Motorsport eNews Issue 146 - March 16-22, 2010

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Issue No. 146 March 16 -22 2010

WHINCUP FORMULA 1 ALBERT PARK

EXCLUSIVE!

IN A

CAR AT

REIGNING CHAMPS SET FOR F1/V8 CAR SWAP NEXT WEEK – FULL DETAILS INSIDE!

POWER PLAY!

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Aussies fight it out in IndyCar opener – and Will wins!

motorsport news

Editorial Editor: Andrew van Leeuwen Executive Editor: Phil Branagan National Editor: Mitchell Adam Publisher: Chris Lambden

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Contributing Writers US: Martin D. Clark, Mary Mendez National: Lachlan Mansell, Mark Jones Speedway: Greg Boscato, Geoff Rounds, Darren Sutton Drag Racing: Dave Ostaszewski (USA), Ken Ferguson, John Bosher, Luke Nieuwhof

Photographers Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Marshall Cass, John Morris/Mpix, James Smith, Peter Bury, Geoff Gracie, Joel Strickland, Andrew Hall, Rob Lang

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Issue No. 146 | 16-22 Mar 2010

news 4 Whincup in an F1 car And Button in a V8. Cool!

6 Sounds like a sauce Heinz-Harald for Gold Coast 10 When Stars Align AGP speed comparo line-up 15 Ant Music Pederson wants more!

18 Party like it’s 1976 Masters changes dates

chat 22 Five Minutes With ...

Tony D’Alberto

comment 24 Clark: Edwards

25 Branagan: Stolen Bodywork

race 24 Clipsal 500 + supports 46 IndyCar in Brazil 50 State Racing Wrap

trade 52 Classifieds

Tell us what you think of the swap on Twitter – @motorsportenews

HEY WHINNERS, WAN EXCLUSIVE

The secret plan for Jamie Whincup and Jenson Button to swap cars at Albert Park next Tuesday!

By PHIL BRANAGAN

J

FORMULA 1

motorsport news

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Dirk Klynsmith

AMIE Whincup looks set to fulfil every racing driver’s ambition next week when he drives a McLaren Formula 1 car at Albert Park.

Motorsport eNews has been told that the TeamVodafone ace will swap seats with his opposite number Jenson Button in a one-off event that will see the two sample each other’s cars at Albert Park. Whincup will drive a McLarenMercedes, while the World Champion will try out a V8 Supercar-spec Commodore VE. The swap is due to take place on Tuesday of next week, a day when the track would ordinarily still be being prepared for the cars that will take to the circuit two days later. We have been told that the appropriate permissions to allow the demonstration to take place are in the process of being arranged, but that there was still some way to go before it was absolutely “locked in”.

We also believe that the Tuesday date means that the event will not be open to the public, as the track will be in the final stages of preparation and as such, will be closed to all regular traffic, and access.

There is no competitive aspect to the event, and no times or speeds are expected to be announced. The swap is more of a mobile photo opportunity for the two 2009 title-winners, who share Vodafone as a common, naming-rights sponsor. The McLaren will be the car that Gary Paffett will drive in the Speed Comparison, and will be either a 2008 or 2009 model McLaren.

Whincup, 27, has not raced an open-wheeler since his Formula Ford days, during which he won the 2002 Formula Ford Championship with Sonic Motorsport. On the other hand, Button has a very limited history in tin-tops, having tested a Nissan Primera Super Tourer as an 18-year-old as part of his winning the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award in 1998. A year later, Button drove in the Spa 24 Hour touring car classic, sharing a BMW with Tomas Enge and David Saelens.

news

NNA SWAP? Dirk Klynsmith

‘Fones left frustrated by loose bodywork V8 SUPERCARS JAMIE Whincup and Roland Dane have expressed different opinions about the controversy that saw the V8 Supercar Championship Series leader pit his Commodore from Sunday’s race with what the pair saw as no damage.

Whincup was guarded in his comments post-race, but Dane was clearly, infuriated with what he sees as an injustice over the black flag penalty that saw his star driver pit after it had dropped loose bodywork off, and onto the track.

“It was … impressive how fast the stewards acted in that environment,” said a frustrated Whincup just after the race.

“It was the quickest I have seen them perform.”

Team boss Dane was much less diplomatic than his driver after the call, which saw the #1 car drop for a battle for the lead to 18th. www.mnews.com.au

“It is difficult to accept,” said Dane.

“The rule is nonsense, or the way it is enforced is nonsense.

I think we make ourselves as a sport look ridiculous. You wreck was would have been a massive climax between Jamie and Garth.

“If the part had come off straight away, there would have not been a black flag.”

Dane said that he “honestly could not remember” whether he had seen any black flag penalty, in any series in any part of the world, withdrawn after it was applied to a competitor. Other V8 Supercar teams, including HRT and Brad Jones Racing, have suffered similar penalties, in nearidentical circumstances, in the past.

“The rules are there for everbody,” shrugged BJR’s Kim Jones.

“You should not be leaving bits and pieces on the track.”

– PHIL BRANAGAN

Supercarniv

Frentzen. Briscoe. Power. Dixon. We are g V8 SUPERCARS

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FORMER Grand Prix winner Heinz-Harald Frentzen is poised to make his V8 Supercar debut at the Gold Coast Supercarnivale in October.

The German star, the winner of three GPs during a 10-year career at the sport’s highest level, is the latest big name driver to become a contender to drive in the event, which will feature a ‘stand alone’ sprint race for international drivers.

The international drivers recruited for the event will also participate in two-driver races with V8 Supercar regulars.

But while eNews believes that the man known as ‘HHF’ has agreed to a deal, if not actually signed one, questions remain as to which team he will drive for. Our information is that with no particular ties to either manufacturer currently involved in V8 Supercar racing, he would be free to drive either a Ford or a Holden, but that he is likely to drive a Ford.

We do not believe that team to be Ford Performance Racing, despite that team having links with him, with Frentzen driving for Jordan Grand Prix, below, between 1999 and 2001 while current FPR boss Tim Edwards was Jordan’s team manager. We believe that FPR has agreed terms with an international driver but that it is not Frentzen.

Likewise, Jim Beam Racing appears to have an ageement in place with an international driver, but that it is not HHF either. That would appear to leave Stone Brothers Racing in contention – and as we have already reported, we believe that David Brabham will race for that team, not just for the Gold Coast event but at Phillip Island and Bathurst.

But, the third SBR-prepared car, the entry of Tim Slade, would be one of the entries looking for an international driver to come on board. We believe that the Wilson Securitybacked entry is the most propable seat for Frentzen.

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motorsport news

news

vale: The Stars line up

going to need a phrase book on the GC! V8 SUPERCARS

www.mnews.com.au

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AUSTRALASIA’S top three drivers in American openwheeler racing are poised to race in the Gold Coast Supercarnivale this year.

Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe and Will Power all look set to make the trip down under for the race, and race for crack teams on the streets where all three have raced IndyCars.

Dixon said in Brazil on the weekend that V8 Supercars had been on his to-do list for some time.

“I’m really looking forward to competing in the V8s,” he said.

“I tested in 1997 with HRT and ran a few laps. It was a lot of great fun. And, it’s great racing.

I can’t wait to have a go.”

All three drivers were looking for multiple endurance drives but it now appears that might be an impossibility.

“Unfortunately, the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule overlaps with the V8s,” said Dixon, a winner of both the IndyCar title and the Indiapolis 500.

“I wanted to try Phillip Island but it’s right around the time we go to Japan. So it’s too difficult to do both. But I’m really looking forward to the

drive at Surfers in October when our IndyCar series is done. During that race I think I’ll only get one stint. The V8s have a lot of action. They certainly aren’t boring.”

Power and Briscoe both declined to name the teams they would join for the weekend, but Briscoe did point to the performance of HRT’s Garth Tander from the Clipsal 500 weekend ...

V8 Supercar teams have until this Friday to finalise their deals, and nominate their international driver for October’s event. However, with teams scouting and signing their own drivers, one variable still remains – the drivers signed by V8 Supercars for the event. In the initial Supercarnivale launch, David Brabham, Mark Blundell, Alex Tagliani, Christian Fittipaldi and Scott Pruett were announced as starters.

With Brabham set to race for SBR in all three enduros, it remains to be seen how the other four will be assigned. If they are not signed by a team, one owner told eNews they that expect the lowest-profile nominations to be overruled.

– BRANAGAN/ADAM/ MENDEZ

All smiles: Scott Dixon, left, and Ryan Briscoe, right, appear to have their airfares booked. Surely, we can arrange a ride for that nice Scottish fella, James? Heinz-Harald Frentzen, opposite, has experience in both the DTM and NASCAR-based Speedcar series, not to mention a brace of GP wins ...

WTCC calendar change could affect drivers V8 SUPERCARS A POTENTIAL change to the World Touring Car Championship calendar could have an affect on the final field for the Supercarnivale.

Drivers such as Yvan Muller, who we reported last issue as being a driver in the series, now appear to have doubts, after the recent cancellation of the second round in Mexico.

The April 11 event will not take place, but there is no word on whether series organisers will replace the round, or continue with the confirmed 11 dates.

Should there a 12th round be arranged, it is conceivable that it could clash with the Gold Coast event, which will be held on October 22-25.

A decision about WTCC’s calendar is expected within the next three weeks.

SKAIFE TO REVEAL COTF

Two weeks until all will be revealed about the $250,000 Supercar V8 SUPERCARS V8 SUPERCARS Australia’s Car of the Future will become more clearly defined on Monday March 29, when the details of the car will be announced to the public at Melbourne’s Crown Casino.

Mark Skaife, who has led the V8SA’s board COTF program, is due to announce the specifications of the cars, which are likely to be introduced for competition in time for the 2012 season.

One of the talking points over the Clipsal 500 weekend was that the new category of car could end the exclusivity of 5-litre pushrod smallblock engines, and permit new entrants to race with smallercapacity, overhead cam or four-cam engines. The one stipulation that will stay cast in stone is that V8 engines will remain mandatory.

V8SA Executive Chairman Tony Cohrane said in Adelaide that the other guidelines for the new cars would be that they remain authentic (ie, based on four-door

productions sedans); that they can be built for $250,000 per car, allowing teams to have race-ready spare cars; and that the series maintains its grids at no more than the current 29 entries.

“We are not expanding the series in terms of the number of entries,” he said.

V8SA will not place any limit on the number of new makes in the series, which has been the exclusive domain of Ford and Holden since its inception more than 15 years ago.

But at the same time, there will be no minimum number of entries required from a make.

“We are open minded on a minimum number of entries,” he said.

“If Rolls Royce wants to run a one-car team, what’s the problem with that?”

Cochrane said that he believed that between “one and 10” makes had cars that would meet the specifications required, and added that he did not really expect any of them to be a Rolls Royce …

– PHIL BRANAGAN

WHILE TONY TAKES A BREAK V8 SUPERCARS

TONY Cochrane is taking a three-month break from V8 Supercars Australia.

Cochrane, who has been the Chairman of the category management group since its inception as AVESCO in 1997, will be on vacation from May 1 until August 1.

Over the last year, he has filled the role of Executive Chairman, since the departure

from the company of CEO Cameron Levick. Geoff Jones, the former Gold Coast Indy CEO who will become a partner in SEL on April 1, will take over Cochrane’s role as Acting Chairman.

Cochrane’s break will partially coincide with the eight-week between the Townsville 400 on July 9-11 and the L&H 500 at Phillip Island on September 10-12.

– PHIL BRANAGAN motorsport news

news

F Peter Bury

Two Million Dollar Man V8 SUPERCARS GARTH Tander may earn $2 million from his 2010 title defence – if he can win three more legs of V8 Supercars’ Grand Slam.

The Clipsal 500 winner is the only man who can relieve V8 Supercars of a $2m

bounty. The remaining three events on the calendar are the Bathurst 1000, the V8 Supercarnivale on the Gold Coast and Sydney’s seasonending Homebush race.

The bounty would is less than the first prize for the Melbourne Cup, which last year paid $3.3 million for

first place, and for both the Mens’ and Ladies’ singles at the Australian Open Tennis, which pays $2.1 million. However, those events’s prizemoneys are not conditional, and pay the winners those amounts every year. In 2009, the only year in which all four events took

place, no driver managed to win more than one ...

The move will also ensure a higher profile for the Supercarnivale, which is being significantly rebranded after the demise of open-wheeler racing after 19 seasons of CART, Champ Car and IndyCar. – PHIL BRANAGAN

Singaporean officials enjoy Clipsal Dirk Klynsmith

V8 SUPERCARS IF you noticed a somewhat Singapore-y feel to Adelaide this past weekend, there was good reason behind it.

A team of 29 officials from the Singtel Singapore Grand Prix was in the city for Clipsal 500 week, as part of the training process for staff in F1’s first night race.

The team, which included Clerk of the Course Gabriel Tan, his Assistant Clerk of the Course, Chief Marshal, Sector Marshals and Deputy Sector Marshals, were training under CAMS officials for the third time.

Senior Singapore officials presented the Chairman of the South Australian Motorsport Board Roger Cook, Chief Executive SAMB Jason Allen and legendary

motorsport commentator Murray Walker, with a token of appreciation for once again welcoming their team to the Clipsal 500.

Tan, who is also Chairman of the Singapore Grand Prix Race Organising Committee, said his team were thrilled to be back in Adelaide and were looking forward to seeing some exciting racing.

We think that they got their wish …

Dirk Klynsmith

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SECTOR COSTS WEBBER FORMULA 1

A BAD final sector on his qualifying lap ruined Mark Webber’s weekend in Bahrain.

The Aussie was looking set for a front-row starting position alongside his polewinning team-mate Sebastian Vettel until time slipped away in the final corners of the lap, leaving him to start from sixth place on the grid.

“The first sector of my qualifying lap was good,” said Webber, “but a rear lock-up into Turn 16 lost me 0.2s and I lost another 0.4s at Turn 19 when I was pushing too hard to get it back. That dropped me to sixth on the grid and, as I was to discover during the race, it would be very hard to make progress up the order.”

After a decent start, his Renault engine appeared to have an oil problem, and the ensuing temporary loss of speed (accompanied by plums of smoke) left him unable to challenge the MercedesBenzes of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg. He spent the rest of the race chasing Mercedes-powered cars after Jenson Button’s McLaren got past during the pit cycle.

“It got pretty boring,” says Mark, “I spent 48 laps staring at the gearboxes of first Schumacher and then Button and there was nothing I could do to pass them. I tried everything: different lines, pressure – everything. But they’re both good drivers and neither of them made a mistake.”

toGP o M / 1 F l l For fu ge/news, covera et to g o t E R E CLICK H k magazine!

GPWee week.com www.gp 10

motorsport news

news

ER Rosberg 1, Schu 0 FORMULA 1 NICO Rosberg has got the better of Michael Schumacher in their pair’s first Grand Prix for MercedesBenz – but the battle looks like being a long one.

The two Germans qualified fifth and seventh, respectively, and Rosberg stayed ahead of the seventime World champion in the race, taking fifth place, four seconds ahead of Schumacher.

PAFFETT VERSUS SKAIFE VERSUS DOOHAN Skaife/T8 Commodore for Comparo FORMULA 1 MARK Skaife will take part in the Speed Comparison next week at Albert Park.

The Bathurst winner-turned-commentator will take on Gary Paffett and Mick Doohan in the event, which pits a Formula 1 car and a V8 Supercar against a road car. Skaife will drive TeamVodafone’s ride car in the clash, while Paffett, who is McLaren’s tester, will drive a Mercedes-powered McLaren Formula 1 car.

Doohan’s mount is believed to be a Mercedes-Benz E63.

The result is a good one for Rosberg, especially since all the attention has been on Schumacher. At the start of his association with the team, the 41-year-old requested that he get the odd number, leaving Rosberg with second

choice, and a #4 sticker on the nose of his car.

Then, in Bahrain, Rosberg walked into the team’s garage to find that all his equipment, and his racecar, had been moved to the opposite side of the facility ...

Drivers join FIA FORMULA 1 THE FIA has made a major shakeup of its Formula 1 race stewards – and it started with Alain Prost in Bahrain at the weekend.

The 55-year-old French legend was one of four stewards at the race, and is the first former driver to fill the position of race steward.

Fellow World champion Damon Hill will fill a similar

position at two Grands Prix, probably including Monaco, later in the year.

Massively experienced Australian rally official Garry Connelly has been appointed as one of the permanent stewards for Formula 1, while GP winners Johnny Herbert and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, and former F1 driver Alexander Wurz are also expected to fill the ‘driver’s seat’ as a race steward later this season.

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11

Track p delay i Honda Indy Racing

Aussies star in Sao Paul opener: Briscoe ends race in wall

Power walks on water in Brazil INDYCARS

12

SARAH SAV

US young gun to drive lim INDYCARS sutton-images.com

AN Australian 1-2 was on the cards until the last minutes of Sunday’s IndyCar opener in Brazil – but it was a close thing for winner Will Power.

The Queenslander was stalking leader Ryan Briscoe and Ryan Hunter-Reay when Briscoe’s car snapped away from him under braking and hit the wall. Once the race went green again, Power calmy slotted his way inside the American to take the first race of the season.

But Power had his share of dramas on Sunday. The gearbox of his Penske Racing entry broke while the car was being warmed up for qualifying, which was delayed until Sunday morning because of problems with the track surface on Saturday. Only frantic work allowed Power to get out in the first segment of the session.

“I only just got out,” said Power after winning on Sunday.

“I was sitting on the stands, in the car, for most of the session.

I made it up into fifth, but I only really had one go at it.”

The track surface, which painted for a recent carnivale, had to be stripped after practice, during which cars were snapping sideways on upchanges, even in a straight line. Briscoe had his car get away from him in fifth gear,

pitching his Dallara Honda, above, into a wall.

Then, the race itself was stopped when the track was deluged.

“The track was bad in the wet,” said Briscoe.

“We were all aquaplaning, and there was no visibility at all.

It was only half a lap between the rain coming and someone piling it into a wall. They threw a caution, then a red, and it was the right thing to do.”

INDYCAR Racing’s biggest absence has been fixed, at least in part, with Sarah Fisher Racing hiring Graham Rahal.

Rather than attempt to compete on road courses herself, Fisher has hired the unemployed IndyCar winning driver for two road course races, the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (Barber Motorsports Park). Rahal will driver the #67 Dollar General car.

Rahal won his first IndyCar event at St. Petersburg in April 2008.

Fisher is most comfortable on ovals but planned to contest motorsport news

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INDYCARS

IndyCar Media

VES RAHAL

mited program for Fisher

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two road courses this season at events important to her sponsor, Dollar General car rental.

– MARY MENDEZ www.mnews.com.au

DRAMAS with the track surface saw Sao Paulo’s maiden IndyCar street race turn into a ‘one-day’ meeting on Sunday.

The 4.2km, 11-turn temporary street circuit, located 26 km from Interlagos, was built in only four months

by NZR, Tony Cotman’s company, only had one trouble area that needed fixing. That was the Anhembi Sambodromo front stretch of concrete that had been painted white for Carnaval Samba on TV. “When I laid out the circuit, I didn’t expect the concrete section of the Start/Finish line straightaway to be an issue,” said Cotman.

“But that shiny concrete never ‘rubbered up’ from the practice sessions. Our solution is to grind the track during the night and wash it thoroughly, which is just as important. If we solve the straightaway problem, you’ll see one hell of a race.”

While the drivers all found their cars twitching up to 30 degrees with every upshift out of the hairpin on to the concrete Start/Finish straight, the grinding, above left, was a welcome change for race morning.

Because only 35 cars were brought for 24 drivers, there would not have been enough spare parts, so qualifying was moved to the morning of raceday. The cars lined up at 8:30am and no further, serious repititions of the surface problem were reported thereafter.

– MARY MENDEZ

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problems, in Sao Paulo A new role for Lotus INDYCARS LOTUS has entered into a technical and commercial partnership with KV Racing Technology to run in the 2010 IndyCar Series.

That effort will use the classic Racing Green and Yellow livery used on Lotus Racing cars in the 1950s and 1960s and this new livery will debut at the first USA round of the IndyCar

Series. Driving the LotusCosworth IndyCars will be the former F1 driver Takuma Sato.

Lotus competed for a number of years in the IndyCar Series in the 1960s, winning the Indianapolis 500 race outright in 1965 with the pioneering Lotus Type 38, driven by Jim Clark, and narrowly missing victory to come second in 1963.

– MARY MENDEZ

... and for Lloyd INDYCARS THE Boy Scout movement was founded by Englishman Robert Baden-Powell so it should come as no surprise that Dale Coyne has hired a Brit to race for the Boy Scouts of America.

After testing several drivers following the loss of Justin Wilson to Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Coyne selected Lloyd

to run his #19 car, which is sponsored by America’s Scouting organisation.

Lloyd has competed in three prior IndyCar events during the last two seasons after winning the 2007 Firestone Indy Lights championship.

He earned his best finish at Homestead last October, eighth, driving for Newman-Haas-Lanigan.

– MARY MENDEZ

... and for Moraes INDYCARS MARIO Moraes thought his chances of competing in front of his home crowd in Brazil was slim to none until Wednesday.

That’s when his KV Racing Technology team ended their agreement with James Rossiter, who tested at Barber Motorsports Park three weeks ago. Rossiter’s financing wasn’t

yet in place and that allowed Moraes to put a wheel under him and return to his IndyCar team from last season.

“We are very pleased to have Mario back in the seat with KVRT,” said General Manager Mark Johnson. “Mario showed last season he can be very competitive and is in the process of becoming one of the top talents in the series.”

– MARY MENDEZ 13

FUJITSU SERIES WITH their maiden Fujitsu Series win on the board, Greg Murphy Racing will ramp up its efforts to find a pair of fulltime drivers for their VE Commodores.

After the team acquired the remnants of Tasman Motorsport and moved into the former Main Game team’s former headquarters, deals for drivers didn’t eventuate.

Steve Owen was drafted in for Clipsal, to showcase the potential of the package. In Jason Bargwanna’s 2009 VE,

Owen won both races – GMR’s first race and round win.

With the advertisement complete, Team Manager Dean Lillie is looking to secure drivers for the car and its sister VE the next round of the series at Queensland Raceway in May, while Owen could get more seat time if funding comes up.

“It was the first win for GMR, it’s a round win, practice record, lap record, and to do it all by that gap is outstanding,” he said.

“That was the reason for having Steve in there this weekend, to show that the

Phil Williams

They’ve got a win, now GMR wants drivers

equipment’s capable and that we can run with the best of them. And we exceeded that.

“We’ll go away and start talking to more people and tell them that what we said about the car was true, it is capable.

It’s hard work to make it happen at the moment, some of the guys we were talking to

have ended up in other cars.

Our other VE is sitting at the workshop on the hoist, ready to go.”

GMR, which also prepares Geoff Emery’s VZ, will complete their setup of the ex-Tasman HQ in the coming weeks.

– MITCHELL ADAM

Dirk Klynsmith

More to come

On a ...

GT3 CUP CHALLENGE THE Western Bulldogs picked up their first piece of AFL silverware in decades on the weekend, winning the NAB Cup over St Kilda.

So what, we hear you say, this is a motorsport magazine.

Well, we think we’ve found their secret weapon.

In the days leading up to the match, Bulldogs players 14

FUJITSU SERIES (l-r) Brad Johnson, Ben Hudson and Jason Akermanis met with 2008 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Champ Sven Burchartz through MISSION Foods – major partner of the series and Bulldogs.

Sven took his Porsche down and gave the boys some tips, which paid off nicely on Saturday night.

Nice one, Sven. Your next job is to grow a Hudson-spec beard.

THE implementation of V8 Supercar initiatives to support the Fujitsu Series remains a work in progress.

Part of changes announced in December, the redistribution of prize money and new tyre incentive where teams who contest the full season get free rubber – estimated by one team boss to save around $15,000 – are in place, however others are set to be ready in time for Round 2 at Queensland Raceway.

V8 Supercars had reserved the right to sell signage space on the side skirts of each car.

However no sponsors had signed on for Clipsal, with teams allowed to use the space.

The production of team flags and A-Frame boards was delayed by the late finalisation of the field and the Main Game’s Middle East start. Teams are set to receive the items at QR, where the series anticipates additional entries.

– MITCHELL ADAM motorsport news

news

Dirk Klynsmith

Pedersen eyes more V8s FUJITSU SERIES NEW Zealand driver Ant Pedersen wants more of the Fujitsu Series, after a standout debut at the Clipsal 500.

Having raced in the NZ MINI Challenge and GT3 Cup, Pedersen joined Matthew White Motorsport for the season opener, alongside David Russell and Matthew Hamilton, after testing with the team

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briefly at Winton a fortnight ago.

In Jonathon Webb’s 2009 titlewinning Falcon, he qualified fifth and finished sixth and fourth in the two races to be third for the weekend, after a countback with fellow debutant Tim Blanchard.

Now, he wants to stick around.

“It was pretty much this time last week that we did the deal,

so I’m pretty happy to end up on the podium,” he told eNews.

“I briefly drove Fabian Coulthard’s car last year with Paul Cruickshank before Bathurst, but the test was my first proper outing. I probably did about 20, but it gave me a good feel for it and they were pretty happy with my progress, so we did a deal at the last minute.

“This weekend was a one-off

deal, but we’d always planned to do the championship. We’ve got to find some sponsors; that’s always the story but hopefully we can leverage this result.

“The plan would be to continue with Matthew if I can secure the cash. We’re lucky that there’s a bit of time now before Round 2, so we’ll work hard and see what pans out.”

– MITCHELL ADAM

15

BRIEFLY... n DANIEL Ricciardo missed last weekend’s Formula Renault 3.5 test at Jerez, thanks to a mountain biking injury.

The young Aussie was replaced at Tech 1 by Julien Jousse, with Ricciardo’s team-mate Brendan Hartley also missing the test thanks to Red Bull Racing commitments in Bahrain.

n IT looks like Sammy Walsh will be in the Harry Delemont-owned Maxim for the rest of the TPCR season. While his first meeting with the ‘Mad Harry’s’ machine hit a few problems two weeks ago, last Saturday night it was all systems go, and young Sam was able to post his maiden Sprintcar victory. n IF you’re in the Melbourne area this weekend and want a bit of pre-Grand Prix racing action, make sure you head down to Phillip Island.

The circuit’s 21st annual Classic will feature over 500 historic machines of all shapes and sizes. It’s a massive two-day event, check out www.vhrr.com for more info.

– GREG BOSCATO/STAFF

16

John Morris/Mpix

n THE new promoters of the Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway have just announced that they will be running a $10,000 to win Sprintcar meeting on Easter Saturday.

The East Coast Sprintcar Nationals should attract a strong Sprintcar field, and while the annual Easter Trail down south and big Easter meetings in Queensland usually causes a number of top NSW stars to head interstate, this big money shootout is expected to see the locals stay home.

MINIs aiming for bigger AGP MINI CHALLENGE MINI Challenge organisers are confident of increasing grid numbers for the second round of their series at the Australian Grand Prix in a fortnight.

The one-make series has secured naming rights sponsorship from Hertz and Pizza Capers will continue their support. Last weekend’s Clipsal 500 saw the 2010 series kick off with 12 cars, with 11 racing following Chris Wootton’s qualifying crash.

“The first round was going to be a tough one,” Category Manager Toleman Motorsport’s Raf Toda told eNews.

“There were a number of drivers who didn’t have the chance to test before this weekend and didn’t want to have their first run here at Clipsal.

“But it’s encouraging to see some good new, young blood in the series, with some new faces running against experienced drivers like Paul Stokell and Dean Canto.

“We’re hopeful of getting 16 or 17 cars at the Grand Prix. For a few drivers, this weekend and the Grand Prix is a suck it and see exercise, but we’re confident they’ll stick around.

After that, there’s bit of time before Queensland Raceway, so we’ll see what happens.”

Among the drivers in that

category is Dean Canto. The Bottle-O enduro driver made his MINI debut at Clipsal, will contest the Grand Prix and may continue if sponsorship eventuates.

“I’m happy to be driving something,” he said.

“We’ve got some support from MINI dealers at the moment, if we got more funding, we’d do the series.”

The series is also running a new format in 2010. Race 2 will be a Top 10 Reverse Grid, while points and success ballast are now up for grabs in qualifying. Regular race points are applied to qualifying, with the top three drivers picking up success ballast for Race 1.

– MITCHELL ADAM

Waiting game for Wootton MINI CHALLENGE CHRIS Wootton will have to wait another fortnight to kick off his 2010 MINI Challenge campaign.

The former Formula BMW racer was to have made his second start in the series at Clipsal – following a oneoff at Bathurst in 2008 – but

his weekend ended with a qualifying crash. Wootton’s MINI was extensively damaged in the Turn 1 accident and was sent back to Queensland for repairs.

With Round 2 of the series at the Australian Grand Prix on March 25-28, Wootton is exploring options to race in a replacement car.

“It’s not ideal,” he told eNews.

“I went in a little bit hot, got it out of shape, over-corrected and rolled three times. The damage is mostly superficial.

“We’ll see what happens from here for the Grand Prix. I probably won’t be in that car, but we’ll look at other cars to run.”

– MITCHELL ADAM motorsport news

news

James Smith

Johnny Mac probably won’t be back FUJITSU SERIES JOHN McIntyre is unlikely to return to the Fujitsu Series this year, following the completion of his one-off with Stone Brothers Racing at the Clipsal 500.

The two-time NZV8 Champion piloted the team’s Fujitsu Falcon, filling in for Scott McLaughlin who is set to join the series in Round 2 after fulfilling licence

requirements.

Contesting his second round in the series, McIntyre qualified third-fastest and finished third in Race 1, behind Steve Owen and James Moffat, before crashing out of Sunday’s race at Turn 8.

Having raced with the team last year and in 2007 when they ran the Team Kiwi entry, McIntyre is in the frame to join SBR for this year’s endurance races.

“This was a one-off deal with backing from Fujitsu and Stone Brothers so it was a no brainer to come and do it,” McIntyre told eNews.

“I find it too hard to do here [Fujitsu Series] as well as racing in New Zealand, it’s pretty tough to try and find the budget to do it properly.

“It’s a good chance to get some miles in a V8. If I can get an enduro drive with these guys, it’s got me a little

bit more time again. There’s only two rookie sessions for co-drivers this year and then you’re straight into the races in September, so it’s a long time between drinks if you’re not doing the Fujitsu Series.

“It’s been really enjoyable, I’ve learnt quite a bit about the cars this weekend that I didn’t know beforehand, so hopefully it’s going to help for the end of the year.”

– MITCHELL ADAM

Jarama in June MINI CHALLENGE

Phil Williams

www.mnews.com.au

PAUL Stokell and Chris Alajajian’s trip overseas to contest a round of the MINI Challenge Spain looks like taking place in June.

A prize for finishing first and second in the 2009 Australian Series, the pair were originally pencilled in do race in the season opener at Valencia in May. However a scheduling

clash and the two series’ calendars has made the round at Jarama in June a more likely outcome.

“We were going to do the round in Valencia with the DTM,” Alajajian said.

“But that clashed with one of Paul’s commitments, so we’re waiting to see exactly what will happen – I’m really looking forward to it.”

– MITCHELL ADAM 17

Shuffle for Miedecke’s US program AUSSIES OVERSEAS

Dirk Klynsmith

GEORGE Miedecke’s 2010 Late Models campaign in the USA has undergone a shakeup, with Marcos Ambrose involved in the process.

The JTG Daugherty development driver was to run the Hickory Motor Speedway’s Late Model Championship with Mark Green as his crew chief. However Robert Pressley – father of his team-mate Coleman – will now fill the role.

As a result, Miedecke won’t contest the opening round this weekend, with his first race date to be decided upon his return to the US. Ambrose, who drives for JTG in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup, was involved in making arrangements while Miedecke was in Australia for the V8 Utes 10 Years of Legends race. ‘“Marcos has been helping sort it all out, I spoke to him last night and he told me it was organised,” Miedecke said on Friday.

“It’s a good combination.

I’m probably even more

excited about everything now. Coleman has had a lot of success in Late Models with Robert as his crew chief, and how he’ll look after both cars.

“My first race will be a little later now and it could mean we change the mentality of the year, rather than doing the Hickory Championship we might go and race at some other tracks.”

Miedecke, who had been living with Ambrose, paid tribute to the Sprint Cup driver’s involvement.

“It’s nice that Marcos is involved,” Miedecke said.

“I lived at his house for my first month in America. He was only there for five or six nights in that time, but to give me that sort of opportunity and to have a personal involvement in what I’m doing means a lot.”

Miedecke is yet to turn a wheel in the US, with extensive modifications to his Toyota required to accommodate his height. He leaves Australia today (Tuesday) and expects to test shortly after returning.

– MITCHELL ADAM James Smith

More Masters on the way TOURING CAR MASTERS NEWER cars are on the way to the Touring Car Masters presented by Autobarn.

The series’ renewed Category Management Agreement with CAMS will coincide with a 18

change to sporting regulations, to allow 1976-model cars into the TCM, up from the previous cap of 1973.

Existing models in the series can now be built inline with 1976 specifications, while selected new models will also

be added to the category, including Holden’s SLR 5000 Torana.

“It will be for selected models,” TCM Operations Manager Rowan Harmon told eNews.

“The emphasis will be on under two-litre cars, which will

hopefully encourage things like Toyota Corollas and Celicas into the category as well as the MkII Escort.

“It will be signed off with the CAMS Category Management Agreement in the coming days.”

– MITCHELL ADAM motorsport news

Now at Newsagents!

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Incorporating all your favourite MNews features ... and loads more!

Everything the real motorsport fan needs to know. * How did they do it? We talk to TeamVodafone's engineering guru Ludo Lacroix about T8’s transition – to racewinning Commodores! * Comebacks – can Michael Schumacher succeed? Some have made successful comebacks, others have failed miserably * Williams 30 Years on – AJ won in 1980 ... Patrick Head reflects * Fabulous – rising V8 star Fabian Coulthard at home. * New Blue – James Moffat on life with the factory * The Next Big Finn – rally star Mikko Hirvonen AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!

Grab your copy today! www.mnews.com.au

19

McDonald’s launches Junior Drags competition DRAG RACING MCDONALD’S, in connection with the ANDRA Pro Series and Sydney Dragway, have announced the McDonald’s Rising Star Junior Dragster Competition, running throughout Sydney.

The competition, with a prize worth $15,000 is being run as a tray mat promotion starting from March 12, with entries closing Friday April 2.

The event will take place on Thursday April 29 from 4pm to 6:30pm, where five lucky winners will be provided with one-on-one tuition with three time Top Fuel Champion Phil Read,

and undertake practical tests in reaction time, terminal speed, 200 metre time, car control and basic engineering feedback.

All attendees will receive the opportunity to sit in Phil Read’s 8000hp Top Fuel Dragster and have a guided pit tour by Phil and Crew Chief, Bruce Read.

The five winners will compete against each other and the winner on the day will be the title holder of the McDonald’s Rising Star Junior Dragster competition.

“I’m pleased and honoured that a company like McDonald’s has asked me to participate in this program, as it is a great initiative not

only for the young kids of today who have the opportunity to drive these junior racecars, but to also introduce them to our great family sport of drag racing and to educate these young kids in driving skills that they can use in the future,” said Read.

“I would like to thank McDonald’s for their great support of this program and our race team.”

Mark Halford, owner of McDonald’s Windsor branch added, “we are excited that the Junior Dragster competition provides young, aspiring dragsters with the confidence and opportunity to become the best drivers

they can possibly be and embrace the competition’s commitment to junior development. McDonald’s sees this partnership as a great way to support Sydney Dragway in promoting junior drag racing in a safe environment.”

The McDonald’s Rising Star Junior Dragster competition is open to children between six and 16 years of age. Those interested and residing in Sydney should head to their nearest McDonald’s restaurant and fill in the official entry form on the tray and send it to: McDonald’s Junior Dragster Competition, PO Box 392, Pennant Hills NSW 2120.

Mildura hosts Doorslammers DRAG RACING THE Mildura Slamfest is on this Friday and Saturday, March 19 and 20.

14 Top Doorslammers have so far nominated to take to the Sunset Strip eighth-mile venue, with a prize pool of $50,000.

Several Doorslammer teams will be in

town for a week prior to the event, doing promotions while local schools attended a free ‘people’s day’, held on the Friday prior to the event for a road safety talk in cooperation with the local police service.

The community effort by the Top Doorslammer teams has encouraged local authorities to add serious contributions towards the success of the event.

The event is open to all Top Doorslamer teams and the current entry list is: Maurice Fabietti, Peter Kapiris, Victor and Ben Bray, Andrew Sutton, Paul and John Cannuli, Sean Mifsud, Ray Bernard, Mat Abel, Scotty Maclean, Rob Broadbent, Deno Brijeski, Craig Burns and Dale Clothier.

– LUKE NIEUWHOF

ANDRA Pro Series news is proudly presented by:

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motorsport news

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news

ANDERSON’S RECORD Nitros star in WA RUN IN COMP BIKE DRAG RACING

DRAG RACING

Luke Nieuwhof

THE Rocket Allstars Racing Series is at its halfway point, with sportsman drag racers from around Australia gathering most recently at the Westernationals in Perth to take their shot at national points.

Competition Bike rider Neil Anderson has proved totally dominant in the WA championship, and the local carried that form into the Westernationals, taking victory over Queensland’s David Rundmann in the final.

Anderson has won seven events in a row now in a demoralising performance for his opposition. His defeat of David Rundmann came with a fantastic .003 reaction time and a national record setting 9.06s pass on his Kawasaki ZX10R, B/Street Bike-classed machine.

“I freaked out when I saw the .003 light, but I had Rundy and I had to give up a tenth and a half on the index so I needed to ride well,” Anderson said.

Resetting the national record in Group Two categories such as Competition Bike is something of a poison chalice. While the competitor gets the certificate and the pride of the record, it also lowers the national index for the class, which basically means the handicap for racers in that class becomes less. Anderson lowered his record by 0.15s, a significant margin in a sport where thousandths of a second frequently decide races.

Anderson actually ran quick enough to reset the record in round one when he didn’t see a red light from Glen Higgins in the other lane.

“A national record is just a number, it’s there to be broken,” he said.

“It’s a big chunk to take off the record. The next two events (of the state series) are going to be harder now with resetting that.”

Anderson is not currently planning to travel to take advantage of the Rocket Allstars Racing Series points he now has, preferring to stay local and see if he can wrap up a ‘perfect season’.

“We have as tough a field as anywhere in WA,” he said.

“Each meeting and each run can change things, I’m going to have to be really good to win the last two.”

– LUKE NIEUWHOF

ANDRA Pro Series on

ROUND 8 of Perth Motorplex’s nine-round state series will be held this Saturday, March 20, with three Nitro Funny Cars match racing.

Damien Harris, Mark Sheehan and Fergie Donaldson will make up the field. Harris is Australia’s quickest and fastest Funny Car driver and would love to reset the record at his home track, while Sheehan is hot on his tails after recently running his first four-second pass.

Golden oldies in Sydney DRAG RACING ALMOST 200 old-school cars have entered for the Nostalgia Drags at Sydney Dragway.

The event will see a new category trialled, Six-Banger, open to six cylinder sedans.

The Nostalgia Drags will also feature all the regular brackets including Nostalgia Outlaw, Junior Fuel, Gas, Aussie and US Muscle, Hambsters, Hot Rod and more.

– LUKE NIEUWHOF

Sunday, March 22

Next ANDRA Pro Series Round: ENZED Top Fuel Championships, Willowbank Raceway, April 17-18 www.mnews.com.au

21

Five Minutes with ...

TONY D’ALBERTO

With a pair of Top 10 qualifying performances and seventh on Sunday, Clipsal was a breakthrough event for the former Fujitsu Series Champ. MITCHELL ADAM spoke to him MOTORSPORT NEWS: You’ve got to be happy with how your weekend went ...

TONY D’ALBERTO: Yeah, I’m really happy.

I suppose Saturday was the biggest disappointment, not getting in the Top 10, just having those mechanical problems (ED: broken anti-roll bar).

But it was a great race today, I really enjoyed it, being able to fight with guys.

At the end there, it started raining and we took it up to a few guys, so I’m really rapt.

Late in the race, you were putting on some good moves, how good was it to be racing up with that front pack?

It was great. It’s what we’ve been aiming to do. Over in Bahrain, the car wasn’t very good. But this weekend, for whatever reason, we’ve turned it around and I’m really rapt. The guys’ stops were awesome, it was a fairytale weekend to be honest.

This result is a really big boost in confidence, and obviously we’re looking for a major backer, so it helps. We’ve had a lot of support and a lot of people saying congratulations. They just had me up in the press conference room in-front of everyone. I finished seventh and they had the Top Three up there, it was cool.

I just want to keep doing it. Motor racing is so much more enjoyable when you’re going well.

When I spoke to you yesterday (Saturday), you were saying that you haven’t really done anything differently to Bahrain. You rocked up here, threw on last year’s setup and went from there.

Yeah, the car just suits this style of circuit.

Over there, with the slippery surface and long corners, it doesn’t like it at all and we were a long way off the pace. A long way off the pace ...

It’s really weird to come here and have two Top 10 qualifiers and a seventh in the race, it’s just amazing. I can’t believe the way things change around. Even Garth, he obviously won both races and was much stronger than he’d been in the last two weekends.

It goes to show that when the car’s right, 22

a lot of the guys in the field can do the job – there’s not that many bad operators anymore. It’s just been a really good weekend.

Did you end up changing the setup much over the weekend?

Little bits and pieces, but just a couple of shock and spring changes, that’s about it. Nothing major. In Bahrain, we were changing things every single race to try and get some direction, which sort of highlights that we weren’t in the window.

This weekend, the car’s on fire.

For a small team like yours, and you invested in your own REC over the offseason, weekends like this must be pretty satisfying.

In the last couple of years we’ve run our own team, but under the banner of Rod Nash Racing, and now we basically operate it ourselves. It’s a little bit less complicated to be honest; you don’t have my Dad looking after the operational side and Rod Nash looking after the commercial side.

Not that there were any bad terms or anything, but it’s just a little bit less complicated now and we can focus on our job a little bit more. The biggest thing we need to find is sponsorship and a weekend like this helps.

Definitely, it looked like you were getting plenty of airtime ...

We’ve been really fighting with that sort of stuff lately, trying to get some coverage and at some race meetings you wouldn’t even know we are there.

We don’t really get involved in too much biffo, so we don’t get seen there, and we haven’t been getting the results, so we’ve sort of been in No-Mans Land. This weekend, Channel 7 has done a great job, they’ve shown us on the coverage and highlighted that we’re going well and I really appreciate that.

A big part of that is getting a run in the Top 10 shootout, what were you thinking going out there to do that lap?

I’ve never done one, obviously, and I probably drove the car tentatively. I took it easy, didn’t want to make a mistake and I was happy – even with the time I did, I wasn’t really that unhappy with it. I thought that if a couple of guys stuff up, we’d pounce and pick up a couple of spots.

We qualified 10th and even if we ended up 10th in the shootout, I didn’t care. The coverage you get from doing that is great.

I can’t believe it, still, it’s like a pole for our team. I qualified 10th again today, but it doesn’t mean the same as being in the shootout. I’m just glad to repay the boys, it’s been a lean couple of years.

Coming off the Fujitsu Series – and being pretty dominant in that series, always being up the front – being at the back and not being able to make a lot of headway is pretty hard. You do a lot of soul-searching and try to figure out way.

This weekend, it sort of came together for whatever reason and I just hope we can repeat it more often.

The next round is at Hamilton, another street circuit, do you think the car will work there well too?

It has been very good there in the past. We haven’t actually cracked a result there yet, but both times we’ve been there we’ve had a quick car and last year we were well inside the [top] 10 but I clipped the wall and broke the Watts Linkage.

We’re going to try a few things at the Grand Prix and see if we can get that style of circuit better. Obviously when we race on these flowing tracks we want to move up the grid a little bit.

Speaking of the Grand Prix, I guess it’ll be nice to go back to a home event for you on the back of such a good result.

Absolutely. We’ll have a few beers when we get back home tonight and, obviously, the Grand Prix is a big race but it’s not for championship points so you can have a bit of fun and try some things.

There’s only short races at the Grand Prix so I think I might actually enjoy the Formula 1 a little bit more this year. motorsport news

chat

Dirk Klynsmith

www.mnews.com.au

23

Personal

Martin D Clark NASCAR Editor

A

Ford Media

FEW eyebrows have been raised after Carl Edwards was placed on probation for three races by NASCAR for his actions that lead to Brad Keselowski flipping violently at Atlanta Motor Speedway last week.

The pair had a history of rubbing each other wrong way and, of course, Edwards went airborne, courtesy of Keselowski, at Talladega last year when Edwards came down on Kes on the front stretch for the win. Keselowski held his ground as Edwards tried to move him below the yellow ‘out of bounds’ line. Kes won and Edwards went into the catch fencing, sending debris into the grandstand and injuring race fans.

The fact that Edwards’d Roush Fenway crew spent 150 laps in the garage area repairing his Ford at Atlanta, and then for him to try once unsuccessfully to turn Brad and then spin him out on the front stretch at a racetrack that sees the highest straight line speed in the series had many raising their eyebrows. Keselowski was having his best run since joining the Penske team over the winter, lying sixth on the track at the time of the incident.

Edwards admitted to the deliberate contact, but he apparently didn’t expect the result of Brad’s car rolling and hitting the outside wall with squarely with the centre of the roof. The roll cage came within an inch or so of

24

Keselowski’s helmet when the roof caved in substantially.

“Brad knows the deal between him and I,” remarked Edwards.

“The scary part was his car went airborne, which was not at all what I expected. At the end of the day, we’re out here to race and people have to have respect for one another and I have a lot of respect for people’s safety. I wish it wouldn’t have gone like it did, but I’m glad he’s OK and we’ll just go on and race some more and maybe him and I won’t get in any more incidents together. That would be the best thing.”

Many feel NASCAR should have fined Edwards with points or money, and some even expected a suspension. And there are questions; why didn’t he wait until Bristol this Sunday to act? The reason for his immediate actions, he says, is because at Bristol or Martinsville, he could damage other cars in the tight quarters racing and get other drivers mad at him.

Edwards has always had the clean-cut image and we’ve heard many times, “I didn’t mean to do it,” from him during his brief career, when it’s been obvious he was responsible for his actions. He’s also had run-ins with many drivers and, with Keselowski saying he’s not going to change his aggressive style, we could see more fireworks from the two in the future, not necessarily with each other though. motorsport news

comment

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www.mnews.com.au

Personal Phil Branagan Executive Editor

Phil Williams

ELL, that was a funny moment.

There I was, standing at the rear of the TeamVodafone garage, shortly after the end of Sunday’s Race 6 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series. Jamie Whincup has just hopped out of his car, hot and no doubt flustered, and was sitting on a bench at the front of the garage, verbally downloading what he felt after his black flag and pitlane visit.

I was not really expecting JDub to come over and vent his anger to me –years of dealing with the guy have shown that he thinks before he speaks – but it was still my job to wait to see whether he would explode. He didn’t.

Then, behind me, ‘beep beep’. An official on a motorbike had worked his way through the throng and nosed his bike to near the entrance to Foneland. I looked and thought not much of him until, again, ‘beep beep’. I looked again, and he was holding the offending belly pan that had been hit, then departed the #1 Commodore before being recovered by track marshals.

And now, he was delivering it. To me.

The team members were all at the front of the garage. There was nobody else to take it, so I did.

For a split second, I considered bolting, in order to make untold fortunes by selling the nowinfamous item on eBay. Heck, if Jamie would only sign a certificate of authenticity, maybe I could have paid off my mortgage.

But I admit; years of Catholic education have left me with a healthy guilt button, and this triggered it. So, I had a good look – it seemed pretty much unscathed by its recent adventures – wandered into the garage and handed it to the nearest team member, a slightly surprised looking Peter Jamieson.

“I don’t think this will fit my car PJ,” I said, handing it over.

Okay, enough fame-by-association.

Was the team happy? No. Was the call fair? Depends on from where you make that judgement. Did it cost JDub? Yes. Hell, yes.

But, I have seen matters like this many times.

In two decades of reporting on this sport, I cannot recall ever having seen a black flag withdrawn. This has happened to other teams, up and down the grid, before, and the common reaction is, it’s not fair to ping someone for a loose item after that item has fallen off and ceased to be a danger to following drivers.

But, so far as my memory serves, the call always stands.

And, it will happen again, maybe to TeamVodafone, certainly to other teams. There will be unhappy noises coming from the team concerned but before that happens, you can bet that there will be other controversies that require our attention …

25

V8 SUPERCARS RACES 5-6, CLIPSAL 500

RED RED READY

When V8 Supercars star drivers fought two battle royals on the Adelaide streets, Garth Tander picked his moment to score his first two wins, bag 300 points and turn around the Holden Racing Team’s season.

By PHIL BRANAGAN

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motorsport news

race

Phil Williams

www.mnews.com.au

27

T

HE hard part about making no mistakes – well, none worth mentioning – in the opening races of a new season is that the ones you make thereafter take on unrealistic proportions.

So, when Jamie Whincup left the pits, in the lead, it looked like a handful of fingers was going to be required to tabulate his wins. But the TeamVodafone Commodore was soon on the defensive as Garth Tander, James Courtney and on the final laps, Lee Holdworth swept by, to put Whincup not just off the top step of the podium but off it altogether.

While Whincup was conserving fuel, Tander sped on to take his first win of the season, and first in Adelaide.

“You are only as good as your last race,” said a visibly relieved Tander later. “I’ll that that.”

And, after his first win since Alistair McVean replaced his long-time engineer, ‘Techo’ Nilsson; “We have gelled well first-up.

He is a human calculator, that is why we had good fuel numbers.”

James Courtney had a terrible morning.

While Tander blamed himself for not being 28

on pole position, the Jim Beam man started from 17th and made a raft of changes before the race.

“I wasn’t too happy, so we went the other way and we turned it into a jet!” he said.

The two drivers clashed mid-race, Courtney backing out of the throttle while Tander caught the car beautifully.

“I could have got past him,” Courtney mused after the race, “But it would have been an a---hole move.”

Yep, we do not want any of those ...

So, Whincup dropped to third, then gave Holdsworth that spot with a few laps left in the race. More than one observer questioned post-race whether, in the confusion, Whincup rejoined after that stop with the rears that were meant for Lowndes’s car, which arrived a second after car #1 departed. At the end of the race, it transpired that the tyres marked with a #1 were hot, ie, having just come off a racecar, so the whole matter went quiet.

What was evident was that the team should have provided JDub with four tyres at the stop, not two (team boss Roland Dane admitting as much) and that there is much

to do before KRE’s Chevy motors can match its 2009 Ford versions for fuel consumption excellence.

Of course, Whincup had already made a driving error, having run wide at Turn 9 and allowing Tander to take the lead, only to give it back when they pitted half a lap later.

As we said, there were multiple errors made in this race.

With the mighty falling – well, stumbling, anyway – the rest of the story of the race was about typical of a Clipsal bunfight.

Craig Lowndes’ hopes of any decent result were dashed when he clanged into Will Davison, accepting his drive-through penalty with appropriate sangfroid. Ditto for Mark Winterbottom, who collected a hit up the rear, aided and abetted by a gearbox glitch that delayed him on an upshift.

The other contender in the race, Shane van Gisbergen, was stopped by deranged front suspension, caused by a tyre stack.

One supposes there is a good reason to use 19th century technology on 21st century racetracks, but it is doubtful The Giz thought that on Saturday night ... motorsport news

race

Race 5

Dirk Klynsmith Dirk Klynsmith

Dirk Klynsmith

Greased Lightening: Tander made the start of the year in Race 5 to jump pole-sitter Whincup, top, while the Safety Car finally got a work-out, above. Lee Holdsworth cruised to third place thanks to Whincup’s late dramas, left, although it was James Courtney who took home the Gold Star for effort, coming from nowhere to shadow Tander at the finish, below.

Dirk Klynsmith

Dirk Klynsmith

www.mnews.com.au

29

T

HE cream rises to the top. At least, it is supposed to.

And it did, with Garth Tander taking a double win after fighting off Jamie Whincup, James Courtney, Mark Winterbottom and Shane van Gisbergen to add a second win to his Adelaide tally, and mark himself as the only man in contention to win V8 Supercars’ Grand Slam, as unlikely an event as that seems to be.

It was less about the result – okay, the 300 points help Tander out, a lot – but this day was about the racing, and the first ontrack controversies in the Australian leg of the series. The incident that saw Whincup’s rear ‘undertray’ hit by Courtney, then sit askew, then fall off, before JDub was required to serve a black-flag pit visit, will be argued about long and hard before this season is done. See news pages for more detail …

But Tander, reports of whose demise were seriously exaggerated, was not getting carried away with notions that he was back in the title hunt.

“No, not yet,” he smiled after the race.

“We still need to have quite a few results like this.

“The Sunday race in Adelaide never fails

to deliver, does it?”

What appeared to be a balancing act on fuel management was less than that, though.

“It was tight. There’s not a lot of fuel left in the tank. As soon as we went green, I knew we were okay.”

Courtney, whose contact left Whincup pitbound (“I didn’t touch it, it came off by itself!”) admitted that he lacked, perhaps, the ultimate speed to win, particularly when his best qualifying lap was booted after he leapt all four wheels over the T1/ T2 kerb.

“A flawless run by Garth. I think I passed about 300 cars today.”

Frosty’s day was hampered by an electrical glitch, which prompted a misfire when leaving after his first stop, and a brush with the Turn 8 wall that knocked his fuel pump and caused the odd misfire. But, the consistent speed is there, consistently, and he still looks to be Holden’s biggest threat.

Turn 8 was in the news again when the new, wider inside kerb broke up, and drivers were critical of the decision to clean it up and let them continue, particularly Tander. In the end, no harm was done, but it does seem a call at odds

with recent activities, that have seen an entire state’s fans do without their longestablished V8 Supercar round because of Occupational Health and Safety matters …

Of the rest of the field, The Giz must have been praying for something more than a few spots of rain on the windscreen, Greg Murphy’s diabolical weekend was completed when he broke a Watts Linkage early on (at least he has plenty of practice tyres to choose from, so expect a big Friday from him in Hamilton) and Tony D’Alberto starred – no other word seems appropriate – while running inside the top 10, again, on his way to a stellar seventh.

Perceptions are a funny thing.

“At the end of the say, we got no reward, and now points, for our efforts today,” Whincup said on Sunday evening.

He came to Adelaide leading the championship by 57 points. He and Winterbottom both filed 171 from the weekend, and the gap is still 57 points.

While JDub was down in the mouth after his weekend, so long as the opposition keeps experiencing highs and lows, he is in control of the championship.

At least, that is, until GT gets into some clean air …

Phil Williams

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Race 6

John Morris/Mpix Dirk Klynsmith

Dirk Klynsmith

Clash of the Titans: The Tander/Whincup war continued into Race 6, top, before Whincup’s day was ruined by a trip down pit lane. GRM was impressed with Caruso’s day’s work, above left, while Frosty continued to bank points, after a disappointing Race 5, above. Tony D’Alberto showed promise all weekend, left.

Dirk Klynsmith

www.mnews.com.au

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Dirk Klynsmith

WINNERS GARTH TANDER: Things looked grim after the Middle East, but now GT is back in title contention, and the one in with a shot of the $2m ‘Grand Slam’ prize.

MARK WINTERBOTTOM: Wasn’t the best weekend for Frosty, but he is still Ford’s best hope, and kept his points haul ticking over.

JAMES COURTNEY: Finally, JC looks like the real deal. He’s one of the ‘guns’ now, all he needs is a few more race wins.

TONY D’ALBERTO: It’s taken the 2007 Fujitsu Series champ a long time to look like he belongs in the main game – probably too long – but in Adelaide he looked very comfortable in the Top 10. Question is, can he keep it up in New Zealand?

LOSERS KERB HOPPERS: Jumpin the kerb at the Senna Chicane cost dearly this year. If you did it in quali, you didn’t lose that lap time, you lost your best lap time for the session.

Ouch!

JAMIE WHINCUP: Lucky for Jamie, even his bad weekends aren’t too bad. But having to pit for a loose piece of bodywork that has already fallen off is a tough pill to swallow.

CRAIG LOWNDES: Drove slowly, and crashed into things. The streets of Adelaide haven’t been a happy hunting ground for CL lately. His performance capped of a disappointing weekend for the ‘Fones.

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Thommo’s Turn 8 Trouble

THIS year, it was Andrew Thompson’s turn to be the Turn 8 headline maker.

The reprofiled corner grabbed the Bundaberg Red Commodore when the youngster stepped too far over the inside kerb on the way in. After the VE rattled to a halt, the car was ferried back to the pits and, initially, diagnosed as a fixer for Sunday. But closer examination revealed more, and more significant, damage and the relocated Queensander skipped both races.

“It’s just too much damage, and it was not just the impact but the G-forces,” explained team manager Erik Pender.

“The engine mounts had a big tweak, and the fuel tank was ripped out. We just can’t guarantee that we can put it together, for today [Sunday], safely.”

Thompson was disappointed, but look for him to have learned a lesson for the next race at Hamilton.

Keeping up with the Joneses BRADLEY Jones looked a tad tired when he arrived at the track at 9am on Sunday morning.

A late time for a team principal to be arriving at a championship event, one might think. Yes, Jones admitted, but he had an excuse.

“I’ve been in Melbourne,” he said.

With three BJR cars on the

track, time at a premium, and Jason Bright’s car not performing on Saturday as the Alburys would have liked, it was left to Brad to take on the delivery duties. So, AdelaideMelbourne, pick up parts (unspecified), sleep a few hours before an early morning departure back to Adelaide.

We mention this because last month, Jimmie Johnson felt a tad guilty after crashing

one of Gainsco’s cars in practice for the 24 Hours of Daytona. Parts needed to be picked up from Charlotte and delivered south, so the reigning Sprint Cup Champion despatched his jet and pilots to do the run.

V8 Supercar team owners can do pretty well financially out of the sport, but they still have a way to go to match the clout of their American cousins. motorsport news

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Dirk Klynsmith

SLADE: TOUGH TRIP HOME TWELVE months ago, Tim Slade made his V8 Supercar debut at his home track. It was a tough initiation, though, finding the concrete each day.

This year, he wanted a finish. Saturday wasn’t his day, though. After qualifying 21st, he was running in 17th, when he hit the Turn 8 wall.

“To be honest, I still don’t know exactly how it happened,” Slade said.

“We had good pace and I was just motoring up on Russ [Russell Ingall] and Davo [Alex Davison] and I wasn’t even pushing hard. My aim was to cruise around and get to the end.

“I think I just turned in slightly too late and under brakes, the rear was a bit loose. You catch it, but once it sort of goes you run out of road on the exit. There was a moment where I thought I could hang on but it just kept going.

“I was shattered; I thought I’d gotten over that. At Homebush last year, another street circuit, we had a good run there and had good pace. I thought I had it out of my system.”

Slade was back on track for Sunday, finishing his first Clipsal 500 leg in 17th.

“It’s a massive relief to get that off my back, to finish one,” he said.

“We picked a few off and actually two-stopped the race. It started to rain and then I probably got a bit too cautious and got passed by a few, but just brought it home.

“The tyres were fairly average towards the end, two-stopping, but in that middle stint we had really good pace. We ran with Lowndes and kept him behind until he biffed me off, we lost a few positions there as well.

“It would’ve been nice to finish a little bit higher up but there’s only one DNF too so that makes it extra hard.”

– MITCHELL ADAM www.mnews.com.au

FROM THE COUCH with ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN THANK Goodness.

V8 Supercars returned to Australia, and turned back into a spectacle. The season has now really started.

After watching the V8s wallowing around on the billiard table-smooth Middle Eastern tracks, looking slow and cumbersome from a distance, it was an absolute pleasure to see them on the streets of Adelaide. The cars were firing over kerbs, bouncing over bumps, brushing walls and looking impressive. If you were a channel surfer, and you happen to hit the ‘Seven’ button on the remote just as a car was doing that little step out at the rear in between the Senna Chicane and Turn 3, you’d be hard pressed to change the station. Mighty

impressive stuff.

It’s been a few years since I’ve watched the Clipsal 500 on television, but jeez it looks good. I thought Seven’s intro was excellent, highlighting exactly how physically draining this event really is.

It tapped into the essence of the sport – and I emphasise the word sport – in a way that the V8SA commercial with Pink fails to do.

I also like the way that Mark Skaife referred to the Clipsal 500 as being in the same ball park as Bathurst when it comes to prestige (I’m paraphrasing here). It’s a good point from Skaifey, and something that watching the telecast really rams home. It’s also another reason why this race should be the season opener.

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RAIN DAN FAN SCAN WITH so many talking points in V8 Supercar racing, we thought it might be timely to ask some of the fans at the Clipsal 500 what they thought of things.

The questions we asked were; What do you think of the Adelaide race being the third round of the series, after the Middle East double?

What do you think about allowing new manufacturers into the series to take on Ford and Holden? Which one would you like to see?

Do you think one team dominating the series is a good thing?

Kate Timmons, Adelaide “I don’t really mind about it being third.

I come to the race every year, so it’s not really important to me.

“I think it would be a good idea. The cars we see now are really Ford and Chevy racecars, so they are already different from road cars. I would like to see Toyotas and Mercedes-Benz come in.

“I think that domination is great.

TeamVodafone is my favourite team anyway, so tell Jamie not to slow down!”

Ben Lees, “almost 11”, Adelaide “I don’t think it’s good that much. I would like to see Adelaide be the first race.

“Yes, more makes are good. I wouldn’t mind that, it would mix up the results.

“Domination is okay. They get to take home the trophies, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”

Hayden Thain, Adelaide “I would like to have seen Adelaide be the first round of the series. But I understand why the calendar is how it is, and the need to go there [to the Middle East] first.

“A new maker might be interesting. I would like to see that.

“No, domination is not such a bad thing. It seems to happen; HRT did it, now it’s TeamVodafone. They can sort it out on the track.”

If you want to have your say about these issues and more, Tweet us @motorsportenews 34

Results :: Race 5 – Adelaide Pos

#

Driver

Team/Car

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNS

2 18 33 1 55 14 24 34 22 39 4 17 7 3 19 12 6 30 888 16 5 9 15 8 51 21 47 11 10

Garth Tander James Courtney Lee Holdsworth Jamie Whincup Paul Dumbrell Jason Bright Fabian Coulthard Michael Caruso Will Davison Russell Ingall Alex Davison Steven Johnson Todd Kelly Tony D’Alberto Jonathon Webb Dean Fiore Steven Richards Daniel Gaunt Craig Lowndes Tony Ricciardello Mark Winterbottom Shane Van Gisbergen Rick Kelly Jason Richards Greg Murphy Karl Reindler Tim Slade Jason Bargwanna Andrew Thompson

Toll Holden Racin Jim Beam Racing Fujitsu Racing Com TeamVodafone Co The Bottle-O Raci Trading Post Racin Bundaberg Red Ra Fujitsu Racing / G Toll Holden Racin Supercheap Auto Irwin Racing Falco Jim Beam Racing Jack Daniel’s Raci Centaur Racing C Dick Johnson Rac Triple F Racing Fa Dunlop Super Dea Gulf Western Oil R TeamVodafone Co Supermax Racing Orrcon Steel FPR F SP Tools Racing Fa Jack Daniel’s Raci Team BOC Comm Castrol Edge Racin Fair Dinkum Shed Wilson Security Ra Rock Racing Com Bundaberg Red Ra

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NCER

WHEN the rain – albeit minimal – finally arrived on Sunday afternoon, Paul Dumbrell revelled in the conditions.

In the last 15 laps, he charged from 12th to fifth, and was one of the fastest cars on the track. He caught Mark Winterbottom and Shane Van Gisbergen and was in the mix for the final podium position, but couldn’t make a move and finished fifth.

“I was pretty much hoping it would keep on precipitating at the same amount – it seemed like everyone else was being a bit conservative and our car was just superb,” he said.

“It gave me all the confidence I needed. Tony D’Alberto fired through a little bit and I got past him and managed to fire on – another couple of laps would’ve been interesting.”

With a pair of fifths, the weekend was Dumbrell’s best to date in a Ford, continuing a promising start to his Blue career. While he qualified second provisionally and fourth in the

shootout on Saturday, his run on Sunday was from 18th on the grid.

“We had a few brake dramas and throttle issues,” he said.

“If we were in the Top 10, with our pace, we should be on the podium, but we came from a little bit further back than a couple of the other blokes.

“I couldn’t wish for a better start to the year. It’s a really good team. There’s three professional teams in Australia - Walkinshaw Racing, ourselves at FPR and Triple Eight. To walk straight in from Holden, after eight or 10 years there, to Ford, I couldn’t have wished for anything better.

“I always knew that the Falcon was about carrying the corner speed in, and that’s always been my style. In the last two years at WR, I’ve really tried to drill that out of me. But here, straight away, it’s hit the spot and we’ve been able to do a good job.”

– MITCHELL ADAM

Top 10 Points: Points: Whincup 771, Winterbottom 714, Courtney 696, van Gisbergen 630, Holdsworth 573, Lowndes 552, R Kelly 530, Dumbrell 489, Caruso 462, Johnson 455.

Results :: Race 6 – Adelaide Parklands

Parklands

ng Team Commodore VE Falcon FG mmodore VE ommodore VE ing Team Falcon FG ng Commodore VE acing Team Commodore VE GRM Commodore VE ng Team Commodore VE Racing Commodore VE on FG Falcon FG ing Commodore VE Commodore VE cing Falcon FG alcon FG aler FPR Falcon Falcon FG Racing Commodore VE ommodore VE g Commodore VE Falcon Falcon FG alcon FG ing Commodore VE modore VE ng Commodore VE ds Racing Commodore VE acing Falcon FG mmodore VE acing Team Commodore VE www.mnews.com.au

Qual

Pos

#

Driver

Team/Car

Qual

2 16 8 1 4 14 6 17 19 20 23 13 11 10 25 24 18 28 7 27 3 9 15 5 12 26 21 22 29

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 DNF DNS

2 18 5 9 55 15 3 17 8 34 33 7 6 22 19 888 47 1 39 21 16 12 4 11 30 14 24 51 10

Garth Tander James Courtney Mark Winterbottom Shane Van Gisbergen Paul Dumbrell Rick Kelly Tony D’Alberto Steven Johnson Jason Richards Michael Caruso Lee Holdsworth Todd Kelly Steven Richards Will Davison Jonathon Webb Craig Lowndes Tim Slade Jamie Whincup Russell Ingall Karl Reindler Tony Ricciardello Dean Fiore Alex Davison Jason Bargwanna Daniel Gaunt Jason Bright Fabian Coulthard Greg Murphy Andrew Thompson

Toll HRT Commodore VE Jim Beam Racing Falcon FG Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon FG SP Tools Falcon FG The Bottle-O Falcon FG Jack Daniel’s Commodore VE Centaur Racing Commodore VE Jim Beam Racing Falcon FG Team BOC Commodore VE Fujitsu Racing/GRM Commodore VE Fujitsu Racing/GRM Commodore VE Jack Daniel’s Racing Commodore VE Dunlop Super Dealer FPR Falcon FG Toll HRT Commodore VE Dick Johnson Racing Falcon FG TeamVodafone Commodore VE Wilson Security Racing Falcon FG TeamVodafone Commodore VE Supercheap Auto Commodore VE Fair Dinkum Sheds Commodore VE Supermax Racing Commodore VE Triple F Racing Falcon FG Irwin Racing Falcon FG Rock Racing Commodore VE Gulf Western Oil Commodore VE Trading Post Racing Commodore VE Bundaberg Red Commodore VE Castrol Edge Racing Commodore VE Bundaberg Red Commodore VE

1 9 3 8 18 6 10 4 11 5 15 22 13 7 21 14 23 2 19 24 28 26 20 25 27 16 17 12 DNQ 35

FUJITSU SERIES ROUND 1, CLIPSAL 500

Welcome back Steve Owen was in fine form in a one-off return to the Fujitsu Series, scoring a pair of dominant wins on the streets of Adelaide. MITCHELL ADAM was there

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Dirk Klynsmith

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Phil Williams

POLE and two wins from two starts. On paper, Steve Owen’s opening round victory in the Fujitsu Series looks pretty easy. In reality, it was also pretty straight-forward.

After getting a late call-up to join Greg Murphy Racing and showcase what their exSprint Gas Commodores can do, Owen was the pick of the field in Adelaide. With a headturning 1:22.2059 laptime, he took pole position by half a second. James Moffat got the jump and the pair held their nerve through Turn 1 on the opening lap of Race 1. It was Moffat who emerged in-front, but a moment mid-lap gave Owen the lead again.

Including a new lap record - breaking his own mark from 2008 by 0.5s - he cruised to a five-second win, GMR’s first in the series. Race 2 on Sunday saw more of the same, although this time he led all the way to record a comfortable victory.

“We rolled the car out of the truck and we thought it was going to be fairly competitive 38

and it was actually a little bit further away than we thought,” Owen said.

“We worked on the car a bit and we turned it into a jet. It’s been a perfect weekend.”

Owen’s pace in good equipment was really no surprise, and he relished the opportunity of extra laps in a V8 Supercar ahead of his TeamVodafone endurance role later this year.

“We have a lot of ride days through the year and a lot of test days and that sort of thing, but there’s nothing like racing on a new tyre, qualifying and being in race conditions and that’s what this weekend’s all about, and it’ll be invaluable come October,” he said.

Moffat was Owen’s closest challenger. In his first weekend with Ford Rising Stars Racing, the man who finished second in last year’s series was second in each race. With Owen’s appearance expected to be a one-off, it was a good haul of points to start his championship campaign.

“It’s a solid start to the

Championship for us,” he said.

“It would have been nice to challenge Steve a bit more. For me, it’s a bit of a different approach from past seasons, particularly last year where I was going round by round; I was probably more concerned about results at each round whereas this year I have the luxury of being able to concentrate on the Championship.”

Following an off-season move of his own to Matthew White Motorsport, David Russell had a Friday to forget, finishing 14th after being turned around by Tim Blanchard on Lap 18 as they contested fourth. Sunday was a good’un, though, coming through the field to pick up third.

Deputising for Scott McLaughlin in SBR’s reborn Fujitsu Series program, John McIntyre took third in Race 1, but crashed at Turn 8 on the opening lap of Race 2.

That left a fresh crop of rookies - Ant Pedersen, Tim Blanchard and Nick Percat -

fighting it out for the final spot on the round podium.

Pedersen, the discovery of the weekend, and Blanchard, who copped a drive-through for the contact with Russell, ended the weekend tied on points in third. It was Pedersen who got the nod, though, after finishing fourth to Blanchard’s fifth in Race 2.

Percat nailed his first two race starts in a V8. He benefited from the Russell/ Blanchard clash to finish fourth on Friday, but a mechanical black flag for a loose mirror on Sunday saw him finish 10th. All three are chasing dollars to do the full season, but showed signs they’re made of the right stuff.

Behind Blanchard on Sunday, was Drew Russell. Like David Russell, he fought through the field from down the order, 16th, after a broken shock ended his race on Friday. Geoff Emery and Marcus Zukanovic, making his first start in the series since his 2009 pre-season testing crash, each picked up a pair of Top 10 finishes. motorsport news

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Rob Lang Peter Bury

Fellow rookies Percat, above, and Blanchard, above right, also showed good signs.

James Smith

McIntyre was looking good until his Sunday crash, top left, which saw Pedersen, top right, take the final podium spot.

Dirk Klynsmith

Owen and Moffat played nice through T1 on Friday, opposite page.

Results : Fujitsu V8s Round 1 - Clipsal 500 Pos

#

Driver

Team/Car

Qual

R1

R2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

45 99 26 999 222 28 48 71 777 96 59 75 93 58 32 021 66 62 66 95

Steve Owen James Moffat Ant Pedersen Tim Blanchard Nick Percat David Russell Geoff Emery Marcus Zukanovic Rodney Jane Ryan Hansford Aaren Russell Aaron McGill John McIntyre Drew Russell Paul Fiore Matthew Hamilton Paul Morris Adam Wallis Phil Foster Nathan Vince

Greg Murphy Racing Commodore VE 1 Norton 360 Ford Rising Stars Falcon BF 2 MW Motorsport Falcon BF 5 Sonic Motor Racing Services Falcon BF 6 Jay Motorsport Commodore VZ 8 Team Jayco Ford BF 4 NDD-National Directory Dist. Commodore VZ 10 Action Racing Commodore VZ 9 Bob Jane T-Marts Falcon BF 11 V8 Race Experience Falcon BF 14 Go Karts Go/ESET Falcon BF 17 McGill Motorsport Falcon BA 16 Fujitsu Racing Falcon BF 3 Go Karts Go Falcon BF 7 Triple F Racing Commodore VE 12 Team Kiwi Racing Falcon BF 15 Roadwise Racing Commodore VZ N/A Warrin Mining/Volvo Const Equi Commodore VZ 13 Roadwise Racing Commodore VZ DNQ Batavia Coast Motorsport Falcon BF DNQ

1 2 6 5 4 14 8 9 7 13 12 11 3 DNF 10 DNF DNF DNF DNS DNS

1 2 4 5 11 3 7 8 11 9 13 14 DNF 6 DNF DNF DNF DNS DNS DNS

Top 10 Points: Owen 300, Moffat 276, Pedersen 222, Blanchard 222, Percat 198, David Russell 192, Emery 176, www.mnews.com.au

39

AUSTRALIAN GT ROUND 1, CLIPSAL 500

New faces, same story David Wall kicked off his GT title defence with a hat-trick of wins, while Greg Crick and Peter Hackett emerged as genuine threats, RICHARD CRAILL reports

Dirk Klynsmith

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motorsport news

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A big field kicked off the season, above. From below: Eddy’s Audi was a bit second hand, Ormsby got like three feet of air and the GT Challenge trophy, while Quinn had a tough weekend.

Dirk Klynsmith John Morris / Mpix John Morris / Mpix

www.mnews.com.au

The biggest disappointment of the weekend was suffered by another Cup S driver, Max Twigg, who rued a case of ‘what could have been’ after failing to finish Race 2.

Twigg had earlier pushed Wall hard all the way to the flag in Race 1 and after starting from the back, charged to fourth in the final heat.

Twigg wasn’t the only one in the wars, however, several cars becoming well acquainted with the unforgiving Adelaide concrete barriers in expensive crashes.

Mark Eddy was the first victim, crashing his brandnew Audi R8 GT3 at the first chicane during qualifying, leaving it both buried in the tyres.

Eddy then missed Race 1 but was back on track for the second, working his way through the field to 17th by the finish before climbing further to 13th by the conclusion of the weekend.

Tony Quinn, meanwhile, went through both of his recently-purchased Moslers in a bruising weekend.

A crash in qualifying severely damaged his vehicle forcing him to commandeer son Klark’s identical car for the first race.

Whilst he charged from the back of the grid to ninth in Race 1, Quinn again found the wall in Race 2 before also failing to finish the final race.

In GT Challenge, local driver Jordan Ormsby took the class pole in his Porsche GT3 RS and went on to win the round, another Porsche driver placing himself in a good position to defend the title he won last season.

Ormsby finished ahead of fellow Porsche drivers Shane Smollen and Gary Dann.

One defending champ who didn’t go on to win was Paul Freestone (Corvette), who was beaten to the GT Production class win by Lotus driver Mark O’Connor.

Dirk Klynsmith

HE may well be the reigning champion, but David Wall’s clean-sweep success of the first round of the Vodka O Australian GT Championship at the Clipsal 500 came as a surprise – if only to the man himself.

Wall swept the round in his Porsche GT3 Cup S by taking pole and each of the three races but faced pressure from former series luminaries making a return this year, namely Greg Crick (Dodge Viper) and Peter Hackett (Lamborghini).

The only blemish in an otherwise perfect weekend for David Wall was a thirdplaced effort in qualifying, though the defending champ didn’t even expect to be a winner on the Adelaide streets.

“I wasn’t expecting to be this successful early on,” Wall said.

“I hadn’t completed a lap in the car since the final race of last year so I was slightly nervous with how it would compare to some of the newer cars racing.

“It was hard work this weekend and I’m not expecting to have it all my own way but we couldn’t have asked for a better start to the year.

“It’s very pleasing to be the first person to win a race for Wilson Security, our great sponsor.”

On their return to the championship, Crick and Hackett were the two most consistent challengers to Wall’s supremacy and gained performance as the weekend went on.

Former champion Crick scored a third and two second places whilst Hackett’s Lamborghini also looks a title threat.

Ross Lilley completed a strong weekend for the American brigade by finishing fourth in his Viper whilst Marc Cini was consistently quick and finished fifth, driving a similar Porsche to Wall’s.

41

CLIPSAL 500 SUPPORTS ADELAIDE

Like father, like son

Dirk Klynsmith

42

I had to hold off George, which I was able to do.”

Former Fujitsu V8 Supercar racer David Sieders was joined

by Ford Performance Vehicles managing director Rod Barrett, the duo taking third place overall, right. Sieders also took the series lead, courtesy of being the best-performing of the regular drivers; he won Race 2 for the series competitors.

“The car was a jet, as we showed with pole and a race win on debut,” Sieders said.

Barrett was also ecstatic with the result.

“I’ve been out of motorsport for 19 years, I come back and get a podium straight away,” he said.

Despite the popularity of the race format, a number of incidents affected the flow of the racing, particularly in the weekend’s final race. Elsegood led early, but chose not to pit when a safety-car was deployed for an incident at Turn 9 between Kim Jane and Gary McDonald – Elsegood’s

James Smith

GEORGE Miedecke and Jeremy Gray teamed up to take out the 10th Year Legends V8 Ute event at the Clipsal 500.

The victory was set up by a dominant win for Miedecke in the Legends Race 1, a consistent performance by Gray in the Regular Drivers Race 2, and second place in the twin-driver Race 3.

“The Utes are unbelievable to race in after coming out of production cars,” Gray said.

“When I knew George was going to be teaming up with me, I knew straight away that we were going to have a shot at victory. I only had a handful of laps in the Ute at Eastern Creek and Mallala, and this is the first time I’ve raced at Clipsal, so to win is absolutely fantastic.”

Andrew Fisher teamed up with Rick Bates to finish the event second overall, including winning Race 3.

“We came into the pits for ou driver-change as soon as the pit window opened, and that set up our victory,” Bates said. “After we came out of the pits, I knew

Dirk Klynsmith

George wins in V8 Utes ...

strategy was severely compromised at that stage.

A second Safety Car was deployed when Tim Shaw, in the Holden he was sharing with Rhys McNally, crashed heavily at Turn 3. Fortunately, Shaw was not injured but the severity

of the incident led to the race finishing behind the safety car.

Championship contender Gary Baxter and Cameron McConville had a shocker, battling a raft of mechanical problems, above.

– LACHLAN MANSELL

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... Andrew wins on TCM debut

John Morris / Mpix

ANDREW Miedecke made an outstanding debut in the Touring Car Masters presented by Autobarn, winning the opening round at the Clipsal 500 in the Bob Middleton-owned Chevrolet Camaro.

Miedecke qualified fourth but made a poor start in Race 1, and dropped down the order before working his way back up to fourth. In the top-eight reverse-grid Race 2, Miedecke’s race-craft came to the fore; he quickly took the lead and marched away from the field while others squabbled over the minor places. Miedecke also won the third and final race, holding out Jim Richards

www.mnews.com.au

for the entire nine-lap duration.

“I expected to finish around fourth,” Miedecke said.

“I had been a bit rusty, because I hadn’t done much circuit racing for a while, but I had also been improving over the weekend. During my racing career I had made some absolutely shocking starts, and my Race 1 start wasn’t great, but fortunately I made a couple of cracker starts in Races 2 and 3.”

Jim Richards finished second for the round after a consistent weekend in his Falcon Sprint, finishing second, third and second in the three races.

“My car isn’t as powerful as some of the others, but it’s a lot

lighter and it comes on strong towards the end of the races, because it looks after its tyres and brakes better,” he said.

“I’ve spent a lot of money on my car during the off-season, but so have the others, and everyone is pretty much the same as last year. Maybe we should have saved the money!”

Reigning champ Gavin Bullas finished third overall after winning the first race, but struggling to make up places in Race 2.

“I still definitely think we can win the series this year,” Bullas said. “Any one of us can win a race, but it will be about consistency throughout the season.”

John Bowe finished sixth overall, recovering from a power-steering failure in Race 1. He broke the lap record enroute to second in Race 2 after starting 18th, before breaking it again in Race 3.

“The first race was good exercise,” he said. “These cars are very difficult to drive without power steering.”

Leanne Tander’s debut in the Phase IV Falcon GTHO did not get off to the best of starts, with a blown engine in Race 2.

Local driver Bernie Stack won Group 2 in his Porsche while Phil Showers was the best of the Group 3 runners in his Ford Escort.

– LACHLAN MANSELL

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Dirk Klynsmith Dirk Klynsmith

MINI CHALLENGE CHRIS Alajajian has taken an early lead in the 2010 Mini Challenge with overall victory in the opening round of the series at the Clipsal 500. After qualifying on pole position, Alajajian won Races 1 and 3, finishing fourth in the full reverse-grid Race 2.

Bargwanna Motorsport driver Sean Carter and V8 Touring Car regular Peter McNiven ended the weekend tied second on points, with Carter taking away the secondplace trophy courtesy of his higher finishing position in Race 3. However, McNiven emerged victorious in Race 2,

passing Dean Canto on the exit of the very last corner of the race to snare the win.

Teenager Scott McLaughlin finished fourth for the round, which he contested in preparation for his Fujitsu Series assault with Stone Brothers Racing later on in the season, while Canto came home fifth overall.

“I had to work on Thursday, so I missed practice and only drove the car for the first time in qualifying,” Canto said.

The two-time V8 Supercar Development Series champ also experienced an engine problem throughout qualifying and the opening race, which hampered his progress, but he

John Morris / Mpix

Chris cleans up

shone in Races 2 and 3.

Defending champion Paul Stokell endured a tough weekend. He led the way for the majority of Race 1, only to run off the circuit in the final corner, losing two positions. In the reverse-grid race, he was making rapid progress through the field, only for contact with another competitor to dislodge the front splitter on his Mini, putting him at an aerodynamic disadvantage. In the final race, he retired with mechanical problems and subsequently left Adelaide a lowly eighth in the standings.

However, the round will be remembered for a spate of crashes, the most spectacular

involving Chris Wootton. In qualifying, Wootton slid his Mini sideways into the first chicane; it then pitched sideways into the gravel trap and rolled spectacularly.

Fortunately, Wootton was unhurt but his car was too severely damaged to take any further part in proceedings.

The second major incident also happened in the chicane, and occurred at the start of Race 2, when Brendan Cook spun in front of the field and was T-boned by Dale Wood, above. Cook was eliminated from the weekend but Wood’s car was repaired in time for him to take a fine second in Race 3.

– LACHLAN MANSELL

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Playing Clewdo

AUSSIE RACING CARS

Phil Williams

KYLE Clews won Round 1 of the Aussie Racing Car Super Series after dominating the results in a weekend filled with the series’ regular action and excitement.

The New South Wales driver won the first three races of the weekend and lost the fourth by just 0.004s to wrap up the round ahead of the Ward brothers – Brad followed by James – and Race 4 winner Adam Gowans.

In a sign of his pace advantage Clews took pole by a full second in his VY Commodore but the racing was much more competitive than that. He held of James Ward

by fractions in race one, won comfortably in Race 2 and then charged from 10th to win the Top 10 reverse second race.

Brad Ward beat James to second overall whilst Gowans – the only person to beat Clews all weekend – won a thriller finale’ but was hurt in the overall standings when he finished down the order in Race 2.

Jack Perkins, driving the series’ guest car, failed to finish the first race but gained pace during the weekend to become a contender by the finale, where he finished third just fractions behind the winner. He finished ninth overall for the round.

– RICHARD CRAILL

John Morris / Mpix

Hunt the hunted SPORTS RACERS

FORMER international Aussie Josh Hunt has returned himself to the spotlight by dominating the debut round of the Sports Racer Series in his West WR1000.

Hunt, a former Champ Car Atlantic racer, won all three races but was pursued all

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weekend long by Queensland state champion Steve Morcombe who fought hard for the race lead each time.

Morcombe’s Chiron was equally matched with the West however a fuel surge issue in the second race denied him any chance of a race, or round, victory. Hunt and Morcombe were a class above a smaller

than expected field of 15 cars, the pair racing hard in each race, often swapping positions and fastest laps in a dice that went to the final lap of the final race of the weekend.

Glyn Edis ensured three different constructors were represented in the top three round results with his Radical SR3 just pipping former Gold

Star winner Neil McFadyen, who was making the racing debut of a Speads RS08 chassis, for third overall.

Local driver Mark Laucke equalled McFadyen’s weekend haul of 94 points but could have finished higher had he not jumped the start in the final race.

– RICHARD CRAILL

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INDYCAR SERIES ROUND 1, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL

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Black to Front Will Power roared back into IndyCar racing, taking a brilliant win in Brazil to repay Roger Penske’s faith in him. And it was almost an Australian 1-2 ...

Honda Indy Racing

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A

Honda Indy Racing

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FTER a tough 12 months, without a fulltime ride and after suffering a back injury, Will Power has paid Roger Penske’s faith back, with interest, with a thrilling win in the opening round of the 2010 IndyCar Series in Brazil.

The Queenslander overcame drama, a rain storm and a determined pair of Ryans to take the win on the streets of Sao Paulo. The race was halted for nearly 45 minutes after a massive downpour flooded the new Sao Paulo street track, and once the race played out, Power was in a battle for the win with Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe and Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay.

The two Aussies hunted down the American, and Briscoe made an error and crashed out of the lead.

“It was a busy day,” said Power after his epic drive.

“The car was quick all day, and I went for it in the end. I was doing qualifying laps, and the guys were going real hard and I was sitting right behind. I had been trying to keep to a fuel number, and when I went full rich, it was really on.”

The race was full of drama, with rookie Takuma Sato punting Scott Dixon on the opening lap and Mario Moraes driving over the back of Marco Andretti. After a long yellow to remove the damaged cars, Dario Franchitti led until Hunter-Reay shot past. Not long after, the black clouds rolled in and the heavens opened. Before officials decided to red-flag the race, Power’s moved to second after a bold pit call by the Penske team.

When the drivers resumed behind the Pace Car, both Hunter-Reay and Power moved onto slicks and soon, they were closing down the wet-shod pack, led

by Franchitti. The two Aussies started to chase down Hunter-Reay, setting up a strong finish.

“Close, but no cigar,” said Briscoe.

“We added some downforce before the rain stoppage, and that was great but when it dried, the downforce became a bit of an anchor down the main straight. I was pushing hard, I hit a bump in the braking zone and locked up the fronts. And that was it.”

After Briscoe’s error, Power slipped inside HunterReay at the end of the long straight, while behind, Vitor Meira took third after he too gambled with slicks on the damp track. Raphael Matos was fourth ahead of Dan Wheldon and the Ganassi cars.

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RESULTS :: SAU PAULO 300 1 12 2 37 3 14 4 2 5 4 6 9 7 10 8 24 9 3 10 11

Will Power AUS Ryan Hunter-Reay USA Vitor Meira Br Raphael Matos Br Dan Wheldon GB Scott Dixon NZ Dario Franchitti GB Mike Conway GB Helio Castroneves Br Tony Kanaan Br

Penske Verizon Andretti Izod AJ Foyt ABC Supply Co de Ferran HP Panther National Guard Ganassi Target Ganassi Target Dreyer & Reinbold Dad’s Penske Penske Andretti 7 Eleven

Q5 4 16 12 18 7 1 19 9 6

Points: Power 50, RHR 40, Meira 35, Matos 32, Wheldon 30, Franchitti 29, Dixon 28, Conway 24, Castroneves 22, Kanaan 20.

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Honda Indy Racing

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Sunday Power: Will Power was a worthy victor, far left, while Ryan Huunter-Reay fought hard to take second. Vitor Meira, left, was the best of the local drivers, while everybody had to overcome a dodgy track surface in practice, above. This is Ryan Briscsoe showing how bad the surface got ...

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BELL’S THREE-PEAT SPEEDWAY

Geoff Rounds

STEPHEN Bell achieved a unique feat on the weekend, by winning the Victorian Open Sprintcar championship at Premier Speedway, and becoming the first Sprintcar driver in Australia to win a state title in three different divisions of the class.

Bell’s recent win in the 410 cubic inch class adds to his 372 championship and a 360 win inside the last decade, and it was his first win at the Warrnambool venue since 2000, when he dominated to win an SRA round.

Driving the Matt Eastham-owned machine, Bell was a major force all night, which also doubled as a re-run of the third round of the Eureka Garages and Sheds Series. Bell beat home Grant Anderson and Robbie Farr.

“Amazingly, I don’t normally like a track like that,” Bell said.

“I won an SRA race here years ago, but other than that I’ve never really stood out here, so it is good to get this win and the monkey off the back.”

With a heat race win and fifth place in his heats, Anderson was the top point

scorer, and started the final from pole position alongside Tasmanian Champion Jason Redpath. James McFadden and Bell occupied the second row, while Luke Dillon and defending champion Matthew Reed were well placed in the top six starters.

Early into the 30-lap final Redpath’s promising night was dealt a blow when on a single file restart, while in second

position, he tagged the front straight cone and was relegated to rear of field.

Early race leader Anderson got clear of Bell until midway, when Bell drove the low line superbly and grabbed the lead and immediately drove away opening up a handy gap. Anderson chased hard, but Bell switched to the high side to get by slower cars in a classy drive on the way to victory.

– GEOFF ROUNDS

Loudoun makes it three, Walsh makes it one SPEEDWAY IAN Loudoun continued his late season form at Parramatta, picking up the first of the two 20-lap A Mains last weekend.

But in the second A-Main,

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third-generation racer Sammy Walsh, 22, bagged his maiden win with a superb drive.

With a strong 52-car field, the heat battles were sensational.

The early leader in A-Main #1 was Garry Rooke, but a

smoking engine saw his retirement on Lap 4, giving the lead to Benny Atkinson.

Atkinson led for most of the race, but with just five laps to go Loudoun forged into the lead.

The first half of the second

race saw Walsh and former kart star Glen Saville trading positions in a brilliant battle for the lead. The final laps saw Walsh take control with Marty Perovich powering into second.

– GREG BOSCATO

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QLD KICKS OFF Cotton in NSW ...

STATE RACING

STATE RACING

DANIEL Cotton charged into the lead of the NSW Formula Ford Championship at Eastern Creek last weekend.

Cotton dominated the event, claiming pole position and three race wins, and beating the previous lap record by almost a second in the process.

Alan Price, spun in the opening race and fell to the rear of the field. Despite a valiant charge, which had him on terms with Cotton for Race 2, he was no match, settling for second spot.

Meanwhile, Dave Loftus seized control of the Over-2Litre Improved Production class by winning all three of the weekends races, while in the Production Sports Car Championship Iain Pretty

THE MG Car Club of Queensland kicked off the Queensland State Championships at Morgan Park Raceway last weekend.

The father and son team of Chryss (Anderson-Honda) and Russell Jamieson (Stockman-Honda) split the wins in Superkarts, after several four-kart dices with Vince Livaditis (PVP), Jason Smith (Anderson-FPE) and Steve Murray (PVPHonda) all achieving podium results.

Tim Hamilton (Jacer) took the chequered flag in both Formula Vee races, although had the first race taken away for overtaking Shane Hart for the lead under yellows; Hamilton was relegated to fifth in Race 1 with Robert Thomson (Rapier) taking second behind Hart.

Tony Isarasena (Mazda RX-7), pictured below, clean swept the Improved Production races with team-mate David Skillender (VS Commodore) taking two seconds.

Formula 3 drivers Ben Gersekowski (Dallara-Renault) and Roman Krumins (Dallara-Opel) shared the Racing Car wins, while Jon Mills (Van Diemen) and James Gardiner (Van Diemen) won in Formula Ford. Jake Brackenridge dominated Geminis with Graham Edwards taking the seconds while Rowan Barry destroyed his car in a rollover after pitting unnecessarily for misunderstanding abad sportsmanship flag.

Brad Duckworth (Mazda RX-4) and Anthony Cox (Holden Gemini-Toyota) took the two Sports Sedan wins in a shared grid with Historic Touring Cars, where Gary Jackson (Holden Monaro) won both races. Terry Knight (Porsche GT3) led home a field of Mazda MX5s to win Sports Cars.

– MARK JONES

... D’Limi in WA STATE RACING

Mark Jones

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and Neale Muston shared the spoils. Dylan Thomas won the opening two Formula Vee races with Tim Brook winning the third for Polar. Greg King continued his strong form from 2009 by winning all three HQ races.

Peter Opie ran away with the Racing and Sports Car class, while Chris Jackson won the opening two Sports Sedan races with Anthony Macready victorious in the third.

Warren McIlveen dominated Superkarts, as did Leigh Burges in the Under-2-Litre Improved Production category.

Gus Barbara won the final Combined Touring races after Bob Pearson was forced to retire from the final having won the opening two at a canter.

– MATT COCH

BEN-LEE D’Limi has taken an early lead in the WA Formula Ford 1600 Series.

The D’Limi versus Jake McNally battle lines were well and truly drawn at Barbagallo Raceway last Saturday, with the pair even clashing in Race 1. D’Limi stayed on track for the win, while McNally dropped down the order. He

recovered in the final race to win, while Andrew Goldie was third for the round – a career best.

Other winners in WA included Jacob Parsons (Formula Vee), Rick Gill (Saloon Cars), Kevin Ledger (Improved Production), Chris Kneasfey (HQ Holdens), Cade Bell (Sports Sedans), Mark Greenham (Street Cars) and Rex Meechin (Sports Cars).

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rear of grid

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A Gathering of Thoroughbreds

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t o p S d d O

Phil Williams

BAHRAIN’S Grand Prix was notable for many reasons. Not the race itself, which damn near sent us to sleep, but particularly for the extraordinary gathering of World Champions of the sport.

At the one race, there were 18 title winners, who between them represent 35 titles in the sport’s 60-year history. A grand event.

But, here’s the thing. We in no way would want to talk down the contributions to the sport of either Formula 1’s commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone, or of FIA President Jean Todt. But, surely, the photo could have been of just the champions of the sport, without the people who work hard, off-track, to make it a global sport?

Nor would we want to criticise Michelle Yeoh, who is also known as Madam Todt, an actress of some note and tireless worker for social justice world-wide. It’s just that, one could wonder whether the champions of the sport deserve to be in the spotlight by themselves, with only their peers?

The drivers are, back row, L to R: Alain Prost, Alan Jones, Nigel Mansell, Mika Hakkinen, Jacques Villeneuve, Keke Rosberg, Jody Scheckter, Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill.

Seated: Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Niki Lauda, Mario Andretti, Sir Jack Brabham, Sir Jackie Stewart, John Surtees, Emerson Fittipaldi, Lewis Hamilton.

SEEMS that there are political movements down south.

Yep, election fever was in the air in fair Adelaide at the weekend, and this banner caught our eye. Apparently, one Frank Williams is running for public office, as this rather modest promotional billboard demonstrates.

On the same day, Sir Frank Williams saw his team embark on yet another Formula 1 campaign, well out of way from the cut-and-thrust of the hustings, in Bahrain.

Mr Williams appears to promise Law and Order (not the TV drama series, we assume) and we would like to point out that Motorsport eNews endorses nobody, in any election, anywhere.

We are not sure how Mr Williams, potential pollie, will go this year, but Williams the team made a fairly solid start ...

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