Motorsport eNews Issue 240 - February 7-13, 2012

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Issue 240 | February 7-13 2012

E N O D D N A E DON

V8 FIELD FULL AFTER GARRY’S FRENCH CONNECTION

PLUS THE LATEST FROM V8 SUPERCAR AND F1 LAUNCH SEASON

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Editor Mitchell Adam

mitchell@mnews.com.au @DrMitchellAdam

O

K, and be honest now, who checked the date last week when they saw web links to a story saying Garry Rogers had signed Alexandre Prémat?

Far from being an April Fools joke, Garry has made the most unexpected driver signing in the history of V8 Supercars. Since it became clear Lee Holdsworth would be moving on, the second seat at GRM has been discussed ad nauseum. In the last four or five months, I’d say that every other conversation I’ve had with V8 paddock people has included the question ‘what do you reckon Garry will do?’

A host of rookies, experienced drivers and internationals were linked with the ride, and Garry – as Garry does – kept his cards close to his chest. Everyone was a candidate and a decision would only be made when it needed to be made. He didn’t need a driver until the test on February 11, after all.

Now that it’s been announced, I found a quote from Garry in GRM’s press release interesting. When explaining the decision not to go with another ‘young’ driver, he’s attributed as saying “the V8 Supercar Category is ultra competitive and you no longer can afford the time and results that come with the inexperienced drivers.”

A number of the well-credentialed drivers who had been linked with the drive may also find that interesting. Sure, Premat has plenty of motorsport experience. You don’t win what he’s won in Europe by being a mug. But he has no experience in these cars – other than a hitout in GRM’s ridecar the other week. Would a driver

Contents news 4 6

such as Alex Davison – with several Main Game seasons – or David Russell – with several DVS seasons and enduro campaigns – have been a safer bet in the short to medium term at least?

Premat will know that he’s facing a steep learning curve. Many internationals have come to Australia to sample V8 Supercars and it hasn’t clicked. However, most of those have been jumping in cold for the two endurance races, one of those always held at the region’s biggest, baddest circuit, Bathurst.

In Premat’s favour, he’ll have a full season to get his head around it, including test days.

The Sprint Tyre will help, as will the sequential gearbox, luxuries (for want of a better term) most internationals missed out on. And quite a few imports have figured V8 Supercars out quickly on the Gold Coast in 2010 and 2011.

And he’s probably joining the series at a good time. He’ll spend this year learning the circuits and the way everything operates, before everyone goes back to Square 1 in 2013 with the Car of the Future. Suddenly, his gulf of relative experience is lot less. He’s spent a lot more time learning different cars than guys like Whincup and Tander in recent years, and, by all accounts, the COTF is closer to a GT sportscar.

Overall, it’s a bold move, but a typically Garry move. He’s never been afraid to take a chance, and that’s what you have to do sometimes in life. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all pans out.

AS you may have already read, this is the 240th and final edition of Motorsport eNews.

Since it was launched nearly five years ago,

Issue No. 240 | 7-02-12 to 13-02-12

Vive le Garry | Premat gets second GRM seat And it’s Gold for HRT! | HRT, DJR launch

10 Post-Christmas shopping | MWM gets an FG 12 Ugly duckings | Ferrari and co launch F1 2012

www.mnews.com.au motorsport news

FROM THE PUBLISHER

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eNews has been a major player in the Australian motorsport media landscape. Ultimately, that landscape has changed, and the focus of Motorsport News as an entity will now be directed towards the Motorsport News print mag.

I’m proud of the magazines we’ve produced in that time. I’ve always considered it our primary mission to tell you something on a Monday night. And I feel we’ve done that. In addition to breaking more than our share of news, we’ve led the industry on opinion, analysis and race coverage – all for just over a dollaridoo a week.

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FOR almost 15 years Australian Motorsport News has published as a print magazine including in-depth features, behind the scenes information and race reviews.

This has been complimented with a weekly web-based eNews newsletter that has been available for close to five years.

There has been a significant shift in the way motorsport fans access and consume news and information. Accordingly we have reviewed the business model for Australian Motorsport News and eNews and decided to focus on continuing to provide the most comprehensive motorsport coverage in the monthly magazine. Unfortunately, going forward this will mean that the weekly eNews publication will cease with this issue #240 being the last.

David Gardiner, CEO of NextMedia commented “The explosion of available motorsport information from live TV coverage, promoters, race teams, social media and websites, often in a truncated press release form has made the timely delivery of quality breaking news increasingly difficult. Our Australian Motorsport readers rightfully demand high quality information on the sport of their passion and NextMedia is committed to the ongoing publication of Australian Motorsport News which has and will continue to be staffed by some of the most respected motorsport news journalists in the country.”

The monthly Australian Motorsport News magazine will continue to publish 12 times a year, and will also be made available as a web-based version on the RealView platform for those readers who want to continue to view their magazine online. eNews subscribers will be able to convert their subscriptions to the monthly publication. Advertisers will be able to reach the target audience through the magazine, on the web-based version or positions on the website. support in subscribing. I’ve definitely enjoyed being a part of eNews each Monday since I came on board for Issue 130 in November 2009 and this last month as Editor.

I’d also like to thank all of our hard working contributors for their outstanding efforts over the years. It’s greatly appreciated.

Those thanks are doubled on a personal note. I’ll be leaving MNews at the end of next week after two-and-a-half years here. It’s been good, but now it’s time to do a Garry; roll the dice and see where life takes me.

P.S. I’m sorry about the big picture of the Ferrari F2012 on Page 12.

32 World Series Sprintcars 34 SRA & TSS Sprintcars

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CHAT NEWS

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GARRY’S FRENCH REVOLUTION V8 SUPERCARS

F

RENCHMAN Alexandre Prémat is the surprise, final addition to the 2012 V8 Supercar field.

The 29-year-old was named late last week as Lee Holdsworth’s replacement at Garry Rogers Motorsport, bringing months of speculation to an end. Rogers had initially targeted international drivers for the seat, including Gold Coast guests Patrick Long and Simon Pagenaud. While they opted to stick with their existing campaigns, now IndyCar driver Pagenaud is believed to have played a role in the initial contact between Rogers and his countryman Prémat. A former Macau Grand Prix winner, and A1GP and Le Mans Series Champion, Prémat, his wife and two daughters will relocate to Melbourne.

“I had had some dialogue with Garry Rogers as I knew of their team and was aware there was going to be an opportunity to join them when Lee Holdsworth concluded his contract at the end of last season,” Prémat said.

“I had watched a lot of the V8 Supercar races on cable television as it is very popular in Europe, it was an exciting category and I really thought that I would like to become involved.

“I approached Garry Rogers and after speaking several times I 4

decided to take on the challenge as I believe that Garry has a strong team and that I have the necessary skills to do well. I am very excited about the opportunity and the challenge ahead.”

While several announcements relating to the 2012 field are still to be made, don’t expect any surprises between now and Saturday’s preseason test at Sandown.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, Tekno Autosports will confirm Michael Patrizi as the driver of their #91 Commodore alongside Jonathon Webb.

The long-running saga that has been David Reynolds’ ability to move from Kelly Racing to Rod Nash Racing is also set to finally end, with a resolution due in the coming days.

Replacing Reynolds, Karl Reindler is expected to be named as Kelly Racing’s newest recruit as soon as Tuesday. Reindler’s Commodore will feature backing from Fair Dinkum Sheds – who follow the West Aussie from Brad Jones Racing – and the car will run as #11, not #16.

Confirmation of Taz Douglas’ step up from the Development Series to the Main Game with Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport is also believed to be imminent.

Last week, Paul Morris Motorsports’ tie-up with Dick Johnson Racing was formally launched, with Steve Owen and VIP Petfoods joining the Ford team. Former PMM Commercial Operations Manager Scott Jennings has also slotted in, as DJR’s new Chief Operating Officer. motorsport news

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2004: MACAU GRAND PRIX WINNER

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2005/2006: A1 GRAND PRIX

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2007 - 2011: SPORTSCARS INC. 2008 LMS

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WHO is Alexandre Prémat? You could say he is the 29 yearold Frenchman who shared a Team Joest Audi R10 with Mike Rockenfeller and Lucas Luhr to fourth place at Le Mans in 2008.

Or the winner of the Macau Grand Prix four years earlier. Or one of the drivers that delivered France its 2005-06 A1 Grand Prix Series victory.

At the same time he was running in the GP2 Series, with ART Grand Prix. He finished fourth in 2005 while team-mate Nico Rosberg took the title, and in 2006 he finished third – again beaten by his teammate, who on this occasion was a 21 year-old named Lewis Hamilton.

He did follow Lewis and Nico into F1, but Premat never got past the test driver (with Spyker) stage.

He’s a guy who raced for Audi in the DTM from 2007 through to 2010. He was lucky to escape a horrifying rollover in the DTM Audi at Adria in Italy that year. It’s said this incident led to him losing his Audi ride, as the chiefs at Ingolstadt were apparently not best pleased to hear that instead of recuperating at home, their driver was running in the New York Marathon.

From that you could deduce that Alexandre might be of the kind of larrikin spirit that’d make him a nice fit for the Garry Rogers equipe.

But what you can also discern from his CV is that here is a guy who’s very accomplished, and very experienced, across a wide range of disciplines.

If you were a V8 Supercars team manager looking for someone good and fast that might easily adapt to our way of doing things, you’d be looking for a guy just like Premat.

REINDLER: IT’S A BIG ASK

2006: F1 TESTING WITH SPYKER

2007 - 2010: DTM UNTIL ...

HOW DID HE GET HERE?

KARL Reindler is expecting Alexandre Premat to have a tough initiation to V8 Supercar racing, despite admitting that the Frenchman is a supremely talented driver.

Reindler raced against Premat in Formula 3, the pair lining up on consecutive grid rows at the 2004 Bahrain SuperPrix (a race ultimately won by Lewis Hamilton). Now, they will do battle again – in very different cars.

While Reindler is the first to admit that Premat is a very good driver, he says that the Frenchman has a big job ahead of him adapting to the distinctive touring cars.

“There is no doubt Alex is a very good driver,” Reindler told eNews.

“He’s one of the most under-rated drivers going around. But these are unique cars, it takes some time to get used to them, regardless of how much experience or ability you have. We also have some very unique circuits here in Australia, and there will be a language barrier with a lot of the engineering staff, so there will be some challenges.

“It’s a really interesting move, but like I said, Alex is a very talented driver, there is no doubt about that.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN 5

CHAT NEWS

ALL THAT GLITTERS I THE TOLL HOLDEN RACING TEAM HAS ADDED A TOUCH OF GOLD TO THEIR LIVERY FOR THE 2012 SEASON. NO DOUBT THEY’LL BE HOPING IT’S AN OMEN.

ONLINE AT LAST

NORTON’S EXPANDED ROLE AT DICK JOHNSON RACING WAS LAUNCHED TODAY, MONDAY. HERE’S THE EYE-CATCHING LIVERY JAMES MOFFAT WILL CARRY IN 2012.

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motorsport news

IS...

DEAN STAYS GREEN V8 SUPERCARS FORD Performance Racing has completed its roster of endurance drivers, with news Dean Canto will again line up with BottleO Racing.

Having first joined FPR for the 2008 endurance races, Canto drove with Paul Dumbrell in the Rod Nash-owned car in 2010 and 2011. He’s set to share the #55 Falcon with the to-be-announced David Reynolds in 2012.

“I am really happy to be with the team again as we came on strong last year as the season progressed after we sorted a few things,” Canto said.

“With that in mind I can see us starting strong this year and given our form last year in the enduros I think we will have a very competitive package.

“Last year we had our potential high finish at Bathurst cruelly taken away from us so even though the end result was out of our control, we can build on that speed and have a better year in 2012.”

RUSSELL Ingall is all fired up for the new season, the veteran fitter than ever after an intensive off-season training program.

His new Walkinshaw Racing Supercheap Auto Commodore will be unveiled at Sandown at 11am this Friday morning and Ingall was adamant that no photos of the dynamic looking race would be seen before then. So fired up was the Enforcer after an interruption to the team studio shoot late last week that he’s prepared calling in the re-enforcements!

FOURPLAY

V8 SUPERCAR drivers will contest four races at Albert Park next month.

After three hitouts at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix, a second race has been added to Friday’s schedule.

One race will continue to be held on Saturday and Sunday.

The exact format is yet to be finalised.

SLADE’S NEW SLED

TIM Slade will get a brand-new Falcon for the 2012 V8 Supercar season.

The Stone Brothers Racing driver finished ninth in the 2011 standings aboard an FG previously raced by teammate Shane van Gisbergen.

I’LL BE RIGHT

MARK Winterbottom expects to be fit for Saturday’s pre-season test at Sandown.

The FPR driver broke his left ankle while water-skiiing over Christmas, but his surgeon has given him the all-clear to tackle the day.

KELLY’S SIX PACK

LOOK for Kelly Racing to run two cars in this year’s Development Series.

Todd Kelly’s endurance driver, David Russell will again line up with the team in the enduros, and is set to race one of the two DVS Commodores. Russell has spent the last two years in the series with Matthew White Motorsport.

The other will be driven by reigning Formula Ford Champion Cameron Waters. Waters joined Kelly Racing at Bathurst last year – through the Supercar Showdown TV program – before contesting the Sandown DVS round.

The program takes the total number of cars fielded by the Braeside outfit to six alongside their four Main Game entries.

SWITCHIES

A NUMBER of drivers will have new voices in their ears this year.

James Moffat’s 2011 engineer, Perry Kapper has moved to the expanded Tekno Autosports to oversee Michael Patrizi’s #91 entry, while former Paul Morris Motorsports Engineer Brad Wischusen has joined Stone Brothers Racing as Lee Holdsworth’s engineer. www.mnews.com.au

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CHAT NEWS

A STAR FOR A STAR V8 SUPERCARS THERE’LL be lots of stickers on Brad Jones Racing’s V8 Supercars in the coming years, but one will clearly be the most special.

At the launch of Fabian Coulthard’s Lockwood Commodore last week, the Albury squad announced they’ll run a ‘JR Star’ on the B-Pillar window frame of each car they field, in honour of Jason Richards.

RICK, TODD AND TONY V8 SUPERCARS KELLY Racing has unveiled the first of their off-season recruits, with the announcement Tony Dowe will join the team on a full-time basis.

As previously reported, the Victorian squad’s engineering line-up will look significantly different in 2012, and Dowe’s appointment as Performance Director is the first of several anticipated announcements.

Vastly experienced, Dowe has spent time in Formula 1, IndyCar, sportscars and MotoGP in addition to leading TWR’s successful Le Mans and Daytona 24 Hour programs in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Dowe spent four months with Kelly Racing

in late 2011 in an engineering consultancy role.

“I recognised massive potential in Kelly Racing as a result of my consultancy role with the team in the last part of 2011,” Dowe said.

“This team is in a growth phase and it was an easy decision when Todd asked me to take on this full-time role because Kelly Racing is such an exciting young team.

“I’m really enjoying working alongside Todd in shaping the direction of the company and putting together a world-class engineering group. There is a lot of work still ahead of us but I’m genuinely excited about the direction of the team heading into this season.”

SCOTT LISTENS TO TEKNO V8 SUPERCARS SCOTT McLaughlin will make his debut in the V8 Supercar endurance races this year.

With 18 months of experience in the V8 Development Series under his belt, the young Kiwi will join Tekno Autosports at Sandown and Bathurst, partnering Jonathon Webb. The 18-year-old will do double duty this year, splitting his time between the DVS in a Fujitsu-backed entry – with the team yet to be confirmed – and the maiden NZ V8 SuperTourers season.

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“In early 2009 Bruce engineered me in WA when I was competing in a handful of Formula Ford events in order to close out my CAMS licence,” McLaughlin, who became the youngest-ever winner of a DVS race last year, said.

“When he arrived to head up Tekno last year we started talking again, then earlier this year Bruce and I met for bit of a chat and we’ve been exploring the co-driving role ever since.

“In addition to the planned expansion to two cars, when it became clear that it was

alongside Webby, I jumped at the chance to partner him.

“The whole Tekno team are currently working through a big program of change and it’s exciting to think I will be driving alongside a former V8 Supercar racewinner – and also in a Triple Eight-built Commodore.

“Webby and I are a similar size, which is important, and the team are going to give me every chance to get right up to speed during the year – I couldn’t be happier and can’t wait to have my first run.” motorsport news

ALEX’S CCUP RETURN? CARRERA CUP

Dirk Klynsmith

ALEX Davison is eyeing a return to the Porsche Carrera Cup this year.

Out of a V8 Supercar ride after three years with Stone Brothers Racing, Davison is focused on securing a fulltime program for the 2012 season as he looks to return to the V8 Main Game in 2013. He’s nominated the Porsche series he won in 2004 as the likely option, alongside the V8 Development Series.

The 31-year-old has also been linked with a drive alongside James Moffat at Dick Johnson for this year’s V8 Supercar endurance races.

“I definitely want to be on the grid in Australia,” he told eNews.

“I’m looking to put something together for maybe Carrera Cup or the Development Series. It’s a bit of a slog, but I’ll be on the grid somewhere, that’s for sure.

“I’ve committed to trying to get back into V8 Supercars next year, and that’s really my goal. Part of that is obviously being in a car fulltime this year. I’d love to do Carrera

Cup again, but I’m just working on putting everything together at the moment.”

While local racing is his focus, Davison could still pop up in international sportscars during the year, having spent several seasons in Europe racing Porsches previously, most recently 2008.

“If the opportunity comes up to do some races, or a race, in Europe, that would be great. There is the possibility of doing something there, which I’m looking at,” he said.

“But I’ve committed so much time over the years to trying to make a career in V8 Supercars. I really don’t want to turn my back on that now, to start all over again in Europe.

“I sort of left Europe to come and do this, and once you’re out of the loop, it’s very difficult to walk straight back into a drive.

It’s no different to someone coming over to Australia.”

Fellow V8 Supercar refugee Jason Bargwanna is also believed to be working towards a ride in the Porsche class.

– MITCHELL ADAM

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CHAT NEWS

BLANCHARD, WHITE UPGRADE V8 DEV SERIES TIM Blanchard will stick with MW Motorsport for the 2012 V8 Supercar Development Series, but race with upgraded machinery.

The Victorian will contest a third season in the class, having finished second in 2010 with Sonic Motor Racing Services and fifth last year with Matthew White’s squad. That season was spent in a BF Falcon, but Blanchard will have a newer toy in 2012 – the FPR FG Falcon raced by Chaz Mostert in the final two rounds of the 2011 season. The car will run in Jaylec colours.

“The off season has been pretty hectic” Blanchard said.

“My manager and I sat down to review all the options for 2012.

Whilst we were really focusing on a move to the main game, we never lost sight of the importance of ensuring the best possible package for

the Development Series.

“With Matthew White’s team stepping up to the FG and building a strong alliance with the FPR Team, it presented an opportunity to really fight for the Championship this year. I know all the guys at MW Motorsport and having a second season with the team in the Jaylec FG should see us at the pointy end.”

The purchase continues MW Motorsport’s relationship with FPR, which dates back to the 2009 season.

“I was very keen to upgrade to the FG, but would only do so with the right package and driver,” White said.

“Getting Tim in the car for his second year with us gives our team a great base to start at Clipsal in a winning frame of mind. With some off season rule changes as well in the mix, it is shaping up a very competitive year.”

PYE FACE SHOWCASE V8 DEV SERIES

SCOTT Pye will return to Australian racing this year, to run with Triple Eight in the V8 Supercar Development Series.

The South Australian has been linked with the ride – used by title winner Andrew Thompson last year – for several months, but pushed to secure a seat in the F3 Euro Series for 2012. That hasn’t eventuated, and after winning the 2010 British Formula Ford Championship and finishing 10th in British F3 last year, Pye will

look to forge a path in tin-tops in his mentor Roland Dane’s DVS program.

“It’s fantastic to be returning home and working with Triple Eight Race Engineering who made my last two years racing in Europe possible,” Pye, 22, said.

“The team is the benchmark in Australian motorsport and I’ll do everything I can to capitalise on this opportunity. Like many aspiring drivers my goal was always Formula 1 but I have never overlooked V8 Supercars.”

JR LIVERIES TO RIDE AGAIN IN V8TC V8 TOURING CARS JASON Richards will be remembered throughout the 2012 Kumho V8 Touring Car Series.

A pair of teams will run original liveries on cars campaigned by Richards during his V8 Supercar career. Sydneysider Jim Pollicina has an ex-Tasman Motorsport Commodore used by Richards in late 2006 and will use the original base livery of orange and black.

“With the passing of JR, I thought it timely as a tribute to a nice bloke,” Pollicina said.

South Australian squad THR Developments will join the series, having purchased Richards’ original Team Dynamik Commodore from 2003. A driver for the VY is yet to be confirmed.

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“Time is getting away from us for the first round at Eastern Creek in March, but we fully intend to race the car this season,” THR Developments co-owner Nick Taddeo said.

“We will keep the same livery on the car as Jason raced it – it was always our intention to do that. Whoever ends up driving the car during the season, their own sponsor will fit them around the existing livery as best as we can manage it.”

Meanwhile, the famous Jane name will join the series this year. Bob Jane’s youngest son, 21-year-old Bobby Jane, will race a BA Falcon prepared by Image Racing. Image Racing boss, and reigning V8TC champion Terry Wyhoon, will sit out the season to focus on running his team’s four cars, with Jane joined by Mark Shepherd, Michael Hector and Michael Bartsch. motorsport news

CHAT NEWS

F1 TEAMS GO LIVE FOR 2012

BEFORE THE START OF HAVE TAKEN THE WRAP

FERRARI

F1 IT is not possible to return to being world champion in one month, says Lotus F1 boss Eric Boullier.

Therefore, the Frenchman reckons, the car in which Kimi Raikkonen makes his return to F1 this year will be a challenger for fourth place.

Lotus was last world champion back in 2006, when it was known as Renault. Raikkonen himself was world champion the following year, so with the passing of time perhaps Kimi will be understanding of his team boss’ seemingly modest objectives for 2012.

As for the new Lotus E20, which was launched via an on line broadcast on the team’s website, it features an aesthetically challenged stepped nose like most of this year’s F1 fleet, in addition to ‘plenty of subtle innovations’.

LOTUS E20

Lotus F1 Team

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motorsport news

STAN AND AWAY

PRE-SEASON TESTING THIS WEEK, A GROUP OF F1 TEAMS PS OFF THEIR 2012 MACHINES. HERE’S A LOOK AT THEM

F2012

F1 FERRARI’S 2012 F1 car, the imaginatively named F2012, represents a significant departure over last year’s model in that it features pull-rod front suspension – the first car in Formula 1 to do so since Minardi in 2001.

The F2012’s front suspension was the centre of much attention at the official launch ceremony – although less on account of its technical attributes and more due to the car’s frontal appearance.

Fernando Alonso optimistically described the look of the new Ferrari as ‘creative’, the Spaniard going as far as saying that he ‘liked it’: “I think when a car surprises you from the first look, it’s always a positive thing and I quite like the car. Hopefully it’s fast.”

Team-mate Felipe Massa seemed less certain: “We still need to get used to this nose, which is very strange due to the new rules. But apart from the nose the car is very aggressive and very nice and I hope we’re going to see a very competitive car from the beginning to the end.”

LOOK for young Kiwi Richie Stanaway to contest the Formula Renault 3.5 Series this year. Stanaway won the German F3 title and a GP3 race in 2011, and joined the Gravity Sport Management academy, run by the major shareholder in the Lotus F1 team, Genii Capital. He tested a Renault racer with the GravityCharouz team late last year, and is set to line up for them in the 2012 championship.

BMW’S BOYS

NEW DTM manufacturer BMW has announced the teams its six drivers will race for this year.

The drivers will be split across three teams. DTM newcomers RMG will field reigning champion Martin Tomczyk and American Joey Hand. Bruno Spengler and Dirk Werner will drive for longrunning BMW outfit Team Schnitzer, while Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus will run with their 2010 WTCC outfit, Team RBM.

JACOBS-IN

Ferrari Media

ACTOR Shane Jacobson will make his debut in competitive rallying at the opening round of the Bosch Australian Rally Championship.

Jacobson will tackle ECB Rally Calder in a Mitsubishi Evo Lancer prepared by Rallyschool.com.au, with backing from the ARC’s control tyre supplier Kumho.

LIKE FROSTY, LIKE WILSON

MARK Winterbottom isn’t the only driver with left ankle dramas ...

M-Sport driver Matthew Wilson will miss this weekend’s round of the World Rally Championship after dislocating and breaking his ankle last week, having fallen while training. It leaves Henning Solberg as M-Sport’s only driver in the second round of the 2012 season.

ON EDGE

Lotus F1 Team

www.mnews.com.au

CASTROL EDGE has confirmed it’ll continue its relationship with the CIK Stars of Karting Series. The oil company joined the Stars of Karting Series in 2011 as a presenting partner, and that relationship will continue in 2012.

“The Castrol brand has a long history with karting here in Australia and we’re delighted to be continuing our partnership with the Stars of Karting Series,” Castrol Sponsorship Manager Sue Dilger said.

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CHAT NEWS McLaren Media

McLAREN MCLARENMP4-27 MP4-27 F1 PERHAPS it’s just that it stands in such stark contrast to those already-unveiled 2012 F1 cars that appear to have been belted around the ears with the ugly stick.

Or maybe most of the changes are concealed beneath the sleek lines of the new McLaren MP4-27 which Tim Goss, McLaren’s director of engineering, describes as ‘a complete rework from nose to tail’.

“There is very little that is

F1

FORCE INDIA VJM05

Sahara Force India F1 Team

THIS is the car Force India chief Vijay Mallya hopes will propel his Formula 1 team to fifth place in this year’s Constructors’ Championship.

Vijay’s prediction might seem a bit pessimistic, especially for a billionaire businessman, but at the very least it’s probably a realistic aim.

But when it came to the car’s appearance, Force India technical director Andrew Green could hardly be more buoyant: “The car looks more refined; a lot racier and a lot more purposeful. You can start to see the aerodynamic concepts coming through now. It looks quite a bit different to the previous years, and so far the performance in the tunnel has been encouraging.”

Why so ugly?

Suttons Images

14

carried over,” he says. “A bit of the fuel system is the same, but almost everything else on the car has changed.”

Mercifully, it has been spared the stepped nose treatment, and outside of newly profiled side pods, looks from the outside a lot like last year’s car.

McLaren’s hopes for the car are far in excess of what the 2011 model was able to achieve, with Goss intending it to be a ‘championshipwinning car’, starting with victory in the Australian Grand

F1 WHAT’S with the awful stepped noses on this year’s F1 cars?

They’re an unforeseen side effect of a new rule aimed at lowering the height of the nose of the car.

As F1 car noses keep getting higher each year, due to aerodynamic considerations, the FIA has become concerned about driver safety – that in the event of a T-bone side impact, the tip of the nose on one car might exceed the height of the cockpit of the other car.

The problem is, as explained by Lotus technical director James Allison during the team’s on-line launch, that: “The rule itself doesn’t require the front of the car to be lower, it only requires the tip of the nose to be lowered.”

Thus the ‘stepped’ section (evident on all cars except the McLaren), which allows teams to maximise their aero objectives while remaining within the rules with regards the new mandated height of the nose cone.

Clearly, this will be a rule that will need some tweaking for 2013, if only to prevent another season of butt ugliness in F1. motorsport news

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Karthikeyan at HRT F1 NARAIN Karthikeyan has been confirmed as filling the remaining vacant seat at HRT, alongside Pedro de la Rosa. The 35-yearoild Indian raced with the team from the beginning of last season before being replaced by Daniel Ricciardo.

“It has taken a lot of hard work to make

this happen but I am absolutely elated to feature on the 2012 grid with HRT F1 team,” Karthikeyan said in a statement on Friday.

Karthikeyan will join de la Rosa at Jerez later this week for the start of the Formula 1 preseason test days.

News of Karthikeyan’s return means that his 2011 team-mate, Vitantonio Liuzzi, is out of a drive.

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ADRIAN Sutil’s father has weighed into the feud between the former Force India driver and Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton, a long-time close friend of Sutil, chose not to appear as a witness in Sutil’s court case last week in which the German unsuccessfully defended grievous bodily harm charges against Lotus team executive Eric Lux. Hamilton had been present with Sutil in the Shanghai night club when the fracas occurred.

Sutil, who is without a race seat for the 2012 season, was convicted and fined EUR 200,000.

“It’s really pathetic,” Jorge Sutil (inset right) told the Munchner Merkur newspaper. “Lewis Hamilton moved to Monaco and didn’t tell Adrian his new

phone number. But he often called him if he had personal problems.

“I think my son chose the wrong friend. In a situation where Adrian needed support, he could tell his team that he had another engagement. Or he could have called to say that he doesn’t want to come (to Munich). That would have been acceptable.

“But he has not even done it in person. For a great

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CHAT NEWS

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Rubens considers Indy switch INDYCAR

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RUBENS Barrichello appears to be seriously contemplating a switch to IndyCar following the successful completion of a threeday test session with the new Dallara DW12 IndyCar for KV Racing Technology.

Fueling the speculation is the fact that the former Williams Formula 1 driver’s IndyCar test was originally scheduled for only two days.

Barrichello reportedly matched times set by his friend and fellow Brazilian, Tony Kanaan, over a test that ran than 200 laps at Sebring “It’s been a really good morning,” Barrichello said.

“My feedback I think will be

very beneficial to Tony and the whole team. I am satisfied with what we have achieved. I leave Sebring now with a good taste in my mouth.”

IndyCar series officials are said to be actively courting Barrichello, who was met during the tests by IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard.

Also adding to the rumours was Barrichello’s softening of his stance against competing on ovals.

“It is a not a big issue,” he said.

“There are so many different situations that I could run. I could run on the road tracks only. I could run Indy as the only oval.

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There are many options available to me. “(Wife) Silvana and I will be talking about this, I’m sure,” Barrichello said. “I have to think it through. If you go purely from joy, it wouldn’t be a problem. I still have so much passion for the speed.”

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New IndyCar ready: Power INDYCAR

changes you can do, with basically everything – chassis and engine. And understanding how the tyre works with the car.

“But as far as the car itself, in general, from a series standpoint, it’s ready to run.

They’re running well, you could actually run the things next weekend and it probably wouldn’t be too big of a problem.”

For more with Will Power, see 5 Minutes With on Page 26

Sato signs with Rahal INDYCAR

IZOD INDYCAR MEDIA

TAKUMA Sato will remain in IndyCars this year, having signed with the Rahal Letterman Lanigan team.

The Japanese driver will be part of a two-car squad in the Honda-powered team, in what will be RLL’s first full assault on the IndyCar series in four years.

“RLL is extremely pleased to welcome Takuma to our IndyCar Series team for 2012 and we anticipate having a very strong season together,” said team coowner Bobby Rahal.

“While we were determined to have an experienced driver for this season, we also needed someone that knew how to get to the front and Takuma

has shown that he can do that, and we expect to have a great opportunity to win races this year. He has made great strides through the last two seasons in IndyCar and I have no doubt that we can produce a strong effort with him leading the team.”

“I’m very proud, motivated and excited to be chosen by Bobby to join his big project,” Sato said.

“This team I feel has got huge potential. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has got a great history and record of winning so my motivation is ever so high and I am extremely thrilled to start the new season. With a new car for everybody, I am confident that we’ll be up to speed very quickly.”

The veteran of seven F1

GM Media

MORE downforce, more forgiving – that’s the verdict from Will Power as final test sessions continue on the new Dallara IndyCar chassis.

In a way, this car, you could say it’s easier to drive,” Power says, “just with the simple fact it’s got more grip from downforce and it’s very forgiving on the entry to a corner, almost too much. It

would kind of help an overdriver, you would say, because you can attack the corner. You can drive in very fast and stable.”

While there is still much work to be done ahead of the March 25 season opener at Florida, Power says the chassis and V6 turbo engine package is virtually ready to race right now.

“From a team’s perspective, there is a lot of work to understand the car, with obviously many different

seasons was impressive for KV Racing last year, his second IndyCar season, scoring three

top-five finishes and seven top10s on the way to 13th place in the Championship.

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17

CHAT NEWS

Audi heads hybrid SPORTCARS IT’S no longer duelling diesels at Le Mans following Peugeot’s withdrawal from the sport, but sportscar racing now appears on the verge of a new era – the battle of the hybrids.

The just-released Le Mans entry list contains no less than four LMP1 hybrid entries, from both Toyota and Audi. Audi heads the entry with a four-car R18 coupe assault, with two ‘conventional’ turbo diesels and a pair of new hybrid versions.

The German manufacturer has been testing its new diesel-electric hybrid for some

months, and Audi Sport boss Wolfgang Ullrich has been encouraged by the progress made.

“We still, however, see the potential with conventional drive, just as our colleagues do in the production department,” Ullrich said. “This is why we are absolutely delighted that the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and FIA selection committee has accepted our entries and that we can join the grid with four cars.”

The R18 Hybrid, which is believed to use a flywheel energy-storage system similar to that developed by the Williams F1 team, makes its

Audi Motorsport Media

Le Mans battle

using capacitor storage rather than a flywheel system.

Elsewhere in LMP1, American team Dyson Racing is set for its Le Mans debut with a pair of new LMP1 LolaMazda B12/60 coupes. Dyson won last year’s American Le Mans Series.

In the Invitational Class, Highcroft Racing’s entry with the unique DeltaWing chassis will attract plenty of attention.

Marino Franchitti has been nominated as its maiden driver.

interested in it for when the Genesis comes to Australia. It’s not available here yet, so it’s not really going to help them sell any cars. With [Hyundai] Korea, they don’t have a motorsport background, so they’re a bit hesitant with all of that.

“We have had some discussions, but it’ll be a long, slow trek ahead now.”

Despite the stumbling block – having originally planned to get the GT3 version on track this year – Cossor said he was pushing forward with the Grand-Am side of the project.

“Grand-Am’s been fantastic, we’ve had really good dialogue with them,” he said.

“We’ll be channeling in that direction until we get the goahead or the no from Hyundai.”

While a left-field choice

for sportscar racing, Cossor is buoyed by the potential of the Genesis. The car is set to use a five-litre V8 powerplant based on the TAU Hyundai engine.

“The Genesis has a bit of life ahead of it, because the new design won’t be in until 2015,” he said.

“A lot of factors went into it, but it was also a long-term business prospect for us, as well as a longterm prospect for customers.

“There has been a little bit of interest. I would imagine there’s a little bit of caution because it’s a new thing. It’s a first for Australia to be doing GT3 homologation, so until people see the finished product, they’re going to be hesitant, but we have had a bit of inquiry, particularly from the US.” – MITCHELL ADAM

Austech Motorsport

race debut in the Spa round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in May. One driver has been nominated for each of the four cars, as per the regs. They are Oliver Jarvis, Andre Lotterer, Allan McNish and Timo Bernhard.

Toyota will make its return to LMP1 with a pair of its new hybrid TS030s. Unlike the hybrid-diesel Audi, the Toyota is powered by a 3.4-litre normally-aspirated petrol V8 engine, with its hybrid system

Genesis of an idea

for Oz GT3 car A GOLD Coast group has launched a bold bid to become a global sportscar manufacturer.

Austech Motorsport is working on a program to develop FIA GT3 and Grand-Am versions of Hyundai’s Genesis. Preliminary design work is underway, and work was scheduled to start on the construction of a GT3 prototype.

However, plans for that version have been complicated by a

18

recent change to FIA regulations.

Previously, independent entities were able to homologate GT vehicles, but manufacturers must now be involved.

“We have to go back to the drawing board with Hyundai and start discussions with them again to get their support,” Tony Cossor from Austech Motorsport said.

“There’d been a little bit of dialogue with Hyundai in Australia, and they were

motorsport news

Busy year for Brabs SPORTCARS

Suttons Images United Autosport Media

DAVID Brabham is set for possibly his busiest season of motorsport ever with the news that he’s signed with United Autosports to contest Blancpain Endurance Series.

The Australian teams up with Álvaro Parente and Matt Bell in United Autosports’ McLaren MP4-12C GT3 in the six-round series, which kicks off at Monza on April 15.

“I’ve been impressed with United Autosports’ development in recent years,” Brabham posted on his website.

“They are an ambitious team looking to grow and that’s something I always enjoy being a part of. We turned Highcroft Racing from a small team into one of the most potent sportscar outfits in the

LeBROCQ REMAINS IN OZ FFORD

JACK LeBrocq will remain in the Australian Formula Ford Championship in 2012, after a planned British campaign fell through.

After finishing second in the 2011 championship, LeBrocq was poised to move to Europe to contest the British Formula Ford Championship, testing

the category’s new-for-2012 car late last year. But funding for that hasn’t eventuated, and LeBrocq will return to the Australian championship with Minda Motorsport.

“At this stage, we’re going to do the Australian Formula Ford Championship again with Minda,” LeBrocq, who finished second in 2011, said.

“The team worked well last

year, so I think we can improve this year again and hopefully go one better. That’s the aim anyway.

“We might have some other stuff lined up during the year, we’ll have to wait and see how that all pans out. It should be an interesting year.”

A member of the FIA Young Driver Academy, LeBrocq will assess whether his future lies at

world, so I’m sure I’ll be able to help United Autosports develop.”

In addition to the Blancpain Endurance Series, Brabham will contest the inaugural FIA World Endurance Championship in an LMP1 HPD ARX-03a Honda for JRM Racing alongside Karun Chandhok and Peter Dumbreck, in addition to the Le Mans 24 Hours.

“I feel quite lucky to have two cracking programmes in place for 2012,” he said. “It’ll be a busy year but, as you get older, you learn how to manage yourself and I’ve already got some things in place to help me.

“I’m looking forward to raising my own bar, re-evaluating myself and improving what I can do. It’s going to be a great year.”

home or abroad at the end of the 2012 season.

“It was a bit disappointing,” the 19-year-old said of his European plan falling through.

“We’ll see towards the end of the year what we do, whether we stay here or go overseas.”

In other Formula Ford news, Rhett Noonan is set to switch to Sonic for the 2012 season, having raced a Stealth in the TanderSport / Fastlane Racing program last year.

– MITCHELL ADAM

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19

CHAT NEWS

DOUBLE THE FUN CARRERA CUP TEAM BRM will expand to field two cars in this year’s Porsche City Index Carrera Cup Australia.

The South Aussies will field Formula Ford graduate Nick Foster’s Porsche, while former F3 driver Tom Tweedie is set to switch to the class from the V8 Supercar Development Series. Tweedie tested the car Ben Barker drove for BRM in 2011 at Winton last Friday.

“Nick’s car’s definitely coming to us, and Tom tested with us on the Friday last week,

very successfully, actually. He was very impressive,” team manager Mark Rundle told eNews.

“We’re just in the process of finalising hopefully to have him in that car. Obviously budget is still dependent, but at the end of the day, I think that’ll probably get over the line.”

The team signaled their intent to expand throughout the 2011 season, and – should Tweedie’s deal be finalised as expected – will meet their goal of running a pair of outright contenders in the Pro class.

Discussions are ongoing about continuing to be a part of Elite class driver Ray Angus’ program.

“At the end of the day, it’s all come off as per what the original plan was,” Rundle said.

“We’ve got the two Pro guys, and if we end up with an Elite car, fantastic. If not, no biggy, we’ll just focus on the two Pro guys.

I’m really looking forward to it.

“The two guys are both really good young kids and I think they’ll use the season to learn and get some good results.”

– MITCHELL ADAM

UNDER CONTROL FORMULA 3 THE Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship has secured a control engine deal with HWA, the builders of MercedesBenz F3 engines.

Under the arrangement, HWA will make an Australian version of their existing M271 engine with an increased life between services, aimed at reducing engine costs.

Now mandatory on any outright F3 chassis imported, existing Merc engines will be upgraded at their next service.

Engine costs remain almost identical to the

existing powerplants, but will be run 4000km between services, up approximately 40%.

With an expanded air restrictor – 26.5mm from 26mm – performance won’t change.

“We are very pleased to be able to offer this engine package to the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship,” HWA Managing Director, Mr. Gerhard Ungar said.

“HWA recognises that it is important for costs to be controlled in motor sport everywhere. The M271 engine has been developed to provide this to Formula 3 in Australia and allow them to have costeffective engine package with longer life but

the same performance they expect from HWA products.”

Most of the existing outright competitors use Mercedes-Benz units.

“These are significant savings in the main component that has traditionally been the least affordable part of going Formula 3 racing,” R-Tek Motorsport boss Ian Richards said.

“We are very pleased to be working with a company with as much experience as HWA and to have them commit to this arrangement is a great vote of confidence in Australian Formula 3 Racing.”

COLLINS WANTS IN FORMULA 3 SYDNEYSIDER Jon Collins is working towards a move from Formula Ford to the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship.

After two seasons of State Formula Ford – including 2011 as a State-level CAMS Rising Star – and selected rounds of the National Championship, Collins has targeted a switch to wings and slicks. The 19-year-old is nearing a deal with Team BRM to run one of their F307 Dallaras.

“At the moment, we’re pushing it for the 20

first round, we’re hopeful we’ll make it, but after that we’re definitely intending on contesting all of the other rounds. I’m really looking forward to it,” Collins said.

“We’ve got a fair bit of interest from a few supporters. It’s just a matter of getting pen to paper and getting the money all sorted. Things are looking pretty good at the moment.”

Collins cited 2010 Australian Formula 3 Champion Ben Barker in his motivation for the F3 switch. The Englishman moved to Carrera Cup with Team BRM in 2011.

“We’re definitely going to follow a very similar route to what Ben’s taking at the moment,” Collins said.

“One of my goals is to do Carrera Cup and doing F3 is a good way to learn aero and slicks, and it would help build a good, healthy relationship with the team for next year as well.

“Europe is where I want to end up and getting the experience over here is the main thing at the moment. After two or three years, we’ll have a look at options overseas.”

– MITCHELL ADAM motorsport news

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CHAT NEWS

John Morris / Mpix

BRIGGS GETS MOSLER, SHORT AUSTRALIAN GT MOSLER chief Martin Short will take part in the opening round of the 2012 Australian GT Championship.

The Brit, whose UK business designed and developed Mosler’s sportscars, will line up on the grid in Adelaide alongside local importer John Briggs. The pair will drive a Mosler MT900 imported by Briggs in the second half of 2011, from the British GT Championship.

It will be Short’s first outing in Australia since the Bathurst 24 Hour races in 2002 and 2003, with Short’s Mosler grabbing second in the maiden race.

“I can’t wait to be back in Australia, especially for an event such as the Clipsal 500,” Short said.

“John Briggs has given me the opportunity to co-drive with him, and given that the Mosler has been pretty competitive in Australia over the past few years, we are really looking forward to the challenge.”

Briggs, who returns to racing after a battle with cancer, aims to contest selected rounds of the 2012 series in the car. They’ll be joined on the grid in Adelaide by Hong Kong-based driver Jacky Yeung, in a Ferrari 360 Challenge, while Rod Wilson and Jim Manolios will share a Corvette Z06R and Dean Koutsoumidis will run a newlyimported Lamborghini Gallardo LP520.

Andrew Taplin will also return to the series in a Lamborghini Gallardo GT3, as part of a two-car effort from Supaloc Racing.

QUINN GETS ITALIAN AUSTRALIAN GT TONY Quinn’s latest toy has arrived in Australia.

The new Ferrari 458 GT3 that he’ll race in this year’s Australian GT Championship landed in Brisbane last Friday from Michelotto’s Italian base. Quinn will debut the car at the Clipsal 500 season opener in March.

LUFF GETS BUSY AUSTRALIAN GT WARREN Luff is set to partner Mark Eddy in this year’s two-driver events in the Australian GT Championship.

Luff is no stranger to Eddy or Audi’s R8 LMS GT3, having finished second in the 2011 Bathurst 12 Hour with Eddy and Craig Lowndes. The team will join forces again later this month in the 2012 race.

The former Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport 22

driver will also race a V8 Ute for the first time since 2003 at the Clipsal 500. Luff – who will be announced as a TeamVodafone endurance driver tomorrow – will return to the series he won in 2002 and 2003 on the streets of Adelaide. Luff will run at the series’ first Auto One Wildcard of the year. While he hasn’t raced a Ute since the end of the 2008 season, he was its Driving Standards Observer in 2008.

“Apart from the odd test day, I haven’t been in a Ute for a long time, and I can’t wait to get

behind the wheel of the Auto One Wildcard Ute,” he said.

“I’m expecting a good result for the team, however the series is much more competitive than when I last raced.

“The downside is that being the former Driving Standards Advisor, I am sure there’s a number of driver’s ready to square up for previous on track penalties I have applied, and I will have to practice what I preached, well at least to a point!” motorsport news

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The battle for pole position for the 1977 Australian Grand Prix at Oran Park was held over three qualifying sessions, with the top 8 places separated by only 2 seconds. Pole position would be set by Warwick Brown in a Lola T430 with the time of 65.7s.

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CHAT NEWS

JIM’S JAVELIN LIVES TC MASTERS JIM Richards has finally unveiled the 1972 AMC Javelin he’ll race in the Touring Car Masters this year.

With the 30-month program having started in mid-2009, Richards will debut the car in the Clipsal 500 season opener in March.

“We believe it has been worth taking our

time,” Richards said.

“The Javelin is a step up from the Falcon in every way and all the lessons we have learned from four decades of racing touring cars have gone into it.”

REID THIS NOW NZ V8ST JONNY Reid has been signed by International Motorsport to race a Falcon FG in the inaugural New Zealand V8 SuperTourer Championship.

The 28-year-old joins existing International Motorsport driver Ant Pedersen in the new series which also boasts the likes of Greg Murphy, Steven Richards and Craig Baird.

Reid was runner up to Baird in last year’s

Australian Carrera Cup, having switched to the Porsches after a promising openwheeler career that saw him finish runner up both the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 A1GP Series for Team New Zealand.

“My aim is to win races and championships whenever I get behind the wheel,” he said. “I am very focused and motivated to be part of this new era of New Zealand motor racing. International Motorsport is also extremely motivated, and I am very confident we can get to grips with

this brand new car and category quickly.”

The V8 SuperTourer is new New Zealand’s answer to the V8 Supercars Car of the Future. It features a common chassis for the Commodore VE and Falcon FG, with all cars running a 430kW 7-litre Chev-based engine.

The seen-round series kicks off at Hampton Downs in two weeks.

Cameron McConville was due to take part in the series, but has announced he’s withdrawn to focus on his Australian activities.

go for pole or win races a lot of the time last year, I drove enough laps to know that I can be competitive in the series.

“I already know five of the seven circuits from 2011, and the two new ones (Thunderbolt Raceway and Summit Point) will

be new to most of the other drivers too.”

Last week Morcom flew to Primus Racing’s Ohio base to begin testing in preparation for the opening round of the first F2000 Championship Series round at Virginia on April 14-15.

PART 2

AUSSIES OVERSEAS

NATHAN Morcom will return to the US this year for a second season in the F2000 Championship Series.

The 19 year-old will again line up with Primus Racing, but this time with current model equipment rather than the ageing Van Diemen chassis he used for most of last year.

With support from Direct Plasterboard Outlet, Rondo, and motorsport fashion brand Racer Inc, the young Sydneysider has his sights set on winning the Series after finishing eighth overall in 2011.

“It’s a whole new ball game this year as far as I’m concerned,” Morcom said.

“Even though I didn’t get the opportunity to 24

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CHAT NEWS

EYES ON THE PRIZE AFTER A HORROR TITLE DEFENCE IN 2011, ONLY THE TITLE WILL DO IN 2012, JAMES COURTNEY EXPLAINS, IN THE FEBRUARY EDITION OF MOTORSPORT NEWS – OUT NOW!

No. 416 February

Australia $7.95 NZ $8.50

2012

inc GST

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PLUS – CAN SCHUMACHER STILL CUT IT IN F1? WE TALK INDYCAR WITH RYAN BRISCOE, TELL YOU WHAT WE REALLY LOVE ABOUT MOTORSPORT, CHAT WITH MIKA SALO, DISSECT THE V8 DEVELOPMENT SERIES AND REMINISCE WITH CRAIG BAIRD ABOUT HIS FAVOURITE PORSCHE RACES. AND MUCH MORE!

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CHAT

FIVE MINUTES WITH ...

WILL POWER

WILL POWER HAS A NEW TOY THAT HE HOPES WILL TAKE HIM TO AN ELUSIVE INDYCAR TITLE IN 2012. MITCHELL ADAM SPOKE TO THE QUEENSLANDER ABOUT THE DW12 AND THE UPCOMING SEASON MOTORSPORT NEWS: We’ll start with the hard question. The big one, that everyone wants to know the answer to. What happened to your beard?

WILL POWER: (Laughs) Yeah, man, unfortunately it’s not Penske material. So I had to shave it off. I wanted to keep it, it’d be pretty long now. I love the beard, it felt right, but you know ...

I’m sure the bearded off-season feels like a distant memory now that testing’s underway again.

How has that been coming along, namely the test at Sebring last week?

It’s going well. There are a lot of things to go through on this car, it’s a very different car to drive. It has a lot of downforce, an unbelievable amount of grip, so it’s pretty impressive in fast corners.

We’re just sorting out all of the details, obviously, what makes it balance, what makes it fast with different aero bits and so on. It’s just the normal details you go through when you’re testing a new car, that includes engines as well.

We’ve got Chevy-Ilmor there working on the engine side and obviously the team working on the chassis side.

Given that the previous generation of IndyCars were, essentially, designed to run on ovals and then modified for road courses and the DW12 has been purpose built to do everything, how much of a difference is there?

There’s a lot of difference, actually.

When they built this car, it wasn’t intentional, but it’s got a very rearward weight distribution. So 26

that creates a few problems with getting it to work well.

In a way, this car, you could say it’s easier to drive, just with the simple fact it’s got more grip from downforce and it’s very forgiving on the entry to a corner, almost too much. It would kind of help an over-driver, you would say, because you can attack the corner. You can drive in very fast and stable.

With the extra grip and the fact it’s a turbo engine, is it almost closer to a Champ Car than the recent IndyCars?

Yeah. It would be close, it would have about the same downforce as the last Champ Car, the Panoz.

And as engine development goes, I’d say, eventually it would have as much power.

How’s the change been in going back to a turbo?

It’s a six-cylinder, so it probably doesn’t scream as much as a Champ Car. It does rev as much, we’re revving it to 12 [thousand rpm].

But turbos are a tough thing to develop to use. You’ve got to get the drivability right. You can have nothing, or you can have all of the power, with boost, when the turbo spools up. Getting all of that right is hard.

With a naturally aspirated engine that we had last year, it was also a bigger capacity, I think it was a three-litre, you have immediate power as soon as you touch the throttle, and you have a lot of torque. Whereas this doesn’t have anywhere near as much torque, but it probably has more peak horsepower. It has a number of things that make this a different machine to drive.

Overall, how would you say the development of the car and the engine is coming along?

How much more work is there to do before the first round?

There is a lot of work. From a team’s perspective, there is a lot of work to understand the car, with obviously many different changes you can do, with basically everything – chassis and engine. And understanding how the tyre works with the car.

But as far as the car itself, in general, from a series standpoint, it’s ready to run.

They’re running well, you could actually run the things next weekend and it probably wouldn’t be too big of a problem.

But there’s obviously things you guys, from a team and driver point of view, would like to spend more time fine tuning.

Absolutely. There’s a lot of stuff to go through. The previous thing, we had that for eight or 10 years or something. You knew every single detail about the car and what did what.

We’ve got multiple chassis’ obviously, so the guys have got on in the wind tunnel, one’s on the shaker rig, and another three are out on a test day. It’s just constant development before the start of the season and throughout the season.

Given that it is a brand-new car and everyone will be starting from the same point, do you think we’ll see any upsets, with smaller teams springing a surprise during the year?

Yeah, you could. I think that the way they’ve done this first year

anyway, it’s quite controlled.

You can’t change much, as far as the chassis goes, the biggest difference is the engines. And who knows what engine’s going to be the strongest, I’m hoping the Chevy will be, but you just don’t know.

So it’s possible, but the bigger teams have bigger budgets and can quickly understand the cars in wind tunnels and shaker rigs.

And there aren’t many ‘small’ teams any more. They’re all pretty bloody good teams.

What’s your testing schedule like from here? How many more do you have between now and the first round?

I think we have a couple of weeks off, then I’ll be in the car every week, for a lot more testing. I reckon we’ve got another, potentially, eight days of testing coming up.

Having come so close in the last two seasons, what would it mean if you were able to crack it for a title this year?

Of course, that’s what we’ve been working towards my entire career. It’s what you do, you work towards winning a major championship.

As frustrating as it was in the last two years, and as close as we came, winning more races than anyone in both years and not winning a championship, you look back and it is disappointing. Just some small things that went wrong. Last year, once again, we got done in the pitlane.

I would love to win a championship. You don’t know if it’s going to work out, but you keep motoring on. motorsport news

Honda Racing Media

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27

RACE

TOYOTA RACING SERIES ROUND 4 – HAMPTON DOWNS, NEW ZEALAND

Cassidy closes on cr Nick Cassidy remains on top in the points but it’s getting tight after another TRS round that featured three different race winners

T

HE return to Mitch Evans to the Toyota Racing Series was probably an unwanted distraction for Series leader Nick Cassidy, but then there was always the chance that Evans might take points off some of Cassidy’s rivals That he certainly did at Hampton Downs, where he took maximum points in the first of three races as the Auckland driver reacclimatised himself with the TRS cars in preparation to defend his New Zealand Grand Prix crown at Manfeild next weekend.

While Evans downed Hannes van Asseldonk in the Saturday 15-lapper to score by nearly three seconds, on Sunday things did not go his way.

The Sunday morning race went to Italian driver Raffaele Marciello, who led from the start and eventually opened a handy lead after some early battles.

Evans had pole for the 20lap NZ Motor Cup, but the fast starting Cassidy jumped him off the line. It was arguably the decisive move of the race.

“All weekend I’ve really been

28

able to master the starts,” Cassidy said afterwards. I’m really pleased with how it’s come together. Taupo was pretty bad by comparison, I couldn’t seem to get anything right off the starts.”

Van Asseldonk also got ahead of Evans at the start, and the ensuing battle between the Dutchman and the young Kiwi played into Cassidy’s hands.

Before long Evans did make it through to second place, but he had not answer to Cassidy.

Further back, in what was a typically incident packed race, Damon Leitch came to grief on the final lap when a move on Jono Lester at the downhill left hand hairpin went awry. Lester rejoined but Leitch ended up out with damaged rear suspension.

It had no bearing on the result up front, but it had implications for the championship as Leitch drops to third pace, behind van Asseldonk, who trails Cassidy by 26 points.

The Series wraps up at Manfeild with the New Zealand Grand Prix next weekend.

Quick Nick: He only won one of the three races, but Nick Cassidy, opposite, below right, remains on top in the TRS. Damon Leitch had been second in the points, until this altercation with Jono Lester in race three, right.

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29

RACE

F5000 TASMAN CUP REVIVAL ROUND 5 – RUAPUNA PARK, NEW ZEALAND

LYONS’ TAMER Michael Lyons’ incredible run of success in the F5000 Tasman Cup Revival came to an end at Ruapuna Park

T

he smart money was on Michael Lyons at Ruapuna Park in the fifth round of the F5000 Tasman Cup Revival.

After all, the Lola T400 driver had won the previous eight races in a row.

Make that nine, with victory for Lyons in the opening race on

30

Saturday, although that win only came after early leader Steve Ross’ McRae GM1 spun off.

Ross recovered to finish in a chastened third place behind Ian Clements (Lola T332), but that encouraging performance was a portent of things to come the following day for McRae driver.

In race two Ross again led them away, but this time without the constant threat from behind of Lyons. In fact, the latter was in trouble with an off-song engine and had to be content with second place behind Ross, nearly half a minute clear of Brett Willis’ Lola T330.

“I knew Michael was there, obviously,” Ross said after his win. “Then he started to fall back for some reason. Without knowing what that was I just kept my head down.”

The engine drama on Lyons’ car worsened sufficiently to put him out in race three, which also went to Ross. Willis was again second, ahead of Clements “It would have been nice to win all the races here but you know I did win nine out of 11 so I suppose I should be happy,” Lyons said. “We got a reasonable start in the feature today but I still couldn’t fight the horsepower Steve had when we

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Historic horsepower: There were never this many Formula 5000s on the track at one time when they were a contemporar y categor y 30- odd years ago, below. Brett Willis claimed a series-best second place in his Lola T332, bottom.

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Fast Company/ Alex Mitc hell

got through Turn 1.

“I got alongside him in a few places, more than alongside in fact, then all of a sudden the engine note changed – just like a two-stroke, really – and I knew something was wrong. We only had one valve spring to put in when we replaced the one that broke on Saturday and I think, perhaps, if we had put in a set it would have got us through the weekend.”

The F5000 Tasman Cup Revival now heads across the Tasman for the final round, to take place at Phillip Island during the biennial Phillip Island Classic March 1011.

31

RACE

WORLD SERIES SPRINTCARS ROUND 11 & 12 – KALGOORLIE & ALBANY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

CLOSING THE GAP

J

ASON Johnson and Brooke Tatnell still continue to chase runaway leader James McFadden for overall honours in the 2011-12 World Series Championship.

With just three rounds left to be run in Western Australia, McFadden (3497) still leads by more than 400 points from Tatnell (3088)

32

JAMES MCFADDEN STILL HOLDS THE UP SERIES SPRINTCARS TITLE FIGHT, BUT V VETERANS HAS KEPT THE PRESSURE ON

and Johnson (3067).

At last Saturday night’s maiden round in Albany, Johnson powered past early leader McFadden and drove on to score the victory in the 30 lap A-Main after a solid battle with the young series leader, while Kerry Madsen was third.

“I knew we had some good car speed

and I could judge my own speed by the way he (James) was driving. We could get into the turns really nice and make up some ground each time. Congratulations to Albany Speedway for making this happen,” Johnson said.

Madsen led the field into Turn 1 on the opening lap but pushed hard up track and

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Brad Steele

Wade Aunger

PPER HAND IN THE WORLD VICTORIES BY A PAIR OF N, GEOFF ROUNDS REPORTS lost seven or eight positions before powering back to a strong third.

The night started strongly for the McFadden with recording the quickest time in Revolution Racegear qualifying. Importantly for McFadden’s series lead, Brooke Tatnell could only manage eighth position and that took the bite out of the momentum the five-

time Australian Champion had been making on his young nemesis in the last two rounds.

A couple of nights earlier, Tatnell was the winner of Round 11 at Kalgoorlie Speedway and admitted he was lucky to win after American Shane Stewart crashed while leading the feature race.

“I’ll admit it, we didn’t have anything for him (Stewart) and we were probably only good enough for second place tonight, but we’ll take it,” Tatnell said.

“You always take it because tomorrow night it could be you crashing out or chasing someone else home. I feel bad for Shane but I’m pleased for our boys and it’s a great to get some points back in the Championship.”

Stewart was unlucky in the Miracle Recreation Equipment #17 Monte Motorsport J&J. The current ASCS Champion had the field well and truly covered as he used the lowline and the crowing rubber content to maximise his car speed, but when Grant Anderson spun he had nowhere to go and crashed.

Kerry Madsen was strong in second place behind Tatnell with Johnson in third ahead of Robbie Farr, Steven Lines, McFadden, Trevor Green, Dylan Jenkin, Danny Reidy, Max Dumesny, Ben Ellement, Ryan Farrell and Trent Pigdon.

Points: McFadden 3497, Tatnell 3088, Johnson 3067, Farr 2936, David Murcott 2862, Lines 2832

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33

RACE

DARREN TO THE TOP SPEEDWAY

Geoff Gracie

DESPITE finishing second, Darren Mollenoyux now leads the Eureka Garages and Sheds Sprintcar Series after the 10th round of the chase at Heartland Raceway, Moama.

Dubbo’s Jeremy Cross took the victory last Saturday night in hot conditions on a slick track after starting from position three, with Mollenoyux off pole and former series leader Jamie Veal from position five.

After one attempt to start it was Veal on the move quickly and he made his move on Brett Milburn to third then chased down Cross and with leader Mollenoyux a few cars lengths in front, Veal was unable to slow his car in time and made contact with Mollenoyux that sent Veal into the fence and out of the race.

Mollenoyux, pictured, held the lead with Cross staying on his tail, then followed Milburn, Jack Lee and Glen Saville who had

moved up nine positions. On Lap 14 Cross was looking for a way past Mollenoyux who was now driving conservatively knowing Veal was out of the race and the importance of a good finish for the points. But Cross had other ideas and held on to win from Mollenoyux and Lee, scoring his first Sprintcar podium in the SRA series.

“We came here tonight knowing it was going to be a though affair but our plan was

to give it everything that we got to go for a win,” Cross said.

“We knew we were good enough to mix it with the best drivers in this series, they are good drivers, thanks to my family and team for all the hard work and travel that we have been doing, this is great and we will be back next week for a shot at the Victorian Title at Avalon.”

– GEOFF ROUNDS

DUMSNEY DOES GOOD SPEEDWAY SECOND generation Sprintcar star Mitchell Dumesny claimed a sensational victory last Saturday night at Tyrepower Sydney Speedway, defeating 2012 Classic winner Ian Loudoun with a fast-finishing Troy Little third.

Dumesny’s Valvoline Engine Armor Maxim was handling the difficult track conditions brilliantly and on Lap 27 he made his move on then race leader Loudoun, going on to take out a superb race win. Damian Abbott

34

was the early leader before Warren Ferguson held the number one position for six laps.

Then it was Loudoun’s turn and he certainly looked like the race winner. Late in the 30-lapper Queensland racer Brett Thomas flipped in Turn 2 involving a number of cars in what was, fortunately, the only major incident of the race. Troy Little was impressive after his crew worked on his #20 machine before the race start, he was forced to start from the rear. The former TSS track champion was impressive and forged into third place with around seven laps

remaining.

Rounding out the top six finishers was Ferguson, Grant Tunks (who was running as high as second at one stage) and Clayton Hart.

Early heat winners were Dumesny, Toby BellBowen, James Thomson, Ferguson, Little, Loudoun and Adrian Maher while Daniel Needham took out the C Main and Ben Atkinson (back running his family owned #3 machine) won the B Main from Steve Caunt, Garry Rooke and Roddy BellBowen.

– GREG BOSCATO

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