Motorsport eNews Issue 101 - 21-27 April, 2009

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Issue No. 101 21 – 27 April 2009

Qualified success ... unless you’re the championship leader

new qualifying system approved but Whincup says

“it’s a lottery”

!

P E Y ? d r o f a Skaife in

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 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.

news 4 Purple sectors

6 RIP TKR 8 Bundled up 12 JMac in ...

15 Second Shannons 17 Drag’s Roadshow

chat 20 5 minutes with ... opinion 22 Lambden 23 van Leeuwen

race 24 V8s Hamilton 30 NZ supports 32 Tin Tops 36 IndyCars 40 NASCAR

trade 42 Classifieds

Most give tick to new Q Team Black is out ... soon Hamilton chicane issues ... but who is he with?

Wakefield’s big weekend Top, Funny & Stocked Steven Johnson On the left On the right Whinners. Grinners?

Porsche, Toyotas & V8s Side by side history Dario Powers to win One for the old bloke

Mark Webber’s second place at the Chinese Grand Prix is his best finish in an Formula 1 race. While there’s no mention of it in this publication (check eNews’ sister publication www.gpweek.com), we reckon his podium-earning effort was just brilliant. A 10pointer can’t be far away. Raise your cans of Red Bull, Australia ...

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

Issue No. 101 | 21–27 April 2009

Steven Johnson took out the first Sunday 20-minute ‘sprint’ qualifying session, and enjoyed a strong weekend.

For more from Steve, see 5 Minutes with ... on page 20

Quali gets general approval –

New system to the liking of most, although Hamilton winner brands the syste car on pole or starting the race from the front. I know that’s what the ON balance, V8 Supercars’ category wants but it is a newly-introduced 20-minute little bit artificial” – perhaps Sunday qualifying session predictable from one of those met with approval – albeit caught out by the early finish begrudging in some cases. to the session, thanks to a One voice less than content red flag following Tim Slade’s – perhaps swayed by the unfortunate shunt. events of this particular day Up and down pit lane, the – was that of championship response was more measured leader Jamie Whincup who, and generally in favour – pressed on the topic during “especially if the punters like his post-race interview, branded the session a “lottery” it” being a typical response.

They did. and commented that: Whether the session “We don’t see the quickest

V8 SUPERCARS

remains at 20 minutes, or grows to 25, or – to cover events such as those on Sunday, which took out the vital last few minutes – is restarted in full once debris is cleared, the concept itself appears to have general approval.

Jamie Whincup may not agree, but having him start fourth, and earn the win through sheer pace and tactical nous, made what could have been a boring flagto-flag on Sunday afternoon a fascinating contest.

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

news

Dirk Klynsmith

Dirk Klynsmith

– almost ... Skaifey in blue!

Retired holden man to test a Ford – but it’ll still be a Holden if he does the enduros

em a “lottery” Dirk Klynsmith

V8 SUPERCARS MARK Skaife in a Ford? You’d better believe it.

The recently-retired V8 Supercar star-turned-TV commentator is, according to pit lane chat, set to sample a number of current V8 Supercars in a unique back-to-back comparison for a 7 Sport feature in a few weeks’ time.

That will include strapping himself into a Falcon for the very first time – the comments will be intriguing and, given his currency as a V8 driver, revealing. Who knows, it could even re-spark a

parity debate!

We hear the comparo is likely to take place at Queensland Raceway, which suggests that one or both of Triple Eight and/or SBR might be involved … along with sole Queensland Holden V8 team, Supercheap Racing.

In the meantime, Skaife is reportedly close to making a decision on whether to return as an endurance co-driver later in the year. There is no suggestion of a decision either way, but we do hear a whisper that if it does happen, he could more than likely need a black race suit …

TO ACCESS GPWEEK – THE WORLD’S FIRST ‘VIRTUAL’ MOTORSPORT MAGAZINE ...

New team owner close ...

a REC in recent times and will await the outcome of the tender process prior to finalising a potential new REC holder.”

TENDERS were due to close today for According to V8SA sources, interest is Team Kiwi Racing’s Racing Entitlements Contract after the V8 Supercars Australia “high” from different parties, although a decision won’t be rushed. board resolved last week that TKR’s In the meantime, there is still a high David John was no longer a suitable chance that TKR will be at the next round owner. of the championship at Winton Motor Johns was declared bankrupt recently, Raceway in two weeks time. and V8SA exercised its right under the John is still considered the official owner REC rules to sell it on behalf of Numero of the REC and is required to enter a car Uno Investments (John’s company). at Winton or any round after that until it V8 Supercars’ CEO Cameron Levick is sold. said in a statement that the loss of the And, among other issues, this is a category’s New Zealand representative situation that John is not pleased with. simply had to happen.

“We are being told that we have no “The proceeds of the sale will go to option but to turn up to Winton or they Numero Uno Investments and the Official Assignee (receivers) can exercise whatever will fine us. “(With this announcement) they’ve said rights it has to that money. We are in to all our sponsors that ‘she’s all over.’ All regular communication with all parties the sponsors are saying ‘Why should through this process. we contribute any funding towards the “Team Kiwi Racing has been a long-time part of the sport and it is very unfortunate running of the car that we can’t use for any retail programs, retail incentives, or that David finds himself in this position. anything.

“That said, the board believes it is in the “The whole structure of what they are best interests of the sport to take this trying to enforce has got some gaping big action in order to protect the integrity of holes in it and I don’t believe this is fair on the REC and our shareholders, which for any party. the most part are our other teams.

“If they want us to move out of the "We have had many interested parties championship, so be it. We accept that, as wanting to join the sport by acquiring

V8 SUPERCARS

long as that we get a fair return for our franchise, and we’ll work with them, but not if they are going to try and screw us over.

“If they wanted us out, why didn’t they put their own money up and buy the franchise? If they want us out but still want us to turn up because they’ve got no one else anyway, why should we be the trick pony?”

JUST who is likely to show interest in the V8 licence on offer remains an interesting poser.

News out of NZ at the weekend appeared to rule out a bid by a group involving long-time team owner Mark Petch.

At the same time, Ford Performance Racing – which had planned to run a third car this year – was being coy: “It’s bad timing,” said team boss Tim Edwards. “Three races into the year ... and we’ve already slimmed down our operation accordingly.”

The team was, he said, “mildy interested.”

Anyone else? Well, the Team Kiwi operation is currently being run by Paul Morris Motorsport, but we were unable to check whether there was any interest from the team prior to closing for publication.

... but John wants to maintain ‘brand’ V8 SUPERCARS WHILE Team Kiwi Racing won’t be in the V8 Supercar Championship Series for too much longer, David John wants to keep the ‘brand’ alive.

The intellectual property rights of the brand are actually not attached to John’s Numero Uno company, leaving him free to use the popular ‘TKR’ brand

in other forms of motor sport.

“There’s many other championships out there,” he said.

“The brand has always been

focused on V8 Supercars and providing opportunities for young Kiwis. “We were always going to get back into the local championships in some way”

HONDA RACING

Will it stay or will it go?

V8 SUPERCARS AFTER another weekend of chicane controversy, officials will look at revamping the Hamilton circuit to delete it altogether for 2010.

A meeting involving drivers on Friday evening canvassed this as an option for next year, and met reasonable approval.

“The concern is the increased speed going into the next corner, which has limited runoff,” reported Garth Tander.

However, the option to slow

the previous corner a little, and to maximise numbers of impact-reducing tyre barriers on the outside of the righthander, could provide the ultimate solution – including a significantly-better passing opportunity and the removal of what is, essentially, a Mickey Mouse element to the popular NZ circuit.

“As it stands, it wouldn’t get FIA approval,” we were told by one senior official, “but there are things which could also be changed to make it work.”

Time to toughen up WE said it last year (and they cut it down a little this time) and we’ll say it again: it has to Chris Lambden go. mNews Publisher The back straight chicane in Hamilton resulted in more car damage, again, in 2009 than the rest of the track put together – and concerns about speeds going into the following corner, if it is completely removed, should be looked at in that light.

It is Mickey Mouse, artificial, and adds nothing to the spectacle.

And, in our view, there is sufficient space on the outside of the following right-hander to incorporate a fair degree of speedretardant tyre barrier.

Look around the V8 series – there are corners far tougher, with similar or less run-off. Sometimes I think our blokes are starting to become just a bit too much like those F1 wimps – who, at all their purpose-built new venues, have so much run-off everywhere, the spectators can hardly see the cars!

In the immortal words of Chopper Reed (or rather his impersonator) it’s time to “harden the f*** up”, get rid of that black spot and get on with the racing!

opinion

news

Dirk Klynsmith

Homebush, you copy cat ...

New street race adopts the same 500-kay format as Clipsal classic V8 SUPERCARS

?

Dirk Klynsmith Dirk Klynsmith

“NO point in being shy – it is going to be massive.”

That is the confident prediction of V8 Supercars Australia Chairman Tony Cochrane about the Sydney 500.

V8SA last week confirmed that the seasonending race at Homebush, which had been referred to as the Sydney 400, will follow the same format as the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide. The V8s will race around the Olympic precinct twice, with 250km races on Saturday and Sunday, mimicking the ultra-successful Clipsal 500.

“We can now say that we are going to end the way we start the year; with a 500 kilometre weekend,” added Cochrane.

“Sydney deserves to have the absolute best we can offer so we have decided to extend the total race distance to match that of our first event in Adelaide, which is acclaimed around the world.

What a way to bookend our season – with two long distance races at either end of the year.

“We are right on track. We have done extremely well in sponsorship terms and have filled almost all of the available categories.

“This is for more than a motor race. There will be major concerts, off-track events and we will utilise every single venue within the precinct for a raft of activities for everybody.”

Cochrane said the rest of the details of the event would all be announced in mid-May, including the identity of the naming rights sponsor, Friday and Saturday night concerts and support program. eNews expects the supports to include the final rounds of the Fujitsu V8 Supercars, MINI Challenge, V8 Utes and Aussie Racing Cars.

Dirk Klynsmith Dirk Klynsmith

Straight Back to Work INDYCAR

Castroneves Not Guilty on Tax Charges, jets to Long Beach – and races to top-10 finish!

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sutton-images.com

FEW professional racing drivers would be delighted to finish seventh in a championship race.

But Helio Castroneves was all that, after racing at Long beach on the weekend. Seven weeks into his Miami trial, the Brazilian was found not guilty six counts of tax evasion. The American Internal Revenue Service, which has a 90 percent-plus conviction rate, is unlikely to retry the Team Penske driver, his sister Katiucia (his business manager), and his attorney Alan Miller on one remaining tax conspiracy charge, on which the jury was hung.

“I’m a foreign person and I’ve been judged in a foreign country,” Castroneves said, after sobbing with relief as the verdict was read in the Miami court. “I’m very thankful to receive a fair trial. I do love this county.”

Tim Cindric, President of Penske Racing, texted Castroneves, “We are ready for you.”

Castroneves and his family arrived in Long Beach Friday evening aboard a Penske plane to step into his #3 car, setup by replacement driver, Will Power, who was the fastest of the 22-car IndyCar field for the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

“It feels like I just woke up from a nightmare,” said a tearful Castroneves in a press conference after the Saturday morning practice session.

“I never lost faith. Sometimes I questioned it a little bit, but those prayers that people were sending me kept me really strong.”

“I’m so happy to hear ‘pit this lap’ instead of ‘objection’, ‘sustained’ or ‘overruled’. When I put the helmet on I’m a different person. I’m glad to be back to my normal life. From now on, it is put the pedal to the metal.”

When Castroneves first got back in his #3 Penske machine, he asked Tim Cindric if he was dreaming. Cindric responded, “No, it’s reality. There are a lot of people watching so don’t stall it!”

“I’m very happy for Helio and his family,” said Power, graciously.

“I couldn’t imagine what it was like going through that, especially how much success he’s had in his career. I’ve just kept my focus all weekend. I knew coming into it that there was a chance that Helio would be back. Penske Racing told me exactly what the deal was and always kept me up to date.”

“I look forward to having him back and working with him,” said Ryan Briscoe. “We really built a strong relationship last year. So I’m really excited to continue that going forward. And, as far as it goes for Will, he’s done a great job for us so far this year and really impressed us all. Who knows where that could lead him in the future.”

– MARY MENDEZ

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BLACK POWER INDYCAR WILL Power proved that speed is colour blind when he took pole position at Long Beach.

After dominating practice in the #3 red and white Penske Dallara, the Queensland hopped aboard an identical black car #12 and qualified on pole from Dario Franchitti by 0.1568 seconds.

Power only met his new crew for the first time on Saturday morning, the team have the foresight to bring a third car and its Grand Am crew, most with CART experience, to setup the Verizon Wireless car to be just like the #3.

Tracy for 500 INDYCAR

“The team did a great job transferring everything over and made the car basically the same,” said Power.

“I hardly made any adjustments on the Verizon Wireless car.”

“I look at it as hard work. I just kept my focus all weekend. It was no surprise to me (to switch cars). There were only a few details we had to go through, getting the pedals, padding, and brakes adjusted. But once Helio was acquitted, suddenly, ‘bam’, there was another team on the other side of the truck with a black car.”

– MARY MENDEZ

One More Ride INDYCAR

WILL Power has one more confirmed ride this season – and it is the Indianapolis 500.

The always-loyal Roger Penske has offered Power the seat, meaning that the team will run three entries in the race for the first time since 1994, when Al Unser Jr, Paul Tracy and and Emerson Fittipaldi raced for the team.

“Will has proven he’s fast,” said Penske. “He’s certainly been a great team player working with Helio and with his crew.

And our plan, because this came on so fast, is Will is in the car this weekend (Long Beach). We will not run three cars at Kansas (next week). But he will be in our Verizon Wireless car at Indianapolis. He’s proven he’s a great driver.”

“I’m very happy and feel very good about driving for Penske in the Indy 500 because Penske is the most successful team to run there,” said Power, controlling his emotions. “They are always very competitive. Running at Indy in a Penske car is a dream come true. It’s the best possible combination you could have. I really love working with these guys. You never know what can happen in the future.”

Penske has a problem, because should Power win, there may have to be a permanent third ride and crew for the remainder of the IndyCar season. Asked about Kansas, Tim Cindric said, “You can never say never.”

– MARY MENDEZ

JUST two weeks after AJ Allmendinger’s future with Richard Petty Motorsports looked doubtful, the team has now picked up his option, tying him to the team until the end of 2010.

Until last week, the former Red Bull driver did not even have a full program for 2009, but his seat was assured through race 26 of the 36 race schedule after the team signed a six-race deal with Hunt Bros Pizza.

The team remains confident that it can find backing for the final 10 Chase races and for the full season next year, but whether that could be at the expense of one of the other three Petty drivers remains to be seen however.

Rumours about Kasey Kahne leaving Petty have been rampant, but he claims he’s staying through 2010, while Elliott Sadler and Reed Sorenson continue perform poorly as Allmendinger kicks their butts.

While the news was not completely expected, it also affects more than just Petty’s, or even NASCAR. Whatever may be going on at the US GPE team, which plans to enter Formula 1 next season, the it will have to carry on with no Allmendinger in the mix …

– MARTIN D CLARK

sutton-images.com

THE field for the 2009 Indy 500 is growing, with crowd favourite Paul Tracy confirmed for the race.

KV Racing Technology has announced a second entry for alongside Mario Moraes, with sponsorship from GEICO insurance.

Asked of Tracy if he will get refresher time at the Speedway, the Canadian responded, “The IRL won’t let a past winner do that,” cheekily referring to the 2002 controversial victory that was given to Helio Castroneves following a late-race caution. The team hopes to run Tracy in other races during the season if funding is found.

Additionally, Davey Hamilton will drive a third Dreyer & Reinbold car with Kingdom Racing for the 93rd Indy 500, with backing from Hewlett Packard.

– MARY MENDEZ

NASCAR

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Will tops practice, swaps cars, then takes Pole!

AJ@Petty’s till 2010

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John Morris/Mpix

Something old, something new V8 SUPERCARS MICHAEL Patrizi enjoyed his best V8 Supercar weekend to date in the Hamilton 400 and he will head into the rest of the V8 Supercar Championship Series comfortable in his equipment.

Why? The #333 Wilson Security Racing driver will remain in his old BF Falcon for the entire season after team owner ruled out the chance of Patrizi upgrading to the newer FG-model.

But the fact that Patrizi won’t get to drive a new car is not a swipe at his ability. Patrizi finished 14th and 13th in the two races in New Zealand, and according to Cruickshank, his positions weren’t luck, they were convincing.

“He did a really good job,” Cruickshank said.

“He’s still got a long way to go, but since Clipsal, he’s made significant progress.

“He’s staying in the BF for

the rest of the year, but the team is extremely pleased with Michael. He copped some heat last year but we’re into the process of minimising his mistakes.

“On the weekend, he went toe to toe with Cameron McConville for 40 laps, and Cameron couldn’t do anything about it. We’re really pleased.

He’s starting to work well with his engineers and crew and I think he’s really enjoying his new environment.”

Patrizi himself was pleased with his Hamilton performance.

“This has been a great all round performance for the entire team,” said Patrizi.

“I’m a little upset with myself for an error in our [Race 2] stop that cost the team valuable time, but I am very happy with my results.

“This weekend has been a good confidence boost and will take me to Winton mentally stronger and more prepared.”

– GRANT ROWLEY

Some people are hard to please!

V8 SUPERCARS HOLDEN’S strike force in NZ at the weekend came not from Clayton, but Dandenong.

One of GRM’s best outings for some time resulted in a happy – but not ecstatic – Garry Rogers: “Yeah, not bad – but we’ve still got to find a bit haven’t we,” he summed up breezily.

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Lee Holdsworth’s third on Saturday was backed up with a great team 4-6 on Sunday, with street-smart driving from both Holdsworth and team-mate Caruso: “They’re both good young blokes … did a very good job … but we’re still not fast enough …”

Hard task-master. But, at the same time, realistic …

McIntyre in th

... but which one? SBR jig-saw depends on sponsors V8 SUPERCARS SELECTION of the fourth driver for Stone Brothers Racing’s endurance squad will depend on current sponsor negotiations to pair current full-time drivers Shane Van Gisbergen and Alex Davison in a ‘composite-sponsor’ lead car.

While the team confirmed at the weekend that double NZ V8 champ John McIntyre would join the team for the two endurance races, the finalisation of the fourth will have to wait.

Interestingly, with two companies from similar, if not

identical, industries on their two cars – SP Tools and Irwin Tools – the negotiations to incorporate the pair on one car should be interesting!

“If that’s successful, then Shane and Alex will pair up, leaving Johnny Mac as the lead driver in our second car,” Ross Stone confirmed at the weekend.

“In that case, we could run a relatively inexperienced youngster in the car with him.

“If we can’t pair Shane and Alex, then John (pictured right) will drive with Van Giz, and we’ll need a more experienced driver

news

Besnard on the look-out for long distance gig Could Bezzy follow James to Jim Beam Racing?

Phil Williams

V8 SUPERCARS Dirk Klynsmith

he tool box ...

s getting together

Dirk Klynsmith

to back up Alex.”

McIntyre is no stranger to SBR. He shared a car with the young Van Gisbergen when SBR was, albeit briefly, in the second half of 2007, running a black Falcon for Team Kiwi.

He is expected to turn up for the next Australian round featuring a ‘rookie’ session at the start of practice – Symmons Plains: “Not the best venue for someone to do their first laps in a car, but we want to take the opportunity,” concluded Stone.

THE announcement of Johnny McIntyre as an endurance driver for the Stone Brothers Racing team throws up an obvious question – what about David Besnard?

The former SBR regular has been the Yatala-based team’s endurance driver for the past two years, scoring backto-back Bathurst podiums with the factory Ford team alongside James Courtney.

Could the Season of Endurance see Courtney and Besnard team up again?

Besnard told eNews that right now, he is a free agent, and while he didn’t rule out a return to SBR, he said that initial discussions with Courtney’s new team Dick Johnson Racing have taken place.

“I’m in talks with a couple of teams, but there’s nothing solid yet,” he said.

“James and I finished on the podium twice in the last two years and we are a good

combination. That would be a good combination again, but there’s no deal done there.

“I’d like to do it with James again, but at this stage I’m a free agent.

“I’ve had some chats with them (Dick Johnson Racing) but we haven’t had an official sit down.”

In other David Besnard news, his ‘Real Deal Supercar Rides’ program kicks off this weekend at Queensland Raceway, raising funds for the victims of the Black Saturday Bushfires and the North Queensland floods.

“As far as selling rides go, we’re on target,” he said.

“We did a lot of advertising a few weeks ago and have just kicked that off again today (Monday) and that’s got the phone buzzing. I think we’ll get a good crowd out here regardless.

“After this event, we’ve got our next day on May 25, Calder on August 4 and a few booked in already at Christmas time.”

– GRANT ROWLEY

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Cancer claims Watson

Open wheeler ace and mentor dies after sudden illness GOLD STAR THE motor racing world on both sides of the Tasman was shocked last Wednesday at news of the death of Graham Watson, after a brief battle with cancer.

Watson had recently been disagnosed with an aggressive form of the disease and passed away in a Gosford hospital last Tuesday. He was a remarkably youthful 61.

Watson, born in Palmerston North in New Zealand, was a mainstay of open-wheeler racing in this country for three decades.

Through his Ralt Australia team, he became the driving force behind Formula Pacific in the 1980s and, when open-wheel racing evolved, he moved with the times.

In Formula Holden, his team was one of the yardsticks of the category, and when Ralt moved into Formula 3, again, success followed.

As recently as last month, Watson was running Tom Tweedie in the F3 event in Adelaide, despite the fact that he was spending time away from the track for medical treatment.

Graham Watson

GRAHAM Watson could be a prickly bugger.

That may seem an odd way to start off an obituary of someone as likable at he was, but I mean it in the best possible way. Watson was a racer, first and foremost, and if there was something written that got his back up, he was not one to stew about it. He would let you know!

I received several phonecalls over the years about something that had been in MNews that he did not like.

Watson would ring up, have his say and then – and this is unusual in this business – listen to the response.

Sometimes he agreed with

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what you would say; mostly, he did not. Then, even if there was still disagreement in the air, that was that. No carry-on, no sniping. It was over, and everyone moved on, and got on.

It’s fairly difficult not to like someone like that, even when you are arguing with them.

Graham was Ralt Australia, and vice versa. I am certain that he must have actually seen sedans race at some point, possibly he even liked them, but if he did, he never let on.

He loved open-wheeler racing with a passion, and was a Gold Star winner himself, taking the title in 1986 when he was nearing 40 years of age ...

His world revolved around thoroughbred racing cars. The list of drivers he mentored over the years was long, too long to list here. Suffice to say that Will Power and Scott Dixon could have compared notes about their time with Ralt, the two IndyCar stars winning two of the five Gold Stars won by Watson and his team.

Graham Watson was short of stature, and large of heart.

His passing saddens many, many people, including us. To his family, and many friends, rivals and admirers in the sport over many years, Motorsport News extends its sincerest condolences.

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Shannons set to shake Wakefield Dirk Klynsmith

THE second round of the Shannons Nationals kicks into life this weekend at Wakefield Park, starting the nationallevel series’busiest ever ontrack period.

The next seven rounds will be held at three-week

Marshall Cass

intervals, taking the series from Wakefield Park this weekend to Oran Park in the last weekend of August.

It’s the first time that the Shannons Nationals' has visited Wakefield Park since 2006 when the circuit hosted the very first Shannons Nationals round.

Headlining the show will be the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship, although grid numbers are likely to stay low after only 10 cars competed at the first round at Clipsal last month.

Championship leader Joey Foster will be looking to add to his two wins at Clipsal, while Tim Macrow will be out for wins to claw back points. Watch for the rural circuit’s track record to be broken as the track has been resurfaced since the category’s last visit.

A strong 19 car field will assemble for the opening round of the Australian Manufacturers Championship.

As reported last issue, Bathurst 12 Hour winner Rod Salmon and Team Mitsubishi Ralliart team-mate Glyn Crimp are among six cars in Class A

Burning up Goulburn: The Formula 3s will take to thee twists and turns of WP, with Tom Tweedie sure to have an emotional weekend.

Will Rod Salmon, above, be the man to catch in ManChamps?

All Wheel Drive. MINI Challenge regular Gary Young is revisiting his production car past, he'll race his Mitsubishi Lancer.

Jim Hunter will race his Subaru WRX, repaired after its 12 Hour crash while Garry Holt returns to the championship in his BMW 335i. He’s in Class A Rear Wheel Drive, against a group of HSV and FPV V8s.

The first round of the Commodore Cup and the Kerrick Sports Sedans Series will be held, as will the V8 Touring Cars. After debuting

last year, the unofficial ‘third tier’ V8 Supercar series sees a record 11 cars entered.

Reigning champ Chris Smerdon has added a second car for fellow South Aussie Michael Bartsch.

Jonathan Beikoff and Terry Wyhoon join the series in their AU Falcons from Fujitsu level, with Wyhoon's team also entering cars for Mark Sheppard and Leigh Moran.

Ben Eggleston is pencilled in to run his old VX Commodore in the series in 2009.

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Dirk Klynsmith

Willowbank’s history-making Doorslammer pass DRAG RACING The Castrol EDGE Tin Top Titles concluded with an Australian first at Willowbank Raceway – the first ‘five second’ side-by-side ‘doored car’ pass in the country.

West Australian duo John Zappia and Robin Judd ripped down the quarter miles together, with Zappia taking the win in the Top Doorslammer final 28 thousandths of a second ahead of Judd while resetting the national elapsed time record with a 5.85s pass at

246.58mph against Judd’s 5.94s at 242.20mph.

Zappia’s win also sees the defending Champion tighten his grip on the championship lead in the ANDRA Drag Racing Championship over his fellow West Aussie Judd – who almost saw his chances at staying in touch with the title scuttled in the semi-final by a hard charging Maurice Fabietti.

New South Welshman Fabietti reset the national speed record to 248.07mph in a semi-final run he looked sure to win with Judd only just able to wrestle back the victory for

Bray gets comfy ... just DRAG RACING Drag racing ace Ben Bray may have been chasing points in the ANDRA Top Doorslammer championship at Willowbank Raceway’s Castrol EDGE Tin Top Titles at the weekend, but he was sure to take time for some careful R & D ahead of his Junior Dragster challenge against Phil Lamattina, scheduled for May 30.

The three-time national champion caught up with 13 year old Junior Dragster

16

pilot Jake Donnelly over the weekend, milking the opportunity to gleam some advice from the youngster as well as try his hand at fitting in the car.

Bray will take on Top Fuel racer and current championship leader Phil Lamattina on May 30, with the Mildura carrot farmer set to take the wheel of the Wallace Bishop Jewellers Junior Jem of Cody Grohn in the challenge which will precede the season-ending Castrol EDGE Winternationals (June 4-7).

himself in the last stages of the quarter mile.

“I want to say thanks to Willowbank Raceway for putting on a great meeting and to my crew, who have worked so hard, well forever, but today especially,” said Zappia.

“We just managed to get the record back and I was quite happy with the 5.85s, and combined with the win it was just the perfect result for our new sponsors United Industries as well as Striker Crushing and Screening, Fuchs Lubricants and all our other sponsors that have supported me.”

news

Newcastle Showground’s will be anything but a drag in this weekend

Drag Roadshow rolls in DRAG RACING Newcastle Showground will host the largest gathering of Australian drag racing machines outside a national event on Sunday 26th April with free entry to all patrons.

The Australian Drag Racing Roadshow showcases the professional drag racing categories that compete in ANDRA Championship Drag Racing, exhibiting the biggest names in drag cars and teams and giving members of the public a unique chance to experience the power of Australia’s most potent form of motorsport.

Activities will include

simultaneous ‘fire-ups’ from multiple Top Fuel Dragsters, with each car producing more than 8000 horsepower and blasting a sound that cannot be described. Top Doorslammer teams will go head-to-head in engine rebuild competitions and all teams will have regular ‘tech talk’ sessions to give a behind-the-scenes look at what makes drag racing so exciting.

There are many of the sport’s big names attending, including current Australian Top Fuel Champ Phil Read and 2005 champ Darren Morgan. Also there will be Top Doorslammer pilots Dennis Brijeski and Sean Mifsud, Top Alcohol’s

Rick Gauci and Wayne Newby, Top Bike riders Phil and Sam Parker and Pro Stock racer Jason Hedges. All drivers will be accompanied by their impressive transporters with their cars on display.

“We are very excited about bringing the Australian Drag Racing Roadshow to Newcastle,” said ANDRA’s marketing spokesperson Dale Brittain.

“We know that Novocastrians love their motorsport and without the city having a national motorsport venue, they are somewhat starved of access to major events like ANDRA Championship Drag Racing. By bringing the Australian Drag Racing

Roadshow to Newcastle, we hope we can give all motorsport fans a chance to get up close of personal with one of the fastest growing sports in the country.

“There’s something for everybody – impressive race car displays, competitions, fireups from our 8000 horsepower beasts plus there also a show ‘n shine with cars from a large number of Newcastle and Hunter region car clubs.

“And the best part is that it is free. The only charge will be a nominal car parking fee for those choosing to park their vehicle at the venue.”

Gates open at the Showground at 11am.

17

news

Vic FFord gets National boost AFFC drivers flood state field under new regs, but not everyone’s happy ...

VIC STATE

Dirk Klynsmith

THIS weekend’s opening round of the Victorian Formula Ford series has received a flourish of late entries, but the number of Australian Formula Ford Championship regulars entering Duratec-powered cars has led to fears the series will simply become an AFFC test-bed.

Victoria is the first of the major state-based Formula Ford championships to allow Duratec-powered cars to enter, and the fuel-injected versions have outnumbered the traditional ‘Kent’ cars 16 to 13.

But while the entry is healthy, nine of the Duratec entries are cars that competed in the first round of the AFFC at Albert Park recently. And that has led to some of the regular statelevel competitors wondering if the series will become an extended test session.

“We’ve been against the Duratec thing because it makes us feel a bit like secondclass citizens,” said regular FF1600 racer Jon Miles.

“If these guys go out and have a crash and the race is red-flagged, well it’s just a test or a one-off for them, but it’s our race. The Kent numbers are down, and by the time Sandown rolls around and these National guys are starting to save money, the grids will be down.

“To be perfectly honest, I’m not locked in for the year. I’m putting the feelers out this weekend, and if there’s a stuff-

up, then I won’t come anymore.

We’ll wait and see how it goes.”

On the other side, AFFC semiregular Trent Harrison thinks the concept is great. He has a Duratec-powered Mygale, but doesn’t have the money to do the whole National Championship.

“I still want to do some of the National stuff later, so this is good,” added Harrison.

“Most of the National guys are doing the state series, so

it gives me a chance to keep racing against the big boys.”

Despite the economic doom and gloom, entries for this weekend’s meeting at Phillip Island are good. On top of the 29 Formula Fords there will be 21 Formula Vees, 18 Historic Touring Cars, 23 HQ Holdens, 23 Improved Production Cars, 30 MGs, 21 Porsches, 20 Sports Cars, 14 Sports Sedans and 15 Superkarts.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Radical! NSW Sportscar racing gets an upgrade NSW STATE

18

John Morris/Mpix

THE NSW State Championship has received a boost to its competitor numbers through an agreement between the West and Radical Sportscars and the Supersport category.

As of Wakefield Park last weekend, competitors driving West or Radical Sportscars will compete not only for the NSW Racing and Sportscar Championship, but for a respective marque championship as well.

The concept is a unique way of enabling each marque to develop its own popularity, while also enabling the very

different cars to compete for an overall championship.

Competitors can buy and race their own cars, or simply negotiate a package to have a car fully prepared, then just turn

up ready to race. Judging by the number of P-plates stuck to rear guards, there has already been an influx of new drivers to the sport.

– JOHN MORRIS

19

5 Minutes with ...

STEVEN JOHNSON While DJR, the team, is in resurgence, so is Steven Johnson. Junior is contending with a highly thought-of team-mate but, with the Jim Beam team’s new-found CHRIS LAMBDEN pace, is revelling in the opportunity to be a contender

Is there any improved ease of accessing, changing things on the run?

Yes, but it’s always better when you’re not chasing something.

You know, “what are we going to do now”, everyone’s trying to chase something. When the car is basically good, you’re not changing too much all the time anyway!

Now, we have a good car, and it’s just a matter of finetuning, which is what all the good teams do.

Do you go your own way shocks/suspension-wise, or is there data available as part of the deal?

20

millions developing their new car – what’s good, what’s not, they’ve tried a lot of things – so we’ve bypassed all that and effectively got the end product, which is what they’ve got … and it’s great. We haven’t had to spend the money on the development.

Dirk Klynsmith

MOTORSPORT eNEWS: A few races in, DJR’s decision to become a customer car team is paying dividends – how different is this to your previous car?

STEVE; JOHNSON: It’s got better corner entry grip better midcorner grip, better traction/ power-down in a lateral sense, although in a straight line, it is no different to our old car.

You can just attack the corners more. Our old car had a bit of a dead spot in the middle of a corner – it was slow right in mid-corner – whereas now we have a lot more mid-corner grip.

Those are the main differences. It probably rides the bumps a little bit better, The shocks and shock settings are much as we had in the old car, but, it must be the shell, this rides the bumps better.

revised qualifying deal. Even though I’m third today, tomorrow is a separate event, and so the idea of separate qualifying is a good one.

At Clipsal the system worked for us – here we’ve qualified well, and so it probably works against us in that we have to repeat it tomorrow … [ED: paradoxically, Junior was to go on and grab pole in the first-ever 20 minute Sunday qualifying ‘sprint’!].

Personally, you’re body language suggests a confidence level that you perhaps haven’t had for a while …

Yup. It is so much more encouraging now. You’re not sitting in the car thinking “right, how am I going to muscle this thing around.” Now, you know it’s going to be fast and it’s more a matter of driving smooth and fast and getting the best out of it. And if we do that, then we’re going to be up the front somewhere – which is obviously pleasing!

So I just have to make sure that we keep working bloody hard, keep the advantage that we’ve gained, and keep it going through the year. If we do that, there’s no reason why we can’t spring a surprise … top three in the championship perhaps.

Having acquired the cars in this way, how much does it save the team in planning, design, and build costs?

It does save a lot of money – but, remember, our guys were over there building them with them. It’s not so much the cost of the car build, it’s the money that’s gone into developing it. They’ve spent

You’d be suggesting this deal is the best decision DJR has made for some time …

Absolutely. We didn’t have the money over the last couple of years to buy a car off them – which we could have. We did a big upgrade of our old cars instead, which made a difference, but this is a big step forward.

NOW, WE HAVE A GOOD CAR, AND IT’S JUST A MATTER 0F FINE TUNING. STEVIE J IS HAPPY TO BE BACK AT THE POINTY END No, there’s no data, no set-up information. Basically, they gave us the cars, less engine, and said “away you go, boys.”

They don’t tell us what they are running in their shocks. We have to do all that ourselves otherwise you get involved in the whole ‘grouping’ issue.

They don’t want to give us that anyway ¬ they want to beat us!

Regardless, you’re getting closer to the T8 cars – how is the car on its tyres?

Really, really good, way better than our old car. It’s probably the main gain.

With the longer races this year, we just have to get into the races, not do anything silly early on, and be there as the race develops.

Incidentally [this interview was conducted after Saturday qualifying], I’m all for the

chat

Dirk Klynsmith

21

Hamilton: a tough test – well, for some ... opinion ANOTHER impeccably-organised Hamilton event, albeit in front of a reduced ‘economic downturn’ crowd, with an overwhelming prime message: Triple Eight is stronger than ever with the new Falcon – and that goes for its customers too.

When your toughest opposition for the weekend turns out to be your best customer – and you’ve got a trick or two up your sleeve to keep them at bay – life is good. So it is at the House of Roland right now.

But it is far from boring – with subplots all over the place.

Four from four is impressive from Jamie Whincup – just as intriguing is the pressure this must increasingly place on Craig Lowndes. No-one likes a 0-4 score-line. Craig attacked qualifying, his achilled heel, with some gusto but, in the end, it was still one of ‘those’ weekends.

While GRM impressed, and nailed a strong team result, Kelly Bros gives all indications of a team on the up. The cars look to have reasonable pace – especially in a straight line – and it was only a couple of incidents, mostly not of their doing, which pushed the duo back down the result sheets.

“Yeah, it was pretty good … until it went bad,” grimaced Todd. Both were caught out in Sunday qualifying’s red flag, and both had battle damage – Rick’s as a result of an ambitious dive by young Kiwi, Shane van Gizbergen.

Hamilton does have its own pressures

CHRIS LAMBDEN mNews Publisher

for the Kiwi drivers, with success ‘at home’ important for them all: Murph’s crown is slipping; Jason Richards has been a consistent if ‘on the edge’ challenger; Van Giz has already shown that he is fast, very fast – if impatient; but this weekend’s Kiwi kudos belonged exclusively to Fabian Coulthard.

Yes, with one of T8’s latest under him, he has a car the envy of the other Enzedders, but you have to use it well and drive smart on a risky street circuit, and DC’s cousin did just that. Paul Cruickshank’s expansion to two cars is, thus far, going well.

As is the rebuilding of Dick Johnson Racing. The optimism is infectious. And nowhere is it more noticeable than Steven Johnson’s demeanour. Junior has gone through the bad times with the team and, seemingly, was no cert to retain his spot this year under the new joint-ownership regime. But the bodylanguage is up-beat from a slim-as-he’sever-been Johnson Jr, and with it the confidence that allows him to compete on equal terms with new team-mate James Courtney – indeed out-qualifying his mate, grabbing pole on Sunday, was one of the highlights of a weekend full of intrigue.

Jamie may be walking away with the championship but, behind him, it’s going to be quite a contest …

Letters

Have your say – email us at mail@mnews.com.au.

And your point is?

While reading the story of Muphy redesigning [well, inspecting] the track in New Zealand for safety reasons, I couldn’t help but be taken back to Bathurst where a clash between him and Ambrose finished lots of hopes and

22

dreams.

Hopefully the drivers since then can race side by side without robbing race fans of the most exciting race.

K. Welsh Gladstone Calling All Frogs I live in Homebush Bay, about

half a kilometre from the proposed V8 circuit and the Royal Easter Showground (the circuit runs through the showground).

I can’t believe what I have just read in MNews about the ban on fireworks. For the past six nights we have been

bombarded with fireworks at 9pm each night at the close of the Easter Show each day.

Not that I care much about the fireworks but, jeeze, where do they find these people [original word replaced by editing staff!].

I also bike ride through

opinion Dirk Klynsmith

The View from The Arcadia

Dirk Klynsmith

EVERYONE says that street circuits enhance the spectacle of our sport, but from what I heard on the weekend, I’m not so sure.

I chose to watch Sunday’s action at Melbourne’s Arcadia Hotel and, given that the telecast started before any of the footy matches did, I convinced the manager to put it on the biggest of the pub’s big screens. The race hadn’t long been running when a bloke with a Richmond Tiger’s jumper on stumbled in, stuck some flyers for a poker match on the wall, and then looked confused at the big screen.

“This is dumb,” he said. I told him that I disagreed, he added “not the sport, just this track. Look, how are you supposed to overtake?”

The answer is, you can’t overtake. It’s too narrow, and too bumpy off line.

out the whole Homebush and Olympic Park area two to three times per week (about 200kms), which I have been doing now for some years, and I have never seen a frog of any kind in the district …

Peter Doulman Homebush Bay, NSW ED: Doulman, frogs are a bit like snipers; it’s not the one that you see that are the threat. It’s obviously the ones with all that Darwinianinspired camouflage ...

And on the one straight where you could get a run, there’s a car-breaking chicane stuck in the middle, making the sure the cars are all in single-file.

A while later, as the pub started to get busier, one of the bar staff pleaded with me to change the channel.

“This is so boring,” she said. “They’re not doing anything. I haven’t even seen anyone overtake.”

It was only that there were just a few laps left to run that kept the cars on the big screen.

The funny part is, an hour or so later I got one of the smaller screens put on ONE HD for the Chinese Grand Prix, and there was genuine interest from almost the whole pub in the result …

Sure, street circuits might be a big coup for the category. But the casual sports observer, the one our sport

TV, Part XIXVIII I kind of skimmed over the letters section in eNews last week, and saw something about IndyCars and television.

The truth is, it just did not compute.

Here were are, viewers of IndyCars and before that, Champ Cars and CART, and now that there are a couple of Aussies at the winning end of the series, and yet there is nothing on free-to-air television?

opinion Andrew van Leeuwen mNews National Editor needs to attract if it realistically wants to rival footy and cricket, doesn’t care that the city of Hamilton invested big to get Tander and Whincup on its streets.

It doesn’t care about platform sponsors or stakeholders either. The casual sports fan wants entertainment, and that’s exactly what Hamilton didn’t provide.

Look at it this way; when a bloke who supports Richmond, a team that loses with regularity that would make a Swiss watch jealous, complains about a result being too predictable, then there is a genuine problem to address.

I am old enough to remember Whining Nigel limping out of the car at Surfers, and Alex Zanardi getting past that car (ED: Bryan Herta) at Laguna on the dirt, but now, nothing?

I saw your reply to last week’s letter, any good news?

Ron Reynolds via email ED: There is lots of good news, Ron. Unfortunately, none of it concerns IndyCars and Australian television.

We have communicated with both Ten/ONE and FoxSports in recent days and there are no plans to show any of the IndyCar series on either network.

Nor, so we understand, will the Indianapolis 500 be telecast in Australia.

There are more TV networks out there, so fingers crossed ...

23

V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES RACES 3-4, HAMILTON 400, NZ

24

race

On Top of his Game

Four races in, who would bet against Jamie Whincup now? Hamilton provided the latest perfect score for the defending champ – but behind him there is a great deal of competition … CHRIS LAMBDEN reports

25

F

OUR races into the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series, Jamie Whincup is unbeaten, and he doesn’t look like being beaten.

After he slipped past Saturday’s pole man Mark Winterbottom when the latter drifted slightly wide on the opening lap and lost some momentum for the following straight, Race 1 on Hamilton’s streets was over – at least as far as winning went.

Whincup was in total control, eking out 3-4 second buffers between Safety Cars, and comfortably covering the chasing Winterbottom at the final four-laps-to-go restart caused when Marcus Marshall dislodged the final tyre bundle at THE chicane …

Indeed, the slightly straighter exit from the chicane allowed the Team Vodafone gun to nail a lap record., twice, as he quickly gapped the pack at the green.

26

It was comprehensive.

Frosty had no answer, but was certainly best-of-the-rest – although having to resist a determined Lee Holdsworth over the late stages.

After both GRM’s sprang a qualifying surprise, Holdsworth was the one who delivered, fifth out of Turn 1, then sneaking past Tander and, later, Johnson during the pit cycle. A strong drive, one of his best.

Team-mate Caruso had qualified a superb fourth, but was slow away, and from there it got worse. A couple of stops later, and still struggling, laps down, he would play an unwilling part in the late drama at the final restart – the sluggish Commodore forcing Tander to prop, in turn nailed by Courtney, both paying a price for the heavy contact.

Their demise provided a late bonus for, without doubt, the Drive of the Race outside the top three – Fabian Coulthard

(see other story).

Yes, he’d blown his best qualifying lap in an obviously quick car … but so had Richo, on the grid beside him on the 11th row. The experienced Richo climbed steadily, to 15th at the end. Coulthard was sixth.

The Other Young Kiwi, Shane van Gisbergen’s solid run from grid 11 came to naught with a 28 second penalty for nudging Paul Dumbrell aside – with a Safety Car so close to the finish, it dropped him way down, to 17th.

The Other Davo, Alex, showed some resilience and patience, ninth after starting 15th., but further back there were sob stories – Murph, nosing into the wall (apparently a cut tyre) early on, and Marshall, ending a solid run with his chicane misdemeanour, compounded by the dislodged oil pump belt that saw him damage the engine as he drove back to the pits …

I

n Race 2, pole man Steve Johnson out-dragged his team-mate to Turn 1 when the lights went out on Sunday’s 59-lapper.

Indeed, Courtney, still not totally confident with the clutches DJR use (a different brand to those he’s been used to at SBR), had to let Richo take the line, and emerged third, from Whincup, Caruso and Holdsworth.

While Lowndes and Van Giz tussled, #888 tagged Winterbottom, bending the right steering arm. The car veered left, bouncing off the wall, bending the opposite one.

While the steering still pointed straight ahead, the toe out was huge – game over. Lowndes sought out Frosty later to apologise.

All this allowed Coulthard to grab seventh, from Murph, Rick Kelly, and a recovering Lowndes.

While Johnson was able to ease out a second and an half

race

Dirk Klynsmith

Mixed up weekend, same final result: In Race 1, Mark Winterbottom, above, challenged Jamie Whincup, but eventually took second place. Left: Junior leads! But Jamie played it cool and won ... again.

Right, Lee Holdsworth is running second in the championship after a stunning start to the 2009 season.

Dirk Klynsmith

over Richards, Courtney worked at keeping Whincup at bay, but the race was decided when the orange Vodafone car peeled in after just 19 laps.

Jaws must have dropped at DJR. The T8 car was going to get 40 laps out of a tank of E85, more than DJR can currently dream of.

“We thought about whether to bring someone in to cover Jamie,” reported team manager Adrian but we simply couldn’t make it to the end. So we stuck to our original plan.”

Steven’s stop, when it came, was a fraction slow. Courtney was shortfuelled to see what he could do, but in the end, the race was for second.

“I had to conserve fuel in the end,” said James, “so that was that.”

Regardless, it was a redletter day for DJR – two cars on the podium a solid reward for the team’s resurgence.

Behind them, Holdsworth and Caruso again did the business for Garry Rogers, sandwiching the impressive Coulthard at the end.

The HRT duo plugged their way forward steadily from their terrible grid, eventually sandwiching Murph (pleased to just finish a race), ahead of the consistent Alex Davison, who rounded out the top ten.

The signs are ominous.

Four T8 Falcons in the top five (not including Lowndes, who joined the Chicane wipeout Club). Four from four for Whincup. Is there anyone out there who can match it? Not at the moment …

V8 Supercar | ROUND 2, HAMILTON 400, NZ Pos #

Driver

Team/Car

Q

3

Q

4

1 1 9 33 4 17 21 111 12 22 8 18 16 4 5 2 6 15 11 9 23 24 22 6 26 333 10 34 20 8 2 5 7 7 27 14 13 11 17 51 29 16 19 25 14 10 EXC 55 28 021 18 39 3 888 15 77 24 3 25 67

Jamie Whincup Lee Holdsworth Steven Johnson Fabian Coulthard Will Davison James Courtney Alex Davison Garth Tander Rick Kelly Shane Van Gisbergen David Reynolds Steven Richards Michael Patrizi Michael Caruso Jason Richards Mark Winterbottom Todd Kelly Cameron McConville Jack Perkins Greg Murphy Dale Wood Jason Bright Paul Dumbrell Tony D’Alberto Dean Fiore Russell Ingall Craig Lowndes Marcus Marshall Jason Bargwanna Tim Slade

Team Vodafone Falcon FG 1 1 4 1 GRM Commodore VE 9 3 6 4 Jim Beam Racing Falcon FG 4 5 1 3 Wilson Security Falcon FG 21 6 9 5 Toll HRT Commodore VE 12 4 20 7 Jim Beam Racing Falcon FG 8 13 2 2 Irwin Racing Falcon FG 16 9 21 10 Toll HRT Commodore VE 5 11 19 9 Jack Daniel’s Commodore VE 6 7 13 14 SP Tools Racing Falcon FG 11 17 7 15 Bunderberg Commodore VE 23 12 22 11 FPR Falcon FG 22 15 3 12 Wilson Security Falcon BF 26 16 25 13 GRM Commodore VE 10 25 5 6 Team BOC Commodore VE 20 10 18 22 FPR Falcon FG 2 2 10 DNF Jack Daniel’s Commodore VE 7 8 17 24 WOW Racing Commodore VE 27 15 28 19 Dodo Commodore VE 13 19 24 17 Sprint Gas Commodore VE 17 DNF 11 8 Hi-Tec Oils Commodore VE 29 22 27 16 Fujitsu Racing Falcon BF 19 21 15 18 Autobarn Commodore VE 14 18 14 23 Bottle-O Commodore VE EXC 20 16 21 TKR Commodore VE 28 DNF 30 20 Supercheap Auto VE 18 23 12 DNF Team Vodafone Falcon FG 3 24 8 DNF Team Intaracing Falcon BF 15 DNF 29 DNF Sprint Gas Commodore VE 24 DNF 23 DNF Supercheap Commodore VE 25 DNF 26 DNS

Points: Whincup 600, Holdsworth 498, W. Davison 483, Johnson 462, Coulthard 354, J. Richards 324, R. Kelly 315, Tander 285, Van_Gisbergen 282, Courtney 272, A. Davison 252, Bright 234, McConville 231, Winterbottom 228, T. Kelly 219, S. Richards 213, Reynolds 207, Lowndes 201, Dumbrell 195, Caruso 189, Murphy 180, Patrizi 177, Ingall 176, Wood 159, Fiore 153, D’Alberto 123, Perkins 102, Marshall 63, Bargwanna 45.

27

Tyres dominate the chat

Murray, hakas and pit stop Five sets to play with, but what about the chicane? blunders FROM THE COUCH Phil Branagan

Dirk Klynsmith

28

Gold in the high-jump stakes went to Jason Richards, who re-arranged the front of the BOC Commodore – yet somehow miraculously didn’t hit the outside wall ...

TYRES of two kinds were the centre of interest this weekend.

The allocation of ‘just’ five sets of slicks for a weekend that now included a second qualifying session had most teams in serious tyre conservation mode.

Some chose to run few laps on Friday, in any case using just the one set.

But more contentious was the use, then removal, then re-appearance of the tyre bundles just behind the kerbs on the threepart chicane on the back straight.

When they were removed, for the final session on Friday, times plummeted, as drivers simply straight-lined it, and held on as their

cars flew – a bit like Turn 1 at Clipsal.

The drivers were called in at their briefing that evening to discuss it, with the result that the tyres re-appeared on Saturday morning – primarily because the high-flying could result in a suspension breakage.

Drivers views, of course, varied. Several were prepared to put up with the bundles, but Alex Davison was adamant – “tyres have no place on a race track!”

Most interesting, though, was the discussion that “next year” the chicane might disappear completely – assuming that either the previous corner might be slowed and/or runoff at the next corner increased.

Coulthard: One happy customer Drive of the weekend, outside of the podium, had to be that of Fabian Coulthard – winning the unofficial ‘Kiwi’ Cup – with sixth and fifth places., the first after an error on the crucial lap kept him out of the top 20.

Apart from confirming the wisdom of the Wilson Security Racing team (nee Cruickshank Racing) move to ‘customer’ Triple 8 cars, the result enhanced the youngster’s resume, coming with a healthy dose of patience as well as pace.

Coulthard is revelling in the driveability of his

’09 car: “Our old car used to understeer, but this car has plenty of front grip – almost too much sometimes – but it’s nice to have to dial it out, rather than the other way round.

The #111 car finished both races with barely a minor scratch – an achievement when coming through from a moderate grid: “The team has a modest budget, so you simply can’t be crashing cars too often. You have to try and go easy on the gear, and be patient when you have to. But really, the car is very good …” sutton-images.com Dirk Klynsmith

I CAN just see it now.

At a future race, Mark Skaife compliments me on a feature story in Motorsport News, and I immediately forget the rules of grammar, completely and forever.

Skaifey is fast becoming the new Murray Walker. Over the course of the weekend, how many times did he compliment a driver on his driving, and immediately watch that driver fire it into the nearest convenient concrete wall? Ouch!

I exaggerate, only to manufacture something to complain about. The pictures from Hamilton were good, and V8 Supercars’ 2009 voices are gelling nicely, though if I am picky, I would have swapped the extended coverage of the Haka for a grid walk. As stated before, please, mike up MS and chuck into the mix at Winton, and let’s see and hear what comes out the other side.

Also, was there a sense of ‘Ooops’ in Race 2? Surely, when the Fones pitted JDub from traffic on lap 19, the story of the race became his lap times in clean air versus those of the leader – at the time, Steve Johnson. When Junior pitted and James Courtney stayed out up front, the game was on – but by the time we got some information about how the race would play out, the silver and red horse had pretty much bolted.

And, if anyone had doubts about the 20-minute Sunday Q session, don’t be bolstered by the shortened NZ session. It was shaping up to be a cracker. Bring on Winton.

race

Hamilton: a tough test – well, for some ...

Tander,, right, and Will Davo, were both factors in Saturday’s race, but the HRT duo were caught out in Sunday’s qualifier and spent the day in catch-up mode.

A question of timing – new Q catches some out ...

FOR the first time, V8 Supercars dealt with the concept of two completely different qualifying procedures in one weekend.

From the tyre-consuming complexity of the three-stage (including the Shootout) version on Saturday, to Sunday’s all-in 20 minutes, there were obvious contrasts in approach.

Sunday had implications on Saturday where teams were, in general, as miserly on tyre use as possible – many trying to ensure two ‘green’ sets were still available for Sunday’s ‘sprint’ qualifying session. And then, Sunday’s session threw in a late curly one …

Going straight into qualifying on Saturday (and then Sunday) morning without a warm-up caught a few out.

Whether it was slight grip changes around the street circuit, or a set-up change which hadn’t worked, there were a number of puzzled faces up and down pit lane after Q1, and Q2 … none more so than Steven Richards languishing in 22nd. He would start alongside Fabian Coulthard, who had

muffed Sector 2 after a Sector 1 blinder.

Their races would provide an interesting contrast.

The final ten looked representative, although Will Davison had missed the cut, another slightly bemused as to why.

The stars of the Shootout were the GRM pair and Steven Johnson. Caruso nailed fourth, two spots ahead of his more experienced team-mate, while Johnson out-qualified his team-mate, grabbing grid three, some four-tenths up on JC. Top stuff with better to come on Sunday!

Winterbottom and Whincup, of course, duked it out for pole – and Frosty won, by less than a thousandth!

Sunday’s 20-minute qualifier – with just as much at stake – ended up illustrating why it’s not ideal to leave your big run until the last few seconds, like the F1 boys do.

After 10 minutes of sort-out, out came the greens, everyone aiming at Whincup’s first-run time.

Both the GRM boys, and Coulthard,

banged in good ones, still shy of Jamie and then, with six minutes to go, Courtney went to P1 in style. Two minutes later, Stevie J put together a super lap and took over at the top – but Whincup was warming up on fresh greens and was flying.

Through the final complex he was threetenths up, but back across the circuit Tim Slade was in the process of having an accident. The red flashed and the timing stopped as the Vodafone car was metres short of the line – it would have been pole by a good three-tenths … but it wasn’t.

And to be honest, nobody minded. It provided redemption for Richo too – amid all this, the FPR man had jagged third, a relieved man. Van Giz too, had popped in a seventh-best 1m24.3568.

It was a disaster however for HRT, the duo bogged in 19th and 20th respectively, losing their last, potentially best, laps too.

Lessons all round – but a great moment for the reborn Steve Johnson, and a grid mixed up just enough to promise an interesting afternoon …

Just a little Kiwi battler

Dirk Klynsmith

IT was a relieved Greg Murphy who saw the chequered flag on Sunday afternoon.

It came after a fraught Saturday, a bad qualifying run, and a race which lasted just six laps.

“It’s a wonder I’ve got any supporters left!” quipped the man who wears his heart on his sleeve.

It’s been a difficult time for Murph,

and indeed the Sprint Gas team. The ex-HRT Commodores are a frustrating few tenths off the pace – “we’re still not quite there with our shocks,” suggests team manager Jeff Grech.

But Sunday brought some consolation at least – a steady, if conservative run to eighth.

“I’d almost forgotten what it feels like ...” quipped Murph.

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V8 SUPERCAR SUPPORTS HAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND

sutton-images.com

The other V8 races ...

Former TKR driver Kayne Scott dominates BNT NZ V8 support races NZ V8s

NEWLY-CROWNED BNT V8 Champion Kayne Scott took three victories to dominate the BNT V8 support races at the Hamilton 400.

Scott also set a new lap record in the #1 Fujitsu Ford to complete an excellent final weekend for the Mark Petch Motor Sport team.

To add to Scott’s jubilation in the non-championship races, the victory was secured on his home turf. Hamilton is where he grew up, and to win in such style around the street circuit

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made him one very happy local.

“I’m very happy!” he predictably said.

Scott was just pipped for pole position by LG Ford driver Angus Fogg during Friday’s qualifying and then had to fight hard to win the weekend’s first 14-lap race. But start-to-finish victories in the other two races secured him trophy.

Second for the weekend was Auckland driver Tim Edgell in the Chesters Ford. Having been unable to set a qualifying time on Friday due to a broken

driveshaft, Edgell drove from the rear of the 20 starting grid into a well-deserved fifth place in the first race. From there he improved to finish second in Race 2, but faced a serious challenge from a hardcharging Fogg in Race 3 when Fogg drove through the field from 12th to snatch second place from Edgell. The second and third places that Edgell secured on the Hamilton street circuit are his best two results all season.

Fogg finished the trophy weekend third overall. Having set his first pole position this

season, he was tangled in a variety of situations – some his own doing, many caused by others. Despite the challenges, ‘Foggy’ secured two second places and a 12th to complete the final round of the BNT V8s 2008-09 season on the podium.

Dean Perkins made up for not competing in the whole BNT V8s championship with a strong run in Hamilton, putting together fourth, fifth and sixth places in the GT Radial Ford to finish fourth overall ahead of new Stone Brothers Racing endurance driver John McIntyre.

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Who else but Baird ...

Bairdo dominates, but Vincent gets his first Porsche victory NZ GT3 CUP CRAIG Baird won the first two Porsche GT3 Cup races at Hamilton last weekend, but come Race 3, the landscape changed.

With the top six places being reversed for the final race, Baird was involved in a lap one accident, leaving Jody Vincent to race on to his first

NZ Porsche victory.

In Race 1, Baird cruised to the win from Jono Lester and Anthony Pedersen.

Saturday’s second race saw Lester again chase home Baird, but this time, Daniel Gaunt and Johnny McInyre were in striking distance.

Race 3 gave Vincent his first taste from Gaunt and Mark Russ.

The first taste: Category stalwart Jody Vincent won for the first time at Hamilton.

Stanaway’s magic TRS debut TOYOTA RACING SERIES IN his Toyota Racing Series category debut, Tauranga student Ritchie Stanaway won both races at the Hamilton 400.

Having taken pole for both races, Stanaway capped a dominant flag to flag performance in Saturday’s race with a hard-fought win in Race 2.

In his first ever TRS drive, the 2009 Formula Ford champion made sure of his first race start and was only challenged at turn one on the first lap when 2009 Toyota Racing Series Champion Mitch Cunningham slammed into the rear of his car. Michael Burdett

eventually took second place ahead of Nathan Antunes, Daynom Templeman and John Whelan. Cunningham retired on lap three.

In Race 2, Stanaway was pushed all the way by Burdett. The two pulled away from the field, Burdett holding desperately onto his lead and locking tyres under braking. Behind him, Stanaway was drawing closer, fainting left and right at the end of the straights as he looked for a way past.

Eventually, Stanaway managed to force his way up the inside of Burdett’s car and the pair went through the corner side by side, continuing down the straight and through the next corner

wheel to wheel before Stanaway made the pass work. Burdett lightly brushed the concrete circuit wall as he slotted his car behind Stanaway.

Antunes ran in third place until he spun, leaving Alastair Wootten, Andrew Waite and Mitch Cunningham were all nose to tail chasing the remaining podium position.

Andrew Waite’s challenge ended in a lurid spin, leaving Wootten to fend off a charging Mitch Cunningham.

The Lites class (TRS cars run as a transitional step for young racers aiming to move up) was won by Mitchell Evans, who was first Lites car across the line in both races.

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TIN TOP NATIONALS WILLOWBANK RACEWAY

History, delivered in the John Zappia and Robin Judd created side-by-side history at Willowbank Raceway.

KEN FERGUSON reports 32

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fives

Ken Ferguson

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was a national record – 5.85s at 246mph in the final over Robin Judd. Judd’s 5.94s at 242mph in the other lane helped create history as the first side-by-side ‘five’ by Doorslammers. Judd had earlier recorded his best pass of the event with a 5.90s at 242mph to defeat the everimproving Maurice Fabietti, who also recorded his firstever five second pass – 5.99s at 247mph. Fabietti also recorded a 248.07mph speed in his loss to Judd to give him the new national speed record. Zappia has now strengthened his lead in the championship.

In the Pro Stock class, Aaron Tremayne defeated Shane Tucker and Nick Xerakias en route to the final to face the improving Dave Newcombe.

Newcombe had earlier defeated Tyronne Tremayne with a holeshot victory in the first round, and Scott Porter in the second to reserve his

Ken Ferguson

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Ken Ferguson

W

EST Australia’s John Zappia and Robin Judd created another part of drag racing history at Willowbank Raceway’s Castrol Edge Tin Tops last weekend, recording the country’s very first side-by-side five second Doorslammer pass.

Defending national champion Zappia was simply untouchable during the twoday event, recording nothing but 5.8s passes on his way to the final. Defending Pro Stock champion Aaron Tremayne wasn’t quite as dominant, but did emerge victorious in the class. Phil ‘Bluey’ Howard also grabbed victory in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class on board Trevor Birrell’s Suzuki.

Zappia’s dominance over the remainder of the Top Doorslammer field is the story of the 2009. With a string of five second passes, his best

place in the final. Tremayne grabbed the holeshot victory over Newcombe with a slower winning time of 7.16s at 191mph over Newcombe’s 7.15s at 191mph.

Other class winners include Phil Howard (Pro Stock Motorcycle), David Rundmann (Comp Bike), Mike Hunt (Super Stock), Dennis Byth

(Competition), Collin Willshire (Super Compact), Brian Martin (Supercharged Outlaws), Kelly Corbett (Modified), Allan Grimsey (Super Sedan), Dale Nagel (Super Street), Mark Wacker (Modified Bike), Blaze Hansen (Junior Dragster), Mike Bailey (Super Gas), Johnny Wilson (Modified Street) and Craig Hewitt (Pro Street).

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Ken Ferguson

Ken Ferguson

Spin me ‘round, like a record: Above, John Zappia advanced to the final when he disposed of Gary Phillips. Left, Maurice Fabietti recored his first-ever 5 second pass, while Stuart Bishop, below, also set a personall best time with a 6.01s. Considering his shunt in testing three weeks ago, it was a good effort.

Opposite top, Aaron Tremayne won Pro Stock, and Phil Howard, opposite left, won Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Ken Ferguson

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INDYCAR SERIES ROUND 2 – TOYOTA GP OF LONG BEACH, CA

It was a weekend of comebacks at Long Beach. Helio Castroneves returned to the Sports pages of the newspapers, and Dario Franchitti reminded everyone that he can flat-out drive

AMERICA’S SCOT TALENT 36

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Honda Racing

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A

NY remaining ideas in the race than she had in that Dari Franchitti qualifying, during which she would ever race had really struggled. a Stock Car again “It was a lot of fun!” grinned were swept away at Long Franchitti after the race.

Beach.

“The race came down to A year in the NASCAR the timing of my first pit stop, wilderness was bad news for and Chip [Ganassi] and the the Scot; the good was the team called it perfectly, as the way he returned to the streets ‘reds’ [option tyres] were just in Chip Ganassi’s Dallara. starting to go off a little bit.”

Qualifying second, Franchitti It was far from a good found himself muscled down race for St Pete winner Ryan to fourth on the opening lap of Briscoe and Scott Dixon. The the race, so after he forced his two tangled when running way back to second, the team sixth and seventh behind a switched his strategy, pitting Safety Car, the Aussie copping him for fuel at the opportunity. a bent nose and a 30s stopWhat appeared to be the go penalty. Dixon was spun first yellow of the race was not, around, losing a lap and and was costly for Power. The dropping back to 15th place.

Aussie slowed; Justin Wilson The standout performance and Raphael Matos pounced, of the race was that of Matos. forcing him back to third.

After qualifying third, he The race played out and, looked absolutely capable of after the final round of stops, challenging the leaders, and Franchitti headed Power, Tony it was only due to an extra Kanaan and a reborn Danica pitstop that he ended up at Patrick, who looked far better the wrong end of the top 10.

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Red Red, TomTom: Dario Franchitti looked assured on the streets, above, and just as happy with a kiss from wife Ashley, right.

Raphael Matos, below, had a great race in the Luzco Dragon entry.

INDYCAR | TOYOTA GP of LONG BEACH, CA 1 10 2 12 3 11 4 7 5 4 6 26 7 3 8 2 9 02 10 34

Mister Versatile the steering wheel and off the pit board,” said Power, perhaps missing the irony that he was now sponsored by mobile phone carrier Verizon Wireless.

“I’m very happy; second is very good. I feel happy for all the guys. They put a lot of effort in. I really want to thank Roger Penske and Tim Cindric for bringing this car here for me. They’ve given me a fantastic ride and I can’t thank them enough.”

Power is now second in the series, has one more confirmed start, at Indianapolis.

Target Ganassi Team Penske Andretti Green Andretti Green Panther Racing Andretti Green Team Penske Luzco Dragon Racing Newman Haas Lanigan Conquest Racing

Q2 1 11 22 14 19 8 3 15 9

INDYCAR | pointS Franchitti 84, Power 69, Briscoe 67, Kanaan 65, Hunter-Reay 59, Wilson 49, Wheldon 46, Andretti/Rahal 45, Patrick 44.

All Images: Honda Racing

IT was a big weekend for Will Power.

He was fastest on Friday – in car #3, above. But the team had the news that Helio Castroneves was on his way west (in a Penske jet) after being cleared to race by a Miami Court, cleared of his tax evasion charges.

So, Power swapped rides – and planted car #12 on pole position. Sunday was tougher, with a number of problems, but second was a great result.

“We had no radio and no telemetry, so I was doing it off

Dario Franchitti GB Will Power Aus Tony Kanaan Br Danica Patrick USA Dan Wheldon GB Marco Andretti USA Helio Castroneves Br Raphael Matos Br Robert Doornbos Ned Alex Tagliani Can

He smiles, he dances: Helio Castroneves got back in the papers for the right reasons, above. On his return to racing, he finished seventh.

Danica Patrick, left, had a lousy Saturday but was strong on Sunday, taking fourth place.

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NASCAR SPRINT CUP ROUND 8 – SUBWAY FRESH FIT 500, PHOENIX, AZ

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50 is the new 30 NASCAR Media

Whoever said that 50 was old was wrong – just ask Mark Martin, who ended a fouryear drought from pole position in Phoenix.

By MARTIN D CLARK

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Fords.

All that ended last Saturday at Phoenix International Speedway when Martin took his first win in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevy.

“The thought went through my mind, 1989 with Jack Roush when I got my first win at Rockingham, I said, ‘My life is fulfilled’,” remarked Martin in victory lane.

“I thought about saying that again tonight, but I’ll stop short of that. But it means that much, it means just as much as getting that first one to me.”

Martin held off a hard charging Tony Stewart after a late race caution and six lap dash when Dale Earnhardt Jr – who led 63 laps earlier – backed his car into the wall

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NASCAR Media

M

ARK Martin had not won in 97 Sprint Cup races – almost four years. All his previous wins had come in Jack Roush’s

after apparent contact from Casey Mears.

Martin started on pole and headed a racehigh 157 en route to his win, and became the first 50-plus driver to win a Cup race since Morgan Shepherd at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1993.

Martin’s Hendrick team-mate Jeff Gordon looked strong through most of the race, but he had to re-pit under green flag conditions for a missed wheel nut with 79 laps to run dropping him out of the top 10. He finished 25th after some fender rubbing with Denny Hamlin, but still holding an 85 point lead in the standings over stable mate Johnson.

Kurt Busch headed 63 laps midway and looked to have a car to beat until front fender contact saw him fall back only to rally to finish a strong third with Jimmie Johnson who was looking for his fourth win in succession at the track never in contention, but good for fourth. Sam Hornish Jr. finished

a deserving ninth in his Penske Dodge scoring his first career top ten in what will be a make or break year for the former open wheel star.

Marcos Ambrose ended his day with a strong 14th place result after drawing the short straw and qualifying first in order, the hotter evening track saw him start the race 29th. However he soon rallied into the top 20 and a savvy strategy call from his crew saw him short pitting and restarting second behind Earnhardt on lap 172 of the 312.

“We ran great today and it’s just great to be a part of what we have going here,” commented Ambrose.

“We worked on it and Frank (Kerr, crew chief ) made some good changes and the race really came to us. It’s nice to run well and be able to bring the car home to the finish and get the points we need to keep moving forward. “

Biffle’s Sweet 16 Ford Racing Media

NATIONWIDE SERIES NASCAR Media NASCAR Media

Bring on Rockingham, not Rocking Chair: Mark Martin was the class of the field, left.

Dale Earnhardt Jr was fast, above, but is now the only Hendrick driver without a 2009 win.

Tony Stewart, right with Ryan Newman, is closing in on his first win as a team owner, while Marcos Ambrose was strong again, aided by some fancy footwork in the pits, below.

GREG Biffle gave Jack Roush his 100th NASCAR Nationwide Series win at Phoenix International Raceway on Friday night, taking the lead on lap 99 of the 200 and holding off Jason Leffler over two late race cautions that ended the race under a green-white-chequer overtime finish.

Biffle’s Roush Fenway crew elected not to pit the Ford under caution seven with 20 laps to run. Biffle, Leffler and Burney Lamar headed Brad Keselowski, the first to pit for two tyres, while Kevin Harvick,

who was hounding Biffle before the caution started eighth with four tyres.

Two subsequent cautions after that saw Harvick mired in traffic to end his night fifth, with previous week’s winner Joey Logano in fourth behind Keselowski.

“Man, I was really worried,” Biffle said. “I thought we were sitting ducks, but these tyres are so good.”

Results: Biffle (Ford), Leffler (Toyota), Keselowski (Chevy), Logano (Toyota), Harvick (Chevy), Ragan (Ford), Gaughan (Chevy), Allgaier (Dodge), Bliss (Chevy), Busch (Toyota).

SPRINT CUP | SUBWAY FAST FIT 500 1 5 2 14 3 2 4 48 5 16 6 21 7 1 8 00 9 77 10 99

Mark Martin Chevy Tony Stewart Chevy Kurt Busch Dodge Jimmie Johnson Chevy Greg Biffle Ford Denny Hamlin Toyota Martin Truex Jr Chevy David ReutimannToyota Sam Hornish Jr Dodge Carl Edwards Ford

Hendrick/Carquest/Kellogg’s Q1 Stewart Haas/Office Depot 6 Penske/Miller Lite 3 Hendrick/Lowe’s 10 Roush Fenway/3M 13 Joe Gibbs Racing/March of Dimes 12 Earnhardt Ganassi/Bass Pro Shops 26 Waltrip/Aaron’s Dream Machine 8 Penske/Mobil 1 35 Roush Fenway/Subway 11

Toyota Motorsports

NASCAR | DRIVER’S points Gordon 1242, Johnson 1157, Kurt Busch 1144, Stewart 1138, Hamlin 1088, Bowyer 1052, Kyle Busch 1026, Edwards 1023, Reutimann 992, Kahne 975, Burton 953, Kenseth 946 [Ambrose 777, 26th].

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Taylor-made performance Molly weaved through ditches and dirt to bag win number two SUZUKI SWIFT CUP MOLLY Taylor made it a second win in a row on the Carlisle-based Pirelli International Rally in the UK at the weekend.

Australian Molly and Cumbrian co-driver Jemma Bellingham battled stages in the notorious ‘Killer Kielder’ and Kershope Forests in their Suzuki Swift Sport, eventually taking the Swift Sport Cup class win.

The pair didn’t quite get off to the start they’d hoped for, though. The rough nature of the stages caused them to drop some time, but they continued through SS2, determined to get through

the tricky stages and back into service. At the end of Leg 1, the girls were lying third, 20 seconds behind leader Luke Pinder.

Leg 2 began early on Saturday morning with four stages in the Kielder Forest Complex. In SS5, the girls managed to claw back some time from fellow Suzuki competitor, Richard Sykes, moving into second place. The following stage, SS6, the girls took the lead of the Swift Sport Cup after Pinder crashed out of the rally.

“We were all pushing really hard and I was trying not to take too many risks as I knew we still had lots of stage miles still to go,” she said.

“It was a real shame to see Luke off the road, but I had to keep focused. With the fast tricky stages, I had to keep concentrating on the notes and keeping the car neat to

avoid the huge ditches!”

Taylor avoided those ditches and everything else around here on the notorious stages to take her second win on the trot.

Lucas wins weather-affected Atlanta NHRA

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David Ostaszewski

RAIN halted racing at the 29th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Atlanta last weekend.

But before the gods opened the floodgates, Morgan Lucas collected his first NHRA victory in Top Fuel, and Jack Beckman scored his seventh career Funny Car win.

Defending Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Eddie Krawiec also collected his first career win. Lucas drove the Geico Powersports dragster to his first Top Fuel win, stopping Spencer Massey in a tyre-smoking pedalfest,

5.23/162 to 5.41/145. Lucas, the number three qualifier at 3.84-seconds, used consistent passes of 3.86/310, and a pair of 3.87/309 runs to defeat Joe Hartley, Bob Vandergriff, and Cory McClenathan to advance into the final.

Beckman stopped defending event winner Ashley Force-Hood in a rematch of the Houston final round, reversing the outcome this time to take a 4.12/303 to 4.15/248 victory. Beckman had earlier defeated Robert Hight, John Force, and Tim Wilkerson and moves into second place in the Funny Car point standings behind Ron Capps.

Krawiec defeated Douglas Horne in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, using a 6.90/192 in the final to stop Horne’s 6.94/191.

The Pro Stock final will be run today (Monday). Jeg Coughlin will attempt to win his third event of ‘09 against Mike Edwards.

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Brian White Media

Form guide strengthens WA STATE VICTORY in the second round of this year’s West Australia Formula Ford Championship has placed Todd Fiore in the box seat.

After the opening six races, Fiore is unbeaten in 2009, taking last weekend’s three wins at Barbagallo raceway comfortably. Behind Fiore was Rhys McNally in second and Bryce Moore third.

In Formula Vee, Jez Hammond was almost as dominant as Fiore, but not as dominant. Myles Lockett shadowed Hammond for the first two races before Lockett took the final heat win when Hammond speared off the track at the esses. Despite the ‘off,’ he recovered to finish second and take round honours. In the 1200cc class

FVee class, Deni Razmovski shared the wins with Jacob Parsons.

Kerry Wade won the Saloon Cars round, with big class numbers returning to the track. Wade sealed the round win thanks to a consistenct performance over Paul Fiore and Nathan Callaghan. Garry Hills was the man to beat in the EA/VN class, winning all three outings from Robert Marcon.

Ron Moller and Daniel Dragojevich were the class of the Historic Touring Car field, the pair finishing first and second respectively in all three races.

In historic open-wheelers, there were two classes. Charlie Mitchell and Trevor Eastwood shared the front-engine spoils, while Russell Sewell was the best in Formula Classic.

Wood’s whirlwind WA STATE

AFTER almost three years away from the track, Kyle Wood’s return to the State Racing Series at Wakefield Park could only be described as dominant.

Not only did Wood qualify on pole, he proceeded to win every race, including a ‘come from behind’ effort in the trophy race after sliding off a drying track.

Wood’s career seemed destined for big things after a successful test for Carlin Motorsport in the UK at Oulton Park and an offer to compete for them in the Formula BMW Championship.

However the sudden collapse of his major sponsor not only destroyed his overseas ambitions, it also curtailed any racing opportunities for the immediate future.

With no overseas drive and no budget, Wood returned to university in 2007 to complete a Masters in Pharmacy. Now nearing the completion of

his studies, Wood decided to brush off the cobwebs on his Van Diemen and enter the Wakefield round. The car appeared unchanged from 2006, down to the sponsor stickers that were on the car at last race.

What makes Wood’s efforts even more remarkable is that he has had precious little track time over the past two years.

“Since September 2006, the car has had only a couple of runs at unofficial ‘practice’ days”, commented a member of the team.

Kyle hopes to contest the next round of the championship, if funding permits.

In the other class, victory went to Matthew Holt (Combined Touring Enduro), Tim Mackie (Prod Sport), Adam Proctor (Formula Vee), Ryan Brown (Improved Production), Shane Otton (Racing and Sports Car), Chris Jackson (Sports Sedans), Ian MacLean (HQ).

– JOHN MORRIS

Hildebrand’s day, Davison seventh J.R. Hildebrand qualified on pole and used a superior car to sprint to victory in the second round of the Indy Lights Series at Long Beach last weekend.

Following Hildebrand was Richard Philippe, Round 1 winner James

Hinchcliffe and Jonathan Summerton.

Ana Beatriz advanced two positions to take fifth, from Ali Jackson and Australian driver James Davison. Driving his #21 Vision Racing entry, the Victorian advanced three spots to finish seventh

ahead of Sebastian Saavedra, Gustavo Yacaman and Daniel Herrington.

New Zealander Wade Cunningham struggled with handling issues in qualifying before an early end to his race when an alternator bracket broke.

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rear of grid

Pictures from across the Ditch A COUPLE of times a year, our ace snapper Dirk Klynsmith gets to check his lenses through customs and take some speccy photos in another country.

So, to celebrate such an occasion, we bring you a Dirk’seye-view of the Hamilton 400.

And yes, we know, the picture of Jason Richards defying death at the chicane was used on page 8 as well. But what a photo!

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