Motorsport News Issue 125 - 24 April-7 May 1998

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Issue 125

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NEWS

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INSIDE Webber’s big week

Mark Webber played a starring role in his GT debut, but had to settle for third place in his Mercedes debut. Mike Kable was there to bring you the full story of his weekend.

V8 Supercar stars on dirt Russell Ingall and Larry Perkins step into the Sprintcar of Garry Rush for a wild taste of life on the dirt. Full story inside.

Gardner speaks out

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(Photo -by (Bmorne Neander -^ouentry Studio)

THE perennial Holden versus Ford battle stepped into a new arena at Phillip Island last weekend when the Holden Racing Team accused the Ford Supercar teams of ‘sandbagging’.

Mobil-HRT Team Manager Jeff Grech lodged a written com plaint with the stewards of the meeting after race one, alleging that the Ford teams were play ing ‘possum’.

By PHIL BRANAGAN In the letter, Grech com plained that the Fords were capable of running faster in the first race and that, when leader* Mark Skaife and second-placed Craig Lowndes dropped their times by about a second late in the race, the Ford teams fol lowed suit.

While the letter is not believed to suggest why that would hap pen, the Grech’s'inference is

clearly that Ford drivers were slowing to assure the implementation of the parity adjustment recommended last week by the Performance Review Committee to slow the Holdens.

Sources within at least two Holden teams suggested that, on the Wednesday before the race while shaking down his new Ford Credit Falcon, Glenn Seton recorded times in the lm32 second bracket, with a best of lm32.7s, 1.2s faster than he achieved in qualifying.

While Seton would not comment on that, he did (like the rest of the Ford camp) react angiily to the suggestion that he was not giving 100 percent.

“I can’t believe that people can be so immature and carry on like that,” he said firmly.

“I really wanted to do well here, especially after the result at Lakeside, ‘Ford have had directions [in the past] to slow our cars from Continued Page 3

Now that the dust has settled, Frank Gardner speaks openly about his split with BMW and his new association with Mercedes-Benz.

Kart natloiiais The Sprint Karts had their big Nationals weekend at Geelong and we bring you ail the action - P44 ISSN 1320-9744

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Fimne wdors: (03) 9568 6333 Postal orders: Garry & Warren Smith PO Box 181 OAKLEIGH 3166 : (03) 9568 5691 Showroom: 1575 Dandenong Road OAKLEIGH Vic 3166

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Denial fails to dense S<huey-Mdaren link

By JOE SAWARD

MICHAEL Schumacher’s manager Willy Weher last week tried to calm media speculation that Michael may switch from Ferrari to McLaren at the end of this season.

Weber told the German newsagency SID that there was no reason for Schumacher to negotiate with any other team.

Weber said that rumours of talks with McLaren were only rumours and that he had not talked to any one else.

Weber did, however, concede that if Schumacher wanted to leave Ferrari there are clauses in his con tract which could allow him to do so, if Ferrari does not produce enough good results.

The exact details of this perfor mance clause are unclear but it will certainly include a number of Grand Prix victories and possibly even the World Championship, as this is Michael’s third year at Ferrari and he was certainly expecting to be challenging for the title.

Ironically, if Michael continues to won races as he did in Argentina his get-out clause will close, but it will be some months before this happens.

It is fairly clear that MercedesBenz and West, McLaren’s chief sponsor, want to get their hands on Schumacher and are willing to pay a lot of money to have Michael in a McLaren-Mercedes.

Weber’s comments should, there fore, be treated with considerable caution, as it is fairly obvious that Schumacher is in a position not only to choose between the two best teams in Grand Prix racing at the moment but also to dictate his financial terms.

If FeiTari continues to win - and it must be pointed out that the win in Argentina was really only because McLai'en did not make the most of the machinery on the day then Michael may choose to stay, but if McLaren reasserts itself at Imola he may consider a switch to be a much better option.

Current speculation in FI suggests that McLaren would be happy

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They were motoring down a road in northern A-gentina when they were somewhat surprised to be overtaken by a truck being driven at break-neck speed.

Soon afterwards a police car hurtled past them. It slewed to a halt in their path and a couple of

■ Channel 7’s AMP Bathurst 1000 coverage received two sport nominations in last week’s Logie Awards, although AFL pro grammes predictably won the popularly-voted awards.

H Kim Campbell, the 17 yearold son of Superbike legend Mai Campbell, was killed last Sunday while taking part in a riding clin ic at Tasmania’s Symmons Plains circuit. Sincere condolences to Mai, who was present at Symmons,and the rest of the Campbell family.

■ While the retiring Peter Brock insisted politics wasn’t for him, a number of Melbourne households have been polled recently with one question asking if Brock was put up as an MP would you vote for him.

Brock wouldn’t, of course, be the first Bathurst wanner to take advantage of the superannuation opportunities inherent in public office - Allan Grice still remains as incumbent MP for Broadwater

(Qld)...

HEADING WEST?... Schumacher has an escape clause in his Ferrari contract and could go to McLaren.

Mercedes extends deal McLaren and Mercedes have taken advantage of their cur rent success to agree to an extension of their original fiveyear partnership, which was due to run out at the end of 1999.

The deal has now been extend ed until the end of the 2002 sea son.

It is expected that the team’s major sponsor West, which began a three-year deal in 1997, will also extend its involvement until the end of 2002.

According to Mercedes FI boss Norbert Haug,the deal was signed on an exclusive basis to

ensure that Mercedes would hold on to McLaren, which had received approaches from other manufacturers, although Haug later intimated that there might be a second team using the Mercedes engines at some point in the future.

The major aim for the team now appears to be to sign up Michael Schumacher to ensure the best possible package in the future.

Ferrari is trying to get Schumacher to extend his con tract beyond the end of 1999 but at the moment there is no deal with the German.

Michael, not surprisingly, is playing the two parties off

against one another and there was a very obvious chat between Schumacher, Norbert Haug and McLaren’s Ron Dennis is the Buenos Aires paddock last week.

McLaren’s revival will contin ue in July when work begins on a new landmark factory which is currently being designed by top architect Sir Norman Foster.

The team is also busy plan ning for a new production sportscar which will be powered by a Mercedes-Benz engine.

This is expected to be rather less expensive than the original McLaren FI road car and will be in competition with Ferrari in the luxury sportsceu- market.

to dump David Coulthard if Schumacher was available, although the Scotsman would probably not have far to fall as several top teams would be happy to sign him up.

The current thinking is that if Michael leaves Ferrari Jacques Villeneuve would be recruited, leaving Coulthard with a job with his old team Williams.

The relationship did not work the

last time David drove for Williams, but he is a wiser man these days and Williams still recognises the ability which made him the obvious choice to replace Ayrton Senna in 1994.

By JOE SAWARD

dventures on the road to Uruguay

BETWEEN the two South American GPs, the majority of the Grand Prix circus stayed on for a few days of rest on Brazil’s beaches or at the tourist centres in Ai’gentina and Uruguay.

Some of those involved chose to take off into the peace and quiet of I'ural A-gentina, includ ing some of the technicians fi-om the French composite company Carbone Industrie, which sup plies brake discs to several of the I teams.

■ One car missing from this weekend’s second round of the BOC Gases Super Touring series will be the ex-Crompton Tasman Motorsports Honda, destined for Kiwi Graham Dodd. The car was still caught up in the current wharf dispute early this week, sitting on the Patrick dock in Sydney.

policemen ordered the two Cl technicians in the front to get out of their car.

Wondering what they had done wrong, they complied, only to see the car disappear into the distance, driven by the police men with their Cl colleague stuck in the back seat.

It transpires that the truck had been running a consignment of drugs across the ArgentinaBrazil border and that the police concluded that they would have a better chance of catching the drug-runners in a faster car and so requisitioned the hire car being driven by the confused Frenchmen.

The chase proved unsuccessful and the hire car was returned to the holidaymakers...

-JOE SAWARD

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■ The Kyalami circuit in South Africa is pitching for an addition al round ofthe 1998 FIA GT Championship. Having already landed the FIA Touring Car World Cup and the final roimd of the new international Sports Racing Series, the circuit has invited the GT organisers to add a December fixture. Cuirently the GT Championship is set to end with the back-to-back US events,in October. All the teams would have to agi'ee to travel to Johannesburg for a champi onship race before the FIA could amend the schedule.

■ As Motorsport News closed for press on Tuesday there was still no decision one way or the other about Honda’s involvement in Super Touring this season.

“Natui'ally, we’re still optimistic,” said TOCA power-broker Peter Adderton,“but, as of right now, no developments.”

■ The V8 Supercar boom looks like continuing. On Monday AUSCAR front-runner Jason Wyllie was seen at the Clayton premises ofthe Holden Racing Team and,rumours suggest, is looking at following the same path former opponent John Faulkner took three years ago with his ex-HRT car.

■ Garth Tander’s hairdo brown on the bottom, blond on top - did more than earn him the nick-name Top Deck’from the Valvoline team. Boss GaiTy Rogers has pledged to dye his ow’n hair “Jacques Villeneuve white when - not if, when Jason (Bai'gwanna) wins a race this season”.

■ Mary Fendiich Hulman has died. Mrs Hulman was the widow of Tony Hulman Jr, who pur chased the Indianapolis Motor Speedw'ay in 1945. Her gi'andson Tony George is the president of the IMS and founder ofthe Indy Racing League. Mrs Hulman was best known for making the ‘Gentlemen, start youi- engines’ command in recent years. She was 93 years old.

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Primus Bathurst doubts PRIMUS may be replaced as sponsor of the V8 Supercar race at Bathurst.

Despite talk of a multi year deal when the sponsor ship was announced last year, Motorsport News understands the company has not yet taken up its option for naming rights sponsorship for the 1998 race.

It is likely, however, that the company will retain some involvement with the rqace, albeit not as prime sponsor.

At the same time, a replacement sponsor is reportedly well into negotia tions with IMG. While IMG is the major partner in the Bathurst race, AVESCO’s Garry Craft this week confirmed that no deci sions have been made for 1998.

“Negotiations are still going on. Nothing is finalised,” Craft said, follow ing an event management meeting on Monday.

“We’re still talking with Primus. Even if they didn’t retain the prime sponsorship role, they’ll still be involved in the race.”

Pit lane gossip at the weekend suggested that a major power generation com pany might be in the frame as replacement sponsor.

- CHRIS LAMBDEN

Baird in line for DJR

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THE NEXT GENERATION... Formula Ford drivers Tim Leahey, Adam Macrow and Greg Ritter with their respective cars.

Ford names its V8 Brat Pack FORD Motorsport' has three announced Formula Ford drivers and one GT-P driver as selections for what is being dubbed their ‘Brat Pack’ as part of the Generation XR program.

Current Formula Ford championship leader Adam Macrow, Greg Ritter and Tim Leahey will join honorary mem ber Sam Newman as part of the squad.

Each of the Formula Ford drivers have been selected by Ford V8 Supercar racers John Bowe, Glenn Seton, and

Mark Larkham, and will become their apprentices for the season.

Macrow will link with the Shell Helix team, while Leahey and Ritter will be taken under the wing of Stone Brothers Racing and Ford Credit Racing respectively. l The youngest member of the group, Adam Macrow, is thrilled about being selected for the Generation XR program.

“I’m absolutely rapt to have been chosen to be

in Australia. It’s an awe some opportunity.” he said.

“Racing a Formula Ford can be pretty tough at times. It’s so competi tive that sometimes you wonder what you have to do to stand out in the crowd, so to have caught the attention of someone like John Bowe ... well, it’s more than I could have hoped for really, he added.

Macrow currently leads the Australian Ford Formula

sive effort at Phillip Island on the weekend.

He is well in con tention to score a drive in a Tony Longhurst Falcon at the Primus in Classic 1000 November, the reward for the championship victor.

Nominally, the second and third place-getters in the series were to receive a test-drive in a Dick Johnson Racing Falcon but may end up with more than that, with the possibility of a drive with Steven Johnson (see page 11).

Helsinki shows interest Kelly confirms Konica backing in V8s WHILE negotiations con tinue in respect of a V8 Supercar appearance at Silverstone in the UK, a second European circuit is interested in the V8s.

According to TEGA CEO Garry Craft a second enquiry “out of left field” has come from Helsinki.

Promoters at the Finnish circuit saw the V8s at the AGP and, following the pub licity surrounding the Silverstone possibility, are keen to “piggyback” on that project.

The economics of contest ing two races on consecutive weekends in Europe are con siderably enhanced.

In the meantime, Craft continues to research costs and the logistics of squeezing as many V8s as possible into a Boeing ft-eighter.

“At the moment our best load plan sug-gests 20-22 V8s in a 200 series Boeing,” he said this week.

“We’re completing some costings for Silverstone shortly and we’ll see how it goes from there.”

part of the Generation XR program, especially by one of the best teams

Championship by 30 points after an impres-

TODD Kelly has confirmed sponsorship by Konica of his Formula Holden programme.

The sponsorship, rumoured in our last issue,

Steve Ellery’s Konica Ellery’s co-driver for the Young Lions Commodore Sandown and Bathurst and takes away much of endurance races later in the budgetary strain from the year, the youngster’s champi- '"'“Konica’s support has onship challenge. given me increased confi-

sees the team’s Reynard 92D liveried similarly to

At i^e same time, Kelly has been confirmed as

dence for the season,” Todd said last week.

“Budgetary problems have always been a con cern for us.,Now there is some stability. Rick Kemp (engineer) and I will now be able to get the most out of what is already a com petitive package.”

DICK Johnson Racing’s driving line-up for the endurance races may not be as settled as was origi nally thought.

Steven Johnson’s Racing for Life drive is for the rest of the season (see page 11) and, while neither the team nor Ford Motorsport Manager Greg Harbutt would confirm it at Phillip Island on the weekend, it now seems more likely that ‘Junior’ will drive his own car, despite being previously confirmed to drive #17 or #18.

Harbutt has also intimat ed that, while the winner of Ford’s Generation XR progi-am is still down to drive a Longhurst Falcon at Bathurst, it was likely another GenXRer will line up next to Johnson in the RFL Falcon in the endurance races.

With Johnson Sr, John Bowe and Cameron McConville still sure to drive for the Shell Helix team, the man on most people’s list to join them is Craig Baird.

The Ford Mondeo BTCC driver has considerable Bathurst experience with the team and even shared a DJR car with McConville there in 1993.

He ‘won’ the Bathurst 1000 for BMW last October before being disqualified for exceeding the time limit.

Baird recently expressed surprise that McConville had been confirmed for the DJR drive so early in the season and sources in the UK sug gest that he is talking to at least one other Ford team for the enduros.

-PHILBRANAGAN

Moffat settles THE court case brought by the family of an official killed in the Cannonball rally in 1994 has been settled out of court.

Mrs Pritchard brought the legal action against Racecage Pty Ltd, the company Moffat established to oversee the event.

Ford accused of sandbagging Stone Brothers Racing Team Manager Ross Stone said that the letter from (Jrech was “very disappointing”.

“I think he’s smarter than that but

Continued from Page 1

the PRC and, while we all hate to detune our cars, we have done that.

“But, as for deliberately slowing, we are more competitive with the Ford teams than we are with some of the Holden teams.”

Ford’s Motorsport Manager Greg Harbutt described the HRT complaint as “absolute rubbish".

“The comments being thrown around are ludicrous,” he said.

“We go for points at every meeting as our first priority.

“Politics is not an issue - the races speak for themselves.

“I submitted data to CAMS [for the PRC appeal]that covered 50 races.

“We wanted an adjustment at Lakeside.

“The delays in the system have pro-

Jeff Grech longed the debate and that has given Holden two more rounds.

“How they can possibly state that the implementation should be delayed is ^ beyond me.”

Fve got no comment fuifher than that,” he said.

Castrol Racing’s Tony Longhurst was much more forthright in his comments about Grech, which cannot be repeated.

John Bowe, who finished third overall on the day, suggested that Grech was ‘dreaming”.

‘Nobody sandbags; what a joke,” he said.

“I like Jeff, but he must be smoking something.

“The Holden guys are together in this and well-orgamsed, but the fact is there is going to be an adjustment [to the Commodores]. .

Allegations of sandbag^ng are not new, but this is the first time they have

been made formally.

At Wanneroo in 1996 Lowndes and Peter Brock dominated the racing, win ning the first two races by seven and 10 seconds respectively, despite being almost certainly slowed by the team.

On that occasion Holden sources pri vately suggested that Ford drivers were giving less than their best so that the Holdens would be slowed.

Several weeks 'later,—.UAMS announced that the Commodores would have their front undertrays shortened to slow the cars.

As for Grech’s letter, the Stewards of the meeting took no action before pass ing it on to CAMS. The matter now lies with Race Director Tim Schenken, who would only say that Grech’s letter had been received and that “CAMS has noted his remarks...”

24Ap!ilim

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Holden wings clippe

A TEST day today (Thursday) at PJiillip Island will resolve just how Holden V8 Supercars are to be slowed.

Following an unsuccessful challenge to the decision to slow the Commodores by two-tenths of a second per minute by Larry Perkins at a second Performance Review Committee meeting, TEGA is opting for an aerodynamic solution, HRT (and possibly Gibson Motorsport) are providing the test cars at the Island and will test two options for z-educing the rear downforce on the Holdens in order to gain the changes deemed necessary by the PRC. Motorsport News understands that the two options, both inexpensive and easy to implement, are to trim the (gur ney) lip on the rear wing or to set a maximum rear wing angle.

Teams will have to comply with the change at next week’s Winton meeting.

As our cover story illustrates, the PRC’s decision is still being hotly debat ed by the V8 teams and the mind games look set to continue well beyond Winton.

- CHRIS LAMBDEN

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Tomas looking forward to VT FORMER HRT driver Tomas Mezera has a VT Commodore under con struction as he attempts to rebuild his touring car career with his own team.

Having completed a num ber of races with Chris Smerdon’s Commodore, run ning at the front of the Privateer contest, Tomas’ attention now turns to the VT, which is already under way at Derek Van Zelm’s workshops, in Moorabbin.

Tomas and his new spon sor Densitron, are committed to the new car, which they hope to have running in time for an Oran Park SATCCC Grand Final debut.

“It’s all very well to drive for other people’s team’s,” he said at the weekend, “but for the long term future it’s best to try and create your own team.”

Engine preparation for the new team will be by John Sidney, while Tomas is hope ful of utilising his goodwill and contacts to secure Bridgestone rubber for the endurance races.

DOWNFORCE REDUCTION... Testing this week will determine how the Commodores will be slowed. »S

- CHRIS LAMBDEN

and building a completely new VIO engine for the 1999 season.

Sauber Petronas Engineering is not, however, allowed to open the current engines unless the team is willing to pay a vast sum of money for the Ferrari technology inside.

The deal runs out at the end of this season and Sauber Petronas Engineering is nowhere near ready to build its own engines.

We understand that Ferrari is baulk ing at continuing the deal as it would prefer to use the engineers involved on other projects, unless Sauber Petronas will agree to pay even more money than it currently does.

This puts Sauber in a difficult situ ation and, although there is no ques tion that the Petronas sponsorship of the team will continue into the next century, the engine deal with Ferrari may stop, forcing Petronas to look to another manufacturer for a similar deal.

We understand that Sauber Petronas has already had lengthy discussions with Peugeot about a similar deal.

This would be attractive to the French manufacturer as it would help to spread the costs of FI, but the ques tion of access to secrets remains a big problem.

- JOE SAWARD

Tnnder in for season GARTH Tander has been confirmed for the rest of the season in the Valvolihe/Cummins Commodore.

The Perth youngster’s V8 Supercar debut at Phillip Island last week end went as well as any one in the Garry Rogers Motorsport team could possibly have hoped, and confirmed Rogers Tander’s long-term tenan cy last Tuesday.

“I met with the spon sors on^Monday and we were all'impressed,” said Rogers.

“You can get other dri vers who are walking around the paddock and are not prepared to get in and do the hard slog. But Garth’s not like that; he fitted in right from the I time he arrived.

“He’s actually a little bit shy but that’s a good thing. He’s confident, but not over-confident.”

While Rogers was delighted with his perfor mances at the track he was even happier with

major sporting project for Fiat vrill be a Maserati campaign at Indianapolis... n Some of the Grand Prix circus did not return from Argentina until Thursday morning because of technical prob lems with the plane on which they were due to return to London. The

n Bernie Ecclestone has

Petronas problems Tomas Mezera

There are very strong rumours that the next

flight w'as delayed for two full days.

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WHILE Malaysian oil/ company Petronas did not suffer greatly as a result of the recent financial crisis in Asia, there are still worries about the future of the Sauber Petronas VIO engine program because of the enormous costs.

At the end of 1996 Sauber bought the right to use Ferrari VIO engines for 1997-98 and, in order to maintain and develop these engines, Ferrari estab lished an operation in Maranello, inde pendent of its main competition depart ment.

At the same time Sauber and Petronas established an operation in Hinwil with the intention of designing

5

yet to decide whether or not he will appear as a witness in a public inquii’y into the funding of political parties in Britain. Ecclestone has been invited to take part to explain his attempted $2.5m donation to the Labour Party last year. n Hewlett-Packard and Benetton have launched an international competi tion to find new engineers for FI racing. Entrants have to come up with solutions for the problems of wheel retention and of “improidng radio communi cations between the cai-s and the pits. n Motorcycle ace Max Biaggi, who recently became the first modem bike racer to win his first SOOcc World Championship event,is expected to test a Fen-ari FI car shortly.

Biaggi has been tiying to get a deal to test an FI car for some time and even approached Frank Williams asking for a ran. n There are rumours in Europe that Argentine racer Norberto Fontana is trying to buy himself a testing deal with Stewart Grand Piix. The team says that it will be need ing a test driver later this year and it seems that Fontana has a budget available, although Stewart may prefer to choose a different didver. n There are several new Grand Prix team owners in 1998. But one of them has shown such a poor grasp of the job that he has been nicknamed “goldfish” by his team as they consider he will last as long as a goldfish in the piranha pool that is FI racing...

IMPRESSIVE DEBUT... Garth Tander did enough at Phillip Island for team owner Garry (Photo by Phil Williams) Rogers to keep him for the rest of the season.

Tander once the team looked at his computer traces.

“I looked at the Pi (data) after the races. He never over-revved the

engine or, even, locked a brake. In the dry he kept up with much more experienced drivers, like (Dick) Johnson, and never hurt the car until

he got mixed up with Ellery, “He’ll be in the car for the rest of the season and, hopefully, 1999.”

-PHILBRANAGAN

n The TyrrelPBritish American Racing test team is to be ran by for mer Formula 3000 team owner Robert Synge, who made his name running various Madgwick Motorsport teams. Synge’s job will be to get a two-car test team up and running at Tyn-ell and as prototype parts for the BAR Rejmard begin to airive these will be run on the cars.

- JOE SAWARD

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24ApfilW98

McLaren brake illegal The FIA has circulated a document among the FI teams clarifjnng the legality of the McLaren braking system which caused so much trouble in Brazil. The document endorses the decision made by the stewards of the meeting that the sys tem is illegal and there fore cannot be used again. n Former Formula 1 team owner Guido Forti was in the paddock in Argentina, along with former Sauber team director Max Welti. Welti said that he is taking some time out of Grand Prix racing to have a look at the opportunities available and does not want to be rushed into a decision. Welti has been linked to various teams and engine manufactur ers, notably the BMW FI project and British American Racing. n With Goodyear achieving good results with the new wide front tyres, we hear that Bridgestone engineers will shortly begin test ing work with narrow front tyres ... We under stand that McLaren is campaigning for the nar rower tyres because of the potential gains in , terms of aerodynamic efficiency. n We hear that British American Racing has offered all the current Tyrrell employees a bonus payment at the end of the year in an effort to stop staff disap pearing mid-season. n Stefane Sarrazin won the opening round of the International F3000 Championship at Oschersleben in the old east Germany driving for the Apomatox team, which is being substan tially supported this year

by Frost(jrand Prix. It was the first victory in the series for Apomatox.

Sarrazin is expected to do test driving work for Frost later this year when the team is in a position to run two test cars. n Although Jos Verstappen is the favourite to be Benetton’s test driver, we hear that Vincenzo Sospiri, who has been out of work in FI since the demise of the Lola team at the start of 1997, is trying to get the job. Oliver Gavin, who is currently employed as the full-time driver of the FI Safety Car, and F3000 driver Jason Watt are also can didates for the job.

-JOESAWARD

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Winton fights for Shell Series round WINTON Raceway is upping the ante in its bid to retain a Shell series round in 1999.

The Benalla Auto Club will unveil new team and

corporate facilities at its SATCC round next week, as it seeks to convince AVESCO’s Executive that the circuit should still host a round.

The likely return of Eastern Creek and the inclusion of the new Willowbank circuit in Queensland is set to produce a surplus of circuits seeking Shell rounds.

With AVESCO reportedly having contracts with three other Victorian circuits already, Winton looks to be in a difficult position.

Nevertheless, AVESCO’s creed of seeking “the best ten venues” may be Winton’s salvation.

The latest upgrade, allied with last year’s circuit extension, provides a circuit with increasingly good facili ties. It is also open all year round for testing and hosts

Decision soon MALAYSIA’S Business Times newspaper reported recently that the decision on whether the country gets a Formula 1 Grand Prix next year at its new Sepang track will be made by July.

The report said 40 percent of “the physical work” at the track had been completed and contractors will complete it by October.

TRYING HARD... Winton’s new corporate centre, with the new pit buildings in the background. a number of State and Club events.

“The Club has put in everything that has been asked of it,” BAG President Mick Ronke said at the weekend.

“We’re proud of the devel opments at the track. It’s a pretty good facility.”

The loss of a Shell round has restricted availability would, according to Ronke, and there have been some place the future of the circuit rumours about Calder’s in jeopardy. The revenue future plans,” Ronke said, from the Shell round sus- n “Victorian motor sport tains the venue, as it does cannot afford to lose Winton. with several others, through CAMS has to use its position the quieter times of the year, within AVESCO to ensure “Sandown is not available they look at the big picture.”

- CHRIS LAMBDEN for testing, Phillip Island

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Bernie gets even richer BERNIE Ecclestone is the sixth wealthiest man in Great Britain, with a for tune estimated at $3.6 bil lion by The Sunday Times newspaper in its annual survey of the country’s wealthiest people.

Ecclestone is the only motor racing person to make it into the list of 16 British billionaires.

(Sterling) Ecclestone is up from 58th on the list last year.

Other motor racing people on the list are Jordan Grand Prix sponsor Brian de Zille (of GdZ) who is worth $224m, former Grand Prix driver Johnny Dumfries (now the Marquis of Bute) who is worth $208m, Arrows team owner Tom Walkinshaw ($136m), Frank'Williams ($136m) and Bonington Park owner Tom Wheatcroft ($96m).

McLaren’s Ron Dennis, who was on the list last year, has dropped out of the top 1000 richest people in Britain.

-JOESAWARD

Friday on their mind

V8 Supercars will practice on a Friday at Shell series rounds, beginning with next week’s Winton meeting.

The practice was discontinued two years back as an economy mea sure for the category.

However, pressure from the pro moters and series broadcaster

Channel Ten has brought on the re

think.

“It’s a promotional thing,” Winton’s Race Director Mick Ronke confirmed this week.

“Without any vision from Friday; it is very difficult for the 'TV people to do any pre-event promotion for us on Friday nights.”

The V8s will run a single 30minute session on Friday after noon, which will be an add-on to the current two sessions plus quali fying on Saturday.

Teams will be allowed to use pre-viously marked (scrutineered) tyres during the session, as they current ly do in the two Saturday ones.

Weather plays havoc with testing

IN recent days Europe has been suffering from a spell of dreadful weather with torrential rain and snow across the continent and snow in England.

The weather has had a very damaging effect on the Grand Prix teams, which had been hoping to get some seri ous testing done before the start of the European FI sea son at Imola this weekend.

The teams did not waste

time getting into action after the Argentine Grand Prix, with Ferrari being the first to run - as usual.

Williams decided to leave its rivals behind and went to test at Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain, in the hope that the weather would LONG SHOT... Damon Hill wheels out a new longer-wheelbase Jordan at Silverstone last be better than tracks further week in preparation for this weekend’s San Marino Grand Prix. (Photo by Steve Tee/LAT Digital) north.

The team refused to Jarno Trulli tried out the new Bridgestone tyres but snow on the first day of the the rain meant that little test and pouring rain on the release any details of the latest new Frost chassis and second day. testing but there is no doubt an evolution of the Peugeot could be achieved. that it centred on Goodyear engine, designated the EV3, Up at Silverstone, Coulthard set the fastest which’will appear for the McLaren, Benetton, Jordan, lap of the test, tyre development and on Jordan ran for three days fine-tuning of the FW20 first time in qualifying for Arrows and 'fyirell were all in chassis, which has not shown the Spanish GP in Barcelona action with David Coulthard with Ralf Schumacher doing and Mika Hakkinen setting only 19 laps during the first very well in race trim so far in mid-May. on this season.

The Italian was also trying the pace as expected, despite day. Damon Hill took over

the second day of the test and did back-to- back testing with two chassis.

One of these was a new long-wheelbase version the team hopes will improve its fortunes.

Arrows was able to get some serious work done despite the bad weather with Mika Salo running for 34 laps on Thursday and both the Finn and Pedro Diniz in action on Friday.

The pair completed around 60 laps of the track evaluat ing engines and trying out the latest versions of the TWR VIO. Tyrrell ran on the final l day of the Silverstone test with Ricardo Rosset comple'ting 17 laps while Stewart did not test at all, having to can^ cel its plans to run at Silverstone.

Minardi was also unable to do any testing but concen trated its efforts on repairing the damage done in South America, building up a new chassis and windtunnel testmg.

-JOESAWARD

24April m n CAKT has announced that it has acquired Pro-Motion Agency, the company that owns and runs the KOOL/Toyota Atlantic Championship. This acquisition comes soon after CART took over the PPG Daytona Indy Lights series and is part of a move to create a clear lad der into ChampCars. The float ofthe company two months ago financed the acquisitions.

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What a weekend wasand at Phillip plenty of closeit biff bargeIsland racing (mostly without punting anyone out), chang ing weather conditions - we had the lot!

We had the wood on the Bridgestone guys at Lakeside, but it was completely the oppo site at the Island.

The Castrol Commodore team was strug gling with too hard a tyre and along with DJR couldn't do much about it bar “press on and see what happens.”

Calder isn’t far away, which is HRT’s test And happen it did, with a nice shower of track, so you’re up one weekend and down rain half-way through race three. n another.

I can tell you, driving around on slick tyres on a wet circuit still doing over 260 kmh grabs Opeaking of biff and barge, I noticed^when I your attention!

Owatched the racing later on video,. Bright Overall, though, we were extremely seemed to be the target for the day.

As the saying goes, if you give it out, be pleased to come away with just six points prepared to receive it back! added to Lowndes’ championship lead. There I also had a bit of a giggle to myself when I was almost a sigh of relief around the camp.

PI isn’t one of our favoured circuits tyre- saw a couple of old sparring partners from wise; but- one of our favourites (and our test Europe, Larry and AJ, have a bit of a coming / together late in race three, with AJ coming off track), Winton, is next.

If we don’t go well there we need our butts second best, kicked.

Apparent ly Larry went up and saw him afterwards and everything was okay, but I’m However it’s swings and roundabouts. sure that down the road when those two next get together it will be interesting

Jason Bright seemed to be the target of the day ... if you give it out, be prepared to get it back!^^

G

ood to see another open-wheeler graduate come into the category.

n Tyre warmers are going to be allowed on the starting grid for 500 GPs. The FIM said that only the 500cc class would be permitted to use generators, batteries or other electri cal supplies on the grid. The rule change takes effect from May 1 at the Spanish GP on the first weekend of May.

MOMENT OF GLORY:

Ftussell led on the opening lap [ of race three, but had to work ■' hard to keep Craig Lowndes at bay. It didn't last long...

n Stephane Sarrazin won the first round ofthe European Foi-mula 3000 at Oschersleben. From 18th on the

(Photo by Dirk Klynsmith)

grid the Frenchman timed his stop for slick tyres perfectly. Mercedes’ Nick Heidfeld led but stayed out too long on wets, then fell off trying to catch SajTazin, but he was still sec ond. Jamie Davies rose from 27th on the grid to finish third (aftei’ Paolo Ruberti had been excluded for having a non-Lola bit in his front suspen sion).

Garth Tander seemed to do a very capable job.

He should go okay just as long as he doesn’t fall into the “Getting too Cocky” syn drome that a few of the young guns get initially.

Trust me, the touring car regulars soon sort you out if you do!

The Performance thing is still going on,,,believe it or Review not. The Ford guys are bleating so bad it looks like they might try and slow the Holden guys'.

I gave you the facts in my last column - I can’t believe they’re still going on about it.

There were rumours at Phillip Island that some of the Ford drivers were hanging back at the end of the races, so the gap to the Holdens looked worse.

If this is true, it would be such a low act that words can’t describe it.

I’m hoping that, for the good of the sport, the allegations are false. Time will tell.

See you next time. ■

n Troy Bayliss’s hopes of impress ing at Donington’s WSC round were dashed after he was left bruised and badly winded after a crash in Thursday’s practice. This was fol lowed by another get-off through the 210kmh Craner Curves on Satm’day’s practice. In the first race, Bayliss was ranning behind Carl Fogarty in 11th before he succumbed to gearbox problems, before being Tboned by AMi-a Yanagawa on the sec ond lap of race two.

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24 April m i:

NO HOLIDAY: Johnny did not have a good timeJn South America, start ing with a neck-snapping crash in Brazil (left).

Vhings d/idnot get much batter in Argentina as he again had to walk back in practice {below)and was then punted by Damon Hill in the race(below left), giv ing him another early exit.

I

went to South America with high hopes, but came back frustrated and stiff necked. Whatever monkey was sitting on my back, it had something against me working full-time.

On Friday in Brazil I didn’t manage a singie timed iap. I lost all of the morning’s free practice session when an electrical connec tion worked loose and my car stopped on the track. The team couldn’t retrieve it until the session was over so I just had to sit and watch everybody else honing their set-ups.

That never feels good.

Then, to compound my misery, just as I was hoping to get started in the afternoon, a persistent gear selection problem, probably associated with the clutch, stopped me again.

In F1 it’s tough enough losing half a day, let alone all day. I thought at the time it was without doubt the most frustrating day of my Red Bull Sauber Petronas career, but then I didn’t know what Fate still had in storel I was very chuffed on my first two runs on Saturday morning to have moved ahead of my teammate, Jean Alesi, even though he had done a lot more running. But on my third run the throttle stuck open and I went head-on into a tyre wall.

The impact I had at Monaco last year u was heavier, but this one hurt more because my head went down between my chest and the steering wheel, giving me serious whiplash. I could cope in the after noon, when I outqualified Jean, but on Sunday morning I knew I was in trouble. I’d time then, too, while the team repaired my torn my neck muscles and they had stiff car. I thus lost my first dry run and, with the weather conditions changing later, that ened up after a night’s sleep.

As early as the fifth lap of the race my proved crucial. neck began to feel weak. I tried resting my As a hangover of all this, a brake prob head on the side of the headrest but that lem went uncured and when the track track is so damn* bumpy that it was began to dry on Saturday morning after overnight rain, it became clear that it was a extremely hard to keep going.

After I’d done my pit stop it got even fairly significant problem. The brake bal worse, because the extra grip from new ance was working itself far too much to the tyres just killed my neck altogether. front and locking the wheels.

There was also a problem with the mas Eventually I was struggling even in the slow corners, so it was better to retire than be a ter cylinder, so I lost the chance of dry run ning in the second half of free practice while potential menace to everybody else. this was fixed. Later we discovered it was etween the two South American races swarf in the cylinder bore that was keeping I stayed on and every day our physio, the balance ball open, a highly unusual Josef Leberer, worked on my neck. By occurrence.

I switched to the spare car for qualifying the time I got to Argentina I was feeling fine and my first run put me ahead of Jean, but again, and figured things could only get bet ter - until Jean ran into me as we both did then the transmission packed up so I had to skip back to the pits for the spare, brake our installation laps on Friday morningl t Guess what?'Yep, I lost all of my running problem and all.

Photos toy LAY Digital and Allsport

T '

'

The impact I had at Monaco last year yy was heavier, but this one hurt more.

B

l managed to go quicker still on my second run, but then the brakes malfunc tioned again and I spun on my final run. The real frus tration was that my grid position didn’t reflect our potential at all.

If the problems so far hadn’t been my fault, I cocked up by spinning twice in the raceday warm up, and didn’t get a time.

But the race went rea sonably well for a time.

Because I was only 13th fastest, I reckoned a onestop refuelling strategy was the answer, as I wasn’t going to be able to sprint ahead enough to justify two stops.

Then Damon Hill drove into the back of me and punctured the left rear tyre, so that was it. Time to park just as we were headed

for more points. I was surprised he did that, given all his experience.

So South America wasn’t a happy hunt ing ground for me. In fact, it was bloody awful. But it just makes me even more moti vated to put things right at Imola. n

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Bridgestone wants Goodyear to stay

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BRIDGESTONE has gone on the record saying that it does not want Goodyear to pull out of Formula 1 at the end of this season.

“We are disappointed that Goodyear has announced plans to %vithdraw,” said Bridgestone’s FI boss Hiroshi Yasukawa in Ai’gentina. “We hope Goodyear will change its mind and remain in FI.” Goodyear’s withdrawal, although confirmed by the management of the company, still continues to puz zle those in FI as it makes little - sense to give up what the company has built up over so many years in order to save a few million dollars.

To get Ferrari and Williams under contract in the years ahead, if the Goodyear bosses decide to come back to FI again, wll take a great deal more money and time.

There are moves within the com pany to have the decision reversed, but at the moment these do not appear to be making much progress.

It is unlikely that Bridgestone’s plea will make much difference.

-JOESAWARD

'A'W If

- JOE SAWARD

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Aussie pushes US Grand Prix plan

BAR and Mecachrome BRITISH American Racing is again being linked with a deal to run Mecachrome VI0 engines in 1999.

However, Adrian Reynard has always said that he would not try to get into FI unless he had factory engines from a major manufacturer and the Mecachrome deal does not fulfil this criteria.

Our sources continue to say that the team will use Honda engines, although these are likely to be badged differently.

There were suggestions in Argentina that a Mecachrome deal may be necessary if Honda cannot supply engines until the year 2000 and that this has left BAR having to find an engine supply for the 1999 season.

It may be that the Mecachrome stories are a smokescreen to take attention away from the links with Honda.

9

By JOE SAWARD

of the street circuit in Adelaide. He went on to become involved with the Phillip Island revival for the Motorcycle Grand Prix and then the Eastern

PLANS to host the United States Grand Prix at Road Atlanta have been overshad owed in recent months Creek project.

The four-kilometre by news from Las Vegas and because of Road Atlanta circuit, four Bernie Ecclestone’s miles off Interstate 85 recent visit to San . near Braselton, 80km to Francisco. the north-east of Atlanta, However, it seems that was inspected last sum American pharmaceutical mer by the FIA’s Roland magnate Don Panoz, who Bruynseraede and plans owns Road Atlanta, has were discussed to upgrade one of the track not given up the idea.

America’s most dramatic Panoz recently recruited Australian Bob Barnard to FI standard.

Panoz feels that the to be director of Road Atlanta. track |is perfect for Formula 1, despite being Barnard is a civil engi neer who designed and rather remote from oversaw the construction Atlanta, which has a pop-

ulation of three million.

The city, however, has large low-density suburbs and so the residents are used to driving long dis tances. It also has one of America’s busiest air

ports.

Panoz is planning to get the track up to FI stan dard and then present a package to Ecclestone, with the aim being to host a race in 2000 or 2001.

Although Bernie says the track is too remote, it is worth noting that he used to own it for a period.

Panoz has good reason to promote the facility; not only is it next door to his huge 3300-acre hotel and golf club facility, Cha'teau Elan, but the area is also

Development Company is currently engaged in an attempt to win the Le Mans 24 Hours, )vith David Brabham as one of the drivers.

In February Ecclestone said that he expected to be in a position to announce a United States GP within three months and admit ted to having had talks with Dallas, Road Atlanta, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

A decision about the race in Vegas is expected within the next three weeks.

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tor to the Argentine Grand Prix and tried to dampen down rumours that Ford is planning to form a new partnership with Benetton.

We understand that Jackie Stewart has been pushing Ford to make a public statement of sup port for the team because the stories of Ford doing a

deal with Benetton have disrupted some of Jackie’s negotiations for sponsor ship contracts.

“The team has had a dif ficult time because we have been developing the car and the engine during races,” said Nasser.

“We are in FI to win in the long term, which is underlined hy our commit ment to the Stewart team which runs until the end of 2000.”

It remains to be seen whether Stewart remains the only team ranning the latest VIO engine in 1999.

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Rumours in the paddock continue to suggest that a deal between Ford and Benetton has already been struck and that the Enstone team will official ly be given “customer” sta tus on payment of a token sum of money, while in effect it will be equivalent to a second works team.

Ford adopted a similar strategy in 1993 when Benetton was not perform ing. McLaren was supplied with engines - on a customer basis - and won five races to Benetton’s single victoiy.

-JOESAWARD

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Rydell takes first blood

VOLVO’S Rickard Rydell and Renault ace Alain Menu emerged the winners at Thruxton in the opening rounds of the 1998 British Touring Car Championship.

Rydell recovered from a poor start to win the Sprint Race and reigning champion Menu beat Rydell in the Feature Race, despite a tardy pit stop by the Williams Renault crew.

Rydell, who gained extra points for claiming pole position for both races, leads the championship with an eight-point advantage over Menu.

The 16-lap Sprint Race provided a exciting start to the new season, Rydell following up his mastery of the new ‘One-Shot Showdown’ qual ifying procedure with an impressive race victoiy. But though the Swede started from pole position, his path to the chequered flag was anything but straightforward - a fluffed start handed the initial advantage to Honda’s James Thompson.

43 BEANS IN Rydell completed the first lap down in third place, behind both EVERY LAPUNA...

Thompson and the Renault of Alain Menu was the Jason Plato, with John Cleland’s fastest man at Vauxhall Vectra snapping at his Thruxton but the heels.. But Rydell was a man on a n competition is not far mission, snatching second from away. James Plato after the Renault man Thompson’s Honda attempted - and failed - to take the (right) led the field lead from Thompson on the second and a win can’t be lap./ far away.

Rydell chose the same spot, the (Photos by LAT Digital) Campbell/Cobb/Seagrave corner complex, to muscle his Volvo past getaway from the Thompson’s car and into the lead on pole, holding off the third lap. He/opened out a Reid’s healthy lead which, by the time Anthony Plato had managed to find a way Nissan, Menu and Thompson. Reid British louring Car Champion Rounds I & 2 Thruxton 13 April 1998 past Thompson for second four laps was soon in trouble and leaking oil.

Round 2:32 laps/121.34km Round 1: 16 laps/S0.67km later, had turned into an unassail Menu picking him off on lap four 42m 43.116s 1 Menu SWE Volvo S40 21m 01.194s 1 Rickard Rydell +2.600S 2 Jason Plato 2 Rydell and the Primera thereafter slipping GB Renault Laguna +1.037s able advantage. +40.510S 3 Thompson 3 James Thompson gb Honda Accord +1,826s out of the top 10.

There was plenty of action +42.990S 4 Plato 4 John Cleland GB Vauxhall Vectra +6.829s Menu immediately set about clos behind as reigning champion Alain 5 Warwick +46.893S 5 Alain Menu swi Renault Laguna +6.971s +49.259S 6 Cleland +7.645S 6 Gianni Morbideiii ita Volvo S40 Menu fought to make up for his ing the gap between himself and 7 Kox +50.337S 7 David Leslie GB Nissan Primera +10.025s lowly start slot - his qualifying Rydell, reducing it to less than a 8 Radisich +1m 05.265s GB Nissan Primera+19.339s 8 Anthony Reid time was disallowed after he second within foiir laps. By lap nine 9 Bintcliffe +1m 13.153s +21.839s 9 Yvan Muller FRA Audi A4 he was through and into the lead, ‘straight-lined’ the Club chicane.

10 Neal 10 Peter Kox NL Honda Accord +22.819s 31 laps with Thompson holding a secure From 17th on the grid his FASTEST LAP Menu 1m 17.401s 109.58mph Renault had battled through to third place ahead of Leslie’S Nissan CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS DRIVERS Rydell. 30, Menu. 22; Plato & Thompson. 20; Cleland, 13; Watwick, 6.

MANUFACTURERS Volvo S Renault, 27; Honda, 20: Vauxhall, 16; Nissan, Audi & Peugeot, 10; Ford, 6.

11th by the end of the first lap, and Plato.

INDEPENDENTS Robb Graven (GB/Honda), 22: Lemmer & Neal, IS. The pit stops proved a fascinat aided by a spin from Derek Warwick’s Vauxhall which led to a ing innovation. Menu and Rydell,, collision between Matt Neal’s separated by just a car’s length, made their stops together on lap 20 Nissan and Will Hoy’s Ford.

Menu then made short of work of and it was the Volvo mechanics who proved the better drilled. passing the cars of Yvan Muller But Menu had been struggling to (Audi) , Paul Radisich (Peugeot), Anthony Reid (Nissan), Peter Kox see through an oil-covered wind (Honda), David Leslie (Nissan) and screen and the Williams mechanics Gianni Morbidelli (Volvo) to rise to spent the time making sure he had fifth spot behind Cleland with two clear vision for the rest of the race. laps to run. He tried to displace the Rydell got back on to the track with a three-second lead but Menu Scot too, but a last-lap lunge failed snatched back the lead with six to pay off.

Watched by Volvo-TWR team laps to run. At the chequer Menu was 2.6 seconds ahead of the boss Tom Walkinshaw, who jetted in specially from overseeing the Swede.

Aitows FI squad at the Argentine Thompson took third place for GP, Rydell claimed first blood of the the second race in succession, season by a one-second margin from ahead of Plato, who emerged in front of Derek Warwick, Cleland Plato, despite making a bad start.

Thompson hrmg on to third from and Kox after a furious four-car Cleland, Menu and Morbidelli’s duel which kept the crowds A LOT AT STEAK... Walsh at speed in his Van Diemen-built F2000.

Volvo. enthralled in the late stages.

Matt Neal recovered from his BEN Walsh has had an up-andpulled out a lead in the first “I got too much wheelspin at the down start to his campaign to three laps before a driveshaft start, but the car was very good in Sprint Race disappointment to win the early laps,” said Rydell. the Independents division in his win the Asian Formula 2000 let go.

But it was not all bad news for “Over the winter the team has Nissan after Lemmer’s demise with Championship.

Walsh’s Quick/Hunnisett Aim The Sydney driver travelled improved the car in all areas,.. I mechanical problems, hope this is no fluke.” into the searing heat of Pattaya, Racing team. His team-mate “The Renault was veiy quick and Mark Lemmer made a dream it was hard to keep it back,” said Thailand where he qualified Nattaphong took up the battle BTCC debut, claiming an untrou Rydell. “The mechanics did a great third for the first race at the and pushed Ng Wai Leong all Bira Circuit. the way to the chequered flag. bled Independent class victory in job in the’ pit stop but once again his Vauxhall Vectra.

With air temperatures well Carrying the same Australian Alain was too strong “It was one of the best races of into the 40s by the time racing Beef support that he had in The 32-lap Feature Race proved a tactician’s nightmare, with sleet my career, if not the best one,” said started Walsh took off at the Formula Campus last season, Walsh’s next race wiU be in the threatening to confusb tyre choice Menu.“I think I have a good chance start in the 20 lap battle and fin Philippines at the track near and pit-stop strategy. of defending my title because the ished in second place.

For the second race Walsh put the American airbase at Subic Rydell made up for his poor start car is clearly capable of winning his car on pole position and Bay. to the Sprint Race with a strong races.

Mixed luck for Walsh

Senes or events telecast on Network Ten are marked with an asterix.

Check your local guides for screening details.

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Hamilton wins at Martinsville

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n The FIA is preparing to introduce an in-car sys tem of dash warning lights,intended to back up trackside flag signals, at this weekend’s San Marino Grand Prix. Yellow, red or blue lights will be activat ed by transponders when each cai’ is passing a zone with a flag displayed. But it will not replace the ti'aditional flag signal method by track marshals.

I

BOlSBY Hamilton over powered the track and the rest of the field in Monday’s rain-delayed Goody’s 500 NASCAR race on Martinsville at

f

r

Monday.

Hamilton led 378 of the 500 laps on the half-mile oval - the shortest track on NASCAR’s Winston

1 1

Cup circuit.

Hamilton’s third career victory was his first for Morgan-McClure Racing.

“Sometimes you just have them days when you know the thing is going to be good and you don’t have to worry about any thing.”

Hamilton started from the pole and beat the Ford of runner-up Ted Musgrave by 6.376 sec onds, with Dale Jarrett third from Earnhardt and Randy LaJoie (subbing for the injured Ricky Craven).

Rusty Wallace, a six time Martinsville winner who started on the out side of the fi'ont row, fin ished sixth, the last driver on the lead lap. He increased his series lead over Penske teammate Jeremy Mayfield, who was a lap down in sev enth,from 24 to 33 points.

A

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the Gregg Hansford Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Road Trauma Fund.

Former driver, and AFL footballer Paul Feltham has'-put together the team and is also Chief Executive of the Fund.

Feltham has big intentions for the success of the team and its message.

“Our priority is to raise awareness and money for the Fund so we can undertake more extensive research into reducing road trauma and its appalling cost in human lives, suffer ing and money,” he said.

One of the main reasons the fund has elected to choose motorsport is that it has particular appeal to young people.

The 17-24 year old group comprises 15 percent of the population but rep resent more than 30 percent of all dri vers killed in road crashes, a statistic the Fund wishes tothange.

STEVEN ‘Junior’ Johnson made his return to the Shell series at the weekend after landing a full time V8 Supercar drive.

With the support of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, the 23 year-old Queenslander will run the Dick Johnson Racing Falcon his father vacated after Symmons Plains.

At Phillip Island last weekend, Johnson qualified 14th, only half a second slovy'er than Dick, and finished 11th in thd first race.

He was shunted in the second race, which dropped him to 28th, so his comeback drive into 9th place in the third race - four places ahfead of his father - was an excellent result.

Junior’s car is running under the ‘Racing'For Life’ banner to raise pub lic awareness of road trauma and its cost to the community, while at the same time carrying’identification for

.“This is a gi-eat opportunity for me aAd hopefully we can have an impact in the remaining rounds of the Championship,” Johnson said.

“I’m pleased to be doing this under the ‘Racing For Life’ banner with its emphasis on reducing road trauma that’s a great message to be carrying.”

The car carries the number 95 in memory of Hansford, who was killed at Phillip Island in 1995.

For Johnson, last weekend’s Phillip Island ATCC round was his first V8 race since the Primus 1000 Classic last October.

The team has support from Ford, Dunlop, Shell, Canterbury Clothing, Spies Hecker and King Springs and will run as a Level 1 team in the remaining rounds of the Shell Car Australian Touring Championship and for the next three seasons.

-PHIL BRANAGAN

n Ton-ential rain cm'tailed Toyota Motorsport’s bid to complete a 24 hour endurance test with two of its new GT-ONE Le Mans contenders at Spa last week. Toyota drivers Thierry Boutsen, Geoff Lees, Ukyo Katayama and Toshio Suzuki managed to clock up useful test mileage over 14 hours before the notoriously unpredictable weather in the Ai'dennes ended the run in the eaidy hom-s of the morning. n Since the ban on fourwheel-drive Super Tourers, Audi has been known to be interested in Le Mans. An-indication that such a project might be inuninent is that Audi has arranged for two of its stalwart factoiy diivers, Frank Biela and Rinaldo Capello,to (hive a private ly entered McLaren-BMW in the 1998 Le Mans race.

Neither has previously dri ven in the 24 Hours.

- QUENTIN SPURRING

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24 April 1998 n The Jordan Grand Prix team is expected to be one of the most fruitful sources of experienced Formula 1 personnel for the new British American Raciog team; Jordan is located just a few miles from the new BAR head quarters and is obviously struggling, which makes it easier for recruiting. n Eddie Irvine set a new lap record at Ferrari’s Fiorano test cir cuit in Italy last Wednesday, but it did not last long. The very next day, it was bettered by Michael Schumacher. n While Sylvester Stallone is in the spotlight over his plans to make a film about Grand Prix rac ing, we understand that film maker Renny Harlin is also working on a movie about the sport. Harlin has been a quiet visitor to several Grands Prix in recent years. n English engineer George Ryton has finally been appointed chief designer at Minardi and has begun work on the design of next year’s M199 chassis at Minardi head quarters in Faenza. He has been at Prost for over a year but the disappoint ing gearbox on the APOl this year saw him fall from favour. n Canadian writer Gerald Donaldson is just putting the finishing touches to an in-depth look at the McLaren Formula 1 team. The book is not expected to be pub lished before Christmas but promises to be an interesting insight into the team. It w5s planned some years ago but has been delayed because of the team’s lack of success in recent seasons. n The Benetton windtunnel, which is now 18 months behind schedule, should be running within a matter of weeks. The project has been delayed because of safety consider ations, which made it nec essary for all the welding to be redone and the even tual abandonment of the plan to have the tunnel pressurised. The tunnel will consume so much power that it needs its own electricity sub-sta tion. The joke in the FI paddock is that everyone in Britain will know when the tunnel is fired up for the first time because the lights all over the country will flicker... n Bernie Ecclestone recently purchased a 15year-old British Aerospace HS146 private jet for $9m to fly ’TV equipment and personnel to and from races as commercial flights are becoming more and more difficult. The plane will fly from Bernie’s TV headquarters at the old Battle of Britain airfield at Biggin Hill.

-JOE SAWARD

Brabham seeks V8 drive

By MIKE KABLE

business entrepreneur Don Panoz, who is bankrolling the Panoz GT cars, has left him free for the AMP 1000 on October 4.

David also has no commitments for the Primus 1000 .V8 Supercar classic on November 15 - or the Tickford 500 on September 13- and is keen to do the V8 races.

“I would love to do all three races,” Brabham said, venturing that he wanted to raise his profile in his native Australia, which he left 10 years ago to pursue an international motor racing career.

He plans to live in Australia with his wife Lisa

THE Brabham brothers, Geoff and David, are like ly to join forces for the AMP and Primus 1000 endures at Bathurst and Sundown’s Tickford 500 this year.

Their inaugural pairing last year brought them victo ry in the first Super Touring AMP 1000 at the wheel of a BMW 318i - and they are keen to be partners again.

David Brabham confirmed the possibility of another partnership during the recent opening round FIA GT World Championship race at Oschersleben, Germany, in which he and and their son Sam after callFrenchman Eric Bernard fin- ing it quits, “whenever that might be”. ished fifth outright in their one of Brabham, DAMS team Panoz GTR, after running as high as Australia’s most versatile third. and underrated drivers, was He has a strenuous motor runner-up with Bernard in racing schedule this year, last month’s Sebring 12-hour competing in the 10-round enduro.

He had a brief and championship Cwhich may be expanded to iiiclude an 11th through no fault of his own round at Kyalami) as well as unrewarding FI career in the a US World Sports Car early 1990s that he has put Championship series com- behind him. prising eight four-hour / The younger Brabham, 33, enduros. was aware at Oschersleben But a change of dates to October 10 for a sports car race at the Road Atlanta circuit now owned by wealthy

that Geoff, 46, was negotiating for a Super Touring contract involving a Honda Accord.

He also knew that Geoff was discussing a ^ V8

Supercar contract with Garry Rogers as a replacement for Steven Richards, who is leaving the Valvolinebacked team to become the test driver for Nissan’s BTCC team this season.

“I’m available for V8 Supercar drives at Sandown and Bathurst,” David said, after enthusing about his previous starts at Bathurst, He co-drove one of Fred Winfield Gibson’s Commodores to fourth place there in 1993 with Sweden’s Anders Olofsson - a jserformance that earned hitn the Rookie of the Year award, ^ The Brabhams were awarded victoiy in last year’s AMP 1000 after their Diet Coke BMW teammates Paul Morris and Craig Baird were disqualified for exceeding the maximum time limit for one driver.

Mount Panorama is one of the world’s best circuits,” David said. “It’s a real joy to drive there; a great challenge.

“The likes of Derek Warwick [who brought his Vauxhall Vectra team to last year’s AMP 1000 and had Peter Brock as his co-driver] haven’t stopped raving about it.’

MARCOS Ambrose has started his British Formula Ford campaign on a positive note, taking a weU-deserved fourth place in the opening round at Thruxton on April 13.

Having started eighth on the gi'id, the Tasmanian passed four cars before the end of lap one and stayed in fourth place to the finish.

whether or not a par cel of land will be released for the con struction of a golf course/racing circuit.

If that decision goes in favour of the pro ject there will be a Grand Prix in Las Vegas, probably in the 2000, year bankrolled by the city’s casino owners.

Bernie then went to San Francisco where mayor Willie Brown

“With absolutely no previous experi ence of Thruxton before opening practice, finding the correct lines and set-up was always going to be hard,” said an enthusi-, astic Ambrose.

However, delays in producing the cars has meant that this weekend’s race will be a non-championship event.

'White believes he may have an advan tage over the other drivers as he is one of the few with experience of powerful openwheelers, having raced Formula Holden in Australia.

The drivers will have their first taste of the Audi-powered cars on Friday.

of the Audis. That was a really stupid move. It dislodge^d the rear bumper of our car and led to us being black-flagged.

“From then on, we had to fight our way back to the front.”

BERNIE Ecclestone visited the United States during the South American leg of the FI season to see some of the peo ple promoting the idea of a USGP. His major port of call was Las Vegas, where a decision is due within a matter of over weeks

Making things even more difficult for the rookie was a snow storm which blew across the circuitjust before the start.

Ambrose gambled on wet tyres with a dry suspension set-up.

“The gamble I took on the set-up didn’t quite work as the track stayed dry for the whole race,” he said.

Once clear of the usual Formula Ford first corner dramas, Ambrose assumed fourth position, a position he held until the chequered flag.

The race was won by fellow Van Diemen driver Craig Murray, from the factory Mygale duo of Derek Hayes and Jenson Button.

MEANWHILE, another Australian in the UK is Stephen White, who makes his debut in the Foimula Palmer Audi open wheeler series at Brands Hatch this weekend.

David Brabham said that while the win had been “great”, it would have been far more satisfying if he and Geoff had crossed the line first, “I was annoyed at the time by the shunt I got from one

Ecclestone in America

Ambrose fourth in UK

Round two of the Championship will be held at Silverstone this weekend.

BATHURST-BOUND?... David Brabham not only wants to defend his AMP 1000 crown, but has his sights set on the Primus 1000 as well.

is backing a scheme to run a race in the Presidio parkland, close to the Golden Gate bridge.

This is not thought likely to happen if the race in Vegas goes ahead.

Ecclestone then went on to Long Beach in Los Angeles, where he met with Chris Pook.

Pook recently float ed the company which runs the race and is working on a number of other projects across the US, notably in Atlanta and in Dallas.

It is possible that Bernie would agree to a second GP in the US if one could be organ ised on the East Coast.

- JOE SAWARD

European tobacco ban ruled illegal

ALTHOUGH the Council of European Health Ministers voted in December to ban all forms of tobacco advertising across Europe by 2006, the pro posed legislation still has a long way to go before it becomes law.

Last week it suffered a serious setback when two European Parliament committees in Strasbourg ruled that the European Union does not have the legal right to ban tobacco advertising and sponsorship.

The Legal Affairs Committee which is made up of members of the European Parliament - voted 12 to 7 against the ban, declaring it to be illegal.

Tobacco lobbyists immediately asked that the legislation be with drawn.

The committee concluded that the Commission had used the single European market as a reason to introduce the legislation but was not treating all media on an equal basis.

We understand that the opposi¬

tion to the bill came from German Euro-MPs who are against the ban.

The EC argues that this is a tech nicality which will not stop the leg islation being voted through in the European Parliament in May. But, even if the European Parliament vote is successful, the findings of the Legal Affairs Committee will be significant if there is legal action after the law is voted through - which is virtually certain to be the case.

-JOE SAWARD

24/\prilW98

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Inflight magazines and sex in Formula 1 0 n the way to the Argentine Grand Prix I went to New York. I won’t go into too much detail, except to say that logic and air travel are not always bedfellows and that, when dealing with frequent flyer schemes, you sometimes do things which do not obviously make sense.

But going to South America via New York does have advantages.

There is the shopping on Fifth Avenue and there are electronic bargains to be had ...

But the nicest thing about flying from the US to South America is that because there are only 12 people in America who are inter ested in Grand Prix racing all the flights going south are empty.

If you fly from Europe to the Brazilian or Argentine GPs you find yourself crammed onto the planes with vomiting German holi day makers heading for sea, sand and sex in Santos and burly mechanics who drink Bacardi and Coke for breakfast.

More often'That not these trips have to be made with dodgy South American airlines and you spend most of the trip wondering if the engine is going to fall off.

n.d so it was that I found .myself stretched out in luxury aboard an American Airlines flight, reading the inflight magazine which goes by the curious name of 'The American Way”. It was a

y

ByJoeSaward . below the surface at one point in the Panama Canal there is an old French locomotive, still on its rails and still hitched to 30 freight cars, which was left there when the sec tion was submerged.

Why this happened was not explained but one must presume that it was related to the fact that 20,000 Frenchman died of yellow fever and malaria during the con struction and no-one wanted to hang around to build any more railways...

There were loads of daft adver tisements for silly gadgets which people buy when they are on aeroplanes because they cannot think of anything better to do with their time: watches with logos, projectors that fit into handbags and even such daft things as The Time Machine toothbrush, which has more bells, whis tles and buttons than a McLaren steering wheel.

^^Hungary is the only country in the world where more women than men watch FI racing.

But all tjiese paled into * insignifi cance alongside the advertisement for paintings by “the most sought-after artist in history”. I really good read and full of all was rather surprised to think that manner of strange and bizarre Vincent Van Gogh or Pablo Picasso were advertising their pieces of information.

I learned, for example, that works in an inflight magazine.

But it wasn’t even Rembrandt, there are a bunch of people in nor even Monet or Manet or Texas who get their kicks not from Renoir. No, the most sought-after driving down Route 66 as any nor mal healthy American would do, artist in history (self-professed but from decorating their cars in apparently) was none other than the worst possible taste and then an American called Thomas parading them through the streets Kinkade, who paints the kind of of Houston. Some may like the pictures you find on '^he walls of idea of a convertible in glow-in- cheap hotels in Havana in an the-dark paint, others prefer to effort to soften the harsher use buttons, bottle tops, Barbie aspects of the Communist School dolls, plastic fruit and even gold of Architecture. leaf.

I was still laughing about this madness when I stumbled upon a “It is about freedom of expres sion,” said someone involved. photograph of a lady in racing True. It is certainly not to do with team gear. It was an article about people in interesting jobs and good taste... there was Diane Holl, a British girl A few pages further on I dis covered a marvellously useless who spent eight years working as piece of information. Sixty feet a design engineer with John

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.1 Barnard at Ferrari and Benetton before going off to America, where she now acts as a race engineer for Tony Kanaan in the CART series.

Having time on my hands, I began to wonder about why there are so few women in motor racing.

If you think about it, it is rather strange. According to the latest demographic figures in Formula 1, the number of female viewers of Grand Prix racing runs at 35-40 percent, although in some coun tries this rises dramatically.

If you happen to be a shy little nerd racing fan, looking for.a Sharon Stone to give you a life, may I suggest that you stop writ ing in to,lonely heart columns ask ing for female race fans and get on a plane to Hungary. That is the only country in the world where more women than men watch FI racing.

As I was pondering lack to of women in FI andthe trying blame everyone for being too macho or some such, I realised that perhaps I was not the right person to cast the first stone as I am partly to blame for the prob lem. A few years ago I married the Ligier PR lady and, being a smart girl, she immediately gave up the sport and made me do all the work...

I learned from her that Formula 1 is not ap easy world for girls. It is a macho sport in which women were there to look pretty, to make sandwiches or, in the old days before computer timing, to use stopwatches. Even if you were a high-flying graduate there is no guarantee that you will be taken seriously. FI is not a very enlight ened business.

The traditional female strong hold these days is public relations and there are more and more girls to be seen in team gear running around the paddock. There are also a lot of absolutely invaluable ladies hidden away in team facto ries who organise everything and get very little credit for it.

The FI engineers are pragmat ic men and so they tend to be more enlightened than the team bosses. If a girl does a job better than a man she will be employed and, with all the number-crunching and computer stuff these days, there are quite a few boffins in frocks lurking in factories. Over the years we have seen women fuel technicians, fluid dynamics experts and tyre engineers. There are female journalists and photog raphers.

But when it comes down to

Send all complaints to Allan Schofield, cartoonist, c/o Motorsport News ...

SEXY... The popular concept ofthe role of women in Formula I, but should {Phnto by UlT Diglial) the girl be in the car instead ofon it?

women drivers, we simply have not seen any for years and I’d love to Know why...

and I remember her being as fast as Gerhard Berger at the time.

When Mika Hakkinen was racing for the Finnish national karting team in 1983 one of his team mates was his girlfriend and he had to work hard to beat her.

Somewhere in the mists ofago, time,I a few weeks or months read a study abq,ut women in motor sport which -'concluded that there was absolutely no physical is that women arrive initthe spotlight tooracers soon reason why a woman cannot be Perhaps just as successful a racing driver in their careers, which can do much more harm than it does as a man.

The report also concluded that good. All young racing drivers the lack of topline women racers make mistakes but most errors was doubly strange in that women are quickly forgotten in the midhave a huge advantage in the field of unimportant Formula Ford junior formula because of their races. A woman driver having an sex. There is a novelty value in a accident will always be a big story woman racing driver which and that can affect the way in attracts attention in a world where which the drivers are judged.

When I was a touring car attention is very hard to find. It is a lot easier for women drivers to find reporter, this happened to an Austrian called Mercedes sponsorship.

Over the years I have reported Stermitz, who drove for the BMW on quite a few women racers and Ladies team. Every time she some of them were just as good crashed we wrote the headline as men who made it FI and yet "Mercedes bends BMW”, which none of the ladies ever qualified resulted in her being tagged a bit for a Grand Prix. You have to go of crasher, which was probably back 22 years to find the last not fair.

It seems to me that all that is wofnan driver to qualify for a Grand Prix - Leila Lombardi - really needed to solve the problem and it was 15 years before Leila, is a sponsor with a long-term plan that Maria-Teresa de Filippis and a good driver coach to help raced. Divina Galica, Desire guide the girls through their early Wilson and Giovanna Amati all careers. McLaren, Elf, Stewart tried to qualify but failed to make and other organisabons have been carefully nurturing talent in the grid.

We have not seen a girl try to recent years but none of them qualify for a race since Amati have taken on a woman driver.

It is a shame because, FI drove a Brabham at the start of 1992. When she left the team she would be a great deal better off was replaced by Damon Hill and from a promotional point of view if he didn’t do much better than she we could boast a competitive woman racer. had done at the time ...

Perhaps then Hungary would Damon is not the only one.

When I was reporting in Formula 3 not be the only place In the world in the early 1980s there was a where women viewers outnumber French racer called Cathy Muller the men ... n

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WORLD GT CHAIVIPIONSHIR

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avoid the possibility of running out of fuel before the scheduled second stop.

Webber recovered most of the lost gi-ound and was a mere 7sec behind the Perssson Motorsport CLK-GTR looking set to grab second place when he spun at an estimated 180km/h after braking for the fastest comer on the track.

“We had our problems today, but we at least finished with some points and I learned a lot from my first endurance race,” a delighted Webber said afterwards.

He was pleased with his perfor mance, saying that AMG’s chief, Hans-Werner Aufrecht, had expressed satisfaction at the way he’d driven.

Webber had started his stint a lap behind Ludwig, whom long time motorsport fans will remem ber as the provisional winner in a Rudi Eggenberger Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 of the 1987 Bathurst 1000 round of that year’s world touring car championship, before the works Fords were outed for a technical infringement and victory awarded to Peter Brock and the Mobil Holden Dealer Team.

It did not take long for Webber to pass Ludwig and set off after the blue, Mobil-backed CLK-GTR being driven by Gounon.

“Klaus was in a completely differ ent situation than to what we were,” Webber said at the post-race press conference.

“We were all spread out after the pit stops and he had a big advan tage over the second-placed car, after Ricardo had gone ^ead in tlie second hour. It was not Klaus’ first GT race,for sure.

“I concentrated on my job, know ing we could be light on fuel towards the end. So I was surprised by coming so close to Jean-Marc (Gounon).

“The car was fantastic arid I was

MARK Webber capped an eventful FIA GT world champi onship debut race of fluctuat ing fortunes at Oschersleben, Germany, by salvaging third place and giving MercedesBenz a superb 1-2-3 result after his CLK-GTR shed its left front wheel in the closing stages of the 500km enduro.

The errant wheel cost Bernd Schneider Germany’s reigning GT world champion and Webber a likely second place behind their winning AMG team mates, Brazil’s Ricardo Zonta and German veteran Klaus Ludwig.

It came adrift 15 laps from the finish of the 137-lap event, two laps after precipitating an off-track spin as the hard-charging Webber was rapidly closing the gap to the eventual runners-up. Frenchman Jean-Marc Gounon and Germany’s Marcel Tiemann in their Persson Motorsport CLK-GTR. He had narrowed the margin to just 7sec after an inspired driving stint in which he was lapping the 3.667km track consistently quicker than his fastest qualifying time of Imin 22.8sec.

Webber managed to get the crip pled car to the pits, where the AMG mechanics worked feverishly to repair the damage and fit a replacement wheel.

Two laps elapsed before Webber was able to restart, but the 21year-old Australian completed the race without any further problems to achieve a very creditable podium finish in his first start for Mercedes-Benz.

Earlier, Schneider had put the sleek Silver Arrow coupe carrying No.l on its flanks into a potential winning position when he rocketed from fi fth to second place by the third comer after the rolling start.

But an electrical gremlin at his very happy until I spu’p. The restarting problem at Bernd’s first first pit stop caused a 40-second pit stop was a shame, because he delay when the engine temporarily refused to start after the car had had given us such a good start.” been refuelled.

While Webber, diplomatically, Schneider fell further behind the did not blame bis spin on the loose Gounon-Tiemann car when he lost wheel, he said he had noticed metal shavings coming into the cockpit two-way radio contact with his and that the left front brake was crew and was forced to back off to

Round 1, FSA Grand Touring Championship Oschersleben, Germany, April 12, 137 laps, 500km

1 Klaus Ludwig-Ricardo Zonta 2 Jean-Marc Gounon-Marcel 3 Bernd Schneider-Mark Webber 4 Sandy Grau-Andreas Scheld 5 Eric Bernard-David Brabham 6 Olivier Beretta-Pedro Lamy 7 Karl Wendlinger-David Donohue 8 Bruno Eichmann-Sascha Maassen 9 Franz Konrad-Nick Ham 10 Toni Seiler-Stretton

AMG Mercedes 3hr 14min 21.274sec.

Tiemann Persson Mercedes 49.946sec behind.

AMG Mercedes 135 laps.

Zakspeed Porsche 134 laps.

DAMS Panoz GT- R 130 laps. , Oreca Chrysler Viper GTS-R 126 laps (1st, GT2) Oreca Chrysler Viper 125 laps.

Roock Porsche GT2 123 laps.

Konrad Porsche GT2 122 laps.

Konrad Porsche GT2 122 laps.

Fastest lap Jorg Mueller (Porsche 911) 1 min 20.206sec (164.59km/h).

Winner's average speert 161.08km/h. 26 cars started. 21 finished.

Championship points Ludwig-Zonta 10; Gounon-Tiemann 6; Schneider-Webber 4; Grau-Scheld 3; Bernard-Brabham 2; Michael Bartels-Armin Hahne (Zakspeed Porsche 911 GT 1 -98) 1. Constructors; AMG Mercedes 14; Team Perssson Motorsport 6; Zakspeed Racing 4, DAMS 2.

FIA Grand Touring Championship Itinerary: Round 2. May 17 Sitverstone (UK); Round 3. June 28 Hockenheim (Germany): Round 4. July 12 Dijon-Prenois (France): Round 5. July 19 Hungaroring (Hungary): Round 6. August 23 Suzuka (Japan): Round 7, September 6 Donington Park (UK); Round 8. September20 A1 Ring (Austria): Round 9. October 18 Homestead (US): October 25 Laguna Seca (US). All races of500km distance except for Suzuka. which is 1000km.

playing up before the incident.

“I did know, however, two laps later, that the wheel had come off.

It rolled past me, crossed the road and planted itself in the sand trap.”

Later, Webber told Motorsport News that the team had instructed him to “stay out there, but be care ful” when he radioed his chief engi neer Irishman Owen Hayes and said he suspected something was amiss with either the left front wheel or brakes.

Webber’s closest supporters his father Alan and manager Ann Neal were there to cheer him on.

David Brabham, the other Australian flag-carrier at Oschersleben’s impressive new permanent circuit situated in north-east Germany near Magdeburg, between Berlin and Hannover, took fifth place with ■France’s Eric Bernard, seven laps astern after steering problems beset their DAMS team Panoz GTR while this spectacular-look ing car (with a V8 engine produc ing 130 decibels of ear-piercing noise) was running third in the enduro’s latter stages.

Mercedes-Benz was ecstatic about its clean sweep with the Bridgestone-shod CLK-GTRs after conceding qualifying supremacy to Porsche’s new, third generation 911 GTl, in which Germany’s Jorg Muller took pole position.

The CLK-GTR is powered by a naturally aspirated 6-litre V12 engine reputedly producing 650 bhp plus, whereas the latest GTl is in the traditional Porsche mould, utilising a twin-turbo, 3.2-litre flatsix engine developing 550bhp and, at 950kg, about 100kg lighter than its 1997 predecessor.

In the race, Muller was the early pacesetter, .showing the way to the quartet of GLK-GTRs for the best part of an hour before losing the lead with the first of a series of unspecified mechanical problems.

The second works-entered Porsche driven by Scotsman Allan McNish had fallen behind at the six-lap mark after tangling with Zonta after they both dived past a Porsche 911 Turbo contesting the GT2 category.

McNish and his French co-driver Yannick Dalmas had several timeconsuming stops and ultimately finished 16th in the 26-car field, 18 laps down, while Mueller and fellow-German Uwe Alzen crossed the line in last place, 21st, 30 laps behind.

The German duo of Sandy Grau and Andreas Scheld scored fourth place for Porsche in their Zakspeed-entered car, 3 laps down, ahead of Brabham-Bernard, with Frenchman Olivier Beretta and Portugal’s Pedro Lamy placing sixth and winning the GT2 catego ry in their Chrysler Viper GTS-R with a tally of 126 laps.

Persson Motorsport’s second CLK-GTR, driven by France’s Christophe Bouchut and Germany’s Bernd Maylander, fin-

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ished, albeit with a not-classified result after covering 86 laps, after losing a lot of time when its rear dampers were replaced.

Mercedes-Benz failed before the race to have Persson Motorsport classified as a private entrant, whicN meant that its second-string team’s two cars had to run the new skid plates ensuring the ride height specified by the champi onship regulations^; that are mandatory for the factory cars.

A BUSY DAY AT THE OFFICE...

Mark Webber had an eventful GT debut for AMG. Above he blasts the number 1 CLK-GTR through traffic in his chase of second place. But a lost wheel (below) forced him into the pits where only fast work got him back into a podi um position where he celebrated (top) with the rest of the victorious Mercedes squad.

(Main photo by LATDigital, others by Mike Kable)

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and, next, Le Mans?

WEBBER should soon know whether he is contesting the greatest endurance race of all, the French Le Mans 24-hour classic on June 6-7.

If he does, as seems likely, it will be at the wheel of a new car the AMG Motorsport Mercedes-Benz team has been developing in recent months a 5-litre V8 CLK-LM. It’s a smaller, lighter version of the year-old 6-litre V12 CLK-GTR Mercedes-Benz is campaigning in this year’s FIA GT championship, which the Stuttgart marque won last year.

The motorsport chief of Mercedes-Benz, Norbert Haug, has already described the CLK-LM as the next evolution of the GTR, con firming it will be a fully-homologated car.

This will make it eligible for the GT championship, but Haug has indicated that there are no short term plans at present for the LM to replace the GTR in the 10-round championship which may embrace an additional late-year South African round at Kyalami.

The decision on whether to go to Le Mans depends on the outcome of an eight-day test and develop ment program including at least one simulated 24-hour race that started at the Homestead circuit in Florida last week, two days after the 1-2-3 clean sweep by Mercedes-Benz of the openinground GT series race at Oschersleben.

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The deadline is in the next few days, with all Le Mans entrants being required to participate in the enduro’s official test day on May 3.

Webber and his fellow works dri vers, Bernd Schneider, Ricardo Zonta and Klaus Ludwig, plus their Team Persson Motorsport counter parts Jean-Marc Gounon, Marcel Tiemann, Christophe Bouchut and Bernd Maylaender, flew from Frankfurt to Miami the day after the Oschersleben round.

They were accompanied by the top AMG Motorsport engineers, technicians and mechanics.

One CLK-LM the prototype car which ran for the first time at Jerez, Spain, last month was ready for the intensive program.

The finishing touches were being put to a second car while the Oschersleben race was being run.

Webber had seen, but not driven the car, before he arrived at Homestead on what was his first trip to the US. “It looks great,’’ he said, declin ing to give any details of its specifi cations.

If Mercedes-Benz does approve a Le Mans entry,- it will be the com pany’s first time there since the Swiss-German Sauber-Mercedes team won the 1989 classic, 34 years after of its 300SLR’s driven

by Frenchman Pierre Levegh was involved in a disastrous crash that claimed the lives of more than 80 spectators.

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What the drivers said: This is an edited transcript of the post-race press confer ence in Argentina: Q; Congratulations on your first victory of the season, Michael. Your start was a dis appointment, though: what went wrong?

SCHUMACHER; We just had too much wheelspin. I thought I had a good way of approaching my start, but it proved to be not that good. I don’t know why and I shall be studying it: maybe it was similar to the problem I had in Brazil. But maybe it was my fault, I don’t know yet.

Q: Your suspension was slightly damaged in the clash of wheels with David Coulthard. What effect did the damage have on the handling of your Ferrari?

SCHUMACHER: There was quite a lot of understeer in righthand corners which made it feel loose and difficult to handle. But it didn’t feel too bad. And, no, it didn’t feel any better in left-han ders ...

Q: With just over ten laps to go it started to rain. How diffi cult did that make it for you?

SCHUMACHER: Atone stage, particularly at the first corner, the rain was coming down quite heavily. It was also raining at the second, third and fifth corners, and a little bit at the final corner, too. That is where it became just slippery enough for me to lose control.

Q: Was it to your advantage that the temperature today was comparatively low?

SCHUMACHER; I don’t think it was either a help or a disad vantage. Our tyre temperatures were quite low all weekend, in fact we felt the compound was too hard. Maybe it was even softer than what Bridgestone brought, but it was still too hard for us. As we expected, the new Goodyear was very consistent all through the race. But Goodyear already has'a new ‘family’ of compounds on the way which is even more consis tent.

Q: How well do you expect the Ferrari to perform at Imola?

SCHUMACHER; It is a differ ent type of circuit and I am sure we will improve the car. After Brazil, which was very bad for us, the tyre situation is now closer to what we would normal ly expect. But I cannot say yet what Imola will be like from the point of view of the tyres. I believe we will have an opportu nity to do a good job and to be up there again.

Q: Mika, has Ferrari got you worried?

HAKKINEN; I have to admit that the performance they had this weekend was excellent... particularly compared to me!

David was also performing extremely well, so it is unfortu nate what happened to him in the race.

If I had chosen a two-stop strategy I would have been able to push harder, and if I had been able to go quicker at the time of Michael’s second pit stop I suppose I might have been able to stay ahead of him, although I believe he would still have overtaken me, probably quite easily. Considering that I

had to start from third place on the grid, the one-stop strategy was the right choice, and I don’t think two stops would have made a big difference in the end.

Q: Around the time of your second pit stop you suddenly lost about four seconds in one lap. Were you in trouble?

HAKKINEN; Only with the traffic, there was a lot of it in front of me and I was not able to overtake it comfortably. That is where I lost a lot of time. Four laps from the end, when it start ed raining again and the circuit got really slippery in certain places, I was in a situation where I knew I wouldn’t be able to catch Michael by driving any faster, i didn’t want to take any risks at all, so I just backed off.

Q: But Michael didn’t seem to back off then, did he?

HAKKINEN: 1 am sure he did some! (Schumacher nods in agreement.)

Q: Eddie, it was around that point in the race when you and Alexander Wurz touched wheels. Was that because of the rain?

IRVINE: Yes. When he got past me there were only a few spots of rain on my visor and I didn't think there was going to be any problem. Then I braked, immediately locked up my wheels and ran wide, which allowed him to slip through. But then it rained a little more heavi ly and things evened them selves out again because he spun and I was able to re-pass.

At the end it was just a mat ter of staying on the track and not pushing too hard. I still had this [leg brace which had come loose] between my legs. It was coming away from the bottom of the cockpit and I had to keep knocking it back into position with my knee. It had already caused me an incident at the hairpin, where I lost five sec onds because it was just about to come undone and fall into the footwell among the pedals. I had to bang it with my knee, which caused me to miss my'*' braking point and slide wide.

Q: Wurz passed you easily, it seemed. Was there any con tact between you?

IRVINE: Yes, he was a lot faster than me and he caught me very quickly. Coming into the chicane, at first I hali-closed the door, which allowed him to get his nose half inside me. He touched my rear, but it didn’t seem to have caused any dam age to either car, so we set off again, back into battle.

Q: Michael, in two weeks you’ll be back in Europe for the San Marino GP, on Ferrari’s home ground at Imola. What are your thoughts about that?

SCHUMACHER: We have an extensive test program next week, with a lot of work still to do. I am hoping this wilkput us another step up, if possible on the sarrfe level as this Finnish guy sitting next to me! I am pret ty optimistic about this, because I know we can go faster. After that, from circuit to circuit it will depend on the tyres, and there will probably be variations when one or another is faster. It should make for an exciting championship. ■

Schuey sti Report by JOE SAWARD Photos by LAT DIGITAL

ON a day when neit)ier McLaren nor Williams shone, Michael Schumacher'took advantage - as he often doesto give Ferrari its first win of the year in the Argentine Grand Prix.

And Eddie Irvine gave him gi-eat support with third place to put both Ferraii drivers on the podium.

It dehghted fans all over the world and will no doubt have tickled FI bosses who were worried that we were going to see another crushing McLaren victory.

The McLaren domination of the previous two races did not.eventuate in Argentina, although David Coulthai'd managed his first pole for a couple of years and led the early laps.

A coming together with Schumacher put the Scot back in the pack and two more spins ruined his day and he escaped with but one point for sixth place.

Mike Hakkinen qualified only third, but might have won the race if McLaren had not decided to settle for second place in the closing stages, when Schumacher ran off the track and lost a lot oftime.

As it was, though, his distant sec ond allowed him to extend his cham pionship lead to 12 points - now over Schumacher rather than Coulthard.

Alexander Wurz scored a good fourth for Benetton from Jean Alesi in the Sauber and Coulthard.

It was a horror weekend for Williams, with both cars failing to qualify inside the top five or finish in the points. Frentzen stuffed up a pitstop while Villeneuve was taken out in an incident with Coulthard.

But it was even worse for Frost, Jordan and Stewart, who will all have left South America doing a lot of head-scratching...

Qualifying Qualifying for the Argentine Grand Prix has taken on an impor tance just as it does at Monaco and in Hungary where there are similar overtaking problems.

In orde'r to get everything possi-

ble from the cars, the FI teams had tacked on all manner of strange and nasty-looking aerodynamic buckets to increase downforce as much as possible.

Many of these would come off for the race, mainly because some of them blocked access to the refuelling hatches on the cars. But in the race downforce is not as important because the people behind you ai-e stuck.

The FI circus arrived in Buenos Aires expecting to see McLaren still dominant although, because of the nature of the track, the grid was expected to be less spread out than it was in Australia and in Brazil.

And so it proved to be with the top five covered by only a second.

The McLaren'advantage had looked a httle shaky on the first day but then the track had not been at its best. It had been filthy in the morning session and then midday rain meant that the afternoon served httle purpose.

On Saturday everyone was busy ing catching up with their programs and, with the track still very slip pery, there was no shortage of dri vers spinning off.

In the end the McLaren advantage remained intact - reduced by the track and, perhaps, by the new wide tyres which Goodyear introduced for its teams.

David Coulthard took pole position with a lap which was four-tenths faster than the best Schumacher could do. It was David’s first pole since the Pacific GP of 1995 - when he was still driving for Williams and he knew it was an important one.

“It feels like I have a race,” he said. “This is a good start but it is mole important to be out of the first comer first. It is stiU going to come down to a good start.”

The shoot-out for pole position was fought between the two McLaren dri vers and Schumacher and, oddly enough, none of the three improved on their final rans in the last min utes of the session.

“I cocked up,” admitted David. “I tried to go faster, overcooked it and ran wide. If you do run wide here you have to pay the penalty because the track is dusty off-line.

’■n.

“I actually thought the others would be closer, but we just kept working away on the car. It.is diffi cult to drive.”

Mika Hakkinen may have been the dominant force of the season to date, but in Buenos Aires he made a hash of qualifying.

“I am not very pleased about today,” he admitted, having set the thu'd-fastest time.

“Everything went wrong. I used four sets of tyres and none of the rans came out as I wanted them. I had problems coming out of corners and I made a couple of mistakes and lost the back end in a couple of cor ners. I could have been quicker.”

“But,” he added, H am vei-y happy for David. He did a great job.”

The pair were split by Schumacher and he was delighted with the progress which has been made.

“The miracle has happened,” he said, overstating perhaps just a lit tle, but providing a sound byte which will please Ferrari fans all over the world.

MID-FIELDER... Jacques Villeneuve battles with Jean Alesi and a recovering David Coulthard.

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AGAINST THE ODDS ... Once again Michael Schumacher and Ferrari were able to celebrate an unexpected victory after the brilliant German put it to the McLarens, including this incident(above) when Coulthard ran wide, Schuey dived underneath and the Scot tried to retake the line, with disastrous consequences.

A ^

“The improvements we have done have worked out vei-y well. We are not too far away and there is still some room for improvement.

It is basically due to the new tyres, although we have a different set-up and it worked. The engine is pretty much the same as we had in Brazil.”

But Michael, like David, made the point that the Argentine Grand Prix is as much about qualifying as about the mn to the first comer.

On this occasion Eddie Irvine looked a little better than normal and qualified third, although he was still half a second off the pace of Schumacher.

Eddie was disappointed because he felt he could have done a lot bet-

ter and admitted to having made a mistake, having had yellow flags on his next nin and then being held up badly by Pedro Diniz.

I think today I could have been up with Michael or even quicker.”

A brave claim.

Fifth on the grid was a good effort for Ralf Schumacher in his Jordan, although he had a good share of grassy moments and spins in the course of qualifying.

Ralf felt that he might even have been able to overtake Iiwine, but he outbraked himself at the last comer and blew what might have been a better time. Whatever the case, he was delighted.

Things were not as rosy for Damon Hill, who was back in ninth

place on the grid, six-tenths slower than Ralf. He blew his chances with a spin on his final run.

T am not happy with my own performance,” he admitted. “I threw away my last lap, which would have been quicker. Basically I am not over-excited by what I have done today.”

Whatever the details, the Jordan looked a bit better than it did in the first two races and that gave the embattled team a little bit of a lift.

Things were not very joyful down at Williams, with Heinz-Harald Frentzen sixth and Jacques Villeneuve seventh on the grid, the pair separated by one tenth.

Frentzen seemed to think that the new Goodyear wide front tyres did

not give the same advantage for Williams as it did for Ferrari and the other Goodyear teams, while Villeneuve seemed to be unhappy with the car and some of the engi neers.

These things are always denied, but from the outside it looks as though the relationship between Jacques and the team is becoming more and more strained.

Last year when Jacques was win ning he was allowed to do as he pleased with his set-up, but this

year things are not that easy and so the team seems to want Jacques to listen to them - and he does not want to.

Whatever the case, the man who is profiting from this is Frentzen, who is emerging as the team’s major threat to the McLarens and Ferraris. His only black spot in Buenos Aires was when he mis judged his braking in the damp on Friday and demolished the fi-ont of Continued next page

IS 2^April m Grand Prix of Argentina World Championship, round 3 Autodromo Oscar A. Galvez, 12 April, 1998-72 Laps 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Michael Schumacher, Ferrari F300, 1h48m36,175s Mika Flakkinen, McLaren-Mercedes MP4/13, 1h48m59,073s Eddie Irvine, Ferrari F300, 1h49m33,920s Alexander Wurz, Benetton-Mecachrome B198, 1 h49m44,309s Jean Alesi, Sauber-Petronas C17, 1 h49m54,461 s David Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes MP4/13, 1h49m55,926s Giancarlo Fisichella, Benetton-Mecachrome B198, 1h50m04,612s Damon Flill, Jbrdan-Mugen-Flonda 198, 71 laps Fleinz-Flarald Frentzgn, Williams-Mecachrome FW20, 71 laps Rubens Barrichello, Stewart-Ford SF2, 70 laps n JarnoTrulli, Prost-Peugeot AP01, 70 laps Tarasuke Takagi, Tyrrell-Ford 026, 70 laps Shinji Nakano, Minardi-Ford Ml 98,69 laps Ricardo Rosset, Tyrrell-Ford 026, 68 laps Olivier Panis,. Prost-Peugeot AP01,65 laps (DNF)

Fastest lap: Wurz, Lap 39, 1m28,179s Lap Leaders: Lap 1-4 Coulthard; Lap 5-28 Schumacher; Lap 29-42 Hakkinen; Lap 43-72 Schumacher FORMATION... There was no reason to expect what was about the come when the McLarens dashed away to lead the field at the start from an unusually slow Schumacher. this car on Esteban Tuero’s Minardi.

Eighth on the grid was a good effort from Alexander Wurz in the Benetton, following up his promising showing in Brazil. Once again he showed Fisichella the way around the track, beating the Italian by seven-tenths.

Giancarlo was not happy with his car at all and struggled.

The sixth row of the grid was shared by the two Sauber drivers with Jean Alesi beating Johnny Herbert for the first time this season.

The Swiss team is not a happy place at the moment, with Herbert losing patience wdth the team in the coui’se of Saturday because of prob lems which have rectured firom one race to the next.

Johnny was also less than impressed when Alesi crashed into him on Friday. Jean was able to get back into action quickly, but damage to Johnny’s car was worse and he lost a lot ofrunning time.

Thirteenth on the grid was a very impressive showing for, Toranosuke Takagi in the Tytrell.

This was a major embarrassment for Stewart Grand Prix, the Ford fac tory team, which had been beaten by a customer operation using a yearold VIO engine.

Takagi’s effort showed that not only is he talented but that the Tyn-ell is a good car which simply lacks horsepower, Argentina being a track where ultimate power is not as impoiftant as a good handling chassis.

Takagi’s the efforts of Ricardoshowing Rosset put very much into perspective. The Brazilian has not gelled with the team and has done nothing in the first three races to make them warm to him. He needs to start producing the goods if he is not going to risk being off-loaded later in the year if another driver with money shows up.

Rubens Banichello was 14th - just while Jan behind Takagi Magnussen found himself on the back row of the grid in 22nd position as a result of going off.

Neither driver was happy with the handling of his car and no-one at Ford was happy with the result. If things do not improve soon one can expect to see a massacre at Stewart in the weeks ahead.

Things were not very good at Pi-ost, either, with Olivier Panis 15th and Jamo TruUi 16th, a result which showed that, despite the optimism in Brazil, there is stiE a long way to go before the team wEl be competing at the other end of the gi-id. TRe team needs to get down to some serious testing when it returns to Europe.

The Arrows duo of Mika Salo and Pedro Diniz were 17th and 18th on the grid, which was a little better than has been the case in the first

two races. After a traumatic staift to the season, things are beginning to settle down and more progress can be expected.

The two Minardi drivers qualified side-by-side on the 10th row of the grid, with Shinji Nakano getting the better of local hero Tuero on this occasion. Tuero would probably have been quicker it he had not had three spins.

Race-72 laps

cut case.

The result was that David spun and Michael kept going, which was fortunate for him.

From that moment on Schumacher began to think about a win.

Hakkinen had been unhappy with his car all weekend and was not as competitive as he should have been and Coulthard was stuck down in sixth position and hemmed in.

In the laps which followed, there fore, the Ferrari driver put gi-eat chunks of time between himself and Mika. By lap 12 it was a gap of 12 seconds and then it stabilised, and remained much the same until Michael pitted on lap 28. He rejoined 10s behind the Finn and was unable to match Mika’s lap times in the middle section of the race but he was in the lead again when Hakkinen pitted on lap 42.

When Mika re-emerged it was Michael’s turn to build the lead again and in 10 laps he took the gap out to 20s. It was enough. He came in for new tyres on lap 53 and came out a few seconds ahead of the McLaren.

The drizzly and dank weather con tinued into Srmday and it was damp in the morning, which gave Jean Alesi the chance to show off his tal ents in slippery conditions during the waim-up.

At the start ofthe race it was clearthat Alesi meant business as he came hurtling through the field to move up from 11th on the gr-id to seventh. As this was happening, Ralf Schumacher was doing the opposite, dropping from fifth on the grid to 13th.

Up at the front things were rather less complicated. Hakkinen and Coulthard made good starts while Michael Schumacher made an average one.

“There was too much wheelspin,” We will never really know might have won theif Mika race said Michael.“I thought I had a good because it looked as though McLaren way of approaching my start, but it proved to be not that good. I don’t told him to settle for second place as know why and I shall be studying it. ''soon as Michael was ahead.

Maybe it was my fault, I don’t know Normally this would have been sound advice because in a battle for yet.’

The result was that David led the World Championship, points in Mika into the corner with Michael the bank ai-e .very valuable and it is third and Frentzen fom-th. better not to takp too many risks.

But McLaren did not expect It was quickly clear that the Ferraris and Alesi were running Schumacher to make a mistake and slide off the track ... with light fuel loads while eveiwone Between lap 53 and lap 66 Mika else was running for one stop. This meant that in those early laps, dropped 11s behind Michael and yet, Schumacher was able to scramble on one or two laps, was still able to past Hakkinen and then chase after lap as fast. It was not really a prob Coulthard. lem of traffic either. It was just play He needed to get ahead of David to ing safe.

On lap 67 Michael went off and have any chance of victory and he was willing to take risks to get there. did a lap which was 18s slower than When Coulthard drifted wide at normal. And yet he still managed to the hairpin - probably as the result get back onto the track ahead of Hakkinen. of a downchange problem with the There are always “if only” stories gearbox - Michael went for the gap.

The two cars did not collide until the in motor racing and this is very defi exit of the comer - which was unusu nitely one of them. What McLaren al - and both drivers felt that the did was probably not wrong but if other one was to blame.

Mika had pushed harder he would have won...

Michael later told Gilman And so it was left to Schumacher reporters that he felt David was to win his first victory of the year squeezing him too much and that he had backed off for Coulthard in and the first for Goodyear tyres. It was a good win, but a lucky one Australia and was not going to do nonetheless. the same again. David reckoned that Michael took a risk in passing Michael was chancing his luck a bit.

Coulthard but the risk paid off on The McLaren suffered damage to this occasion. the rear ofits sidepods while Michael Coulthard’s race was one of inci complained of a toe-in problem. You dent and excitement. can argue that David made a mis take and should not have left The car was not badly damaged in the crash with Michael, but there Michael with any chance or you can argue that Michael took too much of was not much he could do to pass Villeneuve and Alesi. a chance. There is not really a clear-

Retirements: Lap 13 Lap 17 Lap 18 Lap 22 Lap 46 Lap 52 Lap 63 Lap 65

Pedro Diniz, Arrows A19, gearbox Jan Magnussen, Stewart-Ford SF2, gearbox Mika Salo, Arrows A19, gearbox Ralf Schumacher, Jordan-Mugen-Honda 198, suspension Johnny Flerbert, Sauber-Petronas Cl 7, puncture/accident Jacques Villeneuve, Williams-Mecachrome FW20, accident Esteban Tuero, Minardi-Ford Ml 98, accident Olivier Panis, Prost-Peugeot AP01, engine cut

Drivers World Championship standings: 1 Flakkinen 26; 2 Schumacher 14; 3 Coulthard 13; 4 Irvine 7;5 Frentzen and Wurz 6; 7 Villeneuve and Alesi 2; 9 Herbert and Fisichella 1 Constructors' Championship: 1 McLaren-Mercedes 39; 2 Ferrari 21; 3 Williams 8;4 Benetton-Mecachrome 7; 5 Sauber-Petronas 3 He chose to stop early in an effoi-t to get some clear road but instead he ended up behind Alesi again and when Villeneuve stopped he also came out ahead of David. The Scotsman put the pressure on Jacques and eventually the pair col lided “It was more of a 50-50 situation than the crash with Michael,” he explained. ‘T was trying to go around the outside of Jacques and he hit my rear left with his right front and he went off.”/ After that David set off after Fisichella and Alesi. He managed to pass the Benetton driver when Giancarlo went off on lap 67, but the next time around, as he"'hounded Alesi, he was surprised- when Jean suddenly pulled left for no apparent reason.

In fact Jean had spotted oil on the track and before David could react he hit the slick and went spinning up the escape road. David rejoined before Fisichella arrived and so man aged to finish sixth.

Schumacher’s victoi-y was backed up by a solid performance from Irvine, although the Ulsterman was fortunpte to get third place. At the start he was knocked back from fourth on the grid to fifth but was quickly able to overhaul the strug gling Frentzen.

After Coulthard and Schumacher hit, Eddie was promoted to third and he ran in that position until after his second stop, when he came under pressure from Wurz, who had driven a very good one-stop strategy - which included the fastest lap of the race.

For eight laps Wurz hounded the Ferrari. At one point he challenged when Eddie drifted wide and the Ferrari slammed the door shut and the two cars collided. This knocked the steering of the Benetton a little askew, but Alexander was soon back on Eddie’s tail and when Eddie made another mistake three laps later, Wurz went ahead.

Unfortunately the Austrian remained third for just a couple of laps before he spun, the result of hit ting a damp patch on the track. By the time he rejoined, Irvine was ahead and clear.

Wurz had to settle for fourth.

which was still a good result, while Fisichella’s adventures left him sev enth.

The Benetton team was happy with the result. The cars were ninning quickly and the strategy was exactly right. All they now need to do is qualify a little better and we may see Benetton becoming a force to be reckoned with once again.

Alesi’s fifth place was a good show ing for the Frenchman and it was achieved despite very considerable pressure throughout the race from Coulthard.

“It is wonderful to work with a team in which the race strategy is agi-eed by the engineers and the dri ver,” commented Jean later in an oblique reference to his past adventm-es with Ferrari and Benetton.

“I suggested two stops and I knew that I needed a good start. I got one.”

Jean’s only problem was when he accelerated out of the pits after his first stop and snagged one of the An-ows team’s wheel guns. That stop got him ahead of Villeneuve, who had been in his way for the first part ofthe race.

Johnny Herbert had less of a good time. He had chosen a one-stop strat egy and he was up to ninth when Damon Hill ran into the back of him at the Senna chicane.

Hill got with although he had toaway pit for a it, new nose but poor old Herbert was out with a punctured left rear which dumped him out of the race half a lap after the incident.

Hill did rejoin and managed to fin ish eighth, but it was not a great result.

“Eighth place is not much good to me,” said Damon. One can only won der what they were saying^in the Benson & Hedges VIP suites ..f Ralf Schumacher’s race was short and not very sweet. He got off the line with all the alacrity of a startled snail and found himself 13th. Then he spun and had to pit. On lap 22 he had a second spin.

But the biggest losers in Ai-gentina were the Williams team.

The cars (jid not look at all good and a look at the fastest laps of the race showed that the FW20s were a second off the pace of the fastest

ARGENTINE GP

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men. There is no doubt that the new Goodyear tyres did not suit the Williams in the way that they did the Ferrari, but the whole package looked decidedly uncompetitive in the race.

Frentzen made a good start, despite a front wing endplate break ing as he accelerated off the line. He ran fourth but then began to fade fast, being passed by Irvine, Villeneuve and Alesi in quick succes sion in the early laps. He ran sev enth until his mid-race stop and then disaster stmck.

w.

en the Williams mechanics stepped back from the car we expected to see Frentzen depart, but the car stayed where it was.

“Put it in gear,” came a voice over the Wilhams radio. Heinz-Hai’ald did this and the car stalled. The engine was fired up again and Heinz-Harald took off in a welter of smoke and noise which resulted in a 10-sec stopgo penalty for speeding in the pitlane.

By the time Frentzen had done all this he was down in 11th place. He finished ninth, spinning pn the last lap for no apparent reason.

One can only presume that he went home with the raised voice of Williams technical director Patrick Head ringing in his ears.

Villeneuve’s showing was not a lot bettei-. He did well in the first part of the race, mnning fourth, but he lost out in the pit stops to Alesi and Wurz and so slipped to sixth under pres sure from Coulthard. They collided on lap 53 and Jacques was out.

“When he turned in he wasn’t completely in front of me,” Jacques explained, “and I had nowhere to go.

So, in a way, I am the one that hit him. Who knows whose fault it is? It doesn’t reaUy matter.”

Finishing 10th was Rubens Banichello in the Stewart-Ford.

The walk from the front of the grid down to the first Stewart had been a long one for Ford’s President of

PROBLEMS...The McLaren duo had to work through some techni cal hitches with their awesome McLarens.

RED ROCKET... Michael Schumacher showed great form all weekend.

DISPUTE... David Coulthard and Jacques Villeneuve come together in the race, putting the World Champion out.

i

Automotive Operations, Jac Nasser, but he must have hoped for better things in the race.

As it turned out Magnussen went out with transmission problems after 17 laps and Barrichello’s race was ruined when he had to stop a second time to have loose bod3nvork

fixed.

It would not have made much of a difference in the overall scheme of things. He might have been only one

lap down rather than two but one doubts whether such things mat tered much to Mr Nasser when he flew off back to Detroit.

It was a pretty dire weekend for Prost as well, with Panis retiring from eighth place on lap 66 after a dull race and Trulli straggling all day with soft tyres (which were not at all suited to the low temperatures) and because of a gearbox problem.

Also knocking around at the end were the two Tyrrells: Takagi in 12th place and Rosset in 14th. The best that the team could say was that both cars ran rehably all day.

London buses are often very reli able as well...

Nakano also made it home in his Minardi but there was not much to say about the result. The car was reliable (yawn).

Tuero’s race was destroyed by a

pit stop straight out of the Keystone Cops because Esteban arrived when he was not expected. Later in the race he crashed heavily at the first comer when he hit a damp patch.

Arrows failed to get a car to the finish with both didvers suffering gearbox failures.

The team needs to begin some serious testing as soon as possible if it wants to avoid embaiTassment in the months ahead. n

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20

24 April W98

I

Noske closes the gap

By CHRIS LASWBDEN MARK Noske made solid inroads into the championship points lead held by Kiwi Scott Dixon and Todd Kelly by winning the second round of the Holden Australian Drivers Championship at Phillip Island.

Noske took a win and a second to regain third in the championship, but both his young rivals came away with somethftig from the day.

Solid second and fourth places from Dixon put him into the lead in the series, while Kelly left with a win and a shattered lap record, although a strange spin in the opening race cost him the opportunity of a win and the series lead.

Brenton Ramsay was a consistent third in both races, while best of the rest on the day proved to be the returning Darren Ediyards.

Japanese debutant Akahiro Asai returned steady finishes in the top ten, while Kiwi Simon Wills, who looks to be an outright contender, was out for the day after an inci dent with Marcus Friesacher at turn one, race one.

THE OLDER LION...

Mark Noske gave the field a bit of

a lesson in the first race after Todd

Kelly made a rare error.

ASATS ARAL. Japanese driver Akihiro Asai made his first appearance in the series in his ‘chrome-dome’helmet.

(Photos by Dirk Klynsmith)

the second race as well - all three under Bright’s record (set on Avon tyres of course).

Friesacher and Ramsay split the fourth spots, Ramsay the only leading contender to improye between sessions.

After limited testing in the Greg Murphy Racing 92D, Simon Wills grabbed fifth for the opening race, and could have expected to be another session two improver.

However, a clutch problem mucked up the afternoon session early on and dropped him to 12th on the race two grid.

Osborne, Bastion and Edwards ran in the 1:27s for 7th-9th spots in then Friesacher, Osborne, Ql,Edwards sneaking past Bastion Edwards, de Vries, Robert Power, in the second for grid 8.

Crampton and the balance of the 22 American de Vries could only -car field. manage 10th first up, but found a Up front, it was very tight, the further four tenths in the after- lead duo easing away, going faster noon, while others dropped time, to and faster on every lap. Indeed, the leap to sixth for race 2.

Dunlop control tyre looked to warm It was pretty obvious that Jason Japanese Asai would start 11th to its task mid-race, with a signifi Bright’s lap record was going to cant number of the main con get a hammering when four cars in both races, a 1:28.69 his best in went under it in Friday’s opening the first session, while Chas tenders setting their best in the lap Talbot’s aged March was damaged 5-7 span. practice session, Dixon right into sufficiently in an afternoon incident stride with a 1:25.23 late in the ses The lap record went on lap four, to be out for the weekend. sion. And with Noske, Kelly and then five, then six - Kelly setting them as he eked out a tenth or so a Friesacher all clustered within three-tenths of that, the weekend lap over Noske, until lap seven when the leader disappeared, rotat promised much. the Turn best 1start to ing lightly into the tyres at the sweepmade through cleanly In all, 22 cars qualified for the Kelly ahead of Noske and a fast-starting Southern Loop. opening race, the strongest champi “I wasn’t really pushing,” he said Ramsay, but right behind them was onship field for many years in chaos. later, “but it caught me by surprise AustrMia’s top open-wheeler cate gory.

Dixon,Friesacher and Wills, - just stepped out. Experience, I Noske it was who was able in who’d switched across to the out- suppose,” concluded the 17 yearold, in just his second Formula both sessions to reproduce the side, arrived at the corner side-by quick times of Friday morning, side and, in a cloud of dust. Wills Holden outing.

This left Noske in command. knocking off Kelly late in the first speared off with the right rear Having set a smart 1:26.68 himself session to grab pole with a 1:25.29. wheel tom off. on lap six, he rolled it back by a sec Both went a couple of tenths or so The finger-pointing was in ond a lap and headed for the che slower in the afternoon session, but Friesacher’s direction, the Austrian quer. the result was the same. having moved in on Dixon, bounced Dixon had towed past Ramsay on Dixon was only just pipped by off to the outside and tagged the lap three and was now clear in sec Kelly for a front row spot in the unlucky Wills... ond, while the late race action was first race, a little over three-hunKelly completed the opener with by the imposing dredths of a second making the dif- Noske large in the mirrors, provided ference, and grabbed grid three for Ramsay’s similarly full of Dixon, Friesacher as he, unsuccessfully.

Qualifying

Race 1-10 laps

straight and Dixon got a terrific tow to slice past Noske into the sweeper, but this was going to be short-lived.

Noske fought back a lap later, pushing inside around the left-hand sweep approaching Honda, then riding it out around the outside to re-take second.

He tried the same thing on Kelly next time around, but this time it wasn’t on. Noske would spend the race there or thereabouts, occasion ally close enough to put the nose in, Damage Wills’ car to the wasright too much rear to of but there was to be no error from the youngster this time. rebuild in time, but Kelly’s brush with the barriers had only creased ' Behind the front trio, Ramsay the front sub-frame and it was easi ran a relatively lonely but consis tent race for fourth, which became ly fixed.

Noske stalled the Primus car as third when Dixon had a brief they departed on the wann-up lap, moment on the very lastjap, losing seven seconds. but regained his spot in time for the Osborne and Friesacher duelled start (this was later unsuccessfully protested by Simon Hardwidge, for fifth for most of the journey, but both disappeared off togethef on Dixon’s team owner), although the final lap also, leaving a grateful Kelly again got the jump to lead Darren Edwards to take the spot, through turn one to the Southern from Jacobson, Asai, the recovering Loop.

De Vries rotated into the sand, de Vries, Power and Crampton but was able to churn his way out rounding out the ten. and resume, albeit last, while Points after round two: Dixon 60; Kelly Noske had a good look alongside 55; Noske 43; Ramsay 34; Friesacher 22; the leader as they fired up the back De Vries 13; Crampton 15; Edwards 12; Heywood 9; Osborne, Cramp, Jacobson 8; straight towards Lukey Heights.

Asai 5; Power 2.

First time down the main looked for a way past Ramsay.

Osborne was a clear fifth, while De Vries relieved Edwards of sixth mid-race with a big move inside at Hpnda, which ended up as an out side pass at Siberia.

Crampton, Jacobson and Asai completed the top ten in a race which actually ran a lap too far, nothing fortunately changing dur ing the extra tour.

Race 2-10 laps

24 Apia m ADAM Macrow kept his head under mixed conditions to emerge from Phillip Island with a handy points lead as the Ford Motorsport/Slick 50 Australian Formula Ford Championship completed its third round.

Macrow won a tight opening race, but slipped to sixth in a chaotic wet second six lapper, won impressively by series rookid Steve Owen.

Tasmanian Owen had indeed fin ished sixth'in the opening heat and so tied with Macrow on the day and moved himself up to fifth in the series standings, both drivers in Spectrums.

In fact, four of the top six cars m the championship at this point are the locally-built chassis.

In championship terms, the other significant outcome was the failure of Lakeside winner Dugal McDougall to score a point. Out in a turn one melee in race one, the Mygale driver made a stirring three lap charge in the wet race, only to spin and finish an eventual 12th.

Tim Leahey and Christian Jones were the other significant points earners on the day, fifth and third for Leahey and a pair of fourths for Jones.

WA’s Christian Murchison looked the goods early on, nmning second in the dry race, only to go out on the opening lap in the second, where the big improver was Iccy Harrington, second from ninth on the grid.

Qualifying

Adam and Steve STARTS and ENDINGS?...

Macrow got the jump on the field in race one (above) and left the track 30 points in front of Dugal McDougall(right), whose Mygale went only 1km in the first race. (Photos by Dirk Klynsmith and Chris Carter)

Race 1 -6 laps

Macrow got the jump, just, Murchison, but out offrom the With set-up tooversteer avoid momen tum-sagging crucial sweeper, there was mayhem as on the high-speed Phillip Island cir McDougall and rookie Davison cuit, there were some winners and losers when the qualifying sheets touched and speared off to the were finalised. right, the front left hanging from McDougall’s Mygale.

Most of the quick times came in The rest got through, with the morning session, Macrow Macrow heading the queue at the m atching his Friday practice best by slipping three-tenths under end of the opener.

Leahey towed past Murchison for Gavin Monaghan’s lap record with second, with Jones, Zerner, Owen a 1:41.66 lap. and Hanington in line astern.

Christian Jones was one to Next time around, they were improve his earlier time later in the day, chopping off half a second to three wide at the front on the move up from fourth and join his straight, Leahey again getting best Spectrum colleague on the front of the tow and taking Murchison row. through with him.

Next lap it was the same again Three-tenths behind was Murchison (Van Diemen RF98K), three wide - as Macrow re-estab with McDougall Tim Leahey, and lished himself at the front, Leahey suddenly bundled back to fifth as Alex Davison - the latter impres Murchison, Jones, and Zerner took sive in a ’95 model Van Diemen.

Craig Zerner, Steve Owen, up the chase.

This time, though, Macrow man Ashley Seward and Iccy Harrington aged to put some air between him rounded out the top ten.

Missing from the front runners self and the rest - sufficient to were WA’s Aaron McNally (not ran- break the tow and give himself the breather that would allow him to ^ ning, see news pages) and Greg press on to the win. " Ritter, the latter unable to get under 1:43 with his Van Diemen.

Behind him, Murchison, Zerner,

Jones, Leahey, Owen (fastest lap!) and an improving Christian Jory towed around, ^ finishing in that B order.

Race 2-6 laps

A1

steady r i zz1 e dampened the circuit, race two lined up with much rear bar softening and disconnecting. ! j Harrington was the mover, scythThe opening lap was, well, event- ing past Leahey (who’d passed ful until, out of the spray, emerged Jones himselD for second on lap Steve Owen, no less than five sec- four. Although he reduced the gap onds clear of the field having startmarginally, there was never any ed from row three! hope of catching the leader.

Jones, Seward, Leahey, Zerner, Jones, now fourth, headed an Macrow, Jory and Daniel Orr (from interesting queue, consisting of grid 15) followed through. Seward, Macrow, Ty Hangar (up Murchison had already gone and from a race one grid of 33 and lapwas well down the field when he ping faster than the leader!) and Kelly, which finished in that order, rejoined. with Jory and Justin Cotter comUp front the race was over. Owen extended the gap to an unbelievpleting the top ten. able 8.7 seconds after three laps.

McKinnon was next, ahead of the

charging McDougall, who d spun out of sixth on lap four after a great charge from the back, and Davison who, somewhere in all that murk, set a fastest lap for the race over half a second quicker than anyone else...

Fords in the wet. Excitementplus.

Points after round three: Macrow 100; McDougall 70; Leahey 62; Jones 50; Owen 42; Zerner 38; McNally 35; Seward 30; Ritter 20; Harrington 18

- CHRIS LAMBDEN

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11

PHILLIP ISLAND

The Kid stretches his legs

l Craig Lowndes’ win and two seconds extends Championship lead l Closest challenger Russell Ingall wins final race in wet to keep in touch l Mark Skaife scores first heat win for Mobil-HRT but gets flat tyre in final heat l Glenn Seton has off in qualifying but fades on race^day, especially in damp l Team relations hit a low as HRT Manager Jeff Grech alleges Ford ‘sandbagging’ l For the first time in four years HRT leaves PI with two cars intact l Strong performances by newcomers Johnson Jr and Tander l Tomas Mezera dominates Privateer battle in final Level 3 appearance Report by PHIL BRANAGAN

CRAIG Lowndes put the grief and the heat - of Lakeside behind him in the fourth round of the Shell Australian Touring Car Championship at Phillip Island.

The Mobil Holden Racing Team leader,shared the first two wins on the day with team-mate Mark Skaife after the two dominated the dry going, but changeable condi tions - and a flat tyre for Skaife turned the results around in race three when rain changed the results in favour of Russell Ingall.

‘The Enforcer’ led the third race early and skated past Lowndes to take the win, finishing second on the day and losing only six points to the championship leader.

John Bowe was third on the day after a steady rather than inspiring performance, but the main talking point was the allegations made by the Holden camp that the Ford teams were sandbagging on the

Shell /\ Australian ^ Touring Car Greg Crick was spectating after the race to fix the L^eside damage to the Alcair Commodore proved too much, while Rodney Forbes’ Falcon was still to be fixed and Peter Doulman didn’t make the trip south in the M3 Commodore.

Still, 34 cars appeared for the qualifying roll-out, 12 'pars better than the corresponding weekend in 1997.

One thing is usually predictable about a Phillip Island Shell round: Glenn Seton goes fast. The Ford Credit driver and his cars have done approximately ten million laps at the Bass Straight circuit and he day.

The theory, so the stories went, seems to know his way around. So was that the Ford teams were not do his cars; they could probably lap prepared to jeopardise their parity the track on their own.

Not this time though. Seton and adjustment due before next week’s Winton round by showing their troops arrived with a brand new ‘true’ colours at the Island. car, completed at 2300 hours the Tuesday before the weekend and Predictably all Ford people dis missed the rumours but the teams shaken down briefly the following left the track with relations at an day. It looked the sama as previous all-time low. machines to emerge from Glenn Seton qualified on the Dandeftong and went as hard. fi-ont row and was a consistent run Seton led the times in the prac ner, if not a threat, in the first two tice sessions, running comfortable races before being shuffled back 33s while the opposition struggled wards in the drizzle. in the low 34s.'^en it came to the Privateer honours went to Tomas split sessions the form looked the Mezera, the Queenslander having same, though, Glenn bouncing in a his final run in Chris Smerdon’s lm33.93s lap after eight minutes to Commodore before concentrating head the sheets. He trailed around on the build of his own, new VT for a slow lap and then set off on another hottie...

Commodore. ... which ended in the sand. Seton fired into the Southern Loop left e 1998 Boom in grid size con- hander too hot and looped the car _ tinued at the Island, though into the litter. Neither man nor machine were wounded in the there were a few cars missing.

Entry & qualifying

T,

process but the car was deemed to be in a dangerous spot and the session red-flagged for five minutes.

That screwed a lot of hot laps but, when the fun restarted, Lowndes was the only one to take advantage.

He sizzled out a lm33.6s to end an 18 month pole drought in emphatic manner.

“We got a second chance,” grinned Craig later. “We were lucky that Glenn had a spin.

ITS A TRY... Perkins was having the big go in qualifying; this is over the top of Lukey Heights...

(Photo by Dirk Klynsmithj

PHILLIP ISLAND @

ATCC

24April1998

23

A'-

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THEY REALLY DID GOES LIKE BLURS... Craig Lowndes (left) and Mark Skalfe each took a heat race at Phillip Island but the difference between them was the daunting pace Craig showed on cold tyres in race two.

ti

ANOTHER LIONHEART?... Garth Tander(above) made an impressive V8 debut, given that he had around five days to think about it. Ironically, on the weekend that Ford got its Generation XR program into top gear he joined Perkins, Mezera, Ingall and the redently-departed Richards as Formuia Ford champions to drive Hoidens.

#1

HARD TIMES ON HOME TURF... Seton arrived on his home track with what would have been high expectations but was, ultimately, unable to match the speed of the front-runners in any of the races. Despite the support of his fans (bottom) his new Ford Credit Fatcon went home without a win.

(Photos by Dirk Klynsmith)

Photo by Phil Williams

V

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Team-mate Skaife was right behind, 0.56s slower than the #15 car. The slower Skaife was unhappy though; the car was understeering through the entry and exit of the turns onto Gardner Straight and losing, at his estimation, half a sec ond. He vowed set-up changes overnight would cure his ills.

Bright was not. His ills were physical. He had hurt his back which he blamed on either moving his fui-niture into a new apartment of, believe it or leave it, a particular ly violent sneeze.

The Pirtek Falcon had had its major changes between the morning

session and qualifying and Jason was delighted to see that car’s bal ance had remained on fresh Bridgestone 261s.

The car was good for fourth on lm34.41s and the team was happy, despite Jason complaining of low grip - a common lament in the cool conditions. Still, nobody was pining for Lakeside’s ‘race-in-a-sauna’ tem peratures.

Larkham was less than two tenths back, but in seventh. Still, he was absolutely delighted with the Mitre 10 car, feeling that his next lap would have been a belter. But he was the first car to see the red

flag and there went the ‘gun’lap.

Longhurst continued to be the brand leader in the Yokohama camp. The Castrol Falcon was, as has been the form thi’oughout most of ’98, miles quicker than the simi larly-shod opposition. Running a new damper set-up for the first time, at lm34.43s Longhurst was almost exactly a second quicker than the similar Komatsu car of Alan Jones, who was still running the older set-up and suffering understeer with the car.

Ingall was sixth. He felt that the car had the speed - and his confi dence, as usual, was hardly missing

in action - but, like off-sider Laiiy Perkins felt that Dunlop’s tyres choice for the weekend was proba bly on the conservative side.

While that put Rusty in a buoy ant mood for race three he really felt that a softer tyre would yield better results in the first two sprints and that a buggered, sottish t3rre would be little worse in the last race than a fresh but slow sturdy 356, which was what he was run ning. Ingall and Perkins were hop ing for wanner climes on race day.

In eighth and 11th Bowe and Dick Johnson were clearly strug-

Continued over page

24 24Ap!ilim

PHILLIP ISLAND

Continued from page 23

ATCC

behind Bargs and the team now had a ‘short and tall’ look, Richards’ old racesuit fitting the Perth beanpole perfectly - well, as far as the ankles.

With a 17th Mark Poole

gling. Both were headed for a fair part of the AM non-Q session by Steven Johnson’s Racing for Life Falcon and, in the car he described preLakeside as “much better” just headed best of the than liis older one, dad only Privateers, Mezera. Tomas headed son by 0,6s on the was pleased with his lot, sheets. though many of the Level 3 Both senior drivers com drivers were still less than plained of understeer, proba happy with Yokohama’s con bly compounded by the trol tyre. As usual, Mezera Falcon’s perceived lack of had no grumbles in the Densitron car and was look downforce compared to the Commodores. ing forward to racing with Dunlop Johnson Jr felt that he had what would be justifiable failed to get the best out of confidence.

Behind in Level 3 came his tyres, suggesting that miles would have found him Anthony Tratt. The Toll half a second, which would Falcon looked the goods and JB HOLDS ON ... Best of the Ford runners was Bowe who, after race three, said that his have him right on DJ’s pace.

John Sidney was on hand to (Photo by Phil Williams) Dunlops surprised him with the grip they had in the damp.

John Faulkner was a neat oversee proceedings, though ninth on lm34.74s. He felt the team really wanted to changes to the car and it felt have been in trouble,” said Race 1 (12 laps) that the Betta car was failing run the ex-GSR car in Level better, but it went slower. team manager Wally Storey. ~Of the rest Mai Rose led to respond to changes and We’re perplexed.”

1, having a Bridgestone deal The weather got their wish watchers on Sunday With all three Gibson cars Paul Weel and Danny that the understeer problem in the bag if they were when the sky dawned bright, in the same boat there was to Osborne, while Mike Imrie Skaife was finding was allowed to access it. but slightly overcast. affecting him also.

They weren’t, much to the be much computer-reading and Melinda Price’s Cougars The race warm-up had Bargwanna was 12th on team’s dismay, so Yokes it and head scratching into the car led newcomer Simon been most revealing. lm35.02s. He felt the was. Tratt, still a relative night.

Emerzidis, the Sydney driver Lowndes, on lm33.67s, oust Commodore w'as a good race novice in V8s, was only 0.05s The Darrens were split by having his V8 debut in the ed Skaife for best time by Simon’s Earthworks 0.03s. Mark was obviously package but, like the rest of behind the former HRT dri- Rod Nash, a neat third fastest in the ex-Gardner Commodore usually driven the Bridgestone runners, felt ver. much happier with the he was in the understeer There was little doubt Commodore, while Kevin understeer-less Commodore.

by Garry Willmington. camp. Main news within the about Elleiy’s status. He was Heffernan, fresh from his Seven seconds off pole The following three were very team was the arrival of in Level 1 but pla3dng with Lakeside Dash heroics, fol looked a lot but, for a guy close. Bright topping Seton, ‘threes’.

Gibson lowed in the Price Attack Garth Tander in place of the the with so little experience to be with Larkham right behind. machine. departed Steven Richards. Motorsport’s Young Lions in that shape at the Island The start at Phillip Island was a commendable effort.

Steve Reed was down in The tall Westralian was play driver, along with Wynn’s always seems to cause chaos ing himself in gently, learn Darren Duo, Pate and D’arcy Russell followed, and this one was no different.

25th and lucky to be there. ing all of slicks, horsepower Hossack, were in all sorts of The Lansvale Commodore searching for clues after his The lights went green, then Commodore went SLOWER flicked, then green again and and weight. lost an engine in the midday problems, running 37s and After a quick run the previ Lowndes- and, unbelievably.

38s. And the team were just qualifier and the crew only on new tyres while Ryan ous Tuesday at Winton he perplexed about it.

McLeod rounded up the grid Ingall - were slow away. just got the car out for the confirmed his promise to the So was Longhurst. The after a jammed throttle on “The car feels okay,” said ‘slow’ session with a fresh unit. team, though the deal was on Castrol crept away and his ‘out’ lap sentenced him to Ellery. “There aren’t any Larkham hammered into his a solo circuit of the track in a ‘one race, then see’ basis. problems, it just is not fast “If not for the red flag in the OAMPS Falcon.

He was exactly a second enough. We made some the earlier session we would bumper, which bounced into

Johnson’s windscreen. The screen was suitably stuffed and, after a slow lap, Dick pitted to watch his lad at work.

While all this was going on Skaife had scampered away to lead Lowndes, Seton and Ingall, who pulled a big move and passed the Ford Credit Car up around the outside of Honda.

Behind were Bowe, Perkins, Bargwanna, John son Jr, Faulkner, Longhurst, Mezera, Larkham, Jones, Romano, Ellery, Tratt, Poole, Pate, Hossack, Rose, Nash, Osborne, McLeod, Reed, Heffernan, Weel, Russells W then D, Imrie, Emerzidis, Tander (who had stalled the Commodore at his first start) and Price.

1

The two Mobil cars was fly ing away from the field for the first two laps, Lowndes easily able to keep up with Skaife but unable to get by.

Once they were 1.5s clear of Ingall the gap stabilised, before the Dunlop car started to close as Skaife was forced to slow the battle to keep Craig behind.

The race for first wasn’t going anywhere. Lowndes threw not-quite-everything at his team-mate but Skaife never flinched to take his first win by a length or two.

Ingall always had Seton cov ered for third and Bright held off Bowe, Perkins and Bargwanna all the way for fifth.

The changes were behind that. Once Longhurst came to Continued on page 28

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PHILLIP ISLAND

Mezera much too good

TOMAS Mezera was too good for the Privateer competitors in the three races at Phillip Island.

After qualifying fastest he missed out on the front row for the Dash, Imrie drew pole, with McLeod just making it out alongside. At the start both drivers sat there spinning the bags but, behind, Mezera had nailed the getaway from third and bounced into the lead.

At the first corner Heffernan and Weel

speared off in unison, Weel damaging his right front suspension. That allowed Nash to emerge fi’om the melee in a clear third from the battle between Reed and Tratt, who had both smoked away from the rear of the gi’id.

That’s the way that the race ran out with the five car Imrie/Rose /Russell W/Russell D/ Emerzidis battle going right to the wire until Emerzidis ran wide while challenging D’arcy at MG, looping the Simon’s car into the earthworks before con tinuing undamaged.

In the first race Mezera settled down in 15th, putting a couple of Level 1 cars between himself and Tratt.

Similarly, McLeod was trapped behind a recov ering Tander for most of the distance so was unable to make up any ground.

In the end Tratt fell fours seconds behind the yellow Commodore while McLeod held off Rose and Reed.

Race two was another Mezera benefit. After los ing early spots to Tander and Ellery he steamed around ahead of Hossack, but the Wynns car got passed by the recovering Reed and the Lansvale car fell just short of catching Tomas at the flag.

Weel turned on an inspired chase of Hossack to take third from Rose and Price.

In the third race Mezera took control before the rain came and sat on the lead to head home Weel, the inspired Nash (very impressive in the slippery going) and McLeod who started j

from the rear of the grid.

THREE FROM THREE... Mezera leads McLeod into Honda during the Dash.(Photo by DirkKiynsmm

Shell Australian Touring Car Championship Qualifying Time Car R)s Driver 1:33.6244 Mobil HRT Commodore 1 Craig Lowndes 1:33.9327 Ford Credit Falcon 2 Glenn Seton 1:34.1878 Mobil HRT Commodore 3 Mark Skaife 1:34.4146 Pirtek Falcon 4 Jason Bright 1:34.4312 5 Tony Longhurst Castrol Lcfnghurst Falcon 1:34.4900 Castrol Perkins Commodore 6 Russell Ingall 1:34.5558 Mitre lb Falcon 7 Mark Larkham 1:34.6939 Shell Helix Falcon 8 John Bowe 9 John Faulkner Betta/Fisher&Paykel Commodore 1:34.7463 1:34.7478 Castrol Perkins Commodore 10 Larry Perkins 1:34.9491 Shell Helix Falcon 11 Dick Johnson 12 Jason Bargwanna Valvoline/Cummins Commodore 1:35.0235 / 1:35.3543 Romano Commodore 13 Paul Romano 1:35.4008 14 Steven Johnson Racing for Life Falcon 1:35.4498 Komatsu Falcon 15 Alan Jones Valvoline/Cummins Commodore 1:36.0603 16 Garth Tander 1:36.5466 Gawler Commodore 17 Mark Poole 1:36.7377 Densltron Commodore 18 Tomas Mezera 1:36.7810 19 Anthony Tratt Toll Express Falcon 20 Steve Ellery Konica Young Lions Commodore 1:37.0038 1:37.2682 21 Darren Pate Wynn’s Australia Commodore 1:37.8142 Rod Nash Commodore 22 Rod Nash 1:38.2114 23 Darren Hossack Wynn's Australia Commodore 1:38.2942 Price Attack Commodore 24 Kevin Heffernan 1:38.4429 Lansvale Commodore 25 Steve Reed 1:38.6547 Fairfax Commodore 26 Mai Rose 1:39.0467 K&J Radiators Falcon 27 Paul Weel 1:39.1612 Colourscan Falcon 28 Danny Osborne 1:39.9180 Saabwreck Commodore 29 Mike Imrie 1:40.0779 Union Steel Commiodore 30 Wayne Russell 1:40.4438 31 Melinda Price Castrol Cougars Commodore 1:40.8068 32 Simon Emerzidis Simon's Commodore 1:41.8605 Russell Commodore 33 D’arcy Russell 1:55.1011 CAMPS Falcon 34 Ryan McLeod Race 2-23 laps Bos Driver

Race time F/bp On 19:19.9938 1:35.0227 3 1 Craig Lowndes 19:21.9665 1:35.7997 2 2 Mark Skaife 19:22.3682 1:35.8021 2 3 Russell Ingall 19:24.4172 1:35.8503 4 4 Glenn Seton 5 John Bov/e 19:25.9151 1:35.8658 4 19:26.5633 1:35.6484 7 6 Jason Bright 7 Tony Longhurst 19:27.8783 1:35.8238 4 8 Jason Bargwanna 19:30.1836 1:35.7059 4 19:31.9057 1:35.7296 2 9 Larry Perkins 19:32.0828.1:35.8986 2 10 John Faulkner 11 Mark Larkham 19:32.6159-1:35.8333 2 19:32.7658 1:36.2264 5 12 Paul Romano 19:38.7731 1:36.4294 4 13 Alan Jones 14 Dick Johnson 19:40.2957 1:36.4297 2 19:41.1814 1:36.4429 4 15 Garth Tander 19:50.7505 1:37.3822 5 16 Steve Ellery 17 Tomas Mezera 20:06.4883 1:37.8634 2 18 Steve Reed 20:07.3265 1:38.8648 3 19 Darren Hossack 20:08.1137 1:38.9039 4 20:08.4495 1:38.8575 3 20 Paul Weel 21 Mai Rose 20:13.8140 1:39.1307 3 22 Melinda Price 20:33.3711 1:40.5059 10 23 Kevin Heffernan 20:36.8485 1:39.8796 2 24 Simon Emerzidis 20:37.3648 1:40.5192 10 20:44.8429 1:41.9102 4 25 D'arcy Russell 26 Mike Imrie 20:57.5317 1:41.1970 4 21:10.6336 1:40.9246 3 27 Wayne Russell 28 Steven Johnson 11 laps 1:37.2757 11 29 Darren Pate 11 laps 1:40.0547 5 5 laps 1:39.5423 2 DNF Anthony Tratt

-PHIL BRANAGAN

Race time Flap On 19:21.2628 1:35.4219 2 2 Craig Lowndes 19:21.4335 1:35.2569 & 19:22.1557 1:35.4251 2 3 Russell Ingall 19:23.1591 1:35.3447 3 4 Glenn Seton 19:23.3901 1:35.4482 3 5 Jason Bright 19:28.1264 1:35.9210 2 6 John Bowe 19:29.8395 1:35.6969 2 7 Larry Perkins 8 Jason Bargwanna19:30.1302 1:35.8674 3 9 Tony Longhurst 19:30.4672 1:35.8855 3 19:34.9628 1:35.6337 3 10 John Faulkner 11 Steven Johnson 19:35.4597 1:36.4569 3 19:38.7070 1:36.1995 3 12 Mark Larkham 19:41.1973 1:36.6433 10 13 Alan Jones 19:47.2489 1:36.5866 8 14 Paul Romano 20:00.8352 1:37.4269 2 15 Mark Poole 16 Tomas Mezera 20:02.1804 1:37.9430 3 20:04.7072 1:38.0022 2 17 Darren Pate .20:06.6743 1:38.2530 2 18 Anthony Tratt 19 Darren Hossack 20:07.4937 1:37.8918 2 20:08.3976 1:36.8728 7 20 Garth Tander 20:19.0019 1:39.5170 2 21 Ryan McLeod 20:20.3057 1:39.5973 3 22 Mai Rose 20:21.5883 1:39.3906 11 23 Steve Reed 20:33.4119 1:39.0087 3 24 Rod Nash 20:42.4184 1:41.0439 2 25 D'arcy Russell 20:44.2967 1:40.5963 9 26 Melinda Price 20:47.7288 1:41.4076 4 27 Mike Imrie 21:00.5478 1:39.4036 3 28 Paul Weel

Race 3-23 laps FteDriver

11 laps 1:38.0824 10 laps 1:40.4048 11 laps 1:40.6885 11 laps 1:40.2796 5 laps 1:41.0934 0 laps

Race tine Flap On 20:39.5925 1:35.6894 3 1 Russell Ingall 20:44.1047 1:34.8765 3 2 Craig Lowndes 20:46.0834 1:35.6280 2 3 John Bowe 20:52.3329 1:35.5456 2 4 Larry Perkins 5 Tony Longhurst 21:02.7671 1:36.3246 2 21:09.3798 1:36.6370 2 6 Alan Jones 21:14.3681 1:35.4641 4 7 Jason Bright 21:16.1772 1:35.7948 5 8 Glenn Seton 9 Steven Johnson 21:16.5408 1:36.7881 3 10 John Faulkner 21:17.0284 1:36.0874 5 11 Jason Bargwanna 21:19.5585 1:36.0572 3 12 Garth Tander 21:19.7616 1:36.9158 2 13 Dick Johnson 21:21.3430 1:35.8907 5 14 Darren Hossack 21:22.0323 1:37.3091 3 21:24.2832 1:36.0721 4 15 Paul Romano 21:25.2158 1:36.9544 3 16 Mark Larkham 21:43.9973 1:38.4968 3 17 Tomas Mezera 21:47.5363 1:38.7514 3 18 Paul Weel 21:48.5379 1:39.8373 5 19 Rod Nash 21:49.3474 1:38.6083 3 20 Ryah McLeod 21:49.9407 1:35.8199 3 21 Mark Skaife 22 Kevin Heffernan 21:50.3786 1:39.3636 2 23 Mai Rose 21:51.6908 1:39.6980 3 22:04.9564 1:40.3331 5 24 Melinda Price 25 Mark Poole 22:06.1078 1:37.6977 5 26 Steve Reed 22:06.5948 1:39.3491 3 22:09.1945 1:41.9666 5 27 D'arcy Russell 28 Simon Emerzidis 22:24.6204 1:41.4591 5 29 Wayne Russell - 22:25.3946 1:42.8178 2 30 Steve Ellery 11 laps 1:36.9866 2 31 Mike Imrie ' 11 laps 1:41.5847 2

n Seton debuted the new Ford Credit Falcon on the weekend. While the car is an evolution of the one it replaced rather than an revolution it, notably, uses one of the new MoTec dash displays rather than a Pi as used previously. But the change to MoTec is not total; like Perkins’ cars, Seton’s still utilise Autronic’s engine manage ment system.

plained of understeer on Saturday Tomas Mezera had the solution;“Skaifey and Bowe mentioned cmdersteer. I can help them out with that- go a little slower. I am,it’s beautiful!”

Mark Skaife

29 Steve Ellery 30 Danny Osborne DNF Wayne Russell DNF Simon Emerzidis DNF Kevin Heffernan DNF Dick Johnson

n Seen in new coloxu'ed clothing for the first time at the track was NeO Crompton. The long-time Commodore pilot was hav ing a good look at proceed ings the Ford Credit way prior to having^n outing in the car Seton drove up to the Island race which, according to Seton, could come as soon as Mallala’s Shell round.

n While drivers com

Race 1 -23 laps Fte Driver

1

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n Experience counts, but not much. A quick guessti mate before qualifying came up with the startling fact that Garth Tander’s V8 Supercar debut was approximately his 18th ever car race. n Trae Lies; John Bowe had a birthday the Thursday before the race.

When asked his age at the Saturday afternoon Q&A session Dick Johnson beat him to a response with “44, again”. About two years short, we think.

3 8 8 9 5

n The cause of Steve Reed’s engine problems on Saturday was a broken cam follower, though the REDbuilt Chev engine had already racked up a useful 3000km.

POINTSCORE Lowndes 434 394 IngdI 350 Perkins Skaife 312 308 Bowe Seton 272 264 □.Johnson 262 Bright 240 Longhurst Borgwonna 224 188 Richards 164 Larkham 148 Romano 122 Faulkner 106 Jones 99 Finnigan Ellery Hossack 84 Crick 58 58 Ashby 48 Poole 44 Mezera 40 S.Johnson Reed 33 Pate 32' Smerdon 28 Tander 27 Doulman 26 24 20 Hislop Rose 20 Weel 16 Brewer 14 12 Osborne 10 McLeod Price Heffernan 8 4 Tratt 4 .

Mork 2 Nash

n Ryan McLeod just made the Sunday morning Dash. While the rest of the field was being griddedthe DAMPS crew were fever-

ishly changing a CV joint.

McLeod got out just before the pitlane closed and fin ished a strong second to Tomas Mezera. n Just prior to the MMM Holden ute promotion some heavy hitters were seen hard at work, TEGA bosses Ken Potter and Gari7 Craft chamoising the Commodores into pre sentable condition. n While the driver disci pline scene was pi’etty quiet Alan Jones and Jason Bright felt the stewards’ wrath. AJ copped a $500 hit for missing the Saturday PM ‘meet the people’ session while Bright paid $500(and had a $1000 fine suspended)for playing biffb with Dick Johnson in race three. n Sportsmanship in the dark; DJR didn’t have a spare windscreen for #17 so the team borrowed one off Tony Longhurst. Castrol team manager Brett Bull told the boss about itjust after Motorsport News did... n Seen in Tomas Mezera’s pit was long-time racer Alan Hamilton. The former Porsche distributor was on hand to.assist with team management and will take a bigger role when Tomas gets his Commodore VT on-track. n Also notable by his presence was Bryan Thomson. It seems that the Shepparton-based foirmer Sports Sedan champion is a real Superbike enthusiast and follows the two wheel ers around,just like a lot of other fans. n The starting hghts went a bit odd at the start of the first race. They went from red to green alright but then went offfor a split second before they went green again. None ofthe drivers specifically blamed the glitch for bad starts, and it did not happen in any of the other races.

-PHIL BRANAGAN

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28

PHILLIP ISLAND 0 ATCC

24 April m

Continued from page 24 terms with having no rear bumper he passed Johnson Jr and Faulkner while, behind the RFL Falcon, a frustrated Larkham was fighting his car to hold off a determined Jones, still not coming to grips with his understeering Komatsu car.

But the recovery of the race was Tander’s. Once he found clean air through the backmarkers the beanpole clicked off lap after lap at what had been his qualifjdng pace - and he was holding the gap to the leaders. He got to 18th and was challenging Pate when he slipped off at Honda, losing two spots. Still, he hadn’t made all his gains by being shy and the car returned unmarked.

HaCG 3(12 lapS)

Race 2 (12 laps)

I

Again, Tander led the charge from the back, the well-worn, rookie-driven Valvoline car hooking onto Johnson Sr as he steamed past and setting a best race lap only 0.02s slower than the veteran and his latest weapon. They finished 14th and 15th respectively.

Ingall closed onto Skaife’s tail but could find no chink in Mark’s armour so finished

DG>_

third ahead of Seton (after a lonely drive), Bowe, Bright, Longhurst, Bargwanna and Perkins, who just held out Faulkner, Larkham and Romano.

Any uncle-ly advice Ingall may have received from Perkins went out the window as the lights went green. Russell shot away into the lead, Between the HRTs Seton tried to follow him. For a split second it looked like all three Mobil-sponsored cars would spin in front of the pack but they sorted it out and continued, which is more than could be said for Pate and Tratt. As soon as The other incident of note they cleared the pit complex was between Tratt l and they tangled and shot across Ellery. The Toll Falcon the grass and into retiresniffed at the Konica car at ment.

Siberia on the last lap and While Lowndes, Skaife Ellei-y was turned around. He and Seton chased the leader was miffed and went to have Perkins tried Bargwanna at a word but, after a strong Siberia, only to be held off on response from Tratt’s team, the exit. Bowe followed from went off to the stewards.

Longhurst, Bright, Ti-att was sent to the rear of Faulkner, Johnson Sr, Romano, Jones, Larkham, the grid for race two.

Ellery, Tander, Hossack, Weel, Reed, Johnson Jr, McLeod, Price, Heffernan, n the break between races.

Imrie, D Russell, Emerzidis, Ingall claims, Perkins gave him some advice about start W Russell, Poole and Nash.

But, even in the lead. ing the car with a long diff.

Perkins denied this, because Ingall knew he was a dead the second start was even duck. “I’d used my fresh rub worse than his first. ber in the first two races,” he Lowndes’ wasn’t. It was a said, “and Craig had me cov dream come true. He boomed ered straight away.” He sure into the lead and showed, as did; on lap two he simply if we needed reminding, that drove past on the back his first lap, cold tyre speed straight and pulled away, skills are really special. He Skaife had no such luck, left Skaife and the pack for On lap four he had felt a dead; after two laps he was front tyre flat-spot and then 2.4s in front and, even the other front went flat though he rolled off it to look altogether. The lucky thing after his Bridgestones, the was he was near the pit race was over. * entry; the unlucky thing was Skaife held out Ingall from that he was going to fi nish second and the two Mobils out of the points, faced the fi nal heat locked Ingall needed a miracle. El Nino provided one; on lap on points. seven it started to rain and, Ingall was third from Seton, Bowe, Bright, suddenly, the tyre race was turned on its ear.

Bargwanna, Longhurst, As the pace dropped by 10, Perkins, Faulkner, Lark then 12 seconds a lap the ham, Johnson Jr, Romano, Bridgestones went from Jones, Mezera, Tander, Hos heroes to zeroes in zero flat. sack, Ellery, Reed, Johnson Ingall homed in on Lowndes, (20th from the back), Weel, who held him off for two laps Rose, Heffernan, Imrie, D until they both tippy-toed Russell, W Russell, Price, out of the Copse on lap 10, Emerzidis, Pate (who felt a snapping sideways under tyre vibration and was soon power on the icy track. to pit) and Tratt.

Bargwanna was the sole Ingall out-snapped Lowndes interloper in an all-Ford around the outside and sped off into the lead.

Seton/Bowe/Bright and At least Craig held onto Longhurst sandwich, which second. Seton started going was getting a little physical. backwards from fourth while He and Bright swapped posi behind, Faulkner and Dick tions at Honda on lap three, went off on the fi nal corner the Pirtek Ford mnning onto

the grass and almost losing a spot to Longhurst.

On lap 11 Bright repaid the move, somewhat more forcefully and Bargs lost two spots. Afterward there were words between the two long time rival Jasons.

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HRT CHASER.: .

Ingall was, as ever, brillian t at the starts and despite qualifying sixth, finished second overall.

*

JASON and JASON...

Before you try and figure out how Jason got to where Jason was ... these are two separate Bright/Bargwanna incidents at the same place in the same race, but on dif ferent laps.

FLAME OUT...

D’arcy Russell had a battle with his ex-Stenniken Commodore.

(Photos by Dirk Klynsmllh)

slide on. He had the room I wanted. It was my fault, I suppose.

Castrol sign hit Castrol sign and the dented Jones flew off. He recovered to sixth.

So Ingall led home Lowndes, Bowe, Perkins and Longhurst. Behind Jones Bright recovered ahead of Seton, S Johnson and Faulkne"?, while Bargwanna was 11th after contact.

It was a wild ride.

Lowndes gained six points, Seton suffered a hit on home turf and Ingall is looking, for big points at Winton, ‘his’ backyard, Fat ladies, don’t order sheet music just yet...

in avoidance of Bright. Jason had elbowed Dick on the way

and later incurred a fine.

Johnson later had another spin by himselfat the by now-treacherous MG. While all that was hap pening Jones was coming through like a comet. At the end of lap six (the last dry lap) he’d been 12th; three laps later he was challeng ing Perkins for third, the pair having zoomed by Bargwanna. The two head up the back on the final lap, AJ sitting it out on the back straight. ue This is adventurous’, I thought,” Perkins said. “He was having a go and I got a

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24 April 1998

29

Speaking Frankly The man in the towelling hat,for so long a part ofthe BMWfamily, has turned to rival MercedesBenz. Here he tells MIKE KABLE why: Benz sedans in the car park There a stack of Mercedeswhere,is not so long ago, only BMWs stood. The big blue banners at the entrance gates are adorned with silver tbree-pointed stars, instead of the blue and white pro peller badges which were so promi nent there in tlie past.

The different aura continues inside the administration budlding's reception area, with Mercedes-Benz accessories for visitors to buy, brochures of the company's latest models for them to perase and pho tographs scattered around the walls depicting its motor racing achieve ments.

On the track and around the skidpan, instructors are putting driversin a variety of Mercedes-Benz cars through their paces.

This is Frank Gardner's new-look Performance Driving Centre at Norwell, midway between Brisbane and Queensland's Gold Coast, that has undergone a startling transfor mation in its recent switch of Gei-man prestige car marques, from BMW to Mercedes-Benz.

The suiprise changeover followed the break-up last year of an enor mously successful partnership span ning nearly 20 years between Gardner - one of Australia's great motor racing achievers- and BMW. That association had begun with a bequest from the then newlyappointed managing director of BMW Australia, Ron Meatchem, for Gardner to run a new motorsport division.

It yielded the 1985-87 Australian Touring Car Championship titles for Jim Richards, the 1994-95 Super Touring Championships for Tony ■' ■ .

A:

GLORY DAYS: The man in the white hat enjoyed tremendous success at the helm of BMW’s racing efforts in Australia, his most recent title being Paul Morris’s Super Touring crown (above).

At right he chats with drivers Morris and Geoff Brabham.

Longhurst and Paul Morris and countless other victories at circuits throughout Australia.

But all good things eventually come to an end.

Gardner ultimately was left with no alternative but to transfer his allegiances and his Coca-Cola spon sorship to a rival manufacturer when BMW Australia decided to dis pense with his services and go its own way with the team the charis matic man in the white towelling hat had established and led so profes sionally for the best part of two decades.

Gardner, in an interview with Motorsport News, did not conceal his disappointment over the split.

"It took me 20 years to put all that lot together and it took them 20 months to pull it aU to bits," he said with a grimace.

On the other ^and, though, he's looking forward,to channelling all his energies into driver safety, as well as overseeing additional developments that are planned for Norwell.

The includes an expansion historic carprogram museum, which will occupy the former BMW bond store, and other facilities aimed at making the centre a tourist showcase.

A four-wheel-drive training course catering for buyers of the US-built Mercedes-Benz M class wagon being launched here later this year is also

a priority.

The handshake agreement between Gardner and Mercedes-Benz Australia covers a minimum period of five years. It was reached after he'd had discussions -with the company's managing director, Bernt

TRAINING FLEET... Frank Gardner with his stock of Mercedes at the Norwell driving centre. (Photo by Mike Kabie) Schlickum, that were initiated by Gardner's friends in the corporate world.

It was Gardner's idea to build Norwell as BMW Motorsport's Australian base in the 1980s.

He says the cost of constructing the test-track complex left "veiy little change" out of$5 million, but its con tribution to the team's success was

towards competitive times."

Before long, Norwell was opened for driver training, with BMW own ers coming from near and far to learn the finer points of car control from instructors selected and trained

by Gardner.

Its popularity spread to Asian cormtries and visits by groups from Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and MMaysia were a regular occurrence.

immeasurable.

"We were able to lift up the shutters, run the cars, make sm-e eveiythousand peoplebyhad passed through the centre the thing was working, try "the latest Several tyre compounds and download all time Gardner found it necessary to consider his options. the computer data without having to He'd been relegated to load the transporter and go to a the sidelines ia the 1996 (( track with the possibility of having a season and was rarely major problem that would force us to , seen with the team last return here and lose a whole day.

We would know within a few year. It was evident that laps here whether everything was his association with BMW OK and we could start working was winding down.

"It was altering rather rapidly," Gardner said.

"The operation had slowed to the funnel sys tem, where it didn't matter how much you put in the top, you would have to wait for it to pom- out from the Melbourne end.

"But there had always been an understanding that when we went our separate ways, BMW would buy Norwell. That didn't happen.

"I had commitments with my sponsors and was responsible for a lot of people. I needed a plan, to know where we were gomg.

"I was in an invidious position of having to generate liquidity, but being unable to tell my sponsors what the future held. I'd had 40 years of honouring my sponsorship commitments.

"It was not a great executive deci sion. The options in life are always to improve one's situation. To improve what I'd had, a very good product called BMW coming out of Munich, was extremely difficrdt.

"Fortunately, Stuttgart (the home of Mercedes-Benz) is not that far from Munich and I believe we have improved our situation."

The relationship with BMW Australia did not come to a "messy" end, according to Gardner, who said he had explained his dilemma with his contacts-including his long-time friend, BMW Motorsport chief Paul Rosche - in the parent company.

Tliey in turn ensured that the split occurred with a minimum offuss.

"So the would-be shit-fight, to use a Shakespearean term, never took

place. It was nipped in the bud by people who respected our long associ ation."

Gardner said the problems with BMW Austraha had been compound ed by its actions, including grooming a former prominent touring car diiver to take over.Gardner's driver training role.

He also denied the truth of persis tent reports which were circulating in 1996 that an illness was forcing him to step aside as the team's man ager.

BMW Australia's withdrawal late last year from Super Touiing racing,

'It took me 20years to put all that lot together and it took them 20 months to pull it all to bits. after Geoff and David Brabham's vic tory in the AMP Bathurst 1000, did not surprise Gardner.

"They would have had a hell of a job starting it all up again, with new premises and an infrastructure."

Gai'dner saidBMW the highlights his time vrith were the of years when Jim Richards was with the team.

"We won a lot of races and should have trumped Tom Walkinshaw's Jaguars when he brought them to the Bathurst 1000 in 1985. We had them covered because the 635CSis were more economical and would have made fewer pit stops.

"But Jim and George Fm-y both came unstuck in the same sand trap on oil from a engine blow-up in one of the V8s.

"They got going again, but had to stop so we could get rid of the excess sand. They re-started stone mother less last and finished fom-th and sev enth without a mechanical hiccup. If they had maintained the status quo, we'd have featured very well in the results that day.

"The biggest downside of my life was losing my good friend Denny Hiilme at Bathurst in 1992.

"Motor racing is predictable in the sense that it's unpredictable. So you're prepared for that. But to lose a driver and friend totally mars everjfthing, w'hereas the other lows are weatherable." ■

|

30 24April ms n Despite his strong performance at Johor, Mick Doohan didn’t hold back in the press confer ence after grabbing his 51st pole position.

Commenting on the unleaded Repsol Honda NSR500, Doohan said, “It’s not a 500,it’s like rid ing a 250. It’s hard to ride a bike which is diffei-ent fi'om what I’m used to. I haven’t got confidence in it yet. In the history of 500 racing, times have never been this close and that’s because those bikes were a challenge to ride.” n Doohan is to drive a Williams FI car at the Catalimya circuit in Spain on Wednesday. The test has been aiTanged through sponsorship con nections between Doohan and Williams, but the motorcycle ace has made it plain he is not contemplat ing a new career on four wheels. n Nanba’s team-mate Nonick Abe was another Yamaha rider to fall dur ing the race but, unlike veteran test rider Nanba, the 22-year-old was at a partial loss to explain the cause ofthe crash.

“Something happened to my engine and I fell,” was Abe’s explanation follow ing his unlucky departui'e while m third place. “I felt quite good and I planned to wait behind Biaggi and Mick because I was sure they would slow a bit. It’s veiy disappointing to have only two points fi’om two races.” n Suzuki team manager Gany Taylor later i-evealed that Aoki was lucky to make the start at all. “Nobu already had trouble before the start.

We had to push him off the grid while the mechan ics changed the clutch.

The riders’ briefing in Japan was very' clear on that point. He started the waim-up lap from pitlane.” n Noriyuki Haga has revealed that he will stay in the Superbike World ChampionsMp until 2000, and added that the 500 class is not as tough as he thought,followdng his stunning third place in his GP debut in Japan on April 5.'T was disappoint ed that the competition at the Suzuka was not high er. I thought it would be much harder to beat riders like Mick Doohan, but it seemed easy.”

BIKES

Mick back on track

MICHAEL Doohan has won the fii'st 500cc Grand Prix held at Malaysia’s Johor circuit after what he described as a pretty scary race.

Doohan’s 47th career in the look behind me but suddenly 500cc championship at Johor, the bike just went down and I Doohan took the lead from fell. I think Mick must have Italian Max Biaggi at two- hit me from behind. There is a thirds distance in the big black tyi-e mark on the tail 115.8km race. Doohan went of the bike and the data from on to win by a little more than the bike looks like this was 2.6s from Spaniard Carlos what happened.”

Checa, with Biaggi third.

Television footage of the Biaggi crossed the line incident and expert opinion at the track cleared Doohan of 4.41s behind Doohan, fol lowed by Spaniard Alex any responsibility for Nanba’s Criville. John Kocinski was crash. fifth.

Biaggi still leads the 500cc The first five were all championship with 41 points aboard Hondas, while from Checa on 28 and Criville on 26, while Doohan - who Australia’s second represen tative in the race, Sydney’s didn’t finish in Japan because of a mechanical failure - is Garry McCoy, finished 10th now fourth on 25. on another Honda at only his second 500cc start.

Doohan, who started at Doohan came’ close to tum Johor from the 51st pole posi bling at the start of the sec tion of his 500cc career, said ond lap when Japanese rider the race pace was slower than Kyoji Nanba crashed in front he had anticipated but that of him. he had difficulty overtaking “Fm not really sure what Biaggi.

“It was a difficult race,” happened with Nanba at the end of the first lap - I think Doohan said. “I couldn’tfind a he just got on the gas too way past Max at first and I soon,” Doohan said. “I saw thought I might have to really him spin off and the next go at him hard to get in front. thing I knew I’d hit him. It But after 20 laps he began to was scary. I looked down the fade a little and in the end I front of the bike to make sure didn’t have to put that plan that I still had two discs, into action. because that’s where my bike “My arms really started to hit his. I thought I would fade towards the latter part of crash for sure, but I didn’t the race. I was having to use touch him until he was two or even three fingers to already down and sliding on brake and it was pretty scary the deck.” not knowing exactly how Nanba said: “I was tucked much brake pressure to apply down in fifth gear. I didn’t going into the comers.

HI MAX, REMEMBER ME?... Doohan stalks Biaggi before sweeping by. (Photo by naceAccess) Suzuki was the second-best placed 500cc manufacturer at Johor, with Japanese rider Yukio Kagayama finishing sixth, ahead of the Yamaha of fellow Japanese rider Norihiko Fujiwara.

IN the 250cc Malaysian GP, Italian Valentino Rossi crashed his Aprilia at the final turn, allowing Japan’s Tetsuya Harada to win on another Aprilia ahead of

Haga hits Donington

NORIYUKI Haga proved he is the Real Deal with a startling double victory at the second round of the World Superbike Championship at Donington.

The Japanese Yamaha ace proved that his tremendous WSC form in Austraha and podium 500 GP debut in Japan were no flukes by winning both races. He won the first race by a com fortable four seconds after a superb bat tle with pole-sitter Troy Corser and took the second which was a two part affair.

The second race was red-flagged after 11 laps due to an oil spillage on the entrance to Goddards. It was restarted as a 15 lapper with the results aggregated to determine the winner. ’■ Local Ducati hero Carl F,ogarty made up for his disappointing grid position by finishing first in the second part of the race two. He ended up third overall in race two after a seventh in race one. After arriving in the UK as joint series leader with Haga, Foggy

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has now dropped to third behind Corser.

Afterwards Fogarty praised the huge number of fans, “These fans are the best in the world and I’m glad that I gave them a little something to smile about as they go home.”

The racing was nm in bitter condi tions. Corser’s pole position was scored in qualif3nng as the Superpole session was called off due to sleet on the circuit.

The other Aussie in the race, Peter Goddard, had a relatively eventful day.

He straggled to ninth in race one after choosing hard compound tyres and scored a 10th in race two after he hit someone’s rear-tyre in the restart.

Results Race 1: Haga (Yamaha), Corser (Ducati), Chili (Ducati), Slight (Honda), Yanagawa (Kawasaki), Edwards (Honda), Fogarty (Ducati), Whitham (Suzuki), Goddard (Suzuki), Hislop (Yamaha^ Race 2: Haga, Corser, Fogarty, Slight, Chili, Mackenzie (Yamaha), Edwards, Whitham, Hislop, Goddard.

Points: Haga 91, Corser 70, Fogarty 66, Slight 53, Chili 40, Edwards 37, Yanagawa 33, Goddard 26, Russell 22, Whitham 20.

n Peter Goddard’s first test on Suzuki’s new fuelinjected GSX-R750 was thwarted at the recent SWC round at Donington.

Suzuki Deustchland, which is conducting the fuel-injection for the Suzuki factory, had its new bike on hand but it was destroyed after test )ider Michael Schulten stepped off in a high-speed spill during early practice.

The injected GSX-R750 is said to produce eight more horsepower, in addition to increased mid-range.

-DARRYL FLACK

another Japanese rider, Tohru Ukawa, on a Honda and Frenchman Olivier Jacque on another Honda.

Harada leads the 250cc championship with 38 points to Jacques 27.

JAPANESE riders also took two podium positions in the 125cc Malaysian GP, with Noboru Ueda winning and Tomomi Manako third.

Italian Mirko Giansanti fin-

ITS EASY, IS IT?... Haga leads Corser at Donington. (PhotobyAiexuvesy/Aiisport)

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ished second, just 0.277 sec onds behind Ueda. All three rode Hondas.

Despite not winning either 125cc GP this year, Manako leads the championship on 36 points from Japans Aprilia rider Kazuto Sakata on 35, while Ueda is third on 25.

The next round- of the motorcycle road racing world championships will be at Jerez in Spain on May 3. .

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ONE-ONE... Connell dominated at Phillip Island. (Photo by chm carter)

CRAIG Connell and Ducati : dominated the second round of ; the Shell Superbike series at I Phillip Island.

The NSW rider took pole i position on his Ducati and dominated the going in both races.

I In the first seven lapper ^ Connell and Kawasaki star

the win and he dropped back behind the impressive Shawn Giles Mobil-Honda RC45.

In race two again Connell pulled away into the lead after Giles got the initial jump, falling back in a slipstreaming duel with Connell and Willis.

Buckmaster stopped his

Damon Buckmaster led away and quickly built a gap, the chasing pack delayed by a cartwheeling Paul Free Ansett ^ Suzuki on the first run up the back straight.

Mark Willis quickly made ground on his Suzuki and swapped positions with Buckmaster, but a lockup and Honda put paid to his shot at

Kawasaki, while team-mate | Marty Craggill had a terrible j weekend with his unbalanced i defending ZXR750, the Champion coming home eighth in the first race.

Following the two races Craggill was fourth in the championship, but only 13 points behind new leader Connell.

2Upfiim

Messer/Bruty tops in VRC season-opener V

ARN Junior Challenge lead to Rowe

Ballarat’s Phil Messer and co-driver Rachel Bruty won the first round of the 1998 Victorian Rally Championship, the WIN TV Rally in the Valley, held on April 18-19.

Driving their Silverstone Tyres-backed Mitsubishi Lancer GSR, Messer and Bruty outlasted a strong field to win the event by over three minutes from the older model Galant VR4 of Craig Morris and Jenny Cole.

In third place were broth ers Scott and Mark Pedder in the ex-Graeme Wise Lancer RS-E, with Mark Fawcett fourth in another Galant VR4.

Rob Devenish took fifth, after a rally-long battle with THIRY INJURY RETURNS Bruno Thiry, whotesting broke five ribs during for the Safari Rally, has dislocated a rib while testing for the Catalunya Rally.

Thiry then returned to Belgium to undergo more

intensive physiotherapy in a bid to regain full fit-

ness before the event - an event in which his tarmac expertise will prove vital for the Ford team.

All the top teams are in with a chance in Spain, with Mitsubishi debuting its new Lancer Evo 5.

However, the debut of this car will perhaps be overshadowed by the speed of the Formula 2 cars, which could well steal an outright victory if the weather conditions suit them - Peugeot, Citroen and Renault are all good chances, should the weath er be dry.

TAJIMA WINS GOLD RUSH Monster Tajima ofwas quickly thinking the next challenge, after wini naugural ning the Queenstown Gold Rush hillclimb in New Zealand.

After solving a tur bocharger problem which slowed his Suzuki during testing, Tajima raced up the hill in 8 minutes 13.60 sec onds, beating the Toyota Celica of former Kiwi Rod Millen by 3.17 seconds.

Rally star Possum Bourne was third in his reg ular Subaru Impreza WRX, which had more horsepow er for the event.

Tajima now wants a World Cup for hillclimb events so he can get more use from his 900 horespower Suzuki.

“There is Pikes Peak and we’ve started the Goldrush event," he said.

“Now we should look for events in Europe and Africa and make a World Cup.” BRUNDLESET FOR RAC DRIVE Former star Martin Formula Brundle 1 may drive a works Toyota

Sydney’s Doug Briscoe.

Crowd favourite Simon Evans retired his Formula 2 Toyota Corolla late in the event, but not before setting a number of fastest stage times against strong 4WD opposition.

Last year’s state champion Mike Reeves crashed out of the lead of the event on the first stage of the second day, leaving Messer to take a comfortable win.

Young Melbourne driver David Rowe won the first round of the ARN Junior Rally Challenge in his Ford Escort, just pipping the Datsun 180B of Nick Whitely and another Escort driven by Piers Vellacott.

-PETER MTn'TTEN

Results P Messer/R Bruty Mitsubishi Lancer GSR l 2h28m36s 2. C Morris/J Cole Mitsubishi Galant VR4 2.31.59 3. S Pedder/M Pedder Mitsubishi Lancer RS-E 2.32.15 4. M Fawcett/T Boyd Mitsubishi Galant VR4 2.32.33 5. R Devenish/S Kealey Datsun 240Z 2.32.58 6. D Briscoe/P Morley Holden Commodore 2.33.56 1.

1000 in third place.

The event involved around 1600km of dri ving, with competitors getting little or no rest over the first 22 hours of the event.

After starting in Melbourne the event

By Peter Whitten went via Hamilton, _ Ajctpalian RaiJvSport NeWS Horsham and Hopetoun, ^^ Corolla WRCar in this before an overnight halt in year’s Network Q RAC Swan Hill.

On the final day, the rally Rally, It won’t be known for sure progressed back through for some lime, but Toyota Kerang, Elmore and boss Ove Andarsson thinks Heathcote, before finishing ifs a nice idea. at Digger’s Rest, just out Bnjndle is understood to side Melbourne.

The successful event have to raise the funds for the drive, but said he’s was run by the Historic focused on Le Mans at the Rally Association. present time.

RALLY OZ EARNS "Ove’s focused on the $19 MILLION rally title and I’m sure I’m estern Australia’s the last thing he’s worried annual sporting about at this stage of the season,” he said. favourite. Rally Australia, “I'll never forget doing has lived up to its reputation the event in 1996. Ifs the as one of the nation’s most motorsport ultimate challenge and I successful events. was absolutely staggered!”

Tourism Minister KANGAS DOES BEST Norman Moore said new figures released today high Finn Juha Kangas was light the increasing value the sta' name to emerge from S'ubaru’s recent and popularity of last year’s extended test session after Rally Australia, which has generated a staggering the Rally of Portugal.

Subaru tested half a $18.9 million for Western dozen young drivers in the Australia.

The Minister said this hoping of securing some was more than $2 million one for a works testing con tract, with Kangas joined by more than its forecasted another Finn, Toni target.

Gardemeister and Ireland’s The news also coincided with the announcement that Niall MeSheas.

Subaru has not released the World Rally Teams any results of the tests, but Association has awarded did say that there’s a lot of the 1997 Rally Australia with top accolades for young talent out there. ‘exceptional promotional OLDE BP RALLY WIN effort’ during last year’s

BY NAISHRUNNALLS event.

This Merit Award joins Australia’s best navigator, Ross Runnalls, has the awarding of the event guided Tarry Naish to victo as the World Rally Teams ry in the Olde BP Rally, run Association Rally of the throughout Victoria from Year in 1995 and the March 20-22.

International Rally Press Driving a Datsun 1600 in Association’s Rally of the the pre-1976 vehicle event, Year in 1996.

Naish and Runnalls proved Last year’s event cele they were the class of the brated Rally Australia’s 10th field, beating Rob Devenish anniversary in Perth and and Phil Wylie in a Datsun captured a viewing audi 240Z, with Alan Upton and ence of well in excess of Mark Laidlay in a Datsun 100 million.

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y fellow team members have accused me of getting two full night’s sleep on the trip home from the Perth rally.

The Neal Bates Motorsport entourage hit the road Monday lunch-time with our semi-trailer, fol lowed by our Coaster Bus service vehicle and headted off on the 50-hour straightthrough drive to Canberra.

It’s an often told story of how everyone else puts in far more miles behind the steering wheel to and from events than I do.

However, considering I was often disturbed by the odd kangaroo trying to bounce off the bull bar and Coral’s occasional grinding of the gears, I don’t really feel I managed a full night’s sleep at all!

Besides, I did put in some hours, albeit durtng daylight and 1 guess it’s just a case of resourceful dele gation, leaving the overnight stints to the rest of them!

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e are now preparing for the next round of

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m the Championship in Queensland next month.

Our Corolla and Possum’s Impreza are very evenly matched at present.

There’s just nothing in it.

As I said last issue, there’s only a second here and a second there and, more often than not, the stage times are equal.

We havewith been happy the really gains achieved during our recent tyre testing program.

Obviously, we’ve been striving to find the most suit able tyre for various surfaces and varying lengths of spe cial stages, all the time mea suring grip versus tyre wear.

Ultimately, we have been aiming for a tyre that will happily last up to the required 50km dist a n c e between service parks for ^ ^ k Rally New CALT1 ^ Zealand and also API Rally Australia, while maintaining maximum grip.

We have tested new compounds, as well as new sidewall constructions and I was amazed at the differ ence in the feel of the car on the various construc tions, remembering that this is only a different sidewall construction using the exact same compound on each tyre.

You go entirely on feel and speed - and the stop watch tells all.

We tested the car in the Mundaring Forest, on a 3.60km test track that we use each time we travel to Perth, which gives us a constant basis.

W

Toy ota Comtla W^ team has n ●^‘^hecn b&s^testln§^‘)^4-c^'mpauri{ls andsidewM-ll cptmtructians in AustraliaJn ajt effort a adva Mage for both Zealand and thLs year\' ; . . kalh Aattralia. .

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VIC: Stuckey Tyre Service Ph; (03) 9386 5331 Fax: (03) 9383 2514 SA: The Mag Wheel Centre Ph: (08) 8269 4100 Fax: (08) 8269 7805 NSW: Stuckey Tyre Service Ph: (02) 9676 8655 Fax: (02) 9676 5300 7^^ QLD: Road & Race Spare Parts Ph: (07) 3279 1533 Fax: (07) 3376 5804

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WINNER - NSW & VICTORIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIPS - OUNLOP SP84-R

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24Apfiim8

Rodney Jane, the 25 year-old son of tyre magnate and motor racing legend Bob Jane, com pleted his rookie season in the ACDelco 1997/98 Cup Championship series at the wheel of his John Sidney Racing-prepared Auscar Alloy Wheels/Repco/Exide Batteries Chevrolet Monte Carlo, running as high as third in the champi onship before finally finishing in seventh place after a major accident and being forced to miss the last round in the series Grand Final.

During the off-season, Rodney’s Monte Carlo is under going a major rebuild in his super speedway mentor’s Clayton race shop, where Sidney also prepares and runs another Monte Carlo for Rodney’s older cousin Kim, the back to back winner of the last two ACDelco Cup championships.

GRANT NICHOLAS caught up with Jane as he reflected on his first season of racing in super speedway’s big league.

Were you satisfied with your overall performances in this season’s ACDelco Cup style of racing?

Yes, until the last race I was very happy with it.

It was a very different season for me as everything involved with the car was done for me prior to my arrival at the Thunderdome and the Adelaide International Raceway.

Finding myself in a situation where I only had to concentrate on driving the car was unbelievable.

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Ro€ket Rodney Jane Rookie Rodney reflects upon his CDeico Cup Car debut season f

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However, the incident in the first race where I hit the wall disap pointed me.

I’d been attempting to pass Todd Wanless and he was moving me up and down the track while we were racing - it appears that his aim is to keep his opposition behind him by running them off the race track.

As far as I’m concerned, that’s not racing - you beat someone by racing them. If they get alongside you, well that’s their good luck.

Wanless came together with Gene Cook and Ken James in the last two race meetings - maybe that is his Sprintcar style of racing, but, with the amount of money that the drivers have invested in their super speed way cars, I don’t think that approach is in everyone’s best interest.

What are your aspirations for

the piture?

Firstly, getting my car back on the track to do some testing miles.

It’s cuiTently getting a new fi-ont left rail, plus rear clip and body panels fitted - the right door was the only straight thing on it thit was not bent and even the roof was damaged in the incident; virtually eveiy thing on it was stuffed.

You spent six seasons competing During the off-season, we will be in the Strathfield National Cars working on attaining some addi class - did you look after the tional sponsorship to help us along organisation and preparation for the next season. ofthe race cars in those days?

John Sidney will freshen up our At the start, some of Kim’s crew engines and, if we are lucky, he gave me a hand; then, for three sea might even squeeze a bit more sons, several of us looked after the horsepower out of them. Hopefully, cars, before Ken Rowse came along we’ll then be able to do a bit more in ’95/96. testing in the car.

Then,I took the team back to Apart from a promotion day for Calder Park again in ’96/97, where Repco before the start of the sea we prepared the cars ourselves. son, that was the only opportunity I Working several nights a week, had to drive the car before my race plus weekends, on the Ford Falcon debut in the class. and the Legends car was quite taxing.

I learnt a lot last season and, Looking back on it now, I realise hopefully, I can build on that expe that we didn’t have the knowledge rience during the forthcoming or the expertise to accomplish the championship series and work results that we were hoping to towards some stronger results. achieve, although we did win two KEEN TO SUCCEED ... Hard-charger Rodney is looking for bigger things next season.(Thundere-Pics photo) I would really like to do a bit Bob Jane T-Marts Legends champi car sticks to the track a lot better. more intense testing, maybe on the the same time, it was really enjoy What were the main changes onships and took a second outright weekend prior to the start of the able and the result was good, as I in the ’95/96 National Cars series. that you noticed over the other But you’re stepping up from one next series. finished fourth on the road. cars you have driven - the high car that has a top speed in the vicin But John Sidney has twelve to fif My valued sponsors - Repco, But, after the event, the officials teen crew members that have won er speed, more power, a vastly ity of 260 kmh and is not as fast Cleanevent, Goodyear, Exide awarded Max fourth placing after heavier car, plus the advantage through the banked turns, to a pur four ACDelco Cup titles and they all know their roles - the team works ofpower steering? making a wrong decision during Batteries, Auscar Alloy Wheels and pose-built machine that is designed one of the caution periods, which I the other associated supporters I’d say that, after putting in a to run the straights at 300 kmh. really well together and everyone didn’t think was too fair. have been great, so now I want to number of practice days in Kim’s The bigger cars sit on the track puts in a tremendous effort, which That spolied things a little for repay them with some strong per old Pontiac Grand Prix, getting into better, they don’t move around as obviously has paid off for Kim. much and are far more stable in the our Chevrolet Monte Carlo was me, but there was nothing I could formances.

John’s vast experience makes a But I would love to get a bit more do about it - we sure did have a big difference, as all the JSR cars quite a change as far as handling turns.

At the Adelaide International racing under my belt and have a good race, though. are prepared pi’operly - and this and speed go. shot at some of the NASCAR-conThe speed of the current car Raceway round, I wasn’t getting as really came thr-ough after my crash Was there a low point at any of trolled ARCA races in the USA. hot in the car as I would in my down the straights was formidable in practice at the last round of the the rounds?

Apart from my racing activities.

National Car I wasn’t working as compared with the old car and the series, the Sidney crew somehow Hitting the wall twice at the I’m currently undertaking the sec managing to get my car back out on first time I went into the corners hard, yet I was getting a better series Grand Final! result. ond year of a Bachelor of Commerce hard it made me pay attention. to the track for qualifying .

The first time was in practice, course at Melbourne ^University, The change in direction around which will provide me with a suit What was your most satisfying when I went into the turn a bit the trade did not cause any prob Was it hard making the transi able level of expertise before I move result in the series? hard; the tyres got a bit twitchy and lems, except for getting used to tion from the Strathfield into the T-Marts business - I ^hink By far the AIR round, where I then, next thing, it swapped ends.

National Cars across to the some different bumps on the track I tried to catch it, sort of had it, the family business will keep me managed two seconds behind Kim more powerful and faster - they caught me a bit unaware in pretty busy, but it’s something I’m then it hit the wall - it was simply the first race. to give the JSR team a 1-2 result.

ACDelco Cup machines? really looking forward to, along my mistake and part of the learn The 10th Anniversary meeting in It wasn’t hard, but the higher with a lot more motor racing.

Does the grip from the wider February, when I had a great dice ing experience. cornering speeds took a bit of get While I’ve got the opportunity. I’d The crew did a great job of repair with Max Dumesny, the 1993/94 slicks make much difference to ting used to. like to thank ACDelco for support ACDelco Cup titleholder, was also ing the car for the afternoon quali your driving style?

I still haven’t managed to record memorable. fying session, which we only just ing our series this year and also Oh, yeah! In the National Car, on a 27-second lap, which disappoints made and I went out and reeled off extend a big thanks to Matt and all Towards the end of the race, I felt buffed stock standard road tyres, me a bit, but Ive taken ever^hing the guys in the Goodyear shed for in my stride and things haven’t you’re slipping and sliding a lot it was probably some of the most a lap time only a tenth of a second their huge effort this season. n away from my pex’sonal best. more, whereas the ACDelco Cup intense racing I have ever done - at worked out too badly.

Busy time ‘ Texas cruncher for Caddy

Mark Martin became the seconlfl Roush driver to win a Texas Winston Cup race after taking out the April 5 second running, of the Interstate Batteries 500 at Houston.

Once again the race was wreckmarred, the first involving ten cars on lap 2 - among those damaged were current champion Jeff Gordon and Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt.

Martin held off team mate Chad Little in a similar Taurus to take the round 7 win.

“He was after me,” Martin said, referring to Little.

“I wasn’t gonna’ let him get very close ’cause I knew he was hungry.

I don’t know what he’d have done to win the race, so I had my foot on the gas, big time.”

The race track was again a onegi’oove track similar to Darlington get out of the groove and it was likely you would end up against the wall.

For Little, it was his career-best result, along with third-placed Robert Pressley in the Jasper Engines Taurus.

Joe Nemechek, who started on the outside front row, also finished well in fourth. Dale Jarrett falling back with a misfire in the waning laps and coming home 11th.

Once again, the Roush cars were strong, Martin, Little and Benson all finishing in the top ten, with Terry Labonte keeping the Hendrick camp alive in sixth.

The first wreck appeared to be induced by Gary Bradberry, who cut down to the apron.

John Andretti and Rick Mast made contact, after Gordon ^ appeared to nudge Mast.

All hell broke loose behind them, with Earnhardt slamming his own car driven by Darrell Waltrip - Hut Stricklin, Ted Musgrave, Kenny Wallace and Ernie Irvan were also involved.

Gordon and Earnhardt returned to the track after extensive repairs, Gordon finishing 31st and Earnhardt 35th.

Mike Skinner also hit the wall hard after a possible tyre problem and has a suspected broken right shoulder.

Pole-sitter and points leader going into Texas, Jeremy Mayfield led a good portion of the event, along with inaugural race winner Jeff Burton, but both suffered tyre woes.

Mayfield’s Penske team-mate Rusty Wallace came home l^h, after pitting out of sequence and then being assessed a penalty for speeding on pit road late in the going.

- MARTIN D CLARK

Interstate Batteries 500

Houston

1 Martin (Ford), 2 Little (Ford), 3 Pressley (Ford), 4 Nemechek (Chevy), 5 Benson(Ford), 6 T Labonte (Chevy), 7 Spencer (Ford), 8 B Labonte (Pontiac), 9 M Waitrip (Ford), 10 Grissom (Ford).

Caddy (right) and his good buddy Yap are based outside Melbourne in Bacchus Marsh and can be contacted by phone on (03)5367 5944.

The bare chassis (below centre) is Middleton’s Oldsmobile Cutlass, which had its panels removed recently prior to a rebirth as a Monte Carlo at Caddy’s hands.

Both the South Australianbased Middleton machines will be to super speedway specs.

Also pictured (below right)is a very handsome Monte Carlo conversion for Perry Schubert, the extremely impressive rook ie whose car was originally panelled as a Pontiac Grand -TONY GLYNN Prix.

Points standings: R Wallace 1036, Mayfield 1012, T Labonte 1001, Martin 979, Gordon 938, Elliott 927, Jarrett 920, Earnhardt 860, Benson 843.

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ruton Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports that owns the Texas Motor Speedway, has told NASCAR he will pump up to US$2m into refurbishing the track layout and surface.

“Texas is the same size and configuration as Charlotte and what we will do js follow those contours of Charlotte,” said Smith, who will also change the texture of the tarmac surface.

The move comes following the washout of first round qualifying and final practice for Winston Cup cars leading up the recent race on April 5.

Water was seeping through the track surface, causing cars to hit the turn two wall; the surface broke up and the grade between the corners and straightaways was too abrupt, something that drivers complained about in the inaugural event.

Kenny Wallace, who wrecked in the first caution that wiped out ten cars on lap 2, made the comment: “It’s a junk race track. They’ve built some expensive new condos since we were here last, but nothing has been done to the track.”

An apparently furious NASCAR president Bill France Jr met with Smith and the changes were

Auscraft Motorsport has had a busy start to the local super speedway off-season.

Renowned in the industry for his sheet metal and fabrica tion skills, Auscraft principal Russell Caddy is well on his way to completing the repan elling of Bob Middleton’s Monte Carlo (below), which was severely damaged in the aftermath of Rodney Jane’s heavy impact with the wall in the season-ending Grand Final at the Thunderdome.

Gossage originally came up with the idea of the transition from the turns to straights, so both open wheel and stock cars could race at the same venue.

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By Martin D Clar announced shortly aftenward.

Mike Skinner, Derrike Cope and Greg Sacks were all hospi talised, Sacks kept in hospital for obsen/ation over a five day period due to a neck injury.

All three were to sit out the Martinsville event, Morgan Shepherd subbing for Skinner, Jeff Green for Cope and Rich Bickle for Sacks.

Almost three dozen cars were wrecked over the course of four days in the Busch and Winston Cup events at the controversial track.

Track manager Eddie Gossage had T-shirts printed before the event with a message to the dri vers after the 1997 complaints:'No crying... Shut Up and Race’ seems he had to eat his words, admitting that repairs would be undertaken.

ale Earnhardt Jr took the first Busch Grand National Series win of his career at the Texas Motor Speedway on April 4.

The 23 year-old, who started 16th, drove his father’s ACDelco Chevy, with some great-looking moves on Joe Nemechek at the end of the 200 lap race.

Junior continues to lead the series points table.

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ASCAR will not, as speculat ed, make rule changes regard ing shock absorbers at the upcom ing Talladega race scheduled for April 26. The governing body handed out a circular to teams in Texas advising of a possible change, asking for team input obviously the input was negative.

Along with measuring the angle of rear spoilers, NASCAR will now make sure spoilers are cen tred on the boot lid.

Teams had been moving them to-one side, gaining an aerody namic advantage.

ill enter a alongside the five teams he already owns for the Talladega event on April 26.

Matt Kenseth, a test pilot for Roush who currently rides second in the Busch Series points standings with one win under his belt this year, will drive the car.

Roush driver Mark Martin helped him into the ride.

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iamond Ridge Motorsports has decided to take a break from racing and regroup, follow ing several mechanical failures and non-qualifications during the opening events.

The team will return to racing when owner Gary Bechtel feels the time is right.

Jimmy Johnson, former gen eral manager of Hendrick Motorsports, has now been hired in a similar position at Diamond Ridge, in an effort to turn the unsponsored, but never under-financed team around.

The next event the team will possibly enter will be Talladega on April 26.

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ary DeHart, the former crew chief for Terry Labonte at Hendrick Motorsports, has

McClure Morgan joined Motorsports and driver Bobby Hamilton.

DeHart will act as a consultant for the Kodak-sponsored team,

T

im Flock, 73, passed away after a brief battle with can cer on March 31 at his Charlotte, NC, home.

Winning on 40 occasions in 189 starts. Flock was a charac ter in NASCAR’s early years.

He won the 1952 and 1955 championships, some of those races won with a passenger in the #300 Chrysler, including Jocko the monkey, who rode with him until 1953.

Flock’s final full season came in 1956 and he hung his helmet up for good in 1961.

Darrell Waltrip recently ran a Flock replica car at Darlington in a fund-raiser effort for the Flock family, who did not have medical insurance.

A phone press conference with Waltrip at Darlington on March 20 was Flock’s last press appearance - he did, however, manage to appear at Daytona in to celebrate February NASCAR’s 50th anniversary.

1998 WINSTON CUP SERIES RESULTS Goody’s 500 - Martinsville, VA. Apr 20th, 1998.

I.

Bobby Hamilton,#4 Kodak Chev Monte Carlo

2.

3.

4.

5.

Ted Musgfave,#16 Primestar Ford Taurus Dale Jarrett,#88 Quality Care Ford Taurus Dale Earnhardt,#3 GM Goodwrench Chev Monte Carlo Randy LaJoie,#50 Busweiser Chev Monte Carlo

6. Rusty Wallace,#2 Miller Lite Ford Taurus 7. Jeremy Mayfield,#12 Mobil I Ford Taurus 8. Jeff Gordon,#24 Dupont Refinishes Chev Monte Carlo 9. Ernie Irvan,#36 Skittles Pontiac Grand Prix 10. Ken Schrader,#33 Skoal Bandit Chev Monte Carlo

11. Morgan Shepherd,#31 Lowe’s Chev Monte Carlo 12. Bill Elliott, #94 McDonald’s Ford Taurus 13. Brett Bodine,#1 I Paychex Ford Taurus 14. Ricky Rudd,#10 Tide Ford Taurus IS. Bobby Labonte,#18 Interstate Batteries PontiacGP 16. Chad Little, #94 John Deere Ford Taurus 17. Jeff Green,#30 Gum Out Pontiac Grand Prix 18. John Andretti,#43 STP Pontiac Pontiac Grand Prix 19. Kenny Irwin, #28 Texaco Havoline Ford Taurus 20. Lake Speed,#9 Cartoon Network Ford Taurus

Current Points After Round 8 I. Rusty Wallace, Ford .... I 191 .1158 I 2. Jeremy Mayfield, Ford ...

3. Terry Labonte, Chev .... 1086 1085 4. Jeff Gordon, Chev 1085 5. Dale Jarrett, Ford 1055 6. Mark Martin, Ford 1054 7. Bill Elliott, Ford 8. Dale Earnhardt, Chev ....102S ,964 9. Ken Schrader, Chev 942 10. Jeff Burton, Ford .

34

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By JON ASHER In the second round of the recent 1998 Chief Auto Parts Winternationals, John Force came up against teammate Tony Pedregon and, millisec onds after the gi’een light came on,controversy raged.

Before Force’s car had reached the 60-foot mark, it was spinning and then .smoking the tyi-es.

As we reported earlier, it .APPEARED that Pedregon tried to get on the brakes to enable Force to reach the finish line first. .And, as we've also previously reported, the fan reaction was less than overwhelming to the whole thing.

Well, the final round at the Pennzoi! Nationals in Houston should foi'ever silence those who have accused Force and Pedregon of diving.

In fact, if anjthing, the actions of the entire Castrol team in Te.\as have helped move Force further into the ranks of legendary racers.

Let's begin with qualifying, where the seven-time points champ and Cruz Pedregon traded the Number 1 position and national elapsed time record back and forth like a couple of kids trading base ball cards.

Force opened with a Friday after noon 4.913/309.81 that was closely matched by the Cruzer’s 4.930/302.70, w'ith both men’s efforts eclipsed by Ron Capps’ 4.889/300.60 in Don Prudhomme’s Copenhagen Camaro.

However, that was the last time Capps would be a factor in the Pennzoil Nationals.

The Friday evening session actu ally took place while the sun was still up, commencing just before 7;00 PM local time.

Capps, as we suggested, was no longer a factor, proving that with an engine-killing 6.450.

Pedregon’s Interstate Batteries Pontiac upped the ante with a 4.897/312.39 in the cooling temper atures.

And Force? Unable to hook his Mustang to the track, the irrepress ible one smoked the tyres ancl shut off, setting the stage for an outra geous Saturday of qualifying.

A1 Hofmann opened the first ses sion with a yawn-inspiring 5.018 at “only” 300.70 miles per hour - and, no, we aren’t insulting the Floridian.

It’s just that four second runs had become so commonplace that a potential event-winning elapsed time in the 5.0s now produced com ments of “Is that all he can do?” instead of cheers.

The first to crack into the fours on Saturday w'as Force teammate Tony P, who showed that crew chief John Medlen was on top of his game with a 4.913/315.56, a speed that reset the track mark. the Three pairs later, Forcemobile came up and rocked the house with a 4.854, the thenquickest E.T. ever notched by a fuel coupe.

At only 302.70 miles per hour, everyone knew that Austin Coil, Bernie Fedderly and Force would get even quicker and faster as the day wore on.

But - and that’s a big BUT Force got only moments to bask in the glow of his new standard, for the last car in line was that big lime green monster from Joe Gibbs Racing with the “other” Pedregon behind the wheel and, probably more importantly, Wes Cerny turn ing the wrenches and making the calls.

In short order, like an awesome 4.834 seconds (at 314.46 mphj,

MAESTRO ... Legendary John Force is already embroiled in a titanic struggle for Funny Car supremacy. (David Ostaszewski photo)

Simply the best!

The Funny Car class is rewriting the record books Stateside

Pedregon had obliterated Force’s mark to become the quickest F/C driver on the planet.

As Pedregon would say from the finish line. Force had been “Cemyized” and there was still more left in their car.

Back in the pits, the team changed rods and pistons, as they do after every run and a close inspection by this writer showed that the rod bearings were being hit hard enough to squeeze them like so much silicon sealer, widen ing them as they tried to “escape” between the rods and crank jour nals.

Seven of the pistons looked good enough to be used again, with one having its flat top crushed down ward about an l/8th of an inch.

As Cerny said; “Yeah, I think there’s more left, but I just don’t know where it’s going to come from.

If we push too hard, it’s going to spin the tyres and I don’t wartt to do that.

“At the Gatornationals, our dri ver saved us.

“He flat saved us, but I don’t want that to happen here. I want to give him all the car I can, but not too much.”

There was one session left and, for all intents and purposes, there were only two cars in it - Force and Pedregon.

Okay, make that three and we’ll throw Tony P into the mix.

And he didn’t disappoint, coming out in the third pair to mn another 4,916 at 314.46 mph.

And right behind him, in that same left lanq, came the boss.

Knowing the pressure was on to step up, Forcejust couldn’t manage to.

'Think about that.

The guy comes to the line and runs a flawless - and I mean FLAWLESS - 4.853 and IT ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH TO MOVE TO THE TOP OF THE QUALIFYING LIST! Just .001 quicker than his previ ous effort, Force rocketed through

the traps at an awesome 317.46 miles per hour.

The crowd,>^as they say, went nuts.

But the day was not yet over.

Cruz Pedregon would have the final say in what may very well have been the finest qualifying struggle ever seen in the Funny Car class, And he would say it loud, shouting across the Texas prairie that he, not Force, was the baddest dude to ever have a carbon fibre shell lowered over him, blistering the timers with a nothing-short-of-fantastic 4.819(at 310.88).

Although the war was far from over, Pedregon had, at least tem porarily, set a new national record.

Pedregon would open elimina tions with a 4.854/31'7.23 defeat of Tim Wilkerson'in another clean-’ndry pass, but all eyes would quickly shift to Force, whose win was any thing but clean and dry.

'Whipping up an even quickar 4.846, Force stomped Del Worsham, but the run was costly.

For the first time in a couple of years. Force suffered a major engine failure and massive fire, finally bringing the smouldering remains to a stop just before the end of the track.

When the tell-tale black smoke of burning fiberglass and carbon fibre began to drift skyward, everyone at Houston Raceway Park knew that this was a bad one.

The NHRA Safety Safari was on the scene instantly, helping Force from the car, where he’d been tem porarily trapped not by his safety harnesses, but by the radio wiring connecting his helmet to the trans mitter strapped behind the roll cage.

That’s something that we know Force and his team will be taking a close look at, but, regardless, as he was helped from the car he was laid out on the track and given oxygen.

Amazingly, he remained com pletely quiet during all of the med ical ministrations, but then Coil

and Fedderly hadn’t yet arrived on the scene.

The minute they did. Force pushed the oxygen mask aside to tell Coil that the car wasn’t hurt badly and they could easily make the second round.

He was wi-ong on one thing.

Yes, they would make the second round, but it would be anything BUT easy.

As Force returned to the starting line on a golf cart, much to the relief of the fans. Coil & Co hustled the still hand-burning.hot remains to the pits.

The body was immediately put aside and, as some crew members removed another Mustang from the roof of the transporter, mechanics from other teams began filtering into the Force pits offering assistance.

They were ultimately put to work, with Mad Funny Car crew chief Donnie Couch and other mem bers of his team working side-byside with the Castrol bunch.

The ruined engine was tossed aside like some cheap trinket, but Bernie Fedderly was soon checking over the remains, removing the magnetos and other hardware that he thought could be used on the next engine.

While mechanics changed engines. Coil left the confines of his computer room to hand cut and install the new air lines for the clutch management system.

He also personally checked every inch of wiring, replacing anything that looked even slightly singed.

The Cruzer opened the second round with a mere mortal 5.064/232.13 defeat of Jim Epler, with his brother, Tony looking like a world-beater with a 4.899/313.69 stomping of Etchells.

Force could have been had in that second round, but Hofmann couldn’t match a 5.096 at only 290 mph and again went home an early loser.

The semis proved that Cruz was indeed human, as he smoked the

tyres against his brother in a losing effort.

Tony’s 4.929/316.90 was impres sive, but Force’s 4.924/314.24 not only earned him a berth in the finale over Randy Anderson, it gave him lane choice.

But lane choice meant nothing, for the Castrol team-mates would put on a show the likes of which had never been seen before in Funny Car. With almost everyone in the house “suggesting” that Force would win, Tony and John Medlen proved them wrong, as their car not only left the line first, but got to the other end ahead as well.

The numbers — and what num bers they are — tell the story: Tony Pedregon, .492 R.T., 4,847/316.87; John Force,.534 R.T., 4.887/310.88.

No, it DOESN’T get any better than that!

So what did it prove?

It proved conclusively that Force doesn’t condone diving.

It also has to silence those who have suggested otherwise, a charge he has consistently denied.

And it also sets the stage for what could be the best Funny Car season in recent history.

Remember, Craz Pedregon is the only driver other than Force to have won an NHRA Winston cham pionship in the 90s.

And the number of players capa ble of winning at any time has been dramatically increased.

Along with Force and two of the three Pedregons (Frank will have no chance for the title in Jim Dunn’s car), Etchells, Hofmann and Capps can’t be discounted. i, And it would be a mistake to write off Whit Bazemore.

He won four races last season and, while he’s struggled thus far, he stayed over in Houston to test after suffering a leaking rear main seal in the first round and could be on top in the forseeable future.

Stay tuned for a wild ride.

DRAG RACING

vf/d

2^Apri/199S

35

NOT THIS TIME... Promising 400-plus mph salt lake testing outing for the 4WD Glen Davis wheel-driven Woomera 1 streamliner was ultimately thwarted by a recalcitrant fuse.

220-plus mph in second gear outing for Davis wheel-driven LSR contender Despite not being able to shift out of second gear, Glen Davis was able to achieve 223 mph at Lake Gairdner on March 29 in his 4WD Branson GD500 wheeldriven Woomera 1 LSR con tender.

The computer that operates the dual Allison automatic transmis sions prevented Davis from using all four gears after detecting a faulty inline transmission fuse on the two-mile run-in to the timing traps.

Data indicated that the streamliner’s pair of twin turbocharged Rolls Royce Meteor V-12s was capable of a 400-plus mph test pass when the “Do not shift” light made its presence felt on the South ' Australian salt lake.

Further compounding the diffi culties experienced on the pass, the left front wheel cover parted com pany from the vehicle and the exot ic machine’s twin fuel pumps lost pressure.

Nonetheless, the power produced was sufficient to shred the tyres on the concrete-hard salt - to ease the problem on future runs, the start ing point will be moved back 1.5 miles to allow a more gradual build-up of speed on the 10-mile course.

Redline Engineering is currently rebuilding the fuel pumps and the Port AugustaAVoomera-based team is now chasing funds for another set of those extremely costly pneumatic tyres.

-TONY GLYNN

TEAM EFFORT... Designer/builder/driver Glen Davis (above) needs plenty of hands to reach 550 mph goal BLOWN CRAZY... Roof-mounted NACA ducts feed air to turbochargers on 5000 horsepowerpowerplant. yj %

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JUST FINE... Davis is fully reclined, but rates visibility as excellent.

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24 April W8

RANDY ANDERSON is four races into the 1998 race season and in his second year behind the wheel of the Parts America Pontiac Firebird Funny Car. Currently in sixth place in the Winston standings, Anderson’s team has rallied after a first round loss at Pomona by advancing to the semi-finals at Phoenix and Houston and the second round at Gainesville.

Anderson began his racing career in 1992, replacing his father, Brad Anderson, behind the wheel of their family-ovmed Alcohol Funny Car. Between 1992-96, Randy won 14 national events and, two Winston championships (199394).

In 1997, Anderson moved to the Nitro class and wasted little time winning his first race, at Atlanta,just five events into the season.

He followed that victory with a win just three weeks later at the Lone Star Nationals in Dallas. He qualified seventh for this event last year, but lost in the semi-final round.

How focused is the team now that we’re heading into what has traditionally been the strongpoint of your season?

The big difference is our expecta tions, Last year, we expected to have our ups and downs. Our goal was to finish in the top 10 and any where near that would have made us happy.

Our expectations this year’ are a lot different. We expect to finish number three, or better- and we’re coming to that time of year where, last year, we started to make our move.

Things are really coming togeth er for the Parts America Pontiac Firebird.

We had some real good runs and got a lot of good information at Rockingham and I’m really excited about Atlanta.

I think things are really coming aroimd. I’m starting to see the light at the end of-the tunnel again.

What does it feel like to watch Shelly’s team this year?

It’s been very frustrating for the whole team. The key word is team.

When one of us wins, we all win and when one of us loses, we all lose.

We’ve got the same corporate backing with Parts America, Texaco-Havoline and Pontiac and it’s been very frustrating.

There’s some light at the end of the tunnel for her, though. Her car really started to come around at Rockingham.

Even if she goes out and wins the next six races, it probably won’t make up for the damage done.

It’s been hard, but we just have to keep our heads up high, know that things are getting a lot better, ton it around and be positive.

How important are these next couple of races coming up?

This is a critical, critical, threerace swing. Atlanta, Richmond and Dallas, as I look at it, are probably the three most critical races of, maybe, the whole season.

It’s absolutely essential that I make a move and we win a lot of rounds at all three races. I expect to win one of these three, I really do.

Our car has started to come ai’ound and show some potential.

I know our crew chief, Larry Frazier and the crew are real happy with some of the results.

m

PODIUM BOUND... Randy Anderson’s Parts America Pontiac Firebird Funny Car.(David Ostaszewski pic)

Contender again

Funny Car’s Randy Anderson is focusing on victory lane

We’ve done a lot of testing this year, more than ever. Things are really coming around. I think it’s absolutely a critical time.

We’re sixth now and a long way out of fifth. We’re hke four or five rounds out. It’s essential that we make a big move now and we’re geared up for it.

They can come up with some thing to slow us down to a 305 max imum speed next year and the fol lowing year, we’ll be going 310 again.

I think it’s like NASCAR. It’s going to need something that they’ll continuously have to mandate and control.

Do they need to bring the Do you think something as sim ple as a restrictor plate will be speeds down? all it takes to slow the cars I don’t think there’s any question down? in my mind that they’re going to As a team owner and builder of have to do something. It’s a never-^ these engines, that’s something ending process in which we’ll con that Dad’s been pushing for. He’s tinue to go faster.

they’re going to have to make us buy all new engine parts again.

The restrictor plate could be as simple as controlling the size of the opening and when we go to Denver,maybe they give us a full opening and not run one.

That’s^ one idea, and I don’t have the answers, but that doesn’t seem like a bad one for me.

Again, they may say that we need to limit the blower ^ze.

Now we have all of these teams with four or five blowers at $4500 apiece and now they’re obsolete and not worth anything.

Now we have to start over there

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TOO FAST ?... Anderson’s handsome Funny may soon be performance capped. (David Ostaszewski pic) If they don’t do something, we’ll be going 330 in a couple of years and then 340.

It’s definit ely going to happen and I don’t t hink that will make drag racing an y better. * NASCAR ^doesn’t go any faster now than tlie y were 10 years ago with the restri ctor plates.

It doesn’t mean that the racing isn’t as good. It’s probably better, since it’s closer. I think the NHRA needs to look at that picture.

I think 300 is a reasonable mark to hold the cars around. Maybe 305.

I think it’s getting to a point where they’ll have to do something, And it probably won’t be one move.

said that all along.

To downsize these motors in cubic inches can be expensive.

Everybody’s going to have to throw away their pistons, rods, sleeves, cranks and start all over.

It’s very costly. A lot of these teams can ill-afford these costs.

His thinking is to do like NASCAR. If you restrict the airintake of the engine, then you’ll obviously reduce horsepower.

That’s simple and NHRA can control that. Let’s say that NHRA brings the cubic inches down to 460. That holds us around 300 mph. Two years from now, we’ll be going 312 and 315 again. Then

with a smaller blower.

So maybe it’s as simple as limit ing the opening on top of the blow er. I wish it was that simple an d maybe it will be that simple.

Only time will tell.

Knowing Shelly to be as com petitive as she is, how has sh e handled not qualifying at the last four races?

I don’t know if I would have han dled it as well. She’s been very posi tive. I know how competitive she is.

I grew up with her and she always expects to win. When you go out there and not qualify, it’s dev astating. It really is.

And it’s devastating for the whole team, because we have the same corporate backing and I feel it too.

I honestly believe that you have to handle yourself in adverse situa tions as well as when you’re win ning. She’s done that and it all comes around. For that reason, I think she’s got a lot of wins in her future.

Is there a chance that you can get over anxious in trying to break out?

I think you can be over anxious, but as a driver, I just go up and do what I’m supposed to do.

We had some consistency prob lems with the Funny Car at the end of last year that cost us. We were in the top half and we struggled at the end of the season.

We’ve done a lot of testing early on this year and we we’re still struggling with consistency.

The car will make an excellent run and then it won’t go down the track for two or three.

We’ve done a lot of changes to the car. The whole car is being set up differently. We went to Rockingham and the car responded to some of the changes. For once we’re starting to see some real benefits from the testing.

The driveshaft was real smooth and things really looked good.

I know that the crew chief. Dad and the crew are real excited - we had our best 60 foot times ever, the early numbers up to 330 are good and the car’s not shaking.

You can become too anxious, but we’ve been patient, at least as much as you can be with a 6000 horsepower race car.

Is part of your eagerness the fact that no one has really stepped up?

Last year, we didn’t see one Funny Car run in the 4.80s and we’ve had six different Funny Cars this year already.

There’s no question that we’ll be one of them before too long.

I don’t know if we’ll ever see one car dominate again like John Force did for seven years. I don’t know if that can happen as more corporate backing gets involved and the class continues to gi-ow.

Sure, we’re all chasing John Force and his team, but I don’t know if you’ll ever see one car run away with everything.

I think Cruz’s (Pedregon) car is about as close to that happening at this point, but even he’s been vul nerable with tyre smoke at some inopportune times.

Our eagerness is to get back in the winner’s circle. We feel like we should be there. We’ve got the right corporate backing and the right leaders on the team. Weve proven that we know how to win, we just think it’s our time.

Does the Lone Star Nationals at Dallas offer your best shot at winning one of the three races?

I’m sure our consistency will be better at Dallas because that track surface is gi-eat. But the same con ditions will apply to everybody.

I think Virginia is a tremendous race track also and I’ve alwsfys done well at Atlanta. I won there last year, so I’m looking forward to going back this weekend.

Dallas has always been a place I’ve enjoyed racing. I think every body does, because you know the records could fall, even if the air conditions aren’t ideal. We all like to race on a perfect racing surface and, if there’s such a thing as a per fect racing surface, it will be Dallas.

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DRAG RACING

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DUNN GOOD... Top Fuel top qualifier Mike Dunn reset the Atlanta track record twice. (David Ostaszewskipics)

Dunn, Cruz and Osborne set qualifying pace at rain-delayed Fram Nats

at 4.921/312.06, while Tim Aussie, David Grubnic put the The threatening weather that Wilkerson and the JCIT Pontiac sat Montana Express into the show on caused several rain delays dur third at 5.010/305.60. his last pass, a ninth-best ing qualifying, washed out final 4.691/302.31. eliminations of the NHRA Fram Gary Densham put his NEC Recent Winston Invitational run Dodge into fourth with a Nationals at Atlanta this past 5.017/304.05, with Dean Skuza fifth weekend. ner-up Paul Romine anchored the at 5.052/312.17. show in his Car Quest dragster at A steady drizzle that began to fall 4.806/288.92.

The top eight was rounded out by in the morning on Sunday, April Randy Anderson’s 5.072, Tony Cruz Pedregon continued to put 19, forced the NHRA to postpone the eliminations of the event until Pedregon’s 5.073 and Whit up the big numbers in Funny Car and, for the third event in a row, sat Bazemore’s 5.074.

Monday, where the forecast was The field was tightly bunched up in the number one qualifying spot. expected to be much improved.

The Interstate Batteries Pontiac to Tom Hoover’s fourteenth-best The skies had threatened the rac reset both ends of the Atlanta 5.096 from his Pioneer Dodge ing action for two days, but all four Dale Creasy Jr held onto the sessions of Pro qualifying bump spot at 5.257/284.36. were completed, as well as Mark Osborne, recent the eliminations of the new Winston Invitational win Pro Stock Truck class.

Former Comp standout ner, was number one in Pro j Stock at 6.946/198.15, Lany Kopp scored the victo aboard the Dick Sherman ry in the Truck class, driving Racing Pontiac. his Chevy S-10 and defeat Warren Johnson had his ing John Lingenfelter in the GM Goodwrench Service fi nal round, 7.712/174.79 to Plus Pontiac second at 6.963 7.751/173.37.

Mike Dunn and his seconds and had top mph at 198.58.

Darrell Gvynn Mopar Parts Mike Edwards’ 6.964 and dragster sat atop the field in Kurt Johnson’s 6.970 round Top Fuel, setting the track ed out the top four. record twice on Saturday You had to look all the with a 4.586/294.11 blast.

C RUZER... Brained 'em with 318.58 mph! way down to the fourteenth Gary Scelzi and the spot to find defending Winston Dragway track record with a stellar Winston dragster was second at 4.889-second pass at an unheard of Champion Jim Yates, who strug 4.643/306.95, followed by Jim Head’s 4.653/312.17. gled to record a 7.002/197.54 best 318.58 mph, which stood as top the bump was held by Tro speed of the meet, including Top Cory McClenathan had the Fuel.

Coughlin^s Oldsmobile at McDonald’s dragster in fourth with 7.007/197.19.

“The car’s capable of running 315 a 4.659-second blast and had top Matt Hines led the Pro Stock all day long, but the 318 here was mph at 318.02.

Motorcycles at 7.310/184.16, with just a bonus,” exclaimed Pedregon.

The top eight was rounded out by Joe Amato’s 4.661/311.20, Eddie “Hats off to Wes Cerny and all of Angelle Seeling second at Hill’s Bob the guys on the team.

4.661/310.23, 7.329/184.01 - Seeling announced “We would have liked to have Vandergriffs 4.676/306.64 and that her bike would be carrying the colours of Winston for the remain Shelly Anderson’s 4.689/306.74. seen better early numbers, because this Firebird has run 4.81 before. It der of the season.

For Anderson, it marks the first event of 1998 that the Parts wouldn’t have been out of the ques Look for a complete race report tion to ran a 4.85 that time.” on the Pro classes in the next issue America dragster has qualified, giv John Force was in the second ing some signs that the team is of Motorsport News.y - DAVID OSTASZEWSKI slowly turning things around. position with his Castrol Mustang

24Apnnm

Bruno’s VPW new Goodyear national drag distributor Providing the current industri al dispute on the nation’s wharves is resolved, Victorian Performance Wholesale plans to market and distribute Goodyear drag racing tyres throughout Australia by the middip of May in preparation for the Winternationals.

“Before last month’s ’98 TAG Nationals at Calder Park Raceway, many of the leading drag racing teams were forced to scour the USA seeking Goodyear race tyres for the biggest race meeting on our local calendar,” said Bruno Cugnetto, Managing Director of Victorian Performance Wholesale “and sever al racers only managed to compete after borrowing tyres from fellow racers.

“This situation was deplorable, so we immediately contacted the man-

agement at Goodyear’s headquar ters in the USA and entered into an arrangement that will see us sup plying a comprehensive range of Goodyear tyres for all drag racing competitors throughout Australia.”

Victorian Performance Wholesale will be supplying a complete range of Goodyear tyres for all four-wheel race vehicles and motorcycle racers.

“My goal is to ensure that com petitors at the ’98 Konica Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway on June 5-7 will be able to compete with Goodyear’s latest range of drag racing t3n-es,” com mented Cugnetto.

“During the year, I’ll be estab lishing a comprehensive stock of Goodyear tyres at both our Sydney and Melbourne warehouses, as well as listing all of Goodyear’s product range in our mail-order catalogues.”

Mei^r by PennzoU and Quaker State

Last week Pennzoil and Quaker State announced that they were entering into an agreement to merge, thus creating a a premier worldwide aftermarket products and car care company, with yearly sales expected to exceed US$3 biliion.

The new company is part of Pennzoil’s corporate restructurmg that will see its motor oU, refined products and franchised oper ations separated from the compay’s exporation and production operations.

A new, yet to be named, company will market the combined product ranges of Pennzoil and Quaker State.

All current motorsport sponsorships for 1999 and beyond wM be reviewed during the fourth quarter of 1998.

Easter Nats washed out

Rain forced the cancellation of the Easter Nationals, scheduled to be run at the Adelaide International Raceway on April 10-11.

The Virginia, South Australia, venue was deluged by rain for 24 hours, obliging the oi'ganisers to call off the venue’s biggest drag race event ever.

With less than one of the four rounds of qualifying completed on Saturday and no significant break in the weather forecast for the fol lowing day, the last event of this season’s Castrol Summer Series was cancelled, The Rocca Bros “off street legal drag racing” events will continue through the winter as scheduled.

1997/98 ANDRA CHAMPIONSHIP DRAG RACING SERIES - POINTS TO APRIL 9TH, 1998. i.

PENNZQH-

I. 2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

97/98 ANDRA Top Fuel Series Graeme Cowin, Shell/Rocket IndusL .500

Glenn Mikres (USA), Santo’s Cranes .485 Robin Kirby, Pennzoil/Keatings 285 Terry Sainty, Eagle Ignition Leads . . . .280 Romeo Capitanio, Sidchrome Proto . .220 Darren DiFilippo, True Flow Exhausts .200 Roy Smith, Atholwood & Smith 200 8. Charlie DiFilippo, True Flow Exhausts . .70 9. Rachelle Splatt, Valvoline/Dragway . . . .60 10. Andrew Cowin, Shell/Rocket Indust. . .40

I. 2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

3/

97/98 ANDRA Top Alcohol Series .390 Gary Phillips, Lucas Oils Wayne Newby, Newby Blowers 300 Steve Marker, Spectra Thermo-King .295 Scott Ferguson, Tonkin’s Car Audio .200 165 Stan Tindal, Hi-Tec Oils Steve Read, Pommie Steve Racing Matthew Featon, See-Doo Mark Brew, BOC Gasses

160 140 140

9. David Hawke, Dave Hawke Racing . . . 130 105 10. Steve Reed, Reed Transport

97/98 ANDRA Top Doorslammer Series .520 I. 'Victor Bray, Castrol Oils 2. Scotty Cannon (USA), On Sat Guide .435 ,330 3. Troy Critchley, Castrol Oils . . . ,310 4. Andrew Searle, ACME Racing . . ,200 5. Peter Kapiris, Pennzoil/VPW . .

180 6. Lucky Belleri, Lucky’s Toy Racing 180 7. Shane Elcoate, Thunder Road . .

8. Peter Gratt, Valvoline/Autobam Ipswich. . 155 140 9. David Koop, Koop DeVille 10. Colin "A^ill, Tectaloy Perf. Coolants . .1 10

3S 24Aprilim A little bit of Australian motor racing history occurred at Parramatta City Raceway in Sydney on March 30, when Sprintcar legend Garry Rush extended an invitation to his Castrol V8 Supercar counter parts, Larry Perkins and Russell Ingall, to try their hands on clay in his Sprintcar.

John Clarke, Castrol’s PR man, was the driving force behind the initiative and was more than a little happy when the threatening weather was kept at bay - this was, in fact, the third attempt in three sea sons to get Perkins strapped into a Rush Sprintcar, inclement weather having forced the cancellation of the first two scheduled outings.

The significance of the occa sion was also highlighted by the fact that Rush, The Master Blaster and 10-time Australian Champion, had hung up his guns only two nights earlier, the March 28 Castrol Classic at Parramatta on the Saturday marking the closing of the doors on his racing career after 34 years.

After the Parramatta staff had given the sticky clay sur face a perfunctory tidy up, Rush happily wheeled out his pair of current US-built Maximchassised, Shaver-engined 700plus horsepower winged weapons for the Bathurst tyros to put in their formative speed way laps - and what an inter esting day out it was for arguably the best Touring Car combination racing in Australia today.

Read on and share the thoughts of clay oval track debutants Larry P.erkins and Russell Ingall, the Kings with Wings!

PERKINS: My first thoughts were that it’s Garry Rush’s number one car, which is the same thought I have when someone very rarely sits in the driver’s seat of my own Commodore.

So, bearing in mind that the object of the exercise was to have a drive, I was not attempting to knock off Rush and be instantly competitive in any sense - rather, the point was just to get a feel for the car.

And, I should point out, it was fantastic.

The seating position was akin to driving a London bus and you pushed the throttle straight down unlike the Commodore, where you push forward - but all that only took a few minutes to get used to.

But the non-precise steering where the front wheels were wob bling all over the place certainly took a fair bit of getting used to.

And the rear wheel steering, thanks to the markedly different size tyres at the back, really took a lot of getting used to - well, maybe not a lot, but I’m sure that, after a few sessions, I could get on top of the job enough to drag the time down quite a bit after getting into the rhythm of driving the way the car is supposed to be driven.

The engine ran nicely, was very crisp and responsive and there was not a single fl at spot, or anything that you could criticise about the power delivery - all you had to do was push the throttle and the engine instantly sparked up and got on with the job.

INGALL: The driving position was interesting, because the steering

Kings with Wings

Perkins and jngall push the envelope in Rush’s Sprintcar

awful lot of traction and, once you had the cai- a long way out of line, say 30 degrees, the gidp was getting better with such a big slip angle.

Now, coming from a Touring Car where a three degree slip angle means it’s all over, that situation initially took a bit of getting used to.

INTERESTING... Larry Perkins tests the limits of adhesion at Parramatta in Garry Rush’s Sprintcar.(Tony Glynn) wheel was flat in front of you and you used muscles that noimally we don’t use in other racing cars.

Your hands are parallel to your wrists and arms in a Touring Car, whereas your wrists have almost a 90 degree angle on them with n the Sprintcar’s steering position.

And, surprisingly, these cars are rela tively heavy to steer when you pick up a bit of speed and the front wing begins to create a bit of downforce.

You’re also con stantly using so much steering movement as you’re correcting, which is not the way we drive a Touring Car, which we turn in only once for a corner and then straighten it up when you turn out.

In the Sprintcar, you could be turning backwards and for wards fifty times in one corner, which makes for a bit more work on those untrained muscles.

rev-limiter that was mechanicaly induced by valve float and I don’t think we were supposed to be doing that!

around and wanted to stand up and not really do anything nice - the problem was trying to work out how to get around that,

INGALL: The first time I jumped

PERKINS: It felt quite different from / what I had for imagined instance, when you lift off at the end of the short straights, where normally you shouldn’t lift off, the instantly thing turned right and there was a left-hand corner coming up!

Now that took a bit of getting used to.

INGALL: As the track went hard towards the end, it gave me a greater insight into what they mean when they say a track is going off, as it lost three or four tenths immedi ately. Clearly, track conditions are very critical in this sport.

But, when it was hooking up in the first session, all hell broke loose!

PERKINS: The actual oversteer PERKINS: I must TICKETS PLEASE... Upright Perkins in his London bus. (Glynn) characteristics of the admit that I was sur car weren’t as hard to get used to into Garry’s car, I knew I was dri prised by the basicness of the car as I would have expected, though I ving it wrongly, but everything was and I guess you i-ev it until it miss had to turn the clock back about 35 es - there are no real instruments happening so quickly and I was try and no gears.

Garry commented to me while Russell was driving and to me when I’d finished my first stint that he’d have to check the valve springs - I think we were running with a

ing to learn so much in so little time that you couldn’t help but get off the throttle all the time.

I was driving it like a Tomdng Car and lifting off for the corners, which meant the Sprintcar lurched

years to when I used to spend all my time on the farm driving in the dirt - in that respect, there was no difference. . But the major difference was the fact that Rush’s car possessed an

INGALL: In terms of outright horsepower, I guess the Rush car was the most powerful race car I’ve driven, but it’s really a case of hors es for courses.

I’ve driven a Formula 3000 car in England and that was mighty quick, but it’s power to weight would probably be much the same.

The major difference with the F3000 car, though, was the amount of grip available when your boot went down, whereas the Sprintcar produced a lot of wheelspin, which was due to the condition of the track.

I can imagine what the Sprintcar would have been like when the track was hooking up and that would have been pretty damni-d hard!

In that situation, I would think that the- car would have been about five levels up, compared with when we drove it.

PERKINS: In the second ses.sion, the speed at which you could approach the corners and turn in only while you kept the power on was a lot higher than expected initially, I thought ‘Christ, I’ll slide over the outside edge and do awful damage to .his car!’

But, having settled into it, I thor oughly enjoyed the experience and the fact that I could actually get to have a go at it.

The power itself wasn’t some thing that took any getting used to, because we were suffering a lot of wheelspin as the clay track went off - that meant a loss of bite and a reduction in the terminal speeds we might actually have been achieving.

■The car obviously had what could only be described as frightening acceleration on a perfect surface, but we were constantly turning the wheels up to 30%,. I guess - but I’ve seen Sprintcars when they have excellent traction and they will lift the front wheels off the deck.

The difference in acceleration between what they can do and what I was doing thanks to the lack of real traction was a big margin but, on a track with the right trac tion levels, I am sure I would have been in awe of the power available.

INGALL: Probably'The biggest thing to get used to was the idea of always carrying sd much throttle, though it’s similar in many 'fvays to the way we drive a Touring Car, as we have a locked, rock-solid diff and the car won’t turn unless you have throttle on.

As soon as you get into a corner, you have to get on the gas immedi ately, but you are off the throttle as you change gears and brake.

2'IApfiimS

39

SCHOOL’S IN... Garry Rush (right) introduces pupils to their latest learning experience.(Tony Glynn pic) The use of throttle in a corner is much less than in the Sprintcar let’s say that if a Sprintcar used 100% throttle to turn the car, then a Touring Car would use 30%, which means that in the back of our minds we knew that we had to use the throttle to steer the Sprintcar and were comfortable with the technique, although it still took a bit of time to get used to using full throttie most of the time.

At the vei-y most, you might back off to around half-throttle, as the car immediately wanted to go straight ahead if you let right off the throttle.

So it was a matter of confidence, keeping your foot into it and know ing it would turn. It was spooky that it didn’t feel that it would turn into the corner using just the steeri7.g wheel alone, so you had to pitch it'in.

Once you got used to it, though, you could actually turn the car with the steering while under power.

The next problem was how to stop it if you went into the corner too hard and it started to slide up.

If you got off the throttle, it want ed to turn right, so you kept on the thi’ottle and continued carrying the speed and that’s where it all became a bit tricky - I guess you’d have to have a few offs to find out how best to deal with the situation!

PERICINS: As far the aerodynamics were concerned, I couldn’t tell, anything - the track was bloody rough and the car had a tremendous amount of oversteer, so it was well beyond me to detect any of the finer aspects, such as what the wings were doing.

At one stage, I actually spun the thing, did a 360 and kept going now, I don’t know if you’re sup posed to do that, but I was trying to find where the limit was and see just how far you can get the back out, as it never ever felt like it would ever spin.

But the track variations finally caught me out, as I wasn’t reading the signs properly.

I was suddenly learning about wet clay and dry clay and found that wet clay at the plasticine stage has tremendous grip, but it doesn’t W

last for long in a session, especially in daylight with the sun shining on it.

INGALL: The second session was better and, even though the track was harder, the speeds were higher and higher, although the car was also getting higher and higher up the track and starting to run out of space. / It’s always bhtter the second time out, as you’ve had the time to think about what’s been happening and it also sometimes helps to watch someone else - when Rus'hie jumped in and put in a few laps, you could see what now had to be done and get out of the groove of doing things wrongly.

PERKINS: In the short drive I had, I wasn’t brave enough to throw it into the corners on full power, as you’re supposed to. That was the hard thing.

In a Touring Car that’s understeering through a corner and you’re going to hit the fence, the first thing you want to do is back off - but, if you do back off, the car understeers more. It’s hard to talk yourself into flattening it when you really want to back off and that sit uation is more pronounced in a Sprintcar.

I can see how a driver who is in tune with the steering wheel and the throttle and can make the thing really work actually has a package that is more pronounced performancewise than even our Touring Cars, Garry gave us a very clear demonstration of how these cars should be driven, but for me to build up to that level, even though I was wanting to do it and tiying to, there was no way I was going to go over my limit and damage his car when all I’m supposed to be doing is having a drive, But I can see how you could take to it and enjoy a motorsport catego ry with the emphasis on the sport.

Richards, as I like to drive everything and not stereotype myself Having seen the other side of the Touring Car fence and having had experience in other categories, I’m aware that there are a lot of other forms of motoi’sport out there that are better than Touring Cars in many respects and which require as much skill, if not more and are also a lot offun.

So, given the existing calendar and the fact that speedway is mainly happening in our off-season, if the opportunity came up for a regular Sprintcar drive, I’d definitely be interested, but only if it was done properly and with the right team it’s a competitive thing for me, you see and I couldn’t think about doing something like that if I couldn’t win.

PERKINS: To watch the old master, Garry, at work out there was very interesting and quite a contrast - he’s had his thirty years on dirt and I’ve had my thirty years on bitumen, so I guess all you can say is that we’ve been going in different directions.

READY FOR ACTION... Ingall gets strapped in by Rush.(Tony Glynn) Garry started out in Formula Fords and raced against me - he was a particularly good competitor - and during his long Sprintcar career he also did a stint in Touring Cars ten years ago, so he has a fair idea what my Commodore is like to drive.

In my case, I had never sat in a Sprintcar before, so it was a bigger deal for me to try out his car than it would be for him to put in some laps in my Castrol Commodore - I’d be very happy to let him have a drive, if he’s interested, but I think he’s been there and done that,

It was a memorable drive and I was very pleased I did it, though I’m also glad that I approached it with a degree of caution.

I felt that Garry gave me enough time to get into a pattern and develop some sort of a feel for the car, which is how I wanted to do it, so I found the whole experience very enjoyable - but I won’t be rac ing a Sprintcar next season!

Larry Perkins and Russell Ingall spoke about their Sprintcar experi ence with TONY GLYNN.

INSPIRATIONAL ... Ingall(below) now wants to go oval track racing after trying Rush’s weapon.(Tony Glynn)

INGALL: I thoroughly enjoyed the experience at Pan-amatta, but, if I do it again. I’d like tu go out and really have a go.

I fancy myself as a bit of a Jim

Max Dumesny Motorsport

1997/98 SRA SPRINTCAR SERIES

agents for

Xoo$irr i

^^ RACING TIRE

^

For more information on Hoosier Drag and Speedway Tyres call 02 9679 1990 or 03 9331 6477 Fax 03 9331 7444

I. 2.

FINAL POINT STANDINGS AFTER 12 ROUNDS

Matthew Reed Tim McCubbin

3561 - Kato Excavations/Balcombe Engineering Tiner .

- ICI Autocolour/ Valvoline/Specialised Body Stealth ..3489 3208 3. Darren Walsh - Chemblast/Racetech JSR 4, Mike Van Bremen - Speedway F’glass/Penrite/D&F Foster ..

3167 5. Phil Johnson 3017 - Rentsch’s Auto Salvage Grizzly 6. JeffJudd 2921 - Autopro/BP Gambler 7. Gerard Boult 2729 - Computer Bits Foster 8. Rod Matthews - Ballarat Palette Company JSR 2446 221 1 9. Rob Richardson - Lubri MaxxAVrightway Refractories JSR 1930 10. Wayne Milburn - Signforce/Leishman Panels JSR

€€,

Flyin’ Phil"folimson

^0

SPEEDWAY

24/\p!iim Report by BRETT SWANSON

Two current Australian speed way champions went head to head over Easter on the 1998 Sprintcar Trail and, in both cases, it was the current Australian Speedcar Champion Robbie Farr who emerged vic torious over Australian Sprintcar Champion Max Dumesny.

Farr, driving the O’Brien Aluminium Avenger, was fast and smooth, with luck seeming to go his way as he took out the bonus bucks, which were paid out on qualifying performances alone - FaiT was the top qualifier on both nights (Warmambool’s round was can celled due to rain ).

Dumesny’s Valvoline J&J was next, from John Shore’s Airbus Grizzly-J&J.

Farr's Easter Trail

The heat restarted without Enderl, Farrell, Green, Tunks and Melinda Dumesny and in turn 1 Jeff Judd and Daiyn Maggs execut ed simultaneous bikes.

Mark Reuter took a lucky win, after copping some damage in the Enderl melee and then missing the next restart.

The damage continued in heat three, when Mike Hanlon rolled.

Mark Walsh won the restarted heat.

Rob Richardson lead heat four until the last lap, when Fan- pulled off a beautiful outside pass through turns 3-4 to go from third to the win.

An by the administrators saw all drivers have two inside row, or two outside row starts, instead of one of

was out, so Johnson started on pole in the B-Main, instead of going straight into the A-Main.

Johnson won the 12 lap race and Tunks was second, after passing Walsh on the last lap.

A lap after taking the chequer, Tunks slowed, but both Walsh and Rob Rankin were still racing and hit Tunks oh either side, with Walsh flipping onto his side.

these four cars on the lead lap.

Green, Calandro, Perovic, Jackson, Johnson and Rankin were next.

Mt Gambier The field was down to 43 cars at Mt Gambier and it was Farr who ran offlast that timed quickest.

In the opening heat, Farr beat Richardson again as Supercar, AUSCAR and Formula Holden racer Bruce Williams had his first Sprintcar race in the Melinda Dumesny Twister.

Gerard Boult and Avalon Maggs were back bicy The track at Avalon for Good cling through turn 1 Friday’s racing was in top condi again without damage, as Trevor Shields was tion, with plenty of drive catching 1 first across the line, but many drivers off guai’d.

1 was put hack for using The order of the night was bicy the infield, giving cles and big ones at that, some of The aggro continued Dumesny the win. which led to some big crashes for The same fate befell in heat five, when March the big 48-car field.

Shore in the next heat, The 12-car heats concerned many ran over Tunks’ front Shane drivers, so a compromise was wheel in the first turn giving shuffle. reached where the cars which Stephenson the win.

Wanless won heat didn’t time trial within 110% of The start was pulled, LOOKIN'GOOD... Robbie Farr. (Brett Swanson pic) four. Heat five saw Mike quick time would start off the rear, so on the yellow Tunks Van Bremen tear the front off his Further controversy occurred banged March’s front wheel in instead of the pole. when Rankin, who finished fourth. car after he was launched into the Darren Jensen, Trevor Green, retm-n.

Dean McComb, Farr, Phil March, On lap four, according to March, was given a start in the feature, wall on the opening lap.

Farr’s luck held out when he he hit the turn 4 wall as a result of despite assertions from the Walsh Ryan Farrell, John Shore and became involved, but was able to crew that they had repaired the car Marty Perovic were among the damage from the clash with Tunks. fastest cars after time trials and for repair the damage in time for the Green failed to finish again when and were ready to go. restart, before taking an easy win both Green and Farrell it was just he shredded the right rear tyre Feature over Dumesny. as well, as neither finished either of after running over the front of a Dawkins rolled out of heat six Farr was on pole from Dumesny their two heats, yet both still made sideways Wayne Milbum. after Boult got sideways and was Bob Jackson finally won the heat. and jumped a bit early - but, with the A-Main, highlighting once Tim Gleeson nearly rolled after the lateness of the night, the deci- hit by Tunks, who was in turn hit again the over-emphasis on the worth of time trials. biking in heat six and then a clash sion was made to let it go, but to by Dawkins.

Later Jensen spun into the path The opening heat ran smoothly between Phil Johnson and Ray have worda with Fan-about it.

Tunks was the first to retire and of Jeff Judd, leaving David Murcott and fell to Mark Gilbert, but then it Scott saw both cars in the wall. to take the win.

Max Dumesny recorded his first then Wanless tagged the wall, all happened in heat two, when Rankin should have won heat Karl Enderl hiked and then rolled a heat win and Walsh scored his secMarch was next to retire, fol few times. ond when he won heat seven, which lowed by Wanless and later seven, but was badly baulked, Dawkins. allowing Attard to sweep past on On the next start, Farrell hiked ran surprisingly drama-free.

Rod Matthews ran well to secure Meanwhile, Farr was battling the last lap and March took a com and, when he came down, he was Dumesny, who had closed in and fortable win in the final heat. squeezed between two other cars the win in heat eight, despite a cau was looking for a pass but, Farr got which spat him into a spin where tion for a couple of spinners.

B-Main the breaks in traffic and ended up he was drilled by Green, who was B-Main McFadden and Rankin were taking the win with a few car hit by Bob Tunks, who rolled. leading, when McComb retired With Farrell’s injury, he was lengths up his sleeve.

Green reinjured his knee, but Dumesny was runner-up, ahead from third after,- contact with unable to take his place in the fea worse befell Farrell, who broke his shoulder. of McComb and Jensen, with only Perovic. ture, but no-one told anyone that he ast month, I headed down to .Warrnambool for the running of the Australian Super Sedan Championship with Hoosier test tyres in my van for some of the competitors to try.

Gary Marshall and a couple of other guys ran with them and, overall, they were happy with the performance of the tyres as they picked up a considerable amount of time.

The Super Sedan title race was excellent and, as the racing sur face at Warrnambool allows the The venue’s new promoter had cars to stick really well, quite a a first-class clay surface prepared number of them drove realiy hard.

Congratulations to Mick Nicola for the Sprintcar teams and we on his balls-out effort in his managed to take home the Classic Camaro, which is a bit of a rat car title after some enjoyable racing.

We had a couple of days to to look at - there is not a straight panel on it, but he certainly drove spare, so we slipped down to the wheels off it.

Hobart and met up with Ian No doubt, now that he is the Thomas’ NASCAR crew-chief Peter Sportelli and took in the Australian champion, he will clean up his act a little bit. Overail, he tourist sights. did a super job and certainly thrilled the crowd with his impres After'that, we returned to Sydney for Garry Rush’s final sive performance. two Sprintcar shows, plus the preAfter meeting, we shipped our that Vaivoline/No Fear J&J down to Tasmania for the Coastal Express Line South Pacific Sprintcar Classic at Carrick Speedway.

sentation night that Lander was put at onthe by Castrol and Dave Gazebo Hotel in Parramatta on the Thursday night. That function was well-attended and went off quite well.

m

The nextwe evening (Friday), lined up at Newcastle Speedway for Garry’s last night at the track - he won the final from Darrell Hodges, who put in a superb drive from 10th, then Trevor Shields.

Unfortunately, ^ the Newcastle crowd atten dance was probably one of the worst that I have seen since Dave Lander took over the track.

Maybe that is what happens when you run Friday night racing and everyone is used to turning up on another night,

T

he crowd at Parramatta City Raceway on Saturday night really made up for it - the venue was packed and they were all there to see Garry’s final meeting.

I was actually on fire that night - everything was going great with our car and I won both my heats.

I started out of 14th position for the feature, which saw me have quite a close race with Garry.

He was in the lead and going along the back straight; but, with about six laps to go to the che quered flag, he slipped off the track, allowing me to tuck the car

straight in underneath him. He jumped back onto the track, but he didn’t think we touched, whereas I believe we did.

Anyway, he hooked a rut and spun around and almost hit the tyres. That put him to rear of field and that put a dampener on the last half of the race.

Before he went off, I was hop ing to make a real good finish of it - hopefully, I would have passed him before we greeted the flag together, but it wasn’t to be.

So I ended up winning the Castrol Classic from local racers Marty Perovic and Adrian Maher,

O

ur next show was the opening round of the 19th Annual Easter Sprintcar Traii at Avalon Raceway near Geelong, where the track was very impressive.

They have changed the clay racing surface and it actually felt like Premier Speedway at Warrnambool - you could actually drive the outside line, which was great to race on.

Robbie Farr and I both started off the front row and we were both extremely quick.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get past him, but we had 25 laps of tight racing together, which resulted in us finishing 1-2, ahead

On the last lap, Perovic pulled what observers said was a move that was never going to come off, which sent both he and Rankin rolling from the race and allowed Johnson to make the feature with McFadden.

Stewards then issued Perovic with a penalty, banning him from racing at Warrnambool the next night.

Feature For the second straight night, Farr was top qualifier and elected to start on the outside, a decision which was vindicated when he hit turn 1 already two car lengths clear of Dumesny.

Back in the pack, though, Wanless had incurred some dam age and slowed, which made McFadden spin and Johnson run over him - Johnno was given two minutes two change a tyre.

On lap 4, Peter Smith tangled with Attard and rolled and Attard i-ode the wall.

Following the restart, things ran pretty well, with Green dropping oil pressure and pulling in as Farr took the win over Dumesny from March, Gilbert, Shore, Calandro, Murcott, Jensen, Shields, Jackson and Johnson.

Unfortunately, Warrnambool once again fell victim to the rain that had been threatening all week end, leaving Farr undefeated and $11,000 richer - but disappointed that he wouldn’t get to run Warrnambool, a track which he loves and to face the challenge of Dumesny in front of his “home” crowd.

“Warrnambool’s a buzz to run and it would have been very tough to beat Max, because he always runs hard there,” stated Farr.

“But it’s good to finish the season with a couple of wins and it’s great for my new team, new crew and new car owner Ron O’Brien.

“This team is really new to this deal of owning a car and putting someone in it to drive, so I’m just trying to do the best for them that I can all round.” of Queenslander Dean McComb.

The next day, we went onto Mt Gambler’s Borderline Speedway to duplicate the result, with local Mark Gilbert grabbing third spot.

Warrnambool washed Sunday night’swas final roundout at for the fourth time in a row - some of the drivers joked that we should run next year’s Easter Trail at Warrnambool for the three nights and that would allow them to catch up with the other tracks,

M

y next race meeting in the Sprintcar is in Rockhampton on the first weekend in May for the Queensland title - hopefully, we’ll be able to add that title to the ’98 .resume.

D

uring our traditional winter break, I plan to contest some Sprintcar events in the USA - I’m currently putting a package togeth er which should see me racing at Knoxville and several other tracks.

In addition. I’ll be visiting ,the folk at Hoosier, plus cruising around some of the NASCAR shops to gain some of the latest news and innovations in prepara tion for the 1998/99 season on the Thunderdome.

24 April W8

Pointscore honours to Ron Krikke and Gould While he didn’t take out either the WA, or the National Sprintcar Championships, Bunbury driver Ron Krikke did win more features than anyone else on the West Coast in the last six months.

And this was pleasing news for the Bunbury Bullet, especially after he was a strong chance of winning both the big title races, before being crashed out.

As a result of his feature wins, Krikke took out the Sprintcar Association of WA’s drivers’ series on 2312 points, ahead of arch-rival and Murphy Racecars pilot Terry Cutts on 2255.

In the second last meeting of the season, Krikke said the points deal meant a lot to nm,saying it was one of the things that most people remembered - that is, of course, after the elusive titles.'

The points series went down to the wire in the final meeting of the season at Kalgoorlie Speedway in WA’s Goldfields.

The top five was rounded out by Pino Priolo on 2010, Ryan Farrell 2003 and State champion Mark Wells on 1845.

Wells was actually leading the title, until he parted com pany with the high-profile Kendrick Racing organisa tion.

The Geraldton-based dri ver sat out the last five points meetings of the sea son.

He did, however, drive the Steve Coyle-owned Jenkins Sprintcar to a win in the

Bonza Bradford Memorial on his home track at Easter.

The Kalgoorlie meeting was also the final points round for the popular 360ci Sprintcars, with Albany dri ver Steve Gould pointing his Gambler in the right direc tion to maintain his lead to the end.

He finished the year on 1542 points, from Shane Marden on 1435, rookie'racer Jamie Maiolo on 142^, Paul Stubber 1336 anti Brad Blake 1176.

Final open points: Krikke 2312, Cutts 2255, Priolo 2010, Farrell 2003, Wells 1845, Shane Murphy 1709, Shane Krikke 1359, Sharon Marriott 1185, Scott Milling 1157, Allan Haynes 1085, Ant Kinley 878, Garry Sartori 833, Brad Blake 827, Gavin Migro 676, Jamie Maiolo 564, John Krikke 513, Mike Figliomeni 534, Eddy Gobby 441, Ray Geneve 386.

Final 360ci points: Gould 1542, Marden 1435, Maiolo 1428, Stubber 1336, Blake 1176, Roy Carter 1173, John Green Junior 999, Allan Nash 963, Barry Bradford 882, Jamie Moon 846, Brett 812 Searle Murray Hounsfield 643, Marc Giancola 627, Gavin Davis 544, Brett Leslie 503, Adrian Winterswyck 458, Shane Murphy 448, Noel Gordon 402, Todd Kenworthy 334, Rocka Zemunik 315, Damien Baker 308, Jim Chisholm 302, Lance Harper 297, Rod Howe 263, Peter Johnson 212, Trevor Reynolds 204, John Stephens 197 and Mike Figliomeni 180.

- DARREN O’DEA

Keith Higgs is the new WA Super Six State Champion after he took out the 20 lap featui’e at Bunbury City and Regional Raceway on Easter Sunday.

Higgs started on the front row with Rick Thompson and led all the way to take the win from defending champi on Gary Higgs and the strong-finishing Anthony King.

And the win marked yet another win to the Higgs family in the blue riband event.

Since the Super Six titles were first contested back in Narrogin in 1991, the Higgs clan has dominated.

Graham Higgs was suc cessful in 1992, ’94 and ’96, with Craig Higgs winning in 1991 and 1997.

The only non-Higgs to win was King, who won in 1993 and 1995.

Craig Higgs had his work cut out for him in defending the title, starting from posi tion six, but he moved up two places in the first three laps.

Usually Super Six racing is close, but after the first

Keith Higgs WA Six State Champion

half a dozen laps it was a( four-car tussle, with Keith; Higgs leading from Thopipson, Ben Higgs (yes, another one of them!) and Gary Higgs.

After a few gentle taps on Ben’s bumper, Gary edged his way into third in yet another clean and stylish drive.

With eight laps to go, the leading duo moved through

Rocky Caruso and Steve Murphy in the first Div 1 encounter, while former State champion Steve Stewart lowered his own 12 lap record in heat 2 by over four seconds when he downed Murphy and Peter Drew in a close encounter which set the scene for an excellent feature race.

Murphy twice looped his Camaro during the 25 lap feature’s early stages, but the pacesetter proved to be Caruso in the Auto Salvage Auctions Pontiac.

A flat tyre , sidelined Cottrell, while Stewart parked his car with recurring overheating problems - but out front, Caruso withstood strong challenges from Drew, who was shooting for a hat

lapped traffic and started to pull away from the next two, who eventually moved through.

Unfortunately, all their hard work was eroded when

a spin by a backmarker on the back straight brought the orange lights on with five laps to go.

But Keith Higgs was quick out of the blocks in the single file restart from Thompson,

and Ben and Gary Higgs, who wasn’t content with fourth.

He ducked and dived and made his way to second in the dying stages, but the race was all over, with Keith Higgs taking the flags and his first State title victory from Craig Higgs, King, Thompson, Ben Higgs, Glen Greenhalgh and Graham Higgs. - DARREN O’DEA

Claremont doses doors The face of speedway in Western Australia is set to change following the shock announcement that Claremont Speedway will no longer operate from the Royal Agricultural Society grounds.

The RAS refused to grant track promoter Con Migi’o a two-year lease extension while a new multi-purpose

motor sport facility was built - in a nutshell, the last race has been run and won with Speedway staff having until the end of next month to vacate the premises.

The RAS had already given the world-famous track two years’ notice and its failure to extend the lease has closed the book on 71 years ofracing history.

It is understood the showgrounds will be revamped to cater for many and varied functions at the inner-city site and speedway was not part ofthese long-term plans, It was a very bitter and disappointed Migi'o after he heard of last Thursday’s decision. ' “Fm absolutely devastated that the RAS have chosen

not to give us a temporary extension,” Migro said, ‘After 71 years of paying considerable rent to the RAS I feel that the sport of speedway has been poorly treated.

“The speedway sport is a huge industry with a multi-; milion dolar impact on the !

Perth community and this j decision is just unbelievahlb.” i -DARREN OTDEA

Reed's second SRA title The Victorian Sprintcar scene is currently going through a major change the sort of change that occurred in Sydney a few years hack - and is wit nessing the emergence of the new, young breed of racers that are starting to dominate the local racing scene.

This changing of the guard

was amply demonstrated in the'final round of the SRA Series at Avalon on April 4, when the first four positions in the Round 11 Grand Final were taken by the Young Turks - Stephen Bell, Daryn Maggs, Jeff Judd and Tim McCubbin.

46 year-old veteran Phil Johnson filed home in fifth place, ahead of another batch

Records smashed in Adelaide

The track record book continued to be rewritten at Speedway City on April 4 during the Adelaide venue’s elosing show.

First section to test the stop-watches was Super Sedan, whose ranks were boosted by two new drivers the Commodore of former Modified star Pete Evans, plus the Whyalla-registered Corvette of speedway debu tant Jason (lampbell, who recently purchased the car from Newcastle.

Both newcomers figured in the top three placings of the opening Div 2 race, but it was the close racing fi-om the Div 1 brigade which attract ed most attention.

Kym Cottrell punted his Firebird home ahead of

41

trick of feature wins. The ning success at the season blanket finish saw Caruso finale, showing arch-rivals take the chequered flag, just Brian Findlay and Maris ahead of a determined Drew, Valodze the quickest way Steve Vaughan and Bill around the track in the 25 Miller. lap feature.

Further track records fell Both Chadwick and to Fonnula 500 driver Jason 'Findlay had shared the Div 1 Loveday in the Loveday heat race honours, while Div TransporURotax.

2 driver Paul Hayes was able The youngster set new one to celebrate after winning his and two lap records while first race of the season, after dominating a series of lap the expat-Broken Hill team dashes and then coolly low changed practically every ered Luke Dillon’s six lap thing on their Cortina in a record by nearly two seconds bid for success. when he downed Darren Mick Brougham ran out Disbury and Branton Kelly winner of the season-closing in the Trophy Dash.

Demolition Derby, but it was Street Stock points leader seasoned veteran Colin Brian Chadwick, who had set Webber who secured enough a new 20 lap record a week points to claim the Derby series. earlier in winning the fea - DAVID MeNABB ture, repeated his race-win¬

The final five lap sprint in of young bloods - Mike Van Bremen, Darren Walsh, Ray the 25-lap feature saw Bell Scott (young at heart only), take that first win and Gerard Boult and Matthew Maggs finally finish a fea ture race in his home state.

Reed.

Judd held on for third, but Two things were achieved on the night, the first being McCubbin’s fourth place wasn’t enough to unseat Bell’s maiden Sprintcar fea ture and the second being Reed for the title.

Reed’s successful defence of In the end, it was Reed on his SRA series crown.

3561 points who took the cheque from Reed played a conservative $6,500 hand, knowing that only McCubbin on 3489 points extreme bad luck was likely ($2,500).

Then came Walsh (3208), to deprive him of the Series for the second consecutive Van Bremen (3167), Johnson time - in fact, Reed was (3017), Judd (2921), Boult more concerned with good (2729), Rod Matthews(2446), mate Walsh’s hold on third Rob Richardson (2211) and Wayne Milburn (1930), who in the Championship, which was under threat from Van completed the top ten for the Bremen, so the pair “did a third running of the champi McLaren” and allowed Walsh onship.

- BRETT SWANSON to go past early on.

Hi-Performaiiiie Swap Meet Sunday 10 May Fairfield Showground Smithfield Road Smithfield NSW.

All undercover sites. Great food, great venue.

Rain, hail or shine, we swap.

All admitted from 7 am.

For further information contact the Australian Nostalgia Racers Info Line on

42

SREEDWAV

24 April 1998

Record-breaking win by Reuter at Speedway City

Mark Reuter’s Adelaide season closed on a high note with a record-breaking win in the Speedway City Sprintcar Cup on March 28.

An ever-smooth performer, Reuter followed up his domination of the two Sprintcar Shootout events held earlier this year, along with a fine runner-up in the State title a month ago.

The small but detei’mined Cup entry produced different winners for each ofthe three heats, Reuter being the most successful with an opening heat win and two inmner-ups.

Demiis Burford and Mark Gilbert were the other heat winners and, remarkably, all winning times were virtually identical at lm48s. n Gilbert’s time in claiming the final heat was the fastest of the night (only just), after his crew had fixed a steering linkage problem that forced his Freightmaster Maxim out of heat one.

Reuter started the title race from pole and wasted no time in openingup a lead which he promptly stretched to half a lap.

Burford did a great job on Gilbert, holding him out until lap 8, when Gilbert was able to pull a low line pass to secure runner-up.

Gilbert’s car was biking badly, but he hung on to claim second placing ahead of Brett Squiers, who seemed to have overcome earlier fuel starvation problems.

Mick Hanlon’s Stealth was next over the line, well adrift of Reuter, whose winning time knocked more than 10 seconds from Pete Smith’s 12 lap record.

“We changed the car substantial ly before each heat and settled on a loose set-up for the feature,” Reuter explained afterwards. “Our J&J felt good during the race, but I had no idea I was that far in front.”

More track records fell during the support progi-am.

T

hree Australians, all riding in England, have been nominat ed for the Overseas Final of the World Championship, which will be their first step towards qualifica tions for next year’s Grand Prix.

With four Aussies already in the GP series this season, the Overseas Final offers a chance to Mark Lemon, Steve Johnston and Jason Lyons to achieve their ambi tion.

Lemon, 25, has opted to miss out on this year’s World Championship in Longtrack and Grasstrack racing.

A

crowd of over 5,000 flocked to the Coventry track, where Britain’s Grand Prix round will be staged this year, for the opening of the newly refurbished venue.

It is the biggest crowd to attend a domestic meeting at the stadium for some years.

The attraction of local rivals Wolverhampton brought much vis iting support, but with Coventry now tracking three of the world’s top si}< in Greg Hancock, Billy Hamili and Brian Andersen, it could be a vintage season for the famous Coventry Bees.

M*

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The first six placings in the two Div 1 Super Sedan heats were almost identical, the only changes being Peter Drew leading home Steve Stewart fo claim the opening race in a new record time, while Stewart turned the tables in heat 2 and regained the 12 lap recordi he had originally held.

An overheating engine forced Stewart infield during the hardfought feature, which Drew claimed for the second week in a row - he was closely followed across the line

by Steve Murphy and Rocky Caruso in a blanket finish.

Brian Chadwick followed up his heat win with a resounding recordbreaking victory in the Street Stock Stampede, finishing ahead of Maris Valodze and Briar Findlay.

The win consolidates Chad-wick’s comfortable position on top of the points table, with one more show remaining this season.

- DAVID McNABB

Crump. “If there is one guy I would like to be compared to, that’s Hans, but I’m my own man ■Bq and I want to do it as Jason Crump.”

.

A

!

By Tony Millari

ship we need from a major petrol company.”

Two triedLynn out theirJapanese talents at riders the Kings circuit under the watchful eye of the legendary Barry Briggs Masakazu Ikada (25) and Jun Aswaka(24) are both rated in the top 20 in Japan, where their version of the sport is raced on 650cc machines on tarmac.

Concentrated practice over four days and a possible visit to Los Angeles to try out on the smaller tracks were on the agenda of the u nlikely pair, but the attraction of racing in Japan for really big money may make speedway seem a poor relation to the riders.

T Matches between Sweden and USA for this year has been abandoned.

But there will be two Under-21 Tests’ between Sweden and England at Mariestad on July 23 and at another venue, yet to be named, a day later.

G

rand Prix rider Craig Boyce, the ^ former Australian Champion from Sydney, has taken on former England skipper Chris Morton as advisor.

Boyce believes he has not reached the standards he should have done with any real consistency and believes a motivator with knowledge of the sport - such as Morton - can help him bridge the gap from also ran to success. “l seem to get mentally detuned quite easily,” he said last week “and I’ve had Todd Wiltshire alongside me in the Aussie finals

Two Czechand Republic riders, Toni Kasper Bohumil Brhel,

in the the game. past just to keep me on top of

The 1996isWorld Billy Hamili, out ofChampion, the sport for at least three weeks.

Hamili broke a bone in his right foot after a clash with Coventry’s Mikael Karlsson in the opening meeting at Coventry and then clashed with Australian Jason Lyons 24 hours later at Belle Vue. This time he damaged a wrist and broke a bone in his left foot, not to mention also suffering con cussion.

For good measure, a $12,000 machine was also wrecked.

along with the German Gerd have been named as the wildRiss, car riders for the first round of this year’s Grand Prix in Prague.

The draw has placed Aussies Flyan Sullivan and Craig Boyce in direct opposition in heat one against England’s Andy Smith and Riss.

Jason Crump and Leigh Adams are also in the same heat - they race in heat two against England’s Chris Louis and Brhel.

There are just two British riders Chris Louis and Andy Smith, in the field and the top eight riders from

“It’s as me though I need alongside keeping thesomeone pot boiling to convince me I can do it time after timeV’.

Morton, who raced in five World Finals, will be. joining Boyce in Prague for the first of this year’s Grand Prix meetings.

The failure of their Britishanticipated promoters ts conclude deal for the televising of speedway has brought some criticism from Mervyn Stewkesbury who employs Australians Craig Boyce, Ryan Sullivan and Mark Lemon.

Stewkesbury believes TV is a vital ingredient to take the sport forward.

“I think we need more public awareness of the sport,” he said.

Television is still the future , because it can really bring it to the attention of a new public.

If we could race with petrol engines instead of methanol , I believe we could get the sponsor-

last season are onwards. seeded to race from heat eleven The meeting takes place on May 15.

Australia’s Jason Crump is Mbeing tipped by many m England to win the world title this year, 'Crump, now riding for League newcorhers Oxford Cheetahs, has had a fine start to the season and is racing at the track that was once the home of the legendary Hans Nielsen - locals are tipping him to follow in the footsteps of the great Dane.

I’m not complaining,” said

Polish star Piotr Protasiewicz could miss the first Grand Prix, after crashing heavily in a Polish League meeting.

The 23 year-old rider damaged the base of his spine when riding for his club, Bydgoszcz, in their

"^1

EASTER BUNNIES ... Robert Carrig (left), surprised btuiiiy Nick Girdlestone and happy bunny John Pyne after the Super Sedan -DAVID LAMONT Easter Classic at Newcastle on April It. benefited by a longer break than expected, as heavy rains hit England to produce wholesale postponements. fered a serious financial loss Exeter Colin Hill sufwhen his promoter home was broken into and all the takings from his club’s meeting with Peterborough were stolen.

It is understood that around $25,000 was taken by the thieves.

Supporters at nearby Newport organised a collection at the British Under-21 Championship qualifying meeting to help Hill to offset his loss.

■Tw 0 women referees have startI ed training under the auspices of the British Speedway Control Board. Honey Sandford (21) and Jackie Mason(23) will both work alorigside experienced officials for the next two years, after which they can then become referees in their own right. Until now, no woman has been ip charge of a British speedway m'eeting. ' O teve Johnston from Perth has already taken his new club O Oxford by storm and proved a hit with the supporters.

Johnston has been purchased from the now-defunct Long Eaton, after riding on loan for Ipswich last season. “i am really pleased to be at Oxford, particularly because they have bought me on a full contract, which has to be good news for everyone,” he said.

“I had a good year at Ipswich and I enjoyed it there and I’m look ing forward to going back to race against them. But, this year, all my efforts are now with Oxford and I’ll be trying to win something.”

W

opening meeting of the Polish seaof son.

He will miss the next month the British season for Kings Lynn, who has also been hit by skipper Simon Wigg going down with tonsilitis.

orld Champion Greg Hancock put in place a big Testimonial meeting for April 19 at Coventry which included the appearance, inonewayoranother, of three former World

Adelaide’s Ryan been in the warsSullivan during has the opening few meetings, after racing for his new club, Poole, in the early cup matches in England.

He suffered elbow and back

Champions, Bruce Penhall joined fellow exAmerican stars Rick Miller, Bobby Schwartz, Dennis Sigalos and Lance King.

But it is the Swede Per Jonsson and Denmark’s Erik Gundersen, both of whom tragically had their career ended through injury, who raced four wheel vehicles on-track and brought back memories for

injuries when crashing in his first race of the meeting with Swindon on his home track.

But he was soon back in action after a week’s break, although he

the crowd at the Brandon Stadium.

Current international , riders included Aussies Craig Boyce, Jason Crump, Shane Parker and Steve Johnston.

The German will be stronger than‘Superliga’ ever this season.

Seven clubs will be taking part, with each club having a home meeting where it will take on three of the others.

The top scoring four teams will then race a Grand Final in October at the venue of the top scoring club in the series.

International riders are lining up for each club.

Chris Louis and Brian Andersen race for. MSC Diedenbergen; Jason Crump, Martin Dugard and Kelvin Tatum are with Brokstedt; and Pole Ratal Dobrucki and Dane Nilkas Klingberg head the line-up for Gustrow.

Todd Wiltshire and Piotr Protasiewicz are among those from whom Landshut will choose their team, while Hungary’s Zoltan Adorjan and the Czech Toni Svab are with Bergring Teterow. includes Jan Leipzig Staechmann and Sam Ermolenko, while Peter Karlsson and Swedenbased American John Cook are with Wittstock.

Poland’s toptherider Tomasz Gollob won opening indi vidual meeting of the season in his home country.

Gollob took the Criterion of Aces at Bydgoszcz in front of 16,000 fans with a 14 point return, ahead of Piotr Protasiewicz.

Gollob’s ‘s only dropped point was against Robert Sawina.

Armando now racing again onCastagna, an Italian licence, won the first round of the Italian Championship in Terenzano with a 12 point return from 20 heats.

Heavy rain prevented the con ventional finals taking place and the placings were decided after the 20 qualifying heats.

Alessandro Dalla Valle came second with the satjie points return - he had been beaten by Castagna when they met.

A second meeting on April 19, along with the first meeting, deter mine the four riders to join current Italian Champion Andrea Maida in the first stage of the World Championships, the Continental Semi-Finals.

2Ui}fil1998

California Dreaming FOR those Historic enthusiasts who like to plan ahead'and are looking for some action overseas, the 1998 Monterey gathering in California will be held on August 14-16 The event will start with Concours Italiano at Quail Lodge, Carmel with more than 450 classic and exotic Italian automobiles on show. It will also feature the

popular Autobilia Ex^o, the Vintage Ferrari Concours hosted by the Ferrari Club of America’s Pacific region, Italian fashion, Italian music and cuisine and special guests from Italy Alfa Romeo is the honoured marque this year and some 150 Historic Alfas are expected to be on show rep resenting such famous designers as Zagato, Pininfarina and Bertone. The Alfa Romeo factory is supporting the concours, so some very special exhibits are assured Another highlight will be the 48th Pebble Beach Concorrrs, an intemationaUy acclaimed event featuring pre-war and post-war cars which will this year feature the famous Belgian marque Minerva. The Minerva was produced in Antwerp between 1900 and 1939 and became the first mai-que to adopt the Knight sleeve valve engine and maintained a tradition of refinement and performance The Monterey Historic Automobile Races at Laguna Seca Raceway over the August 14-16 weekend will this year pay tribute to 50 years ofPorsche.(No doubt there will be an added tribute to the memory of the late Feny Porsche who died recently).

Porsche Cars North America’s President and CE(), Frederick J. Schwab described the Monterey meeting as “the world’s most prestigious historic automobile race,” and Porsche is already selecting some fare Historic race cars from its museum in Stuttgart to be flown to Monterey.

This wdU be Porsche’s return to featured marque sta tus at Monterey, ha\dng first been honoured there in 1982 Now in its 25th year, the Monterey Historic Automobile Races, presented by the Chrysler Corporation, is a celebration of auto racing’s history.

'The veiy rare race cars that are selected to compete are chosen on their historic significance and certified authenticity, and it’s good to know that over the years a number of Australian cars and drivers have been accepted to compete -BRIAN REED

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n The Historic Car Commission has been appointed for 1998 with the following state repre sentatives: (NSW)-Bob Asher; Tony Caldersmith; Paul Hamilton; Michael Henderson (Vic)- David Rapley; Patrick Ryan (SA)- Neil Sullivan (QTand)-John Kingcott

MONTEREY,JACK... The Monterey Historic Automobile races attract the biggest and the best in the world, like this superb 1925 Bugatti last year.

Class Winners

t*-

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TC times 3... Peter Stratton (68), Peter McKnight(99) and Alex Wilde line up.

THE 15th annual Eddington Sprints were held on Saturday, April 4 with 34 cars facing .the start on the newly sur faced track.

It was expected that times would be quicker than previously and Roy Williams’ outright fastest time of 13-and-a-bit seconds in ‘Sabrina’ might take a tumble, but only one car, Adam Berryman's Elfin Catalina was able to challenge with an ‘unof ficial’ FTD of 13.27sec. in the Invited Class.

Several new cars were seen in action, including a stylish MG TC ‘Special’ owned and driven by Denis Russell. His best run of

n An interested spectator again this year at Eddington was John Harvey(maybe well see him take pai-t one day?)‘Harvs’ was disappointed to miss out on driving Bob Jane’s McLaren M6A “big bangeP sports cai- in the Tattersall’s demonstra tion runs at the AGP carnival, but says it will be ready in time for the Shannon’s Australian Motorfest at Winton on November 7-8 at which he will be one ofthe‘Stars on Parade’.

n The Wimmera Mallee Historical Vehicle Society will be staging a picnic event for vintage', veteran and classic motor vehicles and motorcy cles at Sawyer Pai'k, Horsham this coming Sunday, April 26 featuring an historical timeline of motoring. The feature marque wiU be Holden to celebrate its 50th anniversary with representative examples ofevery year of production on display.

More than 100 vehicles are expected to t^e part, there will be musical entertaiiunent plus dis plays by the Four-Wheel Drive Club, the Cai-avan Club and Horsham Motor Sports Club and model steam train rides for the children -and unlike most other events, late entries will be accepted.

For further details contact Don Kuhne(03)5382 0032.

Photo by Brian Heed

1 7.61secs. scored a first-up class win - not bad considering the car was only finished the night before after sever al fellow competitors pooled their skills to assist Denis in a lastminute working bee.

Another competitor to benefit from this sort of assistance was Martin Utber who broke the primary drive nut on the sprocket of his 500cc McKenna Special. The car was taken back to the work shop of Neville and Keith Roberts where another part was cut and milled, Martin returned to the start line and was given his practice run and timed dashes one after the other to avoid the dra mas of having to restart

Briefly Historic An attraction ofthis yeai-’s Targa will be Shannon’s official auction of veteran, vintage and classic vehicles to be held at Salamanca Place, Hobart on Friday, May 1. With plenty of hype sun-ounding Targa Tasmania,the auction is sure to generate lots ofinterest amongst collectors and enthusiasts, and may provide some new entries in the Historic section for the 1999 event.

n Other news from the Historic Car Commission is that the new Group R rules will become effective on July 1,1998. A CAMS memo will be published shortly.

Elfin stars at Eddington sprints

By BRIAN REED

13

the typically tempera aircooled mental device. Great to see this sort of assistance and sympathy shown to a competitor in strife.

A car making a wel come return to Edding ton after a 3-y^ear absence was Graeme Lowe’s sensational Alta.

This famous open wheeler took out Class 12 as well as the ‘offi cial’ FTD in a new

Class 2: Bob Booth (Austin 7) 17.88s Class 3: Paul Schilling (Austin 7) 18.90s Class 4; Sandy Murray (Salmson) 24.19s Class 6: John Cox (Lancia Lambda)24.19s Class 7: John Felder (Oakland) 22.16s Class 11: Bernie O’Shannessy (Lagonda Rapier) 21.54s Class 12: Graeme Lowe (Alta) 13.67s Class 13: Gerry Murphy (Ford Special) 16.24s Class 14: Peter Knight(MG TC) 21.11s Class 17: Anne Arnold(MG TC) 16.78s Class 18: Peter Statton (MG TC) 15.86s Invitation: Adam Berryman (Elfin Catalina) 13.27s (unofficial) Invitation: Kel Ricci (Lotus Europe) 15.44secs (official) Official FTD & new course record: Graeme Lowe (Alta) 13.67secs Organiser’s Trophy for 15th Anniversary Event: Mike Dodds -‘4or attending all but one, and typifying the event”.

course record time of 13.67secs - with the smeil of racing oil and the right sounds to match.

Not so iucky was Lou Molina’s hot MG TA supercharged ‘Speciai’ which broke a biower drive, and Lou had to face “I toid you so” from Jack Mayes for the rest of the after noon!

It was good to see the ex-George Makin MG ‘Buttercup’ in action with Alex Wilde behind

the wheel. However his time of 18.28secs was weli short of Anne Arnold’s class winning run of 16.78secs in her MGTC. Austin 7s were out in force (a third of the totai field), and there was plenty of spirited com petition amongst their ranks. Of the larger car's, ‘Stumpy’ Russell’s brutish Ford Speciai was driven with gusto on the day by Gerry Murphy who scored a popular class win.

Mass returns to Tai^ Tasmania in works Porsche EIGHTEEN historic cars will start the 1998 Targa Tasmania on Tuesday,April 28 in.

Porsche Australia has announced that former Formula One driver and sportscar world champion Jochen

Mass will be driving their highly competitive 356 Carrera in this year’s event. The German will have one of his country’s foremost motoring writers, Michael Peterson, as co-driver, - BRIAN REED

Unpack your woollies and head to Ballarat WHERE better to hold a Winter Classic Rally than Ballarat! After its successful launch last year the Ballarat Light Car Club Inc will stage the 1998 event on the Queen’s Birthday week end, June 6-8 following a similar format to last year.

The three-day, 1200km, all-bitumen (I’ve heard that one before!) event is open to all road registered cars, with classic and collec table cars being paiTicidarly welcome.

Last year the field included Porsche, Jaguar, MG, Cooper Mini, BMW and several other Historic rally cars. Vehicle classes will be determined according to year and engine capacity.

Challenges for the anticipated 60 starters include navigational sections, various driving tests, closed road rally stages and an economy run. A number of special events are planned at Raceway Park, Heath-cote on the second day follo-wing the successful inclusion of this venue last year.

Ample time is being built into the Winter Classic Rally for evening camai’aderie to enjoy the social events and to compare notes and hard luck stories with fellow competitors.

The entry fee of $750 includes all meals for the three days with the Presentation Dinner on the Monday night being a highlight.

The Winter Classic Rally returns to Ballarat each night, with the raUy headquarters based at the Ballarat Mercime Inn Belltower, giving competitors a comfortable base for the week end. Day one will be in the Melbourne area, the second day will be around Heathcote and the final day will take in the Geelong region before returning to Ballarat for the finish.

Entries for the 1998 Winter Classic RaUy are now open. Regulations and further details are available from the Event Secretar3^ Allan BaUard, PO Box 400 BaUarat, 3353(phone 03 5332 2109). Entries close on May 22.

-BRIAN REED

KARTING

24/ipfinm

JUNIOR NATIONAL HEAVY... Winner #8 Luke Harper and Tim Macrow.(Graeme Burns)

VALIANT... Daniel Elliot made the Junior Nat Light podium.(Sean Henshelwood/Kodak)

Geelong's wet Sprint Kart Nats

Pacemen Hunt and Harper conie up trumps to race in the repechage events for the remaining five places on the grid, Matthew Wall - a reigning national champion - being one to quahfy the hard way.

Some of the following results are under appeal, so are provisional.

Report by GRAEME BURNS

pole by 0.16s from Remo Luciani (Vic) and the 30thplaced Kip Foster (WA) by 0.53s.

The final shaped up to be a gi’eat race, but the wet conditions came into play and 13 karts went off at turn 1, including Luciani.

Savage came through in the lead, but that was shortlived when the set-up chosen for the wet didn’t work very well and he was shuffled back through the field, Matt Negus (WA) took over the front spot,' while Rodney McKenzie(TAS)slot ted in behind him and this

A look through the entries for the Australian Sprint Kart Championships held at Geelong over the Easter weekend, April 10Junior Clubman 12, indicated that whoev er won the titles would Will Davidson set the have to work hard and fastest time of 33.77s and, have a little bit of luck as with less than one second well. between the top 36 drivers, it The weather for the week’s was very competitive.

The repechage saw only practice leading up to the racing was fine and, with 650 five finishers, who all went into the final line-up. karts vying for the 420 start Neil McFadyen ofNSW led pair drove away from Brett ing positions, track time was Davidson (VIC), with Foster the final all the way and all-important. and Shane Wilson (NSW) pulled out a gap on the A tent city was erected for the weekend, with most of bunch of locals - Travis rounding out the top five.

Medwin, Gavin Walker, Will the pits under cover - and Davidson and Cameron Senior National Light the huge marquee that cov Thorpe - who all seemed Another close class (one ered the out grid was put to equal on power and settled second covering first to good use on Sunday when the rain came and also for into line.

62nd), with the reigning number one. Matt Wall the presentation dinner and Clubman Heavy (VICJ, being forced into the dance Sunday night.

With under one second repechage to get a berth in Qualifying was done in between the top 71 drivers in the final, fine sunny conditions on qualifying, it shows the Jason Varley (NSW) was Friday, with some notable quickest (35. 65s) and stayed drivers struggling to make supremacy of Ben Savage the top 25 and some having (Vic, 33.05s) when he took that way all weekend, although, in the final,-(Wall came through from the rear ‘v to challenge in what was the I drive of the day.

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Varley withstood the. chal lenge and, after several lead changes. Wall eiTed at tm-n 1 and dropped back.

Glen Riddell(VIC)also put on a good display to come from 23rd on the grid in the final and, with four laps to go, he snuck past Chris Gilmour (QLD) into second place, which he held to the end - Adam Klunyk(SA)and Wall were fourth and fifth.

front, a position he didn’t concede.

Brenton Meade (SA) made his way through into second, with Tyson Hoffman (VIC), Calahro, Robert Hunt (ACT) and Daniel Elliot (WA) next in line.

Elliot forced his way up to third in one big move and the race settled down to run its distance with no more changes.

Twin Clubman No-one missed the cut in this class, as it was one of the few under-subscribed clsss0s David Buschkuhl (VIC) set the pace (32.13s) from Don Pearson (VIC), but jtn the final it was Paul Qooper (NSW) who dro-ve away from the field and won easily from Pearson, with Buschkuhl back in third from Wayne Bell (WA) and Glenn Morey (WA) in a race that settled into a pattern early.

Super 200 Fifteen of these exciting karts made up the field.

Kai Heller (WA) with a 31.68s was 0.02 quicker than Simon Wedd, also fromWA, where the Supers are more prevalent.

The final seemed to settle into a pattern early, with Wedd showing the way from Daryl Clayder(WA).

Brad Fitch (WA) was get ting ■'harassed by local Rayinond Harrison, who hadn’t driven for well over a year.

The rest of the runners could only watch from behind and, when Clayder slipped a little wide exiting turn 1, Harrison seized the chance and took over second place and pulled away, but could not catch the leader.

Junior National Light Jace Lindstrom (VIC) with 34.97s was the pace-setter by 0.01 sec from Vincent Calabro (SA).

After the initial settling down at the start of the final, James Gurr (NSW) was in

Nathan Wood, also a local, held on in the greasy condi tions for fifth.

Formula 100 Light David Clark came across from WA to defend his title from all the hopefuls, although it was Victorian Jamie Whincup who set the pace in qualifying with 31.79s.

The final was run on a greasy track, but a great dis play of close, hard-fought racing was put on for the many spectators.

Clark and Whincup start ed trading places from the drop of the flag, with several changes taking place before things ‘settled’ into a pat tern.

Kris Walton (QLD) had a turn up front and Matt Wall (VIC) also joined in the group, with a gap back to the next group, although Tyson Mark Pearce (SA) Domaschenz (VIC) and Brendan Dive did catch and mix it with the front pack, until Dive disappeared.

Walton grimly held on to the lead until lap 14, when Clark outbraked him in a good duel at the end of the straight to take the lead.

Walton withstood the chal-

SUPERIORITY... Inter A champ Troy Hunt was the man to beat in Clubman Light all weekend. (Sean Henshelwood/Kodak)

KARTING lenge of Whincup, who did pass him briefly, to take second,vwith Wall fourth and Pearce fifth. , Clubman Super Heavy Shawn Fellows of Tasmania showed in qualify ing (35.05s) that he wanted to take the big trophy home.

On a drying track, he took the lead from Adam Murray (VIC) on lap 4 and drove off into the distance.

By lap 7, Jason Stania (VIC) was into second, with Murray and Jeff Cooper right behind and Stuart Verco (WA) keeping in touch until he dropped out.

The race settled until, with five of the 22 laps to go.

Follows slowed, then stopped coming onto the straight and the body language told it

all.

Stania took the chequered flag from Cooper, with Murray the length of the straight behind third, from Justin Conte (NSW) and Brett McFarland(NSW). l Junior National Heavy A time of 36.89s put Mathew Greenbury (QLD) up front for the heats, but by the final Jonathan McDonald (TAS) and Luke Harper (VIC) were on the front row.

On his home track. Harper drove off and left the rest, winning by over the length of the straight.

Tim Macrow (VIC) was passed by Kiel Johnston ,(NSW)in the latter stages to ' take second and Jarrod Bishop (TAS) dropped Joshua Brown (QLD) down to fifth.

Senior National Heavy A 36. 22s was good enough for Scott Howard (QLD) to

take the top spot from Darren King(NSW).

Chris Slee (QLD), the defending champion, was half a second off the pace and in 24th place.

The final settled early and was processional up front, with the gaps between Jason Varley (NSW), Brett Arnett (VIC), Russell Vellacott (QLD)and Troy Morey (VIC), with Stuart Morrison (SA) close on his heels, extending.

Morrison did get past Morey to take fourth place.

45

2^AprinS9S

around until, with five laps to go, Corbett tried a move and hit the back of Hunt and left the circuit, giving Hunt a handy lead.

After post-race checks, Domaschenz was second from Lee Uhlhorn (VIC), while Murchison was fourth and Matt Wall(VIC)fifth.

Formula 100 Heavy Malcolm Kilsby from Mt Gambler came across to defend his number one sta tus and, after qualifying (32.77s), left no doubt he was serious.

Clubman Light After five drivers exited Defending champion Mai-k Winterbottom from NSW turn 1, lap 1, John Gleeson was unable to race, because (VIC) was ahead of Kilsby, of a broken collarbone sus Gary Holt (NSW), Peter tained in a previous race Patrizl (WA), Stuart Verco (WA)and Tommy Nicolaou. meeting.

Verco dropped off and Troy Hunt(NSW) set the Nicolaou passed Craig pole time of 33.36s, edging Richard McLeod (QLD) into Denton (SA) to go up to fourth. second.

The final was a race of By halfway, Kilsby and Gleeson were swapping attrition, with only 10 finish ing, but the race up front places up front, until Kilsby dropped back a bit and then was gripping stuff.

The race started off very closed in for another successbusily up front, as everyone ful attack when Gleeson went a bit wide at Findlay tried to get the uppep'hand.

Christian Murchison (WA) corner with four laps to go. was in the lead from Mark Holt also made a charge Domaschenz (VIC) and with two to go, when he got David Clark(WA). past Denton and Robert Mould (WA) to take over Domaschenz was pushed third, wide exiting turn 1 and 'kould. who snuck his way dropped to fourth, with Matt up the field, passed Denton Coleman (VIC)taking third.

By lap 7, Hunt had got to take fourth from him. behind into second Junior Piston Port Murchison and Clark was Jamie Carter (SA) set a third, with plenty of contact between the karts as this trio time of 32.39s, 0.03s ahead of Neil McFadyen(NSW). jockeyed for positions.

When this class went out A couple of laps later, Rief Corbett(SA)came through to the gate for the final, the the lead for a couple of laps, rain stared making the track very greasy and the drivers before Hunt repassed him. still, had dry set-ups and The minor places behind this pair were changing slick tyres, so the fast, close

NEW OMEGA... Tyson Pearce’s Omega TP-13 chassis was a real contender.(Henshelwood) Clinton Dive (NSW) in a rain-affected race, although they did have time for some adjustments, including wet weather tyres.

race expected didn’t happen.

Off the front of the grid, Aaron Rintoul (VIC) sufferpd badly with the set-up after running strongly all weekehd and dropped back, hanging

All in all, a great Easter weekend’s racing was witnessed.

Next year’s Nationals will be held at Kalgoolie, WA.

CLUBMAN SUPER HEAVY... Winner Jason Stania.(Burns)

on for fifth.

Carter got in front and drove a steady race to hang onto the front place, while McFadyen dropped Cameron Thorpe (VIC) back'.^to third and Ben Hall (SA) was fourth.

Piston Port With a time of 32.44s, Steve Owen (VIC) headed the time sheets, but Peter Tempoulos dominated the final to take the championship fi'om a close-following Tyson Pearce (SA), with Daniel Gadd(NSW)third.

Paul Sera (VIC) came through in the last few laps to take fourth away from

NEW DONK... Atomik rotary valve-powered Merlin of Brendan May.(Henshelwood/Kodak) iw

Star Round 2

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IMPRESSIVE... Bird's-eye view of Nationals at Geelong facility. (Graeme Burns pic)

Enquiries 03 5144 2382L Eastrn Region Series Rd.3 Goulburn Valley Kart Clidi ● NunHirkab Enquiries 03 5S21 4950

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24J\pfilW98

INDUSTRY NEWS

0

Simpson range now Revved up! n Revolution Racegear has just added Simpson, one of America’s favom-ite names in motor racing, to its product line.

Revolution Racegear now car ries a select range of Simpson equipment and apparel across its 17 stores nationally.

“Simpson has long been a lead ing motor racing brand, so we see its introduction to Revolution Racegear stores nationally as both appropriate and, given the tremendous gi'owth the sport is experiencing right now, extreme ly timely,” Managing Director Dale Rodgers said.

“Traditionally Simpson has a very strong base in drag racing and speedway competition and we believe the addition of the Simpson line will help us to pro vide competitors and enthusiasts associated with these categories with the best product range pos sible.

“While Simpson products have been available in Australia for quite some time, this is the first time they are so readily and extensively available.”

Revolution Racegear now car ries a select range of Simpson safety products, from its worldrenown range of helmets, to dri ving gloves, window nets, safety harnesses, even drag chutes!

Among the extensive range of Simpson helmets on offer are the famous Bandit, Shark and Voyager and X series.

The Shark was recently award ed the Switzer Award for “engi neering excellence and innova tion in development and design” at the Indianapolis 500, the first time the award has been present ed to a non-car related product.

For more information about the Simpson range of products, contact Revolution Racegear on 1 800 804 778. n Siemens, the official com munication and information technology partner of the FIA Formula 1 World Champion ship, have announced a part nership contract with leading 1 Formula McLaren-Mercedes drivers David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen.

Both Coulthard and Hakkinen under the agreement, will cany a Siemens logo on their race suits and wiU be available for Siemens TV and print advertising.

The company says they have got involved with Formula 1 as it fits in well with their interna tional, high-tech and innovative image.

For additional information visit their web site at www.siemens.com/formulal. '

High performance engines a newfocusfor VW At the recent Geneva Motor Show, Volkswagen released its new W12 Roadster, above, a concept car showcasing the company's powerful new twelve cylinder engine.

The development of the W12 sig nals new plans by Volkswagen to move into high performance engine production.

“Traditionally Volkswagen has focused on the production of four and six cylinder engines, those

most suitable for its passenger car range. said Ewen Ramsay, Managing Director of Volkswagen in Australia.

“With the launch of the new Passat however, and the potential to expand further into the luxury car market, the development of high performance engines is time ly,” Mr. Ramsay said.

The engine is something differ ent. It is of compact W configura tion with two V6 engines connected

at an angle of 72 degrees.

Each cylinder features four valves, controlled by four chain-dri ven overhead camshafts.

Developing 420 horsepower from its displacement of 5.6 litres, the engine also has 530 Nm of torque at 3000rpm.

Unlike the W12 design study dis played at the Tokyo Motor Show last October, the W12 roadster is mid-engined, mounted centrally in front of the wheels, to which power

is transmitted by a rear mounted six speed sequential gearbox.

The two-seater Roadster present ed at the Geneva Motor Show was developed as an open monocoque construction with front-hinged doors.

The design study is 4.4 metres long, 1.92m wide, one metre high and weights just 1,150kg.

It has 19-inch alloy wheels, while braking is provided by perforated, internally ventilated discs.

Do you feel the need for speed You’ve seen Mark Webber take to the track in his awesome Mercedes CLK GTR GT car, but now on your Sony Playstation you can take that very same German monster and let loose against seven other exotic cars in the new release. Need For Speed m.

Whether it’s outranning the boys in blue, racing at night, or just sim ply quenching your thirst for adren aline pumping speed, this new V, release has it all.

There’s a variety of sportscars to take for a drive. Ferrari is repre sented by its new 550 Maranello and 355 FI models, while Lamborghini’s stable features the Diablo SV and Countach.

American muscle car (ans, don’t worry, a Corvette C5 is provided for your pleasure, ready to lake on a Jaguar XJR-15, Italdesign Nazca C2 and, of course, the howling Merc.

Additions to the new game over older versions include increased artificial intelligence in opponents’ cars and even the police are armed

with tyre spikes in a bid to keep you from speeding in your million dollar machine through their juris diction.

Stunning new special effects including real time lighting, night racing with headlights, weather effects, blowing leaves, and reflec tive maps make this game simply mindblowing.

With ten detailed tracks, power ful audio, and new camera angles, the action and suspense is increased to an all new level.

“Need For Speed III” retails for $89.95 and is distributed by Electronic Arts.

For true motor racing fans Holden Racing Team drivers Craig Lowndes and Mark Skaife have also signed a very limited number of copies, all of which are available at Harvey Norman stores.

Five dollars from the sale of each autographed copy will be donated to the Reach Youth Foundation to help kids in need.

For further information call (03) 9510 7788 or visit Electronic Arts website at: www.ea.com.

BE LIKE WEBBER ...You too can drive a Mercedes CLK-GTR like Australia’s Mark Webber when you get behind the wheei of the car, above, white piaying the new Need for Speed tit Piaystation game, right.

.\

TM

new and exciting designs for consid eration” said an enthused Jones.

“The HERO, a stunning five spoke design and the first one-piece wheel in the AJR range, is one such.inclusion,” The AJR Signature Series starts at a suggested retail price of $290'for the latest HERO design in 15” diame ter, to $950 for an 18” diame ter FIN or Director.

Uexpands the range In response to demand for ■additional styles and fit ments to suit a wider vari ety of vehicles, champion driver Alan Jones has expanded the popular AJR Signature Series range of three-piece alloy road wheels.

The FIN and the Director have been included to com plement the original five spoke AJR three-piece design.

The trio of wheels are available from selected wheel and tyre outlets throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Jones, the 1980 Formula 1 World Champion, was involved in both the design and development of the range.

According to Jones the range will continue to grow.

“Our stylists and engineers are continually developing

24April ms l^®0®D^S[f)®[F0 V

Sedans/Sports Cars

HQ Holden,good motor, g/box, diff, new tyres, needs suspen sion update, Very tidy car. $3,000. Ph: 02 4782 4411 (BH), 02 4787 7900(AH). .26

a

Commodore Sports Sedan. Immaculate condition, fully adjustable, mid mount 350, polished alloy internals, 16x10 wheels. Heaps of spares. For sale less mechanicals or will split.

Ri:036330 1881 126 hir. ►Ml

%

■£>13

Cortina 2-litre Sports Sedan./Vnaroo 62 sec, new engine, heaps of spares, with tandenftrailer. Compl.'ete race package $2,700ono. Will separate. Ph;0412008 101. 126 LX Torana; fresh 308, Super T10, 9 inch diff, SAAS seats, matching interior, Simmons wheels,6 point roll cage. Clean car $15,000ono. Ph: Tony 026297 1149,0417693871. 126 Commodore VN bare body shell. No mechs or trim. No damage. Painted engine bay and under floor pan. Suit race or drag car build. $2,750ono. Ph:02 6291 9662. 126

Sale or lease. Commodore V8 Superoar. VR, Perkinsbuilt and unchanged since delivery Chev engine. Lease to driver with correct budget or sale, with or without engine, POA. Ph: Phil Ward 018 276 323, 02 9533 4909 (BH), 02

NASCAR Ford Thunderfaiitl (#14) clearance. 1997 Ex Tri-Star, 4th o/r 1997/8 season, rolling chassis or complete car, POA; 1995 ex Junior Johnson (pictured), 3rd 1997/8 Adelaide.

Rolling chassis $25,000, complete car $55,000; 1991 ex Junior Johnson, ex Aus champ. Rolling chassis $20,000, complete car $40,000; 1 motor Penske $30,000; 1 motor Mark Smith Tri Star $50,000; 1 motor Jnr Johnson $20, I. Ipr Robert Yates heads, compi with valves, rocker gear $10,0to; 1 Ford Louisville LN800 plus 2 car transporter, full annexe etc etc $90,000. Or $250,000 the lot. Ph: Bruce Peacock 08 9353 2533 (BH), 08 9293 2269 (AW),fax 08 9353 1215. 126 AUSCAR Sportsman, XF Falcon. One season old, never bent, fresh 9,5 engine + paint. Ready to race next season.

Urgent regretful sale - moving o/s. $11,000. Ph: 03 9844 3657, 0413743 573. is

HQ Thunderdome. Proven winner, record txjlder, ready to race.

Spare car complete less fuel cell. Many spares and engines.

Assistance given. Will separate or package to suit Urgent sale, all offers considered. Ph: John 0397423234(BH), ra HQ Race Car, good condition, heaps of spares, ready to race, nothing to spend.$5,000 Ph:0298948681 or 0418671 927. ®

Group A Sports Car, 1981 All Get MK3. 10A PP Rotary. 48 IDA Weber, dry sumped. Hewland MK8, log book. As raced with spares, eligible for historic group R. $14,500 Ph: 03 9608 7486 (BH) 03 9592 6186 (AH). 125

9817 5560 (AH). 126

VesKanda Group Cl sports car. Australia's fastest, as dri ven by John Bowe. 61 Chev, Motec fuel injection, DE300 Hewland g/box with ratios, (Spare wheels. Totally rebuilt by K&A. POA. Ph: 015 397 251 or 08 8362 1977. 126 Gemini Coupe, ready for 98 Old series. Front runner 97.

Complete with mountain of spares, plus set-up advice. Cheap entry at $4,000ono. Ph: John English 07 3826 4146 (BH), 0418 736 619 (AH). 126

Bolwell Nagari. One owner from new. Road or race. Mallala record holder. 5L Ford, Super T10 g/box. Ford diff. Spare wheels. Totally rebuilt by K&A. POA. Ph: 015 397 251 or 08 8362 1977. ra Torana A9X Hatchback Sports Sedan. Grp A 5 litre.

Motec, 3 plate AP, top loader, 9" Detroit, 4 spot APs, alloy hubs, 10x15x10 rims, dry sump, heaps more, 90% comp. $19,000.

Ph: 03 9850 7666, 126

Mazda RX2 rally car, 13B extend port, 48mm DD Webber, tvirin turbo, 5 speed, LSD, roll cage, brake bias adj. Suit parts, too much more to mention. $3,000. Ph: 03 9890 3987,0418 375 038. 126

Escort 9/70 Lotus twin cam. Original car, rebuilt engine. $8,500. Ph: 03 9499 3088 (BH), 018 367 004. 126

1975 Galant GC Coupe Race Car, ex Brown Davis, 2 litre, twin 48ml webbers, 5 speed close ratio, 4 wheel discs with bias. Marsh seats, full cage, 2 sets of mags, blue 2 PAK, adj. front end, 4 - 6 locked diff and more. $5800. Ph: AH (03) 9886 3772. 126 AUSCAR VP, 360hp 315 motor. Super T10 box, Harrop rose jointed front end. 4-sp calipers, adj Bilstein susp.Pi equipment, fuel churn, rattle guns and line, scanners, dent puller, steel chest. Spares include axles, susp, springs, shocks, body parts, too many to mention. Help given first meetings. $15,000. Ph: James (03) 9563 7072 or (015) 800 342. 126

Commodore Cup car. New T10 gearbox, good competitive engine 2 races old; Trump engineered chassis; 12 wheels, spares, trailer with tyre rack. Reduced to $21,500 for quick sale.

Ph; Roger Paterson 08 8362 7263,0414 993 930. 126 Galant VR4, Australian Rally Champ and Rally Australia win ner Group N. Ideal Round Australia Rally or PRC 6. Special price to rebuild engine yourself to your needs. Urgent sale. Ph: Bob Whyatt 0418 816 889. 126

AUSCAR Sportsman #2 Falcon, regular top 5 finisher. 5 best presented car awards. Finished 4th on 14-3-98 at Thunderdome. Spare engine and diff, 12 wheels, road race spoiler and suspension. Set up and dyno sheets. New fuel cell and fire system. New helmet, full radio system (3). 5 boxes of spares. Ready to race, nothing to spend. $16,000 OBO Ph: Gerry on 03 9873 5969 (BH) or 018 101 712. 125

1991 Ford Laser TX3 PRC rally car. 2C0hp motor, limited slip gear box, light pod, fully intergrated cage, car has won WA Rally Championship. Fully sorted, spare parts package. $9,100ono.Ph: 08 8244 3094,0412 260 264. 125

JL

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Mazda RX-3 Group 2E Ciub Car. New 13B Bridgeport, 5 speed, 4-spot brakes with vented discs, Koni and Bilstein, Recaro, title winner. Many spares including 13B motor, gear boxes, wheels, tyres. $8,500ono. Ph: 03 5248 3044, 015 050 435. 126

Suzuki Swift GTi. Black duco, 15 inch alloys, Pirelli tyres, Koni adjustable suspension, engine mods, power chip, K&N Ram-pod filter, stainless extractors, Tokico brakes, tidy interior.

12 months reg/RWC. $10,500ono. Ph: 03 5248 3044, 015 050

435. 126

Historic Sports Car, Group M Renmax 23B, Ford twin-cam, Hewland box. $45,000. Must sell (retired, moving North). Ph: Laurie Knight 02 6925 3257. 125 E-type Jaguar, 6 cylinder, marque sports. Eastern Creek 1:47, Oran Park 48 secs. New engine, 325 bhp, new LSD, fresh paint (black) and very fast. $36,000. Ph: 02 4990 1699, 0414

801 699. 125

Torana, prepared for '96 Targa Tasmania, 4 wheel discs, Detroit Locker, chrome moly cage, 223BHP, 3D Motec, fuel injected engine, close ratio gearbox. $35,000 in parts only, ask ing $25,000- offers considered. For trx)re information Ph/fax: 07

5474 9380. 125

continued over page

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CATEGORY; Cars: □ Speedway □ Drag □ Sedans □ Open Wheelers General: □ Parts □ Engines □ Trailers □ Wanted □ Photographs □ Other

24 April 1998

l^®g®iT8[p®[po

Holden HQ Racer, ready to race. Excellent condition, heaps of spares, second set of wheels, spare gearbox and diff etc.

Must sell $4,750 Ph:02 4647 1896 or 0418 211 341 (AH). 125

HQ, ready to race, well maintained and presented. Spare car with cage bolted in, ready to paint. Suspension kit still in box.

S6,800ono. Ph;0417 461 421 anytime. 13-S Pontiac Grand Prix NASCAR, ready to go $30,000; cam bered rear end, disc to disc $4,000; Scales $3,000; NASCAR block , never blown $4,000; Wheels, tyres $50 each, springs $10.2-way radios $5,000. Ph:02 9636 4447. 124 Subaru RX turbo, 5 speed, AW drive sedan. 4w discs, 4 spot Porsche calipers, aluminium cage, foam tank, new 15x7 and Falkens 215x60 series. Ideal fast Club Car. Spent $15,000+,sell for $8,000. Ph:035663 5517. 124

Drag Racing Junior Dragster, 105" wheelbase, 5hp Briggs .030 oversize, 210cc. Commet clutch. Runs cocsistent 14s on Avgas. Current tech. Driver outgrowing vehicle. Has heaps more potential. $3,500. Ph: Wayne 07 3812 4398,0418 105 016. m

>en Wheelers Kestrel KC 3 F/Vee. 1989, rarely used. Ask anyone in FA/ee - this is the cai.that set the standard for presentation. Like new. $11,500. not neg. Ph:0412 430 900. 12s

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HQ Holden race car. You won't beat the Danes' or Haleys' in this beauty but you'll have just as much fun. All current con trol parts and seals. $2,850 ONO Ph:026765 4279

XU1 Torana. 2 x Sports Sedan Toranas. 1 fresh mid-mount engine with triple SVs, roller rockers & solid cam, 5-speed, $6,200ono. 1 fresh 202, triple 45mm Webers, roller rockers & solid cam. $ speed and log book. $7,500ono. Both ready to race, 16x10 inch wheels and 4WD. Ph: Vince (03) 948243144 (BH),(03)9439 3686(AH). 12J Ford Sierra RS500, ex Group A Ross Stone shell with ultimate cage. Now with pumped fibreglass guards to suit 17"x11" tyres, AP 4-pot brakes, plus Harrop 9" independent rear end.

■nIo motor or gearbox. $12,500. Ph: 02 4367 6734, 0412 676 7,S4.

iviazda RX7, Senes 4, EFI Turbo. 13B Race purpose only.

Excellent condition 24.000km, $8,000 Ph; 02 6734 2259 or 02 6732 3353.« HQ Race Car. Last start winner, runner up NSW Div.2 Championship 1997. New brakes, freshened engine, new paint, good spares package with assistance available. $5,500 ONO Ph: 02 6765 4279. 125

Elfin MRS Chev F5000. Ex-Cooper, perkins, Schuppan, Pironi 1979 Rothmans winner. Superb cond, good spares pack age. $78,000neg.'t’h: Peter 03 9890 6586,0418 556 934. 126 Superkart - Peter Worrall's 125cc Australian Championship winning kart. 97 Stockman chassis with full bodywork.'B' kit '94 RS125 engine, just rebuilt with new crank, mains etc. $7,500.

Ph:02 9824 7350. «

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-V- ■.■,'3 2^7^.

Torana LC GTR XU1, 3/71. All standard running gear - 2 owners. Body and mechanicals in perfect order. 3/99 rego, nothing to spend. Perfect Targa or Historic car. Good history.

Class One Buggy - 2.7 litre Subaru 6 cyl, Kombi gearbox, Bilstein c/overs, spun alloy rims, stainless exhaust, Marsh seats.

Immaculate, near new vehicle ready to race. $13,500. Ph: 03 9898 4925,0411868440. 126 Elfin Crusader Formula Vee. A no expense spared proven race winner. Recently refurbished and complete with compre hensive spares, including gearbox and front end. New project forces sale at $8,000. Ph: Steve Kelly 08 8297 9741, 015 397 622. 126

MASCAR Oldsmobife, Tom Smith Car, Top ten car this season, ready to race 23 degree. Engine plus rolling Oldsmobile and spares will sell $40,000. Ph: Terry Little 03 5996 4022 (BH) 03 9704 2366 (AH). ,25 MR2 Sports Sedan, 1600cc BDA Cosworth, Hewland gear box, trailer and spares. $35,000 Ph: 03 9480 4040. 12s Datsun 120Y sports sedan, former Aroca 6 hour winner.

13BPP, huge range of spares including motor, gearbox, diffs, wheel wets and trailer, $11,500. Ph: 02 9982 7433 (BH) 02 9981 3651 (AH) 125 Gemini Coupe. TG panels, 1800 DOHC. Webers, extmctors, cage, seats, belts. Ideal starting club car. Clean straight body, 4 wheel discs, locked diff. $5,000 Ph: 02 9546 4761. 125

Elfin 622 Historic Group Q. Total restoration completed 5 years ago and has been running competitively since in F3 trim.

Full Cosworth Ford engine with BDA crank and rods, gear dri ven Camshaft, twin plate clutch. Mk 8 Hewland and all Ihe best equipment on board. Some spares available. A beautifully pre sented car which currently holds Group Q under 1300cc lap records at Amaroo and Eatern Creek. Ph: Richard Harward 02 9789 8470(BH),02 9568 4147(AH). <x

A9X Hatch, ATOAA, authenticated category winner Targa Tasmania 94, 95,96.350hp motor, freshened; Super T10 gearbox; Harrop front brakes. Spares include original block, gearbox, radia tor, interior etc. Fast and reliable. BM 7^2. $31,500. Ph: 0417 512

285. 124

leei

I

2

Kaditcha 1982 F2 Mk9, Golf engine. Ist, Sportsmans division, National F2 series 1997. Spares package to suit purchaser. $26,000neg. Must be sold.

Ph: 03 5881 4411 (BH), 03 5881 1506 (AH). 12a Fonnula Vee Elfin 1980. Fresh engine, rare 3rd gear, many spares. Ex Cutts car, proven winner, ready to race, includes trailer. $6,900ono. Ph: Richard Fowler 0418 299 531 or 02 9958 3871. 124

V.n

2k

Monaco GP2 sprint kart rolling chassis. Done little work. Easy kart to set up. Like new condition, urgent sale. $2,000ono. Ph: 03 5422 3628,0418 590 275. 126 Fonnula Vee Kestrel, ready to race. Recently completed.

No expense spared. Suede Momo wheel, Spax'shocks, Gelkcj' ■ finish, Willans harness, top engine etc. Trailer and spares. POA. Ph: Steve 08 8337 2592 (AH), ra Kaditcha 1979 F2, eligible Group Q, Gold engine, Hewland Mk 9, ratios, spares. $20',000neg. Ph: 03 5881 441 (BH), 03 5881 1506 (AH). 124

Genuni Clidi Car,1992/93 series winner, 3rd place '97. 3rd Under 2ltr at 1997 Nationals. 2ltr, DOHC, forged pistons. autronic quad throttle injection, Nissan close ratio gearbox, 4.9 works LSD, 11" discs. Steel structural cage. $11,500 Ph: 02 954R 4761

Holden V8 Camira, unique Sports Sedan, Mild 308, twin Webers. 5 speed, 16"x10" wheels with good slicks, 15"x10" wheels with wets. Handles very well. $13,500 ONO. Ph: Tony 02 4730 1926. <25 AUSCAR VP, 360hp 315 motor. Super T10 box, Harrop rose jointed front end. 4-sp calipers, adj Bilstein susp.Pi equipment, fuel churn, rattle guns and line, scanners, dent puller, steel chest. Spares include axles, susp, springs, shocks, body parts, too many to mention. Help given first meetings. $15,000. Ph: James (03) 9563 7072 or (015) 800

Modified Rod, new 351 Cleveland, new 750 Holley on methanol, new Dyna diff and brakes. Plus more and spares. $7,000ono. Ph: 02 6622 4414, 02 6629 0219,0418 640 318. 126 Fender Bender - HG Holden, one meeting since full car rebuild. Motor sealed, very competitive car, ready to race with spares. $2,500ono. Ph: Ed 0414 240 006, or 02 9628 5170 (AH). '

342. 121

Modified Rod chassis and body, radius rods, torsion bars, $1,500. Halibrand diff, just rebuilt $1,000. Ph: Scott Foy 02 4933

El

Historic Group Q Bowin'P4. 1300cc Corolla motor, Hewland gearbox. Must sell (retiring, going North). Offers around $35,000. Ph: Laurie Knight 02 6925 3257. 12s

r/'' tftt'ii

166. 126

Foimula Vee, Top Ten car, comes with fully enclosed colour coded trailer, heaps of spares, adjustable shocks. Great looking car with full body moulds, very reliable and ready to race. $9,500. Ph: 03 5967 4489. 125 Superkart; Ex-Australian champ. Centreline upright chassis, full Zip bodywork, little use, c/w new leathers. $2,000. Ph: Scott 02 4938 5457 (AH). 125

6671. 126

I ●<> .. +-

Datsun 260Z, dark metallic green, total restoration to bare metal respray. Triple concourse winner. Reconditioned 2,7 litre, 165kW engine, triple 45mm Webers, Recaro seats. Competition suspension, immaculate condition. Reg 12/98. $16,000. Ph: 02 9938 6403,02 99820347. 124

Celica 1988 GT4, intercooled turbo, 74,000kms, race sus pension, electronic diff lock, electric leather seats. Not for road rego, but can be rally registered. $8.500ono. Ph: 02 4957 2905 or 0419 434 311. ®

Speedcar^ QLD61. Beast 4 bar chassis. Fresh 2.6 Mitsubishi engine. Winters splined diff, Weld wheels. Pro shocks, HPD power steering with KSE power steer/fuel pump. Spares. Ready to race. New - 10 shows old and never bent. $22,000. Ph: 07 32675211 (AH), « Modified Production. If you want a competitive quality race car, this is it. An abundance of spares. Total race package, including trailer $7,500. Ph: 03 9744 2434. la Historic Group 0 Renmax F’alliser. Ford twin cam motor, Hewland box, needs 1 wheel, windscreen to complete. Must sell (retired, moving North). Offers around $28,000. Ph: Laurie Knight 02 6925 3257. 12S

Camaro Super Sedan, ASCF NSW ACT Board approved, 308, two full sets of wheels plus extra tyres. Ready to race. $2,800. Ph: Bill 02 6361 9958. 125 Modified Sedan Commodore, SA77. Big hp 202 motor, alloy flywheel, rebuilt gearbox, heaps of spares, rims and tyres. $6,500ono. Ph: 08 8531 0986 (AH), 0418 828 881. 12S

Engiiies Ford 2 litre race head. Kent RC31 cam, Vizzard valves. Vernier, twin 45mm Webers, hand-built 4 into 1 exhaust, twin throttle cable. Complete top end $3,200.

May separate. Heaps more. Ph: Scott 08 8389 6745. i26 Mazda 13B p/p Rotomotion housings, 51mm IDA Weber, tooth belt drive, baffled sump, moddified dissy, fully rebuilt, 300+hp, new twin plate clutch, close ratio Holinger g/box. $5,000 neg. Ph: 02 9579 6382, 015 468

PRB Clubman, Toyota twin cam. Fresh race engine, Motec, Quaife gearbox and diff. Competitive car, must sell. $32,000.

Ph: 02 4990 1699,0414 801 699. 125

Ford Cosworth Sierra engine, dual throttle body, 3D Motec, f/injection, forged pistons, gated sump etc. $6,500 complete. Ph: Tony 02 4937 1477 (BH). 125 Wanted - Formula 2 Golf engine, less manifold & extractors. Ph: 02 4938 5352. 125 Holden, fresh roller 202 motor, total rebuild, ready to bolt in and go racing. Everything included - electronic ignition, Holley methanol carb - too much to mention.

Can hear running. $4,000. Ph: 03 5444 1400, o417 106 711. 125

VW, brand new 2.7 race block, heaps of race perfor mance goodies. Suit Speedoar, off-road, buggy. Sports Sedan or performance Street Car. Possible 250+ hp. $6,500. Ph; 019 125 965. 124 Genuine Pro Series III Autocraft 2600co engine, 3 stage oil pump, fuel injected, steel crank, Carillo rods.

Good cond. Ex Speedcar engine. $6,800ono, Ph: Clive Baxter 08 8984 4794. 124 Sprintcar Rodeck alloy engine, 372, 5/8 stroke, Eagle rods, Wiseco pistons, Brodix heads, Barnes 4 stage dry sump, 2 7/16 Hilborn injection. $21,000ono.

Ph: 02 6297 2818, 0418 630 408. 124

Parts Twin Webers, 40mm IDF downdraught, good working order, no manifold, suit Escort or Gemini, $250ono. Ph: Daniel 02 9484 6127 or fax 02 9481 9946. 120 Chev 350 TPI motor, complete with computer $4,200.

BBS rim selection from $50 per piece (ring for sizes).

302W Ford fuel injection, complete with harfipss and com 126 puter, $1,800. Ph: Kevin 02 4782 1145 (BH).

Escort Parts: Twin cam front guards, brand new, genuine Ford Sl.OOOpr; Escort LSD $1,000; Escort Mkl 12 point alloy roll 126 cage $350. Ph: 03 9499 3088 (BH), 018 367 004.

Tyres: numerous 18x9 inch slick tyres to choose from, Michelin and Yokohama. Various conditions, wets also available. Ph: William 02 9774 1711. 126

^9

24April ms Suspension components - tubular wishbones, rod ends, high tensile tube, trailing arms etc. Symmetrical bearings, all new, $250ono. Ph: 03 9801 8504. .21 RX-7 Harrop floater diff assembly, with axles.

TCommodoie VN bare body shell. No mechs or trim No damage. Painted engine bay and under floor pan. Suit race or 126 drag car build. $2,750ono. Ph:02 6291 9662.

Alfa Romeo Aifetta competition parts: close ratio LSD

$1,750. Ph: 03 9437 1628. .23 Hella Rallye 1000 driving lights x 3 2 x spot

gearbo)C(rebuilt) $1600; brake conversion (4 vented discs, recond V6 caliper, 5 sets pads) $500; Bilstein gas shox

beam (part #1362), 1 x spreasd beam (#1363). Brand new, still in boxes. $80. Also, Hella 100 watt/7 inch H4 conversion kit. Brand new (part #5604/100), $75. Ph: 0412 510 554. 12-.

(exc) $275; Luke 3pt harness, red (exc). Can arrange 126

delivery. Ph: 03 9889 1149.

Wheels, 18" race type, 3 piece light alloy, suit Porsche with new Dunlop wets. Excellent order $4,250. Ph: 03 9555

Enclosed trailer, inside 5.7m long, 2.3m wide, 1.9m high. 4 wheel electric brakes, 8 ply tyres, 2 spares, h/duty coupling,

Indy items: Photos, caps, shirts, signed gear etc. Private collector hoping to extend collection of

breakaway switch, 8,000kg electric winch + more. Suit race car etc. Ready for registration. $5,400. Ph: 07 3886 7474, 04T9 737

Indy cars and drivers. Ph: David 02 9821 2471.

044. .26

Isuzu, 22ft pan, tailgate lifter, t^e rack, large bins, sleeper, long range fuel tank, nosecone. 8 months reg. Best offer. Ph: 019405721. .25 .

$850 pair. Dragway 5x5 front runners with Goodyear

temp, volts, amps, fuel gauge. All sender units. In Cockpit Royale. SOit Classic car. Never used, still in box. $450 the lot. Ph: 02 9888 6982. 12a

Eagles, including A-arms $550. Ph: Mick 0412 608 220. .25 Ford engine parts: 289-302 exhaust manifolds, two barrel intake & Motorcraft carbie, Cleveland exhaust

Luke 3-point competition harness, red, as new $95. Tilton rear brake proportioning valve (new) $95.

Ph: 03 9889 1149. .22

manifolds, Cortina GT 1398cc intake & carbie. Also

Pontiac 23 degree heads, complete with m.anifold $4,000ono; Chev Dash Ten 23 degree heads complete with manifold $3,000ono. Jerico box, oil coller, shifter $4,000; 356 NASCAR motor complete, 100 miles only,

XM/P Coupe & XT parts. Ph: 03 9850 6993, 0419 554 019. 125

Nissan R200 diff ratios, new & s/hand. housings,

dry sumped, $15,000. Ph: 02 9636 4447. 124 Porsche 17” AVS original wheels. Highly polished with brand new 245x45 P7 M3Pirelli tyres. Real show stoppers. Also

spools, finned end plates, flanges etc. Ph: 03 5988 6266. 125

Various: 4 s/h wet weather tyres & wheels, 4 stud

suit VW. Rims & tyres never used.$4,000ono. Ph:019 125 965 .2j Kinsler EFl injection manifold, suit s/block Chev.

8”x10”x13" $500: Ford 4 cylinder L block, sleeved $500: 2 lightweight 4 spot calipers with pads $800; BDA fly wheel, offers; Toyota MR2 4AGE 1600 motor & gearbox, RWD ex Team Toyota, $650. Ph: 03 9480 4040. 125 Tilton, brand new twin plate racing clutch, suit Chev

Doug Nash 5 speed, with Don Long vertical gate shifter. Good condition, case open for inspection. $2,500. Ph: Mick 0412 608 220. 125 Aifetta competition: CR/LSD gearbox (rebuilt) $1,600; Simmons V4 15x7 $750; Alfa 15x6 $500; brake

Hi-performance Swap Meet: Sunday May 10, Fairfield Showground, Smithfield Road, Smithfield, NSW. Ail undercover

line on 0296 100 500. 120 Books: Australian Motor Racing Yearbooks nos 9, 10, $125 each or $220 pair; Australian Grand Prix 50 Race History $75; Autocourse 1986, 89, 90, $60 each or $150 the lot. All books excellent condition. Postage extra. Ph:0298291735. i2e Formula One 1/43 scale diecast Onyx 88-89-90 models.

Also Minichamp 95-96-97 models, all boxed, surplus to my col lection needs. From $25 each. Send sae to R. Krahe, 11 Rogers Fully enclosed custom-made Kart trailer. Engine, exhaust and tyre racks. Excellent condition. Lightweight, easy towing. $1,900. Ph: John Evans 08 8725 7341. 125 Ford FI50 XLT,302, LWB 87. Canopy, mags, towbar, winch, bullbar, auto, air, CB, red/white, lined tray. July 98 rego.

Immaculate condition. Must sell. $21,000ono. Ph: 02 9901 4666 or 0418 975 819. 125 \

Transporter - Converted Millard Starcraft 30’ x 8', 4 Complete less injectors, new in box. $3,900. Racing axles, 4 wheel electric brakes, sleeps 3. Fridge, HWS. shower, slicks, Dunlop 240/590-16, 8 off, brand new, $1,000 the kitchen. New annex 15' x 27'. Wired 12/240v. 12 months rego. lot or will split. Ph: 0414 929 139. ,123 124 Ford RS parts, suit Escort Twin Cam, plus 5 speed '' 4l2,000ono.Ph:0249426233(BH). frailer, tandem, fully enclosed. Electric brakes, shelving and gearbox suit Escort, Cortina or Capri $500. Quickshift to work benches, large enclosed annex. Suit open wheeler. Tilt suit $75. Also, Ford Sierra RS500 Group A bits - diff, roof. Built for Formula Ford. $5,800. Ph: Peter 07 3408 8322 gearbox, crank, rods, pistons, driveshafts, panels (BH),07 5445 5076(AH),0418 730 575. 124 etc.02 4367 6734, 0412 676 734. 124 Kart trailer, takes two karts. Engine racks, tyre racks, tool

or adaptor plate available for Holden six. $1,000. Ph: 03 5444 1400, 0417 106 711, 125

©flier sites, great food, great venue. Rain, hail or shine, we swap. All admitted from 7am. Further information, contact the ANR info

VDO Gauges - tacho, speedo, oil pressure, water

7699,018 313 482. .25 Weld Wheels 16x15 with 34x17x16 Goodyear slicks

124

Court, Ballarat for list. 126 Magazines for sale including Motor Sport 1973-90, Road & Track 1973-88. T&CC 1978-85, Racing Car News 1976-89. Best offer, buyer'collects. Ph:0293128986. 125

m Formula 1 96/97 Oz Burgess race boat and trailer. All spares, ready to race $24,0CX)ono. Wifi consider trade. Ph: Bob 07 55960655,0412009 258. 125

boxes. Fully enclosed, excellent condition, light weight. $1,800ono. Ph:02 9628,0412903 616. 124

Transporters/Troilers

conversion kit (recond V6 calipers, vented discs, 3 sets pads) $500; Bilstein gas shocks (exc) $300. Ph: 03 9889 1 149. 125

Wanted

Lotus twin cam head, reco with new valves, no

9f

springs $1,500; Lotus twin cam head, needs repairs $350. Ph: 03 9480 4040. 125

Pit Crew, Super Tourer, Sydney based. Must be over 19 yrs old male/female, committed to long term. No time wasters. Ph: 02 9153 8872. 126

aV'

Holinger 5 speed gearbox, option B type.

Excellent, fresh condition $8,500. Ph: 03 5988 6266, 125

One bowtie angle plug cylinder head to suit SB Chevrolet. Ph: 03 9569 8225. .26

SBC GM 18 degree heads. Weld Tech CNC ported, excellent condition with flow chart. Bare. $3,500.

VN Commodore rolling shell. Must have rear axle. No motor or gearbox required. Must have dash with wiring looms and steering box with steer ing shaft and wheel. Ph: 0414 842 662 or 0418 375

Enclosed trailer, suit Super Sedan, 27'x7’9"x6'4”, tyre racks, rear door loading, ramp, electric brakes, new tyres, 8 months reg (NSW), 240/12 volt lights and power, points fuse box. $3,500. Ph:02 4948 7209,0418 494 006. .26 Ford D series, 351 V8, 8 speed gearbox, 24' pan, large

Alcohol 750 Holley carb $500. 830 annular Holley, 2 hrs dyno time only. $500. Ph: Mick 0412 608 220. 125 Porsche 2.8 RSR engine, fresh no Kms, Sta inless steel exhaust and muffler, mechanical injection, excel lent order $12,500. Ph: 03 9555 7699, 018 313 482. 12s Ford Sierra Cosworth cylinder head, suit Escort bottom end $2,000. Plus belts, pulleys, plug leads and manifolds. Ph: 02 4367 6734, 0412 676 734. 124

underbody tool boxes, twin fuel tanks. Lounge, sink, cupboards, lockers, full length annexe, long rego. $22,000. Ph: Kevin 02 47821145(BH). 12E

News' RACE

Historic photos: 70s and 80s. Brock, Johnson, Richards, Senna, Prost etc, b&w and colour. Majority unpublished. Tourers, F5000, FI, Sports. Also 2-litre, V8s, 500cc, Histories. Fax for details 0299606552. 124 V8 Supercar Super Coach Tour, August 1&2, Oran Partr.

Direct from Newcastle and Central Coast, only $180pp, includes

038. 125

great accommodation at Rooty Hill RSL. Ph: 1800 801 012 to book or details. .24

Super Sedan or Grand National old rolling chassis. Must have quick change diff. Or any old Super Sedan/ Grand Nat parts. Ph: 02 6242 6638 (AH), 02 6296 1774 (BH), 0412 273 113. 124

easily relocatable. In excess of $45,000 stock, plus shelving, racks, computer, invoice program, printer etc. Priced to sell $13,500. Ph: Grant0354724116. .24

Bolts and fasteners business, suit young entrepreneur,

gives you the opportunity to promote your products and services to the widest posslbie range of motorsport competitors and enthusiasts.

Advertising 4n RACE S'il##''costs as little as $50 per issuel For bookings, call 6e:rai!d’ WSPoriian;on ●.©§ 9S2T 7744

Introducing Drill Doctors) 750sp

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The Drill Bit Sharpener That Works Stop Throwing Dull, Worn Drill Bits Away ● Easy to use as a peucil sharpener - GO-hOsec./drlll bit. ' Sharpen High Steel, cobalt & carbiite drill bits. ● Sharpen 118“, 135“ point angles & masonry bits. ● Powertul 24D volt motor & six ft cord. ● 400-500 sharpenings from renlaceable Diamond wheel. ● Splits points to make any drill bits self centering.

For Drag Racing, Speedway, Super Speedway, Circuit Racing All AFCO Aluminium Shocks are ‘100% Dyno Tested ‘Rebuildable and Re-valveable ‘Custom Valving Availtable ‘Made in the USA ISHOCKER DYNO TESTING WHILE ‘U’ WAIT - AUSTRALIA-WIDEDELIVERYt

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To order any of the entire Simpson range, contact

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Onfer Line OS 33B7 0367 Leaders in matnrspart mall order

a

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specialising in custom built trailers for all motorsports

; PO Box 6330 Shepparton Vic 3632

Mobile 014 406 980 Ph/Fax:(03) 5827 1359

n I M P O R T S

I the

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NSW: (02) 9743 3355

QLD: (07) 3808 1986

VIC:'(03) 9794 5177

WA: (08) 9353 1155

€

Australian importer and distributor:

CRANE

TECHrslOLOGIES PTY LTD.

Ph: (08) 8363 5566 Fax: (08) 8363 5633

in Queensland ABPE Pty Ltd has moved!

ABPE also known as RACESHOP TECHNOLOGIES has moved to a new Brisbane location.

SAME PRODUCTS, SAME QUALITY, EVEN BETTER SERVICE 4/95 Riverside Place, Morningside, QLD 4170 Ph: (07) 3399 4455 Fax: (07) 3399 4456

46-52 Nobility Street, Moolap, VIC 3221 0, 7

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K;

As raced by Scotty Cannon in this year’s Top Doorslammer Series. Lightweight one piece front, 4” top chop, big wing. Ideal for Pro Street or Wild Bunch. $4,500. Freight arranged to most capital cities. Phone: 03 5472 1442 bh or 03 5472 2556

Phil Ward RACING DIVISION

● Race car preparation, driver, team & sponsor development & management ● Track testing - driver & chassis tuning ● Chassis development ● Complete historic restoration for road, race, Targa etc ● Engine transplants ● Mandrel bend exhausts ● Cosworth & Lotus Specialists H'e can do it allfor you from a bare shell to race X winning track specifications including storage and transportation to the track etc Call Phil Ward at the Riverwood Race Facility on 02 9533 4909 or 018 276 323

5U 24/ipnll998

.COIVIIVIENT

D(K

Senna memorial Dear Sir,

Hassail

It is approaching four years since the death of Ayrton Senna.

RAIN (Respectively Ayrton’s International Network) will be

Technical Editor

holding a memorial service at 12 noon at the Senna Chicane.

Editorial Etfttor

Tony Glynn Assistant Editor Pit: Branagan Graphics Co-ordinator \'W Brumby

Advertising

JF^S n Send leners to Talk Convene' to PO Box 1010 North Cat Vic 3161. our E-mail address, or fax to 03 9527 7766.

Ayrton will never be forgotten.

RAIN is now two years old and we are driven to perfection.

We have members from over 14

The staff of Motorsport News does not necessarily agree with opinions express by readers.

different countries and have just completed our seventh Magico newsletter. We have an annual raf

ond at the venue), which I enjoyed immensely. n

Holden team. Grossly unnecessary!

If I am right in my recollections

I felt the overall organisation of the four days was superb.

I would like to comment

and it WAS a new team, then huiTy up and bring back the previous commentators for ’99.

Advertising Manager ue:' ; McDornan

fle to support the Ayrton Senna Foundation/Instituto A3Tton Senna.

We will remember Ayrton for his' brilliance on the track and his fasci

Administration

nating nature.

Managing Director Chr; Lambden

Melanie Whiting Kangarilla, SA NOTE; The memorial service will be at the Senna Chicane on Wakefield St on the old Adelaide

again this year, but I was very dis appointed at the coverage.

There were times on the first two

GP track at midday, Friday, May 1.

days when the transmissions just

Contacts 39 Oirong Cresccni Caulfield North VIC 3161 (PO Box !lII0 North Caulfield 3161) Phone; 03 9S27 7744fax 03 9527 7766

unfavourably on one aspect of the event, however - that of the Public

M

t

Vin Doquile Kew,VIC

Address commentary.

Having been advised at the 1997 event to take an FM radio, I did so

A motorsport future

James Fowler

Dear Sir,

Montmorency, VIC ASST ED: Race teams are

I would like to start this letter by firstly thanking you for producing

●* .● *3-

E/naii msnews@corplink.com.au

Campuse.'ve: looMr.iies

Contributors Brian Reed, Darryl Flack FI Joe Saward. .Adam Cooper Europe Quentin Spurring, Ian Bamsey US. Bruce Smith, Phil Morris NZ Jol in Hawkins Speedway Dennis Ncvviyn, David Mcf'iabb, SVade Aunget, Geoff Rounds. David Lamont, Chris Metcalf, Sue Hobson, Michael Attwell,

«

4 ● /

n

«

Tony Millard (UK), Darren O'Dea Rally .rte;er Whiiien Drag Racing- Gerald McDorrian, “■g Ward, Jon Asher (USA), Dave Ostaskcwski lUSAl, Nick Nicholas. Steven White, Ken Ferguson. Scott Jug Super Speedway Martin Clark (USA), Brctr Swanson Karts Ian Saivestrin, AiCin Roark, Graeme Burns, Edvkard Krause

Mike F-larding, Brisbane Motorsport, Frank Midcjley, John Bosher, Phil Williams, Mike Patrick (iJKi

and Longford in 1965, ’66, ’67 qnd ’68 .

i UjiTiDOrin

Printed by: Color 37A9 Browns Ra Clayton .3168 Distributed by: NDD Ud

C/nn/jm

Michael Johnstone Ballarat, VIC

U>- WOTOP'iPOET ME'.V'; rX'''Odu'rrd .r. full o: ned .v tne : re/T vt'T.v.-jrrif' ●onrriUit'c^'i AuF.T.i! r>ir')o n::’

X. rt’Tpo; iub.'D;;rprt

ry f o' Gimaqe cr iori.-; of nviii tC. */. I’.'Joro: iQnrf II.".

Many thanks for the Jim Clark tribute in the last issue of

tainly won’t forget him.

I watched him race at Sandown

Publishpr:

.’D .’3c

Dear Sir,

Thirty years is a long time. I cer

/● Piy UC .AC.\' Ivo OnO I T9 97a

x.-ri'.'-'iC'C. free;.'

Clark legend lives on

Motorsport News.

I remember where I was when I heard the news.

MOTORSPORT NEWS .% HxiCSlMeri uv Aui'.i.

CL'b>:

'■

Dear Sir, I would like to draw your atten tion to an error in your “TEN” World of Sport Calendar.

I have been watching for a few months for someone to coiTect the

-V

problem, but, obviously, no-one else has noticed it. .

The FedEx series is the 19 round

\

ONE OF THE GREATEST... The legendary Scot, Jim Clark, will not be forgoUen by the purists.

Photographers: LAT, Dirk Klynsmith.

Zoom Photographies, Neii f-lammond, Nigcl Snowdon & Diana Burnett, Brad Steele, fony Glynn.

Ihunder-Pics, Marshall Cass,

-OGyegor cV.g

impressed by perseverance, Fowler. Contact as many as you can, send them your CV and keep at them until you get a gig, even a part-time one to start with. If you work hard enough for long enough, you’ll break through.

Racing fix

General' .Mike Kabie. Jon Thomson,

■spur,'

I have an Associate Diploma of Mechanical Design Drafting and, therefore, I believe that I have something to offer.

I am only 24 so I also feel that youth is on my side.

So I now come to my question.

I have always been interested in the technical and engineering side of the sport and, as a consequence, I would love to become a race engi neer, designer, draftsman, or some thing in that direction and would like to know how to go about pursu ing this goal.

To be honest, I would love to work anywhere in the industry, doing almost anything to be a part of the sport.

I hope that you are able to help me with my question; help of any kind would be appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

Ir3.'

Lift your game, AGP Dear Sir, I have just attended t^e recent Grand Prix at Albert Park (my sec-

stopped for a considerable time.

From my recollection, the com mentators were different from 1997 and I’m afraid they did not give a very good impression of what was happening around the circuit.

With the exception of one or two, I felt that their grasp of what was required to inform the spectators was lacking.

I was particularly turned off by the Pitlane and Grid interviewer, who seemed overly aggressive in his interviews and, on occasion, downright rude.

In particular, I was upset with his interview with Greg Murphy before a Lamboi-ghini session, when he tried (unsuccessfully) to goad Greg into a negative comment about his (Greg’s) failure to secure a full-time drive with the factory

an excellent magazine with so much diversity in the types of com petition covered and so many gi-eat articles, although some more tech nical ^articles would be gi'eat.

The purpose of writing this letter is to see if you could help me with a question I have had for quite a while.

Ever since I can,'remember, I have wanted to be/involved in the motorsport industry.

First, like most car enthusiasts, I wanted to race cars professionally, but I have come to the conclusion that I will never have the money or connections to do that.

So club level competition is as close as I will get to racing.

I have now decided that I should get involved behind the scenes working for a race team.

international series for champ cars, while the Indy Racing League is the 11 round North American series, not the other way round as you have published.

I realise this is no big deal, but I’m sure Motorsport News would like to get it right.

Would it be possible to add a cal endar for both Optus andFoxtel a? well, for those who like to pay for their racing telly fix?

Having.Optus means you can watch FedEx rounds (including qualifying), as well as the South American F3 Series, to name only two.

I believe NA SCARs are available on Foxtel, but what else am I miss

ing?

For your r eaders who may be interested, I am the designer of Queensland Raceway and would welcome any discussion on the track design via our E-mail; tonys@queensland-raceway.org.au.

To view the design and fi nd out more about Queensland Raceway, readers can visit our Webpage; http;//www.queenslandraceway.org.au.

Tony Slattery Willowbank, Q LD royclark@dingley.net

nor

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