Motorsport eNews Issue 111 - June 30-July 6, 2009

The world of MOtorsport Directly to your desktop

Issue No. 111 30 June – 6 July 2009

DONE DEAL

MARK SKAIFE TO DRIVE WITH in V8 enduros!

– CLICK INSIDE FOR EXCLUSIVE FULL STORY –

MUSICAL CHAIRS

Kelly Racing’s midseason driver swap

9hW_] BemdZ[i L. Ikf[hYWh 9^Wcf_ed WdZ Dehjed ?dj[hd[j IW\[jo 7cXWiiWZeh

;d]_d[[h[Z \eh If[[Z B[WZ_d] L. Ikf[hYWh j[Wc eh b[WZ_d] i[Ykh_jo ie\jmWh[ Z[l[bef[h" j^[ ]eWbi Wh[ j^[ iWc[0

CWn_ckc If[[Z" CWn_ckc IW\[jo" ;Wio >WdZb_d]$ Dehjed ),& l)$& _i [d]_d[[h[Z je _dijWbb \Wij$ D[m j[Y^debe]o Yecfb[j[i iYWdi gk_Yabo$ L_hki kfZWj[i fkbi[ j^hek]^ [l[ho \[m c_dkj[i$ IjWoi _d j^[ XWYa]hekdZ kdb[ii _jÊi d[[Z[Z$ 7dj_l_hki" _Z[dj_jo fhej[Yj_ed" XWYakf WdZ jkd[kf \eh oekh F9$ If[[Z" iW\[jo" [Wio ^WdZb_d]$ I[Ykh_jo m_j^ j^[ ]hkdj e\ W L.$ IF;9?7B :;7B <EH H79; <7DIë Je Y[b[XhWj[ j^[ Dehjed ),& IWdZemd 9^Wbb[d][ @kbo )'#7k] ( oek YWd I7L; )& m^[d oek fkhY^Wi[ Dehjed ),& l)$& IjWdZWhZ ;Z_j_ed \hec mmm$dehjed),&iWdZemd$Yec$ <eh ceh[ _d\ehcWj_ed fb[Wi[ l_i_j j^[ m[Xi_j[$ 9efoh_]^j (&&/ IocWdj[Y 9ehfehWj_ed$ 7bb h_]^ji h[i[hl[Z$ Dehjed WdZ Dehjed ),& Wh[ jhWZ[cWhai e\ IocWdj[Y 9ehfehWj_ed eh _ji W\Ób_Wj[i _d j^[ K$I$ eh ej^[h Yekdjh_[i$ Ej^[h dWc[i cWo X[ jhWZ[cWhai e\ j^[_h h[if[Yj_l[ emd[hi$ ëE\\[h Ze[i dej Wffbo je Fh[c_[h ;Z_j_ed$ 7l[hW][ f^eje i_p[ )C8$

7bie WlW_bWXb[ Wi Fh[c_[h ;Z_j_ed Wj >Whl[o DehcWd" E\ÓY[mehai WdZ J[WcLeZW\ed[$Yec m_j^ (+=8 e\ i[Ykh[ edb_d[ ijehW][ Åj^WjÊi [dek]^ \eh kf je ."&&& f^ejei$

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)

Issue No. 111 | 30 June – 6 July 2009

news 4 The winner is ...

Skaifey makes his enduro call 6 Mark McKelly Driver swap at Hi-Tec Racing 9 Two will do GRM to miss third praccie 14 IRL heads to SA! South America, that is ...

17 Falling on Hag times Nori out for a month

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

Mark McNally

23 Caruso

The ways of life The ways of a winner’s life

28 Shannons Nationals 30 NASCAR 34 IndyCar 38 World Superbikes

Brothers win enduro Hey Porter, Hey Porter Joey Joe Joe wins Penske faulters, Ganassi wins I Spies with my little eyes

race 24 Commodore Cup trade 44 Classifieds

Yeehaw! The Holdsworths got in a good ol’ fashioned tankslapper at the Commodore Cup enduro at Winton!

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.

Marshall Cass

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

COVER STORY – EXCLUSIVE

Skaife joins Murphy fo Former HRT stars team up, in Sprint Gas’

V8 SUPERCARS MARK Skaife will race at Bathurst this year – partnering Greg Murphy.

The two Bathurst-winning legends of the sport will share Murphy’s regular mount, the #51 Sprint Gas Holden Commodore VE, in the endurance races, starting with the L&H 500 at Phillip Island in September.

While all concerned aren’t talking, reliable eNews sources are telling us that a confirming announcement by the team is expected in the near future, possibly as soon as the next round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Townsville next week.

Former Holden Racing Team owner and driver Skaife tested the car at Winton last month and, while his performance in the co-drivers’ session was consistent with

a short lay-off, his feedback to the team was consistent with that of Murphy, and showed everyone that he still has form behind the wheel.

Skaife, 42, and Murphy, 36, have never driven together as co-drivers. But they have been team-mates; in 1997, they both raced at Bathurst for HRT. But Skaife, who joined the team mid-season as an endurance driver, partnered Peter Brock at Sandown and Bathurst while Murphy defended his 1996 triumphs at Sandown and Bathurst with Craig Lowndes.

The following year, Skaife joined Lowndes in what was then HRT blue, while Murphy went to Gibson Motorsport.

Sprint Gas’ recent endurance pedigree aside (see other story, right) Skaife’s move is also sure to be a publicity coup for the team, with the Seven Network’s driver-turned-

commentator likely to feature in a number of colour stories in the buildup to PI and Bathurst, and during the races themselves.

The news of this pairing means that Jason Bargwanna will race his regular #3 entry at both endurance event, with Mark Noske, already signed by the team.

Those two are former team-mates, and codrivers, in the Holden Young Lions program.

They raced in the 1997 Sandown 500, and were due to drive together at Bathurst a month later, before a warm-up crash put them out of the race.

Ironically, the news that Skaife will join SGR means that the team will now field four former HRT drivers, who have won The Great Race 10 times between them.

The squad will race under the direction of Jeff Grech – formerly, of course, the team manager of HRT ...

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

news

or Bathurst #51 Commodore

Will this mean another Gas Attack?

V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

AFTER last winning the Bathurst 1000 with HRT in 2005, Mark Skaife will return to the Mountain this year with Holden’s bestperformed endurance team.

That might seem like a big statement, but the results show that over the last two years, while Sprint Gas Racing’s form in the shorter races has been up and down, its Bathurst form in particular has marked it as the best of the red-supported teams – and the most consistent threat to TeamVodafone.

Two years ago, Greg Murphy and Jason Richards were fourth at Bathurst. In the slippery conditions at the end of the race, Murphy was less than 2s away from winning the race, in a car that

had shown a lack of speed throughout much of the season. Murphy had qualified the car seventh fastest, but the lap record holder was a second off the pace in both qualifying and the Shootout.

Last year, in Tasman Motorsport’s secondgeneration VE, Richards qualified second. After dropping to sixth in the Shootout, both he and Murphy showed plenty of speed in the race. Despite a couple of hits along the way, the duo finished second, 2.5s behind Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup.

SGR has become Holden’s best-performed endurance team, so you could hardly fault Skaife for joining them for the biggest races of the season …

– PHIL BRANAGAN

STOP PRESS: Marshall, Sherrin split

Dirk Klynsmith

AS we closed for press came news that Marcus Marshall’s IntaRacing had split with Sherrin Rentals – also confirming that the proposed sale of the team’s two licences to the company will not go ahead..

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sherrin Rentals for their support of Team IntaRacing over the

last two events of the 2009 V8 Supercar Series. However the relationship between the two organisations will cease as of today,” Marshall said in a statement.

“While both parties have put a tremendous amount of effort into formalising the sale of the team, a number of factors prohibited the arrangement moving forward.”

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

Dirk Klynsmith

Dale Wood gets bumped from Hi-Tec Oils seat, which means ...

McNally gets his chance V8 SUPERCARS MARK McNally will take over the Hi-Tec Oils Commodore for the remainder of the V8 Supercar Championship season.

The West Australian will replace Dale Wood, who has been driving the car for Kelly Racing since the start of the season.

McNally was in discussions with the team for an endurance drive, but was asked in Darwin to take over on a full-time basis.

“I’ve been talking to Kelly Racing for a while now about an endurance drive,” McNally told eNews. “They showed a bit of interest, and we were able to put together a reasonable deal.

“Then they started talking about things panning out a bit differently, and it became clear there might be an opportunity for me to step into the car for the rest of the year. Obviously that’s always been my aim, so we had a meeting up in Darwin, and everything lined up beautifully.”

McNally will start his duties with the team at Townsville in less than two weeks, and says his goals for the weekend are about getting used to the main game, and not troubling the front-runners.

“I think the pressure should be off at Townsville, because no one will be

expecting me to do much,” he added.

“I’ve never driven the car, I’ve never used a sequential gearbox, I’ve never been to the Townsville and I’ve never done a 200 kilometre race, so if I can get settled in the car, that will be my goal.”

The reasons for Wood being stood down by the team are rumoured to be commercial, and while this is not unlikely, the team is adamant that the decision is about giving McNally seat time ahead of the enduros.

“Nope, this is all about giving Mark miles in the car,” the team’s commercial manager Nick Ryan told eNews.

“The reason is that Mark was always in consideration for an endurance drive, and for us it was critical to get him in the car as

soon as we could to get some miles under his belt. That’s why he’s in the car from Townsville.”

Ryan also confirmed that Wood would continue to work for the team, and remained in contention for a seat come enduro time (see separate story).

“Dale is still a very important member of our team, and you’ll still see him at rounds in the future. But we are yet to finalise our endurance line-up.”

McNally, 27, started racing state Formula Ford in WA back in 2001, before graduating to the Australian Formula Ford Championship in 2004, with a best result of second place at the Barbagallo Raceway round in 2005. In 2006, he moved into the Fujitsu Series, his best ever round result coming at Oran Park in 2008, where he was fifth.

McNally was racing in this year’s Fujitsu Series for Brad Jones Racing, although that entry has been withdrawn from Townsville (see separate story). He is the fourth West Australian driver now in the main game on a full-time basis, joining Garth Tander, Michael Patrizi and Dean Fiore.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN For more with Mark McNally, turn to ‘Five Minutes With …’ on page 20.

news

Wood stays loyal V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

DALE Wood is remaining committed to Kelly Racing, despite the team replacing him with Mark McNally for the remainder of the season.

While disappointed with the decision, Wood has decided to pursue an endurance drive with the team in the hope of breaking back into the main series in 2010.

“I’m extremely disappointed,” Wood told eNews.

“It came as a real shock when I was told on Sunday night, and it took me a few days to really get my head around it.

“I’m grateful to Kelly Racing, because they gave me a good

opportunity. Unfortunately I have to step out of the car for the remainder of the season, so now I’m hoping to get an endurance drive with the team. There are other options, and other opportunities have already come up, but I have to look at what’s going to be best.

“I’d like to stay with the team for the enduros, so that’s the first aim, and from then on it will be head down, bum up trying to secure a full-time drive again next year – and not have this happen again.”

Wood, a former Fujitsu Series front-runner, also told eNews that he had no plans to re-enter the development series this year.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Hey brother, need a ride?

MARK McNally may be withdrawing from the Fujitsu Series thanks to his graduation to the main game, but it’s unlikely that will be the last we’ll see of his ex-HRT VZ Commodore.

McNally’s older brother Glenn has been impressive in the Yokohama V8 Ute Series, and is an obvious choice to take over the Brad Jones Racing-run West Coast Racing entry. But while the step up

seems logical, it is more likely to be next year than later this year. “[Glenn would] love that opportunity, and I’d love to see him out there, because he is showing a lot of potential,” said Mark McNally. “But I just don’t think we’ll be able to do it this year.”

But McNally wouldn’t rule out his brother taking over the car in 2010.

“We’ve got a good network of sponsors that is growing all the time,” added McNally.

Dirk Klynsmith

FUJITSU V8s

“So if he got the chance he’d embrace it, and do a really good job.”

The elder McNally had his best outing in the V8 Ute

Series at Hidden valley recently, finishing fourth for the round.

He is currently eighth in the series.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Kelly Racing is seeking interest for a #1 mechanic for immediate start

Previous motorsport experience essential

POSITION VACANT

Please send CV to: j.bremner@kellyracing.com.au or phone Joe on 03 8587 1700 All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence

A1GP: Changes, not Crisis

SuperGP is all go, despite liquidation reports from UK A1GP THE plans for this year’s Nitro SuperGP are pressing ahead, despite changes to the structure of A1GP. The self-proclaimed ‘World Cup of Motorsport’, which makes its first appearance on the Gold Coast this October, is undergoing a major restructure as part of its move to a headquarters at the Portimao circuit in Portugal. But event General Manager Greg Hooton says that the changes will have no impact on his event.

“I have been speaking to A1GP and the way that they have explained it to me, it is all

a part of their restructure and in no way impacts on them coming to them coming to Surfers Paradise,” he said.

Rumours have surrounded the series since its switch to its Generation II Ferrari-built cars a the start of the 2008-09 season. London’s Telegraph newspaper reported at the weekend that the British arm of the series went into liquidation last Wednesday, and that a spokesperson for A1 Grand Prix Operations Limited said: “Like many other companies in today’s difficult economic environment, we had cashflow problems and we haven’t been able to pay them [the

suppliers].”

Hooton said that he was aware of the reasons behind the story.

“This is a part of moving to a Portugal corporate base, as we speak I believe, all part of a broader deal that they announced earlier in the year they are setting up (at Portimao),” he said.

The switch to A1GP after a single year of IndyCars may impact ticket sales but, says Hooton, the effect will not be seen for some time.

“Ticket sales are equating to 2007-08 [levels], in terms of timing, but we depend largely on a walk-up crowd and I don’t

think that the number of last year will be the same,” he said.

“There are not too many sporting events that have maintained their figures from one year to the next. It has been a matter of informing people that the [IndyCar to A1GP] change does not mean a huge amount about the festival going on as normal.”

Both the V8 Supercar and A1GP championships will have two races over the course of the weekend and all events, plus selected support races, are expected to be broadcast on Seven, in spite of A1 not having a free-to-air broadcast deal with the network.

sutton-images.com

A1GP: A calendar (not actual size) A1GP A1GP has announced two dates of its 2009-2010 calendar.

Series officials have confirmed that the series will start at Surfers Paradise on October 22-25, while Assen has been confirmed for 16 April 2010. But the other dates on the calendar – and even the final number of rounds – are yet to be made public.

“We are in a totally different position to

most series as we straddle two calendar years,” explained A1GP Chairman, Tony Teixeira. “This makes announcing a calendar with all its dates and venues more challenging.

“However, we are well advanced with all our Season Five contracts, and for those we have yet to make public have plans to announce them with events in the specific countries.” eNews expects the calendar to include races at Jakarta, Kyalami, Portimao and a

new street race in Dublin.

Last season, the series was plagued by calendar dramas. Mugello’s season opener was cancelled because the new cars were not ready, Indonesia’s Lippo Village round was canned because the track was not finished and the Mexican round was postponed because of a clashing rock concert, then cancelled because of the Swine Flu outbreak. Brazil’s race at Interlagos was also cancelled for unspecified reasons.

news

Caruso in top 15, and no co-drivers in Townsville V8 SUPERCARS

BOTH of Garry Rogers Motorsport’s Valvoline Commodores will sit out the 35-minute ‘endurance driver’ session at Townsville in two weeks time.

Michael Caruso’s maiden V8 Supercar victory at Hidden

Valley last week elevated him to 14th, and team-mate Lee Holdsworth sit securely in fifth. This means that both GRM drivers now sit inside the top 15 in the title chase and are, therefore, ineligible for the session.

Team owner Garry Rogers told eNews that his team’s

endurance drivers Greg Ritter and David Besnard would not be testing in the inaugural Townsville session and that the cars will sit out.

“Greg and David will run at Sandown and Queensland, but not Townsville,” he said.

“The beauty for us in some ways is that Greg and David

Dirk Klynsmith

GRM sits out extra session

have done lots of miles in these cars in the past, so it’s not like we’re going to miss out on too much. If we had a couple of greenhorns who hadn’t done many V8 miles then you might think about it, but we’re pretty lucky to have those guys on our side.”

– GRANT ROWLEY

NUMBER 1 MECHANIC REQUIRED Supercheap Auto Racing is seeking an experienced No. 1 V8 Supercar mechanic

All applications (in confidence) to nigel@the drivingcentre.com.au

Jane set for FV8 debut FUJITSU V8s

SONIC Motor Racing has confirmed that Rodney Jane will replace Bryce Washington in its second Fujitsu V8 Supercar entry.

Jane will make his V8 debut at the inaugural Townsville street race next weekend, driving the ex-Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Falcon BF. Jane, the CEO of the Bob Jane T-Marts Group, will compete in the familiar Bob Jane T-Mart hues, above.

The former Carrera Cup stalwart has completed two tests in the Falcon at Winton

and is looking forward to a cautious debut on the new circuit.

“I found the car extremely challenging,” he said.

“The first test was the first time I’d ever sat in a V8, so it was very foreign. The car is obviously very good. It wasn’t as bad as what a lot of people make them out to be, but I will qualify that by saying I didn’t exactly go extremely fast either. As you go faster things will get harder, but that’s just a matter of time. I’ve got to get used to the vehicle and become used to things. I was still pretty busy in the car even

during my second test. I’ve still got a lot to learn.”

Jane said that his expectations for his V8 debut are very low.

“I’m not expecting any miracles,” he said.

“Hopefully I get through the weekend without drama. The beauty of debuting in the class three rounds in is that there is no pressure. I’m not running for a championship or anything like that. I want to stay out of anything stupid and just get laps under my belt and get familiar with the car.”

Team owner Mick Ritter echoed Jane’s pre-race

thoughts.

“There is no expectation,” Ritter said.

“Coming in halfway through the championship is a good thing for him. It removes any external expectations. All we want him to do is learn as much as he can, stay out of trouble and get comfortable.

“He adapted in the test better than what I thought he would.

I would imagine that’s down to his previous experience in AUSCAR/NASCAR. That’s probably helped him a bit, with the gearbox and that sort of thing. He settled in alright.”

– GRANT ROWLEY

Fujitsu V8: Not-so-sweet Sixteen?

FUJITSU V8s

10

Dirk Klynsmith

WHILE Rodney Jane’s entry into the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series is a boon, the category will head to next weekend’s round at Townsville with just 16 cars.

The current entry list has 19 cars on it, but three of those names have been scratched – Aaron McGill (sponsorship shortfall), Mark McNally (Main Series debut) and Howard Racing (second car withdrawn).

This means that even with the addition of Paul Morris in one of his team’s Commodores, class numbers have hit an alltime low. In fact, if only 16 cars turn up for the round, it will be the smallest Fujitsu V8 field

ever, eclipsing Mallala’s round in 2001 (19 cars).

Fujitsu V8 team owner Matthew White said that there are three clear reasons for the decline in mubers.

“It’s a tough economy out there, it’s been an expensive year with the change to

E85 and a few things, plus Townville is a mighty long way away,” he says.

“You put those three things together and that’s what you get.

“Unfortunately we’re in a discretionary-spending sport.

It’s the first thing that gets cut

when things are tough, but in saying that, we’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. At the end of the day, the category is good. The Fujitsu Series needs better management but people are talking a bit more positive.”

– GRANT ROWLEY

news

Off the dirt track and onto the unchartered streets ...

Rally star ready for MINI debut MINI CHALLENGE

James Smith

AUSTRALIAN Rally star Chris Atkinson will make his debut in the MINI Challenge at the third round at the brand new Townsville circuit.

The former factory Subaru World Rally driver will drive the Uber-Star MINI, right, (prepared by the Stillwell MINI Garage team) in the unique ‘twin-driver-optional’ round in far north Queensland.

“I’m really excited about it,” Atkinson said.

“I’ve driven a MINI once before, but never in a race situation.

“I’ve been hearing a lot about MINI Challenge and a lot about the new Townsville circuit so when the chance came up to try them both out

I didn’t hesitate.”

In other MINI news, Todd Wanless will make a return to the series, driving the Motoline entry that Jonathon Webb drove at Symmons Plains last month. Wanless will drive the race by himself.

Gary Young also makes a return to the class, driving second of Stillwell cars. Again, he will drive solo, but his teammates for the round will be David and Michael Stillwell, sharing the team’s regular entry.

Beric Lyton and Grant Sherrin have entered solo entries, while Brendon Cook has employed Paul Fiore to run with him at Townsville.

Fiore finished third in last year’s MINI series Also competing are

class regulars (and series leaders) Paul Stokell, Scott Bargwanna, Grant Denyer and Chris Alajajian. All of those entries will see teh divers

take solo duties, but eNews understands that there are still a few teams looking to add a second driver to their list.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Coffs Harbour ARC round canned AUSTRALIAN RALLY

THE postponed Coffs Harbour round of the Australian Rally Championship will not go ahead.

The round was originally scheduled for June, but torrential rain in Northern New South Wales caused such severe damage to the roads that the event couldn’t go ahead as planned. It was to be rescheduled

at a later date, but the Australian Rally Commission has confirmed that the event will now not happen until 2010.

“Under the circumstances, the [Coffs Harbour and District Car Club’s] decision to put their effort into the 2010 event was the wisest decision,” said ARCom chairman Col Trinder. “The flooding damage in the forest areas near Coffs has been extensive, and the established events in NSW later in

the year mean there was really no practical alternative.

“CAMS will be writing to the Coffs Harbour Council affirming our commitment to run the event in the area in 2010.”

The cancellation means that the Sprint Auto Parts Rally SA, due to be held in Adelaide at the end of July, will be the final round of the 2009 ARC.

11

Even the Drive Dixon, Dario apologise after ‘awful’ race

It’s War. And that’s no Bull

Speed crashes out Vickers at New Hampshire NASCAR SPRINT CUP WAR appears to have broken out within Red Bull Racing – but it is not Mark Webber versus Sebastien Vettel.

At New Hampshire on Saturday, all Bull broke loose within Red Bull Racing when Sprint Cup team-mates Brian Vickers and Scott Speed clashed, and crashed, at the end of the Nationwide race.

The pair were the talking point at the end of the race when Speed bumped Vickers into the wall entering turn three on the final lap. Vickers

12

was running a Braun Racing Toyota in fifth and Speed a Michael Waltrip Toyota.

“He ran into the back of us,” said Vickers.

“He said we slowed down for the turn, but I don’t know how else you get through the turn if you don’t slow down. I don’t know what his problem is, I don’t know if he’s frustrated because he’s running so bad in the Cup Series.

“But he just flat wrecked us.

I’ve never had a team-mate do that to me before.”

Watch this space for more ...

– MARTIN D CLARK

INDYCARS TWO of IndyCar’s leading drivers have called for changes to put an end to the follow-theleader racing seen in recent oval races.

Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti finished 1-2 at Richmond on Saturday, and both Ganassi drivers criticised

the on-track results now that six consecutive ovals have turned into parades.

“It was very difficult to pass if you got off line and hard to throw your car under someone,” said Dixon after winning on the 0.75-mile oval, the shortest on the series scedule.

“As soon as you got off line it was very slippery. And, if you

IndyCar n INDYCARS INDYCAR is acting to increase the size of its fields.

There were at least 22 cars at the first three races, and Helio Castroneves raised that to 23 when he appeared Friday at Long Beach.

The Indy 500 had the traditional 33 competitors but at Milwaukee a week later, only 20 drivers started.

That increased to 24 at Texas, thanks to the addition of Sarah

news

ers are Bored

AUSSIE NASCAR STAR MARCOS AMBROSE WRITES FOR MOTORSPORT eNEWS

Toyota Motorsports

The Loudon Rain i-marcos

picked up some marbles, you would be slow for the next few laps. You couldn’t get side by side until the restarts.

“The last couple of years we’ve slipped into a car that is not enabling a whole lot of passing.

I’m sorry to the fans for the poor show. We saved more fuel to win, and unfortunately, that’s what racing is turning out to be.

It was very frustrating.”

“We couldn’t pass,” said Franchitti. “We were a second slower when we were in traffic.

There’s nothing the driver can do about it.

“We are trying as hard as we can. I have to apologise to the fans because it that was an awful, awful race.”

– MARY MENDEZ

numbers on the Up Fisher and Tomas Scheckter.

Brian Barnhart, the IRL’s President, Competition and Racing Operations, has indicated he expects the field size to increase through the remaining nine events, with both Paul Tracy and Alex Tagliani at the Canadian races. Will Power will compete in a third car for Team Penske, likely at Toronto and Tomas Scheckter has added all but the three road courses at Watkins Glen, Mid-

Ohio and Infineon.

Townsend Bell will return at Dreyer & Reinbold for three or four events. Fisher plans to run the remaining 1.5 mile tracks at Kentucky, Chicagoland and Homestead. And, Scott Sharp could return for a few races with an interest in running IndyCars next season with his Highcroft ALMS Sportscar team and support from Patron tequila.

– MARY MENDEZ

LOUDON was one of those races where you Marcos Ambrose had to guess when the Australian NASCAR driver rain was going to come.

I was out there running as fast as I could and we did the best we could deciding when to pit with the information but we had.

But in the end, we got it wrong, and at the end of the race we saw Joey Logano drive to Victory Lane, even though we were ahead of him for most of the day.

You can’t take anything away from him and his team though. Joey is a great kid and deserves to be here in Cup and his team pulled the right moves at the right time.

We’ve moved along enough now that we are chasing top 10 finishes and we’re disappointed not to be in the top 15. It’s good that we’ve come this far that we are not happy with a 23rd place finish, but it does keep the points ticking over.

Next up is Daytona and the superspeedways are always hard to predict because they can be a bit of a lottery. The night race at Daytona is the toughest plate race of the year. The cars go faster because we race at night, but the heat and humidity means the track has very little grip, so you’re flat out and out of control. There’s a lot of bumping and pushing and there will be crashes, so you’ve just got to try your best to miss them when they happen.

There has been some talk about our chances of making the Chase but I’m honestly not thinking about that.

It’s true that we have some tracks coming up where we expect to do well, like Pocono, Indianapolis and Watkins Glen for the road course. But I’m more focussed on running well each week and showing the speed it takes to run top 10 race by race.

The points will take care of themselves. Others might get excited about how many points we are out of the top 12, but I think we are a long shot so I’m just thinking about what we can do on track.

13

IndyCar 2010: Brazil ... and China?

INDYCAR

THE 2010 IndyCar Series looks set to open in Brazil.

Series officials have inspected three locations including Ribeirao Preto, near Sao Paulo, the hometown of Helio Castroneves. Apex Brazil, a marketing and commerce agency of many native products, is behind the IndyCar series racing in Brazil. The series is proving to be quite popular there, as there are currently four Brazilian drivers running in the series.

For the series to travel outside North

America, the promoter will have to provide a multi-million dollar sanctioning fee, support transportation costs and pay additional funds to each team.

There are likely to be 18 events next season, with one of the oval events likely to be dropped from the calendar. That may be Kansas, which is looking at a second NASCAR date, though there appear to be some problems with Milwaukee. The recently renovated one-mile track had the greatest attendance yet for an open wheel race but NASCAR has revealed that the new promoters have failed to

pay their sanctioning fee from last week’s Nationwide and truck events.

Asked if the IRL received their sanctioning fee from Milwaukee, which is normally paid in installments and in full by race weekend, John Griffin, VP of Public Relations, said, “We do not comment on our promoter contracts.”

There are also suggestions that the series could also travel to China in conjunction with its September Motegi Japan event.

Series officials are expected to announce its 2010 season schedule by the end of July.

– MARY MENDEZ

... but definitely, farewell Cleveland INDYCAR

A LACK of community support – read ‘money’ – is being cited as the demise of hope of a Cleveland IndyCar race.

IndyCar officials have indicated that the oncepopular venue, a staple of the now-extinct Champ Car Series, is unlikely to be reborn on their calendar, despite the fact that former promoter Michael Lanigan is now a co-owner of

Ford Racing

14

Newman Haas Lanigan Racing.

Terry Angstadt, the IRL’s President of Commercial Development, said of the Cleveland market that the “community support just isn’t there”.

Sources indicate that the close proximity of the Burke Lakefront Airport venue to Mid-Ohio (a 75-minute drive away) also contributed to the decision.

The news has been met with

some skepticism by the race promoter.

“Since we were forced to cancel the Grand Prix of Houston and Grand Prix of Cleveland after the IndyCar/ Champ Car unification, our company has been in discussions with the IndyCar Series about the possibility of adding both cities to their schedule,” said Chuck Kosich, General Manager, MJ Promotions, refuting

Angstadt’s statement.

“After lengthy discussions with IndyCar as well as business and government leaders, we have recently determined that 2011 is the optimal year for us to return these races to the schedule.

The Grand Prix of Cleveland has a proud 26-year history, and Houston was a spectacular event in 2007 with over 168,000 fans in attendance.”

– MARY MENDEZ

TANDER

Holden’s No.1 speaks on HRT, his team-mate and his pride and joy

Also in this month’s edition of

HOW TO RUN THE QUARTER MILE IN A TOP FUEL DRAG CAR ALEX & WILL: SAME SURNAME, DIFFERENT COLOURS AUSTRALIAN RALLY: IN DEPTH FORUM WITH THE BIG PLAYERS

On sale NOW at all good newsagents or CLICK HERE to Subscribe & Save!

15

WTCC: Control engine WTCC

DRAG RACING THINK you can race a V8 Supercar but want to try before you buy?

Paul Morris Motorsport has set up a unique test session with four or five V8 Falcons and Commodores for potential drivers to sample at Queensland Raceway.

The cars being used for the test include the ex-Max Wilson WOW Racing Falcon, below, Tim Slade’s ex-Fujitsu V8 round winning car and Scott Loadsman’s former Tint-a-Car

Commodore (which Steve Owen steered to victory in last year’s FV8 Series).

Team drivers Russell Ingall and Paul Morris will be on hand to offer advice and helpful hints on the day.

Former Fujitsu V8 Series racer and Supercheap Auto commercial and sponsorship manager Damien White has spearheaded the test day and says that this is a cost-effective way to get initial V8 Supercar laps.

“For those who are running V8 Utes, or MINIs or other feeder

categories, this presents an opportunity to drive a Supercar at one of the circuits that they race and with the experts on hand,” White says.

“It’s a cost effective way for people to gauge whether its worth them taking teh next step.”

Drivers won’t be limited to one car on the day. There will be opportunities for people to drive a couple of different cars top experience the differences between different chassis.

The test day will start at $5000 per driver.

John Morris/Mpix

THE recent diesel v petrol wars that have been a feature of the World Touring Car Championship will end in 2012, with the implementation of a single engine.

The FIA’s World Motor Sport Council has decreed that a single-specification engine will be used from 2011 onwards.

The 2011 standard engine will be a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrolburning unit. However, all manufacturers will be allowed to continue using their current units until the conclusion of the 2011 season, with rules to equalize the performance of the new motor with the current unit. A 2-litre normally aspirated ‘S2000’ petrol engine produces just over 280 horsepower.

The same 1.6-litre turbo engine will be used from 2011 onwards in the WRC for all Super 2000-based cars.

In addition, the WMSC also confirmed that Yokohama has won the bid to continue as the WTCC’s sole tyre supplier until the end of 2012.

Try before you buy

IAME X-30 engine approved for TaG competition KARTING ONE of the major outcomes of last weekend’s Australian Karting Association mid-year committee conference was that the IAME X-30 engine has been approved for use in the TaG category.

The National Karting Council has approved the use of the engine in the 125cc TaG

16

category and will be implement the engine into the 125cc TaG Restricted category following further testing with a restrictor plate fitted.

The X-30 engine is similar to its IAME Leopard ‘cousin’ that has become popular with local karters over the past decade but will not replace the engine on Australian circuits.

“Pleased to see the engine

get approved, I’ve been around for 28 years and I firmly believe that this engine will be the best engine that I have seen introduced into the Australian market,” said IAME importer Remo Luciani.

The X-30 engine is the engine used at the IAME International Challenge each year in Spain.

Ryan Sanderson was a part of Australia’s team in 2008.

“The X-30 engine is one of the best kart engines I’ve driven and its reliability was amazing,” he said.

Also decided on the weekend was that clutches will remain optional for all Yamaha categories and the move to a governance structure will be voted on at the Annual General Meeting following a change to the AKA constitution.

news

Haga on recovery road SUPERBIKES NORIYUKI Haga faces a month’s recovery from his Donington crash but it could have been much, much worse.

The Japanese ace tumbled off his factory Xerox Ducati and intial reports suggested that he had fractured two vertebrae. But subsequent medical examinations indicate that the damage was from an old injury and that he faces rest to repair the injuries.

In the meantime, he will undergo surgery, but ‘only’ to plate fractures to his arm and shoulder blade.

“This is good news,” said team manager Davide Tardozzi. “Of course it needs to be confirmed tomorrow, Monday. Nori will for sure undergo an operation on the ulna bone of his right forearm, because it is a displaced fracture and there is also a suspected fracture of the scapula [shoulder blade] bone. It is clear however

that if he really doesn’t need to have an operation to the vertebrae he could get away with a month’s rest.”

The fall could have happened at a worse time, with the next round of the World Superbike at Brno allows the riders a fourweek break.

In Haga’s absence, Yamaha’s Ben Spies added a 10th win to his 2009 count, and has closed the gap to 14 points in the title chase.

Tweedie steps back ONE secures Bikes FORMULA FORD

AUSRALIAN Formula 3 driver Tom Tweedie will step back to Formula Ford next month in an effort to secure more on-track time as a handy precursor to the next Formula 3 round.

Tweedie, 20, leader of the F3 National Class this year, will drive an early-model Formula Ford on July 4-5 at Eastern Creek Raceway in the NSW State Championship event.

The Sydney racer served the formative years of his racing career in the ranks of the NSW Formula ford Championship, finishing fourth in 2007 and

second the following season.

Though he will drive a significantly older model car than many of his rivals, Tweedie said that he was confident of giving the front runners a significant shake-up at Eastern Creek.

“My driving has gone to a new level this year thanks to my experiences in the F3 Australian Drivers Championship, so even though I’ll be in an older car I think I can mix it up with the front runners,” Tweedie said.

“The plan is to give the new guys in the New South Wales series a bit of a hurry up despite running the older car.”

MOTOGP IF you love your MotoGP, you will be watching ONE HD for the next five years.

Network Ten has confirmed a new five-year agreement with Dorna Sports that will see MotoGP broadcast exclusively on free-to-air television for the first time from 2010.

To this point, MotoGP has also been seen on Pay-TV channel, Fox Sports.

The agreement means that all MotoGP races, 125cc GPs and the new Moto2 category will be broadcast

live on Ten’s 24-hour sport channel, ONE. Philip Island’s round, as well as other MotoGPs in the Australasian time zone and those taking place in America, will simulcast on Ten, which will continue to show delayed telecasts of the races on Sunday nights.

ONE will also show full replays of all MotoGP races, all qualifying races and highlights of 125cc and Moto2 races in prime time each week following the race. As ever, commentary will be provided by Greg Rust and Daryl Beattie.

17

Blown!

DRAG RACING

ONLY five weeks remain before the 2009/2010 ANDRA Championship Drag Racing season kicks off with the season-opener at Willowbank Raceway, with the new for 2009 Blown Alcohol Championships set to take place over August 8/9.

The Saturday/Sunday event will see the Professional categories of Top Doorslammer, Top Alcohol and Top Bike hit the Ipswich quarter-mile just nine weeks after they saw their championships finalised at Willowbank Raceway during June’s Castrol EDGE Winternationals.

August’s Blown Alcohol Championships will also host

New start to the Drag Racing Season

the Rocket All Stars Racing Series and a round of the Willowbank Raceway Track Championships – guaranteeing non-stop action over the event weekend.

Willowbank Raceway Managing Director said he was looking forward to hosting the season-opener of the new season, after a successful season-closer only eight weeks ago.

“We had nearly 40,000 people through the gates here at Willowbank Raceway over the three days of the Castrol EDGE Winternationals, and I am really pleased for the track to be able to invite them all back for the season-opener in August,” said Bettes.

“This August event

replaces our traditional September outing, with the changed timing promising clearer weather and all the excitement of the seasonopener before our major event calendar continues with the International Nightfire New Year Series twin-events in January.

“All of the competitors will be heading here with a clean slate at this point and anything can happen, which is truly exciting.

“We are expecting a high number of entries across all of the classes as everyone looks to kick off their championship chase in the best way possible – with a win at the seasonopening Blown Alcohol Championships at Willowbank Raceway.”

Ken Ferguson

Alice’s Trans Tasman Bike fight DRAG RACING THE quickest and fastest motorcycles in the Southern hemisphere are making their way to Alice Springs Inland Dragway Sunday June 28 for the Trans Tasman Challenge.

Athol Williams will be

18

the headline act aboard the quickest and fastest motorcycle in the southern hemisphere but the New Zealander won’t have it all his own way, with eight other bikes trying to take the TransTasman title.

The huge Alice Springs event

will also feature a number of other highlights. In addition to the nine Top Fuel Bikes, the Deluxe Freight Systems Trans Tasman Drag Bike Challenge will include Competition Bikes, Modified Bikes, Street Bikes, Harleys, Supercharged Outlaws, Super Sedans and Street Cars.

news

Ken Ferguson

In Drag Racing, if you do the crime, you pay the time ...

Drugs testing passes the test DRAG RACING During the recently completed 2008/2009 drag racing season, the Australian National Drag Racing Association (ANDRA) implemented a drug testing programme, appointing an independent company to carry out urine testing at three major events.

Use of independent testing personnel ensures that all procedures meet relevant Australian Standards and comply with the ANDRA Substance Abuse Policy. A full list of drivers, riders and officials is provided prior to the event and test subjects are randomly selected.

ANDRA Operations Manager Brenton Myers said the testing had been well received within the sport.

“Anyone testing positive for any substance is immediately disqualified from the event, and samples are subsequently laboratory tested to confirm precise substance(s) and the level of concentration.”

Anyone testing positive must relinquish their ANDRA licence, and undertake professional counseling and further substance testing before being permitted to participate again.

Myers said the testing program had already raised the level of awareness amongst racers and officials.

“Over the past few months a number of people have contacted the ANDRA Office to declare particular medications that they take for therapeutic use. If possible, this should happen at licence renewal time but

if circumstances change before that please contact us and always have copies of prescription available.

“Even high doses of some ‘over the counter’ medications can register a positive result so read the instructions in or on the packet and seek advice.”

Medications such as Nurofen Plus and most cold and flu tablets will be detected and will be investigated by the testing agent before a decision is made.

The ANDRA Substance Abuse Policy prohibits; – Amphetamines: (speed, ecstasy, many cold and flu tablets) – Benzodiazepines: (sleeping pills) – Cannabinoids: (THC, marijuana, pot, grass) – Cocaine – Opiates: (codeine eg:

Panadiene) Substances such as Panadol, Aspirin, Nurofen, blood pressure and antiinflammatory medications are not detected.

Myers said the ANDRA Substance Abuse Policy was developed from a workplace health and safety position. “Benefits provided by performance enhancing or stabilising substances are minimal in drag racing, but it is a priority that persons dealing with potentially dangerous equipment or situations are in a fit condition to do so.”

Anyone who has any queries or concerns that is relative to the program are encouraged to contact Brenton Myers on 08 8271 5355, for assistance.

19

5 Minutes with ...

MARK MCNALLY

One minute FV8 regular Mark McNally is working on an endurance co-drive, the ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN next minute he is replacing Dale Wood at Kelly Racing ...

MOTORSPORT NEWS: Mark McNally – main series V8 Supercar driver. Sounds pretty good?

MARK MCNALLY: Yeah it’s great, although I know I’m jumping in the deep end a little bit.

The level of competition in the main series is a massive step up compared to the Fujitsu Series, and if you look at guys like Dean Fiore and Dale Wood, yeah, it’s tough out there.

So I just want to get out there, keep out of trouble, and learn as much as I can. The more racing and more laps you do, the faster you progress.

Talk us through how the deal came together.

I’ve been talking to Kelly Racing for a while now about an endurance drive. They showed a bit of interest, and we were able to put together a reasonable deal.

Then they started talking about things panning out a bit differently, and it became clear there might be an opportunity for me to step into the car for the rest of the year. Obviously that’s always been my aim, so we had a meeting up in Darwin, and everything lined up beautifully.

It must be nice to be looking at the year ahead and know exactly what you’re doing, not worrying about a round-byround program …

Look, the Fujitsu Series was a real struggle for us this year, especially with the way the year started with that bit of bad luck at Adelaide (ED: McNally’s car was badly damaged at Clipsal when he was caught up in a Chris Alajajian crash).

I was honestly staring down the barrel of a pretty ordinary year, so for me to be in a position where I’m going to get to do nine races and a heck of a lot of laps has transformed things.

Spending the extra time in the car, doing those extra laps, and working with experienced guys like Rick [Kelly], Todd [Kelly] and Jack [Perkins] is exactly what I need. I expect to learn quickly and progress forward.

20

Does the fact that you’re replacing another young driver add a bit of pressure?

Not at all, to be honest. I think the pressure should be off at Townsville, because no one will be expecting me to do much.

I’ve never driven the car, I’ve never used a sequential gearbox, I’ve never been to the Townsville and I’ve never done a 200 kilometre race, so if I can get settled in the car, that will be my goal.

So you haven’t out a result figure on your expectations then …

Nope. I want to get there, work with the team, get used to the car and finish the races. Obviously I don’t want to be miles off the pace – I’ll still be trying to be as close to the pace as I can – but I’m not looking at results, I’m looking more to getting comfortable in the car.

The best thing I can do is finish races and do laps.

Will your debut being at a brand new circuit help you, or hinder you?

Maybe it will slow the other guys down a bit, but realistically, they’re all professionals and will get their heads around it pretty quick. I have to learn a car ands a track as well.

Preferably I’d be debuting at somewhere like Sandown, because I’ve been around there in V8s and Formula Fords, but look, I’m just going to give it a good shot.

Will you stay based in Perth, or will you move to Melbourne to be nearer the team?

At this stage I’ll stay in Perth, but there will be plenty of travelling east. I want to spend a lot of time with the team before Townsville, so I’m not just turning up with my helmet.

What will happen with your Fujitsu Series car now? You did have an agreement in place with Brad Jones Racing …

I’ve discussed it with Brad, and he’s been really supportive.

He’s really happy for me to have this opportunity, and we’ll be withdrawing the car from Townsville.

What about the rest of the season? Your brother Glenn has been doing a lot of laps in the V8 Ute Series, and is looking pretty fast. Could he jump in the car before the season is out?

A very remote chance, but I can’t see it happening. He’d love that opportunity, and I’d love to see him out there, because as you said he is showing a lot of potential. But I don’t think we’ll be able to do it this year.

What about next year?

Well, we’ve got a good network of sponsors that is growing all the time, so if he got the chance he’d embrace it and do a really good job. I’d like to see him out there, let’s put it that way.

chat

Dirk Klynsmith

21

W Dirk Klynsmith

Fair’s fair, even when it’s not BACK in March, I sat down with Dale Wood to do a ‘Five Minutes With …’ for Issue 094 of Motorsport eNews.

Wood had literally just done his deal with Kelly Racing, and having spent the off-season busting his backside to secure the funding to do the season, he was understandably stoked.

“Relief is an understatement,” he said at the time. “To end up at a team as good as this, its much more than I ever expected. I don’t feel under pressure, and I’ve got the whole season ahead.”

Yet, on Friday last week, I was on the phone to Mark McNally, doing another ‘Five Minutes With …’, because he was replacing Wood in the Hi-Tec Oils car.

Seems a little unfair, no?

Well, actually, no. This is motor racing, the cruellest of sports, purely because of its dependency on commerce. And it’s no secret that a team needs you to bring at least one of two things – results or cash.

opinion

Andrew van Leeuwen eNews Deputy Editor A team has someone like Jamie Whincup on board because he wins races and keep the paying sponsors happy.

Some other teams have other drivers on board because they are paying sponsors – or at least the equivalent of. That’s how the game works, and it doesn’t just work that way because of the financial crisis, because it’s always been the case.

Earlier in this issue, you probably would have read that the team are stating that McNally has been chosen ahead of Wood purely to give the new guy miles ahead of the endurance races later this year.

I am not doubting for a second that there is an element of truth to that, just like there’s no doubt that the seat time

will give McNally a good head start before Phillip Island and Bathurst, thanks to the restricted amount of track time the Fujitsu Series offers. But, it’s also clear that Wood obviously wasn’t bringing enough of either of the magic words that the Kellys needed to hear – results or dollars.

None of this is to say that the Kellys are money hungry, or that Dale Wood can’t drive, or that Mark McNally is buying his former FV8 rival out of a seat; I’m merely trying to explain that, as unfair as these decisions might seem, they aren’t as unceremonious as one might think.

They are business decisions. Important business decisions.

And while it is really, really bad luck for Dale (and it is), it’s decisions like this that keep the doors at race teams open, which means food on the table for dozens of mechanics and their families.

It’s just … life.

Letters

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

A Long shot Every week I read with growing interest about the Carl Long penalty that is being imposed by the NASCAR big wigs.

Are they kidding? Would Tony Cochrane permit an injustice of this nature if, say, Dean Fiore was found to be using a 5050cc engine provided by Walkinshaw Racing? Dean is nowhere in

22

the V8 championship hunt, but is valuable to the race viewing.

For the first time I agree with Phil Branagan; impose the fine to set an example, but suspend its payment with good behaviour conditions.

Scott Whale Sydney At last, some common sense Holden’s Simon McNamara

is firm that his company has indicated a possible change of direction if the COTF is too far removed from the Commodore road car. Both the manufactures are keenly aware of the old adage; win on Sunday, sell on Monday.

There are some car makers about who may be interested, like Lexus, BMW, and Chrysler to name a few. The adoption

of a front-wheel-drive car will simply lead to another NASCAR formula.

I expect I am correct in saying there is not a single component in a NASCAR that comes out of the factory. So where is the value for Holden and Ford to say their car beat another manufacturer’s car?

Graham Lawrence via email

opinion

Win a V8 race and life gets busy!

A WEEK after my first V8 Supercar victory, it’s been flat out.

There’s been something on every day – interviews, television, there’s been a lot of that stuff taking up my time. It’s all been very positive.

I got text messages from just about everybody! A lot of people I didn’t even know had my number – supporters from the past, people up and down pit lane. There were so many people who sent me congratulations.

I received a lot of messages, which is great, but the ones that I treasure the most were the ones from the people who have helped me get to where I am – my parents, Garry Rogers and Kevin Bartlett, who has helped me a lot through my career.

They are the people who I’m glad I’ve been able to show what I’m able to achieve. They are the ones who have believed in me, so it’s a nice feeling to pay them back for their faith.

Kevin said to me, “I don’t get excited about people winning races, but that one today was something special.”

Dirk Klynsmith

When I crossed the finish line at Hidden Valley, it looked like all of pit-lane was hanging over the fence clapping me. It was a special moment.

PERSONAL Michael Caruso V8 Supercar winner Everyone knows that GRM isn’t the biggest team in the category and people like to see a smaller team get up there.

When I came into the Main Series, I knew I wasn’t going to win straight away. I knew it was going to take time, simply because it’s so competitive.

You’ve got guys here who have been doing it longer than I’ve been motor racing. You have to be patient, but at the same time, I’ve been with Garry Rogers Motorsport for a year and a half and we’ve evolved so much – it’s starting to show with our results. It’s going well, and all these little things play a part in the goals that you set yourself and what you can achieve.

But I don’t think this changes anything. We’ve still got a long way to go in the series. We’re up at the new Townsville circuit next week, so it will be a matter of trying to get our head around it. It’s the first weekend that I won’t be in the bottom 15 practice session. I’ll have to get used to just doing the two practice sessions!

eLETTER OF THE WEEK There are a couple of areas where we should take the chance to update the technology used by V8 Supercars.

Going to a control independent rear end instead of the existing locked and live rear axle would be no more expensive, and be more relevant to the market. On top of that, it would make these cars easier to drive, and, most importantly, be more attractive to other manufacturers entering the series.

Also, one of the reasons current race

wheels are expensive is because they are not off-the-shelf items – no other series uses a 17”x11” race wheel. Going to an 18” or 19” wheel means the available brands expand three-fold, which makes them cheaper. Dunlop might also be interested in this as they can then go to an off-theshelf tyre, instead of having to custom make the rubber as is the current situation.

Tim Noske via email

Tim Noske is this week’s winner of the DVD Transporter 3, starring Jason Statham, compliments of Icon Film Distribution Australia. Send yours to mail@mnews.com.au, or Motorsport News PO Box 7072, Brighton, Vic 3186 23

SHANNONS NATIONALS ROUND 5 – WINTON, VIC

Commodore Kings The Domaschenz brothers took home the honours in the second-annual Commodore Cup enduro at Winton Motor Raceway

24

race

Dirk Klynsmith

25

COMMODORE CUP

G

eelong brothers Jason and Craig Domaschenz won the second-annual Commodore Cup Endurance Challenge in a chaotic weekend of racing at Winton last weekend.

The Domaschenz team finished second behind the Steve Owen/Tony Bates entry in Saturday’s opening 45minute leg, before coming away with the race win in Sunday’s second leg.

The round win has also given Jason Domaschenz the series lead at the half-way point of the Commodore Cup national series.

26

“I wasn’t planning on going to the next round, but now I suppose I have to!” Jason Domaschenz said.

“It’s been a really good weekend. Craig drove really well and gave me a straight car to drive home in both races, and our pit strategy worked well too.

The Owen/Bates team finished second overall, with Bates ruing a drive-through penalty for jumping the start of Race 2. The team recovered to finish fifth, helped by a blinding stint from Owen.

“If we hadn’t had the drivethrough, we would have brained everyone,” Bates said.

“It was good to get my first Commodore Cup race win, but

it’s disappointing we didn’t win the round as well.”

“This category is great fun,” reigning Fujitsu V8 Supercar champion Steve Owen added.

“I was very impressed with how courteous the backmarkers were at letting the race leaders through, and the cars are enjoyable to drive.”

Ross McGregor claimed his first-ever Commodore Cup podium finish after enlisting the services of five-time Commodore Cup champion Geoff Emery as his co-driver.

The pair finished second in Race 2 after a speedy late stint from Emery who was suffering from the flu.

“I’ve been trying for a long time to get a podium finish,

and it was definitely the goal for this year,” McGregor said.

The weekend’s first race was a wet and wild affair, punctuated by three Safety Car periods in the space of 45 minutes. As a result, the field completed a total of just 20 laps, with almost half those laps under full-course yellow flag conditions. Brett Holdsworth emerged from the pit-stop shuffle with the race lead, despite scoring a drive-through for overtaking the Safety Car. Holdsworth held the lead until the very last lap, when he crumbled under pressure from Owen and slipped off the track, falling to sixth.

In Race 2, the Domaschenz

race

James Smith

Commodore hustle: Left, the start of Race 1. Above, Holdsworth gets stuck into the side of Emery at turn three. Below, Rally ace Simon Evans steered at Winton. Bottom, the final podium placer getters.

Dirk Klynsmith

Marshall Cass

James Smith

entry took the race lead early, and held the effective advantage as pit-stops played out. Emery overtook Holdsworth’s co-driver Ryan McLeod on the very last lap to finish second, while the well-driven Nathan Collins/ Terry Wyhoon entry finished fourth ahead of Owen/Bates and last year’s endurance winners Michael Tancredi and Dean Crosswell.

Denis Pana and Chris Delfsma picked up the hard-charger award for making up the most positions over the weekend.

Pana and Delfsma qualified a lowly 21st, but good pit-strategy and solid driving allowed the pair to charge to ninth in Race 1, backed up by a strong 12th in Race 2.

27

A new spin on an old favourite: Whenever there’s a race on at Winton, the Motorsport eNews sign gets a good work out in this publication! Pictured here is Klynsmith trying something a little different with Ben Porter’s round-winning Formula Vee.

It ain’t over just yet ...

SHANNONS NATIONALS

T

HE close 2009 Formula 3 rivalry continued in Round 5 of the Shannons Nationals at Winton on the weekend, with Joey Foster and Tim Macrow taking a race win each.

Foster led the opening race before Macrow pulled off a brilliant overtaking move mid-race to take the lead, and the race win. The second race was all Joey Foster, the British driver leading every lap en route to victory.

It was the third consecutive Formula 3 round in which Macrow and Foster shared the race wins, but Foster continues to hold a 20-point series advantage over the 2007 Formula 3 champion.

Mat Sofi, who entered the round third in the points, endured a disappointing weekend. His first race came to an end after an altercation with National Class leader Tom Tweedie, and an off-track excursion in Race 2 ruined Sofi’s chances of challenging for a podium finish.

Tandersport driver Ben Crighton took

28

advantage of Sofi’s misery to finish third in both races and move up to third in the championship.

Tim Rowse broke Shawn Jamieson’s stranglehold on the Saloon Car national series, winning the round against a severely depleted field. Just eight vehicles attended the Saloon Car round, a stark contrast to the 38-car field that attended Phillip Island just two rounds ago.

Rowse took victory in the first race after Jamieson suffered a mechanical problem on the formation lap and retired, while John Goodacre took out the second event. Jamieson recovered from his early problems to win the final race and establish a massive championship lead, with Goodacre retiring after a racing incident early on. Tony Evangelou’s consistency across the three races allowed him to take second overall, while Jamieson finished third for the round despite his nil points haul in Race 1.

Ben Porter wrapped up his thirdconsecutive Australian Formula Vee Championship with two race wins. Other

drivers had their opportunities to challenge Porter, but threw away their chances by making mistakes. Andrew McFarland was very quick in qualifying, but went off the track in Race 1 and failed to finish. David Frith won Race 1, only to spin into the wall and out of the race on the opening lap of Race 2. Jack Le Brocq, Nicholas Jones, Michael Kinsella and Dylan Thomas all battled vigorously for second position in Races 2 and 3, allowing Porter to pull well clear and take a comfortable round win.

Terry Wyhoon won the V8 Touring Car round despite the presence of reigning Fujitsu Series champion Steve Owen. Owen was unstoppable in a wet Race 1, but suffered handling problems in the other two races. As a result, Wyhoon took victory from Adam Wallis and Chris Smerdon.

David Lawrence took out the Aussie Racing Car round from Kyle Clews and Adam Gowans. Neal Bates was very quick in the wet in his Toyota Aurion, but mechanical problems ruined his chances of challenging the frontrunners.

– LACHLAN MANSELL

race

Dirk Klynsmith

Dirk Klynsmith Marshall Cass

Championships on the line: Above, Tim Rowse broke Shawn Jamieson’s Saloon Car stranglehold. Right, Terry Wyhoon looks set to challenge seriues leader Adam Wallis after his winning Winton weekend. Below right, David Lawrence narrowed the gap to Kyle Clews. Below, Tim Macrow just won’t let Joey Foster have it all his own way in F3.

Rob Lang

Marshall Cass

29

NASCAR SPRINT CUP ROUND 18 – LENOX INDUSTRIAL TOOLS 301, LOUDON, NH

30

race

Fast enough is Old enough Joey Logano is still a teenager – but that did not stop him taking his first win in Sprint Cup at Loudon.

By MARTIN D CLARK Toyota Motorsports

31

J

32

out eight cars-plus on a lap 175 restart. Junior was running third at the time and appeared to spin his rear wheels on the restart, forcing Martin Truex behind him to back off. Kyle Busch hit Truex and started a chain reaction wreck on the frontstretch that resembled a restrictor plate ‘big one’.

Along with Logano, two others in the top 10 elected not to pit late in the race, with David Reutimann in fourth and Brad Keselowski (who won in the rain at Lowe’s in sixth.

Marcos Ambrose had a hohum kind of day, losing a lap and finishing 23rd, but missing the big wreck by diving low onto the grass. He ran inside the top 20 in the closing laps, but when several cars didn’t pit before the race ended it dropped him 17th. Ambrose started 18th as qualifying was rained out and the field set on points order, which is where he where he continues to sit just ahead of Earnhardt Jr.

The Teen Age: Joey Logano scored two flat tyres to air the ninth caution of the race but, after a gamble with fuel, was left a smiling winner at the end of the day. Marcos Ambrose had a quiet day, right, which was better than Jamie McMurray’s, #26.

Smile Kid: Even the former driver of the #2 some congratulatory words for the man w Gibbs Racing, below.

NASCAR Media

OEY Logano took his first Sprint Cup Series win on Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the third rainshortened event of the year.

Logano’s Joe Gibbs Racing crew elected not to pit late in the race, and with rain looming, it paid off, big-time. With little more than a lap or two of fuel remaining in the #20 Home Depot Toyota, he came home ahead of race dominator Jeff Gordon after 273 of the scheduled 301 laps.

“Holly cow, this is really cool,” said Logano.

“I wouldn’t have ever guessed we’d have got lucky enough to win one in the rain, I figured it would dry up or something.

This is awesome, I don’t know what to say right now, this is really cool.”

Ah, the way these kids of today talk …

Gordon and Kurt Busch spent time swapping the lead through the first half of the race, with Gordon beating Busch on every double-style restart.

“I’d have to give my restarts an ‘F’”, said Busch, who wound up third. “It would go after about four laps of running and yes, I stepped over the line a little bit, but it was exciting racing.”

Busch battled hard up front all day, and his race included running Jimmie Johnson up the track at one point, in possible retaliation to last week’s road course racing, during which Johnson spun Busch.

In yet another backup car after wrecking his primary in practice, Tony Stewart passed Gordon for the lead on the final restart on lap 196, but a right front wheel nut issue slowed him in the pits during the final round of green flag stops, dropping him to fifth.

Dale Earnhardt Jr finished 13th after running as high as third, but can be held partly to blame for the wreck that wiped

race

Team Wars

SPRINT CUP | LENOX INDUSTRIAL TOOLS 301 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

20 24 2 00 14 09 18 77 48 9

Joey Logano Toyota Jeff Gordon Chevy Kurt Busch Dodge David Reutimann Toyota Tony Stewart Chevy Brad Keselowski Chevy Kyle Busch Toyota Sam Hornish Jr Dodge Jimmie Johnson Chevy Kasey Kahne Dodge

Joe Gibbs/Home Depot Hendrick/DuPont Penske/Miller Lite Waltrip/Aaron’s Stewart Haas/Old Spice Phoenix/Miccosukee Resort Joe Gibbs/Interstate Batteries Penske/Penske Trucks Hendrick/Lowe’s RPM/Budweiser

NATIONWIDE

24 2 4 14 1 36 9 26 3 13

NASCAR | DRIVER’S points Stewart 2524, J Gordon 2455, Johnson 2355, Kurt Busch 2254, Edwards 2157, Hamlin 2132, Newman 2127, Kyle Busch 2108, Biffle 2106, Kenseth 2054 (Ambrose 18th 1798).

NASCAR Media Toyota Motorsports

KYLE Busch passed his Joe Gibbs team-mate Joey Logano with 36 laps to run in the 200 lapper last to take the Nationwide win.

“This place is real, real tough on me for some reason,” said Busch.

“It eludes me. We just kept adjusting on it all race, today we didn’t have the winning car, but we made it the winning car.”

Logano led a race-high 108 laps from his pole position despite letting his team-mate pass for five bonus points on lap 147, and the kid looked like he had the a car to win the race.

Carl Edwards seemed to be the only driver to contend with the Gibbs pairing, but a sloppy pit stop on lap 107 saw him drop from first to eighth on the restart and he would never contend again.

– MARTIN D CLARK

More than just Gibbs: David Reutimann showed that the improving form of the Waltrip Toyotas is no flash in the pan, taking fourth in the #00 car. He is now 14th in points and a threat for the Chase.

Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch spent quite a bit of time together, the Penske driver showing that he speed but losing out on the restarts.

NASCAR Media

20 entry, Tony Stewart, had who replaced him at Joe

NASCAR Media

NASCAR Media

NASCAR Media

33

INDYCAR ROUND 8 – SUNTRUST INDY CHALLENGE, RICHMOND, VA

Red All Over It was a perfect weekend for Target Team Ganassi – pole and second in qualifying, 1-2 in the race ... and zero points for

34

race

IndyCar Media

35

T

36

making it a double DNF for the team.

“It was totally unexpected,” Briscoe said. “I am not sure exactly what happened. I was fighting some understeer, and I was just coming back to throttle when it snapped on me. It took me totally by surprise.”

Third place went to Graham Rahal, who took his best result on an oval, while Andretti Green Racing filled out the next placings. Hideki Mutoh and Danica Patrick pitted under green after stretching their fuel range and ignoring the early yellows, dropping the pair two laps down. But they fought back and the Japanese driver looked set to take a shock win at one stage, until Castroneves prompted a late-race yellow that allowed Dixon and Franchitti to take track position.

In any event, Mutoh took fourth from Patrick, Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti. Raphael Matos followed, beating Robert Doornbos in the battle for rookie honours.

Not a great race, as we said, but in terms of the title ambitions that they contenders hold, Richmond may be telling. The red cars are very competitive on the ovals, and Watkins Glen’s road race may be a line in the sand for Penske and the other teams.

If either Dixon or Franchitti win in New York, they might be able to make it anywhere …

Beat ya!

Scott Dixon took the lead on pit road, above right, and was never headed after that. Tony Kanaan had to chase the field after starting 17th; right, he leads team-mate Hideki Mutoh.

RACE SHOP

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

03 9596 5555 or 0422 624 349

Honda Racing

HINGS could hardly have gone better for the Target Ganassis at Richmond.

Dario Franchitti took pole, but when Scott Dixon beat him out of the pits and then the following yellows fell perfectly for the pair, the reds sped to a dominant 1-2. The shorter ovals do appear to show the team to its best advantage and it was clear that nobody was going to challenge them in Virginia.

In winning, Dixon took his 19th win, tying him with Sam Hornish Jr for the most in IndyCar-sanctioned races.

But the race was no advertisement for IndyCar racing.

Dixon had saved fuel, and that is why he beat Dario out of the pits.

From there on, unless they made a mistake, it was a yawn.

“It was a bit of a procession, unfortunately,” Dixon admitted. “It was very tough to pass because of the track. I think it's just the last couple of years we’ve really slipped into a car that is not enabling a whole lot of passing.

“So tonight was a premium of trying to save some fuel. I saved a little bit more than Dario, and he got caught out with that yellow and I was able to continue on and jump him in the pits.”

But if Ganassi winning on an oval is not, in particular, newsworthy, what happened to Team Penske is.

Ryan Briscoe was the only driver to go close to challenging Dixon and Franchitti, but his run of podium finishes came to an abrupt end when he spun into the wall on lap 27. Worse, an off-the-pace Helio Castroneves followed him teammate into the wall late in the race,

race

INDYCAR | SUNTRUST INDY CHALLENGE 1 9 2 10 3 02 4 27 5 7 6 11 7 26 8 2 9 06 10 4

Scott Dixon NZ Dario Franchitti GB Graham Rahal USA Hideki Mutoh J Danica Patrick USA Tony Kanaan Br Marco Andretti USA Raphael Matos Br Robert Doornbos Ned Dan Wheldon GB

Target Ganassi 300 laps Q2 Target Ganassi -0.3109s 1 Newman Haas Lanigan -2.4085s 5 Andretti Green -13.5302s 8 Andretti Green -14.1111s 10 Andretti Green -1 lap 17 Andretti Green -1 lap 8 Luczo Dragon -1 lap 6 Newman Haas Lanigan -1 lap 12 Panther -1 lap 13

Fastest lap: Dixon on lap 263, 16.6070s (162.582mph)

INDYCAR | DRIVER’S points

Franchitti 279, Dixon 278, Briscoe 253, Castroneves 225, Patrick 219, Wheldon 204, Kanaan 190, Andretti 185, Rahal 180, Mutoh 174.

Dancing Kiwi: Dixon was a happy man after taking his record-tying 19th career win, left. Graham Rahal was a strong third, after leading an all-in battle for the final podium position, below.

Honda Racing

Honda Racing

Honda Racing

37

WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 9 – DONINGTON, ENGLAND

B

Ducati Corse

Ouch! Noriyuki Haga was third in the opening race but a heavy fall in Race 2 has put his lead in jeopardy.

Leon Haslam was the best of the local riders with second, below, and looks close to his first win in the SBK.

Honda Pro Images

BRAKE BALANCE BARS Balance Bars distribute brake force Tilton Balance Bars come in various widths and bar thickness (2 1/2" wide, 3/8" bar standard).

Single Ended to tighten hose ends to adaptors Double Ended allow hose to hose end assembly,also fit swivel nuts etc.

Cable Kits for in-cockpit bar adjustments also readily available

•

Distributed in Australia by -

38

HOSE END WRENCHES • Essential tools for serious plumbers!

• Single or Double Ended

separately to front and rear brakes, and can be adjusted to alter braking ratio.

PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS

EN Spies took a double at Donington and closed to within 14 points of leader Noriyuki Haga at Donington – but it was the Ducati ace’s Race 2 fall that may have the biggest implications on deciding the 2009 World Superbike Championship.

After winning the opening race after shaking off Max Biaggi, Spies cruised to a double but Haga, who was second after Biaggi fell back to 21st, dropped it heavily at Coppice. After being battered by his tumbling 1199, Haga had to be helped to his feet by marshals, and while he is not expected to suffer any longterm consequences of the crash, much will depend on his famed abilities to recover.

“I built a good lead early and then my focus was broken a little bit when I saw Nori crashed,” Spies said.

“So many things were going through my head. I was hoping Nori was OK, but also excited knowing that, if I could manage to win that second race, I would be back in serious

Anodised Aluminium to minimise scratches. Sizes AN3 to AN20 Distributed in Australia by -

12 Stanley St Silverwater NSW 2128 Ph: 02 9748 6011 Fx : 02 9748 6241

PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS

12 Stanley St Silverwater NSW 2128 Ph: 02 9748 6011 Fx : 02 9748 6241

#19, with a Bullet Ben Spies took a double and Noriyuki Haga limped out of Donington with his lead cut to 14 points contention for the championship. I got my focus back and then worked the lead up to about seven seconds.”

Spies was the only man to finish on the podium for both races in England. Haga was third in Race 1, from locals Leon Haslam and Shaky Byrne, while the second race saw the locals in full voice as Haslam took second ahead of Michel Fabrizio. Byrne, Tom Sykes and BSB wildcard Leon Camier followed.

It was a tough weekend for the Aussies, Broc Parkes 19th and 14th on an unhappy Kawasaki and Troy Corser 20th in Race 2 after laying it down in the gravel in the first race.

CAL Crutchlow did a runner in the World Supersports race after archrival Eugene Laverty fell.

The battle was over on lap 4, and Crutchlow’s Yamaha was 5s clear of Joan Lascorz’s Kawasaki at the flag. Garry McCoy took a great third, Triumph’s first podium finish, ahead of Kenan Sofuoglu and Laverty, who remounted to mount a brilliant chase.

Points: Haga 308, Spies 294, Fabrizio 257, Rea 177, Haslam 167, Biaggi 155, Sykes 141, Smrz 115, Checa 114, Byrne/Kiyonari 113.

Yamaha Racing

39

From the back to the front

Sera did the unthinkable in Rotax Light – Pearce too good in CIK-KF2 ROTAX PRO TOUR DAVID Sera put together one of the drives of his career to take victory in the Rotax Pro Tour Skyline Cup at VACC Park last weekend.

Sera came from the rear of the field to take his second-successive Rotax Pro Tour victory, while Tyson Pearce ‘clean sweeped’ the weekend in the Australian CIK Championships.

In the Rotax Light class, Sera was forced to start his Arrow X1 from the rear of grid after a collision on the opening lap of the Pre-Final. He scythed through the field until he was on racing terms with runaway leader Daniel Rochford. With a handful of laps to run, Sera made his move on Rochford, however the young CC Racing Intrepid driver fought back, meeting the chequered flag line astern with Sera, the margin of victory just 0.047s.

Third place was Bart Price who set his final charge up in the Pre-Final. Price started that race 11th and made best use of the melee in front of him to charge through and secure a front row start alongside Troy Woolston. Price would best Woolston in the final.

Rounding out the top five

40

was Tony Kart driver Jordie Lindstrom, who, like Sera had to charge from the back after a turn one Pre-Final incident.

Rotax Heavy saw William Yarwood online for a clean sweep, if it wasn’t for Paul Rodgers. Yarwood, Rogers and Jason Pringle cleared out at the start before Rogers was able to get past the Queenslander.

Try as he might, Yarwood was unable to make his way past Rodgers who went on to record one of the biggest wins of his career in front of a vocal home crowd. Pringle was third ahead of his brother Rick.

Ben Jurczak took his Redspeed machine to a fabulous victory in Formula J-MAX, which doubled as the Victorian Championship for the class. The battle was between pole-sitter Max Johnston, Jurczak, Pierce Lehane and Brittany Hall.

In the end, Jurczak was able to assert the advantage to take the win, while Johnston held out Lehane in the Rockstar Energy Drinks CRG. Paul Mapperson took victory in Rotax Over-35s from Bruce Otter, while Travis Millar claimed Rotax DD2 honours.

In the reborn CIK-KF2, Tyson Pearce took an emotional

victory in both finals aboard his Omega Kart, holding off Gillard’s Hayden McBride.

Pearce clean swept the weekend while McBride hung

on for a sensational second placing in both finals. Set-up changes overnight assisted him to place in front of Team CRG’s Mitchell Cunningham.

race

Martin down, not out SUPERLEAGUE FORMULA A PITSTOP error cost John Martin a shot at victory in Race 2 of the opening round of the Superleague Formula series at Magny Cours in France last weekend.

By virtue of the reverse grid format for Race 2, Martin had started his Rangers FC machine from the front row of the grid after being eliminated in a crash on the opening lap of Race 1.

The 24-year-old Australian timed his run to perfection at the start of the race,

grabbed the lead and held it until Lap 9 when he pitted in front of Georgio Pantano.

During his stop, the car fell off the front jack, losing 35s.

“That was that really,” said Martin. “I think if we had of had a good pitstop we could have got out in front of Pantano and won the race. Instead I came out 13th.”

A spin later cost his ground but still managed to finish ninth.

Race 1 was even more of a disaster for Martin. Starting from fifth, he was crashed

into at the Adelaide Hairpin on the opening lap.

Liverpool FC’s Adrian Valles steered clear of the melee to take victory in Race 1 and also picked up the €100,000 awarded to the winner in the six-car Super Final.

The second round of Superleague Formula is at Zolder, Belgium on July 18-19.

Martin’s next motor race is his third and final outing in the World Series by Renault with Comtec Racing this weekend at Silverstone.

Reaching the NHRA Summit NHRA LARRY Dixon, Jack Beckman, Jason Line and Andrew Hines collected victories at the third annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

Dixon drove his Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing dragster to

his fifth win of the season and first at Norwalk with a final round 3.98s at 294mph, while Brandon Bernstein smoked the tyres in his Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster.

Dixon, who started race day as the number one qualifier, powered past Steve Chrisman, Clay Millican and points leader Antron Brown to jump up to

The True Performance Alternative • Extremely durable bonded dampening material • Easy to read computer etched timing marks • Available in economical cast iron Street, all steel SFi approved Race & new Serpentine for Chev, LS1, LT1 etc P 02 6937 8888 F 02 6921 7536 Click here to go to www.precisionparts.com.au

second in the standings.

Beckman drove his Charger to his second win of the season and moved to fourth in the Full Throttle Series point standings, by stopping Bob Tasca. Beckman earned his eighth career victory with a performance of 4.31s at 277mph.

Line earned his fourth win,

clocking a final round 666/207 to get around Mike Edwards, who recorded a 6.74/203.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Hines won his first race of the season with a 7.02s/189mph to hold off fellow Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines rider Eddie Krawiec, who trailed with a 7.03 at 190.

– DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

• Fast profile design service to your requirements • Custom ground roller, solid and hydraulic profiles using unique computer controlled machines for unrivalled accuracy • Matching race valve train components including a huge range of one piece super duty pushrods P 03 9357 0469 F 03 9357 0001 Click here to visit www.crowcams.com.au

41

HISTORIC MOTOR RACING ORAN PARK, NSW

sutton-images.com

A Historic Last Lap

The final Historic meeting was held at Oran Park last weekend. JOHN MORRIS was th

T

HIS past weekend brought to an end another chapter in the history of Oran Park Raceway with the last meeting held by the Historic Sports and Racing Car Association of NSW (HSRCA).

With in excess of 250 entrants, the weekend was set to be a celebration of motorsport at the Narellan venue.

In the words of HSRCA president, Bruce Richardson; “It can be said with some justification that we are going out in style.”

It is fair to say that the weekend was tinged with mixed emotions. For HSRCA member, Mal Brewster, the end of Oran Park was like “losing an arm”. Mr Brewster, a member of the HSRCA for 13 years has

ROAD RACE RALLY 4X4 30 years experience – consult us for the best brands and advice

63-65 Intrepid Street, Berwick, VIC 3806 Ph: 03 9768 9109 Fax: 03 9768 9173

www.quadrantsuspensions.com.au 42

been racing at Oran Park since 1964, in cars as diverse as a 1956 Hillman and Formula Two. In total, Mal has over 51 years of motorsport experience, much of it at Oran Park.

The weekend produced exciting racing, shared victories and some very close racing, though a little too close for David Roberts, who rolled his Hillman Imp during practice.

The highlight of the weekend was shared between the Formula Ford 40th anniversary feature race and the The Hon. John DawsonDamer Memorial Race for pre1970 Racing Cars.

The Formula Ford class had been dominated by Garry Watson and John Smith, however they were both upstaged by Jonathon Miles in

race

It’s happening, whether you like it or not ...

Above, the ‘Last Lap’ board is for more than just the end of this race. Right top, BMW in the foreground, new public roads in the background. Above middle, Chris Farrell’s Ralt RT4. Right, Brunninghausen leads a mixed pack.

here the feature race as he lead Tim Berryman in a dominant 1-2 for the Reynard marque. Third place went to Laurie Bennett in a 1971 Elfin.

The Hon. John DawsonDamer Memorial race was a classic battle between Les Wright and Richard Carter.

Wright and Carter shared wins with Carter winning the last race for Groups M,O and V

racing. The feature belonged to Wright though, who won the perpetual trophy for the second time in his Brabham Buick V8 from Carter’s 1968 Elfin 600 and Peter Addison third in the Brian Wilson 1967 Brabham BT23C. Other winners included Geoff Morgan in Production Sports, Frank Binding in Group A and C Touring, Keith Berryman in

Groups M,O,Q and R Sports Cars, and Laurie Sellars in the Groups K/L and Invited Sports and Touring Car class.

Finally the Groups Q and R Racing Cars class belonged to Chris Farrell’s, until a DNF in the final race resulted in the Ralt RT4 left stranded on the circuit.

A spin by Aaron Lewis appeared to hand the victory to Doug Macarthur, until a subsequent

60 second penalty then handed the victory to Lewis and the Matich A50.

The workers are now quite literally knocking on the door – the main road for the new housing estate is now clearly visible from Turn 2 and a community centre is taking shape close by ... and the HSRCA have officially said goodbye to Oran Park.

43

44

rear of grid

Lakeside back in business!

LAKESIDE Raceway will be officially re-opened on July 4.

The historic Queensland circuit – the only Queensland venue to host an Australian Grand Prix – will host Round 3 of the Queensland Racing Drivers Championship. Due to unprecedented competitor intestest, the meeting has been split over two weekends, with July 11/12 the date for the second part of the meeting.

Categories that will make up the bill over the two weekends include Formula Ford, Sports Cars, Race Cars, Geminis, Trans-Am, HQs, Formula Vee, Future Racers and Sidecars.

Built in 1959/60 with its inaugural race meeting in March 1961, Lakeside International Raceway, as it was then known, grew to become one of the pre-eminent race-tracks in Australia.

Unfortunately for fans and drivers alike, the operators of the circuit fell on hard financial times and the track was closed in 2001.

After lying dormant for several years the old circuit has been resurrected, with new operator Queensland Raceways spending several million dollars over the past 12 months on track and its surrounds.

The track itself has been resurfaced and widened with the entries and exits of several corners slightly altered for improved safety. Venue facilities have also been significantly upgraded, with a new ring road, under-track access tunnel, pit car-ports, driver’s briefing room, toilet blocks and grassed areas. A major upgrade has also been undertaken on the Lakeside Function Centre building, which now stands proud over the circuit, with its twin decks, café, level 2 function space and ground level motorsport museum (Queensland’s first full time motorsport museum).

Odd Spot

MOTOR racing folk love a good cause, and at the Shannons Nationals meeting at Winton last weekend, a group of drivers got behind one of the best.

The last Friday of every June is Red Nose Day, a fundraiser for SIDS and Kids, which is dedicated to fighting Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. And at Winton, a driver from each of the Nationals categories donned a red nose as a sign of support.

That meant Adam Wallis (V8 Touring Cars), Nick Parker (Commodore Cup), Joey Foster (F3), Ben Porter (Formula Vee), Kyle Clews (Aussie Racers) and Shawn Jamieson (Saloon Car) all did their best Krusty the Clown impersonation.

Clews even went one step further, and kept a red nose strapped the front of his racecar all weekend, pictured.

45