Motorsport eNews Issue 126 - October 13-19, 2009

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Issue No. 126 October 13 - 19 2009

EXCLUSIVE

e s o r b am d i b y e n syd bathurst:

a classic

Inside the great race

Revealed FPR’s 2010 third car

Editorial Editor: Andrew van Leeuwen andrew@mnews.com.au Outgoing Bloke: Grant Rowley grant@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. 126 | 13 - 19 Oct 2009

news 4 No place like ...

Ambrose and Homebush 6 Bottle o’ Performance Some green at FPR 10 Sonic Youth Drives going in FV8s 14 Famous Names The Rising Stars are ...

19 E’er Qatar Changes in WSBK calendar

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

race 24 Bathurst 1000 38 Webb of Intrigue 48 Jimmie Fontana 52 Scot saves fuel

trade 58 Classifieds

Garth Tander and Will Davison Farewell to eNews ... so that makes me Reds win The Great Race Jono dongs the FV8s Of course, Johnson won Dario sneaks to title

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.

Peter Bury

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

EXCLUSIVE

Ambrose Sydney bid stalled V8 SUPERCARS FORMER V8 Supercar champion and current NASCAR challenger Marcos Ambrose could, and should, have been a starter in December’s inaugural Sydney Telstra 500 V8 Supercar event.

Motorsport eNews has learned of plans for the Charlotte-based star to contest the V8 Grande Finale – but they appear to have foundered thanks to the small print in the V8 Supercar (REC) licensing system, which was

deemed to not allow a oneoff use of the ‘shelved’ 30th licence in such a way.

It is understood that sponsorship was in place to enable Ambrose to make the one-off return with his old team, Stone Brothers Racing, to take on his old rivals in Sydney’s landmark V8 street race. It would – and maybe still could – be a huge drawcard for the event, which V8 Supercars itself is desperate to be a storming success.

The revelation comes following the story in eNews

last week which suggested that the V8 Board was indeed considering such a one-off licence scenario, using the (reclaimed) Inta Racing licence under which Marcus Marshall raced earlier in the season.

Our reliable source assumed, under the circumstances, that the ‘Marcus’ in question was Marcus Marshall. Further investigation has revealed, as we know, that ‘assuming’ can make an Ass of U and Me! The Marcus in question was indeed MARCOS, Marcos Ambrose!

Regardless, we understand

that, in the end, there was some impediment in the REC rules which conspired to prevent the one-off use of the licence.

And that – unless the team negotiates the one-off use of one of the current fulltime ‘licences’ on the V8 grid – would appear to be that.

An enormous potential Sydney 500 drawcard has, it seems, been stalled.

We attempted to contact Ross Stone at SBR on Monday for comment, but he was unavailable.

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

news

So long, farewell ...

IT’S been a huge week for the letter ‘B’ at Motorsport News HQ – birthdays, babies, Bathurst – but it’s also one tinged with sadness.

Chris Lambden Grant Rowley, part of the place for over six years, is moving mNews Publisher on – to the apparently greener pastures of PR. ‘Growley’ kicked off here on the bottom rung but, as you all know, has been Editor of Motorsport eNews since its launch. His input and enthusiasm and application are, as those who know him will testify, massive and we will miss him. It’s been a big week for Growley – the baby was his, or rather his wife Donna’s, and it’s his birthday on Wednesday …

His departure opens the door for another MN success story to step up. Andrew van Leeuwen, who crossed the Nullabor to settle in the MN offices, is a tremendous motorsport journalist and enthusiast. He takes over as Motorsport eNews Editor today, and will soon put his stamp on Australia’s unique, world-first magazine, and will soon be joined by a new assistant.

Good luck and all the best Growley. It’s been great.

UPDATE

Dirk Klynsmith

A1GP: WTF? A1GP

OPINION – by Chris Lambden I GUESS we’ve all been caught out by ‘small print’ in our time, but the revelation that it looks to have robbed the Sydney 500 of a huge potential drawcard, is a big blow.

I’ve been around motorsport for a long time and it takes something special to get me excited. I mean really excited.

Interested, inquisitive, yes, often. But really excited? Not often.

But the possibility of Marcos Ambrose suiting up with his old team to take on the V8 boys would get me to Sydney, for sure, no question. And I’d guess there’d be a swag of real race fans – especially on the Blue side – who would join me.

I don’t know what the small print was that has, apparently, derailed the plans – we’ll be attempting to discover that now – but I do know that stand-in V8 Executive Chairman Tony Cochrane is someone who would have been utterly disappointed that it couldn’t be done.

Sydney is a big, big part of his 2009 mindset and he would know that a magnetic drawcard may have slipped away. This would be the Aussie equivalent of Schumacher’s F1 return (it was only medics which stopped that in the end, but remember the F1 interest surge ...).

Tony, it’s time to, somehow, change the rules. Force Majeure.

Executive over-rule. Whatever. This is a massive downside to the restrictive teams’ deal and, if it has kayboshed this unique possibility, it will do so again in the future.

Frankly, I sense that this could well be another excellent reason for a fully-independent V8 Board, like other pro sports. But that’s another story ...

GOLD Coast SuperGP boss Greg Hooton is pressing ahead flatout with plans for the opening round of the A1GP Series at next week’s SuperGP meeting , despite fresh UK-sourced concerns that the series’ cars remain under administrator’s lock-and-key.

Hooton and his team are bullish about the arrival of the series’ drivers, teams and hardware, and plans to conduct a pre-season test for the Ferrari-powered cars at Queensland Raceway are progressing as normal: “I am dealing with A1 every day, and speaking to the people involved every night, in terms of their requirements,” said Hooton on Monday.

“It would seem ludicrous to continue with that if they were not coming.

“A1 signage has been put up at the circuit, and they have paid deposits on hotels. They are dealing with the people involved with TV, regarding their requirements. We are pressing ahead.”

Rumours about the series cars’ continued lock-up – despite a recently-announced three-year financial support package – and the lack of a firm entry list 10 days before the cars take to the track for the opening round have led to suggestions that the cars simply might not make it to Queensland on time. However, Hooton maintains that the cars are due to arrive this Saturday, October 17, and that an 18-team roster will be announced in London in a few hours – almost on the eve of the necessary departure of the hardware for the plane trip south.

When that roster appears – and providing it confirms details such as which countries will be respresented, which drivers will race for those countries and which teams will prepare the cars – eNews will be in some position to judge who might be competitive at Surfers and who will not …

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

FPR to expand to three in

V8 SUPERCARS

F

ORD Performance Racing will be at least a three-car team in 2010, with Rod Nash, pictured right, set to take his license and the BottleO sponsorship across to the Blue Oval’s factory squad.

As first revealed in eNews (#118) two months back, Nash and Tony D’Alberto racing will part ways at the end of the season, having paired Nash’s license and sponsor with D’Alberto’s hardware since the start of 2008. And with licences in demand, the race has been on to get Nash – and the BottleO cash – locked in for 2010.

As expected, FPR has been the successful bidder, and will use the licence to expand to three cars next season. Paddock chat also suggests that the BottleO sponsorship will grow, offering Nash and FPR more freedom with driver selection.

So who will drive the third FPR car? At the moment there are two young guns clearly in contention – James Moffat and Andrew Thompson – while a reliable source indicated to eNews on Monday that there was an experienced main series driver also on the wishlist.

Fabian Coulthard and Lee Holdsworth have both been linked to movements in 2010, although both are under contract to their current teams (Wilson Security Racing and Garry Rogers Motorsport respectively). However, Jason Bright is likely to be seeking a new arrangement in

2010, as is Jason Bargwanna – and both drivers would be able to have an FPR Falcon near the pointy end in no time.

As for the youngsters in line, Moffat has had several test outings with FPR this year, and the team is apparently impressed with his potential. He has also been a standout in the Fujitsu Series this year, and, with his father Allan Moffat linked with Ford for so many years, is a public relations dream as a factory Ford driver.

Meanwhile Thompson is already linked with Nash and BottleO, having driven – and impressed – with D’Alberto at Phillip Island and Bathurst, after Glenn Seton left the team earlier this season. He was also in line for a third, or fourth, FPR seat this year, before the team’s expansion plans failed to come to fruition.

With an official announcement of the deal expected in the next two weeks, both drivers are remaining tight-lipped,

however they did both confirm that talks were taking place.

“Absolutely, there have been discussions,” Moffat told eNews.

“But there is certainly nothing signed yet.

Obviously, my intention is to get into the main series next year. The development series has been great, but I’m really craving those extra miles you get in the main game.

“To be able to make that step with a team like FPR would be perfect for me. I could learn a lot and develop as a driver with a team like that.”

Thompson said even less on the subject, revealing simply “yeah, I’ve spoken about it.”

FPR’s desire to expand beyond two cars is well documented, with Prodrive chief David Richards telling eNews back at the Clipsal 500 that “my view has always been that we should be running at least four cars out of Campbellfield.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

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n 2010 Fiore finds support V8 SUPERCARS

TRIPLE F Racing has secured a major sponsor for the Bigpond 300 at Barbagallo Raceway next month.

Airpac Bukom Oilfield Services will have a significant presence on the car for Fiore’s home round in Western Australia, replacing car care

company Kitten, which was the major sponsor for the L&H 500 and Bathurst 1000 endurace races.

“WA might be our home race, but it’s still a long way for all the equipment and hardware to go,” said Dean Fiore.

“So it makes life easier to have Airpac Bukom supporting us. We knew the Perth round

was our best chance to have some really good support, so I couldn’t be happier.”

Sydney electronics store Bing Lee also made its first appearance on Fiore’s car as a sponsor at Bathurst, and is likely to have an even bigger presence at the season-ending Sydney 500 in December.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

D’Alberto’s licence hunt V8 SUPERCARS

TONY D’Alberto Racing is on the hunt for a licence, following the news that Rod Nash will take his REC (Racing Entitlement Contract) to FPR next season.

TDR has been servicing Nash’s REC for the last two seasons, using its own team personnel, gear and car in the guise of BottleO Racing. But with Nash on the move, TDR is faced with the challenge of finding a new licence to carry on in the championship next season.

“We’re trying to buy a licence,” D’Alberto told eNews.

“We don’t need anything else. We have the

infrastructure, car, team personnel, and the transporter – it will be a seamless transition. “[But] at the moment we don’t have a licence. We’ve got some options on the table, but until you’ve actually done a deal, then nothing is done.”

When asked if there was a timeline on doing a deal, D’Alberto simply said “ASAP”.

TDR is also hunting for a new major sponsor, although D’Alberto was quick to point out that a licence is the priority.

“We need to find [a sponsor],” he said, “but we’re working hard on that. The biggest thing is getting a licence, because we’ve got everything else we need to go racing.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Third make by 2012: Cochrane V8 SUPERCARS V8 SUPERCARS Australia Executive Chairman Tony Cochrane has once more put the notion of new makes entering the Holden and Ford series on the agenda, after opening the door to new manufacturers, again, at Bathurst.

Cochrane was talking about the progress of the category’s Car of The Future program when he made the comment at a

media conference.

“I really do believe that by 2012, there will be at least three manufacturers [in the category] and a possibility of four,” he said.

Cochrane did not elaborate on which makes may be involved but he did confirm that Mark Skaife, who has been appointed to head the COTF project, had spoken to more makers than GM and Ford during his first round of discussions. Cochrane said that the second round of talks was starting

soon and would continue into the new year.

Cochrane was clear to emphasise that there were three fundamental pillars to the COTF; that it would use a V8 engine; that it would fit within the $250,000 COTF budget outlined earlier this year; and that the COTFs would not follow the NASCAR example of ‘cookie cutter’ cars, and maintain the authentic ‘looks’ of each make’s production cars.

V8SA: Perry, IMG sign on V8 SUPERCARS

Marshall Cass

Rear Wings. And Chips

SGR gets Bob Jane and Red Rooster: Jamie a Monster V8 SUPERCARS SPRINT Gas Racing has turned chicken, and has been re-tyred.

The team has picked up some prominent sponsors, with Red Rooster jumping onboard for Bathurst and Bob Jane T-Marts for Bathurst – and the rest of the season.

T-Marts has a long relationship with touring cars, Jane himself a four-time winner of the Phillip Island and

Bathurst enduros and two-time ATCC winner. BJTM was also the naming rights sponsor of the 1000 between 2003 and 2005, inclusive.

“Having sponsored Bathurst for three years earlier this decade and being involved with touring cars since the ‘60s, it’s nice for Bob Jane T-Marts to be back in the main game – particularly the cut and thrust of Bathurst,” Bob Jane T-Marts CEO Rod Jane said.

Red Rooster already has

an existing and ongoing relationship with Kelly Racing, while rival cooked vendor KFC is a sponsor of V8 Supercars Australia.

Elsewhere in pitlane, Jamie Whincup has become the latest motorsports athlete to carry the colours of Monster Energy drink. Whincup joins the likes of Valentino Rossi, Jenson Button, Robby Gordon, Colin Edwards and James Toseland in carrying the green-on-black colours on his helmet.

V8 SUPERCARS Australia has appointed a new Racing Director, as part of its organisational restructure.

Adam Perry, who has worked with a number of teams and who was formerly team manager of Larkham Motorsport, will assume the position, which oversees all the categories competition activities, next Monday. Perry’s appointment, which was announced by Tony Cochrane at Bathurst last Friday, will lead to several changes to the category’s rulebook at the end of the season.

“He is a tremendous individual, he is respected up and down pitlane by all our team owners,” said Cochrane.

At the same time, Cochrane announced that IMG Media will take a role in enlarging the international TV audience for V8s. The London-based arm of the media giant will be responsible for all international matters, with the exception of Australia and New Zealand, the Middle East and India, on what has been described as a “multiyear” deal.

The IMG deal will see a 52minute highlight package of each round distributed on the Tuesday after each round.

Sonic’s hunt for new V8 blood FUJITSU V8s

Mygales, Ritter is also anticipating a major upgrade for 2010. Aussie Mygale distributor Greg Woodrow is currently in France finalising the changes, and they are expected to be introduced for next season.

“That’s all come about from

us pushing [Mygale] for 12 months now,” said Ritter.

“We’ll have some aero upgrades, and while the geometry won’t actually change, the running gear will all be improved. It will definitely be a step forward.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Dirk Klynsmith

SONIC Motor Racing Services is looking for a driver for its ex-Triple Eight BF Falcon in next year’s Fujitsu Series.

The car has been a race winner in the hands of James Moffat this season, and will be up for lease next year, with Moffat in the frame to join Ford Performance Racing (see separate story). That would keep Sonic as a two-car FV8 team, with Rodney Jane set to carry on in the sister Falcon.

“That’s our first plan, to stick to two cars next year,” said Sonic boss Mick Ritter.

“The only thing that would change that is if we had a chance to move into the main series. Even then we’d run at least one Fujitsu Series car, but I couldn’t confirm two.

It’s like everything we do; we

only approach it if we can be competitive.”

On the Formula Ford side, Ritter confirmed that Sonic would field three cars in the Australian Formula Ford Championship next season, with the only confirmed driver being Queenslander Geoff Uhrhane, who drove for the squad this year.

“We’ll definitely run three Formula Fords, and we’re even looking at running a car back in the state series,” Ritter added.

For the first time since switching from Van Diemen chassis to the Frenchbuilt

Was Bathurst Walter’s final V8 fling?

V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

THE Bathurst 1000 might have been Sam Walter’s last outing as a regular V8 Supercar driver.

The Fujitsu Series regular forfeited his FV8 drive at Bathurst to Kiwi Andrew Anderson, deciding instead to concentrate on his main series duties as part of Greg Murphy Racing’s wildcard entry in the B1000.

And at Bathurst Walter confirmed that unless something drastic changes, it might have been his last race in a V8 Supercar.

“I’ve got to the point where I’m sick of scratching around for the money to do this, so I’ve really got no options for next year,” he told eNews.

“I’ve had a really good couple

of years, so I’m happy. There is definitely a chance that this is my last race.”

Walter did admit that he will try and do the season-ending FV8 round at Homebush in December, and that future appearances in the endurances races wasn’t out of

the question either.

“I’d love to do Homebush, but it just depends on budget.

As for doing more [endurance] races, that’s certainly an option I’d be open for, and will explore next year.”

Walter debuted in the Fujitsu Series back in 2007

with GMR, and his best round result of 2009 came at Queensland Raceway in August, where he was fifth.

He will race at the Formula Vee Nationals at Baskerville in his native Tasmania in a fortnight.

- ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

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FUJITSU V8s

TONY Cochrane made a visit to the Fujitsu V8 Supercar paddock over the weekend of the Bathurst 1000, in a bid to re-connect V8 Supercars Australia with the competitor base.

Cochrane, along with Fujitsu’s marketing manager Milton Kaloudis, spent Saturday morning roaming the FV8 paddock and talking with competitors, which, according to V8SA’s newly-appointed operations coordinator Damien White, was a way to show the teams that V8SA cares.

Dirk Klynsmith

Cochrane’s FV8 visit

“Part of my role is to demonstrate to the Fujitsu Series teams that V8 Supercars Australia does care about them,” said White.

“There has been a bit of a belief formed that we don’t, but we do. Part of Tony and Milton going to spend time with them was to show we care, but it was also because Tony called me and told me that he wanted to go up there and have a look.

“The knowledge that we care is crucial in growing the category back to where it was two or three years ago.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

The Racing Years V8 SUPERCARS THE first book about Mark Skaife since the Holden hero retired was launched in Bathurst last week.

Mark Skaife: The Racing Years is a pictorial biography, with 208 pages of photos broken up into eras of Skaife’s career as a professional racing car driver. ”We didn’t try to make it too laborious in terms of reading; it’s a picture book,” said Skaife. “It’s got stuff from way back when I started my life in Touring

Skaife also confirmed that a proper biography would be released – in good time.

“I’m working on that,” he added. “We’ll do something next year.”

Mark Skaife: The Racing Years was on sale at Bathurst, and will be distributed to book shops at the end of this month.

It will retail for $65.

Car racing, to Oran Park last year. It’s about all the cars, teams and things that made up 25 years in professional motor racing.”

If you’d like to win Mark Skaife: The Racing Years, click to page 22-23. All you have to do is submit a letter to eNews and if you’re words are better than the rest, you’ll be the lucky winner!

11

NASCAR TALKS CONTINUE BETWEEN ...

DANICA, DALE JR AND WALTRIP NASCAR SPRINT CUP

DANICA Patrick is apparently still looking at a partial schedule in the NASCAR Nationwide Series next year – and may team up with Dale Earnhardt Jr. The two big racing names could combine, with the first lady of open-wheel racing possibly combing a limited NW program with her IndyCar commitments with the yet-to-be-named Andretti team.

Earnhardt’s JR Motorsports, which he co-owns with Rick Hendrick, and Michael Waltrip Racing, are the two teams courting her.

Earnhardt has not spoken to Danica about the drive, leaving his sister Kelley to handle the negotiations.

“Kelley’s been managing the conversations between Danica and our team solely and entirely on her own,” Earnhardt said. “That’s in the early stages, I would suppose. I haven’t really got in the middle of it. We’ve been on the road, and we’re working like hell all this month and next month, so I’m not involved in it as much as I’d like to be.

“I have to call and get updates on what the heck is going on with our sponsor searches (for JRM) and all these other things. So it’s pretty frustrating, but I’ve got good people in the right places to handle all that stuff. Kelley’s going to do a good job – always has – so I can focus on what I’ve got going on with this car here.”

– MARTIN D CLARK

NASCAR cuts restrictors NASCAR SPRINT CUP NASCAR will issue Sprint Cup teams with smaller restrictor plates when the series races at Talladega Motor Speedway on November 1.

The move comes following the finish line wreck in the spring race when Carl Edwards was sent airborne by Brad Keselowski, above. Edwards flew high into the catch fencing, with debris injuring eight fans.

The four holes in the new plate will be 1/64th of an inch smaller, which should reduce horsepower by between 12 to 15 horsepower.

– MARTIN D CLARK

12

ONE MORE TOMORROW NASCAR SPRINT CUP AFTER making several revisions to its roll out schedule of the Nationwide Series version of the ‘Car of Tomorrow’, NASCAR finally nailed down the schedule last week.

After lengthy discussions with team owners, the new car will race at Daytona in July followed

by Michigan, Richmond and Charlotte. The four races will a preview prior to the series switching to the new car fulltime in 2011.

Unlike the current Nationwide cars the new car will be the same length wheelbase (110”) as the COT Cup car. The current NW car is five inches shorter.

– MARTIN D CLARK

news

Sarah doubles up

Fishers signs Jay Howard for two-car team in 2010 INDYCAR

Honda Racing

Honda Racing

SARAH Fisher, the only current owner/ driver in the IndyCar series, is expanding her current one-car operation to a twocar team in 2010.

Fisher signed Jay Howard, the 2006 Indy Lights champion (who raced in the 2008 and 2009 Indy 500 for Chip Ganassi racing). Tire Kingdom becomes Howard’s title sponsor in support of four events, the 2010 Indianapolis 500, Texas, Mid-Ohio and Chicago. Fisher also continues with her own title sponsor, Dollar General, looking ahead to their third season.

“Jay and I are going to make a great team,” said Fisher, whose best IndyCar Series finish of second came at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2001. “Having a partner out there changes everything. We can share data for our cars, and it gives us both an edge for solving any issues during a race.

Two minds are always better than one.”

Fisher is expanding from the six ovals she competed on this season to nine events in 2010, including two road course events for her first time. In 2010, Fisher will compete on seven ovals, Kansas, Indianapolis, Texas, Iowa, Kentucky, Chicago and Miami, and add two road courses, St. Petersburg and Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.

“I’m going to be working very hard on developing my road course skills,” Fisher said. “I’ll be doing a lot of karting and also spending many hours in the simulator, which hopefully will help me to be competitive on track.”

– MARY MENDEZ

13

B John Morris/Mpix

Storey’s cash grab FORMULA FORD

ROB Storey is gearing up to try his luck at the ‘WA Dash for Cash’ Formula Ford race at Barbagallo Raceway in Perth next month.

Supporting the Bigpond 300 V8 Supercar round, the dash is a winner-takes-all race for Kent-powered Formula Ford 1600 cars, with a cool

$10,000 on the line. And Storey – son of Brad Jones Racing tech guru Wally – is close to doing a deal with his old FFord team Anglo Australian Motorsport to make the long trek west.

“It’s a great opportunity to go racing, and actually not spend a whole lot of money,” Storey told eNews.

“And you know it’s going to

be the best of the best having a crack. It should just be a great event. The challenge now is to find the money to actually get across there.”

Storey, a former race winner at national FFord level, is yet to do a full-time deal for 2010, but is hopeful of getting some V8 Supercar testing and race miles in the next 12 months.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Stanaway wins European chance FORMULA FORD

14

Dirk Klynsmith

AUSTRALIAN Formula Ford Championship front-runner Richie Stanaway has been given a free entry to the Grand Prix Shootout, a competition offering one young driver a fully-funded season of Formula BMW racing in Europe.

Entry to an observation day for the test usually costs £8000, but through website www.driverdb.com, the competition offered free places for three drivers after a public vote.

Latvian fast femme Karline Stala was first, with Kiwis Martin Short and Stanaway second and third.

Stanaway will now head to Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground in the UK to spend a day with famous driver coach Rob Wilson on October 20, from which eight drivers will be selected to spend a full day testing with Raikkonen Robertson Racing in a FBMW car, that being the team that will provide the racing services for the program. The

winner of this month’s Formula Ford Festival will be granted automatic entry to the final test.

Stanaway, who will already be in Europe for a round of the ADAC Masters series in Germany, says he is confident of doing a god job.

“I’m feeling reasonably confident I’ll be able to make a good impression,” he told eNews. “I’ll be fresh from a weekends racing in the Masters as a support category to the DTM, so I should be adequately prepared.

“The best thing about the program is that if you show promise in the first season, they will continually fund your racing.”

The best placed Aussie in the voting contest was WA Formula Forder Ash Bettridge in 12th, while newlycrowned Australian FFord Champion Nick Percat was 14th.

The Grand Prix Shootout is supported by eNews’ sister publication GPWeek.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

news

Brabham: Rising Star FORMULA FORD MATTHEW Brabham has been selected as one of the CAMS Rising Stars for 2010.

Brabham – the grandson of three-time Formula 1 World Champion Jack Brabham and son of 1993 Le Mans winner Geoff Brabham – will drive for Minda Motorsport in next year’s Australian Formula Ford Championship as part of the program. The 15-year-old has spent this season in the Victorian Formula Ford 1600 series, having progressed from karting.

“I am very honoured to be selected by the Australian Motor Sport Foundation for the CAMS Rising Star team, and very excited about racing in the Formula Ford National Championship next year with Minda Motorsport,” said Brabham.

“It will definitely be helpful to my career and I look forward to participating in the Australian Institute of Sport programs. I am sure the Rising Star Program will provide the perfect building

blocks for my aspirations of becoming an F1 champion.”

The second Rising Star entry will be driven by Jack Le Brocq, 17, who already knows the Minda operation well, having spent this year working for the team as an apprentice mechanic. He has also been racing Formula Vee, winning three rounds of the Victorian series and finishing second at a national round at Winton earlier this year.

“Being selected to be a part of the 2010 CAMS Rising Star Program is such an honour and is more than I could ever have wished for,” said Le Brocq.

“I can’t wait to get back into a Formula Ford after my last test day and continue to learn the car before the Australian Formula Ford Championship starts next year.”

It is expected that Minda will field the two Rising Stars cars, and two regular cars in the AFFC next season.

15

! l l o r a n o Letcher V8 UTES

16

Miedecke’s overseas plan AUSSIES OVERSEAS GEORGE Miedecke has announced plans to forge a career in Europe, and intends on leaving the V8 Utes at the end of the year.

The 23-year-old is hoping to ultimately establish himself in the British GT Championship, following in the footsteps of Danish sensation Allan Simonsen, who was also in action at Mount Panorama on the weekend as an endurance driver for TeamVodafone.

“Realistically, I’d like to move into GTs,” explained Miedecke.

“I think someone like Allan Simonsen has a very desirable career path to me.”

After his plans to compete in Carrera Cup

Australia in 2009 were derailed by lack of sponsorship (and subsequent demise of the category), Miedecke is looking to race in the British version, after a stint in another onemake category in 2010.

“We’re probably going to choose something like the Clio Cup over in England, which is nice and relatively affordable,” he added.

The Port Macquarie-based driver is looking to step up to the all-Porsche series in 2011, having had the chance to “learn the tracks” in Clio Cup, which runs as a support to the British Touring Car Championship.

The revelation comes as Miedecke enjoys his best Utes season to date, having joined the category in 2007.

– DANIEL HERRERO

sutton-images.com

ALAN Letcher was lucky to avoid injury at Bathurst, when he was involved in a frightening rollover during the first V8 Ute race.

The West Aussie was forced straight over the sand trap at The Chase while trying to avoid another crash, the momentum of the off sending his ute over and over.

“I was coming through The Chase, full noise, [and it] looks like the Ben Kavich’s car got tagged,” he later explained.

“I could see it going sideways into the wall, and he hit the wall then sort of came out to the middle of the track. It got really dusty and I couldn’t see exactly where the car was, so I got out to the left to avoid it all and unfortunately hit the sand and tipped over.

“The car’s a complete write-off.

There’s nothing left on it whatsoever salvageable – motor, gearbox, diff, all the suspension, all the wheels, every single panel, and the rollcage is pretty dented around. The only thing that really survived was myself and my Ray Bans, which is pretty unbelievable. “[I’m] a little bit sore around the neck and the back, but other than that, pretty good.”

Ironically, Letcher was sharing the Mazda that Len Cave spectacularly rolled at the 2008 Bathurst 12 Hour at the same part of the track – although Letcher is unsure whether his crash beats Cave’s in the rollover stakes.

“I’ve heard between two and seven [rolls], so we’ll make it five for now. It’s not as good as Len Cave’s because I was think he did nine, so unfortunately I didn’t quite make it.”

- DANIEL HERRERO/STAFF

news

FORMULA CLASSIC

Marchin’

NOT content with a second-place finish at Bathurst, the Jones brothers are expanding their horizons – west.

Kim Jones will return to the cockpit at Barbagallo next month, at the wheel of his March 80A, a Formula Atlantic that he has had for 12 months. It will be his first race since 2002 in a Formula Ford at Winton.

“This is about fun motor racing,” said the BJR coprincipal. “It is a pretty little car and we enjoy the sporting side of it, the way that racing used to be. We like to play hard and have a glass of win with our mates after the race.”

The Jones March take on a number of other Atlantics, and other open-wheelers, in the Formula Classic races.

Utes smash records at Bathurst V8 UTES

James Smith

WEATHER, engines, and intense competition have been attributed to the remarkable lap speed displayed by the Yokohama V8 Utes over the weekend at Mount Panorama.

So hot was the pace – unlike Bathurst’s October weather – that George Miedecke’s pole lap (2:33.2167s) beat Grant Johnson’s qualifying time of 2008 by over 2.4s.

Friday morning’s qualifying session was remarkable, with four drivers in the 2:33-bracket, and the top nine qualifiers faster than last year’s pole time.

Jack Elsegood, who qualified fourth, attributed the results to the weather conditions, and

engine development.

“The cars have obviously been developed a little bit more,” he said.

“I think there’s a slightly different tune in all of them, actually – and cold weather, I think, just helps with the engines.”

Miedecke agreed, but also gave credit to aggressive driving.

“It was a pretty loose old lap, really – I think I almost hit every wall in the place on the way around, so it was pretty gratifying to just get across the line,” the pole-sitter explained.

“The track conditions were probably worth a second and then the rest of it was just that the game’s moved on a bit.”

– DANIEL HERRERO

17

MINI CHALLENGE BEN Walter will switch from the Australian Formula Ford Championship to MINI Challenge in 2010.

The young Tasmanian has spent the last two seasons in the AFFC, running with newlyappointed CAMS Rising Star providers Minda Motorsport.

But Walter says that even before the Rising Stars deal was done, he’d decided to not only leave the team, but the category as a whole.

“I want to do something different next year, and the Fujitsu Series is just so out of reach in terms of the budget,” Walter told eNews.

“MINI Challenge is something different that I can do on a similar budget to Formula Ford. I did the MINI Roadshow recently, and I really enjoyed driving the cars. They are completely different to what I’m used to, but it was really good.”

Walter is currently running eighth in the AFFC, the best placed of the Minda Motorsport drivers.

- ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

18

Hansford in, too MINI CHALLENGE

IN terms of famous names, it is going to be hard to go past the sixth round of the 2009 MINI Challenge at Surfers next week.

The Pizza Capers-backed round will already feature Glenn Seton and Scott Bargwanna, and now, Ryan Hansford is getting into the series. Hansford, son if motorcycle racing legend and Bathurst 1000 winner Gregg Hansford, will be making his MINI Challenge debut on the streets of the Gold Coast.

“My brother Rhys raced V8 Utes for a while there on the V8 Supercar calendar and now I’m really excited about racing in the MINI Challenge at the NIKON SuperGP,” said Hansford, 27.

His drive comes after he took part in

the recent MINI Challenge Roadshow at Queensland Raceway – an initiative designed to attract new potential series contestants to the remaining rounds.

Dirk Klynsmith

FF to MINI for Walter

news

No Qatar in WSBK

Ducati Corse

WORLD SUPERBIKES Honda Pr Images

Haslam, Stiggy split

Brit SBK star on the move: Stiggy and Yamaha?

WORLD SUPERBIKES

2010 WORLD SUPERBIKES

Honda Pr Images

BRITISH Superbike star Leon Haslam will part ways with the Stiggy Honda team at the end of the season and could race for Suzuki next year.

The English ace, son of famed racer ‘Rocket’ Ron Haslam, has made a strong impact this season with the Swedish semiworks Honda team and is currently sixth in the SBK points, only 38 behind Ten Kate’s Jonathan Rea. With two races remaining, Haslam could yet end the season as Honda’s top man in the series, in his first year as a full-time rider in the World Superbike Championship.

Haslam has scored four podium finishes this season and the split is being prompted by the end of the partnership between team owner Johan Stigefelt and his financial

backers, S2 Racing.

“After the S2 Racing financial issues and complications it was clear that we had to address the future alone,” said Stigefelt.

“Our plans involved Leon but we are not fully in a position to commit for 2010 at this stage therefore its better for Leon to pursue his career elsewhere.”

“Elsewhere” may be the Suzuki works team, which is looking for a top rider to take them back to championship form after a couple of tough seasons. The team is thought to be splitting with German Max Neukirchner.

Meanwhile, Stiggy is thought to be looking at second-level works options, with Yamaha a possible partner.

Announcements on both sides of the split could come as soon as the final round of the 2009 season at Portimao in Portugal on October 25.

PHILLIP Island will again open the World Superbike Championship in 2010 but Qatar has been dropped from the series.

A 13-round calendar was released by the FIM last week, with some major changes.

The Losail circuit, which has hosted WSBK rounds for the last five seasons, has been dropped, and Portimao, which has hosted the final round of the championship in 2008 and 2009, will move to march to become Round 2.

Valencia and Imola are included but both European tracks currently have ‘To Be Confirmed’ status, while the inclusion of the Italian circuit is also ‘Subject to Homologation’.

Feb 28 Australia Phillip Island Mar 28 Portugal Portimão Apr 11 Spain Valencia Apr 25 Netherlands Assen May 9 Italy Monza May 16 South Africa Kyalami May 31 USA Salt Lake City Jun 27 San Marino Misano Jul 11 Czech Rep. Brno Aug 1 Great Britain Donington Park Sep 5 Germany Nürburgring Sep 26 Italy Imola Oct 3 France Magny-Cours 19

5 Minutes with ...

THE BATHURST WINNERS

Garth Tander and Will Davison finally won the Peter Brock Trophy for the Holden Racing Team. This is what they had to say after the race

The race wasn’t without it’s anxious moments, including that bit of grievance with Rick [Kelly] …

GT: We had to make sure we got through when we had to. I thought Rick was pulling up to have a wave because we’re old team-mates, but he’s got the sooks on. Stiff mate, it’s Bathurst. I don’t think there’s anything in it. It was a very small tap and I don’t think there was any damage on the car. You do what you have to, to get track position, and that’s what we had to do.

How comfortable were you late in the race?

GT: Prior to the Safety Car, I was looking after the car pretty well, staying off the kerbs, and doing everything you have to do to get to the end of a long race. Then surprise, surprise there was another Safety Car with four to go, and the TV finish, and it turned out fantastic for us.

I knew that Jason [Richards] would be having a big dip on the last lap, so I came out of Forest Elbow and thought yep, I can probably get home from here without having to try too hard.

20

Dirk Klynsmith

Guys, just pour it out and let us know what it’s like.

GARTH TANDER: Obviously it was a fantastic race for us. We had really good car speed in all conditions, it was just a matter of lining up the fuel stops to make it to the end. Poor Will had to toddle around for about seven laps on wets on a dry track, but that opened up the fuel window to get us to the end.

When we had good clear track, the car was fantastic. We pulled a gap every time we had clear track. For the guys to give us a car that’s capable of going good in the wet and the dry is a credit to them.

I remember when I won the race here in 2000, it was a changeable day like this, and the weather was coming and going; it all seemed relatively easy, the decisions were easy and the right decisions were made at the right time. It was the same today. Bathurst is one of those places that when it’s your day, it’s your day.

Will, you’re on the top step of the podium; describe it.

WILL DAVISON: It hasn’t even begun to sink in yet. We came into this weekend with a pretty one-eyed attitude to winning this race, early too one-eyed at certain times, I’ve d a really good feeling about this.

It didn’t start well on Thursday, but it didn’t start well on Friday at Phillip Island either; the guys really turned the car around again. We just kept chipping away, and today was one of those races where when you just think things are going smoothly and everything is under control, something else would get thrown at us.

I was having a pretty comfortabl run, I was controlling the first half of the race, and then I got stuck out on the wets, and we lost a lot of time. I was peaking when I got out of the car, I was thinking win or bust. I wanted to win this race so bad for everyone in the team, and when it’s your day it’s your day, like Garth said. Somehow things just turned out perfectly. There are certainly plenty of stories to tell out of it.

You looked pretty tense late in the race at Phillip Island, but in comparison, you looked more tense today …

WD: I couldn’t watch it.

GT: It was all under control!

WD: I knew GT was under control, I just didn’t know what was going to happen next. Phillip Island was a great result, but this is something bigger. I won’t be forgetting this one tomorrow, I’ll be reliving this forever.

Garth, this is the Melbourne Cup of our sport; what does it mean to you personally to win this race?

GT: It’s fantastic. 2000 seems like such a long time ago. The first time I finished this race, I won it, so I just figured it was easy; finish the race and you win it. It’s certainly bitten me in the arse a lot since then! After the dramas we’ve had here in the last three or four years, to have it all go to plan is fantastic.

And Will, you’re family has a history in the sport, it must be fantastic for you.

WD: From the family perspective, it’s a very important chapter. On Wednesday I was up at the Lex Davison gates holding his 1958 Grand Prix trophy from here, and someone came up to me and said ‘you’re going to win this weekend’. On the last lap I thought ‘that bloke was right!’

chat

Dirk Klynsmith

21

T

HIS is the final edition of Motorsport News for Grant Rowley.

Grant Rowley Wow. That’s tough for me Outgoing Editor to type, but seeing it in published here makes it just a little more real.

After six and a half years as an ‘MNewser,’ it was time for a change – Time to tick some new boxes and learn some new skills.

I could use this space to thank all of the MN team members, past and present, for the great ride that it has been, but I’ll save that for my farewell lunch tomorrow. After the effort and persistence they’ve paid me since early 2003, I owe Chris Lambden and his hardworking team a personal, not public, tribute. MN is a tight-knit crew and I know it will be hard for me not to be with them Monday to Friday (plus the odd Saturdays and Sundays).

I will, however, thank all of the Australian motor racing community for accepting me into the fold. I’ve made some great life-long friends. On occasion, this can be a tough, uncompromising job, but our common love for the sport is what keeps bonds strong.

My time at this publication may be over, but I won’t be missing from the sport (like it or not!). I’ve taken a position at the respected motorsport media organization BAM Media who, I’m sure, have some exciting tasks for me to bite into in the near future. Let the new challenge begin …

Speaking of new challenges, they’ve already started coming to me thick and fast. My beautiful wife Donna Dear and I became parents for the first time on Tuesday morning with the arrival of Emma Dee. As any parent would say, I have the best child in the world, and I can’t wait for us to tackle the biggest contest of our lives. PS; my hair is likely to go a few shades greyer from here on, so bring your best jokes with you – I’ve already rehearsed some comebacks!

Change is necessary to move forward and my time here has come. It’s been a great ride. Thanks for the memories.

opinion

Letters Finally! Ford Lose!

As a loyal Holden fan, I’ve been waiting for a Bathurst result like this for a long, long time.

I was getting so, so sick of watching A Ford win that race. The worst part was seeing Ford drivers get to take home the Peter Brock Trophy. Surely Brocky would want to see that headed the way of HRT. And if this isn’t sending some shivers down the spines of Ford fans, then I don’t know what would. The only Ford

22

Out with the ol

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

that looked even remotely on the pace is It’s not all bad ... run by a team that is currently building I can hear the Holden fans boasting now Commodores for next season. This is – literally, my brother is one – but I don’t gonna be great! think it’s all bad.

Kelly Galvanina Okay, Ford got smashed at Bathurst. But ED: Someone did quiz Garth Tander there were pockets of promise from the about whether Ford was in for a long Blue Oval. I reckon SBR were the shining winter, Kelly, and GT cleverly quipped light. Van Giz is getting better and better, that from what he’d seen of FPR at and A Davo will match it with his brother Mount Panorama, they were having no ... one day. They need to step it up to play problems heating up. A Bathurst winner with 888 and HRT, but I think they will. and a comedian!

David Lecker

opinion

ld, in with the new I Oldie but a goodie: This Team MNews photo was from Oran Park in 2007.

Now, GR’s hair is a little more grey, and AVL’s hair is a little longer ...

GENUINELY don’t know whether to be Andrew van Leeuwen happy or sad.

Editor eNews On one hand, this is my first issue of eNews as editor, and, although I might be a little biased, I reckon it’s a cracker. Even disregarding the swag of interesting news we dug up at Bathurst, I’m immensely proud to be listed as editor of this magazine, because since 1993, Motorsport News – and eNews – has firmly become the leader of the specialised motor racing press.

Back when I was a regular punter, Motorsport News was my magazine of choice. When I was studying journalism back in Western Australia, I told people this was the magazine I dreamed of working for. Now I’m the editor. As P Brock once said, how good’s this?

But for every action, there is a reaction, and in this case it is the fact we are losing Grant Rowley from the team. Since I arrived at Team MNews back in 2006, GR has become a mentor of mine. Nothing was too much trouble when I was learning the ropes, and it didn’t go unnoticed. Thanks mate.

Even more important is the personal friendship we have developed in those three-and-a-bit years.

I can honestly say that Grant is one of my closest mates in the world (as is his wife Donna), and if I’m lucky, that’s something that won’t change for a long time. I realise that I’m doing some serious pocket pissing here, but he deserves it. I probably don’t tell him enough how much I admire his professional ability, and value his personal friendship.

As sad as I am to see Grant go, I wish him nothing but luck with his new gig on the dark side we sometimes call Public Relations. It’s a shame we’ll have to break all his stories before he has a chance to, but that’s just how we roll at eNews. And he knows that better than anyone.

So, onwards and upwards. We have some exciting things on the horizon here at eNews, and usual, you know where to get the latest news first.

opinion

eLETTER OF THE WEEK I know I’m stating the obvious here, but Bathurst is a mega circuit.

For all the harping on about street circuits, and the praise heaped on the Townsville track, nothing compares. For all the money spent on tracks like Townsville, its amazing that nothing beats an old

scenic road that people have been driving around for years and years and years.

This isn’t a dig at Townsville, which I really liked, but great cars, on a great track, is just too hard to beat. I’m already counting down the days to Bathurst 2010.

Tim McPherson

Tim McPherson is this week’s winner of the Mark Skaife: The Racing Years, a pictorial biography of Skaife’s career.

Send yours to mail@mnews.com.au, or Motorsport News PO Box 7072, Brighton, Vic 3186 23

SUPERCHEAP AUTO BATHURST 1000 RACE 18 – BATHURST

Lion Safari

The Safety Car giveth ... and it taketh away, but when the car that started on pole wins the Bathurst 1000 there can be little argument – although there were some sad tales of what might just have been. But, as is now the norm, the finish was a cracker. PHIL BRANAGAN and ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN were there 24

race

Dirk Klynsmith

25

BATHURST 2009: Race

26

race

I

Dirk Klynsmith

T sounds a strange thing to suggest that Garth Tander and Will Davison were somewhat fortunate to win the 2009 SuperCheap Autos Bathurst 1000.

After all, Tander put the car on pole in the Saturday Shoot Out. And he and Davison were leading, or close to leading, much of the race.

So, did luck come into it?

With the Safety Car, of course. It often does. With just over 20 laps to go, there was no way that the #2 HRT car had the track position, or the strategy, to win the race. But when the Safety Car took the leading Greg Ritter and Greg Murphy Commodores out of contention for the win, Garth knew a good thing when he saw it, and his last two restarts were as good as any he has made in his career.

The team managed marginal fuel mileage over the last two stints superbly and over the final laps the race – for the win at least – was, effectively, over.

Behind Garth, it was nail-biting.

Jason Richards (with Cam McConville) was the eventual well-earned runner-up. With fastest qualifier pace, and a bit of sheer brio, he turned sixth place at the Lap 140 SC restart into second in probably his best Bathurst race-day performance ever.

Lee Holdsworth fought back superbly from an early setback, after co-driver Michael Caruso’s uncharacteristic spin on lap 19. Metres from being lapped after taking over and rejoining, Holdsworth drove away from the race leaders to some security and – eventually – a Safety Car got the car back into the race at the front. It was a great escape and, probably, a Man of the Match performance. Late in the race he kept his head, despite getting done over by an equally impressive Bargwanna, and rebounded for the final podium spot.

Bargs himself was on the wrong end of a very firm inside dive from Whincup late in the race, getting turned around when a podium beckoned: “It was disappointing for Whincup to do that,” he shrugged afterwards.

It was a good, clean battle, and we were on the podium. I will have to put that one away in the memory bank [Noske: “I am going to put it away too ...”].”

The final two laps were chaotic. Desite losing out at the preceding Safety Car, Murphy was the fastest man in the lead bunch and, with only two laps to demonstrate just that fact, threw everything into making it back onto the podium. He got by Bargs and Whincup’s lone Falcon and tried to squeeze his way past Holdsworth on the final lap through the Chase and at Murray’s but he ran out of laps, and the pair had to settle for fourth.

The ‘deserved better’ award went to the Kellys. The car was having tyre problems from the opening stint of the race, the rear set-up chewing out the edges of slicks and leaving the drivers in a precarious position. But the brothers held firm, despite a missing rear diffuser and bent rear wing, and Rick’s defence over most of the final 20 laps was stoic. But in the end, Bargwanna sliced past into Forrest’s Elbow (Pass of the Race?) and from there so did several others – including a latecharging Paul Morris!

Whincup’s lack of speed on wets was due to incorrect tyre pressures, a rare error from a team so noted for zero tolerance of such things. The flipside was that, when the weather turned, the wets lasted longer, and were faster than those on the opposition – so it was swings and roundabouts.

The other problem was the clutch, or rather the clutch pedal.

Lowndes took time to adjust to the problem and that lost track position. The fuel consumption was right, and there was no shortage of speed in the #888 camp.

The other Vodafone car, Allan Simonsen and James Thompson, used more fuel, and the Dane lost a motor late in the day – and the duo was one to cop some sharp words for getting in the way …

27

BATHURST 2009: Qualifying Murph’s 2m06s

Safe for another year

Dirk Klynsmith

Dirk Klynsmith

Red and blue the qualifying colours RED flags and blue lips were the order of the day during the practice and qualifying sessions in the build-up to the 2009 Great Race.

Cold weather – even by Bathurst standards – had everyone wondering how much effort would be needed to get heat into tyres, and drivers, but at the end of three sessions, it was Jason Richards who topped the qualifying times from Garth Tander and Lee Holdsworth.

Three Holdens, all with, at least, Walkinshaw racing motors. But there is a tale behind each of the cars.

Richards was less than happy with his car, despite having topped one of the practice sessions, and it was only a late tweak that allowed him the speed he wanted (even if he admitted that he made mistakes during the lap).

Likewise, Tander and co-driver Will Davison lost time with tyre and balance issues on Thursday, one lock-up skating along 62m of tarmac. GT was much happier on Friday afternoon but, as is common, played his cards close to his chest.

Holdsworth’s problem came from a smoky engine in final practice, ‘Puffing Billy’ touring around the track for several laps before anyone thought that a black flag might be an appropriate action. Several drivers vented their thoughts on that after the session, and expect the matter to be revisited at the next team managers’ meeting.

28

Other than that, the rest of the top 10 was as one might expect, with two exceptions.

Fabian Coulthard was 11th, missing out on the single-lap run by all of 0.06s, but he was two spots up on Steven Johnson. While James Courtney sat and watched, Johnson battled to 13th, one spot (and 0.07s) ahead of team-mate Warren Luff. Worse, Johnson had topped the third practice session; had he repeated that lap time hours later, he would have comfortably made it into the 10; in fact, in seventh.

The other end of the pit-lane was not much less intriguing. Andrew Fisher launched 1000 headlines when he walled the Jesus Racing entry in the opening practice, then again later. And debutant Troy Bayliss found himself qualifying the Kitten Commodore for the simple reason that the number of red-flag terminated laps left him with so little track time that he did not get enough laps to work down to an acceptable pace.

He did just that in qualifying, even if he was last, but there a couple of queries that emerge from such things; if the cars are all there, and there are twice as many drivers as in a regular round, why so little track time prior to qualifying? And, with due respect to Bayliss’s World Superbike Championship and MotoGPwinning pedigree, is the biggest touring car race in the world the right place, or even a fair one, for a V8 Supercar virgin to learn the ropes?

FOR every person who says that they care little whether the Lap of the Gods – Greg Murphy’s 2003 Bathurst 1000 pole time – survives another year, there are many who watch every split, scanning for threats.

This year, the planets lined up to protect the lap for another year. The number of red flags, combined with some timely lubrication of the track surface, conspired to ensure that any challenger was rebuffed.

And there were challengers, in qualifying at least. Murphy himself looked set to run it close, until he dropped half a second in the final sector, and Garth Tander had a 1m25.7s split when the third practice session was stopped when Warren Luff spun at Murray’s Corner. GT later admitted to a “low-seven” and it might have been a little more shinier than that.

Perfect Saturday conditions meant nothing when Owen Kelly had an oil-line part way with a freshly-fitted engine in the SCAR Commodore and Conrod got Castrolled. Another red flag, and with it went any ideas of a new mark.

For those of you playing at home, Murphy’s splits are; 51.435s and 1m25.851s, the lap time was 2m06.859s.

race

Dirk Klynsmith

Tander: Green sectors, brake lock up, pole GARTH Tander’s second consecutive Bathurst pole for Holden Racing Team came with help from a freak rain storm about an hour before the Top 10 Shootout, which tilted cinditions toward the late starters.

The track was dry-ish by the time Russell Ingall started proceedings, but there were still damp patches, especially in the shadows, off the racing line, and hard up against the walls across the top. But it was drying rapidly. As a result, Ingall opened the session with a 2:12.4565s lap, and Tander topped it with a 2:07.9463s lap as the second last car on track. That was how much it improved throughout the session.

“That was a hard lap to do, because of how much the weather changed the track,” said Tander.

“I didn’t know if it was going to grip up after a wash, or lose a lot of grip, and with our car it lost a lot of grip. The lap was hairy in the spots where I knew I could push without consequences, but pretty safe across the top.”

Considering the conditions, there were some standout performances.

Craig Lowndes ended up second with a 2:08.2231s, impressively close to Tander given #888 was fifth out, and the track was still reasonably second-hand.

“On the observation lap, you just had to have a good look off-line to see where it was still damp,” said Lowndes.

“For us to do that time so early in the session, it was a good run.”

Shane van Gisbergen also starred in his first B1000 Shootout; he was fourth out on the track, and over-steered his way to a strong 2:08.8159s, the first lap in the 2:08s bracket. But what really makes the lap impressive is that the driver before him – an experienced mountaineer by the name of Todd Kelly – was only good for a 2:09.8986s.

Jason Richards, who was the pole-sitter after regular qualifying, tried to make up too much time in the last sector of his lap, ran wide running into the main straight, and finished the session fifth. But that was nothing compared to Paul Dumbrell’s mistake, the Bathurst stand-out locking a brake into The Chase and rang right across the grass, leaving him ninth.

The hardest luck story of the session was

Greg Murphy, who wasn’t at the end of pitlane when he was meant to be, and had his time scrubbed because of it. He was pretty calm and collected upon hearing the news – although it did only cost him three grid places.

And the good news for Murph was that the rain canned any chance of anyone beating his 2003 Lap of the Gods ...

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

V8 Supercar | QUALIFYING, SUPERCHEAP AUTO 1000, BATHURST Pos # Driver Team/Car Race Time Q 1 From Shootout 1 2 Garth Tander Will Davison Toll HRT Commodore VE 2m07.9463s 2 888 Craig Lowndes Jamie Whincup TeamVodafone Falcon FG 2m08.2231s 3 6 Mark Winterbottom Steven Richards FPR Falcon FG 2m08.2737s 4 34 Lee Holdsworth Michael Caruso GRM Commodore VE 2m08.4268s 5 8 Jason Richards Cameron McConville Team BOC Commodore VE 2m08.5015s 6 9 Shane Van Gisbergen Alex Davison Irwin/SP Tools Falcon FG 2m08.8159s 7 7 Todd Kelly Rick Kelly Jack Daniel’s Commodore VE 2m09.8986s 8 22 Paul Dumbrell Craig Baird Toll HRT Commodore VE 2m10.1474s 9 39 Russell Ingall Owen Kelly Supercheap Commodore VE 2m12.4565s 10 51 Greg Murphy Mark Skaife Sprint Gas Commodore VE 2m09.7742s From Qualifying 11 111 Fabian Coulthard Michael Patrizi Wilson McGrath Falcon FG 2m07.7849s 12 25 Jason Bright Karl Reindler Fujitsu Racing Falcon FG 2m07.8048s 13 17 Steven Johnson James Courtney Jim Beam Racing Falcon FG 2m07.9528s 14 18 Warren Luff Jonathan Webb Jim Beam Racing Falcon FG 2m08.0276s 15 3 Jason Bargwanna Mark Noske Sprint Gas Commodore VE 2m08.0319s 16 33 Greg Ritter David Besnard GRM Commodore VE 2m08.2135s 17 88 Allan Simonsen James Thompon TeamVodafone Falcon FG 2m08.3859s 18 5 Dean Canto Luke Youlden FPR Falcon FG 2m08.4119s 19 55 Tony D’Alberto Andrew Thompson The Bottle-O Commodore VE 2m08.4720s 20 10 Steve Owen Shane Price Autobarn Commodore VE 2m08.7417s 21 4 John McIntyre Daniel Gaunt Irwin / SP Tools Falcon FG 2m08.7687s 22 14 Andrew Jones Brad Jones WOW Racing Commodore VE 2m08.9861s 23 247 Jack Perkins Dale Wood Dodo Commodore VE 2m09.1775s 24 15 Nathan Pretty Ben Collins Jack Daniels Commodore VE 2m09.1893s 25 24 David Reynolds Andy Priaulx Bundaberg Red Commodore VE 2m09.2743s 26 21 Damian Assaillit Brad Lowe Fujitsu Racing Falcon BF 2m09.3111s 27 67 Paul Morris Tim Slade Supercheap Commodore VE 2m09.3853s 28 16 Tony Ricciardello Mark McNally Hi-Tec Oils Commodore VE 2m09.6376s 29 333 David Wall Leanne Tander Team McGrath Falcon BF 2m10.4151s 30 13 David Sieders Andrew Fisher Jesus All About Life Falcon BF 2m10.6107s 31 23 Sam Walter Taz Douglas GMR Commodore VE 2m10.6224s 32 12 Troy Bayliss Dean Fiore Kitten Commodore VE 2m13.3271s

29

BATHURST 2009: Extras

Dirk Klynsmith

Before the racing even started ...

The Mountain claimed its share of early victims THE least-wanted prize at the Mount Panorama is being the first to do some serious damage to your rig across the top of the mountain.

This year, the dubious honour went to wild-carders Andrew Fisher and David Sieders, with Fisher putting a few big dents

in the team’s BF Falcon during the pre-qualifying practice session on Friday, after getting backwards at Sulman Park.

The crash damaged two rear rails in the chassis, and left all four corners looking second hand, but remarkably the car’s geometry was still straight. That

meant the Sieders Racing Team could do a lightning repair, and get the car out for Friday afternoon’s qualifying session.

In the Fujitsu Series, Taz Douglas took the honours. He was looking good for a top six start during qualifying, before he hit the wall hard. Unlike

the Seiders entry, Douglas’ car spent the first Fujitsu Series race with the TAFE panel beaters, was delivered back to the Fastaz squad at 6:30pm on Friday, but was ready for the second FV8 race on Saturday afternoon.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Mileage makes the difference – almost

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opposition. During Jamie Whincup’s travails, the team considered pitting him early, but left him out until lap 110, putting him comfortably inside the fuel window.

So comfortable, in fact, that during the Fabian Coulthard-driven Safety Car on lap 120, which saw the other contenders come in, Lowndes stayed out, safe in the knowledge that they could afford to trade fuel range and gain track position. The team was staying true to its credo of the last three years, of grabbing track position, and not giving it away for anything.

Then, Lowndes reported a clutch problem, and the game changed ...

Phil Williams

FUEL consumption was a major talking point before the Bathurst 1000 and the race proved the point that range was critical.

Pre-race, team personnel were loathe to talk about fuel range, but as soon as the #888 entry made it to lap 32 (after the early stop for tyres) the cat was out of the bag.

The key number was 28 laps; that would not hold up once the track gripped up and the times came down, but it was to be a critical development.

The car came in again on lap 60 (with yellow); then 20 laps later, when Lowndes stopped for wets before most of the

race

How Greg Murphy and Mark Skaife nearly claimed their 10th Bathurst win

Almost famous ... again Dirk Klynsmith

IT was looking like a fairytale.

Greg Murphy, the emotional and brilliant Bathurst record holder, and Mark Skaife, the retired racing legend, were looking at an impossible, unlikely win. The strategy was set, Murphy was faster than David Besnard, who was due to come into the only car in front of him, and the strategy had them filling shorter than the opposition.

Then, Safety Carlotto struck. And Murph was literally just metres past the point at which he could have dived into pit lane. A potential win turned into a disappointing … well, no-one cared really. Their race (and that of the superb Besnard/Ritter car) was screwed.

Five minutes after the flag, Murph was shaking and, slightly, sobbing.

In more than a decade of watching him race at Bathurst, I have never seen him so emotional, not even after his wins here].

“As Adam radioed it [the Safety Car], the entrance [to the pits] was there, on the left, and I was here, on the right. I could not get across, it was 20 metres away but you need to brake and turn a lot earlier than that.

So, that is what it was … 20 metres.

“I can’t complain. It was bad for them, too. It was no good for Bezzy.

No, was it Ritter?

“Garth and Will did a great job, all day. It went against them earlier in the day, and it came back to them.

We were lucky too.

“The win was gone, for us. We came out well down the queue, and I just drove it as well as I could, from there.

“Morris? I don’t know what he was thinking, actually, I don’t know why he bothers. And the #15 Kelly car, it was holding us up all day, and the #88 was doing a job, I guess.”

Skaife was less emotional, but no less competitive: “We had them smashed. In 20 years of coming here, I never thought that we were so set to win a race. We had speed, a shorter pitstop than them, by seconds, everything was sorted.”

V8 Supercar | RACE 18, SUPERCHEAP AUTO BATHURST 1000 Pos # Driver Team/Car 1 2 W.Davison/G.Tander Toll HRT Commodore VE 2 8 C.McConville/J.Richards Team BOC Commodore VE 3 34 M.Caruso/L.Holdsworth GRM Commodore VE 4 51 G.Murphy/M.Skaife Sprint Gas Commodore VE 5 888 C.Lowndes/J.Whincup TeamVodafone Falcon FG 6 3 J.Bargwanna/M.Noske Sprint Gas Commodore VE 7 67 P.Morris/T.Slade Supercheap Commodore VE 8 7 R.Kelly/T.Kelly Jack Daniel’s Commodore VE 9 33 D.Besnard/G.Ritter GRM Commodore VE 10 55 T.D’Alberto/A.Thompson The Bottle-O Commodore VE 11 25 J.Bright/K.Reindler Fujitsu Racing Falcon FG 12 24 A.Priaulx/D.Reynolds Bundaberg Red Commodore VE 13 9 A.Davison/S.Van Gisbergen Irwin/SP Tools Falcon FG 14 247 J.Perkins/D.Wood Dodo Commodore VE 15 39 R.Ingall/O.Kelly Supercheap Commodore VE 16 10 S.Owen/S.Price Autobarn Commodore VE 17 16 M.McNally/T.Ricciardello Hi-Tec Oils Commodore VE 18 333 L.Tander/D.Wall Wilson McGrath Falcon BF 19 4 D.Gaunt/J.McIntyre Irwin/SP Tools Falcon FG 20 15 B.Collins/N.Pretty Jack Daniel’s Commodore VE 21 22 C.Baird/P.Dumbrell Toll HRT Commodore VE 22 21 D.Assaillit/B.Lowe Fujitsu Racing Falcon BF 23 14 A.Jones/B.Jones WOW Racing Commodore VE 24 17 J.Courtney/S.Johnson Jim Beam Racing Falcon FG DNF 88 A.Simonsen/J.Thompson TeamVodafone Falcon FG DNF 5 D.Canto/L.Youlden FPR Falcon FG DNF111 F.Coulthard/M.Patrizi Wilson McGrath Falcon FG DNF 18 W.Luff/J.Webb Jim Beam Falcon FG DNF 23 T.Douglas/S.Walter GMR Commodore VE DNF 12 T.Bayliss/D.Fiore Kitten Commodore VE DNF 6 S.Richards/M.Winterbottom FPR Falcon FG DNF 13 D.Sieders/A.Fisher Jesus/SRT Falcon BF Fastest lap: Jason Richards 2:08.9972s

Race Time Q 161 06:40:02.4884 161 06:40:03.2483 161 06:40:05.8726 161 06:40:05.8768 161 06:40:07.1466 161 06:40:08.4374 161 06:40:10.5204 161 06:40:12.8296 161 06:40:12.9586 161 06:40:13.2086 161 06:40:15.2080 161 06:40:15.3495 161 06:41:11.7717 160 06:40:13.5247 160 06:40:13.8964 160 06:40:18.4707 160 06:40:24.9685 160 06:40:27.9425 160 06:40:32.6293 156 06:40:53.9302 153 06:40:28.8264 151 06:41:55.9527 145 06:40:19.9937 131 06:41:03.6990 152 06:23:28.8208 139 05:44:55.4023 120 04:58:18.7063 84 03:27:45.2944 84 03:59:06.7644 59 02:55:44.5699 49 01:53:20.3539 22 0:56:52.6242

Points: Whincup 2476, W Davison 2383, Tander 2038, Lowndes 1947, Johnson 1656, Winterbottom 1574, Holdsworth 1568, R Kelly 1516, Ingall 1484, Courtney 1436, Caruso 1433, J Richards 1340, McConville 1338, van Gisbergen 1302, Dumbrell 1302, T Kelly 1275, S Richards 1253, Coulthard 1170, A Davison 1170, Murphy 1047, Bright 1047, Reynolds 1018, Slade 882, Bargwanna 848, D’Alberto 847, Perkins 779, Patrizi 706, Wood 578, Fiore 519, Skaife 351, Marshall 351, McNally 339, Besnard 306, Ritter 306, A Thompson 277, Baird 249, Noske 248, Owen 247, Price 247, Gaunt 213, McIntyre 213, Morris 206, Reindler 192, L Tander 192, Wall 192, Ricciardello 183, Luff 182, Webb 1825, Pretty 180, Canto 152, Youlden 152, Assaillit 147, Lowe 147, Priaulx 138, O Kelly 134, A Jones 104, B Jones 104, Simonsen 91, Collins 90, Fisher 86, Sieders 86, Douglas 70, Walter 70, Thompson 0, Bayliss 0.

31

BATHURST 2009: Extras

E85 – a few degrees are crucial

Dirk Klynsmith

S

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FROM THE COUCH

Marshall Cass

EVEN’s broadcast of The Great Race is a huge undertaking and, CHRIS LAMBDEN overall, the story it tells is intriguing, and rich in imagery and word.

There can’t be an angle left to cover in an in-car (or under-car) sense, and there were some good ones – an embarrassment of riches for the producer to pick from at any given time. Looking directly down onto Michael Caruso was spectacular. So too, glowing brake discs.

Wider perspectives from helicopters are great too. It all tells a pictorial, story. You can’t help ad breaks, and sods law dictates that something will happen when you’re away, but that’s (commercial TV) life.

The clincher is the verbal back-up and Seven is well-served by its experts – led by Crompton, Larko in pit lane, Skaifey when he’s there, Noonan and even Briony Ingersson’s female perspective.

The Traditional Aussie male’s eight-hour couch marathon is, overall, a pretty good 9.5 out of 10 show.

Criticisms?

Well, I guess why I enjoy cricket is that everyone on a mike is an expert – past player or knowledgeable observer. Maybe it works for the general public having ‘colour’ commentators – Messrs White and Beretta – on the team, but for a petrol-head they have little to offer.

“This has become a dog-fight – who can get past who ...” doesn’t cut it up against the informed insight from the regulars.

To be fair, their main crust in life comes from current affairs (well, a shock/horror show these days) and some early mornings respectively, so maybe it’s harsh to expect specialist input. But a race-fan audience can pick waffle …

Anything else? Well ... with three minutes to go to race start, Grant Denyer’s over-the-top (scripted?) hyperbole and hype had me throwing things and ... if we can’t do it right, let’s forget the driver intros, shall we? Embarrassing.

But, really, I am being a bit picky. The Show is, fundamentally, superb, world class – a mate of mine watched it in the UK; his text was simple: “Unbelieveable. Puts F1 in the shade. U don’t know how lucky u r”.

No wonder the Bathurst broadcast is a regular award nominee.

The Great Race is an amazing spectacle and, a few details aside, Couch Potato Heaven.

TEMPERATURES are critical numbers in motor racing and, in V8 Supercars in 2009, they have more meaning than you might realise.

Engine Mapping is something that you hear a great deal about, and the change to E85 has prompted all kinds of activities, all season long, to make sure that every drop of fuel gave its best.

Garth Tander was asked when the engine gurus at Walkinshaw Racing started working on fuel mapping for Bathurst; “about March” came the reply.

Of course, under the regulations, you can modify mapping, but only when the car is at rest. Once you load a map, you are stuck with it.

So, why are we going on about this? Because the economy achieved with E85 is far more temperature-dependent than previous fossil-based fuel. Discussions with a number of teams’ technical people, all conducted without names and quotes, revealed that the difference between getting it right and wrong was vast.

It could have meant an extra stop – the difference between an honourable eighth place instead of a podium.

Blanking was added to, and then torn off cars, and engineers were watching weather radars like a hawk. Chattering teeth are not the only symptom cold weather.

Strategy sacrifice IT is easy to second-guess strategy after the event. But there could have been a much different result at Bathurst.

Lap 139; car #33 leads, Greg Ritter at the wheel. Greg Murphy is second. Garth Tander has made his stop, and the leading pair face a shorter fill in pitlane. Speed-wise, they are playing level par. Strategywise, they are staring at birdie. Then, on lap 140, out comes the Safety Car. Here was one of those rare circumstances where the downside of getting a Safety Car was huge, and the upside negligible. And once Tander pitted, GRM and Sprint Gas had their upside.

It also shows that motor racing is a moving feast. Cast your mind back two seasons, to the parade of cars chugging into pitlane, as soon as the pit window opened, to complete their CPS. From there, they would drone around, often nose-to-tail, to the flag. People like me complained about it, but the teams persisted. Their rational was simple; at an inopportune moment, a Safety Car can kill you, and they were reducing the risks.

That happened on this occasion, and you cannot blame the teams for making the calls that they did. It shows that this is a very difficult caper.

Waiting to draw an ace in your hand can be a good idea. But the moral of the story is, if you already have three of them, play ‘em.

race

Equal justice for all?

THE Sam Walter-Mark Winterbottom incident on Saturday morning highlights Phil Branagan the differences between Executive Editor V8 Supercars’ Haves and its Have-Nots.

Straight after the Walter crash, caused when he pulled out from behind Winterbottom who was cruising towards the braking zone at Griffins Bend, co-driver Taz Douglas and FPR boss Tim Edwards spoke on TV. Understandably, Douglas put his position forward. Equally understandably, Edwards defended his ace driver.

The Stewards met and Winterbottom (who had already been involved in an on-track incident with Tander on Friday) was handed a $15,000 fine, $10K of which was suspended. A minority percentage of the blame was attributed to Walter, but Frosty bore the brunt.

Here is the rub. Imagine what would have happened, or been said, had the positions been reversed. If one of the stars of the sport binned his half-million dollar missile on the morning of the Shoot-out because of an on-track error from a rookie – in one of the ‘invitee’ teams. There would be calls for severe punitive action.

The playing field when dealing with matters like this should be as close to even as it can be. That is an ideal scenario, and such things are, in reality, rare in motor racing.

Suffice to say, Frosty has enjoyed some memorable moments at Mount Panorama. This was not one of them.

opinion

Dirk Klynsmith

JDR team watches podium slip away

Kelly: A1 Effort

James Smith

The report card would read ‘A1’ for effort, “but deserved a better result” The Kelly brothers always said that Bathurst would be their measuring stick in terms of first-year achievement and, mostly, it was an impressive effort.

The boys in black were well in the hunt until hit hard from the rear later in the race. It destroyed the under-car ‘diffuser’ and bent the boot lid and thus the wing mounts. The downforce reduction at the rear made the car an oversteering handful, and tough on its tyres.

Rick was on board for the final stint and the younger Kelly did a manful job holding five hungry cars at bay … almost. He was the target of some ‘toughen-up’ jibes pre-race after storming down to FPR after being baulked by Mark Winterbottom but, frankly, that’s easy target stuff. Keeping the JD car in front of that pack for so long was a tough gig, and it was impressive. In the end, though, one little slip started a landslide, and the game was up.

“For the dramas we had, everyone in the team did a fantastic job and we’ve definitely got the team and the equipment to do this 100 percent, no dramas,” said Todd post-race.

“To have a black flag and all the dramas that we had with tyres delaminating, to be in the position to have a crack at a win towards the end was outstanding.

“We just needed some luck out there. It was just that one little incident that really changed the course of the day.”

“There was just nothing we could have done,” said Rick.

“While it was in one piece it was the quickest car I’ve had here in a long time and one that was definitely capable of winning the race.

“The car was just too damaged at the end to hold on to second. I did the best I could and I don’t think I could have done much more, so it’s just disheartening … because the team really deserved something from today.”

33

BATHURST 2009: Extras

In a word ...

The Grea

Happy Days: Traffic leaving Bathurst was at a snail’s pace and, as it passed a busy pub, one happy Holden fan could be seen racing out to every passing Ford with a handkerchief …

Snow Show: The lead-up to race weekend wasn’t promising. As eNews drove up through Lithgow on Wednesday, it snowed …

Bad Luck 1: Shame for the Van Giz/Davison SBR Falcon, which was well in the hunt until its scheduled front disc/brake pad change at two-thirds distance. For some reason, the replacement combo didn’t work well and, added to a rear hub oil leak onto a rear disc (after the nudge with Courtney) Alex D struggled to stop the car. Things went backwards from there.

Bad Luck 2: probably the Johnson/Courtney lead DJR Falcon. Also near the pace, but the accidental clash with the aforementioned SBR Falcon that spun Courtney around was the start of a series of dramas which culminated in the front-left suspension breakage.

Save of the Day: apart from Lee Holdsworth’s recovery in the GRM car, what about Jason Bright. Turned around at Turn 1, off at the Chase, the green Fujitsu car was well over a lap down mid-race, but still pressing on.

Somehow Brightie got back on the lead lap and finished 11th. Unbelievable – must be a record for cars passed.

Stupidity of the weekend: Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph’s handling of the Walter/ Winterbottom incident. The footy writers seconded to the motorsport dept got Paul ‘Rentaquote’ Morris to quip: “ You can’t be doing that s—t around here. Someone could be killed.” That became a sports lift-out cover lead: ‘DEATH RACE – veteran warns rivals next crash could be fatal’. What crap.

As an aside, however, Morris put in a strong late-race run himself, unseen by TV as it concentrated on the p2-6 scrap, steering the second Supercheap car into seventh. Not bad, Dude. The lead Ingall car went a lap down when Steve Owen bunkered it, but still finished, 15th.

Top import: leading visitor was undoubtedly Brit Andy Priaulx, who made a great fist of partnering David Reynolds in the Bundaberg Commodore to 12th. Less impressive was the duo in the second Vodafone car – which distinguished itself by providing a difficult and unnecessarily difficult car for the leaders to lap until it retired late-race with engine dramas.

Roland D should be locking in Messrs Besnard and Ritter for 2010 now ...

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A ghost put to bed I really enjoyed watching WIN PERCY the race on 1990 Bathurst champ Sunday Being back at Bathurst and seeing the race up close has put another ghost to bed for me. I did not really enjoy watching from the corporate box, because you had to be standing up on the balcony to see what was going on, so I watched it from the pits until it got cold and I went back to the hotel to follow the rest of it on TV. There is so much involved with a top team these days. When we started HRT, there was nothing like the technology – all that telemetry. I would have hated to think as a driver that they would be able to see everything that I was doing! I always liked to drive the car and then deal with that later!

The essence of the race is the same as it ever was.

Personally, I always enjoyed class-structured motor racing, where you had to show a little patience, even if you were driving one of the faster cars. It made you a far more patient driver in a number of ways but it is a different mentality. The BTCC is fun to watch, but I find that contact is not enjoyable for a driver I think that the V8 Holden versus Ford thing, with the fire breathing monsters, is great. The conditions, the varying levels of experience of the drivers involved in the race, even the internationals, was very interesting to watch.

I love Australia. I should never have left the place! It took me a long time to get back here to see the race, and it was well worth it. People have been treating me like some kind of VIP, and I am thrilled with that, and the result for HRT was great.

The only disappointment is that Uncle Tom was not here this time to enjoy it with me.

I hope we can right that in the near future.

PERSONAL

IT’S sometimes hard for the purist to accept, but of all the motor races in Australia, Bathurst is about The Show and fairness, in a competitive sense, sometimes takes a back seat.

It is a huge show and, once again, circumstances conspired to present a late-race thriller for those who had survived the random element-nature of ‘The Safety Car’.

Yes, there were those who were unlucky, who copped one at just the wrong time; equally there were those whose race was saved by one. You win some, you lose some.

Early in the race, an SC Board can get you back in the hunt and overcome early drama; late in the race it can screw those whose strategy has hit the nail on the head.

No doubt this time. The

race

atest Show on (Motorsport) Earth

James Smith

opinion Chris Lambden mNews Publisher shattered losers were Bezzy and Ritter, and Murphy/Skaife. For all intents and purposes, it was down to them. Fuel strategy had come their way and they both had pace. And then Dean Canto crashed, they were on the wrong piece of bitumen when it happened, and in an instant it was game over – go back down the queue boys.

But, before too many tears are shed, it has to be recalled that earlier Safety Cars helped both – Skaife lost half a lap on wets that never got going, but a Safety Car reclaimed lost ground. It’s Racing Car Roulette.

Throw in the real driving and technical misadventures which can claim victims as well, and that’s the Bathurst 1000 Emotional Rollercoaster.

In the end, there can be little reason to begrudge victory to the car that started from pole.

Yes, Garth was saved by the 20to-go Safety Car, which got the HRT car back in the game, but he and Will Davo had done a pretty slick job all day – losing most of their ground only when hanging out to get into a fuel window mid-race with fading wets on a drying track..

After three wins, it took a small technical drama with the clutch to handicap the Triple Eight star car. Even so, it was in the frame for the final top six sprint. In the past, the red Ford

has been superb late in stints, on low tanks and worn rubber, but this time that ultimate pace wasn’t quite there. Perhaps, in the end, Jamie had thoughts of the bigger, championship, picture.

This time the outright speed came from the two Sprint Gas Commodores and (not for the first time at Bathurst) a BJR car – Bargs and Jason Richards having a real go in the late stages, and Murph in particular blazing forward even after the Safety Car set-back. Throw in Rick Kelly, struggling manfully with a grip-handicapped car, and the outstanding Lee Holdsworth in GRM’s other car (recovered from all-but a lap down), and those last 20 laps were worth the price of

admission alone. Apart from the little nudge between Whincup and Bargs, there was no heavy contact – just quality edge-ofseat arm-wrestling.

Perhaps most disappointed will be FPR. There were those who thought that this could be Frosty and Richo’s time, but things went awry early. In the end, the spectacular fire was a consequence of other, electrical problems, and the need to change battery (which they would probably have had to do all day), which then came loose ...

And so the Greatest Show on Motorsport Earth is over for another year. And now, the contenders can get back to the real business of sorting out the championship.

35

BATHURST 2009: Photos

Hard luck stories: Jason Bargwanna, above, was faultless in all conditions, under all sorts of pressure, and unlucky to finish just sixth with Mark Noske. Below, Fabian Coulthard and Michael Patrizi’s pink Falcon failed to finish after a strong run. Bottom, it was a frustrating day to be a Ford fan, especially if your main men were Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards.

First class effort from part-timers: The David Besnard/Greg Ritter Valvoline Commodore was in with a chance until crippled by the late Safety Car. Above, they execute a pass on pre-race favourites Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup. Right, Paul Dumbrell shoved Andrew Thompson out of the way at The Chase and earnt himself a drive -through penalty.

36

race

Beers and blues: The picture above is (apparently) just a small sample of the liquid consumed on top of Mount Panorama over the weekend.

Speaking of alcohol, it wasn’t a great day for the Jim Beam boys.

James Courtney executed a neat spin at Reid Park – but that wasn’t the team’s only drama on Sunday ... How close was th Bargwanna/ Noske car ...

37

FUJITSU V8 SUPERCAR SERIES ROUND 6 – BATHURST

Mountain conquered

There’s still one round to go, so no major celebrations yet, but Jonathon Webb is l 38

race

Dirk Klynsmith

d, series success next Dirk Klynsmith

looking red hot for the 2009 Fujitsu V8 Series. ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN reports

39

A

T Bathurst last year, Jonathon Webb won his first Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series round – sort of ...

You see, Webb and Dean Canto took one win and one second place each, leaving them locked on points, however as Canto’s win came in the second race, he was awarded the round.

Twelve months on, there was no question over who won the round, Webb delivering a flawless performance to take the honours, and place one nomex glove on the 2009 FV8 Series trophy.

The weekend couldn’t have gone any better for Webb. He did an awesome 2:08.08s in

40

qualifying to take pole position, and then smashed Canto’s 2008 lap record by over a second on his way to a dominant Race 1 win.

But that was nothing compared to the dominant display from Webb in Race 2.

In a race that was re-started due to a last-minute rain storm (freakishly like 2008), Webb won by a whopping 23s, braving consistent rain in the process.

After the disappointment of having to share with Canto in ’08, Webb was ecstatic to put the ’09 result beyond doubt.

“It’s good to get both wins this time around,” he said. “To come away with the win instead of second is just

fantastic.

“That’s what we needed to do. I get more and more comfortable in the car every time I sit in it, and I can really look forward to Homebush now, because I’ve got a comfortable little gap in the championship.”

Equal second for the round was Daniel Gaunt (third and fourth in the races) and David Russell (second and fifth), although they both had different reactions to being on the podium. Gaunt was stoked, having found Mount Panorama more daunting than he expected, while Russell was disappointed, having dropped valuable points to Webb.

“After Thursday, I would never

have thought I’d be here on Saturday afternoon,” said Gaunt.

“I thought it would be easier than it was. I’ve got enormous respect for this place now.”

“To be honest I’m a little disappointed,” added Russell.

“When you’re in the hunt for the championship, you’ve got to go for race wins. The only thing I can do now is go to Homebush and try and take pole and win both races.”

For the other title contender, James Moffat, it was a weekend of unfulfilled promise. The Sonic driver was electric in qualifying, but missed out on pole when he made a mistake on his best lap – which was going to be something in the region of a 2:07.8s.

John Morris/Mpix

Then, Moffat made a blue while running second in Race 1, spinning at the exit of The Chase, and eventually finishing ninth.

Finally, after a blinding start in the rain to Race 2, Moffat spun while trying to pass Grant Denyer for second, ending any chance of chasing down Webb. He did make some amends by working his way back through the field to finish second – during which he took the catch of the season when his Falcon decided to break loose during an upshift on Conrod Straight.

Dirk Klynsmith

Points: Webb 1586, Russell 1507, Moffat 1335, Denyer 1183, Gaunt 1179, Brad Lowe 1077, Damian Assaillit 940, Shane Price 913, Sam Walter 871, Taz Douglas 842.

Sideways! David Russell finished equal second for the round, and looked stylish in doing so ...

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AUSTRALIAN GT CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 5 – BATHURST

Wall extends GT Championship lead David Wall has one hand on the Australian GT Championship after two wins at Mount Panorama. LACHLAN MANSELL was there

D

AVID Wall has extended his lead in the Australian GT Championship, winning both races in the penultimate round at Bathurst.

Unusually, Wall crossed the finish line under Safety Car conditions in both half hour races after crashes in the closing stages.

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Klark Quinn finished second overall ahead of Jim Richards, but the notable absentee from the podium was Klark Quinn’s father Tony. Quinn Senior qualified his Aston Martin DBRS9 on pole position, and was running a comfortable second in the opening race when the Safety Car was deployed because Dean Grant crashed his Lamborghini

Gallardo at Griffin’s Bend. When the Safety Car pulled into the pits with just one corner left to run, Quinn spun his Aston Martin and dropped to 11th.

In Race 2, Wall led away and established a commanding margin over his rivals, while Quinn worked his way through the field. Quinn hauled the Aston Martin up to second place and was lapping over

a second quicker than Wall until the Safety Car was again deployed, this time as a result of a skirmish at Reid Park involving the Porsche of Michael Loccisano and Tim Poulton.

This time, Quinn didn’t spin but was left ruing what might have been had it not been for the safety-car interventions.

Further down the order, James Koundouris debuted

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Dirk Klynsmith

exhaust in Race 1.

In the Production class, it was the Corvette of Paul Freestone that prevailed, ahead of the Lotus Exige S of Mark O’Connor, which benefited significantly from the installation of a new supercharger.

Former Lotus runner Andrew McPherson raced the ex-John Tuelan Mosler MT900R and stayed out of trouble, finishing 12th and 16th in the two races.

The final round of teh championship heads to Sydney’s Homebush street circuit.

Dirk Klynsmith

a Porsche 911 Cup S and battled with Jim Richards and his brother Theo Koundouris throughout both races. Shaun Juniper also figured in the lead pack, running as high as fifth in Race 1 until a scary brush with the wall at Forrest Elbow.

Fortunately, Juniper’s car was not significantly damaged and he was able to continue.

Paul Tresidder won the Challenge class in both races after the class front-runner, Jordan Ormsby, received a mechanical black-flag for a loose

Should have been second: Tony Quinn threw away P2 in Race 1 when he came unstuck at Murray’s Corner.

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YOKOHAMA V8 UTES ROUND 7 – BATHURST

MacDonald picks up Layton’s

The V8 Utes title could have been Layton Crambrook’s – but it’s not. DANIEL HERRERO

L

AYTON Crambrook thought he was leaving Bathurst in the box seat to take backto-back V8 Ute championships in December.

Instead, he will head to the Sydney 500 all but out of title contention, after being excluded from Round 7 due to a technical infringement relating to rear springs.

Crambrook had escaped from a chaotic weekend with second for the round behind Gary MacDonald, but the postRace 3 ruling finished him off – when a Jack Elsegood mistake and a wet track couldn’t.

Rain before Races 2 and 3 was the great equaliser for Kim

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Jane, who had been struggling for horsepower. He picked up another round podium with race results of ninth, first, and third.

“We thought we’d be nowhere this weekend so to come home third overall is a fantastic achievement for us and the crew,” exclaimed Jane, who was subsequently promoted to second by the ruling on car #71.

Each race was chaotic, but the biggest incident, ironically, came in the dry race on Saturday morning when Alan Letcher barrel-rolled through The Chase as he tried to avoid a Lap 3 incident between Ben Kavich and Charlie Kovacs.

Kovacs hit Kavich from behind, putting the #26 Falcon into the wall, and the ensuing dust cloud led to Letcher taking evasive action. He bounced through the inside gravel trap, grabbed the inside kerb sideways, and launched into a series of rolls. “[Kavich] hit the wall then sort of come out to the middle of the track and it really got dusty,” explained Letcher.

“I couldn’t see exactly where the car was so I got out to the left to avoid it all and unfortunately hit the sand and tipped over.”

Kavich laid the blame on Kovacs’ impatience, while Kovacs claimed that Kavich

initially left a gap, then closed it up late in the stop. Kovacs was ultimately sent to the back of the grid for Race 2 as a penalty.

Elsegood finished the meeting with 10th overall, his weekend affected by a penalty issued after Race 2.

Ironically, the championship leader turned around the man who would lead at The Chase, after he wrong-slotted on the downshift.

MacDonald’s win in Race 3 was a Bradbury-like performance in treacherous conditions.

Morning rain left the track quite wet for the first session on Sunday, and contributed

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Marshall Cass John Morris/Mpix

Title fight over? Series protogonists Layton Crambrook and Jack Elsegood clashed at The Chase, above.

Below, Kim Jane won a race and secured an overall podium place.

Dirk DirkKlynsmith Klynsmith

‘crams’

HERRERO reports to Grant Johnson’s spin into the wall on Lap 2, while leading, after the Race 1 winner straddled the slippery kerb on the exit of Hell Corner.

Two laps later, the top three all ran off at Murray’s Corner. Jane outbraked himself, and sucked George Miedecke and Crambrook into the mistake, allowing MacDonald to seize a lead which he would never give up.

The weekend sets up a tantalising fight for the title in six weeks time at Homebush. Elsegood is in prime position to win the crown that so cruelly denied of him in 2007, but Gary Baxter could easily steal it, and Johnson only needs a little bit of luck to become a two-time champion.

How to gaurantee television coverage at Bathurst: Allan Letcher destroyed his Holden V8 Ute on Thursday at Mount Panorama. See news pages for full story.

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BIANTE TOURING CAR MASTERS ROUND 5 – BATHURST

More Bathurst success for Ric Jim Richards took another Mountain victory. LACHLAN MANSELL reports

J

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Marshall Cass

IM Richards has added yet another round win to his plethora of Bathurst achievements, taking out the penultimate round of the Biante Touring Car Masters and twice breaking the lap record in the process.

Richards qualified on pole position from the series-leader Gavin Bullas, but dropped to third in Race 1 after a tardy start, losing positions to Bullas and Brad Tilley. Richards was able to overtake Tilley and applied the pressure to Bullas, but ultimately ran out of time to catch the series-leading Mustang before the chequered flag.

Drew Marget finished fourth in the opening race from Steve Mason and John Bowe, who started at the back of the grid after missing qualifying with mechanical problems, but charged through the field spectacularly.

Race 2 was a similar story, with Richards slotting back behind Bullas and Tilley in the opening couple of laps. However, Richards’s Falcon Rallye Sprint became progressively faster as the race progressed, and he was able to work his way past both Tilley and Bullas to take

victory. Bowe also continued his charge forward, moving up to second place by the end of the race.

The real drama was saved for the top eight reverse-grid Race 3, which was held on a damp, but drying circuit. Alastair McLean led the race early after taking advantage of superior grid position, and extended quite a margin over the rest of the field as Richards, Bullas, Marget and Bowe battled for the minor positions.

The Falcon GTHO of Brad Tilley dropped back early in the race as Tilley had taken the brave gamble of starting the race on slicks, and initially, the decision looked like it was the wrong one. However, as the track dried out, Tilley’s pace improved, and in the

closing laps he carved his way effortlessly to the front of the field, powering his way past McLean on the very last lap to secure the win. However, third place for Richards was enough for the seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner to walk away with the round honours.

In Division 2 for the under 5000cc cars, Brad Tilley’s brother Cameron emerged with the round victory in his Valiant Pacer, having opted for a similar slick tyre strategy in Race 3. Greg Waddington was second overall ahead of the Division 2 points leader Trevor Talbot, while Bernie Stack was consistently the fastest of the lower-capacity cars but suffered a non-finish in Race 2 with mechanical dramas.

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Marshall Cass

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NASCAR SPRINT CUP ROUND 30 – PEPSI 500, FONTANA, CA

NORMAL SERVICE HAS Jimmie Johnson won in California Speedway – as usual – and took back the lead in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. As usual.

By MARTIN D CLARK

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S NOW BEEN RESUMED

NASCAR Media

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F

OR the first time this year Jimmie Johnson took the point lead with a win at Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, California on Sunday taking the lead with six laps to run from his Hendrick Motorsports team-mate Jeff Gordon and holding on for his third successive fall win at Fontana.

“We had such a good car that if someone got by me I could get back by them within a couple of laps,” said Johnson, “and with a green, white, checker at the end, I had to get it right and luckily I did. We worked on the car some, but it came to us and with the lines I was running and the balance of the car it really help us and came our direction. It’s great to do it here in my home state.”

The final caution aired with six laps to go when seven cars got together lead to a red flag and a restart with three laps to go. The wreck wiped out any

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chance Kasey Kahne had of a title in 2009 when he rear-ended Jeff Burton, all four Petty cars were involved in the melee.

Polesitter Denny Hamlin had a car to win the race, but on a lap 190 restart he cut down on Juan Pablo Montoya, who was being pushed by Johnson and spun hitting the inside wall and causing front end damage, Hamlin would finish 37th and drop to seventh in points.

In the end, it was a race dominated

by Hendrick or Hendrick-spec Chevys.

Montoya’s third beat home previous points leader Mark Martin and Tony Stewart, while Carl Edwards prevailed over the ‘mortal’ class by taking sixth in the Roush Ford.

Marcos Ambrose qualified 27th moving into the top 10 as the laps wound down, but unfortunately was swept into the wreck that wiped out at least seven cars in the eighth caution with six laps to run. Ambrose pitted

for repairs and ended his day 23rd, retaining 17th in points.

Joey Logano? Joey Logan-yes!

NATIONWIDE

All images: NASCAR Media

JOEY Logano won his second Nationwide Series in a week over Brian Vickers in a Braun Racing Toyota.

Logano led early and came back from a clash with Greg Biffle, that sent him into a wall.

“I didn’t think we had a shot at it after Biffle decided to put us in the wall,” commented Logano. “But you can’t put this team down, we never quit and kept digging all day, I definitely didn’t think we had a shot at it.”

It was the other Joe Gibbs Toyota that led most laps, but there was a story behind that. A flu-ridden Kyle Busch

exited the car after leading 36 laps and Denny Hamlin took over, but he moved up

the track while racing hard for the lead with Biffle and Brad Keselowski with nine laps to run. Hamlin slammed into Biffle planting both of them into the wall while Keselowski emerged with no contact and no damage.

Carl Edwards spun his tyres at the final restart, and Brad Keselowski rear ended him leaving Vickers in the cat bird seat, with a damaged Keselowski passed by Kevin Harvick for fourth in the heated battle.

Edwards came home third and gained 90 points on leader Busch, with Keselowski in third.

– MARTIN D CLARK

All Chevy, all the time: The Hendrick cars lined up, far left, but Johnson was the best of them. An ill Kyle Busch had to be replaced by David Gilliland, left, while Kasey Kahne crashed his title hopes away.

SPRINT CUP | PEPSI 500, CALIFORNIA S’WAY 1 48 2 24 3 42 4 5 5 14 6 99 7 6 8 2 9 33 10 29

Jimmie Johnson Jeff Gordon Juan Montoya Mark Martin Tony Stewart Carl Edwards David Ragan Kurt Busch Clint Bowyer Kevin Harvick

Chevy Hendrick/Lowe’s Chevy Hendrick/DuPont Chevy Earnhardt/Ganassi Chevy Hendrick/ Carquest Chevy Stewart Haas/Old Spice Ford Roush Fenway/Aflac Ford Roush Fenway/UPS Dodge Penske/Miller Lite Chevy Childress/Cheerios Chevy Childress/Shell

Q3 10 4 9 20 11 31 13 8 7

NASCAR | DRIVER’S points Johnson 5728, Martin 5716, Montoya 5670, Stewart 5644, Gordon 5623, Biffle 5607, Edwards 5536, Hamlin 5509, Newman 5505, Kahne 5422, Vickers 5377.

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INDYCAR ROUND 16 – HOMESTEAD-MIAMI, FLA

Alw

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ways bet on Green In IndyCar’s first-ever all-green flag race, Dario Franchitti played the fuel game, save one pitstop and stole an unlikely crown in

Honda Racing

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D

ARIO Franchitti is the 2009 IndyCar Champion, after taking out the winner-takes-all finale at HomesteadMiami over the weekend.

It all came down to caution periods – or a lack thereof. Just one yellow flag would have sealed the race, and the title, for Aussie Ryan Briscoe, but the for the first time in IndyCar history it never came. It was an all-green race, and that meant the more conservative fuel strategy of Franchitti left him with track position when it mattered.

“What a year for this Target team,” said Franchitti.

“It was so much fun to be a part of. I've been really lucky my whole career to have a great team. I can't thank the team enough and I can't thank Target enough. I'm bloody delighted right now.

“I just had to try to save some fuel and stay on strategy. The car was a bit imbalanced on the first stint and that allowed Scott [Dixon] and Ryan to get away a little bit. We made it a lot better the second stint, and the car was really good, but by then we were fuel conservation mode. I was going as fast as I could, but they had me turn [the fuel setting] way down.”

That was the difference. With the race pace being so fast (the second fastest in IndyCar history), Briscoe was forced to make a splashand-dash late in the race – while he was leading and more than 24s clear of Franchitti. He was faster than Franchitti in the last two laps, but he couldn’t re-take the lead. Having led the most laps wasn’t enough, and the title slipped through Briscoe’s fingers.

“It’s pretty frustrating,” said Briscoe.

“It was one of the best races I’ve ever run. I just hate that it came down to fuel strategy. I thought it was going to be between me and Scott, definitely. I guess the #10 car had the advantage.”

Dixon, who was also in the hunt for the title, suffered the same fate as Briscoe, making his laterace stop two laps earlier than the Penske driver.

He finished third, meaning the final points saw Franchitti on 616, Dixon on 605, and Briscoe on 604.

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INDYCAR | FIRESTONE INDY 300, HOMESTEAD 1 10 Dario Franchitti GB Target Ganassi 200 laps Q1 2 6 Ryan Briscoe Aus Penske -4.7888s 2 3 9 Scott Dixon NZ Target Ganassi -10.8094s 3 4 11 Tony Kanaan Br Andretti Green/7-11 199 laps 15 5 6 Helio Castroneves Br Penske 199 laps 11 6 27 Hideki Mutoh J Andretti Green 198 laps 19 7 5 Mario Moraes Br KV Racing/Azul Teqila 198 laps 10 8 402 Alex Lloyd GB Newman Haas Lanigan 198 laps 5 9 43 Tomas Scheckter RSA Dreyer & Reinbold 197 laps 12 10 18 Justin Wilson GB Dale Coyne/Z-Line 197 laps 15 13Fastest lap: Dixon on lap 104, 25.4483s (210.073mph)

INDYCAR | DRIVER’S points Franchitti 616, Dixon 605, Briscoe 604, Castroneves 433, Patrick 393, Kanaan 386, Rahal 385, Andretti 380, Wilson/Wheldon 354, Mutoh 353.

Wet wet wet: Dario Franchitti marked his return to IndyCar racing with a second title in a tactical race at Homestead. His big advantage was that Ryan Briscoe and Scott Doxon took three stops, below left, one more than the canny and frugal Scot. Alex Lloyd showed pace and suggested that he will be a driver to watch in the future, left, while veteran Tony Kanaan fought out an all-Brazilian finish with Helio Castroneves, below.

All Images: Honda Racing

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Express Delivery

David Ostaszewski

Jeff Arend and Funny Car team owner Connie Kalitta celebrated an emotional, tearful victory Monday at the rain-delayed O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park.

Joining Arend in the winner’s circle at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event were Morgan Lucas, Jason Line and Michael Phillips.

Arend, who replaced Connie’s late son Scott Kalitta in the DHL Toyota Solara, turned in a winning 4.09 at 310.41 in the final round to easily outrun Tony Pedregon in the Quaker State Chevy Impala. The speed was the fifth fastest 1000-foot Funny Car speed recorded. Arend opened with an easy win over tire-smoking Jack Beckman and followed with victories over John Force and Ashley

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Force Hood.

“Everyone had tears in their eyes at the end of the track, myself included,” said an emotional Arend, who won for only the second time in his career and first time since Reading, 1996. “I know how big this is for Connie after continuing to run this Funny Car after going through the ultimate tragedy with Scott.

He did it, because what he and Scott wanted to do was to have a competitive Funny Car. I think we proved today that we have one now.”

In Top Fuel, Lucas claimed his third victory of the season, and third of his career in the GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil dragster with his 5.13/251 tyre-spinning win over Tony Schumacher and the U.S. Army dragster. Lucas, who also scored in Atlanta and Brainerd, reached the final after stopping teammate Shawn

Langdon and points leader Larry Dixon with a pair of 3.87s, then picked up to a 3.84 in the semifinals to defeat upsetminded Steve Torrence.

In Pro Stock, Line jumped from fifth place to second place with his 6.57 at 210 mph in his Summit Racing Pontiac against Ron Krisher, who red-lighted. Line, who had recorded just one round-win in the first two races of the Countdown playoffs, posted early victories over Steve Schmidt, Allen Johnson, and Greg Anderson.

Michael Phillips won a Pro Stock Motorcycle event for the first time in six years aboard the Phillips Racing Suzuki when he defeated defending Series champ Eddie Krawiec aboard the Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson, 6.93/193 to 6.94/192.

– DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

Winner

Aussie James Davison INDY LIGHTS Mario Romancini overtook new Indy Lights Champion J.R. Hildebrand a few yards from the finish line to win by 0.0057s at Homestead Miami last Saturday.

The finishing margin was the second-closet in Firestone Indy Lights history.

While the finish to the race was the race’s highlight, there was cause for celebration for Australia.

James Davison qualified on pole and drove a steady race to take fifth and steal second place in the overall standings.

It made it a big weekend

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BIG Max:

Ca$h Grab SPEEDWAY

rs all around

ADDED as a last-minute wildcard entry, Max Dumesny then earned $10,000 for an early start to the speedway season on Saturday at Avalon in the Sprintcar Jackpot Invitational.

Dumesny adapted quickly to the knockout format, progressing to the semi-final through the B qualifier then leading all the way in the feature to score from David Murcott and Grant Anderson.

The fresh format involved drivers drawing for selection in A and B qualifiers after hot laps, with the top seven finishers progressing to the semi-final.

The Sydney-based winner entered as a wildcard after failing to win a feature or a heat race at Avalon Raceway last season.

Dumesny praised the handling qualities of his Victoria 5 car, describing it as the best he had driven around Avalon Raceway in three decades of racing at the venue.

Murcott was the big mover in the semi-final, improving from eighth on the grid to finish second.

The top 10 qualifiers then time-trialled to decide starting positions for a 10-lap dash.

Dumesny clocked the fastest time of 11.641 seconds, then set a new 10-lap record in the dash to finish ahead of Murcott and Anderson, Ian Loudoun, Robbie Farr, Luke Dillon and Nick Lacey.

– GEOFF ROUNDS

secures second in Indy Lights finale “Really, it’s been a fantastic season, and I’ve just got to thank the entire team for their efforts.”

Sebastian Saavedra finished third to wrap up the Firestone Indy Lights Rookie of the Year award. The result was not enough to pip Davison for second in the title.

Mike Potekhen finished a season-high fourth.

Champion Hildebrand recorded his 11th top five in the 15 race season, finishing with a clear 543 points over Davison who checked in with 448 points and Saavedra had 446.

Geoff Gracie

for the Davison family, after James’s cousin Will went on to win the Bathurst 1000 the next day.

“What a fantastic race,” said Davison, who posted his eighth top-five finish of the 2009 season.

“We qualified the People’s Liberation car on pole, led a ton of laps and overcame a huge amount of pressure to get a good result.

“Ultimately, the main priority was to maintain second place in the points in our first season back to Indy Lights competition since 2005, and we did that.

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rear of grid

YLE TRAVELLING TO BATHURST, eNEWS-ST

Alternative fuel for thought

AVL’s iPhone

FOR the eNews crew, covering Bathurst was all about alternative fuel and its efficiency.

Nope, we’re not talking about E85 and the length of individual stints during The Great Race, we’re talking about our transportation to and from Mount Panorama. Honda was kind enough to loan us one of its Hybrid Civics for the week, giving Branagan and van Leeuwen a chance to practice fuel calculations before the weekend had even started.

While the weather made it hard to find out what good fuel mileage was for the V8 Supercars, for Team eNews it was clear – Sydney to Bathurst and back (including to-ing and fro-ing during the meeting and a Branagan sat nav malfunction leaving Honda Australia) without even thinking about finding a fuel station. Impressive stuff.

So there you go. Not only does eNews look after the environment by publishing online (save the trees), we also do our bit by cutting harmful emissions in our travels.

Odd Spot

Tales never fails

AVL’s iPhone

RACE drivers often whinge about a the 50 cent part that fails and brings their multi-million dollar machine to a halt, but for Shane van Gisbergen, it was a 50 cent piece that enabled him to take part in the Top 10 Shootout at Bathurst.

That’s right; Stone Brothers Racing tossed a coin to decide who would qualify the #9 entry, because they couldn’t split the drivers.

Not a bad problem to have, with Alex Davison being the fastest after practice, and van Gisbergen being, well, one of the rawest talents ever to sit in a V8 Supercar.

“I only did a few laps in practice, so Alex was quicker than me,” said The Giz. “We decided to toss a coin. It actually landed on Alex’s shoe, and he kicked it over so it landed on tails. Tails never fails!”

One for the ‘Only at Bathurst’ files.

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