. It’s ‘CHASE CAR’ on the rear passenger’s window. And here we were, think that the Chase was at Mount Panorama ...