Motorsport eNews Issue 123 - September 22-28, 2009 by V8 Sleuth

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Issue No. 123 September 22 -28 2009

tasman motorsport

planning for four

another v8 team looks to ‘partner-up’

More Miles Bayliss set for extra testing

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 Ruffini 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. 123 | 22 - 28 September 2009

news 4 Tasmania!

SGR looks to four-play 6 Will they, won’t they? Still questions over A1GP 10 Out of retirement Eggleston/WP2 both back 13 Concrete Crunch Briscoe’s Blue 15 All in the name Brabham Jr Jr set for AFFC

chat 18 5 minutes with ... opinion 20 Rowley race 22 IndyCar 26 NASCAR 30 British F3 35 State Racing

trade 36 Classifieds

Tim Macrow That long day in September Dixon takes control Mark Martin Magic! Ricciardo’s fine finish Trucks in the West

Happy Birthday Stirling Moss – the former F1 legend turned 80 years old last Thursday!

Motorsport eNews is published by Australasian Motorsport News ABN 55 125 120 702 Publisher: C Lambden Copyright: Material published in Motorsport eNews is copyright and may not be reproduced in full or in part without the written permission of the publisher. Freelance contributions are welcome, and while all care will be taken, Motorsport eNews does not accept responsibility for damage or loss of material submitted. Opinions expressed in Motorsport eNews are not necessarily those of Australasian Motorsport News or its staff.

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

Tasman aims to join f

V8 SUPERCARS

ASMAN Motorsport will continue as a V8 Supercar team in 2010 and beyond, despite pit-lane rumour that the Holden squad has been considering ‘selling-up’ at the end of this season. Also discounted is a further recent rumour that lead driver Greg Murphy would take one of the team’s licences and look elsewhere for a drive – even with a Ford team! However, change to the structure of Tasman’s manufacturing and racing business is likely, and the team is working

on plans to forge a working relationship with another team to create, as is becoming the norm, a four-car ‘group’. The Sprint Gas-backed team has endured a difficult past two seasons, with drivers Greg Murphy and Jason Bargwanna currently 22nd and 27th in this year’s standings. According to team co-owner Tim Miles, the lack of over-all competitiveness has hindered the team’s ambition to become a ‘four-car’ race team that manufactures cars for itself and a competitive customer. However, Miles assured eNews that Tasman Motorsport will be on the track in 2010, but in what form remains unclear:

“We’ll be around in some form next year – the business isn’t for sale,” he told Motorsport eNews on Monday. “We believe the existing business model that we’ve got at the moment isn’t working, so we’re looking at doing something different – but we haven’t settled on what that will be. “When we got into the sport in 2003, you couldn’t have a four car team. Back in those days, you had two business choices – one was to be a customer, and one was to be a manufacturer. We chose to go down the manufacturer route, because we felt as a customer, you’re never going to beat the supplier.

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

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forces

SGR boss says the team will be around in 2010, and that a four-car ‘collaboration’ is likely

Peter Bury

“The problem is that until you’re competitive and attracting customers, your cost base is high. It’s a good business model if you can become competitive quickly enough – but we haven’t done that. “Somehow, we’ve got to try and get the balance of what’s a good sporting outcome that is financially viable. “The ideal would be that we find someone who wanted to make up a fourcar collaborative team and so you spread your cost base over a bigger group of cars, and you can move some components into a customer situation and keep some components internally manufactured until

you arrive at the right sporting outcome. “The problem is that as a manufacturing base, we’re not an attractive partner at the moment because, frankly, our product isn’t competitive enough.“ eNews understands that the team, along with star driver Greg Murphy, will definitely remain loyal to the Holden brand, ruling out a switch to Ford. One aspect that does seem certain to remain the same in 2010 is that Tasman will continue to build its own engines. “We’re extremely comfortable with where our engine business is. I think we’re producing good engines and we’re producing them economically. We have no

intention of changing that.” Miles says that the team is working on sorting its future direction before the Surfers Paradise round in October. “We have to lock it down by the Surfers Paradise round. It’s destructive to the business otherwise because of the way all the rumours fly around … “From my perspective, if we haven’t got anything that’s better than our current position, we’ll remain the same, but if we’ve got something that works … the next season starts in February, so you need November, December and January to get everything together.” – GRANT ROWLEY

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

opinion Chris Lambden mNews Publisher

A1GP SUPERGP boss Greg Hooton has an “unconditional guarantee” from A1GP Chief Tony Texeira that the World Cup of Motorsport will be on hand for the October opening round, as planned. Following the Motorsport eNews story last week that the A1GP organization was still struggling with financial commitments hanging over from last year’s series, confirmation has come that the bulk of the A1GP cars remain under lock and key in a London warehouse, pending the settlement of an outstanding freight bill – but A1GP is adamant that there will be a successful resolution in time for the cars to head to Australia. Hooton told Queensland media during the week that Texeira had provided an unconditional guarantee that 15 cars would be present for the SuperGP meeting ¬– including a planned test day at Queensland Raceway, on the preceding Monday. A1GP general manager Paul Cherry confirmed as much to the Gold Coast Weekend Bulletin last week, when asked if (freight company) DOT had been holding the cars since May, awaiting payment of unpaid bills said to be up to $1.9million: “There are some cars,” he said. “We are working with DOT – obviously they have to protect their position and have taken some of the cars. “They are working with us very well to ensure

sutton-images.com

A1 promises 15 cars

we are going to be there (on the Gold Coast) on October 16, even though we haven’t ironed out all the commercial difficulties. “They are one of our major creditors but they are also one of our major supporters,” he said. “We are not going to let the Gold Coast down. We’ve got our hotels booked, freight booked, team uniforms ordered … we are not doing all of this for a smokescreen.” On top of the organisation’s difficulties, a number of teams which ran their nation’s entry in 2009 have also been feeling the effects of the GFC – as recently as last week Racing for Holland (run by Jan Lammers), which ran the Team Netherlands car in 2009, had some of its equipment for sale on an auction website. The next week looms as being crucial in terms of many of the logistics involved, not to mention an indication of the confirmed entry list. Despite the optimistic noises and Texeira’s guarantee, SuperGP organisers must be giving some thought to a Plan B. The fortunate aspect to the problem, if it can’t be resolved, is that V8 Supercars have, over time, taken on top billing at Surfers, and may well be in a position to expand race format to fill the breach. We hear that informal conversations have already taken place. STOP PRESS (8pm Monday) – British motorsport site autosport.com reports suggestions that Ferrari has withdrawn its engine supply for the series. A Ferrari spokesman would not comment on the matter when contacted.

A1GP’s well-documented financial stress is an unwanted distraction for the organisers of the Nikon SuperGP so close to the event. Regardless of the outcome, the good news is that the event doesn’t rely on its international content for its success. It is unfortunate, therefore, that elements of the political opposition in Queensland should leap on the news with uncontrolled, and sadly uninformed, glee, surmising that the event is at risk. In their haste to score points in The House, they have overlooked the fact that, with or without A1GP, the Surfers weekend remains one of the top weekends of the year for Australian petrol-heads – where else can you go into holiday mode, lean out of your hi-rise apartment and watch motorsport on the streets below. Okay, Monaco. Where else? Nowhere. We go to a lot of motor races in this business, and one of the best was a good friend’s stag weekend, which he incredibly wisely chose to host at and during the Surfers race week one year … We’re huge supporters of the Gold Coast weekend – heck, one of our subscribers is about to win a weekend up there! But it remained, journalistically, the professional thing to report what we are hearing from the UK about A1GP’s difficulties. As race fans ourselves, we genuinely hope it gets sorted, but for SuperGP, forewarned must be forearmed. Over the years, V8 Supercars have gradually assumed the top billing at ‘Indy’ and on this occasion may well provide the Get Out of Jail Free card if, worst case scenario, A1GP can’t deliver.

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More miles for Bayliss Prod Sportscar sets Nurb record

John Morris/Mpix

V8 SUPERCARS TROY Bayliss is set to get extra test miles at Queensland Raceway next Monday ahead of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. Bayliss is currently in Europe and will get the extra test miles in a test at QR if he is able to return in time from a Ducati engagement that he is completing. The three-time World Superbike champion, who will partner Dean Fiore in the Kittensponsored Commodore VE in the famous Mount Panorama race, was limited in race miles at last week’s L&H 500 at Phillip Island after a broken alternator belt on the warm-up lap cost the pair much needed track time. While Bayliss improved his lap times over the course of the weekend, he was almost 3.5 seconds off the pace in his qualifying session. That may not seem so bad for a very ‘green’ V8

Supercar rookie, but Bayliss is a racer at heart and has outlined his desires to be successful in the class. Paul Morris Motorsport prepares the Fioreowned entry, and CEO Nigel Barkley told eNews that the team’s Phillip Island mechanical failure was frustrating. “He’s endeavoring to get back for the test,” Barkley said. “He was very frustrated at Phillip Island, and so were the team, and so was Dean. It was frustration all round! “Troy was improving every session and the potential is there for him to go even better. It’s obviously a huge learning curve, and the time that he missed in the race was crucial – it’s different being out on the track in a race compared to a test session … But it’s the same for all new blokes in the category.” – GRANT ROWLEY

THE full-on V8-engined version of a four-cylinder Superbike-engined sportscar has set a production sportscar lap record at the old Nurburgring. A Radical SR8LM (the 455hp V8 version of the 260hp four-cylinder SR3 now racing in Australian SuperSport racing), driven by test driver Michael Vergers recently lapped the sensational Nordschleife in 6m48sec , breaking the old record by 8 seconds. As a comparison, the last time F1 cars raced on the famous circuit, Niki Lauda’s Ferrari took pole in a time some 10 seconds slower … This month’s Motorsport News magazine (on sale at newsagents Wednesday) features our own test drive of the impressive Radical SR3RS … we can only imagine the V8 version on the famous old road!

iew Click here to v the YouTube footage

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BRIEFLY...

n Stationery printer alert! After five decades as CAMS, Australia’s motorsport governing body is headed for a name change. Although we have heard nothing officially, our spies are telling us that a recent CAMS chat-fest has approved a change of name to Motor Sport Australia.

Macrow’s Macau Masterplan

n Muscle Car fans should check out the Seven Network at 1.30pm on Saturday for a one-hour special on the recent Muscle Car Masters. n Gary McDonald will make a return to the V8 Ute Series at Bathurst next month. The long-time competitor hasn’t driven a Ute since last year, but will take the wheel of Yanis Derums’ car for the Mount Panorama round. “Initially, Yanis and I were going to share the rounds throughout the year, but with work commitments it hasn’t allowed me to,” said McDonald. “This is the first round that I can make it to, and it’s worked out that it’s my favourite track. “I haven’t done any driving this year, and just had to renew my license, but I’m really familiar with the track and feel confident I’ll do well. Every time I’ve raced there I’ve been on the first two rows of the grid, and I’m really looking forward to it.” n From across the Tasman, we hear that Greg Murphy will be a part of a NZ version of Top Gear. Which role will he take – the smart-arse, the little brave guy, or the longhaired weird guy?

FORMULA 3

IM Macrow is making moves to compete in the famous Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix. The November event, held at the notorious Guia Circuit is the jewel in the crown of worldwide F3 races, and Macrow, who won the 2007 Australian title and currently leads this year’s championship, is keen to make his Macau debut. “I’ve been in contact with a couple of teams, and I’ve heard back from one which looks promising, so it’s just a matter of getting the budget together,” he told eNews. “It’s one of the hardest races you can do and really, you need two years there to go really well, but just to compete would be pretty special. And it would be even better if you made it

through the heat races into the final. That would be really good.” The Macau race has been won by many drivers who have gone onto greater feats in their racing careers, including Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher and Riccardo Patrese. The Macau meeting also doubles as the final round of the World Touring Car Championship. While Macrow is trying to source the funds to compete at Macau, he already has an overseas race planned in two weeks. He will head over the Nurburgring’s daunting Nordschleife circuit (Germany) to compete in a four-hour endurance race with Maher Algaderi and Barton Mawer. The trio will race a Porsche GT3 Cup Car. – GRANT ROWLEY For more with Macrow, click to page 18.

FUJITSU V8s BEN Eggleston will return to the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series for the final two rounds of this season, in preparation for a full-time return in 2010. Eggleston will have a serious upgrade in equipment for Bathurst and Homebush, taking delivery of the second Walkinshaw Racing-built VE Commodore, the same car Rick Kelly used in 2007 at the HSV Dealer Team. He was previously using an ex-Team

Dynamik Commodore, and expects the VE to be on a level playing field with some of the other well-credentialed equipment in the Fujitsu Series. “This is the best car I’ve ever had, by a long way,” Eggleston told eNews. “I really can’t wait to get into it. For the first time we’ll have relatively equal equipment with the other guys out there. If you look at what someone like James Moffat is driving, [Craig] Lowndes’ car from last year, we’re certainly not jumping ahead of the field.

James Smith

Eggleston’s new ride ...

We’re just catching up a bit.” Eggleston also hinted that he would retain both of his ex-Dynamik Commodores, and is looking to lease drives to expand to a two – or perhaps even three – car team in 2010. The exact make-up of the team is likely to be revealed before Bathurst. Eggleston’s last outing in the Fujitsu Series was the second round of 2009, at Winton back in April. – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Howard want two cars for 2010 FUJITSU V8s

Dirk Klynsmith

HOWARD Racing wants to expand back to a two-car Fujitsu team in 2010. After dropping back to a onecar entry this year for David Russell, the Queensland-based Ford team is keen to return to a multi-car outfit. Team manager Warren Davis says that running two cars is a essential to keep his business viable. “It makes it financially viable for our business, plus it gives us the benefit of having two cars where you can feed data

off each other,” Davis says. “By having one car this year, you focus all your energy on that, so I don’t think we’ve suffered, but you do lose out on relevant data from each session.” Davis says he has no preference for the driver’s experience levels, but would like to see an experienced driver and a young rookie as his driver line-up. “If you had the option, you’d take two experienced guys without a doubt. It’s good for your business because you have two of your cars near

the front, but saying that, you need to bring the next young guys through. “I guess the ideal program is to have guys on two-year programs, so you have an experienced guy and a new driver who learns a bit as they

progress.” Howard Racing currently own three V8 Supercars, including the two ex-Triple Eight Falcon BAs that Russell and Mark Howard drove in the last round at Queensland Raceway. – GRANT ROWLEY

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MINIs hit the road(show) MINI CHALLENGE

Dirk Klynsmith

THE inaugural MINI Challenge Roadshow last weekend at Sandown has been deemed a success by category organisers. Twenty six drivers took their turn behind the wheel to experience the John Cooper Works (JCW) R56 racecars, in an attempt to increase awareness and build on grid numbers for the onemake class for the remaining three rounds of this year’s series, and the 2010 series. Drivers came from a variety of backgrounds, including V8 Supercars, Formula Ford and Australian GT. Ben McCashney, currently competing in the Fujitsu V8 Series, was one of the 26 drivers to take to the Sandown circuit. “I was surprised,” McCashney said of the cars. “The handling was amazing. The

braking, the controllability, the handling, it was a fantastic car to drive. I can definitely see myself racing one of these cars, they’d be so much fun.” Other notable participants included Formula Ford racer Ben Walter, Robbie Jane (the youngest son of legendary racer Bob Jane) and current GT Championship combatant Andrew Barlow. Roadshow coordinator Craig Nayda was pleased with the turn out. “Our goal was to entice new teams to embrace what we have to offer,” he said. “I’d be certain that some of the people who drove the cars will saddle up at one or all of the remaining three rounds in 2009. Beyond that, we have significant interest in 2010.” The next MINI Challenge Roadshow is scheduled for this Thursday at Oran Park Raceway and Friday at Queensland Raceway.

Your Chance to SAMPLE a MINI CHALLENGE RACE CAR Looking for somewhere to race in 2010? MINI Challenge is conducting a 3 State Roadshow. Along with a comprehensive information session you will test drive a John Cooper Works MINI Challenge Race Car and sample the amazing grip, speed and brakes of these factory prepared race cars, first hand. Sunday September 20 - Sandown Raceway VIC Thursday September 24 - Oran Park NSW Friday September 25 - Queensland Raceway QLD

LIMITED SPACES AVAILABLE To receive your invitation, email your motor racing CV to craignayda@spherix.com.au or phone 0434 692224 Registration Fee of $150 payable upon acceptance

MINI CHALLENGe.

Briscoe Foyt sticks with one INDYCAR LEGENDARY driver/team owner A.J. Foyt has decided to run only one car at the IndyCar season finale at Homestead. At the Indy 500 last May, Vitor Meira fractured several vertebra, and was replaced by Ryan Hunter Reay. At that time, Foyt indicated he’d run both drivers when Meira was ready to return. But while Meira is set to test at Indianapolis on September 30, Foyt has revealed that he will have to wait until 2010 to race again. “We’re not going for any track records,” said Foyt about the Indy test. “I just want to give Vitor some seat time so he can adjust to being back

in a racecar after being out for so long. “I don’t have the people to put together the proper effort for both Ryan and Vitor. When I made the deal with Ryan, I told him he’d have a ride for the rest of the season because I didn’t really know if Vitor would be ready. And even though Vitor has been cleared to drive, I don’t think having his first race back being at Miami is the best thing. There’s a lot of risk and not that much to be gained. “We want to get a good start on 2010 with Vitor, and do more testing over the winter. So I think it’s in all of our interests to have him focus on next year.” – MARY MENDEZ

Battle of the teammates starts early at Ganassi ALMS

UPON returning from the IndyCar race in Japan, Ganassi team-mates Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti will compete in the 1000 mile Petit Le Mans ALMS race in Atlanta, Georgia – but they’ll do so as opponents. Dixon will again join Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud at de Ferran Motorsports, while

Franchitti will compete with Highcroft Racing regulars David Brabham and Scott Sharp. Highcroft leads the LMP1 championship by 17 points over de Ferran’s team with two remaining events. The competition will be much tougher since Audi and Peugeot return with two-car teams to contest the 10-hour endurance race. – MARY MENDEZ

INDYCAR RYAN Briscoe’s faux pas at Motegi has dealt his title chances a definite blow, however the Australian is far from out of the running for this year’s IndyCar title, with a round left to run in Miami on October 10. Briscoe had an embarrassing moment while leaving the pits at the Japanese oval, clipping the wall after a half-spin when his car make the transition from the

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not done yet ...

concrete pit apron back to the racing surface. He managed to salvage 12 points from the situation, although he finished 15 laps down on race winner Scott Dixon. As a result, Dixon took over the points lead from Briscoe – the 14th lead in the standings from the 16 races … The equation now leaves eight points shy of Dixon, with Dixon’s team-mate Dario Franchitti sandwiched between the pair, just five

points behind Dixon. All is set for a winner-takes-all showdown at Homestead in Florida. One advantage Briscoe has is support from his outof-the-running Penske teammate Helio Castroneves, while Ganassi’s drivers will be out to beat each other and win the title. “Helio has been a huge help to me over the past two years,” Briscoe said. “He’s helped me become a

Truck race for Pocono in ‘10 NASCAR

NASCAR has unveiled its 2010 schedule, sticking with the 36event system that has been used this season. There are some minor changes to the Sprint Cup schedule; qualifying for the Daytona 500 will take place on February 6, the same day as the Budweiser shootout, not a day later as has been the case. Dover’s first race moves ahead of the All-Star/ Coca-Cola 600 double header in Charlotte, Pheonix swaps with Texas as the first race in April, and there will be four ‘off’ weeks, including Easter. The only new race added across the three schedules is a Truck race at Pocono on July 31, replacing this year’s February trip to Fontana. The Trucks will share the bill with Cup at the unique triangle-shaped circuit.

stronger oval racer and road course racer. We’ve worked very closely together. His continuing support as a teammate has been awesome. “It’s going to be right down to the last lap at Homestead. It’s going to be high stress on all three teams. It will be a great race.” Dixon, meanwhile, has admitted that having Franchitti so close in the standings wasn’t ideal. “It’s always tough racing your

team-mate,” Dixon said. “You tend to feel at least racing with him, you’re going to get a little more room on the track. But when it comes down to it, it’s winner takes all, or whoever is ahead of each other in that race. It’s a tough kind of decision. “You definitely don’t want to take each other out, maybe have Briscoe sitting in third, and he’s laughing all the way to the bank when he wins.” – MARY MENDEZ

2010 Sprint Cup Schedule Feb 6 Feb 14 Feb 21 Feb 28 March 7 March 21 March 28 April 10 April 18 April 25 May 1 May 8 May 16 May 22 May 30 June 6 June 13 June 20 June 27

Bud Shootout Daytona Fontana Las Vegas Atlanta Bristol Martinsville Phoenix Texas Talladega Richmond Darlington Dover All-Star Race Charlotte Pocono Michigan Sonoma New Hampshire

July 3 July 10 July 25 Aug 1 Aug 8 Aug 15 Aug 21 Sept 5 Sept 11 Sept 19 Sept 26 Oct 3 Oct 10 Oct 16 Oct 24 Oct 31 Nov 7 Nov 14 Nov 21

Daytona Chicago Indianapolis Pocono Watkins Glen Michigan Bristol Atlanta Richmond New Hampshire Dover Kansas Fontana Charlotte Martinsville Talladega Texas Phoenix Homestead

AUSSIE NASCAR STAR MARCOS AMBROSE WRITES FOR MOTORSPORT eNEWS

Chase of my own i-marcos

THE Prelude to the Dream the other week was a real highlight for me, even though I was well and truly out of my comfort zone. Those Late Models are really beasts – your eyes light up the minute you hear them fire up in the pits. They have so much power it’s incredible, but the trick of course is putting the power down on the dirt. For those that don’t know, Eldora is one of the major dirt tracks in the US, probably only second to Knoxville. The steep banks make it a seriously fast half-mile. I’ve done a few short track races here and there when opportunities have popped up, both on pavement and dirt, but this was my first serious dirt-track event. To drive the Late Model fast you really have to turn right to go left and drive it on the throttle. It’s so foreign so you almost have to think like a rally driver. I was racing guys who all grew up on dirt, so it was a humbling experience in some ways, but I came 14th and over the course of the 30 lap final I was starting to feel more and more comfortable out there.

CLICK HERE to see how you can race the Falcon FG01 at Phillip Island – the first Australian content on iRacing.com

Phil Williams

THIS time of year is really very interesting Marcos Ambrose in NASCAR as the Chase Australian NASCAR driver kicks off. A big chunk of the focus really centres on the top 12, but we want to keep raising our game and post as many top 10 finishes as we can. The group of cars that finished just outside the Chase cut-off will now all have a point to prove for these last 10 races. You could see Kyle Busch wanting to win some races now that he’s missed out. Race pace is what I’m after in these last 10 races so I will not be points racing, but having said that it would be good to creep up into that top 15 in points. There’s a bit of fun inter-team rivalry going as well The last few weeks we’ve had reasonable pace but ended up somewhere around the low 20s. We are working hard for another ‘Bristol-type’ result and everyone at the workshop in every department is working to make sure we continue to improve. The long grind of the NASCAR season makes it tough to really finish out the season on a high but that’s exactly what we want to do this season.

Mostert signs FORMULA FORD CHAZ Mostert has signalled his intention to be a serious contender in the 2010 Australia Formula Ford Championship, by re-signing with Synergy Motorsport. Mostert has been one of the standouts of this year’s AFFC, and has been one of the few drivers able to occasionally take the fight to Sonic duo Nick Percat and Mitch Evans. He broke through for his maiden round win recently at Phillip Island, immediately after which he announced he would stick with the sattelite Spectrum team for next season. Synergy boss Justin Cotter says Mostert will be a serious threat next year, having come so far during 2009. “Chaz has a ton of natural

talent and pace, and it is fantastic that he has decided to run with us next year,” said Cotter. “It’s always a challenge to harness that with a young driver, but we are getting there. It hasn’t been the easiest year for Chaz on a number of fronts, so it is a real credit to him to have come through with the win at [Phillip Island].” “A lot of the young guys see what John Martin did in coming into Formula Ford and driving his Spectrum to win the national championship in his first try, but they have to remember that he is one of a very small number to do that. Nick Percat has set a good example this year in showing that you have to just keep coming back until you put it together.”

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James Smith

Williamson commits to full 2010 FFord program FORMULA FORD TOM Williamson is set to take on all of next year’s Australian Formula Ford title after an impressive category debut at Phillip Island two weeks ago. Williamson drove his Mygale SJ09A, prepared by Brad Jones Racing, and recorded a third place finish in Race 2.

It was a fine result in his national debut, and it has inspired him to contest all of next year’s championship, funding permitted. “We’ll try and get enough support to do the whole championship, which I think will be possible,” he said. While Williamson and BJR are committed to next year, they have decided that they

will not contest the final round of the Australian Formula Ford title at Surfers Paradise next month. Williamson, a renowned karter, said that his Island debut went better than expected, although not perfect. “There were a few bits and piece that I wasn’t happy with,” he said.

“I made a few mistakes that cost me but overall, I learnt a lot. Going into the weekend, we didn’t expect to be on the podium in one race, so we came away pretty happy. “We had an engine problem in qualifying which put us back in the field but as soon as we sorted that it was quite good.” – GRANT ROWLEY

Big week planned for Brabham Jr

Oran Park MINI test followed by Phillip Island Victorian Formula Ford round FORMULA FORD

Ash Budd

MATTHEW Brabham will get to sample two different types of race cars this week. The 15-year-old grandson of three-time world champion Jack Brabham will sample a MINI Challenge car at Oran Park on Thursday as part of the ‘MINI’ Roadshow,’ before heading down to Phillip Island for his second Formula Ford race start as part of the Victorian Formula Ford Championship. Brabham is being groomed as a national Formula Ford entrant next season, and his father Geoff told eNews that that’s the direction he needs to go in. “It’s just about finding the money for it at the moment,” Brabham Sr said. “If it all comes together, the object is to run the national series. It will be a learning year for us. I see it as a two-year

program, if you like, and see how we go and assess where it’s going.” Brabham Sr said that he’s been happy with his son’s progress so far. “He’s going really well. He just needs miles at the moment. “In Australia, CAMS has just lowered the minimum age down this year, so it’s given Australians a better chance against other countries, particularly New Zealand. The thing is, there’s a lot of young New Zealand kids going really well because they’ve been able to start at a really early age, much more so than kids here in Australia. “That (age minimum) rule has changed this year and that has made changes to our plans, and I hope that in the future we’ll see more kids getting more experience at a young age.” – GRANT ROWLEY

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Three new CIK contenders Nelson, Waters and Mills confirm entries for final CIK round KARTING

Ash Budd

BRENDAN Nelson, Matthew Waters and Victorian James Mills have been confirmed as new additions to the final round of the 2009 Australian CIK Championship at Ipswich on October 24/25. Nelson, a five-time State Karting Champion, will make his debut in Australia’s most prestigious karting series alongside the likes of Championship contenders Hayden McBride, Tyson Pearce and Simon Roberts. “The CIK Championship is just about the only class in Australian karting that I haven’t raced and the fact that you compete with faster engines, stickier tyres and

a great format of racing is really attractive,” Nelson said, who will compete for Doyle’s Kartsport team. “By doing the final round of this year’s Championship it should put me in a good position to be extremely competitive in next year’s series.” Waters and Mills will also make their CIK debuts at Ipswich. For Waters, a dual Australian Champ in National classes, this is the next step in his career. “The CIK Championship has always been the pinnacle of Australian karting in my eyes and it is now even more economically feasible it is more attractive than ever,” he said. “I’m really looking forward

to getting on track alongside some of the more recognisable names to test myself against the best in the business.” With one round remaining

in the 2009 Championship, McBride holds a slender lead over South Australian Tyson Pearce on the points standings.

Australian titles on the line this weekend KARTING

Ash Budd

FIVE new Australian champions will be crowded this weekend in the ninthrunning of the Rotax Nationals at Eastern Creek International Kart Raceway. One of the prized classes, Rotax Light, has been dominated in recent times by David Sera, who has taken victory in the class in three of the past four years. However, local NSW drivers plan to turn that statistic around, including Windsor’s David Whitmore. “It is going to be good taking on the best drivers on my home track, hopefully I’ll have a little bit of an advantage over them but it will be tough against the likes of David Sera, Bart Price and Damien Ward,” said Whitmore

“We’ve been doing a fair bit of testing over the last few months in an effort to be fully prepared, it is going to be a tough event but I will be giving it everything I’ve got to win.” Queenslanders have dominated the Rotax Heavy division at the Rotax Nationals, with the past six titles being won by the snadgroppers.

Bundaberg’s Kel Treseder is the reigning two-time Champion, but he believes that this year presents one of his big challenges. “Once again there is a high quality field assembled for the Rotax Nationals and come finals time next Sunday, it is going to be ‘game on’ with the best of the best set to rise to

the occasion,” said Treseder. “I think local track knowledge will certainly come into play but hopefully us visiting drivers will be able to overcome the local guys and continue the domination by Queensland drivers in the category.” Other class titles up for grabs include Formula JMA (Juniors), Rotax Over 35s and Rotax DD2.

5 Minutes with ...

TIM MACROW

He’s leading the Australian F3 title, he’s going to Germany next month to race a GRANT ROWLEY Porsche and he wants a crack at Macau ...

Sounds like a pretty cool weekend! Yeah, hopefully. I don’t know too many details yet because Maher just called me out of the blue and told me that I’m doing the race! It’s all pretty exciting and we’ve got a pretty good team there. The Nordschleife is 20.8km long. What do you know about the circuit? I know absolutely nothing! I’ve been there about five years ago when I was backpacking, but it was snowing then, so I haven’t seen the track in summer. All I know is that it’s going to be pretty daunting and one of the hardest tracks to learn in motorsport. It’s probably going to be one of my biggest challenges.

John Morris/Mpix

MOTORSPORT NEWS: You’re heading over to Germany to race a Porsche at the Nurburgring. Tell us about it … TIM MACROW: On October 3, I’m racing in the ADAC Series. They do four hour enduros almost every month – it’s called the ADAC SuperPrix. There’s lots of cars in the race. We’re running a GT3 Cup Car around the Nordshlifer, and it’s pretty exciting. It’s going to be myself, Maher Algadri and Barton Mawer.

i’ve bought the video of the macau f3 race every year. i’ve always wanted to do it. f3 leader tim macrow wants to race at macau I’m trying to work on some other racing before Sandown as well, but there are a few things still up in the air. I’d love to do the Macau F3 race, which I’m working on at the moment, but we’ll just see what happens in the next few weeks.

A bit of YouTube research, perhaps? I’ve already been watching video after video on YouTube! I don’t know if you can actually learn the thing in a short space of time because there’s so many corners involved in it, but it’s going to be good to have a track.

Where do your Macau plan’s sit now? First you’ve got to get an invite, which isn’t a massive deal for me. I’ve won an F3 Championship (2007), so I should be able to get an invite. There is more interest than grid spots, so you have to lock one of those down. I’ve been in contact with a couple of teams, and I’ve heard back from one which looks promising, so it’s just a matter of getting the budget together.

You’re currently leading the Australian F3 Championship, but the final round isn’t until late November. Is this drive a good way to keep your eye in? Absolutely. That was a nothing for me. I am going to be pretty rusty by the time I get to Sandown so to actually get some miles around a new race circuit is going to be very beneficial.

Personally, what would it mean to compete at the Macau race? It’s one of the hardest races you can do and really, you need two years there to go really well, but just to compete would be pretty special. And it would be even better if you made it through the heat races into the final. That would be really good.

So your three month Australian F3 gap might be busier than you expected? Yeah. To drive on a circuit like Macau is probably one of the most difficult tracks to do to, so after Nordschleife and Macau, it’s going to make Sandown like a walk in the park! I’ve bought the video of the Macau F3 race every year. I’ve always wanted to do it. If I can get my butt there and get in a car, I’m going to work as hard as I can to make it a success. Sandown is still an important race for you. You lead the F3 championship by four points over Joey Foster. Wha are you thoughts leading into the race. It’s pretty simple – we’re just going there to win. The championship is that close, and the points gap between first and second is five points, so basically, whoever wins the races is going to win the championship. You’re not going to be able to play conservative – we’re just going to go all out and try and win the race. There’s not going to much strategy involved. It’s just going to be balls out and go as hard as you can.

chat

Robert Lange

When Spring is

opinion

Sprung

I HAVE a love/hate relationship with September. In the ‘love’ department, there’s Grant Rowley Footy Finals fever in the air, the Editor eNews weather is improving, and there’s always lots going on in motor racing and while there’s a lot of it going on land. in the V8 Supercar paddock at the In the ‘hate’ department, my footy moment, there’s usually little you team isn’t playing until next year, the can gain from airing every rumour wife has employed a ‘Spring cleaning’ or possible deal that passes through regime, and the motor racing world the phone lines. It’s just the nature of goes into ‘no comment mode.’ the business. At this time of year, all the racing You can probably sense my teams that don’t have their drivers/ frustration here, and I suppose it’s licenses/sponsors locked in for the a problem that the industry has next season are busy doing their developed over time. deals, and no one wants to talk about Compared to other major sports, them. V8 Supercars is a relative small, tightAnd that’s fair enough. The last knit merry-go-round. Remember, thing ‘Team X’ needs while it’s trying there’s only 15 teams in the to lure ‘Sponsor Y’ to its team is having championship, so if you burn your it aired in a publication like ours. bridges and you need to jump off But that doesn’t make my life at the merry-go-round, there’s a limited Motorsport eNews very easy! number of horses to jump back on At the risk of sounding like a … That scenario applies for drivers, bragger or making big fat excuses, team members and the media. there are some behind the scenes I don’t follow our footy codes too things that we have found out over closely, I do love to watch any sport, the past week that simply can’t be but I’m no diehard fan. It does seem, published yet. Getting to a story however, that if there’s any sniff of first is one thing, but burning your ‘news’ in those sports, the papers sources and risk having them throw print it. If ‘Player A’ is linked to ‘Team a wheel nut at you at the next race B,’ the story will be run. is another. You’ve got to pick your If Motorsport eNews ran every battles sometimes, and generally, rumour that came through our office, September isn’t the time of year to we would have a life ban on the do it. merry-go-round! We could easily write 15 ‘I can win’ September is a great time of year. or ‘We can do better’ stories, but for It’s just a pity we can’t hit the fast me, that’s not news. News is change, forward button …

opinion

Dirk Klynsmith

eLETTER OF THE WEEK Surely, I’m not the only person out there just salivating over the thought of this year’s Bathurst 1000 ... I mean, has there even been a better warm up than this year’s 500-kayer at Phillip Island? If there were any doubts over whether or not Triple Eight and Holden Racing Team have the best

cars and the best drivers in the business, they must be long, long gone. That in itself is bad luck for the blue bloods; good luck seeing anything but Commodores on the podium next year! In saying that, didn’t FPR look to come a bit good at The Island. Just when it looked like they had

less chance than usual of winning at Bathurst, they show some speed! But no, it can’t be anything to do with Campbell Little wearing a blue shirt, can it? So it’s T8, versus HRT, with FPR and the Jim Beamers not far away. Sounds good to me! Garry Marshall

Garry Marshall 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 21

INDYCAR ROUND 16 – TWIN RING MOTEGI

One teeny little Ryan Briscoe had the Indycar championship within his grasp, but a simple pit-lane error handed the race to arch-rival Dixon – and the championship now goes down to the wire where 22

mistake ... sutton-images

mid-race yellow came just as Ryan Briscoe peeled into pit lane for his final stop. It was a gift from the motorsport Gods. Running third behind Kiwi Scott Dixon and his teammate Dario Franchitti, the timely caution (Briscoe had literally just enterd pit lane when the yellow came) looked to have handed the lead, and the race, and the championship to him on a plate. But as swiftly as it was there, it was taken away. Blasting out from the concrete pit-apron, Briscoe’s right-rear hit the tarmac-proper first, gripped, and flicked the car left – into the left-hand wall lining the pit exit. Another stop, a nose-change, and an exploratory lap was enough to confirm the Penske team’s worst fears – the suspension was damaged. The left upright was replaced, leaving Briscoe to cruise home 18th for some nevertheless valuable points. It also presented the race to the Kiwi/Scot duo, with Dixon – who had started from pole and looked a winner all day – getting home 1.44sec ahead of his team-mate after Franchitti ran wide on the marbles while in front. Graham Rahal finished third. “Yeah, it was pretty frustrating,” Briscoe said later. “It was a huge opportunity for me to get the race lead. I just gassed it too much leaving my box, and the car spun. I hit the wall. “The good thing is that it’s only eight points to Scott. I feel real good going into Homestead. We’ve been strong on all the one and a halves this year. Eight points is the difference between first and second ...”

Honda Racing

Desperate moments, above, as Briscoe’s front wing is replaced – it wasn’t all that was broken ... Dixon and Franchitti (far left) ran at the front for most of the day, with the Kiwi (right) coming out on top when it mattered.

INDYCAR | INDY JAPAN 300, TWIN RING MOTEGI 1 9 2 10 3 02 4 06 5 5 6 7 7 26 8 4 9 2 10 3

Scott Dixon NZ Dario Franchitti GB Graham Rahal USA Oriol Servia E Mario Moraes Br Danica Patrick USA Marco Andretti USA Dan Wheldon GB Raphael Matos Br Helio Castroneves Br

Target Ganassi 200 laps Q1 Target Ganassi/Lifelock -1.4475s 3 Newman/Haas/Lanigan -3.2002s 5 Newman/Haas/Lanigan -7.3720s 7 KV Racing/Azul Teqila -12.7643s 2 Boost Mobile/Motorola -16.1392s 6 Team Venom -17.2646s 14 Panther Racing -17.5790s 8 Dragon Racing -18.5673s 12 Team Penske -20.4485s 21

Fastest lap: Dixon on lap 174, 27.6688s (197.761mph)

Dixon 570, Franchitti 565, Briscoe 562, Castroneves 403, Patrick 381, Andretti 368, Rahal 366, Kanaan 354, Wheldon 342, Wilson 334.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP ROUND 27 – SYLVANIA 300

Old Dog, New Trick Some nifty pit work gave Mark Martin the win – and a handy lead in The Chase – at New Hampshire. Is this the year he’ll win 26

race

Costly mistakes: A loose axle cap cost Tony Stewart big time, above, while Marcos Ambrose struggled for late race pace, below.

ASCAR’S elder statesman Mark Martin has increased his points lead in the 2009 Sprint Cup with a win at New Hampshire’s Sylvania 300. The win was Martin’s fifth for the season – a personal best – and couldn’t be more timelier, the New Hampshire round being the first of The Chase for this season. The win was half tactical, half wheel-to-wheel. The tactical advantage came just before the 200th lap, when crew chief Alan Gustafson kept Martin out on the circuit during a caution period. That allowed him to grab the lead from Kurt Busch shortly after the 200th lap, then pit earlier than the other front-runners, and be back at the front after the final cycles of stops. Despite having track position, Martin had to fend off fellow Chase competitor Juan Pablo Montoya in the closing laps, which were littered with cautions. The combat eventually cost Montoya second when Denny Hamlin slipped by with a lap to run. But while it was Martin who had to out-race the fiery Columbian in closing laps, he was quick to attribute the win to his crew chief. “Alan won the race,” Martin said. “Alan’s the man. This is a dream come true. It’s Alan, and the guys that back him up and all the guys that surround him. He is the superstar.

“I can’t believe we won that race. It couldn’t be easy. We had to have three caution restarts, and all kinds of chances for me to mess up – and I did, but just, I guess, not enough to lose.” While third was still a good result for Montoya, and saw him jump from seventh to fourth in the points, he was miffed at some of Martin’s ontrack tactics in the final battle for the win. “Martin just screwed me,” he said. “He just stopped the car on the apex, right on the bottom, and I had nowhere to go. I could have pushed him out of the way, but I respect him a lot. [Next time] I won’t wreck him, but I will bump him … “I thought I had him. He cleared me through [Turns] 3 and 4, and when he got to 1 and 2 he just stopped at the bottom. I didn’t expect that. I was expecting him to run

pretty hard. He just ran very defensively, and I just got caught by surprise. I think if I would have would have been prepared I probably would have jumped to the outside. “You’ve got to learn from it. I haven’t fought for enough wins.” Reigning Champion Jimmie Johnson was fourth for the race, and sits tied on points for second with Hamlin, 35 behind Martin. New Hampshire bought heartache for two Chase contenders; Kasey Kahne lost an engine in lap 67 and retired, while a loose rear axle cap left Tony Stewart 14th, and dropped him from second to sixth in the standings. Marcos Ambrose finished 20th, after making a play for good track position late in the race by only taking on two fresh tyres. But the gamble didn’t play off, Ambrose losing spots to cars on better rubber.

SPRINT CUP | SYLVANIA 300 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5 11 42 48 18 2 39 19 16 33

Mark Martin Denny Hamlin Juan Pablo Montoya Jimmie Johnson Kyle Busch Kurt Busch Ryan Newman Elliott Sadler Greg Biffle Clint Bowyer

Chevy Toyota Chevy Chevy Toyota Dodge Chevy Dodge Ford Chevy

Kellogg’s FedEx Target Lowe’s M&M’s Miller Lite US Army Stanley Tools 3M Scotch Cheerios

Q14 4 1 16 9 3 18 35 22 17

NASCAR | DRIVER’S points Martin 5230, Johnson 5195, Hamlin 5195, Montoya 5175, Kurt Busch 5165, Stewart 5156, Newman 5151, Vickers 5140, Biffle 5138, Gordon 5128, Edwards 5117, Kahne 5069.

Marshall Cass

Classic Lakeside Kim Jane won the V8 round amongst carnage. ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN reports SHANNONS CLASSIC

Marshall Cass

TOURING Car Racing returned to Lakeside last weekend with an impressive crowd queuing up for entry on Sunday to see the Shannons Classic Speed Festival. The crowd got to see some impressive and vigourous sedan racing, with two grids of Group N Historic Touring Cars and a thin, but action-packed Group A and C field putting on some great racing. The star attractions were the Group A/C cars although attrition hit early as Terry Ashwood’s Gibson Motor Sport Nissan GT-R pranged the armco on Friday and Rod Markland older Mark Skaife Nissan Skyline broke a camshaft. Brett Maddren’s ex-Anderson

Brothers Ford Mustang was the class of the field taking all four race wins. Mark Taylor (ex Paul Trevathan VL Commodore) and Wayne Clift (his own VK Commodore) fought for the minor placings taking most of the seconds and thirds racing all day with David Towe (Jim Richards BMW M3), Craig Neilson (Scotty Taylor Mitsubishi Starion), George Nittis (Damon Hill/Eggenberger Ford Sierra RS500) and Chris Bowden (Tony Mulvihill Mazda RX-7). Nittis got faster over the weekend, finishing second in the final race. Russell Wright (Falcon XY GT) took three of the four wins in the faster Group N division, with Ethan Lind (Torana XU1) taking the last race after some memorable racing with Simon

Phillips (Torana XU1), the Escorts of Cameron Black and Errol Stratford and Bob Sudall (Mazda RX-2) holding some fierce racing. The slower Group N field was just as strong, Allen Boughen (Ford Customline) and Trevor Norris (EH Holden) taking the race wins ahead of the Dtasun 1600s of Daniel Bayada and Chris McIllwain. Tony Quinn (Ralt RT4) took out the thin open wheel/ Sportscar combined grid ahead

of Peter Boel (Lotus 41) and Len Don (Stag Formula Vee). Tony Glazebrook (Norton Domi) and Bruce Marston (BSA Goldstar) shared the early motorcycle victories. Warwick Hutchison (Van Diemen RF92) set the fastest time in the half-circuit hillclimb ahead of Darren Duffield (RPV J4F) and Simon Trapp (Falcon XR GT). Rafael Bachiller (LH Torana) won regularity. – MARK JONES

race

Foster’s fast German F3 comeback FORMULA 3 FORMULA 3 Australian Drivers’ Championship frontrunner Joey Foster put in a front-running performance in his one-off round in the German ATS Formula 3 Cup last weekend. Foster, a six-time race winner in Australia with Team BRM this season, returned to the German series in a one-event deal with his former team HS Technik Motorsport. Foster qualified eighth and fifth for the two races and made further ground when the green flag dropped despite not having seen the technical Sachsenring circuit before his arrival on Thursday. In Race 1, he took his Dallara F307 – Mercedes entry to a strong fourth place finish. Joey also set the fourth-fastest lap of the race, shadowing his HS Technik team-mate Harald Schlegelmilch to the finish. In Race 2 he finished fifth, the same position he started, again proving him a team player as he ably backed up his team-mate who finished one position ahead in fourth.

Best Renault result for Martin WORLD SERIES JOHN Martin has completed his most successful World Series by Renault outing, scoring seventh and eighth place finishes at the Nurburgring last weekend. After qualifying seventh in Group B, with a time of 1m47.117s (0.941s behind pacesetter Oliver Turvey) Martin lined up 14th on the grid for Race 1 on Saturday afternoon. A steady drive as others around him lost their heads saw Martin work his way through the 23 car field, taking seventh. “I gained a couple of places

in the first few laps and then watched it all unfold,” said Martin. “I just tried to keep it clean and consistent and hoped I didn’t get caught up in the mess in front of me. There seemed to be a lot of silly incidents, probably because it is so hard to pass around here.” Championship leader Bertrand Baguette won the race, ahead of Fairuz Fauzy, Daniil Move, Turvey, Jaime Alguersuari and Charles Pic. A perfect start in the second race saw Martin vault from 10th to sixth on the opening lap, with Pic leading the way from Brendon Hartley, Lancaster, Fauzy and James

Walker. On lap 11 Martin was the last of the leaders to pit but unfortunately, the late stop strategy failed to pay off. While the cars of Walker and Baguette (who Martin had been battling with prior to the stops) went onto finish fourth and fifth, he crossed the line eighth, 42.947s behind race winner Pic, having moved up the order thanks to Turvey and Lancaster failing to finish. Hartley and Fauzy rounded out the podium, with Alguersuari sixth and Marco Barba seventh. Next race for Martin is the penultimate round of Superleague Formula at Monza on October 3-4.

Signing off in style Daniel Ricciardo put a win next to his name in his final round of British F3 FORMULA 3

sutton-images.com

DANIEL Ricciardo took a seventh win of the Cooper Tires British F3 International Series season at Brands Hatch on Sunday. The newly-crowned champion, who had the last Australian (and Volkswagenpowered) champion David Brabham on hand to watch him, stormed away from pole position to head team-mate Max Chilton into the first corner. After that it was straight-forward for Perth’s new Champ as he smashed the lap record and made good his escape, the only time the opposition saw him being in parc ferme after the 22 lapper was over. Chilton had been troubled by a brake fire on the grid but was able to race, even though he was never able to close on his team-mate. By flagfall, the gap had escalated

to over 15 and a half seconds between them. Danny Ricky’s stated aim for the weekend had been two pole positions and two race wins. With pole secured for both races, his final part of the quest came at the end of Sunday afternoon. He made a decent getaway but

All on the line

DTM

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then seemed to bog down as he went up through the gears. That allowed Chilton to take the lead and secure his first overall win having taken a class win at Portimao a week earlier. The quick-starting Christodoulou chased hard but was never able to get near enough to pressure

TIMO Scheider widened his DTM points advantage at Barcelona on Sunday with an impressive drive in his Audi A4 DTM. Scheider’s second win of the season came after a superb start from fifth on the grid and put in a hugely-brave move around the outside at the first corner. Scheider led from pole-sitter Tom Kristensen while Paul di Resta was

the leader and not even a Safety Car period phased Chilton. Ricciardo’s pox start mired him in fourth behind Invitation Class driver Marcus Ericsson (not scoring points) but could never make a bid for a pass in a processional race. – DAVID ADDISON

the best Mercedes driver in third. He was mugged at the first pit stops by Martin Tomczyk who made it an Audi 1-2-3. Di Resta then faded and fell to seventh leaving Gary Paffett (Mercedes) to take fourth from the similar car of Bruno Spengler and the Audi of Mattias Ekstrom. The Swede falls away in the championship leaving Scheider clear in the lead with two races to go. – DAVID ADDISON

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SEAT takes two at Imola

Dirk Klynsmith

sutton-images.com

SEAT took two WTCC wins at Imola, with Gabriele Tarquini and Yvan Muller sharing the honours last weekend. Tarquini won Race 1 from Muller after BMW’s title hope Augusto Farfus was eliminated at turn one. Jordi Gene’s SEAT had tagged the Chevrolet of Rob Huff and caused mayhem, with Rickard Rydell, Tiago Monteiro and Jorg Muller all being caught up. That left Tarquini and Muller clear to run one-two to the flag with Huff third. Others in the wars included Nicola Larini, whose Chevrolet caught fire under braking for the Villeneuve Chicane, while Stefano D’Aste’s efforts to move his BMW past James Thompson’s LADA ended with D’Aste outbraking himself, running off the road and collecting Alain Menu’s Chevrolet as he rejoined. Andy Priaulx sacrificed his position to drop to eighth and pole for Race 2. That plan failed when he and Menu made contact leaving his damaged BMW to come home 13th. The order, therefore, was Tarquini, Muller Y, Huff and Alex Zanardi. From seventh in the second race to win, Muller won, finishing ahead of Tarquini and Menu. – DAVID ADDISON

Jelley, served on the Plato

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STEPHEN Jelley and Jason Plato shared the wins in the Rockingham British Touring Car Championship races. Jelley’s Team RAC BMW 320si won races one and three with Plato’s win being the 50th of his career. Jonny Adam’s BMW led race one from Jelly who had jumped up from fourth on the grid. When Adam ran wide on lap nine at the first hairpin, Jelley pounced and secured the lead for his first BTCC win. Adam faded allowing the RML-run Chevrolet Lacettis of Jason Plato and Mat Jackson through for second and third before his airwaves BMW teammate Rob Collard jumped him for fourth. Championship rivals Fabrizio Giovanardi and Colin Tukington were sixth and 10th respectively. Jelley led race two before Jackson made

an ambitious move on him which forced the BMW wide. As Jackson grabbed the lead, Plato followed him through for second and moved ahead of Jackson at the first hairpin mid-race. Giovanardi bagged third ahead of Turkington with Adam fifth ahead of the recovered Jelley. Race 3 was fraught to say the least. Jelley worked ahead of Tom Chilton’s Ford Focus and then attacked Andrew Jordan’s Vauxhall Vectra for the lead. He made it through, ran wide and lost the lead but retaliated and, after contact, grabbed back the advantage. Jordan ran second

while mayhem reigned behind: Plato, from ninth on the grid, tried to take third from Turkington but contact was made. The BeeEmm was lucky not to spin but Plato was collected by team-mate James Nash who retired on the spot and Plato was forced to pit for repairs. He finished 12th, with Giovanardi only 11th. His Vauxhall had been a magnet attracting trouble during the race and its many bruises cost it points. Turkington took fourth meaning he has a 13-point lead with three races to go at Brands Hatch.

David Ostaszewski

Change at the table’s top Victories secure McClenathan, Edwards and Arana points lead in NHRA titles NHRA CORY McClenathan, Mike Edwards and Hector Arana claimed point leads in their respective classes with victories at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway, near Charlotte. Robert Hight also made a huge move, vaulting from 10th to third when he won in Funny Car. McClenathan used bracketlike consistency to win his first race since the spring Las Vegas event of 2008. After trailering Morgan Lucas, Larry Dixon, and Doug Foley, his final round 3.85/312 defeated the Lucas Oil-backed dragster of Shawn Langdon, who trailed at 3.98/280. Hight, who grabbed the tenth spot in the playoff towards the championship at Indy, snuck past Matt Hagen in the Funny car final, 4.09/307 to 4.10/308.

Hight had earlier defeated Jerry Toliver, Bob Tasca, and Ashley Force-Hood. Edwards scored his fourth Pro Stock win of the season, defeating Greg Stanfield, 6.61/209 to 6.65/207. After top qualifying, Edwards scored round wins over Warren Johnson, Tom Hammonds, and Allen Johnson. Arana’s dream year continued in Charlotte, where he picked up his second straight victory, third in the last four events, and fourth this year. Arana clocked a 7.00/189 run from his Lucas Oil-backed Buell, to stop Karen Stoffer who redlighted. The NHRA Carolinas Nationals marked the beginning of the 2009 Countdown to One playoffs that will decide the Full Throttle World Championships. McClenathan took the Top Fuel points lead when he won the final round, moving

around incoming leader Antron Brown and Tony Schumacher, who are tied for second. The lead remained unchanged in Funny Car with Tony Pedregon keeping the top spot despite losing first round. Ashley ForceHood moved to second, just one point back, and winner Hight sits third, just 28 points out of the lead. Edwards crushed the competition in Pro Stock, accumulating a 56 point lead. Arana’s final-round victory not only gave him a second straight victory but the points lead over Eddie Krawiec, whom Arana defeated in the semis. Spencer Massey in Top Fuel and Mike Neff in Funny Car were the winners of a pair of special four-wide exhibition races Sunday afternoon during the event. Massey, driver of Don Prudhomme’s U.S. Smokeless

Tobacco dragster, won the Top[ Fuel match on a double holeshot, edging Antron Brown and Brandon Bernstein, both of whom ran quicker, and Morgan Lucas. Massey’s .028 reaction time and 3.88/310 performance tripped the win light ahead of the 3.86/315 from Brown’s Matco Tools dragster. Bernstein’s Budweiser dragster was third across the shared finish line with a 3.88/304, while Lucas’ GEICO Powersports dragster smoked the tyres to a 5.12/268. Neff, driver of Force’s Ford Drive One Mustang, also won on a holeshot, his 4.13/307 held off his boss’ quicker 4.11/305. Worsham, driver of the Alan Johnson/Al-Anabi Racing Toyota Solara, finished third with a 4.20/298 and Wilkerson finished fourth with the Levi, Ray Shoup Ford Mustang at 4.50/262. – DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

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Erickson makes amends at Brands

Gavin Willadsen

FORMULA FORD AMSF International Rising Star Daniel Erickson had a successful weekend, taking third position in Round 23 of the MSA Formula Ford Championship at the Brands Hatch GP circuit last weekend. The young Australian driver was an early retirement from Round 22 after his Spectrum 011c spun off the track after running into the rear of Chrissy Palmer’s car at Surtees corner on lap five of the 12lap race. He made amends in the next race, though, coming within a whisker of grabbing second place from Rogier de Wit. He shadowed the Dutch driver by just 0.79s to take his place on the podium. Erickson’s final event of the 2009 season will be at Castle Combe on October 3 where he is just eight points away from being the top-placed British Formula Ford debutant in this year’s championship.

Fink takes Drift title DRIFT NATIONALS

VICTORIAN driver Luke Fink is the new Australian Drift Champion, after winning the 2009 Drift Nationals at Oran Park Raceway yesterday, 20 September. Over 4,000 fans headed to Oran Park for the single day event, a one-off for 2009 before the Drift Australia Series resumes as a full, five-round championship next year. The biggest winner was Fink (Nissan Silvia), who beat a crop of Australia’s best drifters to become 2009 Australian Drift Champion. Having finished second in last year’s Drift Australia Series, Fink was one of the event favourites and didn’t disappoint. Fink topped qualifying and advanced through the battle stages to book his place in the final, where he took on South Australian Simon Podlewski, the

new recruit for last year’s championship winning outfit, Team CTS. On the second run of the final, Fink executed a clean overtaking move on Podlewski (Nissan 180SX) to secure victory. “I’m stoked, it’s a great result,” Fink beamed. “Last year we came to Oran Park trying to win the championship but we couldn’t quite get it done. “We were really keen to go one better this year; the car was fantastic, it didn’t miss a beat all day and we’re going home with the trophy.” Third place went to Jake Jones, who fought back after a crash in Saturday’s pre-event practice session, which saw the team work well into the night. Andrew Roney took out the second-tier Super Drift class, defeating Jim Turner in the final, with David Browne finishing third.

Victorian takes Annual SuperTruck title WEST AUSTRALIA THE Annual Ontraq Haulage/Broome Freightlines SuperTruck fell to Victorian Beau Hewat at Barbagallo Raceway last weekend. Hewat finished fourth in the first race, who ran inside the top two for the remaining four races, winning the final heat race from Steven Zammit and Bob Middleton. Steve Coulter won the Light Truck division. Wet weather affecting the second day of the meeting, with Todd Fiore’s

stranglehold on the Formula Ford 1600 series broken by Bryce Moore who all three outings. Fiore and Ben D’Limi shared the second places. Kerry Wade won the Torque Trophy, the 35th running of the famous Street Car race. He qualified on pole and won all three heats in his Mazda RX-7. Improved Production went to Wade and Kevin Ledger, who won two of the races. while Grant Johnson took all three wins in the Saloon Car classes. In Sports Cars and Sports Sedans, the Ultra Sports racer of Rex Meechin was too

fast for the V8 Supercars, Meechin winning from Dean Kovacevich’s VZ Commodore. Ben Riley prevailed to take the Formula Vee round win, although he had to share the individual race wins with Myles Lockett and Jez Hammond. Bruce Welsh won the Silver Star for 1200cc-powered Vees. There was a three-way split in HQ Holdens, with round winner Stephen Raisin sharing with Grant Howlett and Mark Mettam, while Tim Davies dominated Formula Classic, and Ron Moller took out the Historic Touring Cars class. – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

rear of grid

HRT Fan Day: Huge Success THE Toll Holden Racing Team’s firstever open Family Day has been hailed a major success after an estimated 15,000 people attended the event at Clayton, Victoria, on Sunday. The factory Holden team threw its doors open to the public with crowd numbers easily surpassing all expectations. As the picture, below,

illustrates, approximately 400 people queued outside the gates waiting for the 10am kick-off! Those attending were able to meet HRT drivers Garth Tander and Will Davison, Bundy Red Racing’s David Reynolds, Team Autobarn enduro pairing Steve Owen and Shane Price, and take tours of the HRT Museum and

Lowndes is a big Kid

Odd Spot

John Morris

CRAIG Lowndes is taking his nickname – The Kid – to new levels next year. The four-time Bathurst champion is set to make his children’s television debut on the hugely popular ABC for Kids series Roary the Racing Car, set to screen in early 2010 on ABC1 and ABC2. Lowndes will voice the character Conrod, named after the famous straight at the Mount Panorama circuit. The series has been hugley popular in the UK, with Roary the Racing Car narrated by legendary British racing driver, Sir Stirling Moss. According to the press release, “Lowndes’ passion for motor racing, loveable personality and laid-back Australian style was deemed perfect for the role of Conrod.” The team here at Motorsport News thinks this is just an excuse for Craig to play with kid’s toys! Lowndes is excited about his new challenge of voicing an animation character. “I am thrilled to be joining the star studded cast of Roary the Racing Car and trying my hand at children’s animation,” he said. “My kids absolutely love watching Roary the Racing Car and I have moved into super cool dad status now that I am involved in the show!”

Holden Special Vehicles production line. Special attractions included Holden’s first-ever factory race car, the Holden Dealer Team’s GTS 350 Monaro driven by Spencer Martin and Kevin Bartlett in the Sandown Three Hour 40 years ago, was a popular attraction, as were Holden’s Efijy and Coupe 60 concept cars.