Motorsport eNews Issue 117 - August 11-17, 2009

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Issue No. 117 August 11 - 17 2009

SK AIFE

back for bathurst

TANDER

NEW HRT DEAL

AMBROSE

victory at the glen RACE COVERAGE

SHANNONS NATIONALS WILLOWBANK DRAGS ROTAX PRO TOUR

Battle of the colours After FORD SALVO, Triple Eight fights back

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

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MD / Publisher

Chris Lambden publisher@mnews.com.au

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

Photographers Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Marshall Cass, John Morris/Mpix, AF1 Images, James Smith, Peter Bury, Neil Blackbourn, Chris Carter, Coopers Photography, Geoff Gracie, Paris Charles, Neil Hammond, Joel Strickland, Ash Budd, Mike Patrick (UK) Motorsport eNews is published by Australasian Motorsport News ABN 55 125 120 702 Publisher: C Lambden

Issue No. 117 | 11 - 17 August 2009

news 4 Different Views 6 I’d rather be Red 8 A1 Down Under 12 On the March 14 Sporty Tasmanian

chat 20 5 minutes with ... opinion 22 Rev Coleman

race 24 Shannons M Park

30 Willowbank 34 aussies@creek.com 36 What-Kins Glen!

38 Middling in Ohio 42 Safari On

trade 44 Classifieds

Dane replies to Ford GT’s signs new HRT deal Creek steps in for Testing Clipsal happy to be R3 Ambrose and Jimmie J Marcos celebrates again Take a deep breath, people Morgan makes its debut Zappia has a Big One Without a Clews Ambrose wins, again!

Dixon blasts off Riley goes back-to-back

Calzone-ti recipe: Take one Pizzati, roll over, serve with salad.

See page 34 for more ...

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.

John Morris/Mpix

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

In the blue corner ...

Ford versus V8 SUPERCARS

T

EAMVODAFONE Principal Roland Dane has struck back at comments made last week by Ford CEO Marin Burela outlining the reasons behind the split between the two parties at the end of last season.

Motorsport eNews has sighted emailed communication from Dane to Burela, pictured left, in which the team boss says that the reasons Burela attributed to the split (in his own email to Ford employees) on July 30, are “pretty much a pack of lies”. Dane would not comment further on the email, but he did verify its authenticity.

Burela’s comments, contained in an email to Ford personnel, detailed the company’s requirement that “they [TeamVodafone] respect our brand by painting their cars blue. This wasn’t just a simple

request, it was written into their contracts every single year – and each year Triple 8 chose to defy that contractual obligation and paint their cars red.”

Dane’s reply was that the contract between his team and Ford “contained a Branding Summary with a matrix of brand positioning, and that matrix expressly stated that the base colour of the car would not be blue/white in 2004.

“For 2005 and the balance of the agreement, the matrix called for the colour to be by negotiation … and at no stage during 2004, 2005 and 2006 did anyone at Ford raise any objection to our colour schemes. “… In December 2007 and again in January 2008 Ford marketing personnel approved our livery for the 2008 season.”

Dane also pointed out that other Ford teams were also not subjected to the same colour requirements; “During the same period that

...

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

news

Dane

. in the red corner

you accuse Triple Eight of failing to run a blue car, your lead ‘factory’ car at FPR sported a black and yellow colour scheme and one of the cars at SBR sported a green colour scheme.”

Dane continues; “We had a great relationship with many people at Ford.

We more than repaid Ford’s investment with three Bathurst wins (after a long drought) as well as a Championship during the contracted period. We also successfully developed the BF and the FG for Ford – both progammes would not have had the level of success they enjoyed without Triple Eight’s leadership.

“Your sponsorship and marketing departments have done the damage to your brand – not us. I invite you to now openly retract the unfortunate and highly inaccurate statements you have made.”

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

Ambrose aiming for two NASCAR

MARCOS Ambrose is having to wait 24 hours to shoot at a NASCAR double win.

For the second week in succession, NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series Sunday race was rain delayed to Monday.

Before he won Saturday’s Nationwide race for the second year in a row (see page 36), Ambrose qualified fourth on the Watkins Glen road course race with an average speed of 123.045mph, compared to four-time Sprint Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson’s pole speed of 123.633mph. Defending race winner Kurt Busch in his Penske Dodge will line up alongside Johnson with Denny Hamlin to the inside of Ambrose in his Joe Gibbs Toyota. Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards, who both had run-

ins with Ambrose in Saturday’s Nationwide race, will start eighth and 33rd respectively.

Kasey Kahne, winner of the Sonoma road race in June will line up 12th and series point leader and four-time Glen race winner Tony Stewart 14th.

From the aggressive performance we saw from Ambrose in the Nationwide race, he will definitely be a force to reckoned with when the green flag falls on the 90 lap affair at 12 noon Monday, New York time (2am Tuesday for Aussie Fox Sports viewers!).

Ambrose topped both postqualifying practice sessions, heading final practice by nearly four-tenths of a second ...

“It’s going to be a very different race today,” Ambrose told ESPN before the scheduled start of Sunday’s race.

“We’ve got an extra 200 to 250 horsepower to deal with and

the cars don’t have as much downforce to them so they get quite slippery through the turns.

“Today is going to be about tyre and brake management and just keeping that car on the black stuff.

“You’ve got to be really focused on not making mistakes, like putting the fenders on the wheels.

“Today’s race is going to be a little bit longer, but it’s not the length that worries me, it’s just the way the car is going to wear out.”

Ironically, Goodyear had rain tyres ready at the track – but only for the Nationwide cars.

NASCAR boss Mike Helton explained that the fans expect Sprint Cup to be the pinnacle of the sport, so that means dry races only – even if the race is a day late ...

– MARTIN D CLARK

Tander, HRT until 2011 V8 SUPERCARS

HOLDEN Racing Team has re-signed Garth Tander for the next two seasons.

As reported in eNews last week, inset right, Tander’s first preference was to stay with Holden’s factory team and, in spite of having options, chose to re-sign with the red team.

“I am absolutely delighted to have re-signed with HRT for another two years,” Tander said.

“This caps off a great week for the Toll Holden Racing Team and puts us in a strong position to push hard for this year’s Championship and future titles.”

The news means that Tander and Will Davison will stay with the team, in partnership, until at least the end of the 2011 season.

“By re-signing Garth to a new contract we have further guaranteed the long term stability and future prospects for the team, but remain singularly focused on this year’s Driver and Teams’ Championships,” said Craig Wilson, CEO of Walkinshaw Racing At the half-way mark of the 2009 season Tander has secured two race wins and four podiums, while Davison has achieved six podiums and one race win. The pair dominated the recent Sandown races, with two poles, two wins and one 1-2 finish.

sday August 4

Motorsport eNews – Tue

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Nine wins between them, but can Skaife and Murphy win again?

Skaife confirmed in #51 V8 SUPERCARS

IT’S official; Mark Skaife and Greg Murphy will race in the enduros together.

Sprint Gas Racing has confirmed what Motorsport eNews reported first in June, that the two Bathurst legends will team up to race an SGR Commodore VE at Phillip Island and Bathurst.

Skaife tested the #51 car again at Winton on Monday.

“From my point of view pairing up with Murph is ideal because we both know exactly what is required on the day,” Skaife said.

“No one gets around the mountain better than Murph when he’s dialled in – four wins and a long standing lap record are testament to that.

“Sprint Gas Racing is a strong outfit with some good strategic operators like Jeff Grech and Mike Henry calling

the shots.

“Last year Sprint Gas went excellently at Bathurst to run a close second – I reckon this year the team has the potential to go one better.”

Murphy commented on the experience of his new codriver, who stepped down from full-time race at the end of the 2008 season.

“It’s exciting for the team and the sponsors to have Mark Skaife join us,” Murphy said.

“Experience counts for heaps at Bathurst and Skaifey’s got more of that than anyone else out there. I guess he wasn’t really ready to hang up his helmet for good last year and was planning for an enduro return.”

The news means that Jason Bargwanna will be joined in the team’s #3 entry by Mark Noske, giving the SGR squad four ex-Holden Racing Team drivers …

You read it here ...

Motorsport eNews – Tuesday June 30

“MARK Skaife will race at Bathurst this year – and his co-driver will be Greg Murphy.

The two Bathurstwinning 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 …”

Once again, Motorsport eNews was first with the news that matters.

Our team of motorsport journalists continues to come up with the big news, accurately, and first. That’s why you’re a Motorsport eNews reader ...

news

Marshall Cass

Moffat & Ford!

James samples FPR power V8 SUPERCARS

THE name ‘Moffat’ returned to the seat of a factory Ford yesterday (Monday).

Fujitsu V8 Series front-runner James Moffat, son of four-times Bathurst winner Allan, drove Mark Winterbottom’s Ford Performance Racing Falcon FG at Winton Raceway, clocking up close to 40 laps in the Orrcon-back car.

FPR used one of its driver evaluation test days to try Moffat. The team’s endurance driver Luke Youlden was also on hand for the day.

Team principal Tim Edwards told eNews that Moffat acquitted himself well: “He went really well,” he said.

“The car is obviously quite a bit different to what he’s used to (Moffat drives an ex-Triple Eight Falcon BF for Sonic Motor Racing in the FV8 Series).

“He took time figuring it out and understanding it, but he was good – he didn’t put a foot wrong.

“You can tell that he has some experience in these cars.”

But could we see the return of Moffat to a factory Ford on a more permanent basis?

“I’m always on the lookout for future talent,” Edwards said.

“I’ve watched him in every DV8 Series race this year and you never quite know how competitive that category is, so there’s no better way to answer that question than to put him

in the car and see the potential for ourselves.

“Our expectations weren’t about finding out how fast he could drive. We wanted to understand his feedback skills.

“We didn’t want him to go out there to try and break the lap record on the first lap. It was about making sure he didn’t put a foot wrong, making sure he listened, making sure he gave the right feedback.

“We made some changes to the car throughout the day where we knew what the outcome would be but for us, it was to see if he picked it and gave us the right answers – and he gave us very accurate feedback.”

Moffat told eNews that his

FV8 car and the FPR Falcon are comparable: “It’s funny – it’s the same yet different,” he said.

“I guess I’m used to the Sonic car because I’ve been driving it all year. I feel really comfortable at Sonic, so it was nice to be in another team, which competes at a different level, to see how they do it.”

Moffat is currently third in the Fujitsu V8 Series and has been mentioned in pitlane chat as a contender for a Main Series V8 Supercar seat in 2009.

FPR has well-documented desires to expand on its twocar operation, – is this the start of another Moffat/Ford relationship? ...

– GRANT ROWLEY

Pre-season A1 test at Eastern Creek?

DRAG RACING

John Morris/Mpix

UPGRADES to the newgeneration A1GP cars might result in a bonus for Australian fans of the World Cup of Motorsport.

According to industry chatter, some teams are yet to get their cars back from A1GP’s technical base in Bognor Regis, England, as the facility is small and cars can only be serviced several at a time. As a result of the hold-ups, there is a chance that the traditional pre-season open test will be held here in Australia, not at Silverstone,

in the week leading into the Nitro SuperGP on the Gold Coast.

While no circuit has been linked to the test, the only two permanent tracks licensed to meet the safety requirements for fast international openwheelers would be Victoria’s Phillip Island and Sydney’s Eastern Creek.

And, as tantalising and the thought of the Ferraripowered formula cars racing towards Southern Loop is, the probable outcome would be Eastern Creek.

‘The Creek’ has held three

rounds of the series (2005, 2007 and 2008), and therefore the track and the facilities are known by the crews and officials. There is also New

South Wales’ relative proximity to Queensland, making the trek to Surfers Paradise simpler after the test.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

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Etherial Images

Former World Superbike champ is getting to know quite a few V8s ...

Bayliss tests JDR Commodore V8 SUPERCARS IT was a case of drivers of many colours, and accents, for Jack Daniel’s Racing at Winton on Monday.

The all-blacks used a Driver Evaluation Day for some talent to get their hands on the Kelly Racing Commodores, with Troy Bayliss, Ben Collins, Nathan Pretty and Tony Ricciardello getting to work after Todd and Rick Kelly shook down the cars.

“It was a great experience,” said Troy Bayliss.

“The guys asked me along to come and do a few laps and it’s nice because it’s been a long time since I’ve been at Winton. It was 1997 on a Superbike.

“I really enjoyed driving the Jack Daniel’s Commodore today and it’s actually my first time with a lot of other cars out on the track.

“Everybody knows what I really want to do. I’m chasing that next step in my career. I’d loved to be involved in the V8s, whether it’s in the main game or as a Development driver.

“There are so many young guys who probably want to be world champions in their future, but I’m not thinking of being a world champion anymore. I’d love to be in the main game and I’d love to win some races.

“But also I’d love to do the enduros and of course Bathurst is a very big race and something that I’ve been watching for many years. I’d love to take part in that race and do well in it.”

Collins, who will share the #15 Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore with Pretty, was in learning mode in his second run in a V8 Supercar.

“I’m just getting used to a V8

Supercar again. In February I had a few laps with HRT so I’m just remembering how these cars want to be driven. It’s very different to how we race in Europe.

“These cars and events are very unique. There is a very disciplined way of driving these cars on the throttle. It takes a lot to get used to the braking points and that kind of thing, but primarily it’s the throttle. So it’s just a matter of training my foot to weigh a little bit less and to be more progressive.

“Even in the first few laps, it’s reasonably quick, but to get on the pace it’s just a matter of fine tuning it all and making sure I’m in the right place mentally for the endurance races. It’s all going well so far.”

All Victorian V8 teams were present at the test. Tony D’Alberto gave Andrew Thompson some miles in his

Bottle-O Racing Commodore VE. Ford Performance Racing had just one car doing an evaluation day, with Mark Winterbottom, Luke Youlden and James Moffat driving.

Garry Rogers Motorsport was there with both cars and all four drivers (Lee Holdsworth/Michael Caruso/ David Besnard/Greg Ritter).

Sprint Gas Racing also had both cars with Greg Murphy, Jason Bargwanna, Mark Skaife and Mark Noske present.

Walkinshaw Racing also had all four cars of its cars present, with six of its eight drivers peddling. Andy Priaulx and Craig Baird were not present for the test.

Also, Taz Douglas and Sam Walter both had steer of the Tasman Motorsport Commodore VE that the pair will race in the endurance races with Greg Murphy Racing.

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Dirk Klynsmith

Richie Stanaway to get first V8 Supercar miles

Kiwi Formula Forder’s V8 test FUJITSU V8s

AUSTRALIAN Formula Ford rookie Richie Stanaway will get his first taste of V8 Supercar power this week.

The Kiwi star will test one of Howard Racing’s spare Falcon BAs at Queensland Raceway as part of a prize that the team offered for winning last season’s New Zealand Formula Ford Championship.

for this test. He’ll just use it as time to get comfortable in a V8 and see what it’s all about.

“I think it’s important to look out for the stars of tomorrow. I think Richie is a talented guy, so this is a chance to evaluate how he goes.”

Stanaway drives for Team BRM in Formula Ford and is currently fifth. As reported last issue, Stanaway will head to Germany later this year to

compete in the final three rounds of the ADAC Formula Masters Series.

Also in Howard Racing land, team owner Mark Howard is scheduled to test one of his team’s Falcons at Queensland Raceway. It will be the first time that he’s driven a V8 Supercar since 2007. Regular team driver David Russell, above, will also be at the test.

– GRANT ROWLEY

using Triple Eight’s spare Falcon BF chassis (that won Bathurst in 2006).

“The intention is to get some current miles under my belt for the endurance races,” Sieders said.

“I can’t wait. I haven’t raced since last year. The field is depleted this year, so it is probably easier to get back in the swing of driving, and who knows, I might be able to get a decent result as well. It should b good.”

Sieders says that his aim for the weekend is pole position – in Race 2’s reverse grid …

“I want to finish 10th in the

first race so I can start Race 2 from pole! That’s my weekend aim,” he said.

“I’ve finished 11th a few times in the past, so I’d like to start to towards the front of the field.”

The Sieders Racing team will test at Wakefield Park next week before heading up

for the Queensland Raceway round. Fellow team driver Andrew Fisher, who has a V8 Ute prepared for him by the Sieders team, will also test the V8 Supercar at Wakefield Park.

Fisher is expected to compete in one of the team’s V8s at Bathurst and Homebush.

Colin’s Comeback FUJITSU V8s

COLIN Sieders will make a return to the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series in next week’s round at Queensland Raceway.

Sieders has been out of the saddle since the end of last season due to the Sydney team’s budget constraints, but has elected to take reigns of the red Falcon that his brother David has driven in this year for the QR round. Colin is using the round to get some track time before his role in the V8 Supercar endurance races.

Colin will team up with David for Phillip Island and Bathurst,

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Marshall Cass

Howard Racing team manager Warren Davis said that Stanaway’s test is a way of rewarding his championship victory – and to see how he adapts to the V8.

“Richie has done a pretty good job in Formula Ford this year,” he told eNews.

“He hasn’t seen these tracks before and I think he’s going well.

“There’s no pressure on him

news Dirk Klynsmith

Adelaide to keep first OZ date V8 SUPERECARS THE Clipsal 500 looks like being the first ‘local’ round of the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series – and that would be just fine with the organisers.

With a Middle East double header in February a possible start to the series, Adelaide organisers have taken the

unusual step of issuing a media statement endorsing their race taking the role of the opening ‘home’ event on the calendar.

“If the speculation turns out to be correct, the Clipsal 500 Adelaide will remain as the first round of the V8 Supercar Championship in Australia,” said Clipsal 500 Adelaide Chief Executive Jason Allen, “and it

would work effectively with our key stakeholders including the State Government, V8 Supercars Australia, the CAMS, and the SA event calendar.

“An overseas start in February for the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship would also give it extremely high prominence in what is a traditionally quiet month for sport and would be a great

lead in for our Clipsal 500 Adelaide supporter base given it will be the first opportunity for fans to see the new driver and team combinations on Australian soil.”

While no news on a date for the event is expected until later in the month at the earliest, eNews expects that a likely date for the event is March 11-14.

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DOORN TO HVM

Grand Designs

Ambrose, Johnson were close to GrandAm deal SPORTSCARS

INDYCAR

sutton-images.com

ROBERT Doornbos has moved ‘home’ to HVM Racing.

The Dutchman, who quit Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing after competing in 12 of 17 IndyCar races this season, drove at HVM Racing, known then as Minardi Team USA, in 2007. He raced the #33 car alongside HVM’s #13 of EJ Viso at Mid-Ohio, where he finished 14th.

“Quite obviously it’s professionally been the worst season of my life,” Doornbos told SpeedTV.com. “We gave it a shot, but too many problems are causing bad results. Enough is enough!”

“We had a 12-race deal with Robert, which we fulfilled,”

tears]. Mind management is very important,” said an emotional de Ferran, right, whose team may not remain in the American Le Mans Series.

What happens next is up to de Ferran and Honda, with expectations that the team will move to IndyCar with two cars – for Pagenaud, former Honda F1 star, Takuma Sato – or perhaps, Scott Dixon?

– MARY MENDEZ

sutton-images.com

MARCOS Ambrose may become a wanted man by America’s GrandAm Sportscar teams.

Motorsport eNews has learned that the JTG Daugherty Racing ace was in line to make his Daytona Prototype debut at the weekend at Watkins Glen, but that plans to compete in the two-hour race fell through.

We believe that he was to drive a Pontiac Riley for the Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing team, which usually fields the Jon Fogarty/ Alex Gurney entry. Furthermore, it seems that Ambrose’s co-driver was to be three-time Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson, but that a deadline a fortnight before the race was

not met and the deal was called off.

In what is virtually a rookie season, Ambrose has impressed many in NASCAR with his speed and attitude, and his form on road courses has never been in question, with two wins and a third in his last three road course starts. With Daytona’s endurance race requiring Daytona Prototype teams to take on third drivers, his name is likely to be high on the list of many teams.

However, over recent years Ambrose, who raced in the Daytona classic in 2005, has been careful to spend as much time as possible at home over the summer and a likely test schedule of mid-January may interfere with those plans.

Gil Retires [Pt II] ALMS-INDYCAR GIL de Ferran has retired, again.

De Ferran, team owner/driver of one of Acura’s two LMP1 ALMS entries, has decided it’s time to retire as a driver after this season. The Paris-born Brazilian first retired at the end of 2003, having earned both the 2000 and 2001 CART championships and the 2003

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Indy 500 with Team Penske.

De Ferran then served as the Sporting Director of Honda’s F1 team before returning to the cockpit at 40.

De Ferran’s announcement came after he took pole at Mid Ohio, and he and co-driver Simon Pagenaud won their fourth ALMS wins in a row.

“This was my most emotional race. Crossing the cross-finish line I couldn’t hold back [the

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NBOS M

PT in for Moraes INDYCAR

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explained Mike Lanigan, coowner of NHL, who indicated the team was not officially notified of Doornbos’ departure.

“We tried to get an extension but, evidently, he’s decided to go somewhere else.”

Doornbos never gelled with his team and blames his lack of success as an IndyCar rookie on his team and not himself. He has struggling to learn ovals and not worked well with his team-mate, Rahal. In fact, while running a lap down, he knowingly blocked his American team-mate at

Watkins Glen, hurting Rahal’s championship title fight.

“I don’t know what his deal is,” said Rahal to his local newspaper, the Columbus Dispatch.

“To be brutally honest, I just don’t care. We could certainly have a second driver who is more of a team player and who is going to benefit the team more.”

NHL has replaced Doornbos with Oriol Servia, who stepped in for injured Bruno Junqueira in 2005 after the Indy 500. The night and day difference in the #06 car’s crew attitude is obvious.

All smiles. As one team member said, “We now have a driver who wants to be here. Doornbos never learned any of our names except for the crew chief.”

“I had a lot of free time on my hands,” Servia said, having not driven on a road course Australia last October.

“I was cycling, running and kayaking a lot. I’m excited to get in the car again because in the end it’s the driving that gives you the best fitness level for driving.”

– MARY MENDEZ

Three at Team Smoke?

NASCAR SPRINT CUP

Lowes Blow NASCAR LOWE’s Motor Speedway is soon to be no more.

It’s okay, the iconic 1.5mile speedway, located in Concord, a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina, is not being pulled down anytime soon. But after 11 years, it appears that the naming rights deal with America’s Lowe’s home improvement stores pulling – reputed to be around $9 million per year – is set to end. Unless the track’s owners can find a new sponsor, the track will likely return to being called Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2010, while Lowe’s will continue to sponsor threetime Sprint Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson.

– MARTIN D CLARK

sutton-images.com

sutton-images.com

STEWART Haas Racing could expand to a three-car team.

Owner-driver Tony Stewart, in the midst of a stunning first season in that role, has admitted that the move is a possibility.

“I don’t think we’ve ruled that [expansion] out yet,” he told the press at Watkins Glen. “It’s getting to the point in the season if we’re going to do a third team and have a third team for next season it would have to happen pretty quickly. At least having the sponsor and driver lined up to make sure that we

have an adequate amount of time to get all the tools and pieces in place for next year. But I would say it’s not very likely right now.”

Stewart says that the HQ of the team, which does not run a Nationwide of Truck program, is big enough to cope with an enlarged program.

“It’s just adding people and making sure that the funding is in place. It would be adding a little more equipment and people, but having that funding and the driver is the biggest key.”

As for drivers, the one name that keeps coming up is that of Brad Keselowski, who won at Talladega in April.

MARIO Moraes missed the Mid-Ohio following the death of his father.

Moraes, 20, returned to Brazil to be with his family in Sao Paulo after his father Mario Ermirio de Moraes lost his battle with cancer.

Paul Tracy was called upon at KV Racing Technology to temporarily replace Moraes for the Mid-Ohio event, and finished in seventh place.

– MARY MENDEZ

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Dirk Klynsmith

Caratti to fight exclusion MINI CHALLENGE

Massive deal done!

KARTING THE driver market is set to hit a silly season high, with Grant Rowley and Andrew van Leeuwen doing an exclusive driver deal with Wilson Security Racing.

The eNews journos-slashwannabe-racers were spotted at Calder Park last week for a team ride day, posing for what look to be press shots wearing team gear with team boss Paul Cruickshank, and Wilson Security head honcho John McMellan.

When quizzed on what the foursome were shaking hands over, van Leeuwen revealed plans for a Wilson Security entry for the ‘King of the Creek’ kart enduro at Eastern Creek in September.

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“We were trying to keep it quiet at this stage, set for a big announcement closer to the event,” he told eNews. “But, as usual, eNews has broken the big story.

Yes, Grant and I are contesting the ‘King of the Creek’ race, and yes, Wilson Security will be our major backer. That’s all I can say at this point.”

When asked whether the deal could spread to the team’s V8 Supercar program, van Leeuwen’s only response was ‘this interview is over.”

The ‘King of the Creek’ enduro is a four-hour twilight race for Rotax karts, with the best drivers in the country set to attend, as well as Rowley and van Leeuwen. It will be run on September 5.

NATHAN Caratti will appeal his exclusion from the results of the recent Sandown MINI Challenge round, of which he was originally the winner.

After a dominant weekend, the West Aussie was thrown out of the results after post-race scrutineering on account of the fact his car’s brake pads didn’t feature a MINI logo – despite them being genuine BMW parts.

“We bought the pads off BMW, but they didn’t have a MINI logo on them so I was disqualified,” explained Caratti.

“I found out the next day from a press release. I read the title of the email and thought ‘hey, that’s odd’.

We straight away put in our intention to appeal the decision.”

Caratti was quick to point out that the pads offered no performance advantage.

“I was struggling under brakes all weekend, so if we cheated, we did something wrong.”

In other Sandown exclusion news, disqualified V8 Ute driver Glenn McNally has confirmed he will not leave the sport, despite threatening to do so after receiving a heavy penalty for his part in Stephen Robinson’s rollover.

Along with being excluded from the Sandown results, McNally was given a $3000 fine, with a further $6000 suspended.

“I was really at a loss as to how we could move forward from that position,” said McNally. “To have $6000 hanging over my head for any mistake on the track for the next 12 months is a big issue.”

“I have had such a good run this year and to achieve anything in motorsport there are going to be some big hurdles to get over, and this is just another one.

We are currently trying to work through the issue with CAMS and hope that we can come up with a situation that I can race on in the category.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

news

AUSTRALIAN Formula 3 team Scud Racing has announced an expansion to two cars for the remainder of the season.

The team will enter its Dallara F301 chassis in the National class for experienced British driver Peter Kalpakiotis, competing in all three remaining rounds of the Gold Star at Queensland Raceway, Oran Park and Sandown.

The chassis is the same car that the team’s lead driver (and title contender) Macrow used to score multiple pole positions and podium finishes in the early days of his F3 career, and has since been completely rebuilt and repainted in readiness for its on-track return for the first time this year.

Kalpakiotis has several years experience in ‘wings and slicks’ cars, having most recently contested rounds of the Asian Formula 3 championship in 2007/08, winning races and becoming a regular podium finisher.

“Part of our plan at Scud Racing has been to return to being a two-car team,” said

team owner Bill Maddocks.

“We have proved this year that we are now contenders for race wins at every round, and we are fighting very hard for the championship as well.

Now we’re continuing our plans by adding a second car and we’re really happy to have Peter onboard for the remainder of the year.”

Kalpakiotis’ signing to Scud Racing is the first in a series of new drivers set to join the Formula 3 Australian Drivers’ Championship for the CAMS Gold Star for at least the next two rounds.

A season-high 15 entries have been received for Round 6 to be held with the V8 Supercars at Queensland Raceway next weekend.

Queenslanders Bevan Carrick (F304), Steve Morcombe (F307) and Chris Gilmour (F304), pictured inset, will all return to the series for their home race, with even more cars anticipated to race the following week at Oran Park Raceway for the final-ever Australian Drivers’ Championship round at the iconic circuit.

Dirk Klynsmith

FORMULA 3

Dirk Klynsmith

Scud, F3 grow for QLD

17

news

Jones back for more!

TARMAC RALLYING

T

HE entries are in for this year’s QUIT Targa West – all 99 of them.

Leading the charge in the outright stakes will be Steve Jones and Ruari Soutar-Dawson, however the reigning event winners have had a less than ideal preparation, both Jones and his Nissan GT-R requiring a rebuild after a big crash in Targa Tasmania earlier this year. In fact, the GT-R was so wrecked he decided to build a new one …

“The original car was actually fixable, but I’m pretty anal about rebuilding a car that was so damaged, especially with the speeds we are doing on these events,” said Jones.

“It’s just not smart driving a car that might not be up to scratch.

“I was actually planning in retiring the car after Tasmania anyway, so it didn’t set us back too much. It was much easier to build this second GTR, because we know how to do it. It’s a race ready car in three weeks.”

Other contenders in the modern competition class include Targa Tas winners Tony Quinn and Naomi Tillett, also in an R35 GT-R,

18

and Quinn’s son Klark and Toni Feaver, in a Mitsubishi Evolution IV. Alistair McRae, brother of 1995 World Rally Champion Colin, will team up with the experienced Bill Hayes in a Evo X, the pair having won the classic competition class last year.

Meanwhile, WA’s brightest gravel rally star Dean Herridge

and co-driver Chris Murphy will uphold Subaru’s honour in an Impreza STI. Like the Jones/SoutarDawson entry, the leading contender in the classic competition class – Kevin Weeks – is recovering after a heavy shunt at Targa Tas earlier this year. However Weeks, codriver Rebecca Crunkhorn,

and their Porsche 911 will all be ready for the event. Their closest competition could well come from last year’s runnersup in this class, the husband and wife team of David and Vicki Moir, driving a Datsun 240Z. The fifth QUIT Targa West gets underway on August 20.

–ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Wanna hang with the gang?

V8 SUPERCARS NEW V8 Supercar team Kelly Racing will hold its inaugural Open Day on Saturday, September 5.

Fans will get their first opportunity to have an up-close look at the state-of-the-art Braeside facility as part of the event.

Full-time drivers Todd and Rick Kelly and Jack Perkins will be present and there will be a host of fan activities.

Kelly Racing’s impressive merchandise store will also be opened on the day.

Entry is by Gold Coin donation with proceeds aiding Kelly Racing’s official charities.

Visit www.kellyracing.com.au for full details.

19

5 Minutes with ...

MARCOS AMBROSE

Watkins Glen? Nationwide? Ambrose won, and here is what he said afterwards.

And check back here Tuesday pm; we will update it if he wins the Sprint Cup race!

Toyota Motorsports

Can you describe your feelings right now after the win?

It was just an awesome day for all of us. It’s our first Nationwide race this year and we won it. It’s awesome.

I’ve got so many people to thank. Frankie Kerr, my crew chief on the Cup side came in to help us during the race. Frankie is just the ultimate racer and committed everything to help us and here we are in victory lane. It’s just awesome. I’m really proud. STP has two wins in two years and that’s awesome.

How does it feel to have two wins in a row at Watkins Glen?

I’ve just got to thank all of these guys here. It was just an awesome day for us.

This deal came together late. The Nationwide team has come back to a part-time schedule so it’s a skeleton crew.

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They built a wonderful car for us that we could work on.

I had a lot of help from the (Michael) Waltrip (Racing) guys and my Cup guys. It was just a perfect day.

When you’re racing against Kyle (Busch) and Carl (Edwards) and all of those guys, and when you pass them to win, you’re really doing something special. It’s just been a great day for us. Last year we won on fuel mileage and this one we earned. It’s just an awesome feeling and it’s just great to be back in victory lane.

Can you describe your pass on Kyle Busch late in the race?

I knew I had to get by him. I knew if I waited until the last 10 laps he was going to do everything he could to block me so I just tried to surprise him. I surprised us all because I got up in there pretty hard.

Being here in victory lane

for the second time is just fantastic. I’ve got so many people to thank. We’re just going to enjoy it. It’s a special time in my life and I’m just really proud of all of my guys.

This is just great.

and I had Carl (Edwards) behind me too who I bumped into earlier in the day so I had my hands full. But those guys are fair and they race really hard. It was just awesome to beat them.

Why did you decide that was the time to pass Kyle Busch?

I had to surprise him. I didn’t have the straight line speed to really attack him.

If I had waited for the last 10 laps there is no way he would’ve let me pass so I just tried to surprise him. I surprised myself. I knew I had to do it then because the element of surprise was there and that’s what got the win for us.

Was it hard to adjust to the Nationwide Series car with it being your first series race this season?

The lack of horsepower was interesting – the difference in the Cup motor versus the Nationwide motor. You’ve got to change the way you set the car up and it really changes the way that you drive the circuit.

I think today’s race was a great race and I think there were a lot of competitive cars. It doesn’t take much. I’ve had a couple of years in the Nationwide Series already so I just remembered back to what I used to do and tried to apply it well.

Did you think Kyle Busch would have a chance to pass for the lead in the final laps?

I was worried. It’s Kyle Busch.

He doesn’t give you an inch

chat

NASCAR Media

21

Dirk Klynsmith

KEEP THE PA

SO, your team has changed brands for the next season and you are really ticked off!

So what do you do?

You call the team headquarters and get verbally violent and give the receptionist a blast. You get onto Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and other blogs and give anyone on the team a piece of your mind. And you give the drivers what for with more choice words.

Why, because you are feeling hurt, let down, or even betrayed?

There is obviously a time and place to

express your disappointment, but not to be verbally violent and deeply offensive. This is deeply hurtful and is totally inappropriate.

Now that the initial reaction has faded the badly abusive language may slow down.

But why is it the case that such abusive language and vented anger bursts out?

There are obviously reasons to be upset and disappointed especially if you have invested many years of allegiance to the brand and drivers, and have spent big money on clothing and other merchandise

for your team. There is also the place of feeling let down when great personal satisfaction has come from “feeling a winner” amongst friends when your team has been on the podium.

But there also may be a deeper reason why some people become so aggressive in their reactions to changes in team and car make. This is when some sport fans not only give allegiance to a sporting hero, but find a significant part of their own personal identity in a strong personal attachment to

Letters

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

Handouts and Deals Plenty of people have wondered how the recently bankrupted GM could afford to continue to support all its teams and take on Team Vodafone.

With the recent announcement that GM-Holden has received a $200 million line of credit it appears that it is the taxpayer who providing the ongoing support.

Paul Hack Miranda NSW 2228 Busch League I was really pleased to see

22

Marcos Ambrose win the Nationwide race at Watkins Glen on ONE HD. But, after the race, it seemed to me that Kyle Busch was upset about nothing. Ambrose made that pass for the lead fair and square.

What was Busch upset about?

Is there something wrong with him?

Name withheld by request ED: You asked two questions, so we offer two answers; Usually, he will find something. And, who can say?

I don’t like Mondays I have one question, and one only; if it rains for a NASCAR race, why don’t they just race on rain tyres? Surely, a wet race is better than waiting 24 hours?

Kevin Johnson

by Email ED: Traditonally, NASCAR’s oval culture meant no wet races ever, and the management feels that the fans want to stick to that and see their heroes race in the dry. Goodyear took rain tyres to Watkins Glen but only for the NW race – and they were not needed.

opinion

ASSION, NOT THE ANGER that hero and his or her achievements. Then, when radical changes occur, that person’s individual security and sense of who they are is shaken.

As unfortunate as this is, it is very real to many fans across all sporting codes. It does not justify being abusive at any time, but does show why some people just can’t seem to help themselves when change happens. When this is the case, it is very unfair for any sports person to have such a load placed on their persona, and also

individually unhealthy for the person who has such a personal need. This also happens with music, TV and film stars as well and is not helpful in any dimension.

As well as the above, there is also the unhealthy part of our Aussie culture for many to just let it all out when they don’t get what they want, and God help anyone who gets in their line of fire. We really are a “weird mob” when it comes to emotional outbursts.

If you do have to yell, then yell at the trees,

opinion Garry Coleman V8 Supercar Chaplain

yell at the TV, kick a tyre, but take it easy on people who are just doing their job. Maybe a short apology would also be in order, by phone call or a card.

eLETTER OF THE WEEK After listening to all manner of blurb from Jamie Whincup, I feel he needs taking back a few years.

Jamie, no doubt you and Ford have fallen out – the reason is anyone’s guess. I would be inclined to think that Roland Dane had a hand in it – why else would Ford not make the most of your championship?

The thing that concerns

me is it is only a few short years ago you were sitting at home after being canned by GRM – rightly or wrongly. Since then you have blossomed into a championship-winning young man that has forgotten where it all started.

How dare you talk about Holden like it’s the saviours.

Please take a step back and reflect on your success

because if it wasn’t for Ford, the only job you’d have would be mowing my lawns!

I'm sort of embarrassed for you. You’re driving a Ford, probably winning another championship and Bathurst for Ford and then having national media photos of you in a Holden.

Speaking of Holden, how embarrassing for them to admit its former

championship-winning team (HRT) is not up to 888 level – and then go ahead and sign them on again for three years! Surely in a fair minded society, one would expect to be happy one way or the other. Seems to me it's no so much that Holden want you to win rather they don't want Ford to win.

Kyren Welsh via Email

Kyren Welsh 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 7 – MORGAN PARK, QLD

Queenslan

Townsville’s street race took the headlines meeting. MARK JONES reports on GT3 Cup

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race

nd’s ‘other’ new event

s last month. This time, it was Morgan Park’s turn to host its first national race p and the other Shannons Nationals categories

Dirk Klynsmith

25

GT3 CUP CHALLENGE

M

26

James Smith

att Kingsley led a Queensland domination at Morgan Park’s round of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia Series with local drivers taking all three race wins and shredding the lap record along the way.

On all three starts, polesitter Kingsley was beaten off the line by fellow Gold Coast driver Roger Lago in his 997 GT3 Cup but in Saturday’s Race 1, Kingsley outbraked Lago into Gumtree Corner on the second lap and from there was never headed, breaking the lap record on his way to a 10 second victory.

In Race 2 Lago had Kingsley’s measure and pulled away for his own victory which included breaking Kingsley’s fresh record. The final race saw a focused, determined Kingsley take the lead from Lago with an aggressive move at the

final corner of the second lap before pounding the field into submission setting the new record at 1m02.8414, less than four seconds from the outright record.

“We’re trying hard and the competition is close,” said Kingsley.

“We had a home track advantage here, some of the Victorians found a little bit

tough to start the weekend.

Towards the end they all got to the ultimate pace but we were fortunate that we got there a little bit quicker.

“We had the championship in the back of our minds and we really wanted to do well and not make any mistakes we go to Sandown for the final round which is Sven’s home track he’s got a good car and he’s a good

steerer so it will be very close.”

Kingsley’s only remaining championship rival, Sven Burchartz did all he could under the circumstances to minimise the point score damage. He finished in third position in Races 2 and 3, although Race 1 saw a ultimately fruitless chase of another local Ray Angus. Angus stayed in touch with Burchartz

race

Dirk Klynsmith

Points after 5 of 6 rounds: Matt Kinglsey 360, Sven Burchartz 292, Jeff Bobik 247, Terry Knight 211, Paul Bolinowsky 172, Brad Rankin 152.

James Smith

in the remaining races to claim third for the round – a career best.

Jeff Bobik came through to take a perhaps unexpected fourth place for the round as the other three Queensland cars Terry Knight, Brad Rankin and Phil Holzberger had less than perfect weekends. Knight spun away valuable points in the second race and Holzberger missed the whole of Saturday after a thrust bearing failure sidelined the raucous 996 GT3-RS. Bobik had his own close call when Bob Thorn spun his car in front of him in Race 2.

Lago won the 997 class comfortably as the only driver to match Kingsley’s 996 all weekend.

Jan Jindasa was second from Bob Thorn. Mark Krashos had a miserable weekend with three engine related retirements, which began with a steamy exit in the first race after a coolant failure.

Who wants to play? Championship contenders Layton Crambrook and Jack Elsegood clashed at turn one.

27

Walton’s round, Jamieson’s ti SHANNONS NATIONALS QUEENSLANDER Kris Walton (AU Falcon) dominated the Saloon Car round at Morgan Park last weekend, taking three wins from three starts, but it wasn’t enough to stop Shawn Jamieson (VT Commodore) from taking his first Saloon Car crown.

Jamieson made Walton work hard over the weekend after getting the jump on the local driver in the starts of Races 2 and 3.

Jamieson raced through to finish second in Race 1 after qualifying fifth, and in doing so secured the series title.

With he championship sorted, Jamieson could push as hard as he liked but could not keep Walton behind. In the second race, Walton got inside Jamieson for the run down the straight but was not clear until climbing the hill towards turn 3. Race 3 saw Walton again have to win the race the hard way.

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Saloon car newcomer Grant Gatland (AU Falcon) made an impression on his home circuit taking all three third places, the first snapping at the heels of Walton and Jamieson, the third was hard work after a clash with Geoff Brown (AU Falcon) saw him drop several places. After pressuring Tony Evangelou (AU Falcon) for several laps, Gatland finally reclaimed third on the final lap of the race.

Local knowledge again won the day in Manufacturer’s Championship with Subaru Impreza WRX driver Lee Castle winning all three races. The first race saw Castle romp away to a 10 second win over Rod Salmon (Mitsubishi Evo X) with Jake Camilleri’s Mazda 3 MPS too quick for Garry Holt’s BMW 335i. In the second race, heavy contact between Castle and Salmon saw Salmon drop to eighth allowing Camilleri to take second from Holt and Chris Delfsma (BF Falcon GT). Salmon was back on form for

the handicap race fighting through the field with Castle to finish second with Camilleri taking third place and second for the round with the Celicas of Colin Osborne and Stuart Jones hanging on to fourth and fifth places.

Warren McIlveen (Stockman-Honda) won his third Pacific Superkart Challenge taking four wins from four starts to lead the classbased pointscore as well as outright, with 85cc winner Stewart Bell (Gladiator-Yamaha) and Rotax Max winner David McAdam (Hypermax-Rotax) sharing second place in the points. McIlveen was pushed hard all weekend by Vince Livaditis (PVP-PVP) for the race wins, collecting a quartet of second while the fight for third was just as fierce with Steve Murray (PVP-Honda), Russell Jamieson (Stockman-Honda) and Jason Laker (Stockman-Honda) sharing the position with Laker taking third place in the points for the 250 International class. The 125cc class saw John Pellicano

race

Marshall Cass

Title time: Shawn Jamieson, left, battled with Kris Walton in Saloon Cars, wrapping up the title. Above, Warren McIllveen was too strong in Superkarts. Below, Lee Castle won Man Champs, while Trevor Young, bottom, took Sports Sedan honours.

Dirk Klynsmith

itle

Marshall Cass Dirk Klynsmith

(Avoig-Honda) win after recovering from an off-trck excursion which broke his rear wing in the first race.

Trent Young (Mazda RX-7 turbo) was the class of a strong Sports Sedan field, winning all four races and grabbing the lap record as he did so. The consistently fast Colin Smith (Rover Vitesse-Chev) chased him home for second position in each of the races while Glenn White (Ford Capri V8) took third for the event after finishing third and three fourth places. Chris Donnelly (EB Falcon) and Phil Crompton (Ford Mustang) each took the remaining third places.

Five Gemini races saw Rod Dawson claim the prize with three wins and two second places after a weekend long battle with Melissa Thompson.

Thompson won the other two races but a fourth place in the opening race dropped her away from Dawson in the points. Jake Brackenridge took four third places with Ben Tomlin (second) and Brian Smallwood (third) the only other drivers to break into the top three.

– MARK JONES

29

ANDRA PRO SERIES ROUND 1 – WILLOWBANK RACEWAY, QLD

Doorslammer!

After two seasons of complete domination, John Zappia started the 2009/10 ANDRA Pro Series with a bang. KEN FERGUSON reports

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race

Son of Ken Ferguson

31

DRAG RACING WILLOWBANK Raceway opened the new 2009-2010 drag racing season with the first round of the ANDRA Pro Series Drag Racing the Blown Alcohol Championships last weekend.

The feature brackets included Top Alcohol, Top Doorslammer, and Top Bike with John Zappia in the Doorslammer class again stealing the show as he did last season – but this time for all

the wrong reasons.

Zappia smashed his championship-winning Striker HQ Monaro into the concrete wall in the Doorslammer final after getting very loose following severe tyre shake at the 330 foot mark. Zappia crossed into the other lane behind his opponent and eventual winner, Maurice Fabietti, and impacted the concrete barrier before getting airborne and almost going over the top of the wall.

speed record for the class with a 250.51mph blast in Round 1 and backed it up with his 249mph speed in the second round.

Gary Phillips was also one to experience the lows of this high speed sport. Phillips saw the demise of his Lucas Oils Studebaker Doorslammer as well with a horrifying finish line incident on Saturday. The driveshaft failed in the car, which in turn shredded the rear tyres at over 200mph, spearing

Son of Ken Ferguson

Son of Ken Ferguson

32

Zappia was on target to continue his domination of the class after earlier top qualifying with a 5.89s, and going as quick as 5.83s in the semi final.

Although he emerged from the damaged car totally unscathed, he now has the problem of trying to have the car repaired in only four weeks in time for the Australian National Championships in Sydney.

Fabietti recorded a string of 5.90’s on his way to the final and also reset the national

race

Ken Ferguson

him towards the concrete barriers as well. Phillips did a fantastic drive job to avoid heavy damage against the walls, and safely pulled up in the braking area. Phillips simply had to put the accident to the back of his mind and focus on his job in his Top Alcohol funny car, and did so the best way possible. He progressed all the way to the final, defeating first Debbie, then Steve Reed to take the honours in the final. He also reset the national

ET record for the class with a sensational 5.52sec pass at over 259 mph.

Rookie Top Bike rider Chris Matheson has made his intentions quite clear to the rest of the Top Bike field with a string of easy early shutoff mid six second passes, before going as quick as 6.26s in the semi final.

Matheson’s bike is a proven five second missile from the USA, and it doesn’t look like it will be long before we see the full potential of the bike out

here. Fans were also treated to the return of Jay Upton in the class, going into the mid six second zone as well, also shutting down early. Upton suffered the misfortune of the parachute deploying prematurely on the start line in the first round of eliminations, putting an end to his comeback.

Fans were also treated to Phil Lamattina and the Fuchs Top Fuel team testing their brand new chassis, which resulted in a 4.69s at 300mph on Saturday

night, and a 4.64s at 317mph on Sunday.

Other winners at the event included Graeme Frawley in Competition Eliminator, Alex Panagiotidis in Super Stock, Geoff Kempe in Comp Bike, Bill Fletcher in Supercharged Outlaws, Graeme Spencer in Super Gas, Darren Doeblien in Super Sedan, Kelly Corbett in Modified, Alex Buxton in Modified Bike, Lucas Holz in Super Street and Dale Duffy in Junior Dragster.

Ken Ferguson

Starting the season with a bang! John Zappia emerged unscathed from his freightening wall slapper, left sequence. Above, rookie Top Biker Chris Matheson beat the regulars. Top, Maurice Fabietti got his season off to the best start possible in Top Dorrslammer.

33

AUSSIE RACING CARS ROUND 4 – EASTERN CREEK, NSW

AUSSIE RACING CARS

T

34

Dirk Klynsmith

HIRTY one Aussie Racing Cars lined up on the grid at the Woodstock Bourbon Australian Superbike round at Eastern Creek Raceway last weekend.

Joining the shrinking list of regulars were Neil Crompton in the TRD Aurion, Paul Kemal taking a short break from his recent retirement and Top Gear Australia’s Steve Pizzati, keen to give the cars a drive after receiving advice to do so from good friend Cameron McConville.

Phil Ward had hoped that the move away from the V8 Supercars would provide the category with a better deal from race organisers, though it took less than four hours

of Saturday’s program to demonstrate otherwise.

Aussie qualifying was hampered by an engine blowup and, by the time crews had mopped up the trail of oil, it was decided that the schedule would be changed to move the Aussie’s to the latest time slots available. The cause was not helped by further delays following Race 1. Race 2 was to be moved to the last event of the day.

Race 1 itself was a fantastic spectacle, for all bar Steve Pizzati, the Top Gear host’s race lasting a little more than the front straight, a blown gearbox putting him out.

At the front of the pack was a four way dice between David Lawrence, Kyle Clews, Adam Gowans and Paul Kemal.

Lawrence seemed headed for

the win, only to be caught right on the line by the fast finishing Clews, above.

A major accident at the start of the Superstock 600 race involving five riders curtailed the day’s program, forcing the Aussie Race Cars to pack up and return for an early morning race on the Sunday.

That race proved to be the downfall for Clews, who actually won all four races, only to be penalised in the aftermath of the race. Clews again fought Lawrence for overall honours, though a tap with Lawrence was enough to have officials penalise him 21 positions post race. Perhaps

race

Aussies do it five-wide

JOHN MORRIS reports on Aussie Racing Car’s debut round of its series with the Australian Superbikes

John Morris/Mpix

Cars Commodore into a wild series of rolls, right. Pizzati emerged unscathed from his inverted race car, though both were non-starters for the final race of the day.

Following the Pizzati crash, it was decided to reschedule that final Aussie race to the end of the Sunday program.

The final commenced with an almost suicidal run to Turn 2, with the cars of Brad Ward, David Lawrence, Adam Gowans and Paul Kemal refusing to give an inch. In fact the group entered Turn Two side-byside, Lawrence’s car turned through the corner more by those around him, than by his own hand. The battle played right into the hands of the pursuing Clews who quickly joined the quartet and drove past them once more. Clews

John Morris/Mpix

the fact that the ‘tap’ happened to put Lawrence sideways towards the wall at 200kmh on the pit straight was reason enough ...

Race 3 started with an inverted top part of the field and James Ward took no time to jump pole-sitter Garry Jacobson and race off to an early lead. However, it was Clews who once again stole the show by storming past his fellow competitors to take the lead late-race and drive away from the field.

Clews efforts were overshadowed however by the spectacular passing manoeuvre of Pizzati who did everything bar go around the CAMS Young Gun entry of Joshus Burdon. The ensuing contact literally peeling the bodywork off Burdon’s car and launching Pizzati’s Unique

then continued to drive away, his times up to one second faster than the best of the rest.

Adam Gowans passed David Lawrence and maintained a safe gap to take the round win from Lawrence and Kemal.

Clews finished the day with four race wins, yet no round victory. He also suffered

the loss of his lead in the championship to Lawrence, though his 1m43.678s lap in Race 2 equalled the long standing lap record, set by David Sieders back in 2006.

Steve Pizzati was also left to ponder his cameo in the Aussie category, on the advice of friend McConville ...

35

NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES ROUND 22 – ZIPPO 200, WATKINS GLEN, NY

Marcos Ambrose made it two from two in Natio

NASCAR Media

Advertise for as little as $75 per issue - special monthly packages Contact Oriana Ruffini oriana@mnews.com.au

36

race

onwide rounds at Watkins Glen

New York, New York

M

ARCOS Ambrose is, quite literally, perfect in Nationwide races at Watkins Glen.

A year ago, the Tasmanian won at the historic upper New York state track by playing the fuel mileage game. This time around, he did it by racing, and beating, Kyle Busch, who set a record by finishing first of second for the 10th time this season.

To add to the fairytale win, Ambrose did it in a JTG Daugherty Toyota that was built just for this race – his only Nationwide start of the season – and which was clearly inferior to Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing model. Ambrose had one chance to seize the lead, and grabbed it by forcing his way through at the Bus Stop with 19 laps remaining.

“Kyle wasn’t going to make a mistake on his own, I was going to have to force one on him,” Ambrose stated. “I tried the element of surprise and bombed in there. I knew it was a high-risk move, but one that needed to be made. We were not here to run second; we were here to win. Passing Kyle Busch you have to do something special.”

Busch finished second, and was clearly less than pleased with his rival’s driving.

“I feel like I got cheap shotted,” Busch said. “It was so late I didn’t have a chance to turn-in. At the end, racing with Carl (Edwards) was hard as he was doing some road-course blocking on me.”

Edwards was a strong third, but his Roush Fenway Ford was not quite as sharp as the Toyotas.

Polesitter Kevin Harvick, who led the initial 12 laps, was fourth in his Chevrolet ahead of the similar car of Canadian road racing ace, Ron Fellows, who came from the rear of the field to take fifth. Jeff Burton, Greg Biffle, David Ragan, Brad Keselowski and Scott Speed rounded out the top-10 finishers.

Most contentious driver of the race was – you’d better sit down – Robby Gordon. The American veteran, who clashed with Ambrose in Montreal last year, demonstrated a lack of … well, anything, continually clashing with Joey Logano and eventually forcing the youngster out of the race with a flaming Gibbs Camry.

37

INDYCAR ROUND 13 – HONDA INDY 300, MID OHIO

Honda Racing

38

RECORD BREAKER

Scott Dixon won the race, retook the points lead and became IndyCar’s winningest driver with a dominant

39

Honda Racing

A

Blue Skies, Mine: Scott Dixon was the class of the first at Mid Ohio. Hideki Mutoh took a best-ever road course result, fourth, on a day when the Andretti Green quartet was in the wars.

Honda Racing

40

WEEK after Ryan Briscoe and Ed Carpenter fought out a classic, oval-racing finish, Scott Dixon scraped home at Mid Ohio – by 30 seconds.

The Kiwi took his fourth race of the season, and 20th of his career, with superior fuel mileage, set-up and … well, pretty much everything else. He cleared out early, dominated the race and retook the IndyCar points lead.

“Obviously, it’s a fantastic milestone for the team, as we’ve achieved all those with Target,” said Dixon, who is now one race ahead of Sam Hornish Jr on the all-

Double Vision

INDYCAR | HONDA INDY 300, MID OHIO 84 laps 1 9 2 6 3 10 4 14 5 27 6 26 7 5 8 02 9 2 10 11

Scott Dixon NZ Ryan Briscoe Aus Dario Franchitti GB Ryan Hunter-Reay USA Hideki Mutoh J Marco Andretti USA Paul Tracy Can Graham Rahal USA Raphael Matos Bra Tony Kanaan Bra

Target Ganassi 1h47m5.099s Q3 Team Penske -29.7803s 1 Target Ganassi -30.0551s 6 AJ Foyt/ABC Supply -33.7303s 7 Andretti Green/F Dream -34.1839s 11 Andretti Green/Venom -46.7669s 13 KV Racing/Azul Tequila -49.7020s 10 Newman Haas Lanigan -50.4517s 4 Luzco Dragon/US Marines-51.2286s 15 Andretti Green/7-Eleven -52.0810s 8

Fastest lap: Dixon on lap 62, 1m08.5600s (118.565mph)

INDYCAR | DRIVER’S points Dixon 460, Briscoe 457, Franchitti 440, Castroneves 359, Patrick 321, Andretti 307, Kanaan 294, Rahal 289, Wheldon 288, Wilson 270.

really,” Briscoe said of his race.

“I couldn’t attack the corners as aggressively as I liked, understeering through the middle. I could see Scott was much faster. He just wouldn’t back off. He got us in the pit stops, he went a lot further on the first stint.”

With the championship’s two dominant teams sweeping the podium, the other Ryan, Hunter-Reay, took fourth for AJ Foyt, ahead of Hideki Mutoh, the Japanese taking a careerbest result on a day when he was the swiftest of Andretti Green’s four drivers.

Dixon, Briscoe and Franchitti are separated by 20 points in the series, and the next round of the series, at Infineon in two weeks’ time, is followed by three ovals to determine which of the guys with the funny accents will hoist America’s biggest open-wheel racing championship.

A YEAR ago, James Davison scored his first Indy Lights win at Mid-Ohio, gaining the victory when race leader Jonny Reid peeled onto pit road during the final lap under caution.

This year, Davison went backto-back, and flag-to-flag.

“Just a really nice race, it came quite easy to me,” said Davison, who made it two Aussies on pole position for the weekend.

“I pulled away at the start and it was like deja vu of Watkins Glen! I was kind of surprised when I didn’t see JR (Hildebrand) behind me. When I saw James (Hinchcliffe) there, coming up, I stepped back on it and matched his lap times. A really nice race, and great to finally get it done.”

Hinchcliffe was second, while points leader Hildebrand took third after he ran wide, and lost position, in the first corner.

IndyCar Media

time winnner’s list.

“Unfortunately, Sam’s not here to defend it and that’s the sad side of it. It’s going to be tough to hang onto that, Helio (Castroneves) is at 16 or so, a couple others on 14 and 15.

If I got to 25, 30, it would be pretty cool.”

Dixon took the lead during the first round of stops, after Ryan Briscoe led the first five laps. Justin Wilson then took over the lead and looked to be the only driver capable of staying near the red car, but a fuel miscalculation left him dry and staggering into the pitlane for his first stop. What looked like a certain podium turned into a sorry 13th place finish for the Watkins Glen winner.

Ryan Briscoe, who started from the pole, was second (for the sixth time this season) while Dario Franchitti took third.

“We didn’t have the speed

INDY LIGHTS

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Smith, Machacek and Riley take big wins in Australasian Safari SAFARI

T

wenty-year old Condobolin rider Jacob Smith become the youngest-ever winner of the Australasian Safari after dominating the sevenday event, which finished in the Western Australian gold mining city of Kalgoorlie on Sunday.

Riding a Honda CRF 450X, Smith took the lead on the third of the event’s 19 timed stages and finished the 3771 kilometre event 14 minutes and 18 seconds ahead of his brother Todd Smith riding a KTM. Defending champion, Ben Grabham, also on a KTM, was third, three minutes 30 seconds further back.

While Smith wasn’t the event favourite, Smith was

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always aiming for victory.

“I always race to win, I don’t do it for second, but it was such a strong field it was always going to be tough. But after the first few days I knew I could do it.”

And having his 24-year old brother in second place was an added bonus.

“We work together, even though we’re on different teams, and we support each other,” Smith said. “We always wanted to be 1-2, it was just a case of who was first and who was second.”

Czech Republic rider Josef Machacek easily won the quad bike category in his first Safari. The five-time Dakar Rally winner showed his skill and experience to head home Victorian Paul Smith and his countryman Martin Plechaty.

Steve Riley claimed his second Safari auto win in the same Mitsubishi Pajero that he drove to victory in 2008. Riley, above, wasn’t the fastest man on each day of the event, but his considerable experience of the marathon paid dividends, finishing 16 minutes 43 seconds clear of fellow Victorian Terry Conner in a Nissan. Veteran Reg Owen was third, another one hour 22 minutes in arrears.

Riley was thrilled to take his second consecutive auto category win, despite some last day navigational issues that saw him lose six minutes on the first stage which gave his rivals a sniff of an upset victory.

“It’s a huge relief to get to the finish. This has been a day of real highs and lows,” Riley said

at the conclusion of the West Aussie event. “ The high was obviously winning, but we got bogged 14 kilometres into the first stage of the day and lost that time.

“We tried putting sticks under the car and shovelling, but it wasn’t until Darren Green came along and towed us out that we could continue. That really shows the camaraderie of our fellow competitors.

“We were always confident that we could do well because we’d done our homework and had put a lot of work into the car before the start. However, there are so many variables in this event that you never know what’s going to happen until you cross the finish line.

“To win is a great feeling.”

Brian White Media

Young and the Restless

race

Ash Budd

Don’t bother against Grother KARTING

Ash Budd

Queensland’s John Grother has signalled his return to the top level of Australian karting with an emphatic victory at Round 3 of the 2009 Australian CIK Championship, held alongside the Rotax Pro Tour, at Raleigh in New South Wales across the weekend.

Grother was the dominant driver all throughout the weekend by qualifying on pole position, taking the win in all three heat races and dominating both finals to claim the victory ahead of Gillard teammate Hayden McBride.

Such was the pace shown by Grother that his qualifying lap of 44.221s was one of the fastest times ever recorded around the famous 1050 metre circuit which has hosted a number of International events over the years.

“It’s good to be home,” said Grother, who was making his first start in the rejuvenated CIK Championship.

“The CIK style of racing is what karting is all about for me. It’s got the speed, it’s got the grippier tyres and the long races – it’s just great.

“I only had limited time in the kart prior to the weekend, so to get the win in my return to the CIK Championship is an amazing result. I can’t thank Paul Gallo and Kristian Hanley from Gillard Karts enough for their support.

“This weekend has really enthused me for

the next round at Ipswich and next year when I plan on doing the entire series to chase the championship.”

A pair of second places in the finals was enough for McBride to snare the Championship lead back from South Australian Tyson Pearce, who recorded a third and a fourth placing in the two finals.

New Zealander Mitch Cunningham was among the podium runners for the majority of the weekend before claiming third spot in the opening final.

In the Rotax Pro Tour, David Sera continued his domination of the Rotax Light division to claim a convincing victory ahead of his Arrow Karts team-mate Bart Price and rising star Tyler Greenbury.

CRG driver Jason Pringle continued his winning ways in the Rotax Heavy division by crossing the line ahead of Jonathan Dwyer. Finished third was Lane Moore followed by his brother Trent.

Queenslander Ben Jurczak made it two Rotax Pro Tour wins in a row with a win in the Formula JMA ahead of Pierce Lehane and the Gold Coast pair of Christopher Hays and Jack Howard.

In the Rotax Over 35’s Gerry Brookes got the better of a weekend-long battle with Nicholas Crawshay while Brinley Gread took out the Rotax DD2 class.

The fourth and final round of the 2009 Australian CIK Championship will be held alongside the Rotax Pro Tour in Ipswich on October 23-25.

Homeboy: John Grother took honours in Round 3 at Raleigh abaord his Gillard Kart.

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rear of grid

t o p S d d O

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NO wonder people are busting to break into the motorsport media.

In between hobnobbing with the V8 Supercars’ glitterati, or jetting off to hang out with F1 stars, supermodels and Mark Glendenning, it’s rarely an exciting time here at MNews. Mostly it’s hard slog, interrupted by the publisher yelling at us in some kind of weird-accented, er, ‘inspirational’ tones.

To show just how hard it is, Your Honour, we present Exhibit A. Morgan Park hosted its first National round last weekend when the Shannon’s Series touched down, so the promoters dealt with the massive influx of media attention with a Media Shuttle. The rapid transit system featured flow-through ventilation, air conditioning, panoramic and uninterrupted views and unlimited headroom.

Not that we are complaining.

Far from it. Please, keep it going because, heck, it is Queensland (not Tasmania) and it beats the hell out of walking.

James Smith

Faster, we are on Deadline HONESTLY, we could not let this one go without comment.

Jenson Button was one of a number of high-profile amateurs who competed in the London Traithlon last week. The World Championship leader, 29, finished the race in a time of 2h07m20s, to be second in his age category.

Us being us, we could not pass commenting that JB rode a bike in the same colours as his Brawn GP car. But we also should point out that he was raising money for the Make A Wish Foundation.

“I have had the pleasure of meeting lots of kids who are supported by the charity at our tests and races,” said Jenson.

“It’s a real privilege to be involved with them. The kids are so inspirational and hopefully we can raise enough money to fulfill as many of their dreams as possible.”

Well done, Master Jenson.

See http://www.makeawish. org.au/ for details.

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