Motorsport eNews Issue 224 - September 27-October 3, 2011

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Issue No. 224 September 27 - October 3 2011

S R E D N E T N O C THE D WHO’S TRYING AN D RI G V8 E TH O NT O ET G WHO’S TRYING TO Y-SEASON PLAYERS LL SI Y KE E TH AT K O LO E W E? TO STAY THER

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CHEERS, SKAIFEY: LOWNDES ON SKAIFE’S 2011 TEAMVODAFONE CONTRIBUTION - AND NOT JUST IN THE ENDUROS

BATHURST AND BEYOND in the latest issue of motorsport news, craig lowndes talks exclusively about the title, winning another bathurst 1000 and his future plus: our car-by-car bathurst preview, a look back at bathursts past, inside the life of wrc star petter solberg, will power on his indycar title tilt, and a first person account of the us drag racing nationals. and a whole lot more!

SPECIAL

BATHURST

PREVIEW

EDITION

THE GRE

AT RACE

AN IN-DEP TH LOOK AT THE BATHURS T 1000 FI ELD, CAR-BY-C AR

WILL POW

ER

AUSSIE AC

E

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OCTOBER

REWIND

BATHURST AND GOLD CLASSICS REVISITE COAST D

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OLBERG

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

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

You’ve been Rick Roll’d. Sorry, we couldn’t resist. That’s Rick Astley (80s popstar) with Eddie Jordan (former F1 team owner, not 80s popstar). If you don’t know Rick

Photographers Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, John Morris/Mpix, AF1 Images, James Smith, Peter Bury, Geoff Gracie, Joel Strickland, Phil Williams, Rob Lang, Michael Vettas

Issue No. 224 | 27 Sept - 3 Oct 2011

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In the Red or Blue corner Luff joins Silly Season mix 7 No Small order Engineering change at Kellys 8 Bumps on the way out QR resurfacing scheduled 10 Around WA in a few days Lowndes bolts in Aus Safari 15 Jeanie in a bottle Alesi eyes Indy 500

chat 22 Five Minutes With ...

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comment 24 AVL: Singaporing praises 25 Branagan: Rivalries, please

feature 26 Tyres in WRC race 30 Formula 1 34 Goodwood Revival 38 NASCAR 42 WSBK

trade 48 Classifieds

LUFF IN SILLY SEASON CON

He’s talking to LDM about staying ... but there are other c V8 SUPERCARS JUST when we thought that the list of drivers looking for a new V8 Supercar drive in 2012 was settled, a new name has appeared on it – Warren Luff.

After his best showing since he joined Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport in late 2010 at Phillip Island, Luff has admitted that he is talking to team owners about next season – but he has not ruled out staying put.

“Only in the last few days have we started talking to

Lucas about next season,” he said on Monday.

“The dialogue has only just started, so it is too early to say where it might go. We have certainly looked at what potential options there are, but that is not to say that a move is on.”

Dumbrell had told eNews that his priority was to sort out his car for 2012, leading us to suggest that if Luff was discussing his future, a deal must be done. It has been rumoured that LDM is to acquire the Triple Eight

Commodore currently being raced by Russell Ingall, but that is not something Luff would comment on.

But while Luff has said he is looking around, he has not ruled out staying where he is, either.

“Definitely not,” he said. “My priority is to work out what is available, and that is where the focus is now.”

There could be a group of about half a dozen drivers in contention for half that number of seats. What does not look to be in doubt is that

Lee Holdsworth will be named as a Stone Brothers Racing driver, and Ingall will switch to Walkinshaw Racing’s third car, with Supercheap Auto backing. Likewise, eNews believes that a resolution to the negotiations over David Reynolds is moving towards a mutually agreed outcome and that he will depart Kelly Racing to move into Rod Nash Racing’s #55 Bottle-O entry.

So, it appears that three prime seats are yet to be filled. Of the three drivers vacating those seats, only

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NEWS

Mainly on the Plains

NTENTION

conversations Paul Dumbrell is not looking for a full-time seat, leaving current SBR pilot Alex Davison and Fabian Coulthard on the market.

Of course, there are also possibly other moves in play, and drivers who are yet to secure full-time Main Game drives in the mix. Fujitsu Series teammates David Russell and Tim Blanchard, and Carrera Cup front-runner Daniel Gaunt have put their hands up publically, and are actively seeking drives. Russell and

Blanchard have endurance drives with Kelly Racing, while Gaunt is hitting form in Porsches at the right time.

The other factor to consider in all this is that the man who needs to replace Holdsworth, Garry Rogers, has never been a man to rush into a decision about his drivers – leading one player in the game to comment recently; “Garry’s like the Pied Piper at the moment, with all of these drivers following him around ...”

Rob Lang

V8 SUPERCARS will continue to race at Symmons Plains until at least 2014.

Doubt had been cast on the future of the event earlier in the year, but the Tasmanian Government has announced it will invest $2.08 million to secure the new deal with V8 Supercars Australia, on top of $5.2 million invested at the Launceston circuit since 2004.

“The Tasmanian Government funds a range of social and cultural events that are enjoyed by a broad cross-section of the community,” Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings said.

“The V8 Supercars are a major fixture on Tasmania’s events calendar, and I’m thrilled that we’ll continue to see them race at Symmons Plains for the next three years.

“While there has been considerable speculation about the future of the V8 Supercars at Symmons Plains, the State Government has always been fully committed to retaining the event. “[Minister for Tourism] Scott Bacon has been a strong advocate of the importance of this event to the Tasmanian economy, and has delivered a fantastic result for both V8 Supercars fans, and Northern businesses.

“While the previous agreement was to host the event until 2013, he has been successful in negotiating an extra year on the contract.”

Phil Williams Peter Bury

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Dirk Klynsmith

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V8 SUPERCARS CRAIG Lowndes has paid tribute to Mark Skaife’s input in his recent upturn in form – and not just in the endurance races.

Having endured slow starts to many of his recent title tilts, Lowndes has been quicker out of the blocks in 2011, and sits second in the standings, 92 points behind team-mate Jamie Whincup.

Much has been made of the success of Lowndes’ renewed partnership with Skaife in the long-distance races, and last weekend’s

Phillip Island saw them move to three wins from three starts in TeamVodafone colours. Lowndes says the five-time champion’s feedback from test days and co-driver sessions is also paying dividends throughout the rest of the year.

“Having Skaife in the car, we’ve had Skaife in the car I think nearly every round, or pretty close to it, and his information and feedback in the car has been fantastic,” Lowndes said.

“He’s still got a very good feel for the car and understanding, and I think when you

Dirk Klynsmith

LOWNDES: SKAIFE HAS LIFTED ME

have a different driver in the car, it gives you – not only me, but for Jeromy [Moore] my engineer – different areas to look at.

“Mark will pick up on things that I don’t and then of course you investigate a few things, and some of the things he’ll come across will help me as well. So having Skaife in the car, I think, has helped a lot.”

– MITCHELL ADAM For a full interview with Lowndes, see Issue 412 of Motorsport News, on sale this Wednesday.

CLIPSAL 2012: FRIDAY ON MY MIND V8 SUPERCARS

Peter Bury

CLIPSAL 500 organisers have tweaked the V8 Supercar format for 2012.

There’ll be more V8 action on Friday, with qualifying and the Top 10 shootout shifting back a day from Saturday. But it’s not at the expense of Saturday running, with a warm-up to be held ahead of the opening 78lap leg.

“It’s great that we have gained the support of V8 Supercars and the recently formed V8 Supercar Commission to re-schedule

the first of the V8 Supercar qualifying sessions and the Top Ten Shoot Out,” Race Chief Executive Mark Warren said.

“This definitely makes Friday a bigger day for fans at Adelaide’s famous city street circuit particularly with drivers pushing the absolute limit to gain grid positions for the first leg of the Clipsal 500.”

Sunday will remain as it was in 2011, with a qualifying session and the second 78-lapper.

Tickets are now on sale for the March 1-4 event.

– MITCHELL ADAM motorsport news

NEWS

OUT OF THE ORRDINARY V8 SUPERCARS KELLY Racing’s fifth Bathurst 1000 entry may lack experience in the driver’s seat but there will no lack of that in the garage.

The team’s Commodore will be overseen by a part-time crew led

by Dean Orr. The man known as ‘Curl’ has considerable experience as a team manager with Perkins Engineering and Dick Johnson Racing, and was the man on the headset when Larry Perkins won his two Bathurst, in 1993 and ’95.

Orr has help to put together a small crew to run the #77 entry, which will carry the colours of Shannons and Mars, pictured, in the race.

The identity of Grant Denyer’s codriver will be announced later this week, with BTCC driver Andrew Jordan and FF racer Cameron Waters in the final two spots on reality TV program, Supercar Showdown.

Small out, Hockey in at Stratco V8 SUPERCARS JAMES Small has parted company with Kelly Racing.

Small had been David Reynolds’ engineer throughout 2011 after joining the Braeside team in its maiden year, 2009.

Phillip Island was Small’s last weekend with the team, with Reynolds and Tim Blanchard finishing sixth. At Bathurst, Shaun Hockey will fill the role.

Hockey was a longtime Perkins Engineering employee and switched to Kelly Racing in 2009.

“Everyone at our team appreciates the huge amount of work and effort that James has put in during his time with Kelly www.mnews.com.au

Racing,” KR Racing Director Todd Kelly said.

“He has done a fantastic job getting David Reynolds up to speed from where he was at the beginning of the year.

Unfortunately due to some recent issues the relationship has run its course.

“Shaun has one of the sharpest minds in our sport when it comes to race strategy and running a car at Mount Panorama.

“That experience will be a valuable asset for two young drivers like David Reynolds and Tim Blanchard in our Stratco Commodore at Bathurst.”

Dirk Klynsmith

QR WORK STARTING SOON CIRCUIT NEWS QUEENSLAND Raceway’s resurfacing has been rescheduled, and is due to start on 31 October, weather permitting.

The Ipswich circuit was due to be entirely resurfaced earlier this year but postponed due to the Queensland floods. To be carried out by Fulton Hogan, work to resurface the entire layout and flatten bumps on the approaches to Turns 1 and 3, the project has been valued at $1,200,000. Once is starts, the circuit will be out of action for approximately eight weeks.

“It will take approximately four months for the new surface to achieve 90% of its final strength and that is why it is essential that the work to be done at a time when we can reasonably minimise the amount of track activity,” QR CEO, John Tetley, said.

“This year has proven that the track surface is still in great condition, new lap records have been set by both the V8 Supercars and also the Australian Superbikes.”

MSR’S BATHURST EXPANSION FUJITSU SERIES FIRST-YEAR Fujitsu Series squad Matt Stone Racing will expand to two cars at Bathurst next weekend.

Queenslander Steven Voight has purchased an ex-PWR VE Commodore and will run under the MSR banner, alongside regular Robert Cregan. It will be Voight’s first FV8 start of 2011, though he has run in the Kumho V8 Touring Car Series and raced in the Fujitsu Series before.

The weekend will be a joint effort between MSR and Voight, and a key step as MSR works towards fielding two cars in the series next year, as previously reported.

“We’re helping him out, he’s got a couple of guys he’s using, but we’re running it under the MSR banner and we’re doing all of the prep work, organisational work and all of that,” team owner Matt

Catch all the action from this years 2011 Australian Muscle Car Masters on both 7mate and TVNZ with the brodcast of a one hour Highlights package.

Stone told eNews.

“This is a good deal because he by no means does he want to run full-time, he just wants to do the odd round and have a bit of a skid.

But it’s definitely in the direction we want to move the company.”

Stone said work on securing a second full-time driver and vehicle for 2012 was ongoing.

“It’s still a work in progress,” he said “We’re definitely geared up to run it, it’s just a case of finding the right driver-sponsor combination.

“Then sorting the car’s the easy part of the equation, as far as I can see anyway.”

Voight and Cregan are part of a 29-car Fujitsu Series entry list for Bathurst. Gavin Bullas will debut, as reported in last week, while Paul Freestone will make his second start of the year in a BF Falcon.

– MITCHELL ADAM

2.30pm Sunday October 2nd

Sunday October 9th

Check your local guides

motorsport news

NEWS

JOHNSON: WE’LL FIGHT BACK V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith

JIM Beam Racing had a tough weekend last week at Phillip Island but that has not dimmed the team’s ambitions for Bathurst.

Steve Johnson, who finished the L&H 500 26th in the Jim Beam Falcon he shared with David Besnard, says that the team’s aim is for “a podium, at worst” at Mount Panorama.

“It [the Phillip Island result] was not due to any lack of effort,” he said.

“We just did not have any grip.

We went opposite ways on setup, then came back, but the car would just not take a set on a corner. It lacked front grip.”

Johnson says that the

characteristics of the PI track are such that he could not even get a good qualifying lap time of the car.

“At a track like that, with the corners, you cannot drag it around to get a time. At Bathurst, with the amount of work we have done, I think that the problems we have had [at Phillip Island] will be relatively minor. Our expectations are higher, because it is Bathurst, but I did think that we would have a better car than we had [at PI].”

The team plans to use a test day prior to the 1000, and Johnson says that he and Besnard will be “as prepared as we are ever going to be” to win the race.

THE RAT IN THE SUIT NZ V8SUPERTOURERS

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race car and a fantastic lineup of driving talent – makes this role with V8SuperTourers truly exciting. I’m really looking forward to the new challenges ahead.”

Radisich, who raced in V8 Supercars for nine seasons, will replace businessman Mark Petch in the role.

The inaugural season starts at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park on February 17-19.

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NEW Zealand’s V8SuperTourers has named its new CEO, and it is former V8 Supercar star Paul Radisich.

After three years of living in the UK, The Rat will return to his homeland to take on the role in November, well in time for the new category’s debut season, which starts in February.

“It’s not rocket science, running an attractive,

commercially-successful race series,” said Radisich, 48, “but the challenge of balancing the needs of the public, commercial partners and competing teams is not easy.

“I have been fortunate to have experienced the worst and the best around the world, and I have a very clear view of what needs to be done back home in New Zealand.

“The whole proposition – of a new series, a purpose-built

NEWS

LOWNDES LEADS SAFARI IT’S still early days in the Australasian Safari but Craig Lowndes looks to have a lead that many competitors would envy.

Lowndes and co-driver John Panozzo extended their lead to 14 minutes over the 325

kilometres of two special stages, finishing Sunday afternoon in Sandstone.

“We had a good day today,” Lowndes said.

“The main thing for us is trying to minimise our navigation errors, but they’re still very high.

You lose more time trying to find right tracks than actually trying

TAYLOR EYEING ACADEMY AGAIN

EVANS SET FOR F3 RETURN

SAFARI

RALLY

10

Hondas and Colin Lawson heads the quad bikes.

Event organiser Justin Hunt Management has announced the dates for its 2012 event, which will be held from September 21-29 2012.

Monday’s 550km stage to Laverton is expected to finish late in the evening, WA time.

FORMULA 3

In his second F3 start, Bottas won the reverse grid race at Donington by 14 seconds, in a 13-lap race.

Evans, 17, has just over one years’ experience in F3 cars, but has not raced one since he finished second in the 2010 Australian championship, for Team BRM.

MITCH Evans is set to race at Macau’s famous Grand Prix in November.

The young Kiwi, who finished ninth in his maiden GP3 season with the MW Arden team, looks like joining Double R Racing, the team for which Aussie Scott Pye is driving this season. His teammate is likely to be Vallteri Bottas, the winner of the GP3 title who made his first F3 appearance of the season with the team at Donington on the weekend.

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MOLLY Taylor wants to line up for another crack at the WRC Academy in 2012.

Taylor is one of two Australians in the 2011 season and, like Brendan Reeves, is among six drivers on a Pirelli scholarship.

Currently 14th in the standings with two rounds to go, Taylor is keen to find the funding to continue in the series next year.

“I really want to do the Academy again,” Taylor told WRC. com “I’ve learned so much that I feel I can mount a proper attack both in terms of results and championship positions. It would definitely be the smartest move.

“I’ve had a brilliant opportunity with Pirelli and the FIA this year but it’s a one-year program.

Come November (when the 2011 Academy concludes) I’ll be back to square one so I’ll need to find those dollars to carry on.”

to go fast. But we’re improving and Johnny and I are working really well together.”

But things did not go well on the weekend for the PWR Holden Rally Team, with the Paul Weel/Kees Weel entry withdrawn after a crash.

Todd and Jake Smith lead the two-wheeled division on their

motorsport news

HOLDEN HT MONARO 1972 SANDOWN 3RD PLACE

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The 1st Round of the 1972 ATCC season was held at Symmons Plains. This would be the first of many reliability issues for Norm Beechey in his ageing HT Monaro. Beechey blew an engine during practice and would then go on to blow the spare engine while racing for position with Bob Jane in his Camaro. Beechey would suffer retirements in Rounds 2 and 3.

The 4th Round was at Sandown with Beechey finishing a credible third. This was the first time for the season that the HT Monaro was able to make it to the finish line in one piece.

The 5th Round held at the Adelaide International Raceway saw Beechey blow an engine in practise forcing him to miss the race. This would be repeated in Round 7 at Surfers Paradise.

With Beechey finishing one race for the season, he only managed 13th in the Championship.

Available 4th Quarter 2011

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Beechey retired from racing at the end of the 1972 season having competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) since 1963.

The interior includes roll cage, racing seats, full instrument detail, hand throttle on the gear lever and leather steering wheel cover.

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A1007 Australian Motorsport News

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LOTUS RENAULT: NO DECISION YET ON SENNA FORMULA 1 LOTUS Renault GP will not give Bruno Senna the green light for a 2012 race seat within the team until at least October, according to team boss Eric Boullier.

In a sign of its commitment to Robert Kubica, who was sidelined for 2011 as a result of a pre-season rally crash, LRGP will wait until at least next month to formally decide and announce that Senna will retain his seat at the team for 2012.

“We have a commitment to Kubica, so we have to see if Robert will be back and able to race next year,” Boullier told eNews in Singapore.

“He is okay, but he still has some issues.

He has had many surgeries, and he has passed all of these, but there is still a long way to go. We have to wait at least until October.”

Boullier added that he was very impressed with the impact Senna has had on the team since he took over the second

race seat from Nick Heidfeld before the Belgian GP. “Bruno is very committed. He is very eager to do well, he’s spending a lot of time with the engineers. His eagerness was a big boost in morale [when he joined the team].”

As for Senna himself, he is remaining guarded on his whether he will be in an LRGP race seat next season.

“It will depend very much on how I do this year, so I hope I do very well.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

BRUNO WANTS MID-SEASON TESTING FORMULA 1 BRUNO Senna has thrown his support behind a return to mid-season testing in Formula 1.

The young Brazilian returned to a race seat mid-way through this season, replacing Nick Heidfeld at Lotus Renault GP right before the Belgian Grand Prix – a task he says was made 12

harder by the fact that he couldn’t test the current model car before his first race of the year.

“Coming into the season right in the middle with no testing is a tough situation, because everyone is up to speed and you have to get yourself up there somehow,” Senna told eNews.

“Yeah, it would be great [if testing returned].

There are so many things that make it hard when you can’t test. I have to guess what the car will do when we make changes.”

Unlimited in-season testing was banned last year, however the FIA is rumoured to be close to announcing a new testing rule, which will allow one, all-in test session in the middle of the year.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN motorsport news

NEWS

FERNANDES RE-SIGNS RENAULT & RBR DEALS FORMULA 1 TEAM Lotus has extended its agreements with Renault Sport F1 and Red Bull Technology until the end of 2013.

The backmarkers will see out the 2.4 litre V8 era with Renault engines, having switched to the French powerplants after debuting with Cosworth engines in 2010. Team Lotus will also continue to use Red Bull gearboxes until the end of 2013, and for the first time since joining Formula 1 the team will also introduce KERS, taking on the Red Bull system for next season.

The deal will make Team Lotus the first of the new teams to run KERS. “Having established an incredibly good working partnership since the first days of our agreement we are absolutely delighted that Renault Sport F1 and Red Bull Technology will be playing

such an integral role in the ongoing development of our team until at least 2013,” said team principal Tony Fernandes.

“And then we are aiming to keep working together when the new rules are introduced. They are both passionate, dedicated teams of people with whom we have a growing relationship that is creating a number of exciting opportunities for us for the future. They share our vision for where we want to take our team, and we are very proud to have their power pushing us forward.

“Not only will we be able to build on everything we have learnt through working with Renault and Red Bull Technology in 2011, but we will now have the added benefit of KERS for next year, which really is a major step forward for our team. We have done the very best job we can this year, but without that extra power we are always competing on

a different level to the teams ahead, so to give our drivers that boost is a key element of helping us catch the cars ahead, and compete with them when we do so.”

RBR team boss Christian Horner added that the deal was a sign of how strong the link between RBR and Renault is becoming.

“We’re very happy to extend the relationship between Red Bull Technology and Team Lotus, which already utilises our gearboxes, to include KERS for 2012 onwards,” he said.

“This endorses the joint venture between Renault Sport F1 and Red Bull Technology, which will continue to develop in the coming months. Hopefully this will enable Team Lotus to build on the significant progress they have already made this season.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

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RBR SLAMS RAA RUMOURS FORMULA 1

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RED Bull Racing was under fire at last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, with allegations that the squad broke the Resource Restriction Agreement en route to its 2010 championship double.

Reports out of Italy suggested the team exceeded the FOTA-imposed agreement last year, which outlines how much money teams are allowed to spend in certain areas, and tried to hide the fact from auditors.

However team boss Christian Horner, pictured, labelled the

allegations as “completely fictitious,” before producing an email confirming the team had met all criteria asked of it.

Horner was backed up

by FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh, who told media that he didn’t believe a breach had taken place.

“There’s no evidence that anyone has shown me of any team in breach of RRA,” Whitmarsh said.

“There’s always going to be finger pointing, suspicion, paranoia. That’s the nature, and sometimes the corrosive nature, of this paddock.”

– MATT COCH/STAFF

13

ANDRE

NASCAR THE end of the 2011 season looks like the end of Red Bull Racing.

In accordance with North Carolina law, the team filed a notice last week as part of North Carolina's Worker

Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act that it expects to lay off 152 employees on December 17.

There had been attempts to sell the team as a going concern, and earlier reports suggested that ex-World champion Jacques Villeneuve

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The Running of the Bulls was looking for Canadian investors to buy the team. But it now appears that will not be the case.

Kasey Kahne, above, has already signed with Hendrick Motorsport for next season.

Brian Vickers is yet to secure a drive.

INDYCARS TWO of America’s most recognisable motor racing names will join forces next year.

Andretti Autosport and

BOWYER/ DEAL CLO NASCAR

SMOKE OVER C’LAND NASCAR TONY Stewart’s first Sprint Cup win of the 2011 season could not have come at a better time.

The two-time Cup champion started the Chase for the Sprint Cup by winning the rain-delayed Chicagoland race, leaping from ninth to second in the points standings.

Stewart survive a fuel-affected race, in which Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Matt 14

Kenseth ran out of gas in the final laps.

Kevin Harvick emerged with second place to take the sole points lead, ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr, who vaulted up the order with third place. Carl Edwards was fourth ahead of Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch, on a day when the chase drivers dominated their second-level opposition.

Worst performance from the 12 ‘Chasers’ came from Denny Hamlin. The Toyota driver pitted with a vibration, and rejoined to be classified 31st.

THE future of Clint Bowyer could be known within a week – and looks to be tied top a deal that could see Michael Waltrip Racing and JTG Daugherty Racing going their separate ways.

MWR has been known to want to run a third entry in the Sprint Cup Series for some time and there are reports that such an expansion could be handled within the team’s current structure – which see JTGD’s #47 entry prepared by MWR. The moves started to look more likely last week, when the former Director of Competition Scott Miller parted ways with Richard Childress Racing – Bowyer’s current team. Bowyer said on the weekend “maybe I will be working with him someday”, adding fuel to the fire. motorsport news

NEWS

ETTI, CHEVY

Age? Bah! INDYCARS

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Chevrolet have announced that they will partner in th e Indycar Series for the future.

AA, which has run four entries in the series this season, will end its long relationship with Honda,

/WALTRIP OSE

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In the meantime, Waltrip has said that he hopes to have a deal sorted, with Childress and an unnamed sponsor, within a week.

“Our goal is to run three teams with Martin [Truex Jr], David [Reutimann] and Clint next year,” he told the Charlotte Observer.

whose engines it has run since 2003.

“I am so excited to work with Chevy once again,” said team owner Michael Andretti, who himself won eight wins for Chevrolet in 1991. “We won 15 races and a championship with Chevy in just three years. The 1991 season was magical. Now, Andretti Autosport and our sponsors have the opportunity to win again with Chevrolet. This will prove to be a tremendous association. Chevrolet is committed to motorsports and they are proven winners.”

AA is expected to run at four entries next season, with Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Mike Conway expected to be joined by double Indy 500 winner, Dan Wheldon.

JUST when you thought that 47 was too old to take on a new motor racing challenge, Jean Alesi comes along and alters your view.

The former Grand Prix star has announced that he will make his first attempt to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 next May. The Frenchman, now a Lotus ambassador, will join a to-be-named team with Lotus’s new 2.2-litre V6 turbocharged engine.

“I’m thrilled that Lotus has given me the opportunity to compete in such a world famous race,” said Alesi. “It’s going to be a very special experience for me but I also know that I have a lot of hard work ahead. I’m very focused on the task I’m facing – I’m taking my training

very seriously, I have some amazing support on this front from a ‘comeback’ expert and of course I will be testing extensively. I’m really excited about the race.”

Alesi started in 202 GPs and won once, in Canada in 1995. He ended his career in Japan in 2001, and has raced in various categories since.

Earlier this year, he joined Lotus as a brand ambassador, and has been instrumental in Lotus’s T125 ‘customer’ GP car.

As an oval rookie, Alesi will be subject to the usual requirements, including formal training and a multilevel rookie test at the Speedway.

Townsend’s Wonderworld INDYCARS

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TOWNSEND Bell will take over Dreyer & Reinbold’s Indycar entry in the final two events of the season.

Bell will substitute for the injured Justin Wilson at Kentucky and Las Vegas, in the D&R entry that has been driven by Simon Pagenaud, Tomas Scheckter and

Giorgio Pantano.

“First off, I want to thank Justin for letting me borrow his racecar for these two events and I hope that he is recovering well,” said Bell, 36.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity. I’m really impressed with the technical commitment that the team has made since Indianapolis to give themselves

the best chance for success on the mile and a half ovals, so it will be fun to see that put into action.”

The experienced Bell has become something of an Indy 500 specialist. He started fourth in Sam Schmidt’s car in last May’s race, and was classified 26th after being involved in a crash with Ryan Briscoe.

15

BRIEFLY...

n VODKAO Australian GT organisers are anticipating a beefed up turnout in the GT Challenge class at Bathurst.

Peter Boylan has been the mainstay of the class, but is set to face increased competition at Mount Panorama, with Paul Tresidder, Andrew McPherson, Tim Poulton, John Modystach, Rob Knight, Steve McFadden and Nathan Tinkler expected to run. n AMANDA Sparks will continue in the Touring Car Masters presented by Autobarn in a Porsche – but not her regular ride.

The Class A leader’s year was expected to end with a three-way car shuffle, when Ross Almond jumped back into his 911 RS, which was being raced by Sparks’ husband Greg Keene, with Keene to then slot into the 911 Sparks has been racing. But Almond has secured the ex-Trevor Lawlor 911 for Sparks to use, starting at Bathurst.

Mark Buik will make his first TCM start of the year, making it five Porsches in the Bathurst field.

16

John Morris / Mpix

n IF the sight of Porsches rubbing panels or motorcycles flying through the air is your thing, you will be excited by the support program for the 2012 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.

Carrera Cup returned to Australian motorsport at Albert Park this year, and GP organisers all-but confirmed its return when launching the 2012 event in July.

World-famous motorcycle aerialists the Crusty Demons will perform at an F1 event for the first time, with $50,000 prizemoney up grabs by for the riders who will compete on each of the four days of the event. The Crustiness will culminate in a spectacular Grand Finale Sunday on night.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation has arranged a special offer, with Sunday general admission tickets purchased prior to 1 March pegged at $79.

ZUKANAUTE V8 UTES MARCUS Zukanovic will return to his V8 Ute roots at Bathurst.

The 2006 champion is Mount Panorama’s Auto One wildcard, and will do double duty alongside his Fujitsu Series ride. Zukanovic made his debut in the series in 2003 and raced fulltime between 2004 and

2006. After winning the title, he stepped into the Fujitsu Series, with his last start coming as a one-off at Adelaide’s “10 Years of Legends Race” in 2010.

“I’m definitely looking forward to driving Utes again,” Zukanovic said.

“It’s a tough competition, they are a great bunch of guys and I can’t wait to have another go. I’m looking

forward to being the first driver to put the car on podium for Auto One. “It would be nice to get a test day [in the Ute] in before we get there but if we can’t manage it I’m sure I’ll get my head around it fairly quickly.”

Charlie O’Brien, Marcus Marshall, Tim Blanchard and Dean Canto, pictured, have been the other Wildcards thus far in 2011.

COLIN THE LATEST SIEDERS TO GO TRUCKIN’ SUPERTRUCKS COLIN Sieders have a unique warm-up for next weekend’s Fujitsu Series round at Bathurst.

Sieders will race a SuperTruck at Winton, in the sole round of the 2011 SuperTruck Nationals, the two other scheduled rounds having been cancelled.

The Sieders name is synonymous with Truck Racing – and Colin’s father Bill won the 1997 title – but Colin is the only male member of the Sieders

family without a SuperTruck start to his name.

He’ll change that this weekend, running as Glenn Dobson’s co-driver in his uncle Al’s truck, before jumping back into his Bisley BF Falcon at Bathurst a week later.

“I think I’m nearly as excited about racing in the truck as I am about racing in the Supercar at Bathurst the week after,” Sieders said.

“I’m the only one in family that hasn’t done it, and the others have had some great success in the Series, so I’m

keen to get in there and see what I can do.

This round at Winton is the only one for the Series for the year, so effectively it’s quite possible that we could go down there and come away with this year’s Championship.

“It’s going to be a bit of fun, and it’s such a different atmosphere, but we’re going to also be taking it very seriously, and have a real crack at taking the Australian Championship in both the Main and Co-Driver categories.” motorsport news

NEWS

Dirk Klynsmith

DANIEL LIKELY TO STICK AROUND FORMULA FORD DANIEL Erickson looks likely to continue his career domestically, rather than internationally, in 2012.

After finishing fourth in the 2008 Australian Formula Ford Championship, Erickson contested British Formula Ford in 2009 and the US F2000

Championship Series last year.

A planned move to Star Mazda or Indy Lights for 2011 didn’t eventuate, and after sitting out the first half of the year, he returned to Australian Formula Ford with Borland at Queensland Raceway.

While reluctant to close the door completely on his international ambitions, Erickson

admits a local ride is more likely for 2012.

“Overseas is a bit limited, it’ll be more here, I think,” Erickson, who grabbed a race win at Phillip Island, said.

“I’m keeping everything open, our budget isn’t there to commit to anything just yet, so we’ll see what the future brings.

Of the local categories, the

Fujitsu Series and Carrera Cup are obvious targets for progression.

“Something along those lines,” the 23-year-old said.

“If you want to stay here, it’s quite obvious you really have to move to V8 Supercars if you want to make a career out of it here.

So that’s more the guidelines I’d go on if I was to stay here.”

– MITCHELL ADAM

YOUNG EYES THE OLD SPORTS SEDAN + AUSSIE RACING CAR DOUBLE NATIONAL RACING TRENT Young is aiming for a unique double program in 2012.

Young has been a regular in the Kerrick Sports Sedan Series in recent years, winning a race at Wakefield Park in 2010 in his Mazda RX7. But he’s stepped out of the series in 2011 to give the car a major birthday. To keep busy, the New South Welshman has landed in the Aussie Racing Car Super Series, making his www.mnews.com.au

debut at Bathurst in April.

“We had a few problems with the [Mazda] at Morgan Park at the end of last year, so we decided we were going to strip the car and completely rebuild it from scratch,” Young said.

“Glenn Seton’s been helping and he redesigned the whole rear suspension. Glenn said that we weren’t going to get any further without cutting the front and rear of the car off and starting again.

“We’re taking 12 months

off the Sports Sedan to do it properly, rather than rushing it. But we’re having a ball with the little Aussie Racing Car. It’s completely different to anything I’ve driven before.

“You have to throw everything you know out the window, and start again.”

When the Sports Sedan is back on deck, Young plans to race in the two vastly different categories in 2012.

“Next year, we’ll run both cars.

Hopefully the Sports Sedan will

be a lot better than it was,” he said.

“I had two offers to run in Fujitsu, but they were chasing 50 grand for the one race meeting, and we thought it was a fortune for one race meeting, so we decided not to.

“To run something bigger would be good, but I’m 32 now, and no-one’s really going to take someone of my age, so I’m happy to keep running the Aussie Car and the Mazda.”

– LACHLAN MANSELL 17

NEWS

TOO COOL FOR F1 IN SCHOOLS ACHIEVERS

MOTORCYCLE RACING

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AUSTRALIA tasted Formula 1 success on the weekend – but not through Mark Webber or Daniel Ricciardo.

The Pentagliders, from Brooks High School in Tasmania, took out the 2011 F1 in Schools World Final, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Since it was first run in 1999, the competition has grown to include schools from 34 countries, with teams developing a car using Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software.

In the 22-team final, the Pentagliders emerged on top, recording a time of 1.084s for a 20-metre sprint, to win the Bernie Ecclestone World Champions Trophy.

The four team members, pictured, will each receive Automotive and Motorsport Engineering degree

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scholarships at City University London. They also visited the Formula 1 paddock in Singapore on Thursday evening, meeting the likes of Ecclestone and Red Bull designer Adrian Newey.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet, we’re just blown away to have won,” team manager Amy Winter said.

“I’ve been working towards this for five years and Pentagliders has been a team for over two years.”

WHERE do you go after Faster?

Fastest!

The third of director Mark Neale’s documentaries about Grand Prix Motorcycle racing will have its Australian premiere on Saturday 15 October during the IVECO Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. Narrated by actor Ewan McGregor, Fastest will be screened in the all new open air-cinema in the Highside Campground at the Phillip Island circuit.

Fastest, which follows Neale’s movies Faster and The Doctor, the Tornado and the Kentucky Kid, was shot during the 2010 and 2011 World Championship seasons.

BIAGGI BOWS OUT OF TITLE RACE WORLD SUPERBIKES MAX Biaggi has conceded his Superbike crown.

The Italian was forced to skip the Imola races in the Superbike World Championship after his foot injury did not respond to treatment as hoped. The Aprilia-mounted veteran conceded the title when he announced his absence after consulting with Dr Claudio Costa at Imola.

“I came here to try [to race], because my hope was to race on this track which provided me with such great emotion last year,” the Roman explained, “but I have no choice but to painfully acknowledge what has been determined by the last medical exams, conducted just a few minutes ago.

“The pain has not let up, the fracture is not healed and I don’t have the mobility to be able to ride. It is very painful for me to be here stating that I cannot race. I hope that now I will be able to recover in time to be back in the saddle at Magny Cours.”

18

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New Releases!

Available now at www.chevron.com.au

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Each onl

$ Classic Austrlain Touring Car Races vol 9

Vol .9 revisits the 1981 Australian Endurance Championship races at Adelaide International Raceway and Surfers Paradise International Raceway. This was the time when the legendary Peter Brock faced renewed competition from old rival Allan Moffat in his Mazda RX7, new Ford force Dick Johnson and Kevin Bartlett’s Chev Camaro. Also from the vaults of ABC are television three classic races, once again from Warwick Farm with Sports Sedans action in 1969 followed

by Improved Production touring cars, along with Series Production both from 1970.

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21 Years of Holden Racing Team 2 disc set

Disc One This DVD was orginial released in 2004, and examines the origins of the HRT with Tom Walkinshaw Racing. You will meet the drivers who brought the team so much success, recapture the great moments in the Championship and at Bathurst, along with the people behind the team.

Disc Two This DVD is a very special tribute to the founder of HRT, Tom Walkinshaw, who passed away in December 2010.

On this DVD hosted by Will Hagon, we look at Tom’s first visit to Bathurst in 1984, and then his triumphant return the following year.

Celebrating 40 Years of the GT-HO Phase 3 Armorall Bathurst 12 Hour race highlights Ford boasts a rich heritage both in Australain motor racing and in the performance road car and muscle car scene. This single DVD contains three classic documentaries that showcase this Australian automotive icon, the Falcon GT. The Racing History of the Australian Falcon GT-HO. 30 years of the Falcon GT The Legend.

Ford Australia 75 Years.

These three landmark documentaries are a must for all Ford fans - three great Ford documentaries for the price of one!

Twelve hours around the punishing 6.2km Mount Panorama – that’s about as tough as it gets in world motor racing. But this year the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour took things up a notch higher, with the switch to full FIA GT3 Sports Cars. So it was that the 2011 race featured iconic sports car names such as Ferrari, Porsche, Lotus, Corvette – and Audi, with the German manufacturer taking on the race with a two-car factory effort. Another classic Bathurst 12 Hour, this time featuring some of the most expensive, most glamorous and fastest supercars in the world.

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NEWS

LUCKY ESCAPE IN KALGOORLIE KARTING THE Kalgoorlie Kart Club in Western Australia was struck by severe winds at their race meeting on last week, with several officials lucky to be alive following an amazing escape when the building they were working from was demolished in seconds.

Officials decided to put a halt to the racing during the third heat of the Rookies category last Sunday due to safety concerns and poor visibility when winds crept up to 120kmh. This proved

to be the correct decision, as several minutes after the Desiree Kenan Control Tower was evacutaed the tower was literally blown apart and completely demolished.

There were five ladies working in the tower on the day including Leanne Martin, mother of CIK Stars of Karting Pro Junior KF3 competitor Anthony.

“We were all very lucky that we got out when we did, another couple of minutes and we would have gone down with it,” said a relieved Martin.

“It really was quite scary, the winds were very violent and we could all feel the walls and floor start to shake. When some signs blew onto the track and visibility was non-existent, we flicked on the red light for the Rookies race and I said to the other four ladies it’s time to get out of here.

“All we took was our handbags, everything else got blown away, computers, printers, money (from the days race entries), paperwork – even the doors off the fridges. The windows blew out first then it just went down like a deck of cards and there

was debris everywhere.

“If we hadn’t of left when we did, the walls would have surely taken us with it.”

Eastern Goldfields Club Members have already started the rebuilding process, asking for anyone who can donate time, materials or money to please contact the club. The local Mayor has also visited the club, and assured that he will be fast-tracking the approval of plans for the new building, while an early estimated quote of $150,000 has come from one company for the rebuild.

WATERS WINS A DOUBLE IN NEWCASTLE KARTING MATTHEW Waters finished off his preparations for the upcoming New South Wales State Championships in almost perfect style last week.

In the final shakedown event ahead of the titles, hosted by the North Shore Kart Club at the Newcastle circuit due to the ongoing works at the club’s Eastern Creek facility, the 21 year-old proved victorious in both the Clubman Light and Senior National Light categories.

Liam Ferry fought his way from grid 12 to second in Senior National Light, while fast femme Alexandra Whitley took second over Trent Grubel in Clubman Light.

Tesa-Tape and PKW backed Waters narrowly missed his third class victory for 20

the event with the dual National Senior National Heavy Champion having to settle for second place behind Corey Lean in that class.

Grubel also found himself on the podium for Sportsman 125 Light, finishing runner-up to David Whitmore who claimed a clean-sweep, while in the 125 Heavy division it was Simon Meyer who was victorious.

Three-time Australian Champion Jason Hryniuk fought hard all throughout the weekend’s racing, before he won the final race in the Clubman Heavy category.

Stefan Stankovic and Dimitri Agathos challenged each other at the front of the field in the Junior National Light category.

Agathos was victorious in the opening three races while Stankovic, charged from

10th on the grid to second in the pre-final before taking out the main event.

In Junior National Heavy it was Agathos’ turn to charge through the field after failing to finish the pre-final an impressive drive from grid 16 saw him greet the chequers ahead of Sarah Collins in second and Damon Schofield third.

Reigning CIK Stars of Karting Series Champion Pierce Lehane rounded out his preparations for the championships with a dominant win in the Junior Max category ahead of category debutants Callum Walker and Lachlan McHugh.

In the final two junior categories, Glen Ormerod led home Jayden Ojeda and Zane Morse in the Rookies, while in Junior Clubman the victory went to CRG pilot Jake Coleman with Agathos runner-up. motorsport news

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2011 AMC Masters DVD More than two hours of highlights from the 2011 Australian Muscle Car Masters at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway. Held every Fathers day as a celebration to Australian Motorsport.

Relive some of the greatest moments from the nation’s premier annual muscle car event, including anniversaries of the 40th Years of the Falcon GT-HO Phase 3, 2o Years of VN Commodore and of course 30 Years of the Charger - these are just some of Australia’s greatest Improved Production race cars on display and on the track..

Also featuring interviews with many famous drivers, a feast of power-sliding Historic Touring Car racing, ‘Master Blast’ and ‘Heritage Hot Lap’ high speed track demonstrations, ultimate race replicas and much more. Bonus material features colourful track parades and great in-car camera footage.

This DVD is a must-have for any motor sport enthusiast and muscle car fan.

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Five Minutes with ...

SEBASTIAN VETTEL Super Seb went within one point of winning the World Championship in Singapore. ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN was there to listen in on the German following his stunning win

That was the first time you’ve led from the start to the finish.

I didn’t know that. It depends when you pit, when the others pit. But it’s good to hear. It’s a shame, at the end of the race I’m always tempted to go for fastest lap, but I get told off, ‘don’t even think about it!’.

But, yeah, the main thing is to win the race. It doesn’t matter where you start, or 22

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QUESTION: A phenomenal start, you already had 2.5 seconds at the end of the first lap. It was extraordinary.

SEBASTIAN VETTEL: The car was amazing, obviously the start was good. I saw immediately that Jenson, right on the line, got away a bit better than me, but I knew that it should be fine going into Turn 1.

Then I was just trying to push as hard as I could at the beginning, trying to open a gap, trying to use the momentum, trying to find a rhythm as quickly as I could. I surprised myself that I was able to pull away that much; after a couple of laps I had around 10 seconds.

That put us in a very comfortable position, we could control the stint from there, control the tyres.

The Safety Car didn’t make our lives easier, especially at the end. But I think all in all the car was great from start to finish, and I was able to pull away again. I had a little bit of help from the backmarkers, but yeah, I had a nice smooth race at the front.

I didn’t have to face any cars. I used DRS only if I had to pass a lapped cars, so we were in a luxury position.

I think at stages we were more than a second a lap [faster] than the cars behind, which makes it a lot of fun. Once you get sucked into this rhythm on this track its hard to pace yourself.

There’s not much we could have done better tonight, so all in all its great. It means a lot to me because I really like this track. It’s one of the hardest challenges we face all year.

where you’ve been in between. As long as you finish first, it’s a reason to be happy.

Most of the times its confirmation that you did better than the rest.

Do you feel capable of scoring one point in the next five races? Because that’s all you need to do to be Champion!

I feel capable, but I still have to do it.

Obviously with the races we’ve had so far it should not be a big problem. Statistically, the chances are on our side.

Two hours race, and you were leading from the start to the end; did you think of anything else during the race, like the championship?

Umm, not really. I did make it quite clear before the race that’s it not important to know where the other people were.

Obviously I was getting the gaps to Jenson, but crossing the line I didn’t know if it might be enough or not. A little bit similar to Abu Dhabi [last year].

I didn’t know which position people had to finish. For the next races I am smart enough to make it out myself. We’ll see.

To us today, it didn’t really matter. Our target was to win, [and] we thought we had it in ourself, in the car, so its good to achieve that.

When you left the pits, how close was it with the Team Lotus car?

It was close, I had to lift. I think it was Heikki [Kovalainen]. I did my pit-stop, and I knew depending how quick the Lotus boys would be, I’d be coming out ahead, or behind. I watched the lights, they have a system with lights, so I watched their lollypop, and I saw them coming off as I was approaching, so I was aware of the situation.

I think initially Heikki didn’t see me – it’s a difficult angle – so I had to lift. I think it was more than a misunderstanding than Heikki’s fault. I had some time on the way down to pit-lane to be aware. If I didn’t back of it would have been too tight for my front wing.

Jenson was catching up at the end, how much of it was voluntary from your side?

I think I was in control in a way. When I faced traffic, I was facing traffic first, [so] I have to slow down, take my time. Then Jenson has to face the same problem.

I think I went into the last lap with five seconds, which was more than enough room. I took it easy in the traffic because you never know how these guys will react, because they’re fighting for position themselves.

Coming around the last corner I lifted off a bit too early, but 1.7 seconds was still enough. I think we had it under control.

We turned the engine down at the end of the race. motorsport news

CHAT

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23

F1’S GRESTEST BALANCING ACT

24

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F

ORMULA 1 is all about balance.

For an engineer, it might be about balancing drag and downforce. For a driver, it might be about balancing aggression with mechanical sympathy.

As the man in charge of Formula 1, Bernie Ecclestone has a lot of balancing acts going on. One that still has a lot to play out is balancing the new world of Formula 1 with the sport’s tradition.

In other words, with so many new circuits and countries joining Formula 1, when ongoing calendar expansion becomes impossible, who’s going to miss out?

As with any sport, there are always the traditionalists. In Formula 1, a traditionalist would label trips to the Middle East, India, Korea, Texas and Singapore unnecessary. A traditionalist would think that the fact that the fact that the last six races of the 2011 F1 season are all outside of Europe is disgusting. But traditionalists don’t pay the bills.

Personally, I’m a fence-sitter when it comes to this issue.

Obviously, there are sacred sites in Formula 1. The day that Monaco, Spa-Francorchamps, Monza, either of the German GP venues or Silverstone get the flick for a circuit in Pakistan will be a sad one. There are circuits where money must, MUST, be a secondary consideration, behind preserving the history and tradition of the sport.

But beyond that, what’s really wrong with Formula 1 going to new places – particularly Asia? We’re talking about a populated area that is sports mad; one of the things that nearly all South East Asian countries have in common is that the two big names in sport are Manchester United and Ferrari. The two sporting brands’ counterfeited logos spread everywhere from market stalls to kids shirts from Indonesia to Brunei to Singapore.

Speaking of Singapore, here we have the perfect example of newworld Formula 1 that works. Apart from the 400 percent humidity,

OPINION Andrew van Leeuwen – eNews Editor there’s not much not to like about the Singapore Grand Prix.

The track is long, difficult and, thanks to the awesome lighting system and stunning surrounds, beautiful. The famous hotels offer the perfect backdrop for a classic F1 race in the same vein as Monaco – although with the point of difference being that it’s the first and so far only night race on the calendar, something that the Singaporeans and hugely proud of.

The island of Singapore is small enough that Formula 1 is able to strike a chord with the locals, with the whole town going Grand Prix mad. The road closures might cause traffic chaos and the lighting system might be horrifically expensive, but there isn’t any bad press about people complaining. Instead of complaining, people just get involved. All 75,000 grandstand seats were sold out on both Saturday and Sunday nights this year … and remember, this is the fourth running of the event. If there was going to be a lull in public support and attendance, then it would usually be about now. But no, it’s trucking along beautifully. Combine all of these elements and you have a heck of a Formula 1 event.

My point? That the new world Formula 1 isn’t all bad. If new countries want to have a crack at Formula 1, then we, as F1 viewers, should give them a chance (would anyone miss the Spanish Grand Prix? Or even the European Grand Prix?).

Because sometimes, like in the case of Singapore, it just works really well. motorsport news

COMMENT

OPINION Phil Branagan – Executive Editor

Y

OU bewdy.

There is a driver rivalry brewing in Formula 1. It is genuinely pleasing to see that there is enough brio in the drivers after a near-two hour race that a scrap, a scrape and a scratch do not go through to the keeper without comments and a bit of angst.

I am talking about, of course, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa.

Hamilton, who drives through Turn 10 like there is a chequered flag at Turn 11 every lap, and Massa, who confounds the critics by using 10 different lines in 10 consecutive laps, all of them quick. Best here not to mention, probably, that both are getting hosed by their more illustrious team-mates, Jenson and Fernando.

But, I digress. Post-race in Singapore, there was some genuine feeling among the players. It may well be that by the time the teams assemble in Japan, all will be sweetness and light between the duo.

Some texting, a few complimentary Tweets and, perhaps, even a staged phot op and it could all go away.

If that happens, we lose. In NASCAR, the Jimmie Johnson-Kurt Busch war of words has been simmering for ages, and has all the

hallmarks one of NASCAR’s great rivalries – even if it never gets into the Cale Yarborough-versus-the Allisons stoush of 1979, that led to NASCAR appearing on every news broadcast into the USA and the sport breaking into the mainstream. Okay, the reality is that Busch looks about as threatening as my sister, but Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch look like they have sufficient bad in them to take over the mantle, if required.

Indycar drivers? Too nice. The only one who throwing any weight around is Danica Patrick and let’s face it, that is not much weight.

On bikes, I miss the days of Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi showing up at a press conference looking like they have just had a stoush because they had just had a stoush.

No, F1 needs to get un-PC’d. Blokes named Sebastian do not pick fights; they are the ones who get picked on. Really, who was the last GP driver you thought would be handy to have around when someone suggested that the carpark was the place to sort out your differences of opinions? Jarno Trulli? Nope. Nelson Piquet? Please.

Alan Jones and Mario Andretti; now, you are talking.

So, I say; bring it on. Lewis; take the lead, I am sure there is something about Massa’s driving that you have not commented on yet. Felipe; Hamilton’s hairstyle must get you riled up. Go for it lads, and don’t hold back.

And if any V8 Supercar drivers want to amp it up and start a rivalry, that’s fine with me too. If you need a starting point, here’s one; drivers, you all know that Mark Winterbottom has a much bigger TV than all the rest of you (courtesy TEAC). I hear he likes to watch ‘The Circle’. Discuss …

THE ODD COUPLES

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NEWS FEATURE

THE FRENCH CONNE CTION There’s no form of m otorsport that is as tough on tyres as th e World Rally Cham MITCHELL ADAM w pionship. ent behind the scen es with the WRC’s ty re provider Michelin Harbour’s Rally Aus at Coffs tralia recently

Michael Vettas

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Michael Vettas

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EING a tyre supplier can be a tough and thankless gig.

Very rarely is your product in the limelight, unless there are problems – perceived or actual. And, in this era of control tyres, very rarely are you in competition and able to achieve or prove anything by beating another manufacturer.

With Pirelli stepping down from its World Rally Championship duties at the end of 2010, Michelin stepped up. The French brand has a long history in motorsport, and indeed rallying, claiming 38 world championship titles.

Michelin hoped Pirelli would stick around, and hopes a rival manufacturer will join them in the WRC to drive competition, but, at the moment, they’re happy to carry the load.

In Coffs Harbour for Rally Australia a fortnight ago, tyres and grip were in the spotlight.

Michelin took the harder of their compounds – H1, also used in Mexico, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Wales – to the event, in line with expected conditions. But rain on Friday turned the area’s claybased tracks into compact mud, which filled the tread and reduced grip to a bare minimum. The conditions claimed Sebastiens Loeb and Ogier, before the H1 came back into its own in the dryer and warmer Saturday and Sunday.

“Here, it seems with the rain, the rubber becomes very sticky and slides a lot,” Jacques Morelli, the head of Michelin’s rally program said.

“So the drivers had to take a lot of care and on Saturday when it started to dry out, it showed we have the correct choice here.

“It’s very abrasive here also, even with the hard tyres. It was difficult with the rain, but we have to find a good compromise for these conditions, so extreme. It’s motorsport news

NEWS FEATURE

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very difficult but you have to deal with it.”

A total of 1200 Michelins – all hand made by a crew of 130 – were shipped to Australia, leaving two months before the event. Along with the associated equipment and infrastructure, it accounted for five containers worth of freight. To account for the long transport times associated with long hauls such as Rally Australia, Michelin two sets of their Rally HQ and equipment – the flasher and bigger of the two is used for European events, while the other did Mexico, Argentina and Coffs.

In Australia, Morelli is joined by a team consisting of seven tyre fitters, one dedicated technician each for Citroen and Ford, a co-ordinator and a PR representative.

When I speak to Morelli, the cars are out for Sunday morning’s stages and it’s quiet. Compared to the flurry of activity during the service periods, the paddock is a ghost town. The Michelin crew tinker away but, elsewhere, WRC teams are sprawled www.mnews.com.au

across their ‘garages’ listening to music to pass the time.

“It’s very quiet now,” Morelli says.

“We are busy before the weekend because we have to issue all tyres, number by number for each team and it’s like a lottery made by the FIA. We have to allocate the tyres for each driver, on the Tuesday, and then we have to fit plenty of wheels.”

Over the course of the weekend, Morelli estimates about 600 tyres had been fitted to rims. All of the WRC tyres go back to France with Michelin and many of the 1200 will have been unused, with just 11 WRC crews on the Coffs Coast.

“When we sent the tyres, we didn’t know how many cars were on the entry list. So it’s always difficult,” Morelli admits.

“Here it’s a very small entry list, so it’s not the biggest rally.

When we went to Finland, we had 120 cars. It was really tough, we just had two more fitters for those rallies.”

Later on Sunday, the whole show was packed away and

put back into containers, ready to leave Australian soil on the Monday and arrive in France in November.

“Tonight, we have to collect all of the tyres and wheels from the customers, new and used,” Morelli explains.

“Then we’ll begin to pack away everything we need, which takes about three hours.

“Tomorrow morning, everyone will fly out but we’ll have one person here to load the container on the ship and organise everything. In the first week of November we’ll get the container back in Europe.”

It’s been a big undertaking for Michelin to take up this WRC role. And it was made even bigger by the short window of time they had to put it together. The program was only confirmed in midSeptember 2010 and the 2011 season kicked off in Sweden in February. A month before that, the tyres for Round 2 in Mexico had to be on a boat ...

“It was very fast to build it,” Morelli says.

“We had a very short time to develop the tyre and we had

to make it good for the first test and we needed the speed, but at the same time we had to prepare to send things overseas to Mexico.

“We started last year in September and we had to be ready in December, so we had three months to ma everything and present the tyre to the FIA who had to homologate the tyre and everything. So it was a very short time.”

Complicating manners was the new generation of WRC cars introduced in 2011. Most data and information from the older cars wasn’t applicable, creating a massive unknown for the teams, let alone the people tying to make tyres for them. But so far, so good.

“The biggest challenge is that we started this year with a brand new car from the manufacturers, they all had new cars different to the ones before,” Morelli said.

“We came with new tyres and we had to match it together in a very short period of time. For the moment, it looks like it’s going well.”

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FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 14 – MARINA BAY, SINGAPORE

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HEAVY VETTEL THANKS TO ANOTHER, DOMINANT, GRAND PRIX VICTORY, SEBASTIAN VETTEL IS JUST A SINGLE POLE FROM BACK-TO-BACK TITLES

BY ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN IN SINGAPORE

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ACE wins don’t come much easier.

Sebastian Vettel might not have wrapped up the World Championship at the end of the Singapore Grand Prix, but he his drive was one worthy of a double World Champion – at the very least.

It was a devastating performance. With the RB7’s awesome mechanical grip, Vettel was able to tame the slow corners of Marina Bay to take pole position. Once at the head of the field, he simply bolted off the line, built a margin, and maintained the gap. The only potential fly in his ointment was a mid-race Safety Car period, brought on as a result of Michael Schumacher hitting the wall after clashing with Sergio Perez.

But once the damage was cleared and the race re-started, Vettel picked up exactly where he left off, bolting into the distance and ensuring that the only fireworks in the closing stages of the race were the colourful flares that were set off behind the main grandstand.

“The Safety Car didn’t make our lives easier, especially at the end,” he said.

“But I think all in all the car was great from start to finish, and I was able to pull away. I

had a little bit of help from the backmarkers, but yeah, I had a nice smooth race at the front. I didn’t have to face any cars. I used DRS only if I had to pass a lapped cars, so we were in a luxury position.”

Jenson Button was second, and while he wasn’t a long way behind Vettel on elapsed time, he was a clear second on class. But he was also a clear best of the rest, grabbing second at the start (after ANOTHER sluggish start from Mark Webber), and holding his own to the finish.

There were even times when he almost looked able to run Vettel down, particularly as the fuel loads diminished, but ultimately second was the best Button could do.

“It was a good start, a good launch,” said Button.

“I’m pretty happy to be in second. I wanted to look after the tyres, because we get a lot of over-heating here, so I needed to find a rhythm, find a pace that I felt comfortable with. After about 10 laps I could really start pushing, but there was no catching Seb.” Webber eventually finished third, once again having to recover from a poor start.

It was a typically tenacious drive from the Australian, which included passing

Fernando Alonso not once, but twice, on the track to ensure a podium finish.

“Again, a difficult start for me,” said Webber.

“We need to continue to work on this; it clearly makes my race more difficult. I think it cost me a place today. Ultimately, I think we all got what we deserve.”

Alonso wound up fourth, his Ferrari seemingly hard on tyres, while Lewis Hamilton was an amazing fifth. Why was it amazing? Because during an on-track exchange with Felipe Massa mid-race the Brit managed to pick up both front wing damage and a penalty.

The result was an awesome drive through the field, with a respectable points haul from a disappointing race the result.

Paul di Resta finished sixth after a good drive in the Force India, while Nico Rosberg, Adrian Sutil, Massa and Perez rounded out the Top 10.

As for Vettel, the German is now just a single point away from securing the 2011 World Championship.

In other words, a 10th place at any of the five remaining races will do … and that’s only necessary if Button wins the lot. Hardly likely ... motorsport news

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The start, above, was as close as anyone got to Sebastian Vettel all night, while Mark Webber lost ground from second on the grid. The race was, again, a tale of two McLarens. Jenson Button, below, grabbed second, while Lewis Hamilton, bottom, hit Felipe Massa. ruining both of their races.

Results :: Singapore Grand Prix

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Pos

Driver

Team

Qual

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

Sebastian Vettel Jenson Button Mark Webber Fernando Alonso Lewis Hamilton Paul di Resta Nico Rosberg Adrian Sutil Felipe Massa Sergio Perez Pastor Maldonado Sebastien Buemi Rubens Barrichello Kamui Kobayashi Bruno Senna Heikki Kovalainen Vitaly Petrov Jerome d’Ambrosio Daniel Ricciardo Tonio Liuzzi Jaime Alguersuari Jarno Trulli Michael Schumacher Timo Glock

Red Bull-Renault McLaren-Mercedes Red Bull-Renault Ferrari McLaren-Mercedes Force India-Mercedes Mercedes Force India-Mercedes Ferrari Sauber-Ferrari Williams-Cosworth Toro Rosso-Ferrari Williams-Cosworth Sauber-Ferrari Renault Lotus-Renault Renault Virgin-Cosworth HRT-Cosworth HRT-Cosworth Toro Rosso-Ferrari Lotus-Renault Mercedes Virgin-Cosworth

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

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Top 10 Points: Vettel 309, Button 185, Alonso 184, Webber 182, Hamilton 168, Massa 85, Rosberg 62, Schumacher 52, Petrov 34

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GOODWOOD REVIVAL GOODWOOD, ENGLAND

ROLL

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LING BACK THE YEARS The sun shone, the heaven opened and the racing was entertaining at the 2011 Goodwood Revival. Who can want anything more than that from motor racing?

Rob Lang

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N the 13 years since Lord March hosted the first Goodwood Revival, the event has evolved into one of Britain’s biggest parties.

This year, about 150,000 people attended the event, the vast majority in period costume (including most of the drivers) to turn back the motor racing clock. The weather did its best to disrupt activities, but it takes more than a little rain to dampen the enthusiasm of fans of classic cars and motorcycles.

While the usual array of Lancasters and Spitfires filled the skies (Goodwood is an old WWII airfield) on the ground, there was a tribute to Juan Manuel Fangio. Knights of the realm Jackie Stewart and Stirling Moss, John Surtees and Hans Herrmann drove a mouth-watering collection of Silver Arrows on each day of the event. The cars had to be heard to be believed.

In the races, the Tourist Trophy for GTs is always one of the highlights of the weekend, and this year, Scandanavians ruled. Tom Kristensen and Kenny Brack shared the winning Shelby Cobra Daytona, which led home Martin Brundle/ Mark Hales (Ferrari 250 GTO) and Derek Hill/Joe Collasacco (Maserati).

There was an Aussie angle to the St Mary’s Trophy for Production Cars (well, New Zealandish). Before he moves back to NZ, Paul Radisich finished second in the opening race, sharing a Ford Galaxie with James Woods, and The Rat backed up by winning, solo, Race 2 on Saturday, with Wood second in his solo race on Sunday.

Friday winner Jackie Oliver followed Radisich in his BMW 1800 TiSA ahead of Tom Kristensen, who shared a Ford Cortina with none other than Denmark’s Prince Joachim, the brother of Crown Prince Frederik. The entry list read like a Who’s Who of touring car stars, past and present; Dickie Attwood, Rob Huff, John Cleland, Rauno Aaltonen, Patrick Watts, GP racers Eddie Cheever, Jochen Mass, Vern Schuppan, Arturo Merzario, Emanuele Pirro and Rupert Keegan.

Radisich finished sixth in the Fordwater Trophy for Jaguar E-Types, sharing his car with Andrew Smith. The race featured some interesting drivers, including Gerhard Berger/Adrian Newey in Newey’s Lightweight; the former F1 ace dominated the race but he stayed in the car too long, forcing him to conced the lead and the win.

There was English historic stalwarts Jon Minshaw and son Jason, in different cars; Oliver, Brit TV presenter Tiff Needell and Marino Franchitti, who will be at Bathurst next week.

Former GP racer Jeremy McWilliams and Duncan Fitchett dominated the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy races on their Manx Norton, and there were Formula 12, 2s, 3s, Juniors of every type and hue sliding around in the semislippery conditions.

Plans are already well in place for the 2012 Revival. Sounds like an event for the Bucket List to us.

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Count the GT40s: There is something for everyone at Goodwood, including an impressive collection of the Blue Oval’s Le Mans racers. Andy Priaulx was just one of the current touring car stars to line up for the Tourist Trophy, right.

If your tastes run to something older and more exotic, there were enough Mercedes-Benz racecars to make the heart skip a beat. Sir Stirling Moss featured as one of the drivers.

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Wall to Wall Legends: Sometimes, you just want tp keep driving, as, Gerhard Berger did when he went over the time limit in Adrian Newey’s Lightweight Jaguar E-Type, above. That very wet Shelby Daytona Coupe is in good hands, with Tom Kristensen at the wheel. Paul Radiisch took out the St Mary’s Trophy in a Ford Galaxy, while Rob Huff got up close and personal with BTCC legend and former Bathurst regular, John Cleland, bottom.

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Rob Lang

Rob Lang

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‘

NASCAR ROUND 28 – LOUDON, NH

Smoked em Tony Stewart emerged victorious from the Sylvania 300 after fuel issues hampered strong runs from both Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon

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WO weeks ago, the NASCAR world wondered whether Tony Stewart could manage to beat his own team-mate, Ryan Newman, in the races that make up The Chase for the Sprint Cup. After all, the two-time champion has had a terrible season, 0-26 in the regular season races and making it into The Chase by the skin of his teeth. But now, the question is, can anyone beat Stewart?

At New Hampshire, he scored his second win in a week, taking the lead from Clint Bowyer when the Childress Chevy coughed, and then slowed, not one but two laps short of the flag. There was some justice in the win for Smoke, who lost the race last year when he ran out of fuel with a lap remaining – and Bowyer won.

“I know exactly how he feels right now. I saw him slowing down the back and I thought, ‘Oh, no, you’re kidding me. That’s not the way you want to win it,” said Stewart, who now takes and eight-point lead. “It’s hard to lose them that way.

“We got rid of some dead weight earlier this week, sometimes you have to make some adjustments in your life. [But] it’s way too early to count the chickens.”

Stewart would not elaborate on what the “dead weight” was, but did confirm that it was nothing to do with his race team, leading to speculation that there have been changes in his personal life.

Brad Keselowski was second in a race with four Chase drivers in a top-10 that was jumbled up by fuel mileage. Jeff Gordon was fourth, Matt Kenseth sixth and Carl Edwards eighth.

Fuel was the story of the race and leading the last 50 laps of the race was Bowyer’s downfall. The Childress Chevy had the speed, but Stewart caught him and had plenty of gas left at the end of the race.

The man of the race was Gordon. He ran out of fuel too – on the pitlane, and then he had to back off more than the other drivers when it became apparent that not all of the fuel in the cans had gone into the car at his final fuel stop.

The race was another disaster for Denny Hamlin, whose Camry ran out of fuel three laps short of the flags, leaving him with a 29th-place finish. Two races into The Chase, any title hopes he may have had are now gone.

There was another chapter in the ongoing saga between Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch, the two clashing on-track before finishing in 18th and 22nd, respectively.

Stewart is being cautious for good reason; the last man to win the first two races in the Chase was Biffle, who season fell off a cliff immediately afterwards. The man in the #14 will be doing everything possible to make sure history foes not repeat.

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New England, new leader: Keselowski, #2, and Gordon, #24, played up front most of the race.

Kurt Busch, #22, had a tough race, his car appearing late after failing prerace tech inspection.

to advertise in Raceshop call us now Oriana Ruffini 0422 624 349 or Luke Finn 0423 665 384 motorsport news

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Results :: Sylvania 300, Loudon NH Pos. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 NASCAR Media

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No. 14 2 16 24 83 17 6 99 42 78

Driver Tony Stewart Brad Keselowski Greg Biffle Jeff Gordon Brian Vickers Matt Kenseth David Ragan Carl Edwards Juan Montoya Regan Smith

Make Chevrolet Dodge Ford Chevrolet Toyota Ford Ford Ford Chevrolet Chevrolet

Team Stewart Haas Penske Roush Fenway Hendrick Red Bull Roush Fenway Roush Fenway Roush Fenway Earnhardt Ganassi Furniture Row

Sponsor Qual.

Mobil 1/Office Depot 20 Miller Lite 16 Ford40MPG.com 4 DuPont 7 Red Bull 3 Affliction Clothing 27 UPS 26 Scotts 23 Degree Men 31 Furniture Row 17

Top 12 Points: Stewart 2094, Harvick 2087, Keselowski 2083, Edwards 2080, Gordon 2071, Kyle Busch/Kenseth/Earnhardt 2068, Kurt Busch 2066, Johnson 2065, Newman 2060, Hamlin 2028.

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WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 11, IMOLA, ITALY

Carlos Checa put one hand on the World Superbike title but Jonny Rea showed that he, and Honda, are back in a big way

Rea Against the Machine

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Suzuki Racing

Honda Pro Images

MOTORCYCLE racing can be an emotional and ironic business.

Jonny Re experienced both of those feelings at Imola. On the track where he had one of his biggest crashes a year ago, he won the first race and ooked set to win the second, dominating from the start. But his Honda CBR1000RR, revitalised by its new electronic throttle, slowed and then stopped five laps from the flag – with a dud battery.

In his absence, Carlos Checa sped to the win, to step within three points of the 2011 WSBK title. Noriyuki Haga looked like his old self, with a pair of second places on his Pata Aprilia, ahead of the factory bikes of Leon Camier in Race 2.

“It’s a great day for me especially after my race at Imola here last year and my injuries, so all credit to everyone for getting me back to the top step,” said the Irishman. “Nori kept me on it for the whole race, I had to dig so deep at the end to try and get that win, but I’m so happy, we’re a very strong team.”

With Max Biaggi’s injuries reducing

him to the role of spectator, many eyes were on Marco Melandri. On home turf, the Yamaha rider had a terrible weekend, with eighth and sixth, the latter after running nearly off the track. Team-mate Eugene Laverty was fifth and fourth in the two races.

The other notable result was that of Tom Sykes. The Brit showed that the Kawasaki team is heading in the right direction with fourth in Race 1. The factory may be changing teams at the end of the season but they could do much worse than to keep their lead rider.

Points: Checa 417, Melandri 320, Biaggi 281, Laverty 256, Haslam 187, Camier 171, Guintoli 158, Haga 155.

CHAS Davies had the Supersport crown locked up until his Yamaha blew up with a lead of more than 10s.

Fabian Foret came through to take the win from Sam Lowes and Broc Parkes. Davies leads Foret by 35 points with two races remaining.

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BAIRD AND MENZEL GO HEAD TO HEAD CARRERA CUP ASIA LIKE many Australian and New Zealanders on the weekend, Craig Baird was in attendance at the Singapore Grand Prix, albeit in a different guise, racing a Porsche in the Carrera Cup Asia Series support category.

After a less than desired result following a penalty at the last round of the Australian Carrera Cup championship

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at Phillip Island, Baird fell just short of replicating his last year’s victory with a pair of second places behind German, Christian Menzel.

Baird didn’t have the outright pace on Saturday’s to challenge Menzel, but his performance improved for Sunday’s race.

Baird pushed Menzel all the way across the line, with Menzel even revealing post race that the New Zealander had him worried. The winning margin was only two-

tenths of a second.

“Today we pushed as hard as we could.”

Said Baird after the second race.

“I think yesterday Christian was a bit faster than me, but today we ran together.

I want to thank SC Global for giving me the chance to come back.

“It’s a tough place to race, the humidity is unbearable in the car. Second place is not so bad, but ofcourse this year is not as good as last year!”

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GREENVILLE TESTS MIEDECKE AUSSIES OVERSEAS WITH three rounds remaining in the UARA Stars Late Model series, George Miedecke has taken a bitter blow to his championship bid after consolidating 18th place following an opening lap collision.

Miedecke was the fastest runner leading up to the race in his Marcos Ambrose JELDWEN Ford, taking his fourth pole position for 2011 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway.

But his weekend fell apart after he was hit hard from behind at the third turn, damaging all four corners of his Fusion.

Miedecke’s crew worked well to get him out

again after 34 laps of repairs, finishing 18th place. Miedecke also eventually caught up to the winning pace in lap speed, despite nursing home a heavily damaged car.

Miedecke’s misfortune sees him slip from second to third in the overall standings, with the next round being at Newport Speedway on the 22nd of October.

DONINGTON: NOT AS EASY AS PYE AUSSIES OVERSEAS SCOTT Pye had a mixed weekend at Donington as he took a fourth and a fifth place after three races.

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Pye worked his way to fourth in the opening race but couldn’t quite bag a podium after he couldn’t close enough to the back of Jack Harvey’s Carlin-run Dallara.

He was fighting hard in a wet second race until he tangled with a defensive Harry Tincknell and suffered a punctured frontleft tyre.

Race 3 began in very wet

conditions and began to dry a little towards the end. Pye befitted from an error from Pietro Fantin to sneak up to fifth.

–DAVID ADDISON

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NEUVILLE KID ON THE BLOCK IRC PEUGOET have secured all three of the ‘classic’ rallies in the 2011 IRC season after Thierry Neuville cleared Skoda’s Andreas Mikkelsen with a thrilling final stage at the Rallye Sanremo.

For the fourth time in 2011, the winning margin was less than two seconds in what

is promising to be a bumper close to the IRC. Jan Kopecky maintains his lead in the championship despite finishing fourth overall.

It was incredibly close between the leading pair of Neuville and Mikkelsen all weekend, but after the running of the narrow final stage, Neuville brought his experience to the table to deny Mikkelson

of that elusive maiden rally win.

Freddy Loix was ominous all weekend, but crashed out of contention mid way through Stage 11.

Australia’s Chris Atkinson was present at the meeting meanwhile in his Proton.

Unfortunately, his weekend was short lived after a suspected electrical failure during the opening stage.

MCBRIDE BREAKS THROUGH WHILE

AUSSIES OVERSEAS NICK McBride scored his maiden British Formula Ford Championship win at Donington by scoring victory in the second race at the famed British circuit.

McBride chased down 46

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SWEET AS SCHUBERT BARCELONA 24H THE 24 Hours of Barcelona was run and won on the weekend where it was the Schubert Need for Speed BMW Z4 GT3 that absolutely decimated its brethren.

Two Australian entries meanwhile made the huge trek over to the famous Spanish circuit.

Fujitsu V8 runner Ash Walsh teamed up along side James Kaye, Jake Camilleri and Scott Nicholas in a Ryan McLeod prepared Holden Astra. Strategic Transport Racing moreover entered a Seat Supercopa with Malcolm and Brett Niall, Clint Harvey and Nathan Callaghan at the wheel.

Unfortunately for the Australian contingency, both cars failed to finish the race despite being very competitive in their respective classes.

The Schubert BMW meanwhile had no such problems, leading almost every lap of the 669 completed within the time frame. Team Schubert won ahead of Bovi Motorsport in second and the Equipe Verchuur Renault Megane Trophy in third.

Spanish MotoGP super star Jorge Lorenzo swapped two wheels for four at the Catalunya Enduro, finishing a credible fifth overall in a Seat Leon shared with Alvaro Fontes, José Manuel de los Milagros, and Ricky Cardús. The Spaniards won their A3T class.

E MALVERN STARS Pescarolo Name Back On The Silverware LE MANS SERIES

Scott Malvern into the final two laps when spots of rain caused Malvern to have a small moment at Turn 1, allowing McBride to close in.

On the last lap, McBride made a bold move at the penultimate hairpin to win for the first time on UK soil. www.mnews.com.au

He took a second place in the opening race but was only third in Race 3 that also saw countryman Geoff Uhrhane take second place.

With a 17 victories for the 2011 season, a deserving Scott Malvern took the championship.

–DAVID ADDISON

THE European Le Mans Series Drivers’ title was decided on the weekend at Estoril with Henri Pescarolo’s Julien Jousse and Emmanuel Collard taking the silverware for the sports car legend.

After six-hours of running at the Portuguese circuit, Jousse and Collard emerged from a race long battle with the Rebellion Lola-Toyota of Andrea Belicchi and Jean-Christophe Boullion the victors. Jousse was able to escape his main rival in the final stint thanks to a fresh set of Michelins.

Third overall, and the winner of the LMP-2 class was the TDS Oreca Nissan of Jody Firth, Mathias Beche and Pierre Thiriet. The TDS Oreca Nissan inherited the class win after a Brake failure from the rival Boutsen Energy team.

Rob Bell and teammate Walker were the deserving winners in the GTE-Pro division racing their JMW Ferrari.

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Regretful Sale

Race Car Transporter

VW Drag Bug Truck

40ft 3 car race car transporter tri-axle with hydraulic rear ramps.

2 cars on top and one on bottom or golf buggy. Front is fully functional, kitchen, shower and sleeping quarters. Will also supply 1989 Volvo F10 single axle. Good tow set up, sell the whole deal QLD rego in Adelaide, will be in Sydney in 2 weeks. 08 8268 3004

Tube Chasis Custom VW Bug Truck. Roll cage. 1.8L engine currently installed with 48mm downdrafts. Spare 2332 engine including 48mm Webbers, CB performance heads, H-Beam Rods, Engle Cam. Quick sale needed.

Price negotiable. See video: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=JHj-u4rU1Ho 0457 511 022

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Lightning Sprint S28 Must sell! Competitive car part way through off season rebuild.

New wings, new Agressor bonnet, new ally panels, freshened 3.0L V6 engine, sealed and fitted in car.

Spent $3000+. Many spares. MSD ign. Needs panel final fit and paint.

Have broken leg and no shed! Must go! Cheap at $10,000 ONO. 0427 437 331 www.my105.com/5705

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Mitsubishi Evo 3 Rally Car Mitsubishi Evo 3 PRC, Motec computer, Proflex suspension, Fresh engine, Ralliart LSD, Light pod. Fast, competitive, reliable car, ready to race. 0427 551 266 www.my105.com/5711

Ford Capri 8.81@156 on Radials Built by C&V 408 Stroker, Speedtech nitrous twin bottles, MSD Digi 7, ALS 3 sp tr/brake, mini tubbed ladder bar mounts for leaf spring still there, custom interior, dual 3.5" exhaust, welds 15x10 275x60x15 ET/S 15x5, custom brakes F/R, Andra Tech, engineered & st reg, too much to list call for detail.

0417 622 882

Very strong clean chipped 202 with a new 500 holly, very quick, clean frame with no damage, has won the limiteds 3 years in a row in Karratha and 1st place in the Shinju Stampede Broome 2011 . Great car for open wheeler beginners, reluctant sale moving up to a V8 after 1st season.

0451 135 177 www.my105.com/5700

www.my105.com/5695

1974 Porsche Carrera RS

Mazda Mx5 Race Car

2nd outright 2011 Classic Targa Adelaide. 3.4L twin plug engine with 50mm PMOs, done just 2 events, close ratio 915 box with Wevo shifter, LSD, big brakes, new seats, the best of everything.

Complies fully with CAMS and AASA tech regs. Light, powerful and seriously competitive car.

0438 353 011

1989 Mx5 1600 DOHC B6ZE engine, Twin 45mm Webers, developed for improved production, sub 2 min Eastern Creek, improved suspension adjustable springs, sway, 4 into 1 race exhaust side exit, Brown Davis roll bar.

CAMS approved, rego till Jan12, race seat, harness, exting, etc.

0407 665 801

www.my105.com/5697

www.my105.com/5701

motorsport news

rear of grid

ODD SPOT! AUSTRALIAN SLANG 101 WITH PROF. MARCOS AMBROSE We like it when drivers go above and beyond the call of duty. Like, Marcos Ambrose. Even with 19,204 NASCAR races a year, he still makes time to help teach Americans about Australia.

Each Richard Petty Motorsport preview release has an ‘Australian word of the week’, provided and explained by Marcos. Here are some of them Cobber = Friend or Pal Good Oil = Useful Information or A Good Idea Servo = Gas Station Moolah = Money Chokkie = Chocolate Sunbake = Sunbathe Sunnies = Sunglasses Oldies = Parents Ace = Excellent or Very Good Fairy Floss = Cotton Candy Mate = Friend

Lollies = Candy Yobbo = Redneck Tucker = Food Happy As Larry = Very Happy Ute = Utility Vehicle or Pickup Truck Good on Ya = Good Job or Good for You Cuppa = Cup of Tea or Coffee Prezzy = Present or Gift Truckie = Truck Driver Spewin’ = Very Angry

ON THIS DAY 26 SEPTEMBER 1999

IT is 13 years since Stewart Grand Prix won its only Grand Prix. On a wet Nurburgring track, Johnny Herbert picked his way through a chaotic first half of the race and the Brit watched as, one by one, David Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella fell out while leading. Herbert won by 22s from Jarno Trulli, who had the other Stewart of Rubens Barrichello right behind him at the flag. SGP became Jaguar Racing in 2000; it is known now as Red Bull Racing.

sutton-images.com

www.mnews.com.au

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