Motorsport eNews Issue 194 - March 1-7, 2011

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Issue No. 194 Mar 01 - 07 2011

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Issue No. 194 | Mar 01-07 2011

news 4

Briscoe no Long shot Ryan and Pat in for HRT 8 The Phillip Island F1 test?

It was actually a possibility ..

13 Bob out of the ICU Kubica’s step in recovery 16 A Pretty Monster Energetic ute for Nafe 18 French Flare Mygale chassis for AF3

chat 28 Five Minutes With ...

Steven Richards

comment 30 Lambden: Timing all wrong 29 AVL: Sharing is caring

race 32 World Superbikes 36 NASCAR 40 Stars of Karting 42 Australian Superbikes

trade 45 Classifieds 3

HRT GRABS LONG AND BRISCOE FOR 2011 GC6 V8 SUPERCARS

T

HE Toll Holden Racing Team has got its two international drivers for this year’s Gold Coast 600 event.

Australian IndyCar star Ryan Briscoe will return for HRT, having raced for them last year, while Patrick Long will also suit up in factory red after being the surprise package of the inaugural running of the international event in 2010

while racing for Garry Rogers Motorsport.

Briscoe confirmed directly to eNews that he’d definitely be back for another crack with HRT. “Yeah, I’ll be coming out with Holden again,” he said.

“It’s pretty much locked away, and that’s the plan.”

Briscoe added that the experience gained from last year will be an advantage when the event is run again this year.

“I had an advantage last year; I felt really comfortable coming

off the back of Bathurst and the test at Ipswich,” he said.

“I felt really good at the Gold Coast. It was a new track for everyone, but most of us knew at least a bit of the layout.

“It was a lot of fun. I had a great time, and it was great teaming up with Will [Davison].

And there was some good racing. The highlight for me was following [Jacques] Villeneuve in the second race, because he was just taking everybody out and I was following him

through. I made a ton of positions! As long as we can’t race our IndyCars there, this is the perfect solution.”

Briscoe also said that expanding the field of internationals to 28 drivers won’t be a drama, given the positive feedback that was generated last year.

“There were a bunch of guys from the IndyCar field who were a bit jealous, and were asking questions about it. There is plenty of interest. It was 100

Rob Lang

4

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600

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percent positive feedback from the IndyCar drivers, and a lot of the journalists from over here [in America] were asking about it too.

“I’m looking forward to coming back again.”

Meanwhile, Long has apparently already informed GRM that he won’t be returning with them, clearing him to sign with HRT. The Sportscar ace was the shock of the imports in 2010, proving to be very capable in a V8 Supercar, despite barely being known outside The States.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN Rob Lang

LE MANS LEGEND SET FOR V8 START

Tom Kristensen is on the market for a Gold Coast ride, while Sebastien Bourdais is heading to TeamVodafone V8 SUPERCARS

F

OUR of the drivers who appear to be in line for a V8 Supercar debut on the streets of Surfers have long careers, a full trophy case and, just to confuse commentators, two of them have the same initials.

TeamVodafone is expected to confirm that as well as re-signing Andy Priaulx for the Gold Coast 600, Sébastien Bourdais will join the squad for the event. The Frenchman, who made such a standout V8 Supercar debut with Jono Webb last October, is believed to have had a number of offers for the event to fit in around his 2011 commitments, which include a Le Mans start with Peugeot and a number of Indycar drives with Dale Coyne Racing.

Priaulx, who is one of the men most closely connected with BMW’s DTM effort that commences in 2012, steps down from his WTCC role this season, and will race for the factory in a number of GT events, including Le Mans. He codrove with Craig Lowndes in the #888 car last year.

But it is outside the multiple title-winning team that things start to look interesting. eNews believes that Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen and Indycar ace Tony Kanaan are high on the wanted list of a number of teams, and that both are likely to appear at the Gold Coast 600.

Of the two, Kanaan has already raced on the Gold Coast in the days of Champ Car and CART www.mnews.com.au

and it now Indycar’s newest free agent, after Gil de Ferran shut down the team for which his countryman was planning to drive this season.

But Kristensen’s appearance would be the fascinating one. Apart from his staggering eight wins at Le Mans, the Dane is an accomplished touring car driver, having raced for six years with Audi’s DTM squad and, prior to that, in Super Touring. Earlier still, Kristensen was a runner-up in the Japanese Touring Car Championship as long ago as 1992 – at the same time as he was one of the best Formula 3 drivers in the world.

There are a number of competitive seats in which Kristensen or Kanaan could appear. Garry Rogers has lost his star import, Long, to HRT, and he emphasised to eNews that he needs to recruit two drivers this year, rather than one.

“There’s time yet,” he said on Monday. “There are the endurance races to work out before we get to Surfers.

“I am not in any rush.”

Which, in Rogers-speak, possibly means that he will confirm his internationals any day now ...

The other high-profile team to which any drivers are yet to be connected is Jim Beam Racing. Both of Dick Johnson’s entries were competitive on the streets of Surfers last year and, providing that there are no impediments and that Audi green-lit one of its stars racing half-way around the world, it would appear to be the ideal spot to place a man of Kristensen’s experience.

5

Stones get Gaunt V8 SUPERCARS DANIEL Gaunt will drive a Stone Brothers Racing car in the V8 Supercar endurance races later this year. eNews linked Gaunt to SBR several weeks ago, before Kelly Racing’s David Reynolds revealed that he had aspirations of co-driving with the young kiwi. KR was even planning on offering Gaunt a test – however eNews sources have now revealed that he is locked in with the Stones, and will suit up for them at Phillip Island and Bathurst.

Which of SBR’s three cars Gaunt will race remains a mystery, although the most likely option is that he’ll partner Tim Slade in the James Rosenberg Racing entry, which is back by Lucky Seven.

Back in 2009, Gaunt raced for SBR in the enduros, sharing a split IRWIN/SP Tools backed cars with John McIntyre. Last year he missed out on a drive after being dumped by Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport mid-season.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Dirk Klynsmith

6

LOWNDES, McLAR BATHURST: IT’S O

Craig to drive Formula 1 car: Button in a V8 FORMULA 1 IT’S official; Craig Lowndes will drive a McLaren at Bathurst later this month.

The TeamVodafone veteran will drive a noncurrent Formula 1 car at the famed Mt Panorama track on March 22, with a 20minute window available to the multiple Bathurst 1000 winner to drive the beast at unrestricted speed.

Jenson Button will do an installation lap in the car to ensure that there are no difficulties in getting the GP car around the 6.213km circuit before Lowndes climbs aboard for his run, which will be two sets of four laps each. Lowndes will then do an installation lap in the V8 Supercar – which will be TeamVodafone’s ride day car – prior to the 2009 World champion taking it out for a session.

One of the expected challenges is to set the McLaren up to cope with the track surface, and for the drivers to stay well clear from the drains at the top of the circuit that the drivers

use for sighting in a V8 Supercar.

While the cars are on the circuit, all the flag points will be manned for the length of the session, and there will also be 12 TV camera points in service around the track, another in a chase helicopter, photographers and a strong media presence. The session is expected to be open to the public; indeed, we hear that there are going to be day tours available so that fans can witness a piece of motor racing history.

TeamVodafone faces a pretty busy week. The ride car travels with the team’s Fujitsu V8 Series car, so the truck with both will depart Adelaide Saturday night, arrive at Bathurst on Sunday night for the team to set up, and Monday to prep the car (and for the McLaren engineers to do a seat fitting for Lowndes) before the Tuesday event.

Both the Commodore ride car and the McLaren will need to be at Albert Park, prepped in time for the first of the Speed Comparisons on Thursday.

motorsport news

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RICHO: BLUE STEEL

REN and ON!

V8 SUPERCARS FORD Performance Racing is putting the band back together for the endurance races.

The team has confirmed what was widely expected by many in pitlane, by announcing Steven Richards and Luke Youlden as its endurance drivers.

Richards will partner Mark Winterbottom at Phillip Island and Bathurst while Youlden will be making his fourth start at Bathurst with the team.

“Of all the opportunities that

8 Supercar: No Speed Limit!

could have transpired this is the best one,” said Richards.

“I know the team and I know Frosty. The previous times we’ve driven together have worked out really well and I think we are a real chance to win both races.

“Having two A-grade drivers which can operate at a high level whether it is wet, dry or indifferent – that is what you need for those races, particularly Bathurst.”

The ‘third’ FPR car, that of Rod Nash Racing, will see Dean Canto join Paul Dumbrell in the Bottle-O car.

Dirk Klynsmith

Circuit protest: SA Minister responds (sort ER ... POLITICS

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www.mnews.com.au

THE South Australian government has commented on the potential protest to be held during the Clipsal 500 later this month.

The state’s Minister for Motorsport Kevin Foley issued the following response to the protest, which may be conducted to focus attention on a bid to build a permanent motor racing facility in Gillman;

“The State Government has expressed a number of concerns around the use of the Gillman site for car racing, including noise, as well as the proximity to important stormwater and environmental sites. We have asked the consortium to provide more details, and undertake further investigation, to demonstrate their proposed use of the site is appropriate.”

7

Sneak Peak: This is all we can show you of Tony D’Alb Racing Falcon ... erto’s new Wilson for now. It will be Security launched this Fri day at Southern Cross Station.

PRETTY FLY FOR LDM V8 SUPERCARS

NATHAN Pretty has been confirmed as Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport’s endurance driver for 2011.

Pretty raced for the team in last year’s enduros with Mark Noske, after regular driver Daniel Gaunt was stepped down before the Townsville event. This time, Pretty will be paired with the team’s usual driver Warren Luff.

“I’m absolutely rapt to be able to continue on in the Gulf Western Oil Commodore,” said Pretty.

“To have a drive locked away this early in the year and then to be able to get some testing in through the year is fantastic for me and for the entire team “We were really unlucky last year with that late race Safety Car [last year], but the team showed in their first Bathurst how good a job they do.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for me to drive alongside Warren and with the team having another year’s experience under its belts I am sure we’ll be able to figure prominently in the results.”

Dumbrell himself said he

was happy to have Pretty back in the team.

“Nathan is a proven endurance driver who did a really great job for us at Phillip Island and Bathurst last year – he knows the car and the team, and we are happy to have him back in the Gulf Western Oil/ Autopro Commodore.

“To get our driver line-up sorted so early in the year puts us in a much stronger position than last year. We’ll get Nathan into the car at the test days as much as we can so he’s fully prepared and ready to go when the enduros roll around.”

The Island comes to F1’s aid?

FORMULA 1

FORMULA 1 cars at Phillip Island? It’s not as far-fetched as you might think.

The recent cancellation of both the Bahrain F1 Grand Prix, along with the test day which preceded it, threw the F1 circus into some confusion.

Where would teams be able to have a final shakedown prior to the now season8

starting Australian Grand Prix?

One answer came, it seems, from Australia. eNews understands that Phillip Island and the promoters of the historic Phillip Island Classic on March 18-20 (the VHRR) got together and came up with the concept of re-jigging the event program to accommodate any F1 teams that might want some last-minute running.

The logistics would have been

interesting but, while not full F1-spec, the Island is an ‘international’ track and, for private testing, could have fitted the bill.

In the end, it didn’t come to pass (F1 rescheduled testing to Spain) … but the discussion does set an interesting precedent.

Visitors to the Classic will this time have to make do with the roar of some historic F1 cars and F5000s … motorsport news

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Richo gets Porsche CARRERA CUP

STEVEN Richards is going back to basics with his 2011 Carrera Cup program.

Richards’ run in the returning Porsche category was confirmed last week, and

he tested his car for the first time at Winton on Friday.

The dual Bathurst winner will run the car himself, and Richards told eNews that he’ll be heavily involved in the dayto-day running of his 997.

“I am running the car out of

my workshop and we are using a bit of Dad’s old Carrera Cup infrastructure, which is helpful,” he said.

“Darren Breeden is helping me out again. I have known him since my childhood, we used to race go-karts together.

“It seems like it is back to the old days! We will be using Dad’s truck to transport it all to the race meetings, and we will be doing things simply.”

For more with Steven Richards, head to Five Minutes With on Page 28.

Onsite for his campaign.

After finishing third in the 2009 series with Howard Racing, Russell picked up a round win at Bathurst in 2010 with MW, along with race victories at Winton and Sandown.

“It is great to be back with MW Motorsport for the new season.

I enjoyed working with Matt White and his team last season and together we achieved some great qualifying and race results,” Russell, who’ll drive the same ex-FPR Falcon he used in 2010, said.

“The Team Jayco Falcon has

been updated throughout the off-season and I have no doubt that we will be stronger again this season as the team continues to receive technical support and an engine development program with FPR.”

Russell is currently in discussions with several Main Game teams looking to secure an enduro seat, after pairing up with Jonathon Webb in 2010.

MW Motorsport will test for the first time in 2011 at Winton Motor Raceway today, Tuesday.

has made selected Fujitsu Series starts, including a pair of rounds in 2010.

After considering a run in Carrera Cup, Bates has opted for the Fujitsu Series with GMR. “I came very close to racing in the Carrera Cup, and I’m sure it will be a very successful and professionally-run series,” he said.

“However, I have already had experience in V8 Supercars, where if I had decided to do

Carrera Cup, I would have had to learn how to drive a completely different type of car.

“When the opportunity came up to race in the Fujitsu Series in last year’s title-winning car, it was too hard to miss.

Greg Murphy Racing is a topline, professional racing outfit with the same standard of facilities as a main-game V8 Supercar team, and their cars are among the very best in the Fujitsu field, as Steve Owen

demonstrated last year.”

Team boss Kevin Murphy told eNews that a fourth and final driver for the team was all-but in place ahead of the GMR’s first test next week.

“We won’t make an announcement on that until probably the test day next Monday, where that driver will take to the track for the first time with us,” he said.

“We have a few things to finalise with that person.”

RUSSELL COMPLETES MW LINE-UP FUJITSU SERIES DAVID Russell will remain with MW Motorsport for the 2011 Fujitsu Series.

As predicted in last week’s eNews, Russell will line up alongside new recruits Tim Blanchard and Tom Tweedie in a three-car squad for the 2009 title winners. Russell and Blanchard will drive Jayco-liveried Falcons, with the caravan manufacturer upping their support of the team, while Russell has secured support from Tex

Bates alive at GMR FUJITSU SERIES TONY Bates will contest the Fujitsu Series fulltime this year.

Bates has inked a deal to run as part of Greg Murphy Racing’s four-car line-up, aboard Steve Owen’s 2010 title winning VE Commodore. The Victorian has been a regular in Commodore Cup in recent years – finishing second in the 2009 and 2010 seasons – and 10

motorsport news

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Dirk Klynsmith

Blue backing for Webby V8 SUPERCARS FORD has again expanded its V8 Supercar support program and Jonathon Webb will now be a backed driver.

Webb, who moved his Mother Energy-backed team

from DJR to Tekno Autosports this season, will carry Ford colours on his black Falcon for the remainder of the 2011 season.

“We’re very pleased to be able to support Jonathan and his new team,” Ford’s

Group Manager, Motorsport, Sponsorship & Events Chris Styring said.

“We believe Jonathan has a big future in V8s and we look forward to working with him in 2011, and see him continuing to develop as a

driver who we hope to see at the front of the field in the next few years.”

Webb, 27, sits eighth in the V8 Supercar Championship points after the two opening races of the season in Abu Dhabi.

5HPRYDEOH /&' VFUHHQ IRU +' +HUR &DPHUD (DV\ YLVXDO FRQWURO RI \RXU FDPHUD VHWWLQJV ,QVWDQWO\ SUHYLHZ DQG SOD\EDFN YLGHRV DQG SKRWRV

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11

Williams has finally unveiled its proper 2011 colour scheme. A blue and white livery – not unlike the classic Rothmans days – will be the feature for the coming season.

FORMULA 1 IT’S been two decades since Mexico hosted a Formula 1 Grand Prix, but last weekend the town of Guadalajara got a taste of Grand Prix machinery.

Sauber’s new signing Sergio Pérez gave a C29 Formula 1 car a good workout along the public roads of his hometown, the 21-year-old leaving most of the car’s Pirelli rubber on the streets.

“This was one of the best days of my life”, said Pérez.

“It was a great, great experience. I have never experienced something like this before with so many people cheering me. I’m proud to be Mexican, and I’m proud to receive all this support. It is a big boost for me ahead of the new season.”

12

PEREZ WOWS HIS HOMET motorsport news

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OFFICIAL: AUS BACK TO #1

Bahrain cancellation puts the Australian GP back in pole position FORMULA 1

WilliamsF1

AS predicted by last week’s issue of eNews, the Bahrain Grand Prix has officially been called off.

The Australian Grand Prix will now become the first event of the 2011 Formula 1 season – as it was for many years – after the political upheaval in the Gulf state made a visit to Bahrain too dangerous to be considered at this time.

According to Adam Parr, Chairman of Williams F1, the decision is the right one.

“It is obviously disappointing for everyone involved in the organisation of the event, but it is clear that to race in Bahrain at this time would be inappropriate given the

current circumstances,” he said.

“It is always Williams’ intention to contribute positively to the countries we compete in, and so we fully support the Crown Prince’s decision to cancel the test and forthcoming Bahrain Grand Prix. We now look forward to a season debut in Melbourne and returning to Bahrain when it is right to do so.”

Bernie Ecclestone is so far remaining positive that the event will be rescheduled at some point during the 2011 season.

“What has happened in Bahrain is desperately sad but one month ago everyone was looking forward to the race,” Ecclestone told The Daily Telegraph.

“No one had a problem with it then. If everything is peaceful, which we hope it will be, then we will try our best to fit it in.”

But until that time, Ecclestone won’t be charging Bahrain the sanction fee for the race.

“The fee that is normally being paid for the event is not being paid,” Ecclestone added.

“I am not charging them for a race they are not getting.

Whether they are covered by their insurers for loss of revenues, ticket sales, etc, I am not sure. But if anything is force majeure then that is. It is similar to if an earthquake had struck — no one could have foreseen that a month ago.

“If and when it is rescheduled they will pay their usual fee.”

Kubica out of ICU FORMULA 1

TOWN www.mnews.com.au

ROBERT Kubica is no longer in intensive care.

The pole was moved from the ICU last week, where he had been since his horrific rally crash last month. He is now in rehabilitation, and according to Dr Igor Rossello – one of the surgeon’s who operated on Kubica – the Renault driver’s condition is improving.

“He can move his fingers slightly, and has a little bit of sensitivity already in his hand,” said Dr Rossello. “What is very important is that there is no sign of infection, which is the main concern.

“He no longer needs intensive care, so he

has begun the rehabilitation process. He is now in his own large room so that he is as comfortable as possible. He has already started some gentle hand exercises with the slight flexing of his fingers.

However, just how long Kubica will spend in the rehabilitation unit is so far unknown.

“It’s difficult to say,” added Dr Rossello.

“For the next couple of weeks, he will stay here so we can monitor his condition.

During that time there is still the possibility of infection and other complications, so he will have the dressings on his hand changed every few days. After two weeks we will assess his next move.”

13

Indycar’s INDYCAR

IZOD INDYCAR Media

INDYCAR has confirmed there will be a US$5m bonus incentive for any non-IndyCar driver that wins the final event on the ’11 IZOD IndyCar Series, at Las Vegas.

The surprise big-cash incentive is designed to boost INDYCAR’s profile and perhaps lure some big – and popular – names from NASCAR. “We showcase our drivers as being the very best, fastest and most versatile in the world,” said INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard.

“We are putting our money where our mouth is. If any race car driver in the world outside of the IZOD IndyCar Series can win the Vegas race, we will give you $5 million.

Kanaan out

as de Ferran Dragon folds INDYCAR

fund this thing and tried everything we could,” Gil de Ferran told SpeedTV.com.

TONY Kanaan has become “But at the end of the day, Indycar’s latest free agent. we just couldn’t raise enough Kanaan had signed a fivefunds to do it properly. It’s year renewal contract August 2008 with Andretti Autosport, a shame because we kept our full crew (16 employees) after rejecting an offer through the winter, did a lot from Chip Ganassi. But last of R&D, and I was confident October, Michael Andretti bought out Kanaan’s contract we had a good season ahead of us.” when title sponsor, 7-Eleven, Kanaan had some did not renew. Kanaan is one sponsorship money raised, of the higher paid IndyCar which fell short of the budget drivers, rumoured to receive required by the team’s due about US$3m a year. date.

Kanaan was quickly signed Speaking candidly to the by de Ferran Dragon Racing, Indianapolis Star newspaper, a team Gil co-owns with Jay team owner Dale Coyne said, Penske (Roger’s son). But the “Team Penske is the only place team couldn’t raise enough (team) where you can’t buy sponsorship and has now a ride.” ceased operation.

– MARY MENDEZ “We worked hard to 14

More Nationwi NASCAR MARCOS Ambrose may end up doing more than one Nationwide round this season.

Earlier this year, Ambrose confirmed that he would be taking part in the Montreal Nationwide event, but

suggested that it was likely to be a one-off. However, he has now “guaranteed” that he will be back at Watkins Glen this year to try to make it four wins in a row in New York.

“I will be doing some road course races in the Nationwide Series again this year,” he was quoted on motorsport news

s five million dollar man (or woman) “We will accept five entries for this challenge, with entrants being determined by mid-summer.”

The prize is also an incentive for any team to offer one of their current Dallara/Honda entries, obsoleted by the new 2012 chassis and engine.

Upon hearing the news, Marco Andretti joked, “Five million to any driver that beats us in Vegas? If my grandfather finds this out, we will be a five-car team,” implying Mario Andretti, at 68, would come out of retirement.

In theory, Michael Andretti or Al Unser Jr could indeed come out of retirement for the event, but the promotion is intended to attract active drivers from other series to expand IndyCar’s fan base.

Unfortunately, the F1 calendar has its teams in Korea and NASCAR is competing at Charlotte (North Carolina) the Saturday night before, making it difficult to compete in Las Vegas the next day, October 16, for a 3:30pm start. Sportscar or V8 Supercar drivers could compete.

The usual requirement for a driver to step in as a replacement has been that he or she participates in a track session before the race. But for this promotional offer, it may be possible for a driver who tests with a team weeks before the Vegas event to be accepted.

A team-mate could set up the car, just as Will Power did for Helio Castroneves in the 2009 Long Beach race, when

the Brazilian was otherwise occupied in the courts facing tax evasion charges (of which he was acquitted) on the Friday and was at the track on Saturday.

Juan Pablo Montoya, a likely candidate in theory, thinks it would be too difficult to juggle NASCAR and the Vegas Indy race on the same weekend.

“It’s just impossible logisticswise,” Montoya told SI.com. “If you were really going to go to try and win the $5 million, you would have to get all the practices down and do it right.

Are you going to show up on Sunday and race without practice and hope for the best? Who the heck is going to win that?”

AJ Allmendinger, who last

drove a Champ Car in 2007, has expressed a genuine interest. But Tony Stewart, who previously competed in the Indy 500-Charlotte NASCAR double header in 1999 to finish ninth at Indy and fourth at Charlotte (total scheduled distance 1800km), explained, “If you don’t run three or four races, you’re probably not going to have a shot to win it anyway.”

The other bonus at the event is for the fans. Indycar is offering any fan who buys a ticket to an IndyCar race this season to be eligible for a free Las Vegas ticket.

44,000 tickets will be available for sale with the remainder allocated to the give-away program.

– MARY MENDEZ

HONDA Racing Media

NASCAR Media

TOYOTA Media

ide for Marcos website frontstretch.com.

“Right now we’ve got Montreal locked in, and I guarantee I will be turning up at Watkins Glen as well to try and win four in a row up there. We’ve got one locked away and we’re working on the second.

“I’m in good hands over here www.mnews.com.au

at RPM and we’re committed to the Nationwide race at Montreal.

“I’ve been tripping over myself up there and I’m desperate to get the win. I wouldn’t mind doing a few Nationwide races, but to be honest with you my focus is entirely on the Cup Series.”

Earlier Indy start INDYCAR THE 2011 Indianapolis 500 will start an hour earlier than in previous years.

For the 100th anniversary of the 500, the start time has been moved up by one hour, to midday, to ensure enough daylight to finish the race in case of possible delays.

The traditional start time had been 11am when Indiana was one of the few states that did not observe Daylight Savings time. The

start was pushed back to noon in 2005 and then to 1pm since 2006. Now that Indiana observes Daylight Savings, the noon start will be under the same conditions as the traditional 11am runnings of the most famous spectacle in racing.

The inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911 started at 10am after race organisers determined that start time would allow the race to be completed by dinner time.

– MARY MENDEZ 15

‘

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Driver Grant Johnson Noel Edge Gary Baxter Peter Burnitt Kosi Kalaitzidis Ryan Hansford Jeremy Gray David Seiders Andrew Fisher Jack Elsegood Gary Carson Brad Patton Charlie O’Brien Stephen White Craig Dontas Ben Kavich Nandi Kiss Rhys McNally Kim Jane Sean Carter Graham Edwards Jason Gomersall Chris Pither Greg Willis George Elliot Nathan Pretty Ryal Harris Cameron McConville Charlie Kovacs Warren Millett Jake McNally Ben Dunn

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PRETTY TO MONSTER V8 UTES IN ‘11

V8 UTES NATHAN Pretty will race a Monster Energy-backed Commodore in the 2011 V8 Ute Racing Series.

The V8 Supercar enduro regular will race Scott Jennings’ car, the same Commodore that he ran under his Randy Corners alter ego at Homebush last year. However, while that was a one-off, expect to see Pretty in the Monster ute for the entirety of the 2011 season.

Another new face in Utes will be MINI Challenge refugee Sean Carter.

The Melbourne driver has leased Steve Hodges’ Commodore Ute for 2011 series, with the entry to be run by Williams Race Tech. Carter finished fifth in the 2010 MINI Challenge.

“My plan has always been to spend two years in each category as part of the learning process and, once we found out the MINIs were finished, there was really only one choice and that was to step up and give the Utes a go,” the 20-year-old said.

“The V8 Ute series is seriously competitive, with a lot of very good drivers and it will be interesting to see where I sit in the field come qualifying time at the Clipsal 500.”

Meanwhile former Production Car racer Kosi Kalaitzidis has purchased Steve McFadden’s Commodore Ute and will also join the series in 2011. Kalaitzidis tested for the first time recently.

“I’m a very competitive person and like to race in a competitive series, which is why the V8 Utes appealed to me,” he said.

“The level of driving has changed over the last few years, there’s not as much biffing and barging as there use to be, and I’m sure it will only get better.”

There will be 32 cars on the grid for the season opener at the Clipsal 500.

There will also be a new points system for 2011. The winner will receive 32 points, with each place decreasing by one point.

– VAN LEEUWEN/ADAM motorsport news

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17

Mygale for Aussie F3 FORMULA 3 JON Mills is bringing some French flair to Australian Formula 3.

Mills has purchased a Mygale M-07, which will be the first time one of the French manufacturer’s F3 cars have been seen in Australia.

The car is set to arrive within a month, and Mills – who has split his time between Formula 3 and Formula Ford in recent years – is set to do the majority of the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship.

“I’m looking forward to it, I can’t wait to get it out here,” he said.

“It was originally going to about 10 weeks until it arrived, that was with [Australian Mygale importer] Greg Woodrow bringing it out with a few other Formula Fords and stuff. But being a boy and being typical, I’ve decided to bring it over on my own, so hopefully two to four weeks.

“Out of the seven rounds that are there at the moment, we’ll probably do at least five.

“It’s going to be touch and go as to whether it’s ready for

Winton. If we haven’t been in the car, I don’t want to take it down there and waste the time and money getting used to it.”

Mills has purchased Chassis #1 from the manufacturer, the sister car to the one used by Irish driver Michael Devaney to take a pair of wins in the 2008 British Formula 3 Championship. Incidentally, Mills may be in a position to call on Devaney for assistance.

“Michael is based in Sydney, hopefully we can get in touch with him and get him to give us a hand setting it up initially,”

he said.

“The car has been totally rebuilt by the factory. Chassis #2 with Michael scored some wins in the British Formula 3 Championship and I think this one has got a second and some fourths.

“Bertrand Decoster, who owns Mygale, and I were talking about which chassis I should get. Obviously #1 would’ve been good from a historical point of view, seeing as it had the win, but he said this one was in much better condition.”

– MITCHELL ADAM

And a Porsche!

FORMULA 3 A DAY in a Porsche Carrera Cup car awaits the winner of the 2011 Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship.

With Team BRM expanding into the reborn Porsche category, the six-time Australian F3 champs and F3 management are combining 18

to offer a fully-funded test day in BRM’s MY11 GT3 CupCar to the champion.

Reigning F3 Champion Ben Barker has progressed to Carrera Cup with the Adelaide squad in 2011.

“Formula 3 has always been and will continue to be a major part of our existence, and we have always tried to do as

much as we can to support it and help it grow,” Team BRM manager Mark Rundle said.

“It was a pretty easy decision to offer up the Porsche to the 2011 Champion. It’s a good chance for Formula 3 to offer progression to drivers in the series and give them an opportunity to show what they can do in a category

recognised as a feeder to GT racing overseas, and V8 Supercars here.

“Naturally I hope one of our 2011 Team BRM F3 drivers wins the opportunity. But if it’s someone else then we’re keen to see what made them good enough to knock our guys off by giving them a run in the Carrera Cup car.” motorsport news

news

Aussies X2 for USF2000 opener AUSSIES OVERSEAS FORMER CAMS Rising Star team-mates Luke Ellery and Nathan Morcom are set to face each other in this year’s US F2000 National Championship.

The Australian youngsters will be on the grid when the 2011 series kicks off on March 17-18, supporting the Sebring 12 Hour. Sebring will be Ellery’s second start in the series and Morcom’s US debut.

In last year’s season finale at Road Atlanta, Ellery qualified on the front row with JDC Motorsport. While a coolant

leak ended his run in the opening race, he fought back to finish third in Race 2. He’ll link up with JDC again in 2011.

“We had such a great debut at the end of last year, so it was only natural to jump on a plane and aim for wins this year,” Ellery, pictured, said.

“The amount of work that has gone into raising money to do that has been huge, my family and friends have stuck together and we have got something together for the first few rounds of the championship.”

Following a test with the team late last year, Morcom

will drive with Primus Racing, who fielded Daniel Erickson in 2010. While his background is predominantly in Formula Fords, Morcom has also made starts in Australian Formula 3 and the Toyota Racing Series.

“Jon is an American racing icon,” Morcom said of Primus boss Jon Baytos.

“He’s done it all as a team manager, from ‘development’ categories like F2000 all the way up to Indy Cars.

“He had a hand in the careers of Buddy Rice, Dan Wheldon and Sam Hornish Jnr., who all won the Indianapolis 500, and

last year he helped Daniel Erickson win Rookie of the Year in the F2000 Championship Series. I’m looking forward to learning a lot from Jon this year.”

Ellery has committed to the Mazda-powered USF2000 National Championship, but Morcom’s year is unclear. Ford Zetec engines from the similar F2000 Championship Series are permitted to run alongside the Mazdas at Sebring and the second round at St Petersburg.

Morcom will run a Zetec car at Sebring and St Petersburg, before deciding which category to contest thereafter.

“The test in Estoril went well and we are really happy joining the team as they are very professional I’m looking forward to working with them in my first year of racing in Europe.

“It’s certainly going to be a very tough series and a steep learning curve as I’ve not raced at any of these circuits before

but I’m looking forward to the challenge and the whole experience of living in Europe.”

Evans will be joined by Simon Trummer and Lewis Williamson as MW Arden drivers in the second year of GP3. Testing resumes at Paul Ricard on March 3-4.

MW Arden’s top driver in 2010 was Miki Monras in 10th.

EVANS TO GP3 KIWIS OVERSEAS AS expected, Mitch Evans will contest GP3 in 2011 with MW Arden.

The young Kiwi is now in the UK ahead of his maiden European campaign, in which he’ll race with MW Arden through his links with Mark Webber. He tested with the

team at Estoril late last year.

Evans finished second in the 2009 Australian Formula Ford Championship and 2010 Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship, and has won the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 Toyota Racing Series’.

“I’m really excited to be racing with MW Arden in the 2011 GP3 Series,” he said.

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Winners and Losers

Audi picks up a driver while Peugeot hits a car for six ... and out LE MANS

AUDI has announced Marco Bonanomi as its reserve LMP1 driver this year.

Bonanomi, who has been driving an Audi in the Italian GT Championship, is a protégé of Rinaldo Capello, who has already said that this year will be his last in LMP1. It is not known if the announcement hints at a wider future for Bonanomi in the category.

But there is little that is predictable about how Audi selects its Le Mans squad. The company seemed to be grooming Christijan Albers for the job, and was also expected to draw from its DTM drivers, but then went in quite a different direction when selecting its 2010 Le Mans team (all of whom are

20

back this year). Audi is also quite happy to simply drop drivers, notably Luhr and Premat, while others have been eased out because of their age.

There may also be further openings created in the nine driving seats in future if Porsche build a prototype, as is rumoured, in which case they would presumably recall their drivers Bernhard and Dumas, who are on loan to Audi.

All in all, Audi's Le Mans squad has been quite fluid over recent years – no doubt much to the interest of Mr C. Lowndes of faraway Kilcoy, Queensland.

Meanwhile, Nicolas Minassian has emerged unscathed from an enormous accident which saw his Peugeot end up on the wrong side of the safety fence

while attempting a 30-hour endurance run at Paul Ricard last week. Peugeot is understandably keeping very tightlipped about the cause of the accident, but inevitably there is speculation on whether the car became airborne or not.

This year, all prototypes have shark fins specifically aimed to stop them taking off when they get sideways, below, so there will be considerable concern if the system has failed such an early test. Battered prototypes sitting on the wrong side of safety fences is obviously not a look the category is trying to encourage, particularly in light of what happened to Mercedes-Benz in the past.

– DAVID GREEHNALGH

motorsport news

Star Power

MG goes Global MARATHONS WE like to plug a good cause, and when it is one of our own involved, we get even, um, pluggier.

Our F1 scribe and former staffer Mark Glendenning is, clearly, a glutton for punishment. Having survived the Florence Marathon last November, MG is going global with his efforts in the London Marathon. Glendenning will take on the 42km course in the Olympic city in April, to raise funds for Barnardo’s, the children’s charity.

“I’m aiming to raise £1600 (A$2450) for Barnardo’s in the lead-up to the London marathon,” he puffed recently, “and if you are able to contribute in any way, it would be tremendously appreciated.”

You can donate to the cause on this website, http:// uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ fundraiser-web/fundraiser/ showFundraiserProfilePage.act ion?userUrl=MarkGlendenning Donating through this site is quick, simple and totally secure.

Glendenning had the donate-o-meter at £619.40 so far, so there is a way to go.

Surely having shipped him out of the country, and exported him to the Poms, is worth something so, please, dig deep for a good cause.

With their switch from Spectrums to Mygales, the CAMS Rising Stars will sport a new-look livery in 2011. Jack LeBrocq and Trent Harrison, pictured, showed it off last week, testing at Winton, while the State Championship entries for Callum Mitchell, Jon Collins and Rhys Newman will run a black and white variant.

MiniChamps

MANCHAMPS

sutton-images.com

www.mnews.com.au

THE Australian Manufacturers Championship is looming as a possible outlet for owners of MINI Challenge racecars.

Following the demise of the one-make series last year, efforts have been made to find the cars a new possible home, which looks like being a class within the Production Car category. A number of competitors still own their cars, with the balance owned by BMW Group Australia.

AMC Category Manager Aaron McGill confirmed that efforts to incorporate the MINIs,

likely as their own class, were progressing.

“There will be a class for those vehicles on the track,” he said.

“CAMS want to keep the AMC pure, as we do, we don’t want it to become a dumping ground, but we do need cars on the grid. Everyone wants to hit the track with 25-30 cars on the track because it’s exciting for everybody.

“There are a lot of boxes to be ticked and nothing’s locked away, but there have been no obstacles struck thus far. At this point, I’d envisage probably somewhere between five and eight MINIs running in that

class.”

Meanwhile, McGill said significant strides have been made on the commercial side of the category, with a fiveround 2011 season to kick off on April 16-17.

“We’re about to announce some fairly major sponsorship for the category in a number of areas,” he said.

“We’ve got a naming rights sponsor for the Sandown 500, we’ve got class sponsored covered for the series and we’re very close, tantalisingly close, to signing a naming rights sponsor for the championship.”

– MITCHELL ADAM 21

RX-8 is a Shaw Thing

Shaw Mazda back in Manchamps: eNews avoids ‘Rickshaw’ pun!

Mazda image

MANCHAMPS ROTARY exponent Ric Shaw is building a new ride for a return to Production Car racing.

The longtime Mazda competitor is working on a new Mazda RX-8 GT to debut in the Australian Manufacturers Championship at some stage during the year. When the car’s up and running Shaw,

who has previously featured in productionbased racing in an RX-7, will run with backing from Sennheiser and Royal Purple Oil. “How much racing we’ll do this year, I don’t know,” Shaw admitted.

“With the format being endurance races, I think it’ll be a stronger car than in the sprint format. We looked at building and running a car last season, but decided not to,

because it was predominantly sprint stuff.

“The endurance format better suits the vehicle, makes it more competitive within that format for the class it’ll be in, and it makes it more affordable for us, because you can share drivers.

“When it’s finished, we’ll run the car in a 12 Hour-type set-up during the year and go to Bathurst next year.”

– MITCHELL ADAM

MANSON GETS THE BLUE FORD BLUES V8 TOURING CARS ANOTHER ex-Ford Performance Racing Falcon will join the Kumho V8 Touring Car Series this year.

Victorian Andrew Manson has purchased the FPR-built Falcon used by Marcus Marshall and Britek in 2008, to join the series for former Supercars. Manson has a varied background in motorsport, including a Bathurst start in 1982, but has most recently been involved in tarmac rallying.

It’s unlikely Manson will contest the opening round at Wakefield Park in April, with Round 2 at Mallala more likely for his debut.

“It’s got a lot of potential,” he said of the car, which was raced by 22

Steven Richards and Jason Bright in its FPR days.

“It’s sitting in my warehouse up in Queensland, I’m going up to pick it up on Thursday. We’ll bring it down here, give it a repaint, we’ll keep the same blue colours with a bit of history.

“I’ve got a new FPR motor for it, that’ll go in, but aside from that, everything’s in the car. It should be a gun car when it’s finished.

“I reckon this class has got a lot of potential. You can have a lot of fun in it, tyres aren’t expensive, entries aren’t expensive, even parts, it’s not expensive for what it is.

“I think people will be surprised by just how many cars end up in it.”

– MITCHELL ADAM motorsport news

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Group C for Celebrate Sportscars of all shapes and sizes for Phillip Island Classic HISTORICS CLASSIC Le Mans sports cars will provide the imported on-track highlight of this year’s Phillip Island Classic historic meeting on March 18-20.

A number of Porsche cars from across the decades headline the sports car field, which will contest a 30-minute race on the Sunday, including a brace of the spectacular 956/962 variety which dominated Le Mans for many years.

These will be complimented by a Sauber Mercedes C9 and a number of V8

Lolas from the 60s, 70s amd 80s.

A number of special anniversaries are also being celebrated at the meeting: the Bathurst-winning Nissan GT-R (20 years), the XY Falcon GT HO (40 years), the Jaguar E-Type and the Mini (50 years) and the 60th anniversary of Porsche in Australia.

Other tin-top features will see Australia’s longest-competing racing driver Murray Carter celebrate his 63rd continuous year in the sport by racing his former Bathurst XE Falcon, now owned

by Sydney’s Chad Parrish, amongst the

record field of 41 Group C and Group A cars entered.

1966 Gallagher 500 winner Bob Holden will be at the wheel of his well-known 1982 Ford Escort MkII, while Bo Seton will be driving his V6 Capri GT in the hotlycontested Under 3000cc Group N races.

A number of leading F5000 cars will merge with F1 cars of yesteryear in preparation for their following weekend appearance at the AGP. Full details, including ticketing prices, is available on the www.vhrr.com website.

Porsche

SOMETHING WORTHY OF REVIVING HISTORICS THE famous town of Longford in Tasmania is set to become the host of a motor racing circuit once again.

The Longford Revival Festival will run early next month, with historic racing cars and bikes taking part in an exhibition runs on a ‘Flying Mile’ track.

The event will aim to revive memories of the old Longford street circuit, which held Formula 1 and Tasman Cup races back in the late 1950s and 1960s on a 7.2km layout.

24

Young American GP driver Timmy Mayer was killed there in 1964.

“The Flying Mile will be exciting, and the cars and bikes that will relive that part of Longford’s history will be heaps of fun, but the event will also offer a range of family styled activities that will have big appeal for all ages, all staged in a way that has never been done before in Tasmania,” said event director Karina Crawford.

“This is an opportunity for people who experienced that

era to revisit the fifties and sixties, and for the following generations to see firsthand what Tasmanian life was like when their mum and dad, or even their grandparents, were

growing up.”

A headline act has already been confirmed; Allan Moffat’s legendary Trans Am Boss 302 Mustang will make a rare appearance at Longford. motorsport news

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Sainty misses cut in US DRAG RACING TERRY Sainty unfortunately missed the field in his first event in the USA, with the Santo Rapisarda team heartbreakingly bumped out in the last session.

A 3.96s pass over the 1000ft distance put Sainty into the

show in 16th spot, only for Terry McMillen to better the run on the next pass and leave Sainty on the outside looking in.

“Any time you go to a race and there are 20 cars making an attempt to qualify, you know that you need to be on your game,” said Sainty.

“This goes to show how tough the competition is here compared to what we have back in Australia.”

Sainty was grateful for the ongoing opportunity to compete in the NHRA, which will next see the team out in Gainesville on March 10-13.

“My sincerest thanks must

go to Santo Rapisarda and the Rapisarda Racing team for allowing me an opportunity of a lifetime,” he said.

“It’s also great to have Mum (Margaret) and Dad (Stan) here (at Pomona) with me to witness this awesome part of my career.”

– LUKE NIEUWHOF

GRADDEN GETTING UP TO SPEED DRAG RACING GEOFF Gradden is enjoying the step up in performances of his supercharged Saratoga, with a new personal best recently recorded at Sydney Dragway.

“We made a lot of changes to the clutch, engine and four link

(suspension) from last time out and were hoping for the first full run,” he said.

“On the first run, we shook the tyres hard at about 60 foot and recovered for a 6.8 second pass.

“We made a few changes hoping to cure the shake and the second pass of the night was a perfect run – 6.43s at

215mph (346kph). No shake, straight as an arrow and no damage.”

The team was left impressed by the performance on the track and in the pits.

“This is a better than we hoped for result, for the soft state of tune on the car. We also turned the car around ready

for the second run in only one and a half hours, another PB,” Gradden said.

“So with potential to go a bit faster, we are entering the Top Comp category of the ANDRA Pro Series round at Sydney Dragway on 18th and 19th March.”

– LUKE NIEUWHOF

Pro Stock championships.

Sidchrome will present the legends of drag racing in Victor and Ben Bray laying down some crazy burnout action in their purpose

built, supercharged burnout cars – with rides going to some lucky spectators. 250 sportsman racers will be there in support.

– LUKE NIEUWHOF

SYDNEY WARMING UP

John Morris / Mpix

DRAG RACING SYDNEY Dragway is set to excite with the return of ANDRA Pro Series action on March 18 and 19, with

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renewed support from Sydney’s drag racing stars, presented by Aeroflow Performance Products.

The facility will host rounds of the Top Doorslammer and

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Transport drama for racers DRAG RACING A NUMBER of teams may miss the Westernationals, being held this weekend, with reports the rail line that carries over the containers with their vehicles has been flooded.

A total of 35 teams in 14 containers have been affected, among them several Top Doorslammer outfits. Many teams are trying to sort out alternative arrangements with Perth Motorplex drag racing

manager Peter Pike saying at least one B-double has been sent out to pick up some vehicles.

Modified champion Kelly Corbett and her brother Scott Bettes are among those affected, saying on Facebook

she was “gutted” after months of planning.

Rail freight is a popular option for racers travelling across the country, with the system normally a reliable way to get vehicles to the track.

– LUKE NIEUWHOF

DRAG RACING ANDRA Pro Series Top Fuel driver Andrew Cowin was again playing in his family’s Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car recently and reset the best time for the breed in Australia.

Cowin’s third and final pass during Saturday’s round of the Nostalgia Drag Racing Series in Queensland saw the 31-year-old travel the quartermile in 5.88s at 239.61mph, edging out his previous best of 5.89s.

“It is just so much fun to

drive this Funny Car, it’s a different experience completely, and it was really cool for us to be able to show up and run the quickest ever pass in Australia with the 5.88 second pass,” said Cowin.

“Racing the Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car is just so different

blacktrack.com.au

Cowin sets new Nostalgia mark

and its great for us to do in between the Top Fuel Racing, its a lot of hard work and keeps everyone on their toes, and they are just so fast, I completely love them and really look forward to getting back into it again.”

– LUKE NIEUWHOF

Next ANDRA Pro Series Round: Westernationals, Perth Motorplex, March 5-6 ANDRA Pro Series on TV: Friday March 11 Top Doorslammer, WA www.mnews.com.au

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FIVE MINUTES WITH ...

STEVEN RICHARDS

Richo Jr interrupted his first day testing his new Porsche 997 Cup Car to tell PHIL BRANAGAN how much he was looking forward to racing the car this season MOTORSPORT NEWS: This is a new challenge for you, isn’t it?

STEVE RICHARDS: It sure is. It’s very different.

Carrera Cup is going to be a very competitive category, obviously. They are great cars, and is important to be able to do some racing.

What do you know about the cars, insofar as how you will have to drive them?

I am not quite sure. I have driven road car Porsches in the past and I have just had my first sample of the new car, here at Winton today. They are a little bit different but at the end of the day, they are just a car. You want to them to brake well and to turn into the corners and have good power-down. It is going to be a lot of fun learning about that.

It was, a bit like racing years ago; I towed the car up this morning.

Beautiful!

How is the preparation of the car going to be handled? You are going to be heavily involved in that.

Absolutely. I am running the car out of my workshop and we are using a bit of Dad’s old Carrera Cup infrastructure, which is helpful. Darren Breeden is helping me out again. I have known him since my childhood, we used to race gokarts together.

It seems like it is back to the old days!

We will be using Dad’s truck to transport it all to the race meetings, and we will be doing things simply.

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Speaking of V8 Supercars, Ford Performance Racing has confirmed that you will be back for the endurance races. You must have a fair degree of confidence about PI and Bathurst.

I think that it is a great combination. I am very happy with the team and we are looking for ways to make it consistent in those races.

I think that the cars are going well, and it would be great to grab that elusive Bathurst win for FPR. How do you see your role for the endurance races?

As a team you have to be mindful of the championship sitauation, but they want

to win Bathurst. That is what everyone goes up there for, regardless of the championship situation.

Phillip Island is very important as well, but we are not just talking about those two races. We are talking about the championship, and if they are in with a shot of taking the title, I would like to a part of that.

Did you find it a little difficult to see the first races of the season without being on the grid?

I would be silly not to say I would still like to be racing in V8 Supercars. It is the premier category in the country.

But I am in the position this year that I do not have a drive. If things work out, who knows? I may enjoy this (Carrera Cup) so much that it could be a new career path. You never cross out getting back into a V8 Supercar on a full-time basis, that is for sure. I have been lucky, and now I am lucky enough to be sitting here with a brand-new shiny Carrera Cup car. It looks good in the workshop and I am looking forward to doing some work on it. I get to drive it on the weekends, I get to tow it to the track.

I would like to think that I could have a good enough season to challenge the regular guys, some of the guns in these cars – particularly Bairdo (Craig Baird). If we do a good job, and a good job in the enduros in the V8 Supercars as well, we will see where we are at the end of the year.

My expectation is to be competitive. I would love to see a Carrera Cup trophy on the mantelpiece.

Peter Bury

What were the first impressions you had when you got behind the wheel?

They are fantastic. Straight out of the box, it is a race car. It is great to get into a car that hasn’t got a heap of horsepower, but they put the horsepower down to the ground pretty well.

It is all about getting a bit of a feel for the car. I need to be sure that I have all the right tools to run the car properly, in preparation for the Grand Prix.

There has been a bit of talk about the nature of these cars, and the characteristics of them suiting a European-style circuit. When people say that people start to wonder, will they be as fast as a V8 Supercar around Bathurst. Any insights?

It is hard to say.

The biggest thing with these cars is that they only have 450 horsepower. Any time that you line them up against a car like a Supercar with over 600 horses, no matter what weight they are, they are going to fall short. I wouldn’t think that they will be faster than a Supercar at Bathurst.

I think that the fastest time a Cup car has done at Bathurst is about a (two minute) 10, I could be wrong there.

These cars will, I think, definitely be faster than the old cars but to what degree, I don’t know.

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Porsche Australia

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WHEN TIMING IS EVERYTHING OPINION Chris Lambden – Publisher

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HERE’S a couple of big international motorsport events looming up in March – and that’s before motorsport fans head to Melbourne for the annual Victorian State budget debate which is the Australian F1 Grand Prix.

It’s a positive smorgasbord for the motorsport nut. On one hand, the V8 Supercar championship season kicks off properly, with the season-highlight Clipsal 500. No hype needed there – it’s just the best way to start the ‘domestic’ season off.

On the other hand, the Phillip Island Classic – pretty much Australia’s version of the brilliant UK Goodwood Revival – offers over 400 cars in competiton, spanning decades of motorsport history.

Headlining the Island this year is an ontrack collection of many of the world’s fastest sports cars from the 1960s, 70s and 80s. A 30 minute race featuring a collection of rare Porsche 956/962s, Sauber-Mercedes, Lolas and the like will showcase several of the 35 vehicles coming from Europe and the US to take part, along with the range of historic race cars from Formula Ford, through to the feisty Formula 5000s and F1 cars of the 70s and 80s respectively.

It’s going to be motorsport nostalgia heaven.

There’s just one big, stupid, dumb problem – they’re both on the same weekend.

Yup, two major international motorsport events, a few hundred kilometres apart, on the same weekend. I’ve lost count of the people 30

who’ve lamented the fact that they can’t be in two places at once.

How could this possibly be? Back in the nineties, for example, when Targa Tasmania kicked off as an international event, not only did CAMS mandate that there was there no clash that weekend, there was nothing allowed a weekend either side either! (At the time it was seen as being a little controversial – Targa was in thise days promoted by then CAMS President John Large …).

But to be serious for a moment, a clash of major international events such as Clipsal and the PI Classic is a disgrace, and simply should not have been allowed by CAMS. It is charged with running motorsport in this country – especially FIA international events – and it just simply should not have been allowed to happen.

The Island event involves a large element of international content which subsequently appears at the following week’s F1 GP, so its March 19/20 scheduling is logical. So, was there a really, really compelling reason why Clipsal could not have been run a week earlier?

Aside from the dilemma facing many potential spectators, the clash creates a number of serious logistical problems, such as availability of marshalls and other officials which has, I hear, proved quite tricky.

Regardless, a clash like this shouldn’t happen; it’s an enormous faux pas, and the sport’s governing body is the organization charged with setting the calendar. It mustn’t happen again.

S

O, Lewis Hamilton is going to drive a NASCAR. It’s actually nice to see.

There was a train of thought that suggested these sorts of extra curricular activities would be banned in the wake of Robert Kubica’s nasty rally crash last month.

But in the space of a week we’ve got Craig Lowndes being given the go-ahead to drive a Formula 1 car at Bathurst, and Lewis Hamilton given the green light to drive a NASCAR at Watkins Glen, while Tony Stewart has a fang in the McLaren.

The Watkins Glen experiment will be fascinating. I mean, Formula 1 cars and V8 Supercars are essentially at different ends of the technology and refinement spectrums ... but a NASCAR makes a V8 Supercar look motorsport news

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N F1 MEETS NASCAR

OPINION like it was penned and built

by NASA. We’re talking about a pushrod engine that has a carburetor and is fitted to a steel space frame. It’s everything that a Formula 1 car is not. And that’s what makes it so darned exciting.

There’s a precedent here.

Back in 2003, Jeff Gordon and Juan Pablo Montoya swapped rides on Indianapolis’ road course. Gordon drove a WilliamsBMW FW24, and Montoya drove a Chevy NASCAR. While it was basically a PR stunt, it highlighted just how good the guys at the top of NASCAR really are. For instance, Gordon had never driven on the infield version of the Indianapolis www.mnews.com.au

Speedway, he’d never properly raced single-seaters on tarmac – even as a junior – and he’d certainly never driven a Formula 1 car before. Yet, his best lap time was just 1.3s shy of the benchmark that Montoya set on the day.

Gordon was so competent in the car that by the end of the ‘test’ he was talking about set-up changes he’d like to make ...

“I can see where getting that last second is really tricky,” Gordon said when he got out of the car.

“I’d love to sit here and play with the car – yeah, it feels a little bit tight. Yeah I’d like to take some front brake bias out of it. But that experience in itself

Andrew van Leeuwen – eNews Editor is what I came here for. What a fun, awesome experience and I can’t thank everyone enough for pulling this together.”

For the record, Montoya was just 1.1s slower than the benchmark time that Gordon set for him in the stock car, however Montoya knew the layout well, and Gordon was flying blind.

So what does any of this have to do with Hamilton and Stewart? Nothing, except to highlight the fact that these kinds of events don’t need to be viewed simply as crosspromotional wank. They can create genuine interest, as

they did in the case of Gordon/ Montoya, and the best part is that it involves in the public – the ticket-buying fans that are walking through the gate at Watkins Glen. Usually when a drive drives either a Formula 1 car or a NASCAR for the first time, it’s at a deserted test track in the middle of a freezing cold winter.

In these cases, people get to see it and hear it. And isn’t that what marketing is all about. Clever. Oh, and if you have nothing better to do today, type this into your web browser: http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=2_IfM5X7QIU. 31

SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1 – PHILLIP ISLAND

One Man is an

Island

The road to the 2011 Superbike World Championship runs through Carlos Checa. The Spanish veteran was in untouchable form at Phillip Island

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John Morris

www.mnews.com.au

T would be hard to imagine a more perfect motor racing weekend than the one that Carlos Checa experienced at Phillip Island.

The Spanish veteran was in a class of his own from the moment the Althea team rolled his Ducati onto the hallowed track. The racing behind him was vigorous – particularly in the second race – but the truth was, only misfortune could have stopped the 38-year-old from flying out of Australia with maximum points.

Checa topped all the dry practice sessions and took Superpole, his first and only Ducati’s second since 2009. The surprise was that he had to work for it as Max Biaggi picked that moment to step up into the role of Checa’s closest challenger.

Checa took a couple of laps to find his feet and the lead, allowing Eugene Laverty to introduce himself to Superbike followers and Leon Haslam to do the same to BMW enthusiasts by leading the early laps of both events. By lap 3 of Race 1 and lap 2 of Race 2, Checa had used the superior corner speed of the 1098R to take the lead, build a gap large enough to hold off the fours on the straights (where they had an edge of as much as 15kmh) and cruise away to two wins.

“It has just been the perfect week, from the beginning of testing last Monday and Tuesday until today,” said Checa after his sixth and seventh career SBK wins.

“I’ve had a strong pace the whole time, but you just never know what’s going to happen until the real action begins.

“Certainly, it may have been a bit boring for the spectators to see me out front by myself, but it was the best strategy to put in place and the 50pts is just brilliant.”

Biaggi started his title defence with two second places, which was almost a maximum under the circumstances, but the second result came only after a titanic battle. Marco Melandri found it took him some time to adapt to Yamaha’s R1 but when he did, he threw down the gauntlet to his countryman. Time and time again Melandri slipped by the V4; time and time again, Biaggi used it to reassert his edge, which grew to a quarter second at the flag. Melandri has shown that he will be a man to be reckoned with, and clearly did not appreciate losing a spot – to his own team-mate – on the final corner of Race 1 ...

Haslam gave BMW only its third-ever SBK podium in Race 1 and showed that the S1000RR will be a contender this season.

In Race 2, he had a team battle on his hands as Troy Corser held on at the front, but he had a senior’s moment at Honda and then fell back through the field to 19th.

The other man to shine was Jonathan Rea. The Irishman dropped the ball a little in qualifying, and his hopes of a firstup result ended with a fall – to add to the two he suffered in the buildup to the race. But the black and blue Irishman put that in the back of his mind to take fourth ahead of Haslam and Leon Camier, who was not feeling much better – he was suffering from illness. Camier dragged his Aprilia to sixth, gaining two spots on the last lap.

On the other side of the equation, Sylvain Guintoli’s weekend started well – Q3 on his Ducati debut – but ended prematurely. He missed the start, was 18th on the first lap and while running 10th, a crash put him out for the rest of the weekend. He has a month to recover for Round 2 at Donington Park.

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New class, new challenge: Supersport ace Eugene Laverty showed Superbike speed in his debut on Yamaha’s R1, above. Noriyuki Haga took a while to get his eye in on Pata’s Aprilia, below, while Troy Corser has an aup and down weekend on his factory BMW, bottom right.

Yamaha returns to Supersport as a winner LUCA Scassa ensured that Yamaha’s return to World Supersport was a winning one, after snatching the win at PI. The Italian, #9 above, and Broc Parkes’s Motocard.com Kawasaki swept by Sam Lowe as they exited the final corner, Scassa taking his first WSS win by 0.009s, with Lowe delivering a podium on debut with 34

Parkalgar Honda. Poleman David Salom was fourth on his Kawasaki.

Chas Davies ran with he leaders and looked like a podium contender, but was one of three riders in the race to suffer a tyre deflation.

Fabian Foret dominated practice, and looked like a challenger until lap 5, when he ran off the track on wet grass.

Top 10 Points:

Checa 50, Biaggi 40, Melandri/ Haslam 27, Fabrizio 198, Rea 17, Haga 16, Sykes 15, Laverty/ Smrz 14, Camier 13. motorsport news

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Leon Heart: Leon Haslan won the start and led the opening lap of Race 2, above, but Checa was soon past and on his way to a double. The Spaniard has had plenty of experience with podiums, left, and so has Max Biaggi.

The World Champion had a fight on his hands in Race 2, having to fight off Marco Melandri, below, in an allItalian battle.

All images: John Morris

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NASCAR ROUND 2 - AVONDALE, AZ

Desert Drough

Breaker

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ht NASCAR Media

NASCAR Media

Jeff Gordon snapped a two-year, 66-race winless streak at Phoenix when he took victory in the Subway Fresh Fit 500

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NASCAR Media

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N a convincing performance, Jeff Gordon has returned to Victory Lane in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup. The former champion led a race-high 138 of the 312 laps and holding out Kyle Busch at the chequers.

The always controversial Busch was shooting for the treble at the track, having already hoisted the trophies for the Truck and Natiotnwide races.

“Pinch me, man! Pinch me!” Gordon said while torching his tyres at the end of the race.

“God, it feels so amazing,” the four-time Cup champion said. “I can’t tell you how amazing this feels. So thankful to [owner] Rick Hendrick, all that he does. It’s been a long time, I know.

I’m going to savour this one so much, but I’ve got to say thanks to the fans.”

It was a tough race, with eight cautions and plenty of damage. At the final yellow, Gordon and Busch had to clear Ryan Newman, who

went for two tyres to their four and by doing that, gained track position. Once past the Chevy, Gordon got his Chevy under Busch’s Toyota in Turn 1 to take the lead with eight laps remaining.

“He was gaining on me really good,” Busch explained, “and I knew he was going to get to me eventually, and this place is so flat and it’s one groove that we all run the bottom.”

Jimmie Johnson was a steady third ahead of Kevin Harvick, Newman, Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart. Kurt Busch was eighth, giving him second in the series points – just three points behind his brother.

The worst of the wrecks occurred on lap 67 and stopped the race. Matt Kenseth touched Drought breaker: Jeff Gordon chose one of the driest places in America to quench his third for victor y and break a twoyear winning drought, left, above.

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NASCAR Media

the car of Brian Vickers, leaving the Toyota with a cut tyre. Into the wreck piled Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Jamie McMurray, David Reutimann, Casey Mears, Travis Kvapil, David Gilliland, Bobby Labonte, Regan Smith, Andy Lally and Robby Gordon.

Bowyer was very critical of the standard of driving, and did not exclude himself from the spray.

“We’re all better race car drivers than this,” he voiced. “It’s pretty embarrassing, to be honest with you.”

The other wreck that prompted a lot of comment involved, almost inevitably, Busch and Carl Edwards. The clash saw the #99 Fusion in the wall at Turn 3 and even though he returned – he was classified 28th, 52 laps back – Edwards was seeking an explanation after the race.

“I’m not exactly sure what happened,” Edwards said. “I’ll have to talk to Kyle about it. I thought at first he was just frustrated and he turned left to get back in line and he didn’t know I was there. But I watched the tape, and I think he really did get loose. He hit me hard, and I was left with nothing.”

Marcos Ambrose had a better weekend than at Daytona. After starting 15th he ran consistently in the top 20, and just missed the major pileup that

claimed so many drivers. The final yellow did him no favours at all, and he recovered a few spots to finish 16th at the flag.

“We got a finish,” Ambrose said. “We got in a hole after Daytona and we just had to finish today.”

Desert duellers: He may have been king at Daytona but Trevor Bayne was in the wars in Phoenix, below right.

He wasn’t the only one – Carl Edwards’ Ford bears the scars of its clash with Kyle Busch’s Toyota, inset. Marcos Ambrose, running low on David Gilliland, avoided the carnage on the way to 15th place, top right.

Results :: Subway Fresh Fit 500, Phoenix, Az Pos. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

No. 24 18 48 29 39 4 14 22 43 88

Driver Jeff Gordon Kyle Busch Jimmite Johnson Kevin Harvick Ryan Newman Kasey Kahne Tony Stewart Kurt Busch AJ Allmendinger Dale Earnhardt Jr

Make Chevy Toyota Chevy Chevy Chevy Toyota Chevy Dodge Ford Chevy

Team Hendrick Joe Gibbs Hendrick Childress Stewart Haas Red Bull Stewart Haas Penske Petty Hendrick

Sponsor DTEH Combo’s Lowe’s Jimmy John’s Tornado’s Red Bull Office Depot Shell Pennzoil Valvoline Amp Energy

Qual.

20 4 28 17 14 3 18 2 15 35

Top 10 Points: Kyle Busch 80, Kurt Busch 77, Stewart and Allmendinger 69, Gordon and Martin 65, Labonte and Newman 64, Gilliland and Menard 63

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FORD Media

NASCAR Media

NASCAR Media

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CIK STARS OF KARTING ROUND 1 – IPSWICH, QLD

The Wall: Matt Wall was a lucky winner in the KZ2 class at Ipswich.

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CHAMPS SOK IT TO THEM

D

EFENDING series Champions Matthew Wall, Cian Fothergill and Pierce Lehane were way too good in their respective categories, as the 2011 CIK Stars of Karting Series kicked off in Ipswich at the weekend.

Wall won both the Pro Gearbox (KZ2) finals contested on Sunday, however his win in the second final was far from easy.

Kel Treseder got the jump off the start line aboard his CRG kart, with Wall back in third, behind Tyler Greenbury. The trio raced hard throughout the opening half of the race, swapping positions on numerous occasions. When Wall made a mistake just after half race distance, it forced Greenbury to hit the back of him and the concertina effect pushed Wall forward and allowed him to open a slender gap.

From there, Wall held on for the victory, while the battle between Greenbury and Treseder went down to the wire with the pair racing side-by-side through the final set of corners. In the end it was Greenbury who held on for the runner-up spot.

“It was a very tough race out there but I’m glad to have held on for the win,” said Wall.

“I made a mistake which in a way helped me win, which is not common, but luck was on my side today.”

Fothergill finished the weekend undefeated, taking pole position and

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winning all three heat races before taking out both 25-lap finals in the Pro Light (KF1) category.

Fothergill was forced to fend off a spirited challenge by Victorian Adam Hughes in the second final on his way to victory.

“Undefeated all weekend – you can’t ask for a better start than that,” said Fothergill.

“The competition has really stepped up another level this year, so it is good to be able to start the year with such a successful run here at Ipswich.”

Lehane was the dominant driver in the Pro Junior (KF3) ranks, with the Sydneysider winning both 25-lap main events. The 15 year-old was never seriously challenged on his way to victory, leaving Top Kart pilot Joseph Mawson to settle for second place in his series debut.

“It is great to start my title defence off with a win, but it wasn’t easy out there,” said Lehane.

“I got a good gap early in the race, but with about seven laps left in the second final I could hear the engine starting to make some unusual noises and I lost about 10km/h an hour on the back straight.

After that, I really had to push in the slower sections of the track to make sure I maintained my gap.”

Local driver Brock Plumb had a great battle with Perth’s Jake Klarich for the final spot in the podium.

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ASBK

Allerton strikes firs

John Morris / Mpix

GLENN Allerton has delivered a sensational debut for Procon Racing and their new BMW S 1000 RR, winning both races in the opening round of the Viking Group Australian Superbike Championship at Phillip Island.

Wet conditions made tyre selection the key in the opening race, with many riders opting for wets. On slicks, Allerton lost track position early, but fought back as the track dried out to win by over 20 seconds from Aprillia rider Ben Attard, who also gambled on slicks.

In the dry Race 2, Allerton completed the double.

“This is the best start to a season I’ve ever had,” Allerton said.

“The weekend really could

not have gone better for us given we are a new team and racing a new bike. We made a good choice this morning on the slicks but in the second race showed that the pace was genuine.”

After finishing fourth in Race 1, Troy Herefos was second in Race 2 on his Suzuki to secure second for the weekend in his maiden Superbike round, while Attard finished fifth in Race 2 to complete the round podium.

“It was a tough weekend and I’m very glad to come away sitting second,” Herfoss said.

“Getting a good result on wet tyres in the first race gave me the confidence I needed, and I was able to mix it with the leaders in the second.”

Brodie Waters and Aaron Gobert split the Supersport wins, with Gobert taking the round honours.

COBBY WINS, GETS BACK IN I SPEEDWAY

JAMIE Cobby has kicked his quest for the Revolution Racegear Track Championship Series at Adelaide’s Speedway City back into life with a sensational victory last Saturday night.

Cobby’s drive was fearless as he used the high side of the track to blast his way around the leading contenders and

into victory lane in the 25 lap affair. At the drop of the green, pole-sitter Leith Ahlfors pounced to a commanding lead, with Luke Dillon in hot pursuit. But by mid-race distance, Ahlfors started to loose some momentum and Dillon commandeered the lead and built a handy break over Cobby.

Cobby set his sights on the back of the Dillon machine

and swept around the outside and into the lead. Dillon was soon under attack from Daniel Pestka, who made his way from eighth to pass Dillon for second. Brad Keller rounded out the top four and, incidentally, these are the top four drivers in the track championship point score.

Matt Egel was one spot further back after an enthralling battle against

World Series Sprintcars contracted driver Ricky Maiolo, pole-sitter Ahlfors was next in the pack ahead of Luke Bowey, Chad Ely and Michael Burford, who rounded out the Top 10.

Australian 360 Sprintcar Champion Alan Barlee made his journey from Darwin a worthy venture as he secured victory in the 360 ranks, becoming the eighth winner in as many rounds in the series.

OUTSTANDING PIT DISPLAYS BY OCTANORM MANY OTHER DISPLAY OPTIONS AVAILABLE PLEASE CALL US TO DISCUSS REQUIREMENTS

SYDNEY (02) 9556 6012 MELBOURNE (03) 9394 3150

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motorsport news

race Geoff Gracie

st in ASBK

The Flying V SPEEDWAY

IT

Jamie Hendry shared the front row with Barlee but was not match as Barlee quickly opened a handy lead which he kept to the finish. Brendan Guerin produced his best performance for the series to collect second ahead of the Hendry cousins Jamie and series Shane, who both passed Tyson Chambers on the final lap.

– PARIS CHARLES

www.mnews.com.au

CONSISTENCY was the key to John Vogels grabbing overall honors in Saturday night’s unique twin features at Warrnambool’s Premier Speedway.

Vogels came third in the first 20-lap A Main – a round of the Sprintcar Racing Association of Victoria (SRA) series – and second in the final 20-lap race, after storming from 12th on the grid to top the aggregate points on the night.

It was his first night back on track after writing off his car in his final heat at the national title at Premier last month.

That roll capped an expensive few days for Vogels, who was forced to leave his truck in the pits for three days because of engine dramas.

Vogels’ performances pushed him up to second in the SRA standings behind series pacesetter Stephen Bell.

Vogels grabbed the lead in the second feature after racing

by Carl Ludeman with eight laps to go, but his charge was halted seconds later when two cars stopped in the main straight.

Ludeman was elevated back to the front of the field because a full lap had not been completed. Vogels was unable to get close enough after the re-start.

“I just couldn’t hold the lowline,” Vogels said of his track position.

“I was a bit late getting up to the high-line.”

Bell, third on the night after finishing fourth and third in the features, extended his lead in the SRA series standings after Darren Mollenoyux, second going into the night, crashed out of the first feature after steering box failure.

Bell is now 92 points clear of Vogels with Mollenoyux third, 179 points from the lead. The

big mover in the standings was third generation Sprintcar driver Nick Lacey, son of former national champ Brett, who won the opening feature after starting from pole. It was Lacey’s first SRA series triumph.

“I was actually confused if I had won it,” he said.

He may have been lucky to avoid a penalty after punting one of the pre-race favourites David Murcott into the wall in a high-speed crash entering Turn 3 on Lap 5, which saw Murcott violently roll, hitting the top of the catch fence. The speed and impact of the crash destroyed part of the steel crash fence.

Lacey had no time to celebrate his triumph, having to resume racing in the second feature just 14 minutes later.

But after making some inroads from the back of the pack, he suffered mechanical problems and was forced to retire with eight laps remaining.

– GEOFF ROUNDS

43

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motorsport news

rear of grid

Let’s face it – Formula 1 pre-season testing tends to throw up more questions than answers. But one thing is for sure, F1 cars running around in low Spanish light look particularly pretty ...

Both pics: sutton-images.com

www.mnews.com.au

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