Motorsport eNews Issue 155 - May 18-24, 2010

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Issue No. 155 May 18-24 2010

MAKING A SPLASH

SPAIN? CHECK MONACO? CHECK TITLE FIGHT? BRIN G IT ON

FPR 2011: RICHO TO FIGHT FOR SEAT

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motorsport news

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

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Photographers Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Marshall Cass, John Morris/Mpix, AF1 Images, James Smith, Peter Bury, Geoff Gracie, Joel Strickland,

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Issue No. 155 | 18-24 May 2010

news 4

Bully on the streets Webber not talking title 6 Soft and gooey Sprints a huge hit 8 Familiar names Jack, Seton swap ‘brands’ 14 What does ‘FIAT’ stand for?

Big news coming in F3

chat 22 Five Minutes With ...

Chief Executive Officer, David Gardiner Commercial Director, Bruce Duncan Motorsport eNews is published by nextmedia Pty Ltd ACN: 128 805 970, Level 5, 55 Chandos St, St Leonards NSW 2065 © 2009. All rights reserved. No part of this emagazine may be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the prior permission of the publisher.. The publisher will not accept responsibility or any liability for the correctness of information or opinions expressed in the publication. All material submitted is at the owner’s risk and, while every care will be taken nextmedia does not accept liability for loss or damage.

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Tim Slade

comment 24 Cunningham & Branagan A Pom, and a shift in the force

race 26 Winton V8 Supercars 36 WintonFujitsu V8s 46 Coffs ARC 48 Dover NASCAR

trade 54 Classifieds

Two wins, from two poles put lead, but he is not talking abo

Red Le

FORMULA 1 MARK Webber is not getting ahead of himself in looking at winning the 2010 World Drivers Championship, despite his second maximum result in eight days.

As he did in Spain, Webber led from pole position to chequered flag to take his fourth Grand Prix win on the streets of Monaco, ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel

and Renault’s Robert Kubica. In doing so, he joins team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who finished second, on top of the points in the race for the 2010 title.

“Two victories in eight days,” said Webber. “To win in Monte Carlo is the dream of any F1 driver. Every F1 victory is special, but to join the winners here is a very special moment.

Jack [Brabham] won here more than 50 years ago, so it’s been a while for us Australians.

“This was an absolutely faultless day, apart from the start. It was a relief that Seb got Robert, because he’d have been very strong today. So this was the ultimate result for us. A 1-2 for the team in the Principality is mega. I’m predicting some serious headaches tomorrow.”

Webber’s conservatism is well-placed, but he has some precedents to follow. The last two World champions, Lewis

Hamilton and Jenson Button, have both won at Monte Carlo for the first time, and gone on to win the title.

Button had some advice for Webber before the start of the race.

“Jenson actually said to me on the parade lap that when you’re leading with a few laps to go, it looks like the track’s narrowing and the barriers are coming closer and closer,” the Aussie said. “Fifteen laps from motorsport news

news

ts Webber in Championship out a title – yet

Can Mark Webber win the 2010 World Championship?

Let us know on Twitter – @motorsportenews

sutton-images.com

eader Twice the fun!

WORLD SERIES

AS if Webber’s win was not enough, Daniel Ricciardo gave Advance Australia Fair another airing on the Monaco airwaves with a stunning win in the second round of the World Series by Renault.

The 20-year-old from Perth, who was making his first appearance in any category at the track, started from pole position and led by 2.1s after the first lap. He extended the lead to more than 3s before backing off, beating Russian Mikhail Aleshin by just under a second.

“I came to Monaco with my family when I was eight,” said

Red Bull Racing

the end, that’s just what it was conditions and tracks coming like.” up – there are many exciting Four Safety Car periods times to come; I’m looking erased Webber’s leads, which forward to it.” ran as high as almost 15s The next race is in Istanbul in during the course of the race. two weeks’ time, and with Red But each time, the 33-yearBull planning another update old from Queanbeyan made for its Renault-powered RB6 faultless restarts and quickly – which is yet to feature an Fbuilt the gaps. duct, as seen on the McLarens, “To get 50 points from the Ferraris and Saubers – there last two races is awesome, but appears to be more speed to there is a long, long way still to come from the Adrian Neweygo. We’ve got so many different designed cars. www.mnews.com.au

Ricciardo.

“We were able to do a lap of the circuit and I could already describe all the turns – I never dreamt then that one day I would win here! I got a good start today, I didn't look in my mirrors and pushed hard every lap. I've never been congratulated by so many people at the finish of a race.

It’s my first win, and now I'm going to fight to win the championship.”

Ricciardo’s first win in the championship moves him to second place on 43 points, seven behind the Russian.

The next round of the WSBR series is at Brno in the Czech Republic on June 6.

But the Poms have their own problems MARK Webber called his Monaco Grand Prix win the greatest day of his life – but he still failed to get the headlines around the world.

In England, the Red Bull star’s triumph, the first for an Australian driver at the famed street track in 51 years, was overshadowed by the failure of World Champion Jenson Button, whose McLaren failed to complete a lap. An error by a team member saw the car make its single formation lap with one of the car’s cooling blankets left in the radiator duct by mistake.

Likewise, Button’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton made the news for the wrong reasons, after complaining to his team over the radio that their instructions to save his brakes were not going to allow him to race for position. Hamilton, who won the race in 2008, finished the race fifth.

Dirk Klynsmith

Richo not walking away V8 SUPERCARS RUMOURS of the end of the relationship between Ford Performance Racing and Steven Richards are premature, according to team principal Tim Edwards.

Last week, reliable sources told eNews that Richards, who is in the last year of his deal with the Ford factory-backed team, had been informed that the team would not be

continuing with him as a driver next year. The sources said that James Moffat, who drives FPR’s entry in the Fujitsu V8 Series, was high on the team’s list of drivers who might step into the Dunlop-backed entry next season.

Richards finished 14th and 21st in the two races at Winton, but those showings did not reflect the speed he showed over the course of the weekend.

“Yes, he is in contention [for 2011],” said Edwards on Monday.

“We have options, but I am always going to look at my options. We have let him down on occasion this year, and his results would have looked a whole lot better if that had not happened.”

The three FPR entries have struggled to show speed over the last four races, which featured Dunlop’s Sprint tyre,

while James Courtney and Jim Beam Racing have been in dominant form.

Edwards is happier with the performance of the team’s cars at Winton, which included a second-row start for Paul Dumbrell in Race 12.

“We are finding some balance across all three cars,” Edwards said. “We are getting the cars to work better on tight and twisty circuits, but tyre life is still a big issue.”

Wildcard applicants get busy V8 SUPERCARS APPLICATIONS for wildcard entries into this year’s V8 Supercar endurance races have opened.

Teams have until July 1 to apply for entries at the L&H 500 and Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, with up to five spots up for grabs.

“We’ve got a maximum grid capacity of 34 cars, and with 29 regular cars there’s the potential for an extra five wildcards,” V8SA Operations Manager Kurt Sakzewski.

“We won’t necessarily grant five all wildcards. They’ll need

to be suitable entries to run and be able do it properly.”

New Fujitsu Series winners Eggleston Motorsport are considering applying, following Cam McConville’s Winton success in their VE Commodore.

“I might have to now!” team owner Ben Eggleston said.

“I’d like to do it, we’ll have a look at it all this week and what we can put together, but we’ve got everything we need.”

Adrenaline Motorsport have also indicated they’ll work towards an application. The Newcastle-based team field exBJR Falcons for brothers Drew and Aaren Russell and have a

third chassis, which they can build up to run.

“If we can raise the money, we’ll do it,” team owner Wayne Russell told eNews.

“It won’t be Drew and Aaren, it’ll be Drew and someone else; we’ve got a coupe of people in the pipeline. It’s too soon for Aaren to run in the enduros, given that it’s his first year in a V8 he doesn’t have enough experience.”

While they aren’t contesting the Fujitsu Series this year, Sieders Racing Team will apply for an entry, having been one of last year’s three to run at Phillip Island and Bathurst.

“There’s a few things happening,” David Sieders said.

“We’re looking at our [car] options, all the ones we looked at last year, it all comes down to what sort of commercial backing we can get “Things should become a lot clearer in the next two weeks.

We had a strong bid last year, hopefully we can do that again.”

As previously reported by eNews. the other two wildcard entries from last year – Greg Murphy Racing and Matthew White Motorsport – will also apply, with GMR eyeing two entries.

– MITCHELL ADAM motorsport news

news

V8 SUPERCARS JAMES Courtney is not conceding that his fourrace winning streak in the V8 Supercar Championship Series will end at Darwin.

The Jim Beam Racing driver, who took the lead in the series for the first time in the second race at Winton, has scored all four of his wins on Dunlop’s softer, Sprint tyre.

But with Darwin next on the calendar, and a return to ‘normal’ control tyres, he is confident that he can keep his lead over Jamie Whincup.

“I think that we showed we had good speed at the Grand Prix,” he said after the race, “we had a race win there and we were pushing along really well at New Zealand, so certainly I think the speed’s there on the hard or the soft tyres, it’s just a little unbalanced sometimes, so maybe we can find a little bit more.”

Courtney is expecting a hard fight in the north, and is confident that Whincup and TeamVodafone will get back into competitive form.

“It’s fantastic, especially to take this lead and these four wins into the four-week break, and it’s going to be quite a nice relaxing couple of weeks, [but] we can’t really rest because I know these Triple Eight guys will do their homework and come out with all guns blazing at Darwin.”

The irony of Courtney ending Whincup’s reign over the points lead is that Dick Johnson Racing sources its hardware, including the engines in Courtney and Steven Johnson’s cars, from Triple Eight. In the process, DJR has become Ford’s most competitive team, and it is currently second in the Teams’ Championship on 2409.

TeamVodafone leads the Teams’ race on 2598 points.

Dirk Klynsmith

www.mnews.com.au

Softs firming for 2010 V8 SUPERCARS THERE is a growing momentum behind the call for Sprint Tyres to play a bigger role in the 2011 V8 Supercar season.

Dunlop’s softer tyre was introduced as an ‘option’ at selected rounds last year, and was used as the sole tyre at Queensland Raceway and Winton. Following entertaining races and no major issues, the compound could well become the ‘control’ tyre at the majority of events next year.

Operations Manager Kurt Sakzewski said that V8 Supercars Australia would review the QR and Winton weekends and consider their options for 2011.

“We’ve had some really positive comments about it,” he said of the rounds, “we’ll look at the implementation of them next year.”

His counterpart at Dunlop, Kevin Fitzimmons, was pleased with how the rounds had panned out, and said there was no immediate rush on a decision from the V8SA review.

“I think it’s been well-received,” Fitzimmons told eNews.

“We’re here to put on a show for the public, that’s what we’ve got to remember.

“We’d need to be in production for tyres for 2011

by November, so we’d need to know probably by Phillip Island.”

Dirk Klynsmith

James has four, wants more

Fitzimmons suggested the format would be compatible with most events on the V8 calendar, even though it could have wider implications on testing.

“I reckon it would work at the majority of circuits,” he said.

“I would dare say, on this construction case, definitely not Phillip Island and Bathurst, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we could get away with it at every other circuit, provided we had sufficient quantities of them to put on a good show.

“The problem is that the tyre doesn’t have a shelf life, so that’s a handicap as far as things going forward; you use them for the weekend and then they’re shot, that’s the end of them, whereas with the other tyre you can pull them off the shelf and do some testing. But with only four test days a year, does that really matter?

“We’ve got a lot of things to weigh up, the board will discuss it, the tech panel will discuss it and we’ll do what they want. It’s as simple as that; we can make more of them if that’s the requirement and how they see the future going.”

The Sprints will return at Darwin, Symmons Plains and Sandown later this year, with teams getting a single set for the Sunday race at each venue.

– MITCHELL ADAM

BLANC V8 SUPERCARS

V8 SUPERCARS JACK Perkins has followed in the footsteps of his famous father Larry and will race a Ford for the first time in the V8 Supercar endurance races.

The third-generation racer will partner Tim Slade at Phillip Island and Bathurst, and do so with his father’s blessing.

“I mentioned to him and he said it didn’t really matter too much, whether it was a Holden or a Ford,” said Perkins Jr. “Some would say that I have found the good side, some

would say the opposite. It is what it is. When you look at it, this is the best opportunity to have a solid, good result, and with a team of that calibre.”

Perkins sampled the Stone Brothers Racing Falcon for the first time in Friday’s co-driver session at Winton.

“It was good to drive the car on Friday and it was good to work with the whole team,” he said.

“The team had a good performance, Tim drove really well in that race and it was a good result for the

boys. They have been there or thereabouts all year.”

Perkins has raced a Paul Morris Motorsport Commodore in the last two rounds of the Fujitsu V8 Series.

“It was good to come out and do two DVS rounds. We beat Steve Owen and Morris, the guys with arguably better ratings than me.”

Larry Perkins has raced exclusively in Holdens at Bathurst, except in 1985 when Dick Johnson drafted him in to share his Ford Mustang, the first of his Group A cars.

GLENN Seton will return to the V8 Supercar endurance races this year.

Seton has been signed by Kelly Racing for Phillip Island and his 26th Bathurst start, after missing the 2009 enduros.

“It’s exciting to be getting another crack at Bathurst and I’m really pleased to get that chance with the Kelly Racing

organisation,” Seton, who did laps in Jason Bargwanna’s Commodore at Winton, said.

“The team is relatively young but extremely impressive and I’m proud to be a part of it. Both Todd and Rick have a successful history at Bathurst and they’re team was very impressive at Mount Panorama last year.”

Seton joins Owen Kelly as signed endurance drivers from

Dirk Klynsmith

Seton in a Holden!

V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

Perkins in a Ford?

the team. The team say they are yet to sign their other two co-drivers, although Johnny Reid did laps again at Winton, and that driver pairings wouldn’t be decided until all four were in place.

Owen Kelly was to have raced in the Fujitsu Series at Winton, but was forced out by a practice crash with Nick Percat on Friday.

– MITCHELL ADAM

TIM Blanchard could make his Main Game debut in this year’s endurance races.

Blanchard, currently third in the Fujitsu Series after three rounds, received a call-up to turn laps in Greg Murphy’s Castrol EDGE Commodore in Friday’s co-driver / bottom 15 session.

“Paul gave us a call in the week and gave me an opportunity to do the rookie session,” the ’07 Formula Ford Champ said.

“It’s a big help, the more laps I can get the better, and sharing the track with the Main Game drivers was invaluable, to see what they were doing and compare myself to Greg (Murphy) and Paul (Morris).”

Uncertainty remains over former WTCC Champ Yvan Muller’s participation in the two endurance races, and Blanchard could be in line for a seat if Muller’s WTCC commitments rule him out.

“There’s plenty of time, I’m not too stressed,” Morris said of the situation.

“Tim did a good job on Friday, he’s definitely in the mix.”

A flow-on effect of the laps on Friday was Sirromet Wines branding on Blanchard’s Falcon at Winton, which is likely to help the Sonic driver’s push to find the budget to complete the season.

“It’s not locked down, but it should mean we’re at Townsville,” Blanchard said.

“After that, we’ll be able to focus on getting to Bathurst. We’re taking it round by round.”

Blanchard is also set to test with Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.

Mark Noske remains the frontrunner for the endurance seat alongside Daniel Gaunt, and was due to drive the car on Friday, but withdrew when his newborn child became ill. The team is now likely to schedule a test day for Noske and Blanchard before Darwin.

– MITCHELL ADAM motorsport news

news

CHARD STEPS UP

BJR looks for Russell Muscle

FV8 rookie in contention if Muller gets sidetracked

V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

www.mnews.com.au

FUJITSU Series driver Drew Russell will complete a rookie test with Brad Jones Racing next week.

The Newcastle driver, who runs an ex-BJR Falcon in the series, will turn laps in Jason Richards’ Commodore at Winton next Monday, in a test day with BJR’s endurance co-drivers.

“BJR have been taking more notice in what I’m doing since we bought the cars from them,” Russell said.

“They’ve been watching the sessions during the year, and I’m grateful that they’re giving me a go to see what I can do.

“I think I’m going to get about 30 or 40 laps, which will be good. I’m looking forward to getting into a car that’s proven, running on the same day as their endurance drivers to see where I’m at.”

– MITCHELL ADAM

Schumacher challenge

on Alonso stalled FORMULA 1

W

HEN they arrived at Monaco journalists were keen to quiz Michael Schumacher about the time in qualifying in 2006 his car inexplicably stalled at the Rascasse, thereby preventing Fernando Alonso from shooting for pole position.

Four years on, in Schumacher’s return to Monaco in his comeback season, and everyone was talking about the dramatic manner in which the German prevented Alonso from finishing the Monaco Grand Prix in sixth place.

Barely 50 metres further around the track from the infamous ’06 ‘Rascassegate’, Schumacher made an audacious lunge inside t he Ferrari through the Anthony Noghes right-hand final corner to steal sixth position as they headed for the chequered flag.

However, just as it had been in 2006, Schumacher was deemed to be out of order. Alonso was given back his position and Schumacher

given a 20-second penalty, which dropped him to 12th.

Schumacher had seemingly caught the Spaniard unawares as they went green at the conclusion of a safety car period, literally one corner from the flag - a manoeuvre Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg described as ‘really cool’.

But what Michael and the Mercedes team themselves were unaware of was Article 40, paragraph 13, of the F1 rules which states: “If the race ends while the safety car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking.”

The obvious contradiction here is the fact that the Safety Car pulled into pit lane rather than lead the field across the line, a point not lost on a ‘disappointed’ Schumacher.

“Our understanding was that the ’safety car in, track clear’ message means back to race - so I went for it and overtook Fernando,” he wrote on his website.

Mercedes has appealed the decision.

Perhaps the Mercedes F1 team is not yet impressing as it would wish out on the track, but in the meantime the team can at least put on a show in the paddock with the arrival of its opulent new motorhome. The team slummed it in Spain with an old Mercedes DTM unit but fronted at Monaco with the new motorhome, a technological tour de force to rival even the amazing McLaren travelling headquarters, comprised of 16 separate container units slotted together to form the structure.

Did it break by itself or did someone break it? As Williams investigates the apparent mechanical failures that put both its cars in the wall at Monaco, here is some evidence to be tendered in the case of Nico Hulkenberg. Moments before his crash in the tunnel and the wing is clearly damaged - but how?

For full F1/MotoGP/WRC coverage/news, CLICK HERE to get to GPWeek magazine www.gpweek.com 10

motorsport news

Bernie’s HRT attack FORMULA 1

W

ILL Formula 1 remain a 24-car show until the end of the year?

Or will one or possibly two of the new Cosworth-powered teams fold before season’s end?

Only six races into the 2010 World Drivers’ Championship and already there is speculation that Hispania Racing (HRT) is in trouble.

The self-proclaimed Godfather of F1, Bernie Ecclestone, told the UK Daily Telegraph that HRT has ‘financial problems’ that threaten put it out of business.

“HRT have got problems,” told the UK paper. “I will sort it out. I’d like to see 12 teams finish the season, because they have made the commitment to come in.

We might lose one of them, but

I’m doing my bit to make sure it doesn’t happen. That’s why they call me the godfather.”

HRT was a last-minute starter after José Ramón Carabante bought the former Campos Meta 1 team just weeks before the first race of the year.

The lateness of the deal meant there was no pre-season testing, and since then drivers Bruco Senna and Karun Chandhok have found themselves consistently at the back of the field.

At the Spanish Grand Prix the team’s Dallara-made chassis was criticised by freelance test driver Christian Klien as being ‘not up to F1 standard’ and very difficult to drive.

Meanwhile Sir Richard Branson has moved to reject speculation that his Virgin Racing team might also not be around by the close of 2010.

Virgin’s F1 bid has thus far been

Webber too fast at Monaco

www.mnews.com.au

conspicuously underwhelming, its cars being off the pace and suffering various reliability issues. A design fault also meant that initially the cars did not have sufficient fuel tank capacity to complete a race distance, although that has since been addressed.

Branson told the Daily Mail that Virgin will definitely ‘go all the way to the end of the season, and hopefully for many seasons yet’.

“If the team continue the kind of progress they’ve made to date we’ll be delighted and we’ll continue to support it - and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t,” he said. “We are planning to stick with it as long as they can get other sponsors on board as well. Although this team is running on less money than all the other teams it’s still a lot of money and we want to spread it out among a number of people.”

H

FORMULA 1

E’S lucky it didn’t happen in the race itself, but Mark Webber was deemed guilty of speeding in the pitlane on race day at Monte Carlo.

The Monaco Grand Prix winner’s Red Bull was clocked at 70.9km/h, 10.9km/h above the speed limit, as Webber left the pits to start his reconnaissance lap before the grid assembled. The fine of 2200 Euros equates to 200 Euros for every kilometre-per-hour over the 60km/h limit ...

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Month of May begins INDYCAR

H

ELIO Castroneves was fastest on the opening day of practice for the Indianapolis 500.

The Brazilian set the fastest lap in a rain-shortened, two-hour session on Saturday, with a 226.603mph lap faster than his four-lap average 2009 pole speed of 224.864mph. Dario Franchitti (226.535mph) and Scott Dixon (226.237mph) were the only other drivers to exceed last year’s pole speed.

“It’s always good when you start in a positive way,” said Castroneves.

“There is certainly still a lot of work to go. It was just the right time and the right moment with two cars in front of me. It seems to be very interesting this year: Even if you are away from another car, the

draft is tremendous. It is going to play a lot of tricks during the month of May.” Aussie team-mates Ryan Briscoe and Will Power also shared their first impressions on track, dividing this week’s practice time between race and qualifying set-ups.

“It was good to be out on track,” said Briscoe.

“It felt great to be turning laps at the Speedway on opening day. There were a lot of familiar faces and a lot of fans.

Today was a good smooth start for Team Penske to the beginning of this year’s Indianapolis 500.”

“We went out in our 12T car today for the first practice of the month and I felt very comfortable,” said Power, using his backup car as do most teams.

“I have more IndyCar experience now. It felt very natural to get back to work in the Verizon car here at Indy. We’re definitely

happy with the season so far. But the only thing we’re focused on now is being quick here. Verizon partnered with our team last year and we were able to finish fifth in the Indy 500, so I’m excited to be back and to have the chance to improve on what we accomplished last year.”

Seven rookies participated in Rookie Orientation, a four-hour session that was limited to barely 30 minutes due to rain. Drivers must run ten laps in four phases, 200-205mph, 205 to 210mph, 210 to 215mph, and 215mph+.

Despite the limited time, Ana Beatriz.

Simona De Silvestro, and Takuma Sato completed their second phase. All seven drivers resume Rookie Orientation the second day by which time they must complete at least the first three phases to run with the veterans.

– MARY MENDEZ

By the power of these events combined ...

INDYCAR

T

HE Indy 500 and NASCAR’s Coca Cola 600 could become a double-header with $20million up for grabs.

Randy Bernard, CEO of the IRL with a strong marketing and promotional background, has convinced Bruton Smith, owner of the Charlotte Motor

12

Speedway that hosts the 600 on the same day as the Indy 500, that drivers should be able to compete in both events.

But the plan to offer US $20million to the driver who wins both races in 2011 was leaked this week by Smith, even though Bernard had planned simultaneous press releases for both series.

To compete in the double header,

the start of the Indy 500 will have to be moved back to its traditional 11am time. Drivers who have competed in both events in the past are John Andretti, Robby Gordon and Tony Stewart. With such lucrative and high profile stakes, additional Cup drivers are expected to cross over to Indy next year, increasing media, sponsor, and fan interest.

– MARY MENDEZ motorsport news

Beatriz Makes Fifth Woman at Indy INDYCAR

A

Name Changes INDYCAR

late entry from ANA Beatriz makes it a record number of ew CEO of the IRL, Randy Bernard, five women attempting to qualify for this year’s Indy 500. has decided it’s time for the term The Brazilian competed at the IndyCar season opener in her hometown, and for the 94th running of the Indy 500 will drive “IRL” to fade away. Bernard is concerned over the negative associations the term a fourth entry for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Although Beatriz has competed at the Speedway previously in the Firestone Indy has with the split in open wheel racing, so while the Indy Racing League remains Lights Freedom 100, she must pass Rookie Orientation. The the sanctioning body of the IZOD IndyCar other women in the Indy entry are Danica Patrick, Sarah Fisher, series, Bernard prefers only the term Milka Duno, and Simona De Silvestro.

–MARY MENDEZ IndyCar be used.

In other names changes, de Ferran Dragon Racing is the new name for team formed out of the merger earlier this year between Luczo Dragon Racing and de would feel, and gave me tips on what not Ferran Motorsports. Luczo Dragon Racing, INDYCAR to do that would jeopardise other drivers. founded in 2006 by Steve Luczo and Jay But my dad never told me everything he Penske (Roger’s son), has placed Gil de OOKIES Bertrand Baguette, Ana knew. I learned a lot that first race.”

Ferran, both CART and IndyCar champion Beatriz, Simona De Silvestro Jay “Indy is completely different than the and 2003 Indy 500 winner, as President in Howard, Mario Romancini, Sebastian high banks of the mile-and-a-half ovals. charge of the team’s day to day operations.

Saavedra, and Takuma Sato will be under It’s an oval that is more road course style.”

Full-time driver, Raphael Matos, welcomes the watchful eye of driver coaches Al Unser will observe the rookies all Davey Hamilton as his team-mate at Indy.

Unser Jr., Johnny Rutherford, and Rick month and watch from Race Control Mears during Indianapolis’ Rookie on race day. Rutherford will drive the Orientation. Unser has won the race Camaro Pace Car and Mears will continue twice, Rutherford three times, and in his consulting role with Team Penske Mears is one of three four-time Indy 500 as a spotter. winners.

“There are these drivers you can run “My role is to help new drivers learn side by side all day,” said Mears. “ Those what line to take at Indianapolis and drivers I just couldn’t trust I’d leave four what they need to do to be safe,” said Al or five car widths. Your job as a driver is Unser Jr, who replaced his father Al Unser to make sure no one can take you out as an IRL driver coach in 2008. “When I even if they try to. Drivers need to do was a rookie learning to drive around a lot more than just drive the car. They NASCAR the Speedway, my dad and others told need to know how to get their car to the me what I needed to know, how the car end of the race before they can win.”

HE immediate future of Brian

N

Unser Jr. Coaches IndyCar Rookies

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Vickers out, Mears in

Tagliani Released From Hospital INDYCAR

A

lex Tagliani, driver of the #77 entry for FAZZT Race Team, was admitted to Methodist Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit in Indianapolis Tuesday.

Diagnosed with bronchitis, the Canadian was released the next day but skipped Saturday’s opening day veteran practice, planning only a shake down run on Sunday. Fortunately, the track is open for practice through next weekend’s Pole and Bump Day qualifying. Action doesn’t resume until Friday’s Carburetion Day (May 28) and then the race itself May 30.

“I was in the hospital for about 48 hours with a bad case of bronchitis,” said Tagliani.

“They took really good care of me. I’m www.mnews.com.au

not 100 percent yet. I’m still coughing.

So obviously it was needed. It could have turned into a bad scenario, maybe pneumonia.”

“Our team decided when it’s green on a track like here at Indy you don’t want to go out there and confuse yourself. We know where we are, and we have a good car. We were strong at Kansas, where we qualified fifth. Tomorrow (Sunday, second day) we’re going to do our install and check out the car. Over the next week, there’s still plenty of time to practice. This is a track where you want to be relaxed and go out when you’re ready, when you know the conditions are good for you. You don’t just want to be out there all the time pounding laps.”

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Vickers is uncertain after he was forced to miss last weekend’s NASCAR races at Dover.

Vickers, 26, was hospitalised last Wednesday with blood clots in his chest and legs, after he experienced chest pain while at a sponsor appearance in the Washington, DC area.

He was released from hospital two days later and will go through further evaluation before a decision can be made as to when he will return to the racetrack.

Red Bull Racing called on Casey Mears to take the wheel of the Toyota at Dover. Mears, who was recently a substitute driver at Joe Gibbs Racing for Denny Hamlin after he went through recuperating from his knee surgery, finished 22nd after starting 39th on the Monster Mile.

– MARTIN D CLARK

13

BRIEFLY... n The FG Falcon will become eligible to race in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series next year.

Having been introduced to the Main Game in 2009, the FG will follow the nowstandard process of entering the Fujitsu Series two years later. n Speaking of the Fujitsu Series, former racer Sam Walter and wife Amelia welcomed their new baby, Harry Samuel Walter, into the world yesterday (Monday). Congratulations from the Motorsport eNews team!

n A $100,000 resurfacing project will be undertaken ahead of this year’s Leyburn Sprint.

In a bid to attract further competitors in its 15th year, with some competitors reluctant to run their historic machines on the current surface, due to the risk of stone damage on the 1km temporary circuit. However, a new surface will be in place for the August 21-22 event, which is expected to see records broken.

“The upgrade was essential if we were to retain the kind of cars that represent the Leyburn tradition and therefore ensure an event with longterm appeal and viability,” Ann Collins, president of the organising committee, said.

14

WORLD SUPERBIKES

TROY Bayliss has hinted at a comeback to World Superbike racing.

The Ducati legend tested a current-spec 1098R for the first time since he retired at the end of the 2008 season at Mugello and, while the test was scheduled, his comments afterwards were not.

“I really enjoyed myself and I hope the feedback I have been giving the guys is useful,” said Bayliss. “I was a little worried that I’d have forgotten how to ride after the year and a half break, but it was easy and to be honest it felt like I’d never been away!”

But it was what he said after to British weekly MCN and American website superbikeplanet.com that left readers in no doubt what his plans are.

“You’re a long time retired,” Bayliss told MCN. “I haven’t ridden a world superbike bike since I retired so we’re going to knock the rust off at Mugello and see where we’re at. I’m saying I could come back and we’re going to have to see. It would make sense to come back with Ducati, that’s for sure.”

Ironically, Michel Fabrizio won one of the two WSBK races in South Africa two days

Dirk Klynsmith

n The media frenzy on Jessica Watson’s return to Australia on Saturday had a flow-on affect on the telecast of racing from Winton. Race 1 of the V8 Utes was due to be shown, but was cancelled due to Channel 7’s extended coverage of Watson’s delayed arrival. The series will still get their standalone Winton broadcast in the coming weeks.

Ducomeback?

after Bayliss’s comments.

Bayliss, 41, has won three World Superbike titles, and 52 wins. Another title and seven more race wins would tie him with Carl Fogarty as the most successful Superbike racer

on the world stage. The Taree rider holds the distinction of having won his the last MotoGP in which he raced, at Valencia in 2006, and the last WSBK races, at Portimao in 2008.

More control in F3?

FORMULA 3 COULD Australian Formula 3 be going to a control engine? eNews has learnt that the championship is considering the move, possibly as soon as next year, after being contacted by an F3 engine

manufacturer.

It’s understood that a pool of engines could be purchased, leased out to teams and serviced locally.

The majority of competitors in the championship currently lease their engines from Europe through Mercedes Benz, while

Renault-Sodemo and Honda powerplants are also used locally.

One candidate for a control engine could be FIAT, who are the control engine suppliers for the Italian and Spanish (European F3 Open) F3 Championships.

– MITCHELL ADAM motorsport news

news

Flexing their muscle James Smith

TC MASTERS AN influx of new machinery will add further depth to an already-brimming Touring Car Masters presented by Autobarn field later this year.

Up to six brand-new cars are set to make their on-track debut later this year, with Jim Richard’s highly anticipated AMC Javelin potentially to be joined by up to four of Holden’s SLR 5000 Toranas. At least one XA Falcon Coupe is also currently under construction, adding another level of variety into the already diverse category.

NEXT STOP: TBC

The Torana was recently added to the series’ eligibility list, and current Monaro driver Tony Edwards is one of several currently building new vehicles, drawing on the experience of the experienced Les Small in the construction of his new ride.

“Les was involved in the development of the original SLR 5000 racing car built for Alan Grice in late 1973 so he’s been a pretty handy bloke to have involved in building our car!” Edwards said.

“He has done the engine and a lot of the chassis work and we’re about two-to-three

full days away from finishing and getting it on track to do some testing. The build started six months ago, before it even became eligible for the category, so it’s quite advanced.

“Realistically it could be ready to race in September, but we’re in no hurry and I think given the history Les has at Bathurst I think it will be appropriate to make its debut there in October.”

Current Group Two Torana XU-1 driver Trevor Talbot and Monaro driver Gary O’Brien are amongst others also developing new Toranas to race.

Meanwhile, Jim Richards says the Javelin is still on track for a late-season debut however the multiple Bathurst champion said that a more specific date is yet to be picked.

“There is no point in us rushing because the Falcon is still a very good car and capable of doing the job,” Richards said.

“I think a debut later this year remains a possibility. The build is going very well so I’m looking forward to getting it going but we don’t want it to detract from what we’re doing with the Sprint.”

– RICHARD CRAILL

FUJITSU SERIES

Motorsport through a tie-up with Walkinshaw Racing. From here, his participation in Round 4 of the series at Townsville in two months is up in the air.

“That’s the million dollar question for me right now,” Percat said.

“I’m going to have a bit of a sit down with Dad and (Walkinshaw boss) Craig Wilson

in the next few weeks and see where we’re at budget-wise.

“We’ve obviously got a long way to go in my career and there’s no real point blowing it all this year; this year is about just getting miles and that’s what we decided to do at the start of the year so we’ll figure it out in the next two months, I guess.”

HAVING moved into second in the Fujitsu Series at Winton, Nick Percat is unsure whether he’ll race in the series again this year.

Last year’s Formula Ford Champ signed on to contest the opening three rounds of the 2010 series with Jay

Rob Lang

www.mnews.com.au

15

Castrol

MODEL CARS SIR Jack Brabham is a legend – and now, there is a model of his most legendary car.

Top Gear, the makers of Trax models, launched its model of the Repco Brabham BT19 last week, at the National Sports Museum in Melbourne. The Museum, which is inside the MCG, is home to the original BT19 he drove to win the 1966 World Drivers’ Championship.

“It is therefore most fitting

16

that Top Gear became the first Australian model maker to sign up Sir Jack Brabham and especially as the BT19 is such a historically significant model,” Managing Director, Robert Hill said at the event.

The 1/43 scale model is the result of 12 months’ work.

Two Repco Brabham models have been crafted by Top Gear. The Signature Edition is limited to 1000 units that have each been signed personally

by Sir Jack. The model comes

DRAG RACING

Cory Sleap

SIR JACK IS A LEGEND

affixed to a timber plinth and is protected by a clear resin dust cover. It is packed in a smart Legends carton and included inside is the ‘Victory’ booklet, also personally signed by Jack. The model will be available in late May and is only available direct from Top Gear for $298.

Other models in the series will be Mick Doohan’s Honda NSR500 and Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith’s Fokker monoplane Southern Cross.

ONE of motorsport’s longest partnerships will conclude at the end of the season when Team Bray Racing races in Castrol colours for the last time.

Victor and Ben Bray will end an almost 20-year association with the oil giant, which has made the decision to move on. Castrol will continue with the team in a technical capacity.

“The Castrol/Team Bray partnership is probably one of Australia’s longest running sponsorships and during that time we have enjoyed immense success on and off the race track,” said Castrol Lubricants’ Marketing Director, Andrew Johnson.

“Victor and his son, Ben Bray, are great race car drivers, but even

motorsport news

news

ACCC acts on NASR

l, Bray call it a Day

SPEEDWAY

Marshall Cass

better people who have always been willing to help us in our business.

“Our sponsorship investment priorities have changed in recent years meaning we needed to make a very tough decision to not continue as naming rights sponsor beyond this year.”

Bray Sr said that he respected Castrol’s decision.

“I feel fortunate and am thankful to Castrol and all the staff over the past 20-plus years for the help and friendship they shown towards me, my family and my race team,” said the veteran. “We had some great times, set plenty of national and world records, and won nine ANDRA National Drag Racing Championships during our partnership.”

www.mnews.com.au

ANT MAKES IT, JUST Late reprieve gets Pedersen to Winton a ‘no’,” he said of his Winton participation.

“Then I spoke to NHP and ANT Pedersen received a lastasked if they want to help and minute reprieve to contest that tipped us over the line to Winton’s Fujitsu Series round. get here.

The Kiwi has been a round-to“After that, I booked my round prospect running with flights and I got in at 11pm on Matthew White Motorsport Thursday night.” and was third in the series In the end, Pedersen had a heading after two rounds. tough weekend.

He was forced However with just days before out of the opening race with a the Winton weekend, he didn’t clutch issue and finished 13th have the budget in place to and 10th in the remaining two run, but got on the grid after race, dropping to seventh in signing NHP Electrical on as a the points. sponsor mid-week.

– MITCHELL ADAM “On Wednesday night, it was

FUJITSU V8S

HE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has acted to end the exclusive access to various track by National Association of Speedway Racing licence holders.

The ACC has notified Brisbane Speedway, Murray Bridge Speedway and Premier Speedway that it will not permit the track to allow only drivers and team members with NASR credentials to access the tracks. The ACCC also decided to issue draft notices proposing to revoke similar notifications lodged by Perth Motorplex and Avalon Raceway.

“While such bodies can host events at the notifying tracks, their drivers will also be required to obtain a NASR licence,” said ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel in a statement.

“This may reduce the attractiveness of competing licensing bodies and reduce their ability to expand their membership,” Mr Samuel said.

NASR General Manager Dale Gilson issued the following statement: “NASR is currently considering its options in response to this ruling and will notify all stakeholders in due course.”

17

V8TC rookies for Mallala V8 TOURING CARS

James Smith

CNRC steps up in Production Car Management shift Time attackers arrive

18

THREE newcomers will make their Shannons V8 Touring Car Series debut in Round 2 of the 2010 season at Mallala next weekend. May 29-30.

On the second anniversary of the series’ maiden round, 10 cars are expected to compete, including Matthew Hansen, Dean Kovacevich and James Stewart. Hansen and Kovacevich will both make the trek over from Western

PRODUCTION CARS THE organisers of the Shannons Nationals have taken the reins of the Australian Manufacturers Championship.

Having been involved since 2005 following PROCAR’s demise, the Production Car Association of Australia have withdrawn from the role

SUPERLAP INTERNATIONAL teams have started to arrive in Australia for this weekend’s inaugural Yokohama World Time Attack Challenge.

Professional outfits from Japan and the USA running cars that are lighter and more powerful than a V8 Supercar, all on road-spec tyres, will hit Eastern Creek this weekend.

Also known as Superlap, Time Attack is the latest motorsport craze from Japan.

It’s essentially a lap-dash competition, the winner being the fastest car over a single lap.

Competitors from Japan include the Tomei/Cuzco Subaru WRX, Panspeed Mazda RX-7, Sun Cyber Mitsubishi Evo and R-Magic Mazda RX-7. From the USA comes the Hankook Sierra Sierra

Australia, to race an AU Falcon and VY Commodore respectively.

New South Welshman Stewart will race Eggleston Motorsport’s ex-Team Dynamik VY Commodore.

Also in a VY, defending series winner Adam Wallis is scheduled to run his ex-PWR VY for the first time in the series. Wallis purchased the car in the off-season, and ran in the Fujitsu Series at the Clipsal 500. of Category Administrator.

The CAMS National Racing Championships will serve in the role for the balance of 2010, while CAMS explores future options for the championship’s Category Management Agreement and Category Administration rights.

The next round is the inaugural Australian 6 Hour at Eastern Creek on July 17-18.

Enterprises entry (pictured arriving at Eastern Creek on Monday morning), a 1200kg carbon-fibre Mitsubishi Evo tuned to deliver in excess of 500kW. “For a professional race team like us, with a background in traditional circuit racing, it’s not enough to just compete in the States - so we’re coming to Australia to race the best from Japan,” Sierra Sierra manager Richard Raeder said.

But the visitors might not have things all their own way, as waiting for them are the likes of former Fujitsu Series driver Jose Fernandez and his Falcon V8 Supercar fitted with a 670kW FPV F6 Turbo engine, Mal Rose with his ‘Nurburgring’ six-litre Commodore V8 Supercar and Steve Owen in a 450kW Lancer Evo IX. – STEVE NORMOYLE motorsport news

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19

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Magazine Only: Motorsport News

Luke Nieuwhof

Badcock on the edge DRAG RACING TREVOR Birrell is a name you won’t often see in the headlines, but he is one of the most successful men in ANDRA Pro Series drag racing.

Birrell has run a Pro Stock Motorcycle team for almost two decades with a variety of riders at the helm of his very quick Suzukis.

His current rider is Andrew Badcock and the team is yet again at the top of the points standings, with Badcock simply having to stage at the Winternationals in order to take the championship win.

“We’ve won three out of the last four events and went to the semi final in Perth,” Birrell said.

“I’m taking three engines to the Winternationals so I am pretty confident we should be able to make it to stage!”

Birrell's Suzuki has had the stand out pace of the season but surprisingly he hasn’t really been leaning on the tune-up, concentrating on developing Badcock’s riding skills first.

“It should be running quicker than it is, when Andrew got on the bike it had been a few years since he had ridden so we haven't been chasing the tune up,” he said.

“When you have a new rider it is hard to evaluate changes, so we've had the luxury of leaving it alone and have been the quickest every meeting; we’re lucky in that respect.

“Hopefully next season we can lean on it,

it should run a high 7.1s.”

One of the only possible hiccups to Birrell’s season is that Badcock’s partner is expecting a child two weeks after the Winternationals. Should the birth come early it could hamper racing plans but Birrell is staying optimistic.

“It’s certainly a different avenue to think about it,” he said.

Pro Stock Motorcycle as a category got off to a difficult start this season with very small fields. Birrell is hopeful the Winternationals could see as many as 13 bikes make a start to boost the bracket.

“Now the class rules are starting to stabilise the numbers are coming up,” he said.

– LUKE NIEUWHOF

ANDRA Pro Series news is proudly presented by:

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motorsport news

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CLARKE CARRIES ON Luke Nieuwhof

Good, then Bad, for Maurice DRAG RACING Luke Nieuwhof

DRAG RACING JEFFREY Clarke showed his performances from Western Australia were no fluke when he won the Nitro Champs event in Sydney.

Clarke’s Hog’s Breath Cafe dragster stormed to the winner’s circle, defeating Chris Soldatos in the final, along with claiming national records for both time and speed.

The race weekend did not begin in an auspicious fashion when the dragster sustained some severe engine damage on its first qualifying run. With the level of damage and the parts affected, Clarke thought he was out for the rest of the event.

“I was so distraught, by 4pm on Saturday the crew had given up and said they couldn’t get it to work,” he said.

“But I didn’t go all that way to give up, we just thought about the problem and we just kept going.”

Clarke and his pit crew performed some running repairs and got parts flown in overnight from Perth in order to make it to the first round.

“We keep finding the weak links in the car as we get quicker,” he said.

Clarke took a soft approach to the first round but then his national record setting passes swiftly followed, achieving a best run of 5.87s in the final itself.

ANDRA Pro Series on

It gave Clarke valuable points towards the national Competition championship.

He still has some distance to go to close on the leaders but if he has a successful Winternationals event then he stands a chance at bringing home the number one plate.

“I’ve got to win the meeting and Jason Maggs and Graeme Frawley have to be out by the semi finals to win the championship,” he said.

“I’m going with full ambition to win, we’re not going to take it soft.

“We’ll give it a crack and if I don’t get it this season then hopefully we can afford to do the whole series next season.”

– LUKE NIEUWHOF

COMPETITION driver Maurice Brennan was ecstatic to reset a national record for the AA/ AP class at the recent Nitro Champs, even if he did make an early first round exit in eliminations.

The Western Australian ran a 6.10s time, a standard some of the Top Doorslammer teams did not even get close to on the weekend.

“I just can’t believe this team.

It was a massive commitment to bring the car and crew across the country but this makes it all worth it,” he said.

“That first round loss was completely my fault, I only noticed my launch revs were 500 over as the amber lights were running down. It smoked the tyres instantly and I tried to pedal it but it was never going to work.”

– LUKE NIEUWHOF

Wednesday May 19, 6:30pm Pro Stock, Willowbank

Next ANDRA Pro Series Round: Castrol EDGE Winternationals, Willowbank Raceway, June 10-13 www.mnews.com.au

21

Five Minutes with ...

TIM SLADE Sharing a garage with Shane van Gisbergen and Alex Davison makes being the best SBR driver on any given weekend a big effort for Tim Slade

It was a great run, and on the last lap you got Garth Tander as well, so did you think at some point do I really need to go for these gaps, or are they just easy prey?

Yeah there was one point there where I was catching Garth, and I think it was [Tony] D’Alberto as well, and I was thinking will or won’t I get them. Lap after lap, things just dropped off massively.

22

Dirk Klynsmith

QUESTION: Seventh place, equalling your career best finish Tim, but the difference is last year when we had the half-hot, half-cold soft tyre compound races. This one you had to do on varying strategy, yourself and your team must be pretty happy, a fast lap yesterday [Saturday] and second fastest today.

TIM SLADE: Yeah, last year I got my best result in a sprint round in 10th in Queensland, but as you said it wasn’t really legitimate, it was one of those races where it was soft tyre versus hard tyre. So half the field goes good on one day, and half the field goes good the other.

So yesterday we had a pretty fast car, we qualified 14th, first of the Stones’ cars and we raced onto 12th, and I guess we probably had a little bit of a different strategy yesterday where we lost a little bit of time in the pitstop, and went out pretty hard on that second set of tyres.

We actually ended up with the fastest lap, and after the fastest lap towards the end of the stint, the tyres did drop away fairly dramatically.

So today, I guess I took a leaf out of Shane’s [van Gisbergen] book and, qualifying that far back in 24th, I was just biding my time, and made sure the tyres hung in there and I could keep to the guys in front just cruising along. When the tyres began to fade away, I just maintained my pace and picked them off.

So qualifying was hard this morning – all three cars I think were ninth, 21st and 24th, so we struggled a little bit to get the speed out of the cars in the cold conditions as we did in New Zealand.

I had my little favourite passing spot around the outside of the tree in the middle of the boobs over there, if we know what the boobs are. I couldn’t get Garth there so I lined him up there at Turn 10 and he covered and then I don’t know why but he pulled out, so I jumped into the gap, that cut us a few laps short, so I think we might have had Winterbottom there as well.

Great run, and well done on your seventh place, the best placed Stone Brothers Racing Falcon here this weekend at least on Sunday for Wilson Security, good drive, it must be good to sit along side some 20-year-old guys there with Lowndes the elder statesman on the far left.

Yeah it’s great to get the result for Wilson Security and James Rosenberg as well, and it’s been a bit of a learning curve for me this year and I felt like I’m only just starting to get my head around the car.

Towards the end of last year and always near the start of this year it’s been a bit difficult especially on the street circuits, Queensland and Winton are probably the two places where I’ve done the most amount of kays in a V8, so really, Engineer [Wes McDougall] and myself are

working well together, and beginning to understand each other pretty well, so this weekend has been pretty well and we have a good understanding of the car so I look forward to the next one [Darwin.]

You changed teams during the summer, is there any satisfaction in looking in your mirror and seeing your old team’s cars behind you?

It all ended on good terms last year, and I’m very grateful to Paul Morris for the opportunity, and I think if everything went the way he wanted it I’d probably still be there.

I guess I probably shouldn’t say that, but I’m happy where I am. It’s probably better for me to learn and grow with the team, there’s a lot of history, a lot of race wins and championships so they know how it’s done and they’re not shy of giving young guys a chance.

I guess the way it happened last year Supercheap wanted to be only involved with one car, and Castrol had come on board and wanted one of the high-profile guys as opposed to a young guy. I’m still great mates with everyone there, Paul included. So I wouldn’t say it was a case of that, no, but definitely I am happy with the current situation. motorsport news

chat

Dirk Klynsmith

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23

A Fan’s View

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HE is my first time in Australia and I’m here just for the V8s.

I was going to come for Barbagallo, but because it got cancelled, my travel company asked which one I wanted to go to and I chose Winton.

I’m staying in Melbourne, I’ve got a little hire car and I drove up here this morning to see this. I arrived on Friday morning at 6am – I’m staying on for a few days and going back home on Wednesday night.

I’ve been watching V8 Supercars for about four or five years now. We’ve always watched Bathurst in the UK; that’s always been the major race and then I started watching the others since the internet came along. It’s starting to get really big

Mitchell Adam bumped into a British tourist at Winton – he’d come all this way just for the V8s!

now. A lot of people are watching it.

We get them on TV in the UK, on what’s called MotorsTV, but it’s delayed. We’ve not even seen Ipswich over there yet. It’s so far behind, it’s easier to watch it online. This weekend, by the time I get back to the UK, it’ll be on websites; I can watch it that way a lot easier.

I live in Nottingham, so Donington Park is literally half an hour from where we live and there are other race tracks nearby.

I’ve been to a few British Touring Car and World Superbike rounds.

This (V8 Supercars) is a really different noise – the British Touring Cars have smaller engines and are a lot more revvy.

It’s like a squealy sound, whereas these V8s

Opinion

Nick Cunningham – English V8 fan

rumble and roar and pop and bang, so it’s completely different!

The circuit and show is a lot bigger. Yeah, you get all of the trucks in the UK and you get to walk around the pits, but this is just all on a much bigger scale. The V8 trucks here and everything is really good.

I definitely plan on coming back for more!

Dirk Klynsmith

Letters Ford Man gets even It must be time for another interview with Holden Motor Sport Manager, Simon McNamara.

Perhaps he may have something intelligent to add to his previous interview predicting total domination by Holden in the V8 Supercar Championship.

Go DJR …Go Ford.

Paul Winter Loxton Outa here As a motor sport competitor/sponsor/ track announcer/ supporter since the early 1960s, I am disgusted at the treatment 24

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

motor racing is receiving from Channel 7.

The split broadcasts of the V8s and preferential scheduling of other sports (namely AFL) shows they do not have any interest in promoting motor sport and it must be said, your lack of skills in negotiating the broadcast rights has to be a contributing factor. I have been getting more interested in supporting other forms of motor racing (historic touring cars and the Shannon's series) over the past year or so, but always looking for a reason to continue my support of V8 Supercars.

The programming of this weekend’s

round at Winton has made my decision easy. No more V8s for me. I will be watching more of SBS (Shannon’s) and One HD and far less of 7. At least I will be able to sit down and watch a decent program.

Also, why have the first rounds in foreign countries where your ‘loyal’ supporters can not get to even if they wanted (unless they have thick wallets). It is about time you started supporting those who have made the series what it once was.

I wish you luck in the future.

Graeme Douglass Via email motorsport news

opinion

Dirk Klynsmith

sutton-images.com

NO FOOTY, NO BOATS

T

HAT jolt you felt on the weekend was not from a pink, 10m boat sailing through the heads and … eventually, ever so eventually, to the Sydney Opera House.

Nope, it was the sporting world, falling off its blokes-and-balls axis. For a few hours, footy-ers, their salaries caps and various questionable after-hours activities vacated centre stage, and motor cars moved in.

Mark Webber’s stunning Monaco victory is the lead item. It was – now, let’s not get carried away by patriotism – a top-shelf performance. Emphatic, decisive, inchperfect. ‘Senna-esque’ has been bandied about the MN office, and I am not about to shoot that theory down, A few hours earlier, James Courtney delivered a similar drive at Winton.

Different series and car and, assuredly, a vastly different venue, but it was no less convincing. James has a smile like a split

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melon at the best of times; there will be no wiping the grin off for days after this.

The effects of the races go beyond the chequered flag. V8 Supercar people I spoke to today were quick to talk about Monaco. And, back to the plot, Courtney now leads the V8 Supercar Championship Series, and today is the first for more than 580 days that we have been able to say that about anyone but Jamie Whincup. As much as JDub is a fine two-time Champion, and a good sport, I am sure that he will admit that the same fella leading all the time is not a good thing for any sport.

Same for Webber; the last time an Australian won two GPs in a row was 30 years ago. Along with Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel, the Aussie leads the World Drivers’ Championship.

There’s a long way to go. McLaren, Ferrari and Vettel will fight back, but Webber looks well and truly ready for the battles, and the war. Locally, TeamVodafone, HRT

Opinion

Phil Branagan – Executive Editor

and the other teams will be in fightback mode, aiming at the Bourbon Boys to make sure that Courtney’s smile is temporary.

Either way, the rest of both seasons is going to make compelling watching. The ratings for both series are going to rise, surely, in the coming events.

Jessica Watson has come a long way to see this; quick, someone give her a 42-inch LDC, and tell her that boating is fine, but watching it is like watching grass grow ...

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V8 SUPERCARS RACES 11-12, WINTON RACEWAY

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MAY DAYS www.mnews.com.au

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John Morris/Mpix

Holden alert! May has been great month for James Courtney, less so for Jamie Whincup. Ford’s new main man took his second double in as many weeks and, with it, the lead in the championship chase. MITCHELL ADAM and PHIL BRANAGAN watched as JC served it up to Holden’s best ... again ...

John Morris

A

T Queensland Raceway, James Courtney and Sprint Tyres starred.

Courtney took a pair of wins and the all-Sprint Tyre format spiced up the Supercar racing on debut.

Fast-forward a fortnight and the story was the same on Saturday at Winton. Race 11 of the championship was Courtney’s third in a row, with the Sprint Tyres again working wonders for the quality of racing.

Courtney took pole in what he described as a “perfect” shootout, but relinquished the lead early to Garth Tander. The DJR Ford couldn’t find a way past Tander’s Commodore, and the team turned to strategy, aiming to pit Courtney earlier to get clean air.

HRT heard the call, though, and brought Tander in on the same lap, only for Tander to hit one of his tyres while entering the pit box.

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The slow stop handed Courtney the lead and, from there, he was in control. At one stage, his lead was up to almost 10s, in a performance reminiscent of his crushing QR form.

In the end, Craig Lowndes came charging on fresher rubber and got the final gap down to 3.8s. But the only margin Courtney would’ve been thinking about was Whincup’s points lead, which he’d cut to three.

“I was watching him the whole way down,” he said of his trip down pit lane while Tander had dramas.

“I was getting close, and when the guy ran down from the front to the back, I thought ‘this is good, I might jump him here’, so it was good.

“The car was great today, awesome really, but I didn’t get the best of starts off the line. We had a lot more pace than Garth at the start, who probably held us up quite a

bit, but once we got clear we were right.”

Lowndes was, well, Lowndes. As he’s done so many times, Lowndes made the most of the Sprint Tyres while being “careful and patient”. He was the secondlast driver to pit, rejoining in 15th from his Lap 21 stop, before carving his way up the order to take second.

Whincup took third, reflecting that they’d “probably over-achieved” based on where he rated their speed and tyre life, while Steven Johnson was in the mix all afternoon and made it four Triple Eight-built cars in the Top 4.

Shane van Gisbergen finished fifth, after starting 15th, in a strong drive, while Jason Bright was another laterace mover, taking seventh at BJR’s home track.

The day started so promisingly for HRT, but ended up like so many they’ve

endured so far in 2010. After his pitstop, Tander spent most of the afternoon trying to pass Todd Kelly in the bottom half of the Top 10, but there was more misery to come in a frenetic final handful of laps.

Jonathon Webb passed Will Davison on the inside at Turn 11 on the penultimate lap, Tander tried to follow him through, made contact with his team-mate and the pair pirouetted down the order.

Eventually, Tander finished 17th, Davison 22nd.

After passing Davison, Webb was on for another good result in his rookie season, but he locked wheels with Winterbottom at Turn 3 on the final lap. Winterbottom got home in 15th, Webb limped to 26th.

The mayhem was good news for Russell Ingall, who had qualified down in 25th.

He was the last man to pit, holding out until Lap 27, and got up to finish 11th. motorsport news

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Race 11

John Morris

Peter Bury Peter Bury

More Frank than ever: James Courtney did more ‘Frank the Tank’ practice on Saturday. Garth Tander led early, before pitstop problems, and Shane van Gisbergen got another good finish.

Will Davison fought it out with Jason Bright, while Mark Winterbottom had a Saturday to forget.

Peter Bury

www.mnews.com.au

29

I

F your parents named you James, and you drive a V8 Supercar built by Triple Eight Race Engineering, it seems that wins come in lots of four in 2010.

With 600 points on offer in the Sprint tyre races, the Queensland Raceway and Winton rounds of the V8 Supercar Championship Series looked like being all-in brawls. They were, kind of, but what was not expected was that the one man would take all 600 points.

On Sunday, James Courtney had to come from sixth on the grid to do it, but do it, he did. In fact, his biggest problem was when, while battling for the lead, he and Craig Lowndes almost fell over each other. The two cars clashed in the Motorsport News Esses, and when Lowndes came back onto the track, it was a circumspect Courtney giving him as much room as he could, and wary of overtaking, lest the Stewards step in.

“I slowed down and redressed it,” Courtney said, clearly satisfied with his mature decision as much as his untouchable speed.

In fact, for a while, it looked like he would take the absolutely safe option and track Lowndes all the way to the flag. That was because both drivers had cruised past the unusual sight of Jamie Whincup parked in the kitty litter and, virtually, out of the race, and with a points lead assured, Courtney did admit that it crossed his mind.

“I was trying to tell myself that second was good enough,” he confessed, “but there is this crazy will to win inside me.”

The unthinkable sight of a stranded Whincup came on lap 46. He was in a ruck of cars, including Russell Ingall, Paul Dumbrell and Jonathan Webb, and suddenly the Canadian Club car made contact with the #1 TeamVodafone entry. Whincup was not that upset about the clash, for good reason (see breakout).

Lowndes motored on to second ahead of Lee Holdsworth. Podium finishes are not a rarity for the Garry Rogers team these days, and this time, Michael Caruso was close behind, the two red cars finishing in the top five.

The other red cars’ nightmare continued, with eighth (Tander) and 18th (Will Davison), the latter’s cause not assisted at all by a hit in the rear from Steven Richards that speared the HRT car onto the grass, and earned Richards a drive-through penalty.

The team has new cars coming for Darwin and, if Winton was far from a restart, the higher temperatures and the Control tyre may assist the effort a little (see news pages).

The other Holden team to suffer was Paul Morris Motorsport, with neither Russell Ingall nor Greg Murphy finding anything beyond mid-field speed in qualifying and the race.

The other fascinating part was the fact that Courtney started sixth, on a track where the front row of the grid has usually been considered mandatory for any sort of result. Clearly, the increased confidence in the softer Sprint tyres allows more passing than one might be accustomed to in V8 Supercars, even at Winton. Expect plenty of calls for the adoption of tyre on a wider scale in 2011.

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motorsport news

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Race 12

Dirk Klynsmith Robert Lang

Dirk Klynsmith

Putting the Win in Winton: Courtney had to fight his way through the field to take his fourth win in a row on Sunday.

Honda Corner was a favourite spot to gain places; left, he lines up Craig Lowndes, with Lee Holdsworth having the best seat in the house.

Rick Kelly took his first pole in two years and drove to fourth, while Tim Slade showed speed in the Wilson Security Falcon.

John Morris

www.mnews.com.au

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WINNERS MARK WEBBER Sorry, wrong race, we must have Webber Fever.

JAMES COURTNEY Wow. Really, wow. He always had the ability, but the last four races have been something else again.

KELLY RACING Getting there.

THE 20-SOMETHINGS Tony D’Alberto, Tim Slade and their youthful mates are reminding everyone on the grid that life does not begin at 30.

LOSERS WALKINSHAW RACING Tander is a shining light, but the other three entries really look like they are struggling.

JASON RICHARDS He was hot in Darwin last year and he really needs to step it up at Hidden Valley next month.

PMM The cars looked better at QR but in the cool of Winton, they struggled.

They will be praying for some temperature in Darwin.

JAMIE WHINCUP Not a loser, but the end of his remarkable streak of leading the V8SCS over three separate seasons ended in the kittly litter.

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Coming through THERE was a time when Tony D’Alberto would have turned heads with Top 10 results.

These days, though, it’s almost a regular occurrence, and at Winton, D’Alberto was ninth in each race. He did it the hard way, coming from 22nd on Saturday and from the back of the field on Sunday, after being turned around on the opening lap having qualified 18th.

“The car was very good on its tyres this weekend,” he said.

“I think that’s why we couldn’t qualify very well, but the car was very good when it was in race trim. It’s just disappointing, to be

John Morris

GRM The cars look great, are fast, and both drivers are performing.

turned around, we should’ve been fifth.”

The results are the latest chapter in something of a breakthrough season for D’Alberto.

“It’s funny, because I’m not even happy anymore to be in the Top 10,” he said.

“If you look at all of the opportunities that were lost during the race, if we had have done that, or had have done this, it could’ve been better.

“But still, you’ve got to look at the Top 10 as a good result, especially for our little team with the oldest car in the field – we’re doing something right. “ – MITCHELL ADAM

In Kelly country, black i ARMOR All pays $2500 for a pole position, and while Rick Kelly was a happy recipient of the cheque, Kelly Racing still has a long way to go.

Kelly’s pole position was the first for the second-year team, and his first since 2007, when he scored pole at Phillip Island. It was a good result, and showed that there is speed in the KR cars.

But the speed did not last in the race. After getting away second, Kelly found himself losing tyre speed before his opposition did, losing positions to Craig Lowndes and James Courtney at Turn 3 on consecutive laps. For the rest of

his 20-lap first stint, he had Mark Winterbottom and Paul Dumbrell climbing into his boot, but he didn’t yield.

He held his position, fourth, during the second stint, despite the attentions of Michael Caruso.

On the other hand, Todd Kelly struggled, with changes overnight not assisting the cause.

He started 26th, and finished 22nd after a few hits on the way.

“It’s easier when you can race your line,” said Todd later.

“The steering bent when Garth took me off the road, and it doesn’t take much to leave you in traffic.” motorsport news

race

John Morris

THE END OF AN ERA

JAMIE Whincup rarely gets upset – not even when he loses the lead in the V8 Supercar Championship Series.

So, even when his series lead ended in the Turn 4 bunker on Sunday, JDub kept up a brave face.

“When it’s not your day, it’s not your day,” he shrugged, adding that he was not even that mad at Jono Webb.

“It was the slightest of touches. It blew out the

sidewall, and that is not something you usually see. It was just a small rub.”

Whincup’s 24th place finish brings to an end a remarkable run. He took the lead in the 2008 championship at Bathurst (which he won, of course, with Craig Lowndes) and managed to lead the 2009 title from Go to Whoa.

Courtney’s newly-minted points lead brings to a close a long chapter. In fact, Jamie held the lead for 581 days.

is the new black

Dirk Klynsmith

www.mnews.com.au

FROM THE COUCH with PHIL BRANAGAN FROM about 7am until ... heaven knows when on Saturday, all three commercial networks caught Jessica Watson fever.

I know a few people who sail regularly and they uniformly tell me what a great sport it is.

Good, because it is about the worst spectator sport in the world, and murderously boring to watch. Still, it was a sea of blue, pink and green and gold on the Harbour.

I would imagine that there were a lot of lawns to mow, and trips to be made to the shopping malls after the Good Ship Publicity Overkill docked at the Opera House. Hopefully, the ratings for the V8 Supercars did not suffer Watson Lag after all the chest puffing was over and the cars fired up.

We complain about things that go wrong in the TV coverage, but the racing on the Sprint tyre has been so good, up and down the field, that I reckon it is impossible to get everything – and V8TV and Seven got most of everything on the weekend. Winton has had the odd procession in the past, but this was not one of those.

Of course, Sseven regular Mark Beretta was absent, off on a cycling tour to raise much money for excellent causes (kudos, Beretts) and Mark Larkham stepped up, even seen running down pitlane at one stage.

Those with sharp hearing might have heard Larko refer to JBR’s Team Manager as ‘Adrian Ryan’, and not Adrian Burgess, during Sunday’s race. Burgess is a relatively recent arrival in the V8 Supercar pitlane, and may have wondered who Adrian Ryan is, and why the confusion.

Ryan was, of course, a longtime Ford PR man, and a devoted documenter of all things relating to the blue oval.

More than that, he filled part of his post-retirement time as PR for Larko’s own V8 Supercar team, and was on the scene when Larkham scored his sole race win as a driver, at Surfers.

Ryan passed away last October, and he is missed by many in motor racing.

This was not quite a ‘braky bumping zone’ moment, and in this instance Larko, for reminding us of an old mate many in pitlane remember fondly, you are forgiven.

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Still Mr 100 percent

Kiwi rookie Daniel Gaunt has started and finished all the races so far

Results :: Race 10 – Winton Raceway Pos

#

1 18 2 888 3 1 4 17 5 9 6 7 7 14 8 34 9 3 10 33 11 39 12 47 13 51 14 6 15 5 16 4 17 2 18 15 19 8 20 24 21 21 22 22 23 11 24 12 25 30 26 19 27 16 28 55 DNF 10 34

Driver

Team/Car

Qual

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

Jim Beam Racing Ford Falcon FG 1 TeamVodafone Holden Commodore VE 5 TeamVodafone Holden Commodore VE 6 Jim Beam Racing Ford Falcon FG 8 SP Tools Racing Ford Falcon FG 15 Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore VE 9 Trading Post Racing Holden Commodore VE 12 Fujitsu Racing/GRM Holden Commodore VE 10 Centaur Racing Holden Commodore VE 22 Fujitsu Racing/GRM Holden Commodore VE 16 Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore VE 25 Wilson Security Racing Ford Falcon FG 14 Castrol Edge Racing Holden Commodore VE 24 Dunlop Super Dealer Ford Falcon FG 4 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon Ford Falcon FG 3 Irwin Racing Ford Falcon FG 23 Toll Holden Racing Team Commodore VE 2 Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore VE 13 Team BOC Holden Commodore VE 19 Bundaberg Racing Team Commodore VE 18 Fair Dinkum Sheds Holden Commodore VE 28 Toll Holden Racing Team Commodore VE 7 Rock Racing Holden Commodore VE 21 Triple F Racing Ford Falcon FG 20 Gulf Western Oil Racing Commodore VE 27 Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon FG 17 Stratco Racing Holden Commodore VE 29 The Bottle-O Racing Team Ford Falcon FG 11 Bundaberg Racing Team Commodore VE 26

DANIEL Gaunt maintained his perfect record of race finishes at Winton.

The young Kiwi picked up a 25th and a 19th in the Gulf Western Oils Commodore, and is one of only eight drivers to greet the chequered flag in all 12 races so far. As a rookie, that can only be good news as he comes up to speed.

“I guess consistency is the name of the game, getting the race pace up is the next thing,” he said.

“We’re closer every race, we’ve just got to take one step at a time, and it definitely helps with the more miles we can do; finishing every race definitely helps.

“I think a 100% finishing race is something everyone aims for. First of all, for us, more importantly is getting further up the field. Once that happens, and we get a little bit more pace, I think consistency will help us there if we can maintain that.”

On Sunday, Sprint Tyers put Gaunt in an interesting position, where he was on fresh rubber trying to unlap himself from James Courtney and Jamie Whincup who had yet to stop. As one of the drivers with recent Porsche experience in the field, Gaunt has enjoyed the two Sprint rounds.

“QR was slightly better for us than this round,” he said.

“It’s evened things up a bit, it’s something new for everyone to deal with.

“There’s a lot of the guys who know the current model really well, and that’s why it works for them, but as soon as you mix it up with the tyres, or a new car in 2012, it will throw a cat amongst the pigeons.”

– MITCHELL ADAM motorsport news

race

With Dunlop’s V8 Operations Manager KEVIN FITZIMMONS FROM our point of view, the two rounds with Sprint Tyres have been pretty successful.

The on-track action was what we hoped it would be; there was plenty of passing.

I’m not sure that the team owners will love it with the amount of panel damage there was, but I think the TV should’ve been pretty exciting on Saturday and there was plenty of action.

It was a little bit cooler here than at Queensland Raceway, and there were more corners, so a lot of guys experienced a lot of front tyre wear and a bit of graining – changing four tyres was definitely the right option.

The telecast should’ve been great on Saturday and on Sunday there was plenty of passing as well. We’re here to put on a show for the public, that’s what we’ve got to remember, so if panel damage is a trade-off for that, and that’s the way of the future, unfortunately that’s part of it.

It certainly was close, exciting, good racing; guys were having big dives under brakes, which they can’t do with the harder tyre, so it was pretty good, I think. www.mnews.com.au

Dirk Klynsmith

TYRE TALK

Top 10 Points: Courtney 1467, Whincup 1353, Lowndes 1245, Van Gisbergen 1164, Tander 1116, Holdsworth 1110, R. Kelly 1079, Winterbottom 1056, Caruso 1035, Johnson 932.

Results :: Race 12 – Winton Raceway Pos # 1 18 2 888 3 33 4 15 5 34 6 5 7 47 8 2 9 3 10 55 11 19 12 9 13 8 14 17 15 51 16 39 17 4 18 22 19 30 20 16 21 6 22 7 23 21 24 1 25 10 DNF 14 DNF 12 DNF 11 DNF 24

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

Team/Car Qual Jim Beam Racing Falcon FG 6 TeamVodafone Commodore VE 4 Fujitsu Racing/GRM Commodore VE 9 Jack Daniel’s Racing Commodore VE 1 Fujitsu Racing/GRM Commodore VE 8 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon Falcon FG 5 Wilson Security Racing Falcon FG 24 Toll Holden Racing Team Commodore VE 7 Centaur Racing Commodore VE 18 The Bottle-O Racing Team Falcon FG 3 Dick Johnson Racing Falcon FG 15 SP Tools Racing Falcon FG 19 Team BOC Commodore VE 23 Jim Beam Racin Falcon FG 11 Castrol Edge Racing Commodore VE 16 Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore VE 13 Irwin Racing Falcon FG 21 Toll Holden Racing Team Commodore VE 12 Gulf Western Oil Racing Commodore VE 27 Stratco Racing Commodore VE 29 Dunlop Super Dealer FPR Falcon FG 10 Jack Daniel’s Racing Commodore VE 26 Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing Commodore VE 22 TeamVodafone Commodore VE 2 Bundaberg Red Racing Commodore VE 28 Trading Post Racing Commodore VE 17 Triple F Racing Falcon FG 14 Rock Racing Commodore VE 25 Bundaberg Red Racing Commodore VE 20 35

FUJITSU SERIES ROUND 3, WINTON

He Cam, he conquered Cameron McConville now has three race wins in a V8 Supercar and all at Winton, following a successful debut in the Fujitsu Series at the circuit.

MITCHELL ADAM was there

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Dirk Klynsmith

www.mnews.com.au

37

Percat, above, nabbed his first podium and moved up to second in the series, Perkins was penalised for a clash with McLaughlin in Race 1, below. Jane, bottom, was fourth and moved up to fourth in the points.

Owen, above right, was second to extend his lead, while Moffat had a bad weekend, including this qualifying off, right.

Dirk Klynsmith Peter Bury

38

Qualifying,” Owen said.

“The first races seemed quite good but we couldn’t find the right set-up. There was not a lot of data from last year because the car has evolved a lot so it’s a bit hit-and-miss.

“In Adelaide we really hit the nail on the head, and Queensland and here we really didn’t get on top of the car.”

The other big winner was rookie Nick Percat, who kept it clean and finished third for the round with results of sixth, third and third, after holding out Scott McLaughlin and Jack Perkins in the final. It saw him leave the weekend second in the standings.

After his debut event at Queensland Raceway was cut short, 16-year-old McLaughlin showed pace and poise at Winton. He was on track for fourth in the opener before copping a hit from Perkins, but regrouped and took fourth in the final ahead of Perkins.

Rodney Jane scored his bestever round result after a lonely sixth in the final, with Drew Russell, Aaren Russell, Ben McCashney and Ant Pedersen – who lost his clutch in Race 1 – completing the Race 3 Top 10.

The weekend started well enough for James Moffat, Tim Blanchard and David Russell, but ended with frustration.

In the opener, Moffat and Blanchard recovered from slow starts to take third and fourth.

Russell fell to fifth with his engine dropping a cylinder, but claimed his first race win of the season in Race 2.

In the final, an opening lap fight for third had dire consequences for all three.

Moffat’s exhaust came loose after a Turn 1 touch from Russell and he copped a mecahnical black flag. Several corners later, Moffat got past Russell and Blanchard tried to follow him through, but made contact and despatched Russell to the sand. He received a drivethrough, while Moffat, already down a lap, finished up in the Turn 3 gravel on the last lap.

Dirk Klynsmith

DRIVERS with Main Game experience continue to show the way in the 2010 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, with Cameron McConville doing the winning in Round 3 of the series at Winton.

In order to get additional seat time ahead of his enduro campaign with Walkinshaw Racing, McConville made arrangements to join the series in Eggleston Motorsport’s Walkinshaw-built VE at two rounds. First up was Winton, the scene of McConville’s only Supercar race win in 2004, for his debut in the series. And it didn’t take him long to get into the swing of things.

Having qualified second to runaway series leader Steve Owen, McConville got the jump in Race 1 and resisted pressure to take out the opener. He eased through the pack to take second in the Reverse Top 10 Race 2, before putting together a dominant, five-second victory in the final.

“I came here not planning to win,” he said.

“I had no pre-conceived ideas of where we were going to finish, the plan was to come up, do some miles, keep the nose clean for Ben (Eggleston) and get back into the groove.

“You can test until the cows come home but there’s only one or two test days left until the enduros and it’s just nice to get out there on a good tyre, get into qualifying trim and get into the heat of the battle of race starts.

“I felt really comfortable out there. It’s a track that I’ve done a million miles at. The car was realistically as good as any VE I’ve driven around here and it made the job a lot easier.”

Second in Races 1 and 3 and fourth in Race 2 netted Owen second for the weekend. His results, and tough weekends for a number of his closest rivals, have given the 2008 Champ a mammoth 216 point lead.

“The car was quite good on Friday and we got there in

motorsport news

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John Morris / Mpix John Morris / Mpix

Results :: Round 3 – Winton Motor Raceway Pos

#

Driver

Team/Car

Qual

R1

R2

R3

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

38 45 222 777 93 28 999 67 59 57 99 46 021 96 75 66 58 86 95 71 26 48 32

Cameron McConville Steve Owen Nick Percat Rodney Jane Scott McLaughlin David Russell Tim Blanchard Jack Perkins Aaren Russell Ben McCashney James Moffat Daniel Jilesen Matthew Hamilton Ryan Hansford Aaron McGill Phil Foster Drew Russell Wayne Miles Nathan Vince Marcus Zukanovic Ant Pedersen Geoff Emery Paul Fiore

Eggleston Motorsport Commodore VE Earthex Racing Commodore VE Sip’N Save Commodore VZ Bob Jane T-Marts Falcon BF Fujitsu Racing Falcon BF Team Jayco Falcon BF Sonic Motor Racing Services Falcon BF Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore VE Go Karts Go / Zemana.com.au Falcon BF Playstation Commodore VZ Norton 360 Ford Rising Stars Falcon BF Earthex Racing Commodore VE Team Kiwi Racing Falcon BF V8 Race Experience Falcon BF McGill Motorsport Falcon BF Roadwise Racing Commodore VZ Go Karts Go / Zemana>com.au Falcon BF East Coast Traffic Control Falcon BF Batavia Coast Motorsport Falcon BF Action Racing Commodore VZ NHP Electrical Falcon BF National Directory Dist. Commodore VZ Flexi Staff Commodore VE

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

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

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

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

Top 10 Points: Owen 848, Percat 632, Blanchard 618, Jane 549, David Russell 516, Moffat 505, Pedersen 485, Perkins 441, Zukanovic 428, Emery 424

www.mnews.com.au

39

FORMULA FORD ROUND 3 – WINTON

S E H S A O T S E H S A 0 Australian 1 0 2 e h t o t t r lander s d a horror sta n a e e h u s a Q h e h h t ls , s a ards, Ash W AGAN report d n N a A t R s B y t f M lo U L n L By his ow . But, as CA ip h s n io p m a h C Formula Ford k at Winton c a b t h g fi is h started 40

motorsport news

race

O

N a weekend where it looked like the locally built Spectrum chassis had an early advantage over its French Mygale rivals, it was only a matter of time until the Mygale elite found their feet, and challenged the two leading Spectrums of Ash Walsh and Chaz Mostert at Winton.

But Walsh’s Spectrum was too strong to be overhauled, as the Queenslander converted third in qualifying into a pair of race wins on Sunday, giving him a handy margin over Mostert at the end of the weekend.

Off the back of a less than desired start to the year, with average results at the Australia Grand Prix and Queensland Raceway, Walsh was clearly delighted to finally pull through for the round win.

“I just focused on being consistent and putting out fast times,” said an elated Walsh.

“Once I started to break away, I started to control my times a little bit to maintain the gap.

“I knew it was quite important to get the win off the start here so I really concentrated on getting a really good start, once I was in the lead on the first lap, it was important to try and pull away on the cold tyres.”

Heading the Mygale charge was Geoff Uhrhane, who was steadily improving his results as the weekend progressed. But it was his fellow Sonic Motorsports team-mate Nick Foster who had plenty of pace, but couldn’t make good use of it as he failed to overcome the leading duo of Walsh and Mostert, and fell behind teammate Uhrhane, who loved the conditions late on Sunday.

Uhrhane had a great Race 3 to finish second after a great pass on Mostert heading into Turn 1, leaving him third on the podium, whilst previous round winner Foster took fourth.

The best of the CAMS Rising Stars was young Matthew Brabham, whose seventh overall was his best finish in the main game. Jack Le Brocq, meanwhile, was out performed by teammate and National Series debutant Liam Sager, who was awarded the EWP Hard Charger award.

In what was a very impressive, and mature display of speed, Ben Jurczak finished 10th in Race 1 after a broken driveshaft in qualifying left him starting the race from the rear of the grid. A DNF in Race 3, however, left him down the order at the end of the weekend, as he tucked in at 12th overall. ith Dirk Klynsm

Close, but not close enough: Mostert (15) and Urhrane (2) were the best of the rest at Winton, below.

John Morris/Mpix

www.mnews.com.au

41

TOURING CAR MASTERS ROUND 2 – WINTON

BOWE WOW

J

OHN Bowe proved beyond doubt that there really isn’t a substitute for sheer power around the tight and twisty Winton Motor Raceway, as impressive speed, and at times luck, helped him to a perfect weekend in the Touring Car Masters.

And along with this result, Bowe put right all of the wrongs that contributed to his frustrating Adelaide efforts, and he leaves Winton the current championship leader.

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The only speed hump in Bowe’s weekend was the red Mustang of Gavin Bullas, who led Bowe for a majority Race 2. But as the tyres on Bullas’ Mustang began to give up, Bowe easily took the lead heading into Turn 3 on the second last lap, giving him a P1 in every session.

“It was a perfect weekend,” said the Ford veteran.

“I mean after all out little mishaps and problems in Adelaide, it was great!

“And honestly, the reception, not only for me, but for the category from the people that watch is awesome, and everybody loves these cars and it was terrific, so I did have a perfect weekend.”

Andrew Miedecke was the consistent runner of the Touring Car Masters grid, as his string of results inside of the top five ensured he took second for the weekend easily ahead of a fast finishing Leanne Tander in third place. motorsport news

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Dirk Klynsmith

For the last few seasons, Gavin Bullas has been the man to beat in the Touring Car Masters.

But if Winton is any indication, John Bowe is gonna be tough to beat in 2010 Tander managed to get her head around the Falcon by the conclusion of Race 3, as she and Miedecke entertained the crowds with a clean battle for third that eventually saw Tander the victor.

Group 2 saw Bernie Stack easily finish the weekend 12-points ahead of Chris Stillwell.

Stack’s lighter, more nimble Porsche was better suited the tight nature of the Winton circuit on Saturday, but the brute www.mnews.com.au

force of Stillwell’s Mustang was too good in Race 3 on Sunday as he took the Group 2 honours.

Phillip Showers was the man at the head of Group 3, as he finished the weekend four-points clear of the Alfa Romeo GTAM of Tony Karanfilovski. Although it was only a two horse race, the duo did put on some great racing, despite the fact they were battling some mechanical gremlins.

Jim Richards suffered from a somewhat disappointing end to his weekend, as his beautiful 1964 Falcon Sprint finished Race 3 on fire … literally. Luckily, it wasn’t too serious for the seven-time Bathurst winner.

“The top of the Muffler cracked open, and caught one of the electrical lines inside of the car on fire, nothing too major, just a bit of dust inside of the car.”

– CALLUM BRANAGAN 43

V8 SUPERCARS RACES 5-6, CLIPSAL 500

MAGIC JOHNSON

Grant Johnson may not have a sponsor, but he does have plenty of speed ...

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motorsport news

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D

ESPITE driving an all black, unsponsored Holden Ute, Grant Johnson drove through what could be called an eventful weekend of the Yokohama V8 Ute series to take the weekend’s spoils at Winton.

As Johnson’s rivals began to fall over each other during Sunday’s races, it became very clear that his level head and consistent race pace would be too hard for main adversaries Andrew Fisher and Garry Baxter to match, with Johnson clearing his rivals by six-points.

“It was great to finally have a win here,” said Johnson.

“The car is fast and hopefully I can get some sponsorship to carry me through the rest of the year.”

Garry Baxter was a man out to prove a point, proving beyond doubt that he could have matched Johnson’s pace after the reverse grid Race 2. Baxter made a spectacular last-ditch effort to overtake both Chris Pither and Fisher to take the lead, continuing his impressive form right thorough to the chequered flag. Baxter wound up second for the weekend.

Jesus Racing’s Fisher blessed the podium with third at weekend’s end.

Fisher was a genuine threat to his main rivals all weekend as he was always in the box seat to pounce upon any window of opportunity. Fisher was yet another man to benefit from the misfortune of his fellow competitors, with his weekend highlight a pair of second places on Sunday.

Recovering from a disappointing Race 1 was Charlie “Handle Bars” Kovacs.

The famous moustached man more than redeemed himself in Race 3 as the Wilson Security-backed Holden driver made up a monumental 19 places.

Unfortunately, his early form meant he had to settle for 27th overall.

Making his second appearance on pole position was Brad Patton for the reverse grid Race 2. Following what was a great start, Patton was leading, until he fell victim to a failed overtaking manoeuvre from Baxter, which left Patton on the grass and Baxter in the lead. Despite having pace, Patton finished just outside of the bubble in 11th overall.

– CALLUM BRANAGAN

Dirk Klynsmith

www.mnews.com.au

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AUSTRALIAN RALLY C’SHIP ROUND 3, COFFS HARBOUR

Simon and Sue get on the board The Evans’ picked up their first ARC win of the year in Coffs Harbour, but the two heats had very different stories

Jeremy Rogers

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motorsport news

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Jeremy Rogers

Pedder and Mortimer, far left, came within a kilometre of winning the rally on Sunday, while the Smarts, left, rounded out the podium.

Jeremy Rogers

www.mnews.com.au

IT was the rally Simon and Sue Evans needed to win to stay alive in the 2010 Australian Rally Championship and win they did, in the most dramatic fashion.

Coming into the Coffs Coast Rally, Round 3 of the ARC, the husband and wife team trailed Scott Pedder and Jon Mortimer by 30 points. They left the event with a 17-point lead.

In an event where off-road excursions and mechanical dramas dogged the majority of the field, the result came down to the final stage (SS21).

The Evans’ had won Heat 1, their first ARC Heat win of the season, taking the lead on SS3 and ending the day more than one minute ahead of Pedder and Mortimer.

“It’s a relief, it’s fantastic, it’s been a great race and these are the races you want to win,” Simon Evans said at the end of Heat 1.

“We had a loose wire to the diff pump which causes very bad handling intermittently ... but we just kept on going and obviously other people had problems and we came through and got second,” Pedder said.

Heat 2 was made up of six stages and Pedder and Mortimer needed to win five of them to take the event win off the Evans’.

With the Evans’ winning SS17 by 0.2s and Pedder and Mortimer winning SS16, SS18, SS19 and SS20, the result would be determined by the winner

of SS21.

“We knew that all we had to do was win the stage and we would take the event win, but at the same time if Simon and Sue won the stage they would win so there was a lot of pressure,” Pedder said.

The Evans’ made it out of the stage and waited to see what time Pedder and Mortimer would do, but they never made it to the finish - one kilometre into the stage they rolled, handing the rally win to the Evans’.

“I am pretty relieved but feel a bit sorry for Scotty. It’s not the way you want to win but at the end of the day you have to finish the rally ... so I guess I came out on top,” Evans said.

Ryan and Rebecca Smart, contesting their first ARC event in Coffs Harbour, finished on the podium beside the Evans’ despite a gearbox issue dogging them for much of the event.

“We were very lucky that’s why we’re second but we drove to the finish and conserved our car,” Ryan Smart said. “We don’t like to take positions due to other people misfortunes but that’s how the game goes I guess and we’ll take the points because we need them,” he added.

Another brother and sister combination, Michael Boaden and Helen Cheers, rounded out the podium after consistently recording top 10 stage times and having a relatively troublefree rally.

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NASCAR ROUND 12 – DOVER, DEL

Busch

NASCAR Media

in clover at Dover Denny Hamlin took the Nationwide/Sprint Cup double the previous weekend but at Dover Kyle Busch nearly made it all three NASCAR race victories.

H

ad he not run out of fuel in the Truck Series race, Kyle Busch would likely have become the first driver in NASCAR history to win all three divisions over one weekend.

Victory in the Nationwide Series event on the Dover ‘Monster Mile’ made amends for the disappointment of the previous day, and then came the Sprint Cup race.

This was for the large part a contest between the Joe Gibbs Racing/M&Ms Toyota and Jimmy Johnson, in an

48

encouraging return to form for the defending champion after a rough four-week spell.

But what was shaping up as an nailbiting finish ended when Johnson copped a drive-through penalty for exceeding the 40 mph pit lane speed limit.

From there, no one was going to stop Kyle Busch.

“We were so loose,” said Busch. “I guess it’s a good thing I can drive a loose race car because I had to hang on to it. We weren’t

the best in the beginning. We worked on it at the end. About lap 250 or 260 we really started coming on.

“We came out right there at the right point. I think we were going to beat [Johnson], but I don’t know. The #48 was really, really fast today. It was a fun battle there racing him through the last ...

100 laps or so.”

But for Johnson the fun ended 35 laps from home as they took their final stops.

The #48 tripped the radar at 40.9 mph as

motorsport news

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NASCAR Media

Two out of three: Not a bad weekend’s work for Kyle Busch, opposite. It was Kyle vs Jimmy Johnson at Dover, above right, but Johnson dealt himself out by speeding in pitlane. Pole winner Martin Truex Jr leads them away, below.

AJ Almendinger raced in Richard Petty livery to celebrate the stock car legend’s induction to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, centre. Second placed Jeff Burton, top, heads Matt Kenseth, third.

NASCAR Media

NASCAR Media

Johnson roared back out to resume the fight with Busch. The ensuing penalty dropped him to an eventual 16th.

Until then it had looked as though he may have had Busch’s measure. Johnson led the most laps, a total of 225 of the 400-lap journey, and only ever came under pressure from Busch at the restarts as the Toyota seemed to be able to bring its tyres up to temperature more quickly than the Chevy.

But even then, while Busch would take the lead at every restart, Johnson was always able to reassert once his tyres had warmed.

“It definitely cost us a top-two finish,” said Johnson of the pit lane infringement. “I’m frustrated. I think we’ve got to be a little bit more aware of our acceleration of the car off pit road, and how we can get busted there.

But outside of that, I can’t say we did anything else wrong all day.”

The main benefactor of Johnson’s woes was Jeff Burton, in an ironic twist given Burton’s chances in the previous weekend’s Darlington round were cruelled by a pit lane penalty. But at Dover the Childress Chevy driver never looked like threatening Busch and was happy to take the runner up spot.

He headed home Matt Kenseth, who made a big track position gain early on with by only changing two tyres, while Darlington victor Denny Hamlin was fourth. Seventh place for Kevin Harvick was enough for the Childress Chevy driver to retain the Sprint Cup points lead.

Results :: Autism Speaks 400, Dover, DEL Pos. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 NASCAR Media

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No. 18 31 17 11 00 16 29 99 14 20

Driver Kyle Busch Jeff Burton Matt Kenseth Denny Hamlin David Reutimann Greg Biffle Kevin Harvick Carl Edwards Tony Stewart Joey Logano

Make Toyota Chevrolet Ford Toyota Toyota Ford Chevrolet Ford Chevrolet Toyota

Team Joe Gibbs Childress Roush/Fenway Joe Gibbs Waltrip Roush/Fenway Childress Roush/Fenway Stewart/Haas Joe Gibbs

Sponsor Qual.

M&Ms 4 Caterpillar 17 Crown Royal Black 21 Fedex 14 Aaron’s 13 3M 24 Shell/Pennzoil 30 Aflac 9 Office Depot/Old Spic e 16 Home Depot 18

Top 10 Points: Harvick 1768, Kyle Busch 1699, Kenseth 1642, Johnson 1637, Hamlin 1618, Gordon 1605, Biffle 1581, Burton 1569, Kurt Busch 1531, Edwards 1487.

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WORLD SUPERBIKES ROUND 6 – KYALAMI

HASLAM’S

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L

S HEROICS

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EON Haslam has extended his lead in the World Superbike Championship, after winning the second of two races at Kyalami last weekend.

The Suzuki rider had a tough battle on his hands for Race 2 honours, with the top five riders covered by just 1.4s at the end of the race. Even on the last lap, Jonathan Rea and Max Biaggi were both in contention for the win, although neither could overhaul Haslam.

“Racing is all about winning, and I felt I was in a position where I was strong in a few places and I had to go for it,” said a relieved Haslam at the finish.

“And it worked out. It was a high risk last few laps with the front and rear moving about but we didn’t make too many mistakes and we won.”

The first race was a bit more straightforward. Michel Fabrizio grabbed the lead early on the factory Ducati, and dominated from there on in, leading home Carlos Checa and Haslam, who rode the race of a title leader, waiting patiently to gain a good haul of points.

Fabrizio’s Ducati team-mate Noriyuki Haga struggled for grip all weekend, while Troy Corser couldn’t replicate his Monza heroics, finishing the two races in 12th and seventh respectively after also struggling with tyre grip.

“In the first race I really had zero grip after only five laps,” said the Australian.

“I had no confidence to attack any more, and I literally just rolled around the track till the end of the race.

“The consistency of this tyre [in Race 2] was much better than in the first race. I am quite happy with the changes – in the second race I was able to ride the bike. Unfortunately, I lost a little of the initial grip in the middle of the corner. I was really quick in the first sectors, but could not really follow the other bikes at the top of the hill. This was a little frustrating. I tried to adjust over the course of the race and rode the bike completely differently to how I had over the whole weekend.”

Chris Vermeulen, still showing the effects of his knee injury, finished 18th and 16th, while Broc Parkes had a DNF and an 18th.

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BMW wins N24, mixed run for Aussies NURBURGRING 24H David Ostaszewski

Dixon ties Top Fuel record NHRA LARRY Dixon in Top Fuel and Jeg Coughlin in Pro Stock, reached milestones in the 30th Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, and were joined in the winners circle by Robert Hight and Andrew Hines.

The win for Coughlin was the 50th of his Pro Stock career, making him just the ninth driver to collect 50 Wallys in a Full Throttle-class, while Dixon’s win was the 52nd of his career, tied him in class wins with Top Fuel legend Joe Amato.

Dixon, a three-time winner in Atlanta (1996, 2002, 2003), scored his fourth, over a redlighting Brandon Bernstein in the final. Low qualifier Dixon clocked a 3.91s, 311mph pass in the final round.

The Al-Anabi driver advanced to the final round with runs of 3.87s / 311mph, 3.88s / 311mph, and 3.89s / 312mph to defeat Steve Torrence, T.J. Zizzo and

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Tony Schumacher. Dixon’s victory over traction-plagued Schumacher avenged his loss to Schumacher two weeks ago in Madison.

Hight earned his secondstraight Funny Car event victory by defeating teammate Ashley Force-Hood in the final, 4.18s / 298mph to 4.23s / 297mph.

Hight, winner of the tour’s most recent event two weeks ago in Madison, reached the final round with wins over Melanie Troxel, Tim Wilkerson and defending event winner Jack Beckman.

Coughlin’s milestone Pro Stock win came at the expense of Rickie Jones.

Coughlin collected his 50th title in a 6.65s / 207mph to 6.68s / 206mph win over Jones’ Elite Motorsports Pontiac.

Behind the wheel of Victor Cagnazzi’s JEGS Cobalt, Coughlin advanced in the early rounds past Ronnie Humphrey, Vieri Gaines, and low qualifier Allen Johnson.

– DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

IN their return to the Nurburgring 24 Hour, Team BMW Motorsport claimed their first victory in five years.

The #25 BMW M3 GT2 driven

by Jorg Muller, Augusto Farfus, Uwe Alzen and Pedro Lamy took the win after a number of front-runners fell by the wayside. It was a tough day for Porsche, with the entry of Marc Lieb, Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Marcel Tiemann eliminated in a seventh-hour crash.

The Hybrid Porsche of Jorg Bergmeister, Richard Lietz, Marco Holzer and Martin Ragginger built a lead thanks to their superior fuel economy.

However, after leading for more than 15 hours, and under two hours remaining, the car retired with an engine failure.

With Audi also suffering problems, the BMW moved into

the lead and eventually won.

Second place was a surprise packet, a Ferrari F430 of Allan Simonsen, Dominik Farnbacher, Lehman Keen and Marco Seefried, while the Audi R8 of Dennis Rostek, Luca Ludwig, Marc Bronzel and Markus Winkelhock claimed third.

Rodney Forbes was the best of the Aussies in 10th outright and second in Class SP7 in a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, while Barton Mawer, Tim Macrow and Maher Algadri were 18th overall and eighth in SP9, also in a Porsche.

In a Subaru, Mal Rose took 39th outright and eighth in SP3T, Richard Gartner, Paul Stubber and Ray Stubber were eighth in V5, and Martin Bailey, Kean Booker and Mike Reedy were fifth in SP4T. The Aston Martin of Ric Shaw, Stephen Borness and Rob Rubis was among those to retire, completing 77 laps.

Rigon on top SUPERLEAGUE DAVIDE Rigon scored a pair of wins for Anderlecht in the second round of the Superleage Formula season at Assen.

Rigon won the first race from pole and the five-lap final, holding out Tottenham’s

Craig Dolby by 0.627s. Yelmer Buurman completed the podium for AC Milan.

Australian John Martin, driving for Beijing Guoan was 10th in the opening 31lap race, but his weekend ended on the first lap of Race 2, which was won by Chris van der Drift.

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Dan the (other) Monaco man

AUSSIES OVERSEAS

sutton-images.com

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JUST like the Formula 1 race, an Aussie in a Red Bullbacked racecar was too good in Formula Renault 3.5 on the streets of Monaco.

Daniel Ricciardo proved once and for all that he is a title contender in his first year of the F1 feeder category, cruising to pole position and the dominating the race – his first in a 3.5 car – in a typical Monaco lights-to-flag win.

“I came to Monaco with my family when I was eight [years old],” said the West Aussie.

“We were able to do a lap of the circuit and I could already describe all the turns. I never dreamt then that one day I

would win here!

“I got a good start today; I didn’t look in my mirrors and pushed hard every lap.

“I’ve never been congratulated by so many people at the finish of a race.

It’s my first win, and now I’m going to fight to win the championship.”

Second was Mikhail Aleshin, who had a race-long battle with Albert Costa. Ricciardo’s Red Bull Junior team-mate Brendon Hartley was fourth, after fighting his way impressively through the field from eighth on the grid.

In GP2 at Monaco, Sergio Perez and Jerome D’Ambrosio both scored their maiden victories in the class.

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Toyota Sprinter AE86 1983 PRC Production Rally Car. Excellent Condition. Now dismantling. Call or email for price list. Perth, WA. Call Tom Van Kann 0417939070.

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motorsport news

rear of grid

CAR-EATING LENS With some handy shutter work, Dirk Klynsmith managed to capture a sequence of Adam Graham’s Formula Ford being swallowed by a camera lens at Winton. And then, Tony Ricciardello and Daniel Gaunt chose a picture-perfect place to crash – right in front of the eNews sign! But the weirdest thing about all of the images from Winton is all of the sunshine. Thanks, global warming.

Odd Spot www.mnews.com.au

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