Motorsport eNews Issue 71 - September 9-15, 2008

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Issue No. 071 9 - 15 September 2008

P A R I T Y THE DECISION IS ...

TOYOTA

SHOOTOUT YOUNG BUCKS TO TEST TRS AT WINTON

Editorial Editor: Grant Rowley grant@mnews.com.au Deputy Editor: Andrew van Leeuwen andrew@mnews.com.au Staff Journalist: Phillip Mahoney philm@mnews.com.au Executive Editor: Phil Branagan editor@mnews.com.au

Australasian

The ‘A’ Team

Production Graphic Design & Web: Jayne Uthmeyer design@mnews.com.au

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MD / Publisher

Chris Lambden publisher@mnews.com.au

Contributing Writers F1: Will Buxton, Mark Glendenning, Paolo Filisetti Europe: Quentin Spurring, David Addison US: Martin D. Clark, Phil Morris Speedway: Greg Boscato, Geoff Rounds, Darren Sutton, Tony Millard (UK) Rally: Ryan Lahiff Drag Racing: Dave Ostaszewski (USA), Ken Ferguson, John Bosher National: Mark Jones, Aaron Shaw, Lachlan Mansell

Photographers Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Marshall Cass, John Morris/Mpix, AF1 Images, James Smith, Peter Bury, Neil Blackbourn, Chris Carter, Coopers Photography, Geoff Gracie, Ash Budd, Paris Charles, Neil Hammond, Joel Strickland, Mike Patrick (UK) Motorsport eNews is published by Australasian Motorsport News ABN 55 125 120 702 Publisher: C Lambden Copyright: Material published in Motorsport eNews is copyright and may not be reproduced in full or in part without the written permission of the publisher.

Freelance contributions are welcome, and while all care will be taken, Motorsport eNews does not accept responsibility for damage or loss of material submitted.

Opinions expressed in Motorsport eNews are not necessarily those of Australasian Motorsport News or its staff.

International photos supplied by Sutton Images, www.sutton-images.com – click here to check out their exclusive poster deals

Issue No. 071 | 09 - 15 Sept 2008

news 4 No change, yet

6 PB immortalised 8 TRS test 14 Dario opens up 17 Russell and Fitzy 20 Top 10 Shootout

chat 22 5 minutes with ... opinion 24 Rogers race 26 Muscle Car Masters 30 IndyCar Series 34 NASCAR 38 Superbikes 40 Rotax Nationals

trade 48 Classifieds

welcome What is it with Australians adding an ‘o’ to people’s last names? Anyway, here’s Seto and Bairdo

Parity OK for 500 and 1000 The King gets a statue Kids vs Crompton vs AVL! Indy 500 winner backs Indy New scenario for Cup men Brett Stevens goes large Scott Dixon Getting all retro ...

Blasts from the past Close race, Dixon’s title Jimmy’s great timing Rain, at Donington? Nah Karting titles up for grabs

PARIT Y

No change for enduros

Aerodynamics on V8s to remain the same – at least until after Bathurst …

V8 SUPERCARS THERE will be a parity review in V8 Supercars – but it will not affect either of the endurance races at Phillip Island or Bathurst.

V8 Supercars Australia has commissioned a review of the recent performances of the Holden Commodore VE and the Ford Falcon BF, to be undertaken by category technical director Andy Bartley.

The board discussed the issue of parity at

its September meeting on Friday and agreed that a detailed analysis is required.

Bartley will examine all the relevant data of all cars in the 2008 series and make a recommendation to the board as to whether a complete parity review is required.

He will also distribute all available aerodynamic testing data of the VE Commodore and BF Falcon to all competing teams for their information and analysis.

The report is due to the V8SA board in time for its next meeting – but that is not

scheduled until October 22, the Wednesday prior to the first round of the championship after the Bathurst 1000.

Should the board determine that action is required before the end of the season, whatever changes it approves may take affect prior to the 11th round of the championship, run during the Indy 300 weekend. However, a modification to the aerodynamic package of either of the cars is unlikely to have any great affect on the Surfers street circuit, or at the 13th round at Symmons Plains round.

FOR FORMULA 1, MOTOGP AND WRC NEWS, OPINION AND ANALYSIS CLICK HERE TO 4

news

John Morris/ Mpix

Decision decisions ...

V8 SUPERCARS

Dirk Klynsmith Dirk Klynsmith

Not a Holden to be seen in 2007: Will it be the same at Bathurst this year?

IT is too early to say whether the political machinations in New South Wales last Friday will have any impact on the government decisions surrounding the proposed street race at Homebush.

Premier Morris Iemma, who as recently as a week ago continued to voice his support of the event, was forced to step aside from the leadership of the state after his party refused to rubber-stamp his changes to the front bench.

Later in the day, first-term member Nathan Rees was elected Premier by the Labor Caucus.

But because of the number of changes, how the proposal to hold the race in the Olympic precinct now sits with virtually an all-new government frontline is yet to be assessed.

“We have no comment to make as it is too early to form any assumptions from the happenings of Friday in NSW,”

said V8 Supercars Australia spokesman Cole Hitchcock.

Rees appointed his new cabinet today (Monday), with Eric Roozendaal taking on the role as Treasurer, and Joe Tripodi as Finance Minister.

Both these new members have been described by NSW political observes as “financial hardliners.”

In related news, the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series calendar is set to be unveiled this Saturday at Phillip Island. Many of the main race dates are already locked in – including the Clipsal 500, Australian Grand Prix, Hamilton, Townsville, Phillip Island 500, Bathurst 1000, Indy and the Grand Finale at the ‘proposed Sydney circuit.’

All of the other dates and venues will be confirmed this weekend. It is widely believed that Barbagallo’s round will be moved to the end of the season in November, and the Symmons Plains round taking its place in the first few rounds.

O ACCESS THE WORLD’S FIRST INTERNATIONAL ‘VIRTUAL’ MOTORSPORT MAGAZINE ...

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BRIEFLY... n Shannons has announced it has teamed up with ANDRA Championship Drag Racing in a sponsorship arrangement for the 2008/09 Australian season.

Shannons will become a partner to ANDRA Championship Drag Racing, which will allow the preferred insurer for motoring enthusiasts to place themselves in an advantageous position in terms of maximising their exposure within the drag racing community.

“We know how much potential drag racing has for us. Being involved has given us another channel with which to promote the Shannons name to motoring enthusiasts” said National Sales manager Paul Gates.

Shannons has purchased the ‘Presented by’ rights to two major drag racing events in Australia – International Top Fuel and Nitro Champs. n Queensland-based motorsport equipment and parts supplier Racer Industries has opened a Melbourne store, based at 23 Stubbs Street, Kensington. Sales Manager Jolyon Foster will be assisted by a team which includes a familiar motorsport face – former Dunlop Motorsport Manager Jeff Moorhead. Racer Industries (Melbourne) is on 03 9376 5330.

Two years ago, the world changed Brock to be immortalised with Bathurst statue V8 SUPERCARS TODAY is the second anniversary of the death of Peter Brock – and the statue tribute to the racing legend is nearing completion.

Julie Squires is hard at work on the statue, which will feature the nine-times Bathurst winner standing on the roof of a Holden Commodore. An actual VK model is being used as a mould, embossed with the appropriate sponsors’ signage.

The ‘body’ of the Brock image is almost finished but the statues head and hands are being made separately.

The work will be delivered to Mount Panorama in the near future and its official dedication and unveiling will take place shortly before next month’s race.

EXPERIENCE

6

BOOK

PHILLIP

news

Analogue Supercars V8 SUPERCARS V8 SUPERCAR racing will stay on the Seven Network’s main channels and affiliates next year, regardless of what the federal government may do with its sports broadcasting policy.

Senator Stephen Conroy, the Minister for Communications, said last Wednesday that he would review the rule that, currently, compels the three commercial networks to broadcast major sporting events on its ‘main’ channels. From January 1, the three networks will be permitted to expand on their digital channels and, should the Senator decide, delete protected sports from the ‘anti siphoning’ list established by

the Howard government.

But V8 Supercars Australia Chairman Tony Cochrane told eNews that the events were locked in with Seven’s primary platform.

“At this stage we do not broadcast in digital and are not forecast to until around 2010 at the earliest,” he said.

“Unlike some other lesser sports, Seven has spent a considerable amount of money on the broadcast rights to be aired on their main platform and not a digital sub-channel.”

Currently, Ten broadcasts its Formula 1 and MotoGP programming on both its main and 10HD channels, with the latter usually often live telecasts while coverage is delayed on the main channel.

Any excuse to run this pic: Jen Hawkins and her Ch7 friends will have to share the air-time with the V8 boys next year.

Engine issue sorted for DJR V8 SUPERCARS DICK Johnson Racing will take its place on the grid for this weekend’s L&H 500 as expected, after a legal hitch was cleared up late last week.

The team began the process of seeking permission of the V8 Supercars board to run a new camshaft in July of this year, and this request was approved late on Friday afternoon following the scheduled September board meeting. Therefore, the team did not proceed with a Federal

Court application.

Jim Beam Racing’s Commercial Director Glenn Turnor explained the team had taken interim measures in the unlikely event that the new camshaft was not approved for racing at Phillip Island. The change was prompted because of the team’s update from the C3 head that they used at the start of the season to the new D3 head.

“Had the outcome of the board’s decision not been favourable for Jim Beam Racing, we needed to take

precautionary steps to ensure our preparation for this weekend’s endurance event at Phillip Island was not hindered,” said Turnor.

“We simply covered all our bases in relation to lodging some court documents to ensure we had ample time in case V8 Supercars’ assurance was not provided.

“As expected we gained the approval of V8 Supercars Australia late on Friday and we look forward to racing this weekend.”

Dirk Klynsmith

E THE 2008 AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX

NOW AT MOTOGP.COM.AU

P ISLAND 3-5 OCTOBER

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JPM Photographics

W

Carr

Kids to get Oz TRS chance TOYOTA RACING SERIES JUST how suitably will a car from the Toyota Racing Series perform on an Australian racetrack?

That question will be largely answered at Winton tomorrow (Tuesday), when a number of the country’s young drivers take to the track in two TRS cars.

Some of the best drivers in Formula Ford competition will take to the track in a test organised by TRS boss Barrie Tomlinson. Jake Chapman, Luke Ellery,

Daniel Ericsson, Adam Graham, Kristian Lindbom, Nick Percat and Martin Swindells will take the step up from FF, while reigning Formula 3 Champion Tim Macrow, F3 regular Justin Tate and former FBMW Asia racer Chris Wootton will all try the car for the first time.

“This is a great opportunity to give some of the young Aussie drivers a test of driving a TRS car, without them coming to NZ in the first instance,” said Tomlinson.

“When I think of some of the great Australian drivers who have raced

open-wheelers in New Zealand, we think of John Bowe, and Larry Perkins and, before that, the Matiches and the Bartletts of the world. It would be a great thing if we could go back to those days and this is a step towards getting an Australian driver running at the front of the field in New Zealand. In fact, why stop at one? The more, the better.”

As well as the youngsters, TV commentator and racer Neil Crompton will fight off journalists Paul Gover and MN’s Andrew van Leeuwen to see whose form is the best without a laptop.

APRC shifts to Sun State AUSTRALIAN RALLYING

8

Joel Strickland

RALLY Queensland will, from 2009, be Australia’s round of the FIA AsiaPacific Rally Championship.

The Sunshine Coast-based event replaces Rally of Canberra as Australia’s APRC round, the capital hosting our regions best since 1999.

As a result, Rally Queensland will move to May 8-10, leaving behind its June date.

“Rally Queensland will make an exceptional round of the Asia-Pacific Championship and the organisers, officials and rallying community in Queensland thoroughly deserve this endorsement,” said ARCom Chairman Colin Trinder.

“This will give the Sunshine Coast a truly international event and raise Rally Queensland to a new level of

significance, exposure and excitement.”

Trinder also confirmed that the decision had nothing to do with the quality of the Canberra event, and wasn’t an indication of a troubled future for RoC. “The transfer of the Asia-Pacific Championship status is a regrettable decision for Canberra rally fans but one which was taken because of the strong interest shown by Queensland to provide the appropriate level of support for the event,” said Trinder.

“While we acknowledge and appreciate that Rally of Canberra rally supporters and volunteers have delivered in excess of expectations time and again over many years, our difficult decision had to be made in the best interests of the event’s continuity and guaranteed fiscal support.”

news

Will this car be Wall-ed?

rera Cup front-runner wants a V8, and the PCR Falcon is looking good ...

Dirk Klynsmith

FUJITSU V8s DAVID Wall is considering a switch from Carrera Cup to V8 Supercars next year.

The Porsche front-runner conducted an evaluation day at Queensland Raceway in the Racer Industries-owned Falcon BA – the car that Max Wilson drove last year for WPS Racing.

Wall drove the car with the assistance of Paul Cruickshank Racing. Cruickshank has shown a solid interest in Wall’s future, and it is likely that if Wall does switch from Carrera Cup to the Fujitsu V8 Series, it will be in a PCR-prepared Falcon.

Cruickshank told eNews that Wall was impressive in his halfday evaluation.

“He’s done a good job today,” he said.

“He’s been with us before. We were close to doing a deal last year, but we’ll have a look at getting it together for 2009.”

Cruickshank said that if Wall races for his team, it would be in Fabian Coulthard’s current ex-Triple Eight chassis. With Coulthard scoring good results this year, the expectation for

him would be high …

“If we can get a deal done and get him in the car, I’d expect him to be top four in the first year,” he said.

“It’s a good car, our guys have got a good handle on the car, we’d expect to be top four.”

Wall was happy with his first test of a Supercar in 18 months.

“It wasn’t too bad. I hadn’t driven a V8 for a long time,” he

told eNews.

“We’re not sorted (for next year), but we wanted to have a test and go from there.

“We’re working on the deal.

The car would be as good as anything else.”

Wall will be in action this weekend at Phillip Island in Round 5 of the Carrera Cup Championship.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Bacoo’s Barn ACCOMMODATION FOR V8’S AT BATHURST Has become available because of cancellation.

Large new room sleeps up to 5. $145.00 per person per night. Share Bathroom. All linen provided. Min 4 persons & 3 nights.

- Special Deal Includes country cooked breakfast & dinner & track transfers daily.

CLICK HERE TO BOOK ONLINE

www.barcoosbarn.com.au 9

In this issue of GPWEEK By And

Rossi rival set for comeback

sutton-images.com

LOOKING more and more likely is the return of former front-runner Sete Gibernau to the MotoGP field.

Once a fierce sparring partner to Valentino Rossi (he was runnerup to Rossi twice in the World Championship), Gibernau has been back on two-wheels recently, testing for the factory Ducati squad. And his pace might just have interested the right people, with a new satellite Ducati team, to be run by 13-times World Champion Angel Nieto, eyeing the veteran for a ride in 2009.

In other MotoGP news, Dani Pedrosa has confirmed his decision to switch the Bridgestone rubber was the right one by setting a new lap record while testing at Misano, and 250cc star Marco Simoncelli has called his rival Hector Barbera a “criminal” and a “jerk.”

Vatanen’s view, NZ 1977

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What a r what a r Martin Holmes

WITH Ford having come painfully close to winning the recent Rally New Zealand, GPWeek’s rally editor Martin Holmes got to thinking about a similar result from more than three decades ago.

The year was 1977, and, like 2008, it was all about a Finn in a Ford that probably should have won. But the Ford was an Escort, not a Focus, and it wasn’t Mikko Hirvonen or JariMatti Latvala, rather the great Ari Vatanen. So, Holmes got Vatanen’s highly enjoyable account of Rally NZ ’77.

“The dramas continued,” said Vatanen as part of his recollection.

“More ‘offs’ were to come, small and bigger ones, sometimes (like when a big boulder had fallen down a hill after rain), unlucky ones. The car was getting progressively more battered as the rally went on, although the wheels were still pointing in the right

direction and the engine never missed a beat. But what a hard time the car had. I remember one time the car was sliding down a tarmac stretch of road on its side so that the guttering above the door was completely flattened. The car was not actually on its roof, however!

“I drove off after that incident and discovered the handling was odd. The right hand front McPherson strut had popped outside the wing. It took me

some while to realise what the strange object was that I saw through the windscreen. I can still remember the look on the face of our chief mechanic, Robin Vokins, when he saw that.

“The highlight of the rally for me was a 102km long stage on the east coast of the North Island near Gisborne. What a stage!”

The full story is in a special feature in this week’s issue of GPWeek.

Iss

drew van leeuwen

sutton-images.com

race, result?

news

THERE was controversy to burn at the Belgian Grand Prix.

After a stunning battle between Lewis Hamilton and Spa-specialist Kimi Raikkonen, from which Hamilton emerged the victor while Raikkonen hit the wall, the race was turned on its head when the stewards got involved. They deemed Hamilton to have gained an unfair advantage by cutting a

chicane (despite the Brit redressing the issue at the time), and demoted him to third post-race, making Felipe Massa an unlikely winner.

So how did it all happen? Did Ferrari protest the original result, or did the FIA act alone? And will McLaren even be able to appeal the penalty? All of the answers are in this week’s issue of GPWeek.

w e nro sue #27 onlClin ick he e

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THE MAGNIFICENT DOZEN No changes to Chase field after tough weekend at Richmond NASCAR SPRINT CUP THE dozen men who will race out The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup have been decided and, as expected, the four powerhouse teams of NASCAR rule the roost.

Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing and Richard Childress Racing will each have three cars in the 10-race series that will decide the 2008 Champion. Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick lead a six-car Chevrolet assault, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth will race their Ford Fusions and the red-hot Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart will fly the Toyota flag.

The big news from the Richmond weekend was that the top 12 drivers who went into the race emerged unscathed, as far as the Chase was concerned. Bowyer held his position on the ‘bubble’ after the drivers within reach failed to make any ground.

The other surprise result is the lack of form of the Dodge teams. No Chrysler driver has managed to make their way into the serieswithin-a-series, despite having Ryan Newman win the Daytona 500 and Kasey Kahne take his Budweiser car into Victory Lane this season. It is a tough blow for teams like Penske Racing, which failed to wrest the IndyCar crown from Target Ganassi Racing on the weekend, and Gillett Evernham Motorsports.

Dodge

NASCAR Media

NASCAR SPRINT CUP JOEY Logano’s NASCAR Sprint Cup debut was washed away

by Hurricane Hanna.

Logano was set to make his debut in the series, driving the Joe Gibbs Racing R&D Toyota.

But when the qualifying session was called off because of the weather, and the field gridded on owners’ points, the

12

teen was left out in the cold.

“I’m just excited,” said Logano, 18, above right.

“I was really excited to just get out there and practice to see what it is going to be like.

The car was pretty good right off the trailer. We tried some different things and it handled a lot like my Nationwide car did as far as the attitude of the car.”

Despite not getting to race,

the kid was impressive. During the only practice session held, the rookie ran as high as third before ending the session ninth fastest.

“I figured we were 15th or 20th (fastest) and (crew chief ) Wally Brown said, ‘You’re third.’ I thought that was cool. To come off the trailer and be good was a big plus for me mentally and a big confidence booster.”

NASCAR Media

Joey debut delayed

Struggling USA sales lea

Logano will not have long to wait. Weather permitting, he will line up at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend, driving the Hall of Fame Racing Toyota. HOFR is outside the top-35 on owners’ points so Logano will have to qualify on speed.

His next chance to race a JGR Cup car will come at Atlanta in October.

news

NASCAR Media

Smoke and Grubb NASCAR SPRINT CUP

NASCAR Media

e: No Trucks

pointed in the right direction.”

Grubb, 32, has been at Hendrick’s for six years, and TONY Stewart has picked stepped into the role of crew a Hendrick Motorsport stalwart as his new crew chief. chief for Jimmie Johnson when Chad Knaus was Darian Grubb will be the suspended for violations voice on the other end of before the 2006 Daytona 500.

Stewart’s radio when the Johnson won two of the three #14 Stewart Haas Chevy hits races Grubb crewed for him. the Daytona pavement in Greg Zipadelli, who has February.

“We have a team leader now,” been Stewart’s crew chief for 10 seasons at JGR, has said Stewart, who is leaving Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of confirmed that he will continue to crew the #20 the season. “I feel like Darian Home Depot car, to be raced is going to be a very key part of helping us grow and get us in 2009 by Joey Logano.

ad to cutbacks: Cup and NW programs safe NASCAR CTS IT has been a bad racing week for Dodge.

Along with failing to have any of its drivers make it into The Chase for the Sprint Cup, Chrysler has confirmed reports that it was cutting back on its NASCAR racing commitments.

The news was expected, in line with the downturn in the USA car industry, that saw parent company Chrysler post a loss of US$431m in the first quarter of 2008.

Mike Delahanty, Senior Management of Dodge Motorsports, said that the company plans to stop

providing financial support to teams in the Craftsman Truck Series from the end of this season.

Delahanty said Dodge teams in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series would not be affected by the decision.

Dodge drivers have won two titles in the CTS. Bobby Hamilton drove his own truck to the title in 2004 and Ted Musgrave took the title the following season in Jim Smith’s #1 machine. Between 2001-04, the maker won 46 of 99 races.

This year, Dodge has scored a single win, with Dennis Setzer winning at Martinsville in the #18 of Bobby Hamilton Racing.

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sutton-images.com

Dario back to IndyCar

Scot turns back on NASCAR to join Dixon at Target Ganassi INDYCAR

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event had the best promotion, greatest people, and a fantastic course.”

Scott Dixon, welcomes Franchitti, stating “Dario is a great guy. He’s a fierce competitor. I hope I can learn a few things from him. “ The news gives Chip Ganassi the winners of the last two IndyCar Championships, and the 2007 and 2008 Indy 500s, in one team.

Alex Lloyd, the 2007 Indy Lights Champion, is still under contract with Ganassi, hoping the team can find sponsorship equal to that of Target, as required by agreement, to allow the team to expand to three cars in 2009.

– MARY MENDEZ

sutton-images.com

IT’S official; Dario Franchitti is back in IndyCar, starting at next month’s race on the Gold Coast.

After an unsuccessful foray into NASCAR’s Nextel/Sprint Cup and then the Nationwide Series this year, Franchitti agreed to return to his open wheel roots to drive the #10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car for the 2009 season.

The 2007 Indy 500 and IndyCar Series champion has earned 18 wins and 17 poles in 180 starts between his CART and the IndyCar events from 1997 to 2007.

“Part of the reason that I signed with Ganassi last year

was because of how many options that Chip has at his disposal for a driver,” explained the Scot, right, who joins Scott Dixon in a renewed multi-year agreement with sponsor Target, starting its 20th season with Ganassi.

“With unification and the new schedule having more road and street courses, it made me think about this more and more. I have some intrepidation that I can still do the job. I want to be as good or better.”

“It’s possible I could be racing in Australia next month. I hope to get in some test days first.

The Surfers race is one of the best races on the schedule.

When I raced in Australia the

news

Indy 300 gets 24-car Grid INDYCAR

THERE will be 24 cars on the grid of the 2008 Nikon Indy 300.

With the ‘official’ IndyCar season coming to an end at Chicagoland on the weekend, confirmations are in place, and the teams that will head to Australia have made their plans clear.

They are four cars from Andretti Green Racing, two

entries each from Target Chip Ganassi, Team Penske, KV Racing Technology, Newman Haas Lanigan Racing, Dale Coyne Racing, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Vision Racing and Conquest Racing and single entries from Rahal Letterman Racing, Panther Racing, AJ Foyt Racing and HVM Racing.

IndyCar encouraged team participation by enforcing their agreement signed for all 18

races at the beginning of the season by the full-time teams.

At stake is the US$1.3m Team Support Package. Any team not participating will lose about 14 percent (almost $200,000) of that amount, far more than any team expense to compete in Australia.

In addition to freight for equipment and cars, each team receives 15 airline tickets departing from Los Angeles and hotel accommodations.

Teams will have to pay their own costs to travel to Los Angeles and out of pocket for any extra personnel and equipment shipped.

Although the Honda engine lease program was contracted over three years for 16 races, teams have received notice that they will be required to pay for the additional two races added (Edmonton and Surfers).

– MARY MENDEZ

Honda Racing

... Wheldon moves to Panther

sutton-images.com

WITHIN hours of the Ganassi announcement that the team had released Dan Wheldon at the end of the season, Panther Racing announced Wheldon as their primary driver for 2009.

Wheldon debuted in IndyCars with the Panther team in 2002, competing in two races before signing with Andretti Green Racing where he won both the 2005 Indy 500 and IndyCar season championship.

“I’m incredibly excited to be joining Panther Racing for next season, and possibly a little bit sooner (possibly for Australia),” said Wheldon.

“I can’t wait to get started. The team has always been a contender for victories.”

Vitor Meira could still compete at Panther Racing if sponsorship is found for a second car.

Formed in 1998, the Indianapolis-based team has won two championships with Sam Hornish Jr as a single car team in 2001 and 2002 – MARY MENDEZ

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BRIEFLY...

■ Australian Motor Sport Foundation (AMSF) General Manager Quentin Crombie has left his position, effective last week.

Crombie informed AMSF Directors of his resignation last month after working with the AMSF and its founder, the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) for over five years.

Crombie has accepted a role in international motor sport, working for the FIA Institute for Motor Sport Safety in Paris, France as head of its Education and Excellence Programmes.

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FORMULA FORD SOUTH Australian Roger I’anson will make his national Formula Ford Championship debut this weekend at Phillip Island.

The 19-year-old will drive a Van Diemen RF06, prepared

by Brett Francis.

I’anson, who is leading the South Australian Formula Ford state title, is sampling Phillip Island as a one-off round to compare his form to the best in Australia.

“I’m just going over to see

how we go in the national series,” he said.

“We’re doing well in the state series in South Australia, so we just want to gauge ourselves against the best.

“I’d like to do the national championship next year, if we can get some sponsors on board.”

The Formula Ford Championship has seen a few other changes during the mini mid-season break. Chaz Mostert will no longer have his car prepared by Howard Racing. His Spectrum will be

prepared by Justin Cotter’s Synergy team.

Rob Storey will be a nonstarter at Phillip Island after extensive damage sustained to his Spirit chassis was unable to be fixed in time for this weekend’s event.

Paul Laskazeski current leads the Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship over Nick Percat by 40 points. Percat, pictured below, actually turns 20 on the weekend at Phillip Island.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Bob Holden set for MINI return MINI CHALLENGE THE MINI Challenge class will have two new entrants with familiar faces debuting at Phillip Island this weekend.

Bob Holden, who won Bathurst in a Morris Mini Cooper S with Rauno Aaltonen in 1966, will make a return to driving a MINI. Holden will drive the ‘special guest’ Uber-Star MINI Challenge car.

Also making his debut in

Marshall Cass

■ South Australian karter Rhys Newman has announced that he has secured support from Gawler Farm Machinery.

Newman, 14, competed in the Junior Max class at the Rotax Nationals last weekend at VACC Park, finishing 13th in the final.

Gawler Farm Machinery owner James Rosenberg, a Sports Sedan driver from the 70s and 80s has been instrumental in the success of a number of South Australian driver’s careers, including current Fujitsu V8 Series star Tim Slade.

I’anson to make national debut this weekend at The Island

Dirk Klynsmith

■ Correction from last issue: With points from Round 2 of the Australian Manufacturers Championship held at Oran Park two weeks ago now finalised, Hyundai has retained its lead of the manufacturers standings.

The Korean manufacturer holds a 33-point advantage over Toyota, while George Miedecke leads the drivers standings. Round Three is at Symmons Plains next weekend, 20-21 September.

South Aussie joins FF

the series is Beric Lynton. The BMW dealer and regular racer of all things Bavarian will try on a different BMW for size at

Phillip Island.

The pair will both drive for the Stillwell Motorsport team.

– GRANT ROWLEY

news

The Russell Rescue THREE COLUMNS

DAVID Russell has retained a ride in the Carrera Cup Championship, despite the demise of Sherrin Motorsport.

Russell will replace Andrew Moffat in Peter Fitzgerald’s team, after Moffat’s sponsor (Australian Motor Finance) was forced to withdraw its support from Fitzgerald Racing and Moffat due to the affects of the United States financial meltdown recently.

Fitzgerald told eNews that the deal to get Russell in the recently vacated car was only done recently.

“It’s only just been resolved today,” Fitzgerald said.

“Were fortunate in that Sherrin went into liquidation and that David, who is third in the championship, can come race for us for the rest of the year.

“We’re hoping with David on board we can continue to promote him forward.”

Russell will compete with the support of Boom Logistics – the sponsor he carried during the first five rounds of the championship with Sheerin’s team.

In other Carrera Cup news, history could be broken this weekend at Phillip Island, with Craig Baird set to break Jim Richards’s race wins record.

If Baird can secure one race win, he’ll have the new record for most Australian Carrera Cup wins, and if he wins the round, he’ll also have the most all-time round wins ...

– GRANT ROWLEY

New look: David Russell’s Fitzyprepared Porsche incorporates sponsors from both camps ...

Ash Budd

Ash Budd

Five drivers Italy bound V8 Utes off Clipsal?

KARTING

THE five drivers that will represent Australia at the Rotax World Finals were confirmed last weekend at the Sparco Rotax Nationals.

David Sera, Troy Woolston, Rick Pringle will fight for the senior titles, while Joshua De Maio and Chris Hays will represent Australia in the Junior Max class.

Sera earnt his spot in the team (his second year in succession) by virtue of his win in Rotax Light at VACC Park.

Fellow Melburnian Woolston will also represent his country after topping the National Rotax rankings in Rotax Light.

Woolston finished fourth in the Rotax Light final.

Pringle (third on the weekend) also finished on top of the Rotax Heavy rankings, securing his ticket to the finals.

The two junior drivers, De Maio and Chris Hays, finished on top of the Junior Rotax rankings.

The Rotax World Finals will be held at the La Conca circuit in Italy on November 27-30.

V8 UTES

THE Yokohama V8 Utes Series look set to be dumped from the 2008 Clipsal 500 support program.

The popular Utes series has been left off the initial support calendar, although eNews believes there are moves afoot to put them back on the bill. At this stage, the Fujitsu V8s, Carrera Cup, Biante Touring Masters, Aussie Racing Series, Australian GT and

Formula 3 are the support classes pencilled in to race on the streets of Adelaide.

Ironically, the V8 Utes Series made its debut at the Adelaide street circuit back in 2001, where nine cars entered the meeting. Seven years on, the series has grown into one of the most popular support categories in Australia.

The next round of the V8 Ute Series will be at Bathurst, where the category will celebrate its 200th race.

– GRANT ROWLEY

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Prancing Horse CLASSIC ADELAIDE

Ash Budd

SOUTH Australia will come alive to the sights and sounds of some of the world’s finest cars in the 12th annual Classic Adelaide to be staged from November 19-23.

The event, which was launched last week, will see an expanded field of up to 300 cars competing in the four categories; Classic

Tour, Thoroughbred Tour, Regularity and Competition.

This year, Ferrari will be featured as the make for the event, with representatives from Ferarri headquarters in Italy coming to Adelaide.

Not since the days of the Adelaide Formula 1 Grand Prix has the Prancing Horse visited Adelaide on an official level.

– PARIS CHARLES

World Series Announced SPRINTCARS

Paris Charles

THE Wanless World Series Sprintcars Championship has announced the 2008/09 Calendar that will include 16 rounds over 18 nights of competition.

The series will kick off in Brisbane of November 8 and will wrap up proceeding at Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway on January 17.

“Now that the schedule is in place, we can move forward with what should be an excellent series,” said Steven Green, a pivotal member of the promotional team behind

the Wanless World Series Sprintcars.

“With the Wanless group of companies returning at least the base of the series is secure.

“Last season was a tough learning curve on many fronts but we have listened to the competitors and the fans and put into place certain directives that I believe will make this series the most entertaining and well run series ever.”

In a milestone for the series, the 300th WSS round will take place at Kalgoorlie Speedway on November 26.

– GEOFF ROUNDS

The 2008/09 Wanless World Series Sprintcars:

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Ash Budd

Round 1 – November 8 – Brisbane International Speedway, QLD Round 2 – November 15 – Parramatta City Raceway, Sydney NSW Round 3 – November 21 – Perth Motorplex, Perth WA Round 4 – November 22 – Perth Motorplex, Perth WA Round 5 – November 26 – Kalgoorlie Speedway, Kalgoorlie WA Round 6 – November 29 – Speedway City, Adelaide SA Round 7 – December 6 – Hobart Speedway, Hobart TAS Round 8 – December 13 – Latrobe Speedway, Latrobe TAS Round 9 – December 26 – Speedway City, Adelaide SA Round 10 – December 27 – Murray Bridge Speedway, SA Round 11 – December 28 – Borderline Speedway, Mt Gambier SA Round 12 – December 30 – Avalon Raceway, Geelong VIC Round 13 – January 1 – Premier Speedway, Warrnambool VIC Round 14 N1 – January 9 – Brisbane International Speedway, QLD Round 14 N2 – January 10 – Brisbane International Speedway, QLD Round 15 – January 11 – Charlton Raceway, Toowoomba QLD Round 16 N1 – January 16 – Parramatta City Raceway, Sydney NSW Round 16 N2 – January 17 – Parramatta City Raceway, Sydney NSW

Number one for a reason: Brooke Tatnell, above, was last years WSS Champion and celebrated in style, top.

news

Getting Sideways DRIFT AUSTRALIA THIS year the top two drivers in the Toyo Tyres Drift Australia Series will be invited to compete in the brand-new Red Bull Formula Drift World Championships in November.

The event will be held on a top-secret, purpose built street circuit in Long Beach, California on November 15 and is to be run by Red Bull

in conjunction with Formula Drift, North America’s professional drifting championship.

“We’re thrilled to receive invitations for the top two Toyo Tires Drift Australia Series drivers to compete in the Red Bull Formula Drift World Championship,” Drift Australia director Wayne Boatwright said.

“It shows that the growth of drifting in Australia isn’t going unnoticed and

Brands in, Mugello out

how highly our domestic championship is regarded internationally.

“Last year, Robbie Bolger, Christian Pickering and Fernando Wiehrl all did a great job in a similar international event, I’m sure whoever represents Drift Australia on the world stage this year will do us proud.”

Those in the running for the event include Leighton Fine, who holds a 70-point lead over Luke Fink with

A1GP

sutton-images.com

THE A1GP World Cup of Motorsport has announced Brands Hatch as the replacement round for Mugello after the Italian round was postponed.

Although Mugello was initially intended to be the season opener Brands Hatch will run at the end of the season as the finale for the third year in a row.

The Kent circuit also played host to the

Beau Yates a further 159 points behind.

“The championship is our primary focus going to Oran Park, but to represent Australia in the World Championship would be fantastic,” Fine said.

“To compete against the world's best on the streets of Long Beach would be an unreal experience and a great opportunity to show how much the Australian drift scene has developed.” inaugural A1GP race in Septemeber 2005 and has had great success since.

Zandvoort will open the season on October 5 and will head the 10 round calendar which will run through to May 3.

In other calendar news Brazil has also been announced as a new A1GP venue with the country set to host round 8 of the series on March 29.

Although track has yet to be announced for the round it will see the series host two races in South America, with the first in New Mexico for Round 7.

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news

The Perfect10 Brett Stevens Racing set to launch ‘biggest team ever’ DRAG RACING

BRETT Stevens Racing is set to launch its 2008/09 race team tomorrow (Tuesday) at Sydney Olympic Park.

The team launch is set to break records, with 10 cars and bikes being unveiled – making BSR the biggest professional

drag racing team in the world.

BSR will enter four Top Doorslammers in this year’s ANDRA national championships, set to be driven by Stevens himself, Steve Packman, plus new drivers Todd Waddell (former West Aussie sprintcar racer) and Kim Usher.

Stevens will contest the Top Alcohol class, while the team will also prepare four Top Bikes and a Pro Stoke Bike.

As well as the new drivers and extra cars, the team is also set to announce a host of new sponsors that are joining the team, in addition to the team’s existing corporate backers,

including Jack Daniel’s, Kitten and SP Tools.

The 2008/2009 ANDRA Championship Drag Racing series begins with the Australian Nationals this weekend at Western Sydney International Dragway at Eastern Creek.

– GRANT ROWLEY

Think you can take a better pic than this?

DRAG RACING THE Wallace Bishop Jewellers National Photographic Competition is back for the 2008/2009 ANDRA Championship Drag Racing Season.

In partnership with Willowbank Raceway, Castrol and Stuart Bishop Racing, the competition provides

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amateur and professional photographers the opportunity to win more than $20,000 in cash and prizes, simply by taking photos of the drag racing action at their local venue.

There are two categories that people can enter – one for Stuart Bishop Racing and one for drag racing across the board.

Photographs from any Australian drag

racing venue taken between the 2008 Castrol EDGE Winternationals and the 2009 Tin Top Titles can be submitted online at www.stuartbishopracing.com. au.

This fantastic photo of Jay Upton, taken by West Aussie Luke Nieuwhof, won last year’s prize in the overall category.

5 MINUTES WITH ...

SCOTT DIXON

The boy from New Zealand just won his second IndyCar title at Chicagoland after a fantastic season that included six wins to become only the second driver to win multiple titles

All you got to do is finish eighth. In this series finishing eighth is difficult to do. How difficult is it to really go out there and try to even get eighth let alone get up there and fight for the victory?

Yeah, you know, you said it, it’s extremely tough to try and finish eighth or better in this series. The guys that are new to the series this year have definitely figured it out. There were a lot of people racing up top today that we didn’t expect to be and they definitely were.

The big picture today was obviously the championship.

For a few minutes after the race, everyone thought you were the winner. Can you talk about your feelings in learning that you weren't.

We didn’t win it (laughter)? I pointed up to the pylon thing and said we won. What are they talking about?

No, you know, that definitely would have topped off the day with a seventh win, and a record-breaking seventh one

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Scott, I guess let’s talk about the championship first. It was a hard fight the last few weeks.

Yeah, I think unfortunately we set our minds on having it tied up a long time before now.

Team Penske and Helio wouldn’t let it go. You got to take your hat off to them for doing all they needed to do.

The year on a whole has been amazing, an unforgettable year.

Getting married, winning a 500, winning a championship in one year, not too many people can probably say they’ve done that.

like that would have been fantastic.

I think in the back of my mind, we all knew we’d won the championship, and that was the main goal.

But I’m disappointed we didn’t win. I said that to Chip after the race. I’m like, ‘Man, we should have won that.’

Now that you’ve done it, how does this compare to when you won in ‘03?

You know, it means a lot more. I think this year is much tougher.

I think to accomplish the disciplines that we have now with short ovals, medium sized tracks, superspeedways, street courses, road courses, that looks like it’s going to get stronger as well. I think you’ll definitely get a true champion out of that. For us to be the first to win it on that kind of level I think is pretty special.

You’re 28 years old. You’re still relatively young as a driver and you’ve made no bones about the fact that this is where you want to race. You have no interest in going to NASCAR or anywhere else.

Do you sometimes kind of think you could put together a pretty historic number of titles here?

Absolutely. I said to Chip [Ganassi] just now, ‘that’s number two and we’ve got many more to come.’ As a team, I think that’s big. It definitely is for our team as a whole for next year with Dario [Franchitti].

I think with Dario coming on board, having the last two 500 champions and the last two series champions, it’s going to be a strong package. I’m looking forward to it. I think this team is definitely going to be a tough one to beat in the next few years.

When you’re battling for a championship, spent a lot of time riding side by side. Did that appear to you not to be a good idea?

When you’re running with people like [Ryan] Briscoe, my teammates, T.K. [Tony Kanaan], Danica [Patrick] and Helio [Castroneves], you’re pretty confident running side by side with them. They’ve got just as much to lose as we do.

It was frustrating I think in the middle part of that race when you’re racing with people. But some definitely looked very desperate, trying to make big moves. I guess it made the racing pretty exciting. But for me, it was definitely the opposite.

Your mum and dad are in the back of the room. Talk about the role they've played in your career.

Mum and dad have been fantastic through my racing career. Without them, I wouldn’t be here (laughter).

But without them, I wouldn’t be racing. Dad, for his passion of racing. Mum’s, as well. You know, that’s what got me back into it.

They’ve always supported me through thick and thin.

Even when we’ve been in the low times, especially in New Zealand when we didn’t have any money, they remortgaged their house, made any option to try and keep it going. I definitely owe them everything. It’s just a pleasure to have them be able to be at the races.

chat

sutton-images.com

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And he used to run the

L

AST weekend was my second year attending the Muscle Car Masters in Sydney and I think it is absolutely outstanding.

The only major difference from last year was that there were more people this year!

It goes to show you that there is still a lot of emotion and interest attached to this sport.

What I found most impressive was the family interest. There were so many people there – mums, dads, the kids coming along.

The beauty was that you could come and touch and feel and see the cars up close, and that’s what has been lost in

OPINION Garry Rogers V8 Supercar team owner today’s racing, in my opinion.

From a punter’s point of view, the racing is too clinical. I know you can’t have anyone walking through the garage doors at V8 meetings and walk around, but there is a line somewhere where you can give the people a little more and allow them to get closer to the cars and the drivers.

I thought that the Muscle Car Masters was fantastic. It allowed people to come up to the cars, ask questions and just being

generally interested.

There were all sorts of cars on display. I think it’s a terrific event.

If it was on every weekend, it wouldn’t get the big crowds, but as a once a year event, I think it’s got its place on the Australian racing scene. Actually, it’s not an event as such. It’s a gathering of people with a common interest, and that’s what I really love about it.

I think the organisers got caught a bit off-guard with the amount of people who were there. Parking apparently was absolute chaos, and that could

certainly be done better, but for so many people to take an interest in what we generally take for granted is great to see.

I

got to have a drive of one of my old A9X Toranas. The young guy who has got the car going has done a terrific job.

I’ve driven the car before, and really, when we used to race them, you didn’t think twice.

Letters

Have your say, email us at mail@mnews.com.au. Keep letters to the point!

IndyCar What a great job Ryan Briscoe has done this season, capping it off with another great result at Chicagoland.

It’s good to finally see him in a solid team and doing the business and, hopefully, when he and Will Power come down to Australia, they can return a home-town win.

And another point about Chicagoland, what a race!

Two wide for two laps it was

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great and just what racing should be.

Scott Dixon deserves the title, but Helio Castroneves drove great all year long what an end to the season.

Bill Smith via email Enduro Time It’s almost enduro time and I can’t wait.

This year should be great as well. I can’t remember a time

when there were as many serious contenders for the enduro crowns as what there are this year.

First up Phillip Island, which should be good at least it’s different and could throw up a surprise.

All up it’s going to be a great enduro season and I reckon Lowndes and Whincup are going to do the double.

Geoff Black Semaphore, SA

Dream Team I just read Motorsport News #375 and the article about the A1GP Motorsport News Dream Team. I want to say that I reckon that would be an awesome idea.

The best drivers (and riders) in the world battling it out in equal cars.

While it will never happen, but it would be great.

Ryan Alexander via email

opinion

e #34 back then too ...

You just jumped in and drove it as fast as you could. But to be quite honest, they are terrible things! Back then, they were what you had and you did what you did with them. Yesterday, I got in the car and you can’t steer it, you couldn’t stop it. The gear changes are shocking.

They are what they were in the day, but that day has certainly

passed its day. They sound great and they are a lot of fun, but you wouldn’t want to be racing one today!

I have had a couple of drives of these latest-generation V8 Supercars. Every now and then I get in and have a drive and honestly, it’s like chalk and cheese. They are just so different.

I

think V8 Supercars could learn a bit from an event like the Muscle Car Masters.

V8SA is aware of the heritage of the sport, but I think they could create a much more open atmosphere for the people who come to the races. I think the drivers and crews could offer more to the paying punters at the track.

I know there is a lot at stake with the commercial interests in our category. There is a lot of time spent debriefing after each session and all that takes

time, but by the same token, I don’t think we’re generous enough with our time for the public. And that applies to team owners, drivers, workers, promoters, everybody. There is a lot of interest in us and we need to keep that going. The punters appreciate what we do and we need to do a better job servicing them.

Garry Rogers paired with Bob Stevens in the 1979 Hardie Ferodo, finishing in fifth place in this car – the #34 A9X Torana.

eLETTER OF THE WEEK PR or care factor?

It was interesting to see the different ways in which both Ford and Holden went down the same path regarding their budget cuts.

Ford were first to jump with the matter and received a heap of negative media coverage for it. They also received their fair share of backlash from some of its more recognisable teams.

However Holden, who have basically done the same thing (ED: cover story eNews 070), have received very little negative coverage or public backlash so far, and I find that slightly surprising.

It raises the question. Why do people reacted so differently to essentially the same situation – just different makes?

It is possible that people are just over the issue of manufacturers having

limited funds these days? Or it could be that Holden was clever in how they went about it. Rather than looking like they were taking something away from the teams, they made it look like they are giving its teams space to sell across the windscreen.

Genuis PR or minimal care factor?

John Pringle via email

Send your creative letters to mail@mnews.com.au, or Motorsport News PO Box 7072, Brighton, Vic 3186 25

MUSCLE CAR MASTERS EASTERN CREEK, NSW

Master Blasters

The ‘Fantastic Five’ took centre stage at another fabulous Muscle Car Masters. Sharp MNews snapper JOHN MORRIS takes you ‘behind the lense’ at Eastern Creek

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race

John Morris/Mpix

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S

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Hey, Tru-Blu: Dick Johnson and John French’s 1981 Bathurst winner.

Saving Private Carter: Murray Carter steered his Falcon around Eastern Creek.

John Morris/Mpix

YDNEY’S Eastern Creek Raceway held the fourth annual Australian Muscle Car Masters over the Father’s Day weekend.

Included on the program was Round 5 of the Biante Touring Car Masters, though it was the promised appearance of the ‘fantastic five’ which brought large crowds to the racetrack on Sunday.

For the first time since 1971, the ‘fantastic five’ Improved Production cars – Allan Moffat’s Mustang, Norm Beechey’s Monaro, Bob Jane’s Camaro and Pete Geoghegan’s Mustang and Super Falcon were due to appear together on Sunday at the racetrack.

However, the prospects of any dry running looked rather bleak on Saturday morning when Sydney was literally drenched, leaving competitors to work with a very wet racetrack and organisers contemplating another wet Masters. Fortunately, Sunday dawned slightly overcast, soon clearing to a mostly sunny day. Though the track was now dry, much of the spectator parking areas were not, resulting in long queues as spectators were shuffled to the neighbouring Western Sydney International Dragway carpark. By 9.30am the car park was full and cars were brought into the spectator area at turn six, as cars blocked the entry road back to to The Great Western Highway.

Once finally inside the track, spectators were presented with a veritable living history of Australian Touring Car racing. On display and in action were racing cars from the 1950s through to the early days of V8 Supercars, with a black 48-215 Holden running Heritage Hotlaps against a VR/VS V8 Supercar. If that wasn’t enough to satisfy, then there were vast supplies of memorabilia for sale, or model cars, which could then be signed by the legends, like Moffat, Jane, Kevin Bartlett, Allan Grice, Murray Carter or Harry Firth, just to name a few.

Besides the off-track treats, there were races for Group N, Group A and C Historic Touring Cars and the new CAMS V8 Touring Cars, as well as the Biante cars and demonstration runs for the rare and somewhat priceless cars in the ‘Master Blast’ class, though Des Wall decided to give the Geoghegan Mustang a run in the both the demonstrations as well as the final race for Group Nc division 2 cars , which he won.

The Biante Touring Car Masters saw Eddie Abelnica win the soggy Saturday race, while the two Sunday events were both won by Gavin Bullas. John Bowe finished fourth behind Abelnica, Brett Youlden and Greg East in Race 1, and fought an epic battle with Bullas for the win in Race 2, only falling short of victory in sight of the chequered flag. Race 3 proved a disaster for both Bowe and Abelnica with DNFs after seven of the 10 laps respectively. Steve Mason came back from a poor start to the weekend with a fourth place in Race 2 and second in the final race of the round.

Other winners for the weekend included Paul Axiak, Stuart Young, Greg Luca and Des Wall in Group Nc Division 2, Scott Fleming and Bill Meeke in Group Nb, Glenn Seton and Simon Phillips in Group Nc Division 1, John Vergotis in the V8 Touring category, while Robert Tweedie, Paul Stubber and Gary Collins had victories in the Group A and C categories.

Competitive: John Bowe and Gavin Bullas fought hard in the Biante Series.

race

Marshall Cass

Big field: the Group Nb class had a big field for the Muscle Car masters.

Marshall Cass

John Morris/Mpix

Fords from all eras: Above, Bob Tweedie steers his ex-Glenn Seton Peter ‘Johnson’ Sierra. Below, John Vergotis won the Touring Car class. Bottom right, Seton in his Capri.

James Smith

John Morris/Mpix Marshall Cass

James Smith

More Biante action: Eddiee Albelica leads the Binate pack through turn two.

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INDYCAR ROUND 17 – CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY

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race

Dixon’s Day Helio Castroneves did everything he could to stop Scott Dixon from winning the title but in the end the Kiwi was just too good

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I

T came down to the final lap of the final race of the year to crown the first united IndyCar Champion at Chicagoland Speedway.

Helio Castroneves made Scott Dixon work all the way to the final flag to grab his second IndyCar series championship to go with his 2003 title.

“The year on a whole has been amazing, an unforgettable year,” said Dixon.

“I think any year where you win the 500 is going to be like that. But when you top it off with a championship, I still can’t believe it. Getting married, winning the 500, winning a championship in one year.

“Not too many people can probably say

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they've done that.

“I think, unfortunately, we set our minds on having it tied up a long time before now, I think that’s what run us into a bit of trouble. That was definitely the toughest two weeks I’ve had. Even today, you know, Team Penske and Helio wouldn’t let it go.

“They were pushing to make sure they got the most laps led. You’ve got to take your hat off to them for doing all they needed to do.”

In one of the most exciting finishes of the season, Castroneves came from the back of the grid to pip Dixon at the post by a mere 0.0033s with the two running twowide for two whole laps.

The race was initially awarded to Dixon, but was overturned following a ‘photofinish’ review to give Castroneves a welldeserved victory.

Australian Ryan Briscoe had the best seat in the house for the last two laps, running just behind the leaders and even going three-wide with them momentarily to finish in third place and cement his fifth place in the series behind Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan.

Will Power also had a great run to come home in fifth to record his best oval finish of the year, which also saw him finish third in the Rookie of the Year standings that was taken out by Hideki Mutoh.

race

To the victor go the spoils: Castroneves just pipped Dixon for the win, left, but it was Dixon, below, who collected the large six figure cheque for the championship win.

Will Power, above, had his best oval run to fifth, while, Ryan Briscoe, bottom, ran strongly all day to finish in third place.

INDYCAR | CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

3 9 6 11 8 10 14 26 17 7

Helio Castroneves Br Scott Dixon NZ Ryan Briscoe Aus Tony Kanaan Br Will Power Aus Dan Wheldon GB Darren Manning GB Marco Andretti USA Ryan Hunter-Reay USA Danica Patrick USA

Team Penske Target Ganassi Team Penske Andretti Green KV Racing Target Ganassi AJ Foyt Racing Andretti Green Rahal Letterman Andretti Green

200 laps +0.0033s +0.0811s +0.6128s +1.3613s +1.8762s +2.3257s +2.4660s +2.8026s +2.9309s

Fastest lap: Wilson on lap 3, 25.061s (351.38kmh).

INDYCAR | FINAL DRIVER’S POINTS Dixon 646, Castroneves 629, Kanaan 513, Wheldon 492, Briscoe 447, Patrick 379, Andretti 363, Hunter-Reay 360, Servia 358, Mutoh 346 , (12th Power 331).

33

NASCAR SPRINT CUP ROUND 26 – CHEVY ROCK & ROLL 400, RICHMONDA VA

Jimmie wins hardc

Jimmie Johnson put a third straight title right in his gunsights when he took his second straig 34

race

core Hardware War

By MARTIN D CLARK 35

Ford Racing Media

ight win at Richmond. Momentum means a lot in NASCAR ...

NASCAR Media

J

NASCAR Media

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IMMIE Johnson rolls into NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup as the series’ form driver after his second win in a week at Richmond.

The Hendrick driver held off a hard-charging Tony Stewart over the last 20 laps for his fourth win of 2008, Johnson finding extra speed when Toyota man Stewart forced him higher and higher up the track.

Denny Hamlin came third followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr and Mark Martin.

“We never gave up,” remarked the defending Champion.

“We got back behind some cars on a pit cycle there and just worked our way to the front. At the end, it was between the #88 (Earnhardt) and the #20 (Stewart), but my guys got me out first on the final pit stop and I was able to hold them off.”

Stewart was not happy about the result, passing blame to his pit crew over the team radio, but the time was clearly lost by the driver exiting his pit stall at an angle.

“We couldn’t get by him,” said a dejected Stewart, who is now 39 races without a win.

“We did everything we could, we raced him clean, we raced him how he would have raced us. We just came up short.”

With qualifying rained out, the field lined up in points order, leaving Kyle Busch to lead through lap 29 when Kevin Harvick took over up front before Earnhardt Jr became the dominant player.

Caution eight waved when Earnhardt spun Busch into the wall while leading, possibly

The Richmond Tiger: Jimmie Johnson won for the second weekend in a row, which must be somewhat frustrating for Tony Stewart. If Smoke doesn’t take the win thisweekend, it will be 40 races since he won.

as a payback for when Busch spun him out of the lead at the track in May. “We was running real hard,” said Junior.

“I went into the corner hard and locked the left front up and ran into the back of him and wrecked him. It’s not on purpose, as much as I’d like to take credit for it.”

With a rash of mid-race cautions, teams tried different pit strategies, leaving David Reutimann out front and opening up a four second-plus advantage over Stewart at one point. Reutimann continued to lead through pit stops, but was finally he was overwhelmed by the Johnson and Stewart pairing with 53 laps to run.

Two drivers came into the 400-mile race, the last ‘regular season’ event before the 10event Chase, with a shot of knocking Clint Bowyer out of the top 12. David Ragan had pitstop exit woes slow him early, before spinning himself and Roush Fenway team-mate Matt Kenseth out of the race.

Kasey Kahne could never get his Gillett Evernham Dodge tuned into the one-mile oval and a 19th left him 69 points behind Bowyer.

It’s no surprise the 12 cars in The Chase belong to three drivers from each of four superpower teams of Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing and Richard Childress Racing. Other strong teams like Penske Racing and Gillett Evernham Motorsports are on the outside looking in – and Dodge fans will have no cars to cheer in the final 10 events.

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NASCAR Media

NASCAR | CHEVY ROCK & ROLL 400, RICHMOND, VA 48 20 11 88 6 31 29 24 44 2

Jimmie Johnson Chevy Tony Stewart Toyota Denny Hamlin Toyota Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevy Mark Martin Chevy Jeff Burton Chevy Kevin Harvick Chevy Jeff Gordon Chevy David Reutimann Toyota Kurt Busch Dodge

Hendrick/Lowe’s Q3 Gibbs/Home Depot 8 Joe Gibbs/FedEx 11 Hendrick/Amp/National Guard 4 DEI/US Army 17 Childress/AT&T 5 RCR/Shell-Pennzoil 7 Hendrick/DuPont/Nicorette 10 Waltrip/UPS 27 Penske/Miller Lite 20

SPRINT CUP | DRIVER’S POINTS Kyle Busch 5080, Edwards 5050, Johnson 5040, Earnhardt Jr. 5010, Bowyer 5010, Hamlin 5010, Burton 5010, Stewart 5000, Biffle 5000, Jeff Gordon 5000, Harvick 5000, Kenseth 5000.

NASCAR Media

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Chase that Courier! Actually, it’s a Camry that Denny Hamlin used to lead the field, top. Kasey Kahne, here with Carl Edwards, was Dodge’s only hope of making the Chase but came up short.

Everybody’s working for the Weekend

CLINT Bowyer must have been feeling pretty happy with himself, holding his Chase position and leading 195 of the 250-lap Nationwide race at Richmond.

Then, defending NW Champ Carl Edwards slipped past at the Ford man did not flinch in the final laps of the race.

“Clint was doing such a good job, but

he was just a little ‘free’,” said Edwards, referring to the slightly loose Chevy that he saw in front of him.

“He wiggled that one time [on Lap 223], and that was all I needed.”

Said Bowyer, who now leads Edwards by by 207 points; “[We] had a good day.

That was a bummer, but what can you do?”

Scott Wimmer scraped his way through to second place ahead Bowyer

and Denny Hamlin. Polesitter for the hurricane-delayed race, Joey Logano, finished seventh.

Marcos Ambrose started 16th and finished 13th and now moves up one position to ninth in the NW pointscore.

NASCAR Media

NATIONWIDE

Points: Bowyer 4088, Edwards 3881, Keselowski 3809, Bliss 3604, Ragan 3583, Reutimann 3564, Busch 3478, Wallace 3254, Ambrose 3206, Leffler 3202.

37

WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 11 – DONINGTON, UK

Not Drowning, Rac When the Superbike Championship hit Donington, so did the weather.

Then the riders hit the track – quite literally

R

Slippery Customers: British Superbike regulars Tom Sykes, left, and Cal Crutchlow, below, found themselves on the podium for the two races. Troy Corser, bottom, won the opening race and Ryuichi Kiyonari, main pic, won Race 2.

Honda Pro Images

WSBK

RIDER’S POINTS

Ducati Corse Press

38

Suzuki Racing

ACING in the wet at Donington is a tough task. Racing the local aces at Donington, in the wet, is a real challenge.

Troy Bayliss had never won at the British Midlands track, but put that right when he won the opening race of a rain-lashed World Superbike round at the historic circuit. But, despite the fact that the Aussie strengthened his grip on the third title, a Race 2 tumble left the Taree ace ruing what might have been. Ryuichi Kiyonari took the Race 2 win.

“I’m really happy to have finally taken a win at Donington today after all the years that I’ve been coming here,” said Bayliss.

“Then in Race 2, I was feeling equally good at the start, even though the rain was so heavy I almost thought they might cancel it a couple of laps in.

“But conditions improved and I felt comfortable so at a certain point, when it looked like Kiyo might have been starting to have a bit of trouble, I thought I could push bit harder and try to catch him. Unfortunately though, I lost the back at a certain point and came off at a pretty fast speed, though luckily I haven’t hurt myself.”

The story of the weekend was the speed of the wildcard riders. Tom Sykes was second in the opening race, while Cal Crutchlow’s HM Plant Honda was nearly a match for Kiyo’s Ten Kate model in Race 2, taking second.

Apart from Bayliss, many of the regulars took at least one tumble over the course of the races, including Troy Corser, Noriyuki Haga, Carlos Checa, Max Nuekirchner and Ruben Xaus.

Bayliss 359, Corser 258, Neukirchner 254, Checa 240, Haga 230, Biaggi/ Nieto 192, Kiyonari 190.

race

cing

Honda Pro Images

39

ROTAX NATIONALS VACC PARK, TODD ROAD

Ash Budd

RACE SHOP

40

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race

Double trouble James Sera secured back-to-back Rotax Light titles at the Sparco Rotax National titles in Melbourne

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T

HE Sparco Rotax Nationals were run and won at VACC Park in Melbourne last weekend, with David Sera and Kel Treseder securing back-to-back national titles.

Local driver Sera has won his third Australian Rotax Light title and his second in succession by leading home an Arrow karts trifecta.

Sera narrowly beat home Arrow Karts team boss Bart Price to take the win, which also assured the 20-year-old a place representing Australia at the Rotax World Finals at the La Conca circuit in Italy on November 27-30 (see news pages for full details).

Price was dominant on Saturday, qualifying on pole and winning all three heats staged. But come Sunday, Sera rose to a new level, beating home Price in the pre-final and final.

“I am so relieved to get this win,” said Sera.

“A huge amount of work and testing of both the chassis and engines has gone into this win.

“Bart and I didn’t do anything silly out there. We got the gap on the field and then raced hard and clean right at the end there.”

Behind the leading duo, a spectacular pack of five karts fought for the final step on the podium, which eventually went to Matthew Wall, giving the Australian-made Arrow Karts team and trifecta. Troy Woolston and Jordie Lindstrom rounded out the top five.

In Rotax Heavy, Kel Treseder earned back-to-back Australian Titles with a commanding win.

Treseder, who hails from Bundaberg in Queensland, started from third in the final and in the early laps was part of a three-kart breakaway with fellow Queenslander William Yarwood and local ace Rick Pringle.

After six laps, Treseder made a decisive move aboard his Kosmic kart, taking the lead and breaking away from his rivals to stretch a race-winning lead.

“This was a great event and I am so happy to get back-to-back national titles,” Tresender said.

“This was a quality field and it was just so tough out there. It means a lot to beat those guys.”

Fastest qualifier in Rotax Heavy was Mike Godsell, who started back in 12th in the final after an incident in the pre-final. The Intrepid driver stormed through the field and was especially strong in the second half of the race, driving all the way up to second place, passing Pringle in the closing laps.

Luke Rochford showed he is every good as his European-racing brother Daniel by taking the victory in the Junior Max final.

The win for Rochford was backed up by his team-mate Joshua De Maio taking second place, making it a quinella for CC Racing.

Tony Kart Australia drivers filled the next two positions, with Chris Hays grabbing the final podium spot. Fellow Queenslander Tyler Greenbury was fourth.

Gerry Brooks was a clear winner in a large and competitive Rotax Over 35s field.

Brooks was the class of the field all weekend and drove away to take a big win, leaving Dominic Albanese and Steven Willing to battle over the minor podium positions.

! "

# 42

race

Ash Budd

Ash Budd

Ash Budd

Put your hands up in the air: Kel Treseder, left, won his second-straight Rotax Heavy title.

Luke Rochford, right, won the Junior Max class, while the Rotax Light class, above, prepare for battle at VACC Park.

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43

GLOBE TROTTER Ricciardo Wins!

44

Bouncing Back WORLD SERIES AFTER withdrawing from Race 1, Giedo Van der Garde took out the second World Series by Renault race in front of huge numbers of fans at Le Mans.

In front of 170,000 fans the World Series turned on the action with Van der Garde and Fabio Carbone both passing pole-sitter Esteban Guerrieri in the first turn.

“Today everything worked perfectly,” said Van der Garde.

“My only problem was controlling the car after the pit stop. We had changed the front tyres and I was getting a lot of oversteer, but then everything

was fine. It was a hard battle with the two Ultimate Signature drivers. I can’t wait for Estoril. My aim is to win the title there.”

He now leads Carbone by 53 points and requires just nine more to take the title.

Race 1 saw Charles Pic take his second victory this season on home turf after his victory earlier in the season at Monaco.

Miguel Molina started from pole but dropped to second after a mistake, leaving Pic to take the win.

Fabio Carbone secured another podium finish in third to prolong the championship to the next round.

Points: Van der Garde 131, Crabone 78, Julien Jousse 69, Mikhail Aleshin 60, Salvador Duran 57.

Indycar Media

DANIEL Ricciardo had a busy weekend at Le Mans competing in both the Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup and 2.0 Eurocup.

Ricciardo started from pole and shadowed his team-mate, Jean-Eric Vergne, for almost the whole race, only to pass him with minutes to go in the race.

The win further extends his championship lead before the season heads into a busy time with four races in four weeks coming up.

Fellow Aussie Ash Walsh also had a great weekend at Le Mans recording his best ever result with a seventh place finish.

Walsh started down in 21st position but charged through on a wet and drying track for his first top 10.

“I’m happy with that,” said Walsh.

“It’s certainly our best result for the season and a lot better than the results we’ve had so far.

“The circuit was drying during the race so it was good to get up there.

“I was a little lucky that the race was a little wet.

In the dry, you get stuck where you are.”

race

A tough weekend EUROCUP AFTER his success in West European Cup Daniel Ricciardo experienced a much tougher time in Eurocup at Le Mans, surrendering his points lead.

Roberto Merhi collected his second race win of the season in the first race with the everconsistent Andrea Caldarelli taking second again.

Ricciardo was forced to

withdraw after having to replace an engine before the race and was unable to line up on the grid.

Merhi collected the win amidst plenty of carnage as a first lap incident brought out the Safety Car. “The start was a bit tricky,” said Merhi.

“I skidded a little bit, so it wasn’t easy holding off Caldarelli and Valtteri Bottas.

Once the safety car left the track, I focused on putting

together a string of fast laps to try and open up a gap. I’m happy to have won today, because after qualifying in the rain, we managed to get the car in good shape for a race in dry conditions today.”

Ricciardo continued to struggle in Race 2, but at least made it to the grid, finishing down in sixth place while his championship rival Caldarelli continued his consistency to draw level in points.

“Another second place, but

I’m happy with this result, as it brings me level with Ricciardo,” said Caldarelli.

“I’ve scored big points again this weekend, now I need to win some races!”

Valtteri Bottas won the race after starting from pole to bring himself into championship contention head of the next round at Estoril on September 28.

Points: Ricciardo 98, Caldarelli 98, Bottas 91, Merhi 89, Tobias Hegewald 49.

Done and Dusted at Chicagoland INDY LIGHTS

RAPHAEL Matos wrapped up the title in the season finale SunRichGourmet.com 100 at Chicagoland Speedway to become the Firestone Indy Lights champion.

It was a great day for the whole team with Matos’ team-mate Arie Luyendyk Jr winning his first race in the series by the slimmist of margins.

“This is a dream scenario – me winning the race and Rafa winning the

championship,” said Luyendyk.

“It’s more than words can describe. Green, white, chequered is always nerve-racking.

“But, We got a good restart, thank God, and Rafa and I worked beautifully today.”

Matos’s confirmed the championship midrace after Richard Antinucci was involved in a incident of lap 26 that took him out.

“It was the best third-place finish of my life,” Matos said.

“We had a plan today for me to win the championship and Arie to win the race. He

really deserved to win a race this year, and it worked perfectly for us. I’m very happy for him and I’m really happy for the AFS Racing/Andretti Green Racing team. They deserve this championship as much as I do.”

Australian James Davison capped off a successful season with fifth position, while Ana Beatriz finished second.

Points: Matos 510, Antinucci 478, Beatriz 449, Luyendyk Jr 428, J.R. Hilldebrand 409, (9th Davison 333).

45

The Big Go

David Ostazewski

NHRA

round and Mike Neff lost in the second round.

In Pro Stock, Connolly ended Warren Johnson’s playoff bid in the first round, then ended Kurt Johnson’s bid for the top spot in the semis en route to his third win of the season and second straight Mac Tools U.S. Nationals title.

Connolly drove the Charter Communications Chevy Cobalt to a 6.74 at 206 mph in the final to defeat Larry Morgan’s 6.77 at 332kmh.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Steve Johnson rode his Snap-

on Tools Suzuki to a 7.03/189 to 7.06/187 victory over Andrew Hines’ Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson.

Bill Reichert took honours in Top Alcohol Dragster, stopping Duane Shields and Von Smith collected the Top Alcohol Funny Car win over Roger Bateman.

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David Ostazewski

FIVE-time NHRA champion Tony Schumacher capped off a record setting performance at the 54th Mac Tools U.S. Nationals Sunday with his final-round win over rival Doug Kalitta, 3.91/309 to 4.03/299.

Virtually unstoppable, Schumacher set NHRA Top Fuel records for wins in a row at six, as well as victories in a single season with his 11th.

Schumacher also tied Joe Amato for all-time wins in Top

Fuel, with his 52nd victory. It was also his seventh Mac Tools U.S. Nationals win and third in a row at Indy.

For the day, Schumacher’s U.S. Army dragster trailered Bob Vandergriff, Hillary Will and team-mate Cory McClenathan to reach the final.

In Funny Car, Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang team salvaged a dismal weekend for John Force Racing, carding a 4.31/283 victory over Jack Beckman.

Team owner John Force DNQ’d, Ashley Force lost in the first

race

A Father’s Day Special

TARGA WEST THE 2008 QUIT Targa West Rally came to an exciting closure on Father’s Day in what was a fitting end.

Steve Jones became the youngest ever winner of the Rally at just 24 and dedicated the win to his late father Warren Jones.

“Thank my dad for everything he did for me, my old man is the reason I wanted this for so long. He passed away when I was 17 and I’ve done this for him, I’ve given him what he wanted,” he said.

The Perth local took honours in the Competition Modern class in a Nissan

Skyline GTR by just 15 seconds ahead of Jim Richards (Porsche 911 GT2) and Kevin Weeks (Lamborghini Superleggera).

In taking victory he became just the third winner of the Modern Competition class in event’s four-year history.

“It was a learning curve for us, the car is so new and I didn’t know what to do it is so electrical,” said Jones. “(Over the weekend) I learnt the car, every hour I spent in the car I learnt how to drive it and we just became stronger and stronger, it was so good!

“I don’t know who to thank; all the people here that helped me come here and get what I’ve wanted for so long.”

Former World Rally Championship driver Alister McRae took out the Competition Classic Class from the opening stage of the rally to finish ahead of David Moir (Datsun 240Z) in second and Michael Miller (Holden VH SS Commodore) in third.

Kym Illman (Porsche 997 Turbo) took honours in the Challenge Modern Class by six seconds over second-placed Simon Gunson (Ford F6 Typhoon). Paul Davies (Holden HDT VC Retro) finished in third.

Andy Van Kann (Toyota Levin) won the Challenge Classic Class, finishing 3m47s ahead of Nick Rahimatulla (Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV 105 Series) in second with Martin Eyer (Triumph TR8) was third.

47

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rear of grid

What does Boris say about a V8?

WHO said Boris couldn’t drive a V8 Supercar?

American road racing specialist Boris Said has completed his first test with the Supercheap Auto Racing team ahead of his V8 Supercar debut at this weekend’s L&H 500 at Phillip Island.

Despite never having driven a right-hand-drive car, ever, Said, along with co-drive Matt Neal, took part in a familiarisation day at Queensland Raceway

on Friday. The big-haired Yank did 41 laps in the #67 Commodore.

“Friday’s first drive was pretty good,” said Said.

“It took a little getting used to sitting on the other side of the car and I kept taking my right hand off the steering wheel to change gears – that’s probably the biggest thing – but once past that it all went good. It’s still all a little bit foreign to me, but I’ll get used to it.”

Helping Said at QR was

Odd Spot

Russell Ingall …

“Russell was a huge help. He can really relate to what I’m doing and with his help by the end of the day I was doing pretty much the same times as Matt, so I’m happy with that.”

Said is no stranger to enduros, being a winner of the Sebring, Nurburgring and Daytona endurance classics.

“I’ve watched a lot of V8 Supercar racing on TV back home in America and it’s obviously one of the toughest

racing categories in the world.

It’s good hard racing and hopefully I can fit in.”

Fitting in might have been difficult, given the NBA-worthy height sported by his teammate Neal. Luckily Said is no shorty, and got on famously with his fellow #67 driver.

“I was aware of who Matt Neal was, but had never met him until we flew in on Thursday.

He’s a great guy and gave me a lot of help – it’ll be fun driving with him.”

Can’t find his Mojo?

LIKE Austin Powers once did, this karter lost his Mojo.

But while the psychedelic secret agent, defeated an evil villian (and wooed Heather Graham) in search of his mojo, the karter just crashed into a sign. He might have turned the sign inside out looking, but we can’t say whether or not he found what he was searching for ...

49