Motorsport eNews Issue 94 - March 3-10, 2009 by V8 Sleuth

DRAG RACING’S DEAL OF THE CENTURY

Issue No. 094 3 – 10 March 2009

S N IO T C A “ LOUDER THAN WORDS” HOW THE KELLYS WILL DO IT THEIR WAY

WIN!

Go to the AGP in

Rally Ace’s Shock Switch

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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 Wicks, Mark Jones, Aaron Shaw, Daniel Powell

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, Paris Charles, Neil Hammond, Joel Strickland, Ash Budd, 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.

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Australasian

The ‘A’ Team

Issue No. 094 | 3-9 March 2009

news 4 Black to the Future

6 Enzed Burnout 8 Johnny Mac time 10 Honda goes Brawn 12 Briscy Business 18 Mister Bishee

chat 24 5 minutes with ... opinion 26 Melandri 27 Van Leeuwen

race 28 Nori and Bennie

32 RoG to Trophy 36 Zappiest in the West 40 Krikkiest in the West

Todd and Rick’s new look ANDRA’s mega-deal Kiwi ace gets serious Car may test this week! Aussie tops IndyCar test Simon says ‘Evo IX’ Dale Wood Future up in the Air I see Red, I see Red, I see Red Super, Duperbikes at PI Busch is pretty Vegas Monaro rules ‘Slammers Farr wins Krikke Boys

trade 48 Classifieds Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne headed to Phillip Island with high hopes but his weekend (like his Ducati) never really got off the ground ...

Todd and Rick show their true colours, and Jack Perkins follows suit ... V8 SUPERCARS KELLY Racing is looking forward with confidence, despite the lack of recent success by ownerdrivers in V8 Supercar racing. Todd and Rick Kelly unveiled their new Jack Daniel’s-backed team to the public for the first time this afternoon [Monday] from the team’s new headquarters in the Melbourne suburb of Braeside, Despite the fact that drivers such as Jason Bright started teams with high hopes before moving on, and that Paul Morris Motorsport is yet to challenge the more establish teams on a regular basis, the Kellys believe that their own team will not only be successful commercially but will be established as a competitive team by the end of this season. “We want our actions to speak louder than words,” Todd Kelly told Motorsport eNews. “There are many people saying things like, ‘this is going to fail’, ‘we don’t know what we are doing’, ‘we don’t know what is involved’.

“People have no idea what goes on behind these walls. I am happy for people to say that stuff for as long as they like. Eventually, that is going to help. “We have not gone into this halfhearted, and you can see that here. The people here have got enough experience in the sport to make this work. Our goal is to let those people, in 12 months – or three years, or five years, – know how it feels to win.” Kelly Racing has built a base with all the facilities to go V8 Supercar racing, and signed Jack Perkins and Dale Wood to drive the team’s other two entries. Most of the team’s preparation will be done at Braeside but the engineering and build of the team’s four Holden Commodore VEs will remain with the Perkins Engineering base in nearby Moorabbin. For a full insight into the Kelly’s new workshop and racing team, check out the April issue of Motorsport News, on sale March 25.

Dirk Klynsmith

Kellys Mean Business

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Dirk Klynsmith

Wood makes four FV8 front-runner gets final KRT seat for 2009 V8 SUPERCARS KELLY Racing Team’s 2009 driver line-up has been completed, with Dale Wood to take the fourth and final seat. Wood, 25, will join brothers Rick and Todd Kelly and Jack Perkins at KRT after a two-year stint in the Fujitsu Series with Greg Murphy Racing. The deal has come as a massive relief for the Victorian, who has struggled to put together the necessary budget in a tough economic climate. “It has been a long off-season, that’s for sure,” Wood told eNews. “You just spend so much time thinking ‘is anything going to come off?’ And getting sponsorship these days is so hard. You spend a lot of time hearing ‘well under the current financial situation we’re going to have to say no.’ “So it’s gone on and on and until I finally

got some good leads, got the funding, and then had to decide what to do. I was a fairly long way down the road with another team, and then Todd [Kelly] called, which I was wrapt about, and we had a meeting and two days later it was done.” While the final branding of the car is yet to be decided, Wood’s VE Commodore will feature a red livery when the season kicks off at the Clipsal 500 in three weeks time. Before his stint in FV8s, Wood was a front-runner in the Australian Formula Ford Championship, finishing sixth in 2006 after winnign two rounds. He then moved to the development series, where he had a best round result of second at Bathurst in 2007. Wood has two main series starts to his name having raced with Mark Noske at the L&H 500 and Bathurst 1000 races last year for Sprint Gas Racing. – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Dirk Klynsmith

Reynolds sees Red for ‘09

STOP PRESS!!!

Check out page 49 for a late-breaking surprise

New team, new sponsor, new driver – and you know where you read it first! V8 SUPERCARS THE Walkinshaw Racing puzzle was officially completed last Friday with the launch of Bundy Red Racing in Melbourne. As exclusively revealed by eNews (Issue #085), David Reynolds will fill the fourth and final HSV/Walkinshaw Racing seat, backed by Bundaberg Rum through its new ‘Red’ label. The announcement confirms

Walkinshaw Racing’s line-up as Garth Tander and Will Davison in Holden Racing Team cars, Paul Dumbrell in an Autobarn Racing car, and Reynolds in the rum-back entry. While the launch, held at the Melbourne Motor Show, was a glitzy affair, Reynolds says his mind is focussed on driving the car well and nothing else. “This is the biggest launch I’ve been to for myself, but it is just one step in my career,” he told eNews.

“I need to think of this as just another category, and then work on getting to the top. “I’ve dreamed about this for years. I’ve been watching this sport since I was little, and now I have a race team to drive for. We need to work together and do what we can.” Reynolds will use the same VE Commodore chassis that Rick Kelly won the final race of 2008 at Oran Park in. “They build a fantastic car,” he added. “I just want to have a drive of it! I’ve been talking about it so long, now I want to get into it.” – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Dirk Klynsmith

BRIEFLY... ■ MORE than $30,000 was raised for the Red Cross Busfire Appeal at the weekend’s World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island. Over 40 volunteers collected from race fans during the day, with spectators digging deep to donate over $9800, and $20,840 was raised from auctioning memorabilia after the races. The top bids were for a set of Anthony West leathers that went for $1500 and a Troy Bayliss signed Ducati team shirt for $1400. ■ The Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar event has won the Qantas Australian Tourism Award for the best Major Festival and Event. It was the fourth award of its kind for the Adelaide event, which drew a claimed 291,000 spectators in 2008. ■ Bob Pearson is recovering well after his crash in the Bathurst 12 Hour at Mount Panorama. The Sydney driver hit the wall at Forrest’s Elbow on lap 82, just past the four-hour mark in the race and after being evacuated to a Sydney hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, his condition has improved rapidly. Doctors now expect him to complete his rehabilitation at home.

Enzed set for big $ Drag Deal DRAG RACING AT a time when many companies are tightening the reins, Drag Racing has completed its biggest sponsorship deal since the ‘tobacco days’, with an announcement expected in the near future that Enzed – the mobile hose and fitting service franchise – is to up its involvement in the sport in a big way as the major platform sponsor for the sport. Having put a toe in the drag racing water by backing the

Enzed Nightfire International Series, at Willowbank, in January, Motorsport eNews understands that Enzed will now step up to a full major associate sponsorship of ANDRA for the 2009/2010 season. Although unable to confirm any specifics of the deal when eNews spoke with him, Parker Hannifin (Enzed’s parent company) Marketing Manager Kevin Spiteri couldn’t help enthusing about the company’s involvement: “Yes, it’s true, we are growing

our involvement with Drag Racing significantly,” he told us. “The Willowbank event, the Enzed Nightfire series, was our first serious involvement, and it was great – the crowds, the accessibility of the teams to the public; the fact that alcohol isn’t on sale [ED: Other than corporate areas, Willowbank and WSID raceways both have ‘no-alcohol’ policies]. From our view that makes it a great family-friendly motorsport. “And, I reckon drag racing delivers huge value and bang-

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SLADE FOR SCAR V8 SUPERCARS THE V8 Supercar grid is complete, with confirmation that Tim Slade will race for Supercheap Auto Racing. As first reported in eNews, Slade will partner Russell Ingall in two Commodore VEs in the series that starts in Adelaide in four weeks’ time. “Supercheap Auto Racing was the series’ most improved for-buck for its fans – if you go out there on a Saturday, you can be entertained for 12 hours. “So yes, we are in drag racing, and we’re going to be even more into it next season. You’ll have to wait for the details …” ANDRA’s own sponsorship manager Dale Brittain was equally enthused, but unable to comment officially: “Yes, there is something in the wind and it is a big step for professional drag racing in Australia, that will see benefits flow back to Series in a number of ways …”

team last year and promises to be even better in 2009, and I couldn’t have two better blokes to learn from than Russell Ingall and Paul Morris,” Slade said in a statement. “This is a dream come true, it’s what I’ve been working towards my whole career.” Slade, 23, finished seventh and was Privateer’s Cup Champion in last year’s Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, and

won Round 2 at Wakefield Park. He won the CIK Junior Intercontinental A Australian karting title, has raced successfully in Formula 3 and was also runner up in the 2006 Australian Formula Ford Championship. SCAR will unveil its 2009 livery at a media launch at its headquarters at the Holden Performance Driving Centre on the Gold Coast this Friday.

Norton backs V8s, Sandown

Norton computer products have recently backed Lowndes in a personal deal. However, our sources suggest that there is V8 SUPERCARS’ sponsorship package will take a bigger facet to the new deal. We hear that another step forward on Wednesday when a the company will be the event sponsor of new deal is announced with Symantec. the Sandown rounds of the championship in The leading developer of ‘Norton’ computer August, which will be known as the Norton antivirus and antispyware is expected to announce its backing of the category in a multi- Sandown 300. – or will that become the Norton Sandown ‘360’ in deference to Norton’s year deal. Apart from becoming a ‘platform’ popular product ... sponsor of the series, Norton will also take The launch is expected to be attended by prominent signage on the TeamVodafone cars representatives of the company and Triple of defending V8 Supercar Champion Jamie Eight, and V8SA CEO Cameron Levick. Whincup and Craig Lowndes. Symantec’s

V8 SUPERCARS

It’s on again – at last! V8 launch to confirm Skaife deal, unveil GTR Safety Car V8 SUPERCARS AFTER the longest off-season in memory, V8 Supercar racing is poised to burst into action with the official series launch this Wednesday, followed by the two official test days. The 2009 season will launch officially at Melbourne’s Federation Square this Wednesday evening., with Public Access from 4pm to 6pm, including Tony Cochrane’s official launch announcement at 5.30pm. Among the big announcements, expect formal confirmation of last week’s exclusive eNews cover

Skaife – Seven role to be confirmed story – that’s right, Mark Skaife to join Seven – along with the unveiling of the sexy Nissan GTR Safety Car. The first of the official test days is scheduled for next Monday, March 9 (a Victorian

Public Holiday), at Winton, with Queensland Raceway hosting the second on Wednesday March 11. All teams will contest their ‘local’ test day. Expect to see HRT/Walkinshaw (4 cars), Ford Peformance Racing (2), Garry Rogers Motorsport (2) Kelly Racing (4), Sprint Gas/ Tasman (2), Brad Jones Racing (2) and Rod Nash Racing (1) at Winton; Triple Eight (2), Stone Brothers (3 including Britek), Dick Johnson Racing (2), Paul Morris Motorsport (2), Paul Cruickshank Racing (2) and Team Kiwi, Inta Racing (Marshall) one each, at Queensland Raceway. Both will run as official days,

Motorsp

ort eNew s Feb 24

with official timing etc available. Both will attract a nominal $10 entry fee – all proceeds going to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal and North Queensland Flood fundraisers respectively. Both days will kick off officially by 9am, and – apart from a lunch break – the cars will have free and ongoing track access all day, through to 5pm.

Johnny Mac makes Bathurst Bid V8 SUPERCARS NEW Zealand V8 title contender John McIntyre is keen to make sure he gets his Bathurst chance in 2009. The Nelson-based driver is poised to win his third NZV8 title, taking a slender lead into the final round, and won all three races (including a full reverse-grid race) in the rain at Manfeild last weekend. And he says his spirited form is all about getting an endurance drive for this season. “You’ve got to chase the opportunity,” McIntyre told eNews. “You’ve got to push your own barrow, because if you don’t, no one will do it for you. “There are two sides to what I’m doing now. We’ve got a team to run here and we are really focussed on winning the [NZV8] title. We’ve got good pace and we’ve won at Pukekohe this season already, so we can do that. But it doesn’t get you an enduro drive. You’ve still got to get on the phone and make the calls.” McIntyre took part in last year’s ‘Season of Endurance,’ but not at Bathurst. He raced for Paul Cruickshank Racing at the L&H 500 at Phillip Island before giving his seat up to Alex Davison at Bathurst. In 2007, McIntyre teamed up with Shane van Gisbergen at Sandown and Bathurst at Team Kiwi Racing. – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

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Champs unveil 09 look V8 SUPERCARS THIS is the look that TeamVodafone will wear in 2009. The team’s new livery was unveiled in Sydney today [Tuesday] and features a number of new looks. Norton and Hog’s Breath Cafe take prominent signage, and PWR is a new feature sponsor. The only Ford signage is on Craig Lowndes, and defending Champion Jamie Whincup is brandless so far as cars are concerned. Norton will confirm its involvement with the team in a launch at Albert Park tomorrow [Wednesday].

Married to the sport ... GARTH and Leanne Tander will be sleeping with the enemy come V8 Supercar endurance season. Far be it from us to encourage domestic arguments, but the Tanders will split the V8 Divide when Leanne teams up with Wilson Security Racing for the Phillip Island and Bathurst races. “Garth and I have sort of

raced each other before,” said Leanne. “My first Formula Ford race coincided with the year that Garth won the Formula Ford Championship. [But] we’ve never had the chance to race wheel-to-wheel and I don’t think we’ll be necessarily racing wheel-to-wheel this year this year either, but to be in the same race as my

husband, I’m really looking forward to it.” Mrs Tander completes WSR’s driving line-up for 2009, with David Wall already announced as a co-driver. And while no official pairings have been announced for Phillip Island and Bathurst, comparable body height would suggest a Coulthard/Wall car, and a Patrizi/Tander car …

The Brawn touch FORMULA 1

CONFIRMATION that what was formerly known as Honda Racing Formula 1 will race this season is expected in the next day or so. Reports from the UK suggest that the terms of the buyout of the team from Honda have been agreed and that the processes have been ongoing for the last week. Motorsport eNews has been told that arrangements such as the accommodation for the team in Melbourne have been confirmed and that team members have been told to ready themselves for the season’s first race. The deal appears to be a management buyout, headed by team principal Ross Brawn, with Nick Fry in a smaller role than he had at Honda. Honda is expected to partially fund the running of the soonto-be downsized team, with FOM revenue covering the rest of the team’s expenses. The name of the team appears likely to be Brawn Racing (not to be confused with the US NASCAR team, Braun Racing). The domain name

www.brawnracing.com was registered in the UK on February 25, and it is likely that the cars will be known as Brawn-Mercedes Benzes. According to sources, the team’s technical department has modified the 2009 car to accept a Mercedes-Benz engine and, while the actual technical changes have been built up around a mock engine, Mercedes-Benz has agreed to supply motors, and will do so once the necessary financial agreements have been put in place. Indeed, we believe that so advanced is the work on the car that it could be shaken down as soon as this week. Drivers remain up in the air, though sources close to Jenson Button have said that he has stepped up his training regimen in light of the start of the season. The reports connecting Bruno Senna with the team over recent weeks have gone quiet, so Brawn’s long-time ally Rubens Barrichello may be back in the frame for the team’s other seat.

Williams’ new warpaint You’ve probably all seen the new Williams Formula 1 car in testing over the past few weeks, but the English team has been running a special ‘testing only’ livery. Here is what the car will look like when it lines up on the grid at the Australian Grand Prix on March 29.

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The Indian Connection

Force India is one of the last teams to launch its 2009 car, but as you can see , it was worth the wait. Once again Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil will drive the car, but for this season the team has formed an alliance with Mercedes-Benz and will use engines, gearboxes and KERS technology from the German manufacturer.

Hitting the overdrive button FORMULA 1

NO, The Easybeats will not be at Albert Park, but the Australian Grand Prix Corporation does have Friday on its mind. The Grand Prix weekend will kick off in style on Friday March 27 with ‘Friday Night Overdrive’, which will take advantage of the fact that much will be happening at the circuit after 4pm. For

those wanting to see Formula 1 practice and V8 Supercars racing into the twilight hours, there will be a special ticket available that will allow access to the track after 4pm for just $30. “For this one weekend a year, we’re asking Melbournians to break their Friday after-work routine and come and join us at the Formula One circuit at Albert Park,” AGPC CEO Drew Ward said.

“With the new event timing, the best action and entertainment will happen after 4pm.” The Pit Straight area of Albert Park will have a number of new stages, bars and viewing positions, with DJs, bands and a lively social scene. Two rock bands will perform, with Juke Kartel – starring Toby Rand – and Eddie and the Robbers, which features former F1 team

owner Eddie Jordan. For bookings or more information, visit www. grandprix.com.au <http:// www.grandprix.com.au/> or call Ticketek on 131 931.

Briscoe steps u INDYCAR

The RoG Blues NASCAR TOYOTA has identified the cause of its embarrassing run of engine problems at Las Vegas. Several Toyota drivers had to start Sunday’s Sprint Cup race from the rear of the grid. Kyle Busch blew an engine in his Joe Gibbs Toyota prior to claiming the pole, and he was joined by Scott Speed, Brian Vickers, Marcos Ambrose and David Reutimann. Ambrose had qualified a career-best fifth, just behind team-mate Reutimann. Ironically, Busch won the

race from last on the grid. “It’s embarrassing,” Lee White, President of TRD said. “Whatever conditions we’ve created ourselves, stupidly, we suspect it’s a wear issue between the camshaft and lubricant. It’s either a lack of lubrication, too much lubrication, not enough coating ... whatever. “This is something the drivers don’t notice. What we see first is a lash widening up on one cylinder or the lifters slowly wearing away. Once that starts, it’s hell and gone – you can’t stop it.” – MARTIN D CLARK

AUSSIE Ryan Briscoe topped IndyCar’s Homestead test last week. Team Penske’s star led 2008 Champion, Ganassi’s Scott Dixon, and set a speed of 212.156mph on the second of the two-day test at the 1.5-mile oval. “We really did some good work here the last couple of days,” Briscoe said, who hasn’t been in the car since his win at the Nikon Indy 300 in Surfer Paradise last October. “We tested a lot of setup changes and worked together with Eric (Cowdin, new engineer from Andretti Green Racing who joined Penske last fall). It was a chance for us to do heaps of laps and work with the car extensively. We came away

from here with a better car than we arrived with. That’s always a positive.” Will Power, who is replacing Helio Castroneves, welcomed help from Sydney’s Briscoe in shaking down the # 3 Team Penske car for 14 laps before turning the car over to Power. Power managed sixth fastest on the second day, seventh overall with a speed of 210.544 mph. “We took a lot of data from yesterday and worked away at it,” Power said, who admits he struggled as did his team to learn ovals last year and felt he finally became comfortable by last September’s Chicagoland 1.5-mle oval where he finished fifth. “We were really comfortable with the Team Penske car at the end. It was good to get some miles under

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up testing pace Second Seats for my belt. We worked on a number of different setups and learned as much as we could about the car. It’s good for me to have a couple of days like this to get to know everyone on the team.”

Frequent Fliers

Honda Racing

“This is going to be a hard season,” explained Dixon. “The new teams from last year will be much better prepared so I expect to see a lot of different winners this year. There were races we dominated last year but there were others where we struggled at (road courses). We need to carry the momentum after a lack of off season testing. Dario (Franchitti) and I have different driving styles, which we learned at our first race in Australia. It is fantastic to have him back. It’s a shame to loose Dan because he was a great teammate.” Twenty-one drivers, separated by a mere 0.7196 seconds, completed 4698 incident-free laps during the 10 hours of the test. – MARY MENDEZ

NASCAR WITH the testing season for IndyCar coming to a close, the race is on for some of the teams to fill their second seats. KV Racing Technology is seeking a team-mate with funding for sophomore Mario Moraes (who was fourth fastest at the Homestead test), and the possibilities are Oriol Servia or even Paul Tracy. HVM (previously Minardi Team USA), having recovered from the shock that Doornbos preferred Newman Haas Lanigan, returns with EJ Viso and is far along in talks with Ryan Hunter Reay. Dreyer & Reinbold, still reeling from the loss of Milka Duno’s sponsorship dollars to Newman Haas Lanigan, is still hoping to run a second car alongside rookie Mike Conway for the season, after confirming that Roger Yasukawa will join the team only for Motegi, Japan. Jaime Camara, who brought

funding last season to Conquest Racing displacing Franck Perera after three races when Opes Prime failed, filled the Conquest’s seat instead of Alex Tagliani. Bruno Junqueira joined those seeking rides receiving a call from Dale Coyne Racing days before the test, informing him that Justin Wilson would be driving instead. Coyne hopes to run a second car. Even Tony George is only running one car for Ed Carpenter in his Vision Racing team, leaving AJ Foyt IV to find another ride. AJ Foyt Racing continues as a one car team with Vitor Meira as does Panther Racing with Dan Wheldon. Two new fulltime teams are 3G with owner/ driver Stanton Barrett and Luczo Dragon with Raphael Matos. Sarah Fisher has funding to run four races on the superspeedways, including the Indy 500. But absent without sponsorship is Rahal Letterman Racing. – MARY MENDEZ

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Sherrin scales back FV8 plan Drive available at Howard Racing after Sherrin pulls the pin on second car FUJITSU V8s HOWARD Racing has a race-winning car for hire, thanks to the scaling back of Sherrin’s involvement with the team for the 2009 Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series. Sherrin and Howard were poised to team up for a two-car effort in 2009, with former Porsche ace Dave Russell in one car and Grant Sherrin in the other. But with the global economic crisis forcing the tightening of purse strings, the Sherrin involvement has been cut back to a single car for Russell, leaving the ex-Dean Canto BA Falcon up for grabs. “The second car is sitting there ready to go,” confirmed team principal Warren Davis. “It’s a race winning car, all we need is a driver and a budget.” Meanwhile, Russell had a pre-season test with the team at Queensland Raceway last week, and impressed with his progress since switching from Carrera Cup. “He did a good job,” said Davis. “It takes time to get your head around these cars, but he’s doen a few laps now. I think he’ll do a good job this year.” Howard Racing will also run a Ute for Steve Robinson, as well as doing some state Formula Ford racing later in the season. – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Star rookie left with no options FUJITSU V8s

Dirk Klynsmith

THE winner of last year’s V8 Supercar Rookie of the Year Karl Reindler may be out of a drive for 2009. The West Australian was awarded the Mike Kable Rookie of the Year award at the end of last season, along with $15,000 prize money, but it hasn’t helped his plight to secure a frontrunning Fujitsu Series drive for 2009. “A year on the sidelines could well be the case,” Reindler told eNews. “We simply can’t find enough money. We’re still looking, but realistically we might not be able to find it. I don’t like doing things on a round-by-round basis, so it’s looking more and more likely that we’ll be forced to sit this one out.” Reindler was poised to join Dick Johnson Racing as part of its re-entry to the development series. However Grant Denyer is looking likely to be the sole DJR FV8 entry this season. – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

SUBSCRIBE TO MOTORSPORT NEWS AND YOU COULD GET TO THE GRAND PRIX IN STYLE! Get ready to fire up at the 2009 FORMULA 1™ ING Australian Grand Prix – with Formula 1™, V8 Supercars, The Who live on Sunday and Children 12 and Under FREE* – it’s an experience not to miss! It pays to be an MNEWS subscriber – one lucky Motorsport News/eNews subscriber will be taking a friend to the 2009 FORMULA 1™ ING Australian Grand Prix IN STYLE! Prize includes: • 2 Four-day Grandstand tickets • Economy flights from your nearest Australian capital city with Qantas, the official airline of the Grand Prix • Four nights’ accommodation • Formula 1™ Paddock Tour

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What! Rain, in the desert? MOTOGP

MotoGP

THE battle between Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner will have to wait another 24 hours, after the opening day of Qatar’s test was interrupted by – of all things – rain. Both World Champions failed to factor in the test – Stoner sat it out entirely – which was headed by Nicky Hayden, from Marco Melandri, having his first ride on what was the Kawasaki Ninja. But the conditions, wet track and sand, meant that times were relatively meaningless. As 9pm approached a number of riders, including Stoner and Rossi, asked for a delay. Testing resumed at about 10:30pm, but Rossi, teammate Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa, Loris Capirossi and Stoner decided to skip testing until the second session was due to start overnight, Monday Australian time.

The Green machine is back – in black MOTOGP

MotoGP

KAWASAKI is back in GP racing – sort of. Marco Melandri was the first rider onto the track at Qatar’s under-lights test on Sunday and, in mixed conditions, the Italian set the second-fastest lap of the opening ‘day’. The Italian raced in the Speedcar series in Dubai on Friday and Saturday and flew to Qatar to join the MotoGP test there. He will race for the Hayate Racing Team, with the support of GP promoters Dorna, which has worked with Kawasaki to overcome the team’s intended withdrawal, which was announced on January 9. A Kawasaki statement said that the new team “will be equipped with Kawasaki motorcycles and supporting materials” but there are no details of who will run the team, or its sponsorship. Melandri, who had a nightmare season with Ducati in 2008, has already missed all off-season teasting, but the 2009 ZX-RR

Ninja has been tested by Olivier Jacque at Eastern Creek and Phillip Island. The future of his proposed team-mate John Hopkins is unclear. The American had been thought to be a possible starter in

the AMA Superbike Championship, but confirmation of that is still some time away. For more on Marco Melandri, see Opinions, page 26 for Marco’s own views

THINGS YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS IN THE MARCH ISSUE OF

MOTORSPORT NEWS

• How Holden plans to turn it around – Tom’s success plan • A day in the life of ... GRM • Red Bull 09 – Webber’s best F1 car yet? plus

THE ALL-NEW V8 SUPERCAR SUPER TEAM – YEAH? MBER 1 M AUSTRALIA’S NU

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Herridge commits to home ARC round AUSTRALIAN RALLYING DEAN Herridge has confirmed that he will compete at his home round of the Australian Rally Championship – the QUIT Forest Rally in Perth – in April. Herridge did the first round of the ARC in Tasmania thanks to the event’s close tie with Targa Wrest Point, in which he campaigned one of the latest model Subaru Imprezas. But by the time the ARC circus rolls in

Joel Strickland

to Busselton, WA, Herridge will be back behind the wheel of the proven 2007spec Impreza he used two seasons ago. “Ideally, we would have liked to have used the new car [again], but that car needs to be in Tasmania at the end of April for Targa [Tasmania],” he said. “So we’ll be back in the Impreza I used in the ARC throughout 2006 and 2007. We’ve got plenty of experience with that car and it’s still a very competitive package, so we expect to be able to

push for good result.” Herridge also admitted that next weekend’s Rally of Canberra was on the team’s radar, but couldn’t be done. “We would have also liked to have contested Rally Canberra as well, but due to the tight scheduling between Tasmanian and Canberra, we were struggling to find a proper the budget. “So we’ve decided to commit to the QUIT Forest Rally, and really have a good crack at it.”

news

Guess who’s got a Mitsubishi? Evans makes shock choice for family team AUSTRALIAN RALLYING SIMON and Eli Evans will start the Rally of Canberra seeded 1-2, a first for two brothers, but they won’t be driving the same make of car. While it was expected that the elder Evans would revert back to his old Subaru Impreza after re-joining the family team, it has since been revealed that he will use a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX for the remainder of the Australian Rally Championship. Evans will use the Evo that Guarev Gil used in last year’s Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, winning the Indonesian round. It was built by Racetorque in Perth, and the Evans team will have several of the

Racetorque staff helping them at events this year. “I love a challenge, and I’ve never competed in the ARC in a Mitsubishi,” Evans told eNews. “In the end, it’s just got four wheels. I’m not thinking about the transition back to Group N. I’m not worried about pace at all; I think the last few years have proved that I can be fast enough.” In other Rally of Canberra news, the event will mark the gravel rallying debut of an Evolution X in Australia. GSA Motorsport is close to completing Steven Shepheard’s latest-model Evo, which will debut in Canberra this weekend. – ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Watch out Seb, they’re back! Gronholm and Prodrive back for Portugal WRC round

sutton-images.com

WORLD RALLYING FORMER World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm will make a shock return to the WRC in April, for Rally Portugal. The two-time World champ will campaign a 2008-spec Subaru Impreza run by Prodrive, having joined the Subaru World Rally Team as a development driver not long before the Japanese marque withdrew its factory support from the team.

Long-time navigator Timo Rautiainen will join the Finn. “Prodrive approached [me] and offered me a chance to compete in WRC Portugal with the Subaru Impreza WRC 2008 rally car,” he told his website. “After having a test in WRC Norway I decided to take the challenge.” But while the return of Gronholm will be a great boost for the sport, he says that Portugal is just a one-off ... at this stage. “When I made a decision to

retire from WRC I didn’t say never to come back,” he added. “However WRC Portugal is just a single event and nothing more. After the rally I have to analyse my feelings and to see what happens next.” Gronholm was World Rally Champion twice – in 2000 and 2002 – and retired at the end of 2007 after winning 18 World Rallies in Peugeots, and 12 in Fords. His final win was New Zealand in 2007, where he beat Sebastien Loeb by 0.3s in the closest ever WRC event finish.

Kiwi Kid gets Super V8 chance V8 SUPERCARS KIWI Michael Bristow will get his first taste of Australian V8 power when he drives a Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore at Queensland Raceway’s official test day next Wednesday. The 21-year-old is backed in the NZV8 series by TEX NZ, the Aussie equivalent of which, TEX Onsite, comes on board as a SCAR sponsor in 2009. And that relationship has led to Bristow getting the call up for a test. “We are happy to give him the chance,” team boss Paul Morris said. “Our team has a reputation and proud history of giving

young drivers an opportunity to experience V8 Supercar. “We are very excited about our new relationship with TEX Onsite and appreciate the importance of working together to meet each other’s expectations.” Bristow will attend the team’s launch on Monday March 9, before testing on the Wednesday. “This is a fantastic opportunity for me and I am really grateful to Mick Kirwan and Ross Gamble from TEX Onsite and Paul Morris for giving me this chance,” added Bristow. “I have no expectation other than to listen, learn and get as much from the experience as I can.”

Newman? Young man! YOUNG GUNS YOUNG South Australian driver Rhys Newman has rewritten the history books by becoming the youngest person in Australia to greet the starter. The new CAMS regulations allow drivers as young as 14 to obtain a circuit racing licence in Australia, lowering the legal limit from 16. Newman, just 15 years of age, competed in Round 1 of the South Australian Motor Racing championship at Mallala Motorsport Park last weekend in a Team BRM NG Elfin Formula Vee. “I would like to thank all those at CAMS who were part of this initiative, especially Bob Piper, Tim Shenken and Michael Masi, without their efforts I would not have been able to compete today,” said Newman.

Peug-a-rolo for Le Mans LE MANS

“As always Team BRM equipment was faultless and I was able to put in a solid performance.” For the record Newman finished fourth in Race 1 and fifth in Race 2 after qualifying fourth.

PEUGEOT has upped the ante in its Le Mans battle with Audi, and a fourth 908 HDi FAP will run in the race. The French team’s factory squad will race three entries in the classic endurance race, and a works-prepared 2008-spec 908 HDi FAP will run under the French racing legend’s banner. Pescarolo Sport will have ‘full sporting control’ of the car, supply its yet-to-be-named drivers and run race strategy.

news

Team Bargs stays alive!

He might be back in the big time, but Bargs keeps stays in the MINI time too ...

MINI CHALLENGE BARGWANNA Motorsport will be back in the MINI Challenge again this year, but with a new major sponsor. Rock Energy Drinks will become the sponsor of the team, which also welcomes driver Brendon ‘BJ’ Cook to the fray. Scott Bargwanna will become the lead driver in the squad after cousin Jason traded his MINI seat for a V8 Supercar drive with Sprint Gas Racing. The MINI Challenge is the first step into motorsport sponsorship for Rock Energy Drinks, but Jason Bargwanna has also been announced as the brand ambassador for the product.

“Jason and the entire Bargwanna clan are a pretty energetic bunch before they’ve even touched Rock Energy Drink, so the fit is natural!” Tim Xenos – Managing Director of Rock Energy Drinks said. “Jason’s a popular character and MINI Challenge is a Series that has a good following with solid brand backup from MINI. We’re embarking on a huge campaign to get the word out there about Rock Energy Drinks and Jason’s the man that will be the face of the company here in Australia.” Jason was also excited about the announcement for the upcoming series. “Although we only ran the second half of the year in MINI Challenge, we had a

phenomenal amount of success,” Jason reflected. “I have a brilliant opportunity with Sprint Gas Racing this year and whilst I’m happy to be back in a V8, I still have a soft spot for the MINI. “I’ll be watching the Rock Energy Drinks cars closely to ensure the boys are getting the job done. “Both Scott and BJ are great drivers and I’m sure with our family’s input, the boys will be up the front – if not, I might have to look at hooking up a drip with some Rock Energy Drinks inside the cars!” The first round of the 2009 MINI Challenge Series will be on March 26-29 at the Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix.

Kiwi motorsport’s matriarch gone NZ MOTORSPORT

DOROTHY Smith, the 92 year-old mother of Kiwi racing veteran Kenny Smith, has died after collapsing at the Manfeild race meeting on Friday. Kenny’s Mum reportedly didn’t miss a race meeting during Kenny’s entire 51-year driving career – setting a record unlikely to ever be beaten. 67 year-old Kenny went on to contest the weekend’s GP event, finishing seventh, and setting the second-fastest lap of the race … NZ motorsport has lost a well-loved matriarch.

ANDRA Crown no fluke DRAG RACING P R E S E N TS . . .

TOP BIKE

Po. Driver Points 1 Athol Williams 480 2 Jay Uppton 360 3 Sam Parker 230 4 Kim Stevens 220 5 Phillip Parker 220

JOHN Zappia is proving his overdue ANDRA Top Doorslammer crown was no fluke, with hot form in the Striker Crushing and

Screening Monaro again this season, with a perfect finals-appearance rate that sees him with a vicelike stranglehold on the Championship. “Another Monkey is off my

PRO STOCK Po. Driver Points 1 Tyronne Tremayne 160 2 Aaron Tremayne 120 2 Scott Porter 100 2 Lee Bektash 100 5 John Barbagallo 80

back, look!” as Zappia hammedup to media observers after finally securing a long-overdue Westernationals crown in front of his adoring home crowd in Perth. Zappia didn’t have things all his way in Qualifying, after hurting their primary engine, the Striker team performed an engine swap and managed to tune the car literally by the seat of their collective pants to pinch the Top Qualifier position off Peter Kapiris by a thousandth of a second that had the parochial Perth Motorplex crowd on its feet.

Tough, but fair ... DRAG RACING

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Po. Driver Points 1 Jason Lee 70 2 Luke Crowley 60 2 Michael Gilbertson 60 2 Lachlan Ireland 60

P R E S E N TS . . .

Wednesday March 4 Inside Speed - (FOX Sports) 8:30pm

Enzed New Year Series - Top Alcohol & Top Bike Sunday March 8

ANDRA Championship TV (Nine) 12pm Wynn's Spitfire Season Review 1 - TF/TA/PB

Sunday March 8 Speedweek - ( SBS ) 1pm Enzed New Year Series - Top Alcohol & Top Bike Sunday March 8 Speedweek - ( SBS ) – 2pm Enzed New Year Series - Nitro Funny Car

Tin Top Titles 17th & 18th April 2009 Willowbank

AFTER the 38th Summernationals event, many people were still talking about the Drag Racing staging-games between Deno Brijeski and Robin Judd, during round one of ANDRA Top Doorslammer eliminations. Judd was left in full stage and high revs for several seconds, waiting for the full-stage commitment by the Brijeski entry in the other lane. With both cars affected by this gamesmanship on the startline, both the William Buck entry of Judd and his rival struggled down the track, however Deno was able to deliver a holeshot win. The staging duel undoubtedly made Judd’s clutch very hot, and that put paid to any full pass down the quarter mile, in a scenario that has possibly hurt his ANDRA Top Doorslammer

Championship aspirations this season, with this first round exit. According to Deno in his All Over Crane Hire Camaro – it was all about payback. “Juddy left me waiting on the startline in qualifying and that hurt us,” retorted Deno upon reflection. “Some might say it was only qualifying, however in ANDRA Top Doorslammer, qualifying is as brutal and important as race day. Hopefully he has learnt his lesson and if he doesn’t leave me hanging on the startline, then I won’t either – it is as simple as that. Let’s race hard but fair.”

Championship aspirations DRAG RACING THE Westernationals event in Western Australia is famous for its brutal racing dynamic between Super Stock and Competition Eliminator in particular, Scott Karandrews went deep into elimination rounds, which will not hurt his Rocket Allstars

Championship aspirations. For all that, Karandrews is looking at bigger fish to fry. “WASP have been awesome in their support of our racing efforts and its thanks to them I could even afford to come to Perth and race,” explained the likeable Queenslander. “We are currently in discussions about making a

move eventually into ANDRA Pro Stock professional Drag Racing and I hope we can pull it off.” Karandrews blitzed several performance benchmarks for his car at the Westernationals and this WASP might ‘sting’ a few of his rivals yet for the remaining rounds this season of the Rocket Allstars Series.

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Back and better than ever DRAG RACING PETER Kapiris is well and truly back as a genuine ANDRA Top Doorslammer contender this year. After some stutters earlier this season, Kapris shone at the Westernationals at the Perth Motorplex, his familiar ‘Batmobile’ VPW entry, finishing a superb second. Just as impressive as his first five (5.947) during Qualifying action in Perth, was the steady sequence of super quick 6.0 second laps that saw the 2001-2002 ANDRA Top Doorslammer Champ surge to a finalround matchup with local hero, John Zappia. A key component of Kapiris’ performance is the addition of well-

known blown-alcohol engine specialist Mark Brew to the team. “With Mark with us now, we are hitting some consistent runs and I can’t begin to explain how fantastic it is to race Doorslammer with full passes down track,” grinned Kapiris. The emotion of success swirled around ‘PK’ and the entire VPW team during the Westernationals, however it wasn’t just restricted to the Batmobile crew! “I just had a gentleman from the Perth Crowd watching us race come up and congratulate me on the pass, and then in the next moment tears starting welling up in his eyes and then streaming down his face.

“When I asked why he was crying, the man said he had been a long time fan and when he saw our first five on the readout boards, he just was overcome with emotion.” It shouldn’t surprise people that Kapiris’ renaissance appears to have started in Perth, as it was at this venue that he last took out a round of ANDRA Top Doorslammer and it was also at the Kwinana Beach based facility where his 2001/2002 ANDRA Championship crown was iced. “I love this place. I love West Aussies! We always seem to contend here but this time there is a real sense of purpose in where we are heading as a team.”

Kiwi flyer set to make history DRAG RACING ATHOL Williams’ dominant performance in the West has the Kiwi Flyer set to become the first New Zealander to win a Pro Category Championship in this country. Williams’ endeavours and efforts aren’t lost on the Drag Racing fandom, with the distinctive Nitro bike getting standing ovations whenever he races, right around the country. Despite the public love for the Stud Welding team, Williams is in urgent need of sponsorship support, particularly to back up an ANDRA Championship tilt next season. “This trip to Perth Motorplex is a 11,500km return journey for us, which incorporates a flight to Brisbane, then I personally drive the transporter from there to Perth,” remarked Williams candidly. “It is a long drive and then

flying our team here and back to New Zealand is an enormous effort. With the economy the way it is, we really need additional support next season to be able to keep this level of effort up.” A serious sponsor would help the team on many levels, including forward development of the customdesigned Roger Bloor entry. “We want to a try a new wheel-tyre combination, but we machine these

components back at Pokono in New Zealand. You need the chassis on site to match and fit everything properly with the wheel and that’s problematic whilst we are racing around Australia chasing an ANDRA Top Bike Championship.” There was an interesting item attached to the Stud Welding Bike’s pit awning in Perth as well, after the Flying Kiwi beached the entry during Qualifying action

after running deep into the Motorplex Sand Trap. “We are still coming to grips with the parachutes on this bike and we got caught out in the deep-end. There is a bucket and spade award for the last person in Top Bike to hit the sand-traps and I guess I am latest recipient,” grinned the affable Kiwi as he eyed off the toy plastic bucket and spade set, full of that West Aussie sand that he ingested into his bike during his deep-end detour.

5 MINUTES WITH ...

DALE WOOD

After serving a two-season apprenticeship in the development series, former Rookie of the Year Dale Wood is stepping up to the big time with the new-for-2009 ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN Kelly Racing Team. And he couldn’t be more relieved ... MOTORSPORT NEWS: I suppose it’s been a long off-season for you, but a deal has finally come together. You must be excited. DALE WOOD: Well it has been a long offseason, that’s for sure. You just spend so much time thinking ‘is anything going to come off?’ And getting sponsorship these days is so hard. You spend a lot of time hearing ‘well under the current financial situation we’re going to have to say no.’ So it’s gone on and on and until I finally got some good leads, got the funding, and then had to decide what to do. I was a fairly long way down the road with another team, and then Todd [Kelly] called, which I was rapt about, and we had a meeting and two days later it was done.

What about relief? Is that a better way to describe how you’re feeling at the moment? Relief is an understatement! It’s not like teams ring you up and ask how much you want to be paid; it doesn’t work like that. So to end up at a team as good as this, is much more than I ever expected. It’s extremely good. Security-wise, where do you feel your career is at now. Where do you fit in with the team’s future, do you think? I’d love the option to go two years – that would be fantastic. But it will probably be a one-year thing, and at the end of the first

Dirk Klynsmith

Now it is a done deal, do you start getting nervous about stepping up to the main series? I haven’t had a chance to think about it. I haven’t even had a chance to train properly recently because it’s been so crazy. I’ve been working day and night trying to get sponsors. Now I can think about it. When we get close to the first round the old nerves might kick in, but I’m looking forward to it. I don’t feel under pressure, and I’ve got the whole season ahead.

year hopefully we can work things out for a second. It’s hard to do anything in one year in this category; you need two years minimum just to get into the swing of the pace of the category. What is going to be the hardest thing to get used to switching from the development series to the main series? Pitstops? No, probably the intensity. The development series is fantastic, but it doesn’t have the same intensity. It’s about the level of competition. From the front of the grid to the back of the grid in development series it can be as much as four second. That won’t be the case now. In main series it might be a second. It might be two seconds at a maximum. That’s the level of intensity I have to rise to. How important is it for you to have Bathurst and Championship winners like Rick and Todd Kelly to use as a benchmark?

Second to none. When I come in after a session, I won’t have to wonder what is going on. My engineer and I can quickly overlay some data and see the areas where we need to improve. Guys like Rick and Todd are at the pinnacle of the sport. That’s a fantastic advantage. What are the advantages of coming into a team that is being built around you? Literally, buildings are going up right now. It’s exciting, because you become a part of it. As opposed to walking into an established team? I don’t know. I’ve never done that. This is my first introduction to the main series, and it’s with a team that’s growing. But its not like this is building from nothing. There are some awesome foundations and some key people. It’s not like building brand new – it’s just putting some good brains together and building a good team.

chat

Dirk Klynsmith

MotoGP

Melandri – Back in Black OPINION

Marco Melandri MotoGP Rider WE wanted to know what would be happening with Kawasaki and Marco Melandri, so we tracked the lad down in Dubai last week and asked. He was not that forthcoming …

I am very excited about the test this week for Kawasaki. We will be doing three days at the Qatar circuit to test the bike, but at this stage I know very little about the project. We will go there to see what condition we are in and any participation in MotoGP depends on that test – but it will be down to the engineers and the team as a whole. I hope

it will be positive because I will have no racing otherwise! The team is going to be made up of existing people, although quite how the team will be structured I don’t know. Kawasaki Europe has put out a press release saying that it is a factory team rather than manufacturer-assisted but I will wait to find out more on Sunday. It will be a new bike, I believe, and I am excited

to see what it is like. Once we have tested we will see what shape we are in and whether we will go ahead. There isn’t one thing that will influence the decision, more a combination of factors. If we are a long way from the pace we may not push forward but if we are close and can see that with a few improvements we would be competitive then the project looks more likely.

Letters

Have your say – email us at mail@mnews.com.au. RPM on the limit?

I would have emailed you but my internet is down! Can you find out what is going on with that RPM show please? I tried checking the Ten website at a mate’s place the other night but it looks like

they shut it down. When we called the station, no-one seemed to know if it was coming back or not. I have watched that shoe for years, so I hope it hasn’t been ‘boned’ as Eddie McGuire would say. Keep up the good wrk with

the mag and eNews! Lance Laudenbach Panania NSW Tell it like it is Skaifey I hope your story about Mark Skaife getting a spot on the Channel Seven commentary team is correct. I have always

found him to be among the more lucid and well-spoken among the current generation of drivers. The only thing is that he is going to have to “unlearn” the “media training” they give all young drivers these days, so they can prat on for two

opinion

Tough times for Gen Ys OPINION Andrew van Leeuwen mNews National Editor GOOD news regarding young drivers is pretty hard to come by at the moment. Finding sponsors has never been easy for young drivers. I’ve never sat in a board room and asked a CEO for a million bucks in return for some stickers on the side of a Falcon or Commodore, but from what my nomex-wearing chums tell me, it usually draws a blank look followed by the CEO silently pressing a ‘release the hounds’ button under his desk Mr Burns-style. And these days, with the global economic meltdown (or hoedown, I can never remember which), it has gone from nearly impossible to, well, impossible. And that makes for plenty of bad news stories. Last week we had Michael Trimble forced

minutes and say absolutely nothing of any meaning! Give us the real low-down, Skaifey, like Mark Larkham. While I am writing, from the same issue, how can Team ‘Kiwi’ possibly operate without a Kiwi driver? Seems to me that Stone Brothers is far more Kiwi than

to miss out the season, this week it is Karl Reindler who is temporarily hanging up the helmet. And these were the two brightest V8 Supercar rookies from last season. Reindler was the Rookie of the Year for Pete’s sake! But through all of the sadness and monetary doom and gloom, there is a ray of sunlight. And it’s called Bundy Red Racing. David Reynolds has done everything right since he first wore a helmet. He was the Australian Formula Ford Champion in 2004, the Carrera Cup Champion in 2007, and looked the goods in his debut Fujitsu V8 Supercar season last year. He’s followed the formula, won the titles, and now he has been given a factory chance with Walkinshaw, in a car backed by a proper sponsor. And a new sponsor. Perfect. How will he go? He won’t win at Clipsal, and Reynolds is the first to agree with

Team Kiwi itself; go Van Giz! Michael Kingsbrough Mt Waverley, VIC Here come the Bulls As an Australian motor racing fan and an avid Formula 1 follower I think that this year may just be the year of Webber.

that. But he’s been too fast in too many categories for it not to be plausible that he will be raising some eyebrows by midseason. After all, he did overtake Mark Skaife on the track in the Autobarn car at Phillip Island last year … You can add to that Tim Slade at Supercheap Auto Racing, and Dale Wood at Kelly Racing Team. You can’t turn a complete blind eye to ‘making commercial sense’ (read drivers bringing cash), but our eNews sources suggest that both drives had other blokes with bigger wallets sniffing around. Both Slade and Wood have been solid contenders in the Fujitsu Series for the last two weeks, and deserve a chance in the main game. Obviously the decision makers at SCAR and KRT reached the same conclusion. So it might be a tough time for the youngsters of our sport, but the good news is there is still a new generation coming through.

Now I know that many of us have been saying this exact same thing for many years, but for once we can say it without having to secretly pray that it may come true. Many have written off our boy and it lloks like this year is no exception.

Since when has a team-mate beaten Webber on a semiregular basis, well, never. So why should it be any different with Vettel? Bring on Melbourne and let Mark Webber finaly shine. Glenn Archer St Kilda, Vic

WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1 – PHILLIP ISLAND

race

Qualifying? Who needs Qualifying? Noriyuki Haga started World Superbikes’ post-Bayliss era with a win and a second, and a convincing points lead. PHIL BRANAGAN watched

John Morris

UALIFYING is important in all forms of motor racing. Isn’t

John Morris

it? After all, Ben Spies won his first World Superbike race from pole position – and that was hard-won after the American stormed through the final Superpole session. So, how to explain that Noriyuki Haga won the opening race from 13th on the grid, after the Ducati ace dropped the ball in qualifying? And, that the Nitrous one was the man Spies had to fight off to win Race 2, after started 13th again? You can’t, really. Well, maybe Nori can. “In 2005 I was in 16th and won a race, so now everybody knows it doesn't matter where the start position is – we don't need qualifying!” he said later. Race 1 was one of those classic encounters that makes watching Superbike racing such a joy. Haga and Nuekirchner staged an epic war after the Ducati somehow emerged from the opening corners in third place. It took Neukirchner a handful of laps to emerge from the pack and, when they broke away from the peleton, the 13th and 14th qualifiers settled down to decide the winner. Aided by a few spots of rain, Neukirchner led the last lap until he almost highsided off the Suzuki over MG. Haga slipped by but the German, put his head down, and charged after the V-twin, missing the win by 0.032s. Kagayama was a strong third – which meant all three men raced to the podium from outside the top 10 grid spots – with Fabrizio completing the symmetry of the top four ahead of Rea, Haslam and Laconi. Spies copped a fairing-tofairing bashing from Max Biaggi and ran off again while charging from last (he later clashed, again, with Ruben Xaus) and when the Texan went the outside route on

the opening corners of Race 2 – and Max was again in close proximity – everyone held their breath. No worries; Spies emerged in the lead and, when Haga caught him, showed his class and speed to take his first win. “I tried to stay as close as possible to him and waited for his grip levels to come down,” beamed the Yamaha man. “With four laps to go I felt it was the right moment so I put my head down and charged and just kept going!” If the speed of the new Yamaha was a talking point, so too was the Aprilia of Biaggi. The V4 was fast, no question, but there are still vibration issues to deal with, and the bike used its rear tyre harder than did the opposition, Biaggi running off the track while battling for position and dropping to 15th. The other new machines, the BMWs, showed potential. Aussie Troy Corser was a strong eighth in the opening race, setting fastest lap, but there was no pace in Race 2 with tyre issues. The expected challenge from the Hondas never came, tyre and set-up dramas hampering their speed, but Leon Haslam showed consistency on the Stiggy entry, and lies third overall as the circus heads to Qatar. The best news for Haga was, even if Spies won the second race, the inconsistent results of his expected title rivals have handed him a useful edge. Spies, Neukirchner and, probably, the Hondas will win later in the season but for now, Nori got to mount a double celebration. “It’s my birthday tomorrow!” Haga, 34 today, said after grabbing the microphone at the post-Race 1 media conference. We sang Happy Birthday but after this start, we can expect to hear Kima Ga Ya, the Japanese national anthem, a few more times before he turns 35 …

race

John Morris

The Battle is on: Max Neukirchner and Noriyuki Haga, left, fought out a thrilling Race 1. The second outing was the domain of Ben Spies, who got some respect from Jonny Rea post race, below left. Max Biaggi showed speed on the Aprilia, botton left, but the man who replaced him at Sterilgarda Ducati, Shakey Byrne, had a nightmare. Leon Haslam was best of the Honda men, below, taking a sixth and a third on his Stiggy entry. Ryuichi Kiyonari failed to complete a lap in either race, below right, but things were much better for the Ten Kates in World Supersport, with Kenan Sofuoglu leading Andrew Pitt to a 1-2 finish. Ant West followed them to third, bottom right.

WORLD SUPERBIKES | RD 1 PHILLIP ISLAND Race 1 (22 laps) 1 Noriyuki Haga J Ducati 1098 F09 34m22.631s 2 Max Neukirchner D Suzuki GSX-R1000K9 +0.032s 3 Yukio Kagayama J Suzuki GSX-R1000K9 +5.347s 4 Michel Fabrizio I Ducati 1098 F09 +6.587s 5 Jonathan Rea GB Honda CBR1000RR +8.491s 6 Leon Haslam GB Honda CBR1000RR +8.532s 7 Regis Laconi F Ducati 1098R +8.766s 8 Troy Corser Aus BMW S 1000RR +11.589s 9 Jakub Smrz Cz Ducati 1098R +11.721s 10 Tom Sykes GB Yamaha YZF-R1 +11.761s Race 2 (22 laps) 1 Ben Spies USA Yamaha YZF-R1 34m20.457s 2 Noriyuki Haga J Ducati 1098 F09 +1.286s 3 Leon Haslam GB Honda CBR1000RR +4.213s 4 Michel Fabrizio I Ducati 1098 F09 +4.490s 5 Regis Laconi F Ducati 1098R +6.045s 6 Max Neukirchner D Suzuki GSX-R1000K9 +9.947s 7 Jakub Smrz Cz Ducati 1098R +10.174s 8 Yukio Kagayama J Suzuki GSX-R1000K9 +12.100s 9 Jonathan Rea GB Honda CBR1000RR +12.742s 10 Tom Sykes GB Yamaha YZF-R1 +20.061s

WSBK | RIDERS’ POINTS

Haga 45, Neukirchner 30, Haslam 26, Spies 25, Kagayama/ Fabrizio 24, Laconi 22, Rea 18, Smrz 16, Sykes 12.

John Morris

Kenan leads Honda SuperSport Rout shoulder in a practice crash, and Cal Crutchlow for Yamaha. Further back Joan Lascorz backed up his Portuguese testing speed by leading before dropping back to eighth and Aussies Mark Aitchison and Garry McCoy were in the fight, before finishing sixth and 14th respectively. Ten Kate Honda has won more Supersport titles than you can count. It may get one more this season.

John Morris

A HONDA 1-2-3 in the World Supersport opener sounds like a walkover but the opening round of the series was anything but. Kenan Sofuoglu and Andrew Pitt had too much steam for the Stiggy Honda of Ant West, but for the first half of the race, as many as 14 bikes ran in a line that made the race look like a 125cc GP. The front three all led the race at one point; so too did Fabien Foret, who dislocated his

NASCAR SPRINT CUP ROUND 3 – SHELBY 427, LAS VEGAS, NV

The Last Word in First-to-Last-to-First A blown engine in practice put Kyle Busch on the back of the grid in Vegas – after he qualified on the pole. He outlasted the opposition to finish the race in first. Confused? MARTIN D CLARK wasn’t

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Toyota Motorsport

YLE Busch must have been down in the mouth when an engine change cost him a pole position start for the Shelby 427 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But Busch still managed to take his first Sprint Cup win at his home track, passing and holding off the Richard Childress pair of Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer in the final laps, in a marathon race with a record 14 caution periods. One thing the blown engine did allow Busch to do was to set records as the first Cup winner from pole position at Vegas, and the lowest starting position of a round winner. The two seemingly opposite records came in the same race! “This is the feeling of a lifetime,” said Busch, “it’s awesome. We didn’t have the best car today, but I feel like I drove a smart race today and did what we needed to do and kept making it better. “We had a couple of cautions there at the end that made me nervous. I don’t know where I get credited to winning this thing from, whether it’s from the back or the pole, but either way we conquered both of them that’s for sure. It’s going to be one heck of a party in Las Vegas!” Matt Kenseth dropped off the pace on lap two with engine misfire issues that turned into terminal damage on lap seven, ending any chance for the Roush Fenway driver of winning the first three events of the year. Kenseth was not alone in the garage, with Roush Yates Ford engine issues striking down David Ragan and Carl Edwards, whose motor expired in the final laps while running in the top five. That second caution on lap seven also hurt

Marcos Ambrose when Todd Bodine spun unaided. With Ambrose starting at the rear due to an engine change, he was tagged hard in the rear by Elliott Sadler, ending any chance he had of rebounding into the top five – where he had, remarkably, qualified. On a lap 169 restart, Ambrose passed race leader Jeff Burton and when the yellow flag waved again just two laps later, he was still out front so got one of his two lost laps back to finish a highly respectable 20th. Jeff Gordon headed laps early and just past halfway recorded the 20,000th lap led in his 17-year career. But even his experience was not enough for him to miss the tricky entry to pit road. Gordon locked up his brakes and flat spotted the left front tyre, causing it to blow as he whipped around another lap scattering debris and airing caution 11. Johnson, who led the most laps, pitted before Gordon attempted to and slid through his pit stall, putting him a lap down when the yellow waved for Gordon. Gordon’s front end was repaired and, amazingly, he finished sixth with his left front fender missing and the nose patched. Johnson made up his lap, passing leader Busch, but he brought out the final caution when he lost control like many others over the weekend in the banked turns and slammed the wall, to finish 24th. Had the Hendrick pairing not had dramas, Busch would have had more of a fight on his hands, but it wasn’t to be and Busch took the win – with rumours of a future in Formula 1 swirling, although he admits he want to clinch the Sprint Cup before any such move. ...

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NASCAR | SHELBY 427, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA 1 18 2 33 3 31 4 00 5 96 6 24 7 16 8 83 9 26 10 88 20 47

Kyle Busch Toyota Clint Bowyer Chevy Jeff Burton Chevy David Reutimann Toyota Bobby Labonte Ford Jeff Gordon Chev Greg Biffle Ford Brian Vickers Toyota Jamie McMurray Ford Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevy Marcos Ambrose Toyota

Gibbs/M&Ms Q1 Childress/Cheerios 37 Childress/Caterpillar 14 Waltrip/Aaron’s Dream Machine 4 Hall of Fame/Ask.com 17 Hendrick/DuPont 28 Roush Fenway/3M 24 Red Bull Racing 21 Roush Fenway/Irwin Tools 38 Hendrick/National Guard 31 JTG Daugherty/Little Debbie 5

NASCAR Media

Dirk Klynsmith

NASCAR SPRINT CUP | POINTS Gordon 469, Bowyer 451, Kenseth 429, Biffle 429, Reutimann 408, Kyle Busch 405, Kurt Busch 403, Stewart 489, Edwards 487, Labonte 370.

Toyota Motorsports

The sweet taste of ... chocolate! Kyle Busch, main pic, did not let a small detail like starting last interfere with his winning plans and scored his first Cup win of 2009, and first at Las Vegas. Marcos Ambrose, left, qualified a brilliant fifth but an engine swap put him at the back. At the start of the race Jimmie Johnson led Kurt Busch away, below, but the Chevy driver later hit the wall and dropped out of contention.

Bringing Back the Biff[le]

Biﬄe wins after 2-year drought NATIONWIDE

NASCAR Media

GREG Biffle could not have ended a 76-race winless Nationwide streak any more convincingly. He was ill prior to the race. He ran out of fuel – while leading the race. Then, he was penalised for speeding on pit road. Biffle held off his Roush Fenway Racing team-mate Carl Edwards in a two-lap sprint to the chequer in overtime after Denny Hamlin slapped the wall and cut a tyre, only for Mike Bliss to rear-end him hard as the tyre let go throwing the 12th yellow flag with three laps to run. “It felt like a 24-hour race,” commented Biffle after two red flags and much drama. “All kinds of things happened. The race definitely wasn’t without action.” … unlike the previous week’s procession at Fontana. As Biffle took the green flag for the final time on lap 208 of a scheduled 200, his Ford

engine sputtered in search of fuel and Edwards dived under him. But Biffle got his foot on the gas, pinching Edwards down the track, and held him off for the win. The Braun Racing Toyotas of Brian Vickers and Jason Leffler placed third and fourth with Dale Earnhardt Jr fifth and a foursome of Nationwide Series rookies of Michael McDowell, Brendan Gaughan, Justin Allgaier and Scott Lagasse Jr next. Kyle Busch exited the race early, crashing on lap 22 when attempting a pass for the lead on Kevin Harvick and wiping out pole sitter Scott Speed in the process. Harvick was swept into a wreck as Jeff Burton spun in front of him. There were many other wacky incidents that were too numerous for the space we have here! – MARTIN D CLARK Final result; Biffle (Ford), Edwards (Ford), Vickers (Toyota), Leffler (Toyota), Earnhardt Jr. (Chevy), McDowell (Toyota), etc.

WESTERNATIONALS PERTH MOTORPLEX

Fastest Door in Th 36

John Zappia on home soil; did anyone else really have a chance? Not according to LUKE NIEUWHOF

Luke Nieuwhof

he West

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EST Australian racer John Zappia continued his streak of victories in the Australian Top Doorslammer Series with a win at last weekend’s Westernationals at Perth Motorplex. Zappia’s dominating 5.93s run in the final was an easy winner over Peter Kapiris, who spun the tyres as soon as he left the start line, ruining any chance of knocking off the local hero. It was Zappia’s third win from three events so far held this season and gives him a stranglehold on the championship moving into the final three events. But it wasn’t all smooth sialing; Zappia’s weekend began with a hiccup when he kicked the rods out of his Striker Crushing Holden Monaro on the first qualifying run. He came out for the final session and immediately took pole position with a 5.946s pass, ousting Kapiris’s 5.947s qualifying run by the slimmest of margins. Zappia defeated the Northern Territory’s Mathew Abel, racing the ‘57 Chev in full Karcher colours for the first time, in Round 1 in a close race, with Abel running a personal best 6.21s. The car known by its fans as ‘Zap’s Rat’ then got past New South Welshman Deno Brijeski in the semi finals, Brijeski’s 6.18s nowhere near toppling a consistent 5.93s from Zappia. Meanwhile, Kapiris eliminated Victor Bray in the Castrol Edge Chev in Round 1 with a 6.02s pass, and then faced Bray’s son Ben in the semi finals, a 6.06s knocking out a tyre-shaking run from the second Team Bray car. The Australian Top Bike Series was also in Perth, and it was New Zealand’s Athol Williams who took the win in the final with a close 6.52s to 6.68s race against Western Australia’s Ian Ashelford. It was a fitting win for Williams who had a heart breaking loss four months ago at the Motorplex when his nitrofuelled motorcycle would not start for the final. The battle for the championship is alive and well between Williams and Jay Upton, with Williams starting to get an edge thanks to the awesome consistency of his Suzuki-based machine, which also claimed low elapsed time (6.35s) and top speed (360kmh) bonus points during the weekend. The Top Doorslammers now move on to the Tin Top Titles in Queensland in April while the Top Bikes have a break until May’s Nitro Champs in Sydney.

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Brian White Media

Rat Attack: As expected, Zap’s Rat, above left, was way too fast at the Motorplex, beating all-comers. The only bloke capable of giving Zappia a fright was Peter Kaparis, below, but he fell short in the final with a tyre-spinning effort. Kiwi Athol Williams was the man to beat on two-wheels, left, while Mathew Abel showed off his pretty new Karcher colours, above. Brian White Media

Luke Nieuwhof

KRIKKIE BROTHERS SHOOTOUT BUNBURY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

The King of Bunbury Robbie Farr won his sixth Krikkie Boys Shootout last weekend. DARREN SUTTON was there to see it unfold

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Darren Sutton

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Darren Sutton

SPEEDWAY ROBBIE Farr has taken out his sixth Krikke Boys Shootout in emphatic style leading the 35-lap race flag to flag. Farr drove a perfect race to come away with the $20,000 cheque in front of a massive crowd at Western Australia’s venue of Bunbury. With the going hard for all the drivers on night one due to the rough and unpredictable track condition Farr played

.%7

the points game to make sure he worked towards the pointy end of the field come A main time on night two. “I discussed it with the team and we didn’t want to trash a car and have to start from scratch again going into night two of a two night deal, so we made sure we worked forward enough to get a good result that would see us start in a reasonable spot on night two’s A main,” said Farr. “As it worked out we got pole.” American Paul McMahon did a great job

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in second but was unable to match Farr’s outright speed in the race. “It really sucks running second again, if it wasn’t for Robbie Farr I would have two of these things now,” said McMahon, after running second to Farr for the second time. Danny Reidy proved once and for-all this weekend that he has the skills and capability to win this event. After hitting a rut and spinning on night one, Reidy was out to make amends and did

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race

Darren Sutton

The Krikkie King: Robbie Farr, left took his sixth Krikkie Boys Shootout win. Ben Ellement, right, took out the Night one A Main, while Kris Coyle, below right, finished third on Night two.

Darren Sutton

an awesome job to round out the top three. with Danny Reidy. “Last night we proved we were fast but The night one A main was taken out by had an issue and again tonight we showed Ben Ellement ahead of American Chad we were fast, look we will definitely be back Blonde and Coyle. Ellement was running again next year for this event for sure,” said fourth on night two when he broke a Reidy. driveline and headed infield. Finishing third on night one was young Ryan Farrell finished behind Dumesney gun Kris Coyle and he backed it up with a in the final after coming from the B Main, strong fourth place on night two. Farrell was the only driver to make the high we were going forward but I used my tyres Coyle flew past Max Dumesney in the line work and did another outstanding job. up getting there we just couldn’t go late stages the race slotting into the “We gave it our all, I was spent that DIRECTORY MSN of MAG DIRECTORY ADS 7/07 14/6/07 3:57 MSNafter MAG ADS and 7/07 14/6/07 any further”. Said Farrell. position after Dumesny got caught up race I could not have worked any harder,

3:5

NEW ZEALAND GRAND PRIX MANFEILD

Gaunt wins Grand Prix TRS

A SEASON out of open-wheeler racing wasn’t enough to stop Daniel Gaunt winning his second New Zealand Grand Prix last weekend. The now-V8 Supercar driver stepped back to his roots, the Toyota Racing Series, for a oneoff Grand Prix outing for Triple X Motorsport. And the two-time series champ was in vintage form despite having spent the last 12 months in Porsches and V8s, beating A1GP driver Earl Bamber to the big prize. In changeable conditions at Manfeild, it was actually Mitch

Cunnignham who shadowed Gaunt in the early part of the 35-lapper, before falling victim to Bamber. A mid-race Safety Car gave Bamber his only real chance to stealing the lead. But Gaunt was too good, controlling the restart and eventually winning with 3s up his sleeve. “I had to push the whole time,” said Gaunt. “With the changing conditions and getting drier all the time I knew Earl would be on me the whole weekend. It was fortunate we set the car up for drying conditions – and luckily that’s what it did in the race.” Gaunt also won the Sunday

morning Sprint Race, the 100th start for the five-year-old series. But it wasn’t all second places for Bamber; on Saturday he won the Dan Higgins Trophy race after an epic battle with Gaunt. Gaunt actually led most of the race, braving intense pressure from Bamber, In the end the pressure was too much, Gaunt sliding off and handing the lead, and win, to an ecstatic Bamber. “It was a great duel, best I’ve had in years,” said Bamber. “I was just pushing harder and harder and aiming to pressure Daniel into a mistake, and would have had a proper go in the last couple of laps if I had to.”

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Hat-Trick Johnny NZ V8s FOR the first time in 24 rounds, since the 05/06 season, one driver has clean-swept a round of the BNT V8s in New Zealand. Even a complete reverse-grid Race 2 wasn’t enough to stop John McIntyre at Manifeild last weekend, putting the defending Champion back in the lead of the points with a round to go. During the weekend McIntyre also racked up his 40th (and 41st) race wins in the series, and all just days after marrying long-time partner Lisa. There was an element of luck to McIntyre’s reverse-grid race win. In tough conditions, and starting from the very back, the Nelson-based driver did well to get up to third

unaided. But a pass for Angus Fogg’s lead by Andrew Anderson ended in disaster for the two leaders, and fortune for McIntyre, who barely missed Anderson’s spinning car on his way to the win. “I saw Andrew spin, but he did the right thing and stopped his car spinning out of control so I was able to take a clean line around him,” McIntyre said afterwards. Craig Baird was second for the round, having taken pole, and moves to third in the overall standings. Paul Manuell was third, while McIntyre’s closest title rival, Kayne Scott, battled with mechanical woes all weekend. The final round is at Pukekohe this weekend. Points: McIntyre 1022, Scott 984, Baird 856, Andy Booth 827, Manuell 738.

Baird’s Triple Treat ... again GT3 CUP CHALLENGE CRAIG Baird enjoyed another weekend of Porsche dominance in New Zealand, winning all three races in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge at Manfeild. Once again it was an all-Triple X Motorsport affair, with Baird being chased by David Reynolds in all three races. Reynolds even had a chance to win the second outing, beating Baird off the line, but the wily Kiwi re-took the lead just moments before the race was declared due to bad weather. “To win all three here makes a big difference to me,” said. “The pressure was on – David did a good job – he arrived here late and on a green set of tyres to run that hard was a good effort.” Points: Baird 1070, Reynolds 978, Daniel Gaunt 756, Jono Lester 706, Rodney Forbes 657.

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SA State series kicks off STATE THE opening round of the 2009 South Australian Motor Racing Championship kicked off at Mallala Motorsport Park last weekend with nineteen categories on show. In Improved Production Mazda 808 of Tony Wallis’ and Stratton Limberis’ Toyota Celica proved to be the weapons of choice

Paris Charles

as the duo ran first and second in all three races, the VRX Magna of Paul Mills claimed two thirds. The combined Formula Ford and Super Sports category saw Aaron Steer claim the first two events with his father Greg taking race three. The Radical SR8 of Luban Trbovic scored two seconds, while the best of the Formula Forder’s was Roger I’Anson in the Duratec Challenge category. The Sports Sedans and Tarmac Rallying division was won by Lyndon Punshon’s Robnell Cobra with the Lamborghini Gallardo of Andrew Taplin finishing second. Asher Johnson was the star performer in the Formula Vee’s claiming a clean sweep over Scott Blake who took two seconds

and a third. The Falcon of Wayne King remained undefeated in Saloon Cars, which shared the track with the newly formed MG-F series. Garry Baxter claimed victory in the opening two events but failed to finish the double point’s final that was won by Hamish Gibson. The Historic Touring and Sports category was won by Peter Hall, taking two wins and a second, Graham Stewart won Race 2. Ian Ashford’s TAD won both the handicap races in the Historic Sports and Racing section while race two was taken by Jim Doig. The experience of Graham Mason shone through in the HQ’s to snatch all three races. – PARIS CHARLES

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DAVID Murcott became the first driver in South Australia to win dual feature race events on the same program at Truckworks Speedway City last weekend. Murcott clinched Round 11 of the Revolution Racegear Open Sprintcar Track Championship Series and the re-run of Round 6 on the same night. Starting from the front row Murcott made the most of the

clear track and blasted to an early lead until Mark Reuter started to eat away at the gap. After a restart Murcott again made the most of the clear track but Reuter continued to pressure and moved into the lead. With just three laps to run a determined Murcott charged his way back around Reuter and onto victory lane. Brothers Luke and Lee Dillon were next while Steven Caruso rounded out the top five.

Craig Vanderstelt claimed the 360ci Sprintcar Feature over the current Australian Champion Ryan Jones.

Darwin’s Jason McIver was next and rounding out the podium was Mark Caruso. – PARIS CHARLES

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Brazier’s sixth – and luckiest SPEEDWAY

Battle in the Bush Geoff Gracie

JUST three weeks after his Australian title victory, Sydney’s Garry Brazier stormed in to score his sixth NSW crown at Parramatta in a sensational 35-lap A Main feature. Brazier was able to withstand tremendous pressure from first Craig Brady, then Grant Anderson, Ian Madsen and Adrian Maher to take out a thrilling victory. Following Brazier home was Maher with Madsen, Brady, Anderson and Damian Abbott making up the top six finishers. Brazier’s car sounded very loud after losing a muffler but just as he took control, slowed,

and was about to retire when the race was stopped after Gary Rooke had flipped in turn 4. “I was very lucky,” remarked Brazier. “I was pulling infield and that was it. It was the fuel tap and with three laps to go, I was racing with just one arm, the other was holding the fuel tap!” Running strongly early was young Mitchell Dumesny but he retired just before mid-race with a broken rear end. Maher was the star of the main after winning the B Main, he came from position twenty to forge up and was challenging Brazier for the victory. Qualifying saw James

Thomson set quick time with Mick Turner, Grant Tunks, Brodie Tullock (QLD) and Brazier sharing heat wins. Brady and Anderson took out the two Dash races while Jeremy Cross won the C Main and Maher the B Main. The only other major incident saw Darryl Campbell with a sticking throttle flip over on the back straight before the start of the A Main feature. – GREG BOSCATO

ROUND 3 in the Thunder thru the Plains NSW Country Series saw Queensland racer Peter Lack take out a great win over Stuart Williams with Jeremy Cross home in third. It was a near record crowd to witness 18 of the 410 sprintcars light up the Gilgandra Speedway on February 21. The country series moves to Dubbo Speedway this Saturday night (March 7) for round 4 in should be another exciting night of sprintcar action.

Reed’s powerful win in Heartland SPEEDWAY MATTHEW Reed has upstaged his rivals despite being down on power to win Round 8 of the Eureka Garages and Sheds Sprintcar Series. Reed’s team discovered dramas with his main engine just prior to the 30-lap final at Moama’s Heartland Raceway and strapped in the replacement. He then came from position seven in a brand new Maxim to defeat a strongfinishing Darren Mollenoyux and Tim Rankin. “We changed back to our 372, which is like ten or twelve years old,” said Reed.

It’s a real nice engine that gets the job done and that was the case again.” Mike Van Bremen, Domain Ramsay, Mollenoyux and Rankin all had their opportunities to win the final, but it was Reed who took the lead late in the race amongst heavy lap traffic. Third place went to Rankin ahead of Brett Milburn and Van Bremen. Ramsay was extremely unlucky with his promising night coming to an abrupt end on the last corner of the last lap. John Vogels passed a stack of cars on his way to sixth place in a rattling drive, while Harley Bishop, Ryan Davis, Simon Amato

and local driver Eddie Lumbar were all strong in the top ten. The final two rounds of the Eureka Garages and Sheds Sprintcar Series will be held this long weekend with the $5,000 to win Great Southern Showdown at Geelong’s Avalon Raceway on Saturday night (March 7), followed by the final on Sunday night (March 8) at Simpson Speedway. – GEOFF ROUNDS Points: Matthew Reed 2600, Mike Van Bremen 2398, Darren Mollenoyux 2362, Tim Rankin 2246, Brett Milburn 2219.

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rear of grid

10 out of 10 for #10? SOMETIMES, things happen at Motorsport eNews when you least expect them! Take today. We had finished eNews – literally finished – and were about to exit the building when this image arrived in our email. Quite literally, this edition of eNews was done, except we had not pushed the final ‘GO’ button on Rear of Grid, so we tipped out the photo of Branagan on Carlos Checa’s Superbike (just kidding) and put this in instead.

Odd Spot THE common reaction by NASCAR fans when they hear the names ‘Kyle’ and ‘Busch’ in quick succession is not to start kissing each other. Busch is the man the fans love to hate. He’s fast (booooo!), he’s presentable (hisssss!) and he drives one of them Toy-otas (‘Vern, get my 12-gauge!’) Except in Las Vegas. See, Kyle is from that part of the world, and they will do anything to get close to the man from Joe Gibbs Racing. So, when Damon and Heather Landry decided to swap vows, without the aid of a drive-through Wedding Chapel or somebody dressed as Elvis, they chose to do it at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Shelby 427, and picked Busch to be their best man. That’s Kyle on the right. We would want to have the wedding car leave the church at 190mph but hey, that’s just us …

So late did this pop up that we haven’t had time to verify the veracity of this art – so we cannot absolutely swear it is the final, real design of the Autobarn Racing Commodore. Except that, after a few decades in this business, we reckon that we can recognise the Real Deal when we see it, and this looks pretty real to us. The only comment we can pass is this: we are still bang in the middle of the Livery Season, but to date, we reckon that the fella with THE BEST livery for 2009’s is named Paul Dumbrell!

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