Motorsport News Issue 132 - 31 July-13 August 1998 by V8 Sleuth

Mark Webber'

pester inside Issue 132 (NZ $5.95 inci GST)

31 July - 13 August 1998

NEWS

RUSSELL Ingall believes he is better-placed to cope with the pressure of this

Russell throws down the gauntlet,

INSIDE

weekend’s Shell Australian

but will the courts decide title?

Darwin turns it on

Touring Car Championship decider than title rival

Craig Lowndes.

But Lowndes is confident that

that neither driver will be for

And a number of issues arising from last week’s round in Darwin are not due to be heard

That puts the pressure on both sides now, which I think goes in my favour,

mally crowned on Sunday night

the Mobil Holden Racing Team can put the mechanical woes

until this weekend.

because of off-track activities.

In the meantime, the mental games between the two title contenders are on in earnest, with

“When the pressure’s on, that’s when I seem to perform my

experienced in Darwin behind it and get the job done.

The Castrol Holden driver this

“The team is on top of it now,” Lowndes said. “I’ll just adopt my usual pattern of trying to qualify

However, there is a chance

Action being taken by Castrol Team Perkins dating back to the Winton round will not be settled until well after the weekend action which could benefit

Ingall’s score by six points.

Ingall setting the agenda. “Now we both have to win

races and beat the other,” he told Motorsport News this week.

best,

week tested an all-new Dunlop

tyre which he hopes will give him the edge in the decider at Oran Park on Sunday.

well and race as hard as I can.

Continued Page 3

The first big meeting in Darwin was a great success - both on and off the track. See inside for all the action.

Mika beats

Schuey McLaren was back orn

top in Austria, but there

was plenty of

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minor placings In the face of the FIA’s stance on race-fixing—iFuil report middle pages.

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(lag at Bathtirst One of our lucky readers will be waving the chequered flag at the end of the AMP Bathurst 1000. See P11 for details. 03 cu o

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back 1000 Classic

Lowndes in line for Bathurst Vauxhall

Insurance Group as the new prime sponsor of this year’s Australian 1000 Classic at next

Tuesday’s Bathiu-st test day.

The signing has been a well kept secret, but Motorsport News under

race.

FAI’s Bathurst deal sets up an intriguing clash of insurance com panies.

Rival insurance giant AMP spon sors the Bathurst 1000, these days a Super Tourer race after last year’s split with the V8 gi'oup. The FAI Australian 1000 Classic

is scheduled for November 12-15, six weeks after the Bathurst 1000.

Last year, just a fortnight sepa rated the competing events. FAI has had two recent major motor sport involvements in Australia - the IndyCar GP in 1993 and ’94 and secondary sponsorship of Dick Johnson’s Shell V8 Ford

team for a couple of seasons. - CHRIS LAMBDEN

brate its 50th anniversary year, Honda has been convinced to

Bathurst 1000.

Volvo’s BTCC program) and, while TWR has not publicly announced

upgrade from its secondary “platinum” level sponsorship of the Gold Coast race to naming

That’s the fascinating scenario after Lowndes was mentioned as a contender for the second Vauxhall Vectra which will be run in the

that

HRT makes a Super Touring drive possible. But the other side of the equa-

will

run

two

cars

so.

“I don’t know what the contrac

tual situation is,” said Lowndes. “With my contract with (TWR

is said to be keen on having Lowndes on the driving staff and Lowndes is keen on driving - but not necessarily be^n a Holden. “There is a possibility of having a car there for me,” he said. “(Holden Racing Team boss) John

mation.” It is not certain whether Lowndes’ contract with Mobil-

Bathurst, it seems certain to do

race by Triple 8 Racing.

Crennan is in Adelaide at the

tions company did not take up the option after major changes at the top of its marketing department. Sports management company IMG is the promoter of the V8 Supercar Bathurst race, in partner ship with the Bathurst City Council, and is responsible for the sponsorship negotiations for the

the IndyCar GP Board as Motorsport News closed for press confirming that, to cele

He has contracts with both

Astra launch and, when he returns, we will have more infor

In the end, the telecommunica

An announcement was due from

Holden and TWR (which runs

stands that IMG will announce a

multi-year package, which in time turned out to be a one-year commit ment with options.

Hot rumour of the week suggests that Honda is to sponsor this year’s Gold Coast IndyCar GP.

CRAIG Lowndes could be dri

three-year deal. However, it is worth noting that at this time last year the Primus deal was also announced as a

Indycar GP

ving a 2-litre car in the AMP

Team co-owner Derek Warwick IMG will announce the FAI

Honda to back

boss) Tom (Walkinshaw) and with Holden, there is still a fair bit to be sorted out.

“I’d love to have a drive in the race. I’ve never driven a 2-litre car

at Bathurst and it would be great to drive there before our major drive.

“All drivers want to drive com

2-LITRE DR/VE?... Craig Lowndes said he would love to

drive in the Super Tourer race. tion puts Lowndes in contention to drive a Volvo in the race.

petitive cars in big races. Both cars would be competitive and capable of winning the race. “I don’t know what will happen, but we will see.” -PHIL BRANAGAN

rights level. ■ Most leading V8 teams will

be at Bathurst next Tuesday for the traditional pre-event tesfrmedia day. Headhning the day will be the announcement of the sponsor for the Australian 1000 Classic (see separate story). Dick Johnson will be the one

big name missing. Son Steven will nm Car 17 while his par ents head overseas for the start

of a European holiday. ■ Following a hearing on the matter at Darwin, privateer points from Calder’s SATCC round have been confirmed, with

the abandoned third race being allocated drivers’ average scores from the first two.

C/UIAS inquiry vital A CLOSE points finish to the Shell Australian Touring Car Championship this weekend could see a provisional result posted. A dispute between Larry Perkins and CAMS over the rear wing fitted to John Bowe’s Shell Falcon at the Winton SATCC round in May has still not been

outcome could now be crucial in terms of the champi onship because it would increase Ingall’s points tally by SIX.

CAMS CEO Gregg Swann this week set up an Investigative Tribunal to consider the matter. It is scheduled to meet next Thursday but, according to a CAMS press statement on Tuesday, it will take a

resolved to Perkins’ satisfaction and won’t be resolved until next week at the earliest.

much wider look at all the cars examined after

The outcome of the case will affect not only Bowe’s

Winton’s third race, with a possible wider effect on the

pointscore from the round, but also that of champi onship contender Russell Ingall. Although a CAMS Eligibility Committee found that an additional lip section on the rear comers of Bowe’s wing was not as per homologation requirements, no action was taken against the Shell team and the Board

outcome:

of CAMS endorsed that decision.

of the vehicles.”

Perkins’ claim is that Bowe, his car having been found to be ineligible, should have been automatically excluded from the results of the Winton meeting and he has expressed the willingness to appeal to motor sport’s highest court, AMSAC, if necessary. While the case has been on the boil since May, the

While this does not directly address Perkins’ specific concern, the Inquiry’s findings may affect a number of

“At the conclusion of race 3, all finishers were

placed in pare ferme,” said Swann. “The rear wings from two vehicles were impounded and specific rear wing measurements were recorded on all finishers. There is now a dispute as to the eligibility of several

cars and teams.

In the meantime, should Ingall be up to six points short in the championship chase after Sunday, the result must be considered provisional...

Under the complex privateers’ “best six from eight” points sys tem, Trevor Ashby and Steve Reed, who share the Lansvale Commodore, take a slender 16-

point lead into this weekend’s final round. Only Chris Smerdon (paired with Tomas Mezera) can beat the pair, although needing to score 97 points (from 120 pos sible) on the day (dropping his current sixth-best 80) to over

haul the pair. Mai Rose, who has already completed his eight nominated rounds, cannot be overhauled for third.

■ Should Craig Lowndes and Russell Ingall be tied on points when the dust settles at this

weekend’s SATCC finale, Lowndes will win on a count-back.

He currently has 11 race wins to his credit, with Ingall on 7. ■ Tom Walkinshaw is about

the abandon his own FI engine and is negotiating for a supply of

Supertec engines for 1999 and

TCC goes down to the wire

tract with Mika Salo, but the Finn is rumoured to be talking to other teams and there have

been hints that Tom might be

Continued from Page 1

willing to sell Sale’s contract to

“The key to the weekend is to not get caught up in the occasion

the $37m engine deal.

and to treat it as we would a nor

mal race meeting, following the

same procedures we always do,” said Lowndes.

“To use a well-used footy cliche, we’ll take it one race at a time and see what happens at the end of the day.” Regardless of the outcome, a

clear points win for either con tender is desirable to avoid the

likelihood of a provisional cham pion. The Perkins hearing regard

ing Winton’s SATCC round in May is to be resolved by an Investigative Tribunal late next week (see separate story above). The outcome could affect

IngalTs championship points. At the same time, if Daiwvin’s

incident-packed racing is repeat ed at Oran Park, Stewards may

again have to sit late into the night to adjudicate, again possi bly affecting the final points.

- The Showdown, see Page 16 Cartoon by Allan Schofield

2000. Walkinshaw has a con

gain another $8m to put towards ■ Still on Walkinshaw, he and

star designer John Baimard are rumoured to have fallen gut in dramatic fashion over contract details.

Barnard joined Arrows as technical director 15 months ago

and has largely revamped the Arrows technical departments at Leafield.

The two have reportedly fallen out over spending levels and now we hear there are contractual

problems relating to Barnard’s involvement in B3 Technologies,

a company which supplies vari ous parts to Frost Grand Prix and to Ferrari.

If Barnard and Walkinshaw

do split, it is expected that Barnard will immediately start work as a consultant engineer with Alain Pi’ost.

At the moment he is under

stood to be on “extended holiday” from Arrows.

-I

suui^ms

Barrkhello to Williams? By JOE SAWARD

under contract with Stewart, but he made a secret visit to

RUBENS Barrichello is

tipped as a possible team

Grove before the Austrian

mate to Alex Zanardi at Williams next season. The Brazilian has come

GP to discuss a possible deal

into the running in recent days because Brazil’s nation al oil company, Petrobras which is currently a minor 0

with.David Ha

Top marks, Darwin ow the Australian motorsport fraternity has some idea of what the Grand Prix circus feels when they come to Australia. Darwin did that by stepping up the level of friendliness, co-operation and provision of amenities for the Shell Australian Touring Car

Championship. A number of other promoters attended the event and they must surely have noticed the difference themselves. Some of it was thanks to the local government’s cash injection, to be sure, but it went much deeper than that.

Perhaps it is the little guy mentality, trying to impress the visitors from the big smoke. Whatever it was, it was welcome.

Russell Ingall summed it up for everyone in the post race press conference when he noted that there was a

push to make an award for the best round of the year and, had it been initiated already, Darwin would have won hands down.

There were numerous nice touches, but most impres sive was the attitude. Nothing was too much trouble for the organisers and officials, the officials were not offi cious and even the security guards showed a degree of

common sense which made attending the event a pure pleasure.

There was never any doubt from day one that we would be coming back to Hidden Valley in a hurry, but the announcement of a four-year deal was greatly wel comed by the entire V8 Supercar fraternity. Well done, everyone. You deserved your tremendous crowd and your approach has put Darwin on the national motor racing map.

Consistency needed The to the Hidden Valleyincidents weekendwere was the only waydown-side that the numerous on-track handled by the imported officials. We realise it is not an easy job, but there are clear inconsistencies in the way that similar incidents are being handled and that is causing frustration among the teams.

For example, Russell. Ingall was given an instant stopgo penalty in race one which could have ruined his title aspirations, yet a similar incident at the end of the race between Jason Bright and Dick Johnson took a couple of hours to settle. And another one involving John Bowe and Mark Larkham in race two was not settled until well

after the day’s activities had finished - resulting in Bowe’s exclusion but, of course, no change to his race three grid position. Then there was the issue of driving over the inside white line at turn one, which the officials had apparently told the drivers would not be a problem on the first lap provided the driver was moving down to avoid hitting another car, just as he would if there was dirt or grass there instead of bitumen.

But, while an infraction by Ingall in race two was over looked, Tony Longhurst was pinged in race three, which cost him his first Shell Series win in the V8 era. In both

cases, it seems, the drivers were forced down low by other competitors, but one was penalised heavily and the other not at all.

No wonder the drivers are getting cranky. The theory of instant justice is a good one, but it relies heavily on the ability of the people making the calls get ting it right every time. Perhaps that is not possible. Investigating each incident thoroughly takes time, but at least the officials then have the opportunity of consid ering their actions in relative calm. And the competitors get to have their say. The big problem then is the short period between races because of the three-race format, so perhaps they should be an extra half-hour apart. Or maybe having the

the Williams factory in with Frank Williams and his

partner Patrick Head. We understand that his

experience before he can step into a top FI drive. After last week’s testing at Monza, we believe that Williams has decided that its chief test driver Juan-Pablo

Montoya is also not ready for FI and we expect that the

Stewart contract has a buy

Colombian will be released

out clause which means that he can free himself from the

by Williams to look for work elsewhere.

Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen next

year until early September. It is now virtually certain that Zanardi will be with the team.

We hear that Zanardi flew into Britain in the week after the British GP and he

undoubtedly visited the Williams factory, although

sponsor with Williams - has

team if he (or Petrobras)

decided that it wants a much

pays $10m. Other Brazilian companies

Petrobras has also become more involved in the techni

have also shown an interest

cal development at Williams

Williams in recent weeks

in supporting Williams if Barrichello is signed up.

and in the last couple of

have been Johnny Herbert

races the team has been

and Pedro Diniz while we

the only one with the right kind of experience to interest

Williams does have anoth er Brazilian on its staff - sec ond test driver Max Wilson -

using a Petrobras fuel rather

understand that Olivier,

the team.

but the Edenbridge Formula

Frank Williams says that he will not make any com

3000 driver needs a lot more

ment about who will replace

bigger involvement in Grand Prix racing and wants a Brazilian driver onboard.

Although there are other Brazilians about, Rubens is

Barrichello is currently

It is worth noting that

than the usual Elf.

no-one in the team will con firm this.

Other secret visitors to

Panis and Eddie Irvine both offered their services before

re-signing with their current teams.

Zanardi considers

Formula 1 options By PHIL BRANAGAN

Vasser in CART in 1994 and

‘95 and preceded him as CART champion. Despite the speculation, Vasser continues to say he’s very close to agreeing to a much-improved new contract with Chip Ganassi. “I’m very close with Chip, but I’ve got to take a look at the FI possibility,” he said, adding that he didn’t talk any business with Pollock in

ALEX Zanardi may not be going to Formula One after all - but his team

mate Jimmy Vasser could be. That’s the scenario after a

fascinating weekend behind

the scenes at the Michigan 500.

Last Friday, Zanardi, who has been strongly tipped to replace Jacques Villeneuve at Williams next season, told a packed news conference that he could prefer to stay in CART with Target-Ganassi Racing. “If I was to really have to say irght now, ‘Alex, in a split second, what do you want to do just to have fun, forget eveiything else?’ I would stay here, no doubt,” he said. “Everybody believes that my desire is to go to Formula 1 and that is not the case.

Toronto. But he has admitted look

ing at FI. “I thought last win ter that, with this being the end of my current contract with Chip, that if I ever wanted to get into FI, now

PLENTY OF OPTIONS ... Alex Zanardi and Jimmy Vasser may be headed for F1 next year - or may be teammates at Ganassi in CART again. may not approach that offer as a retainer, a package may get Zanardi close.

“If my desire was to go to

Ganassi said last week

Fonnula 1,1 would have been

that he and primary sponsor Target are prepared to match any offer from Frank

gone from here long ago. I had this opportunity two years ago and again last year.

“In this series, CART, the

officials, the broadcasters, the journalists, they let me be myself They don’t put any restrictions on me. I really found myself at home here in the United States and that’s

another stayed.”

reason

why

The telling factor in all the negotiations could be money. Zanardi is one of the poorestpaid race winners in the CART series.

After having only occasion al GT drives in 1995, he was signed to a three-year deal by Ganassi for what is, accord ing to team sources, a small

retainer of US$500,000 ($800,000) a year. On top of

first race on Saturday afternoon would be worth consid-

this he receives a percentage of prizemoney and bonus money, and has personal

ering.

endorsements with Barilla

That would certainly be popular with the promoters and would give the general media something more sub stantial to report on Saturday night. ■

(pasta) and Omega (watches). His offer from Williams is believed to be for around £3m

($8m) and, while Ganassi

Williams:

“It’s not a money issue. My team can now compete with Formula 1 on money. He can be the highest-paid guy in GART next year.” MEANWHILE, Vasser has entered the picture to fill the second

seat

British

American Racing. Two weeks ago BAR FI team owner Craig Pollock and Reynard’s managing director Rick Gome were in

Toronto for the Indy race. Pollock told the local press that he thought Vasser was “under-valued”, but refused to comment further, stating he was “on holiday”. At Michigan last weekend

BAR partner Adrian Reynard made a rare visit to the CART series and rumours flew that he was there to con clude the Vasser deal. He would not comment on

the matter but told ESPN

that he expected things to be settled “by the end of the

week.”

Despite not usually featur ing on most FI team’s lists of potential drivers Vasser is well thought of at Reynard. After Michael Andretti left Ganassi at the end 1994 Vasser took a lead role in the

development of Reynard’s CART contender and the

would be the time. “There has been some con

versation, but right now I can’t say anything.” Vasser does not lack alter natives. If he decides to leave

Ganassi and stay in CART, it is beheved he is number one

of the list to join Bryan Herta (whom he replaced at Ganassi) at Team Rahal, in

place of the retiring Bobby Rahal.

Also mentioned in connec tion for BAR is Patrick

engineering department at Reynard - which is building

Racing’s Adrian Fernandez.

BAR’S 1999 car - rates him

first pole at Michigan last

very highly. On top of that Villeneuve

week, has admitted having “a

has recommended him to Pollock.

Villeneuve raced against

The Mexican, who took his

call from an FI team.”

“I can’t say which one, but I think I’m set with Pat

(Patrick) for next year.”

Sauber re-signs with Ferrari SAUBER has signed a new deal with Ferrari for a supply of engines for the 1999 season.

The engines will continue to be known as Sauber Petronas VlOs, but will be a “standard” engine with no further know-how contributed by Ferrari. The deal is understood to be for just one year. The team will use Ferrari’s 1998 engines.

Sauher decided to stay with Ferrari after long dis

cussions with Supertec, which was demanding $37m for a supply of its rehadged Renault engines. The Swiss team appears to have given up its plan to build its own engines in Switzerland because there is simply not enough funding. The team is hoping to keep Johnny Herbert along side Jean Alesi next year but the Englishman is in demand and is not veiy happy with the team.

SUulyWSS

Control tyre retreat V8 Supercars now look likely to back away from a Control tyre at the last

each committed to supplying

minute.

The good news for priva teer teams is that the agree

Hard commercial consider ations now look set to win FRANK WILLIAMS...

Health problems.

Williams to retire?

the day over the philosophi cal debate on performance parity, with the TEGA board set to accept whatever per formance differentials exist from circuit to circuit to

retain the dollar input from the three existing tyre com panies.

up to 20 cars with the same tyres at each race.

ment will overcome their

long-held argument that the leading teams have superior tyres to race on. Other

elements

renegotiated

of the

agreement

include: ● Teams will have to nom inate their manufacturer at

FRANK Williams may be on the verge of stepping

tinued in Darwin, with tyre

the start of the year and will not be permitted to change (as Tony Longhurst did this

down from his all-con

companies given a further

year);

quering Formula 1 team.

opportunity to negotiate

● Testing restrictions are likely to be relaxed in the interim for Yokohama, to

Williams is believed to be

suffering from ongoing health problems and may retire from the day-to-day operation of Williams Grand Prix Engineering.

A London-based agency has recently conducted a global search for a new Chief Executive for Williams.

The agency is believed to have

interviewed

two

Australians for the position, but it seems likely that the post will be filled by an Englishman. The new Williams CEO

would be responsible for the business side of the opera tion, while the technical and racing side would still be overseen by Williams’ long time partner, Patrick Head. Williams’ health problems are not unusual for people who have suffered from long term paraplegia. It is common for para plegics to have problems with digestive and other sys tems.

He has been confined to a wheelchair since a road acci

dent in France 10 years ago. Williams is also believed to

want to have a gi'eat involve ment for his son Jonathan.

Apart from the Williams FI team, the business is also involved

with

Renault’s

BTCC team, BMW’s World Sports Car team and has several road car projects. -PHILBRANAGAN

Irvine

stays at

The on-off-on debate con

some compromises in TEGA’s proposal to retain all tyre companies, but with

JACQUES Villeneuve has, as expected, signed to

drive

for

British

American Racing - a remarkable decision for the 27-year-old

Canadian, who is tak

ing a huge risk that the new team will quickly be able to provide him with a competitive car.

Schumacher. We understand that the Schumacher Brothers and

the

tried and proven range: “We’ll use the tyre we used at Mallala,” Bridgestone’s Graeme Brown confirmed on

MEANWHILE, Dunlop may pin its championship

Tuesday. Both companies will take the opportunity to hack-to-

hopes on a revised construc tion/compound tyre at this

back

weekend’s decider.

tyres at the Bathurst test

Shell

series

Russell Ingall was due to

their

current

(in

Bridgestone’s case) and new day next Tuesday.

Film director Renny Harlin is due to begin work soon on filming “Formula One”, a movie which will be based on the

life of Ayrton Senna. The film will be pro duced by Karlin’s compa ny, Midnight Sun Productions. Hai'lin made his name with movies such as

“Nightmare on Elm Street IV”, “Die Hard 2” and

“Cliffhanger”, which starred Sylvester

Stallone, who is making a rival movie about Grand

Prix racing. ■ We hear that, in addi tion to branding from Lucky Strike and 555, the

The BAR team has been established with the intention of becom

ing a stable vehicle

Dutchman does not have

may move to tie up Jos in case it loses Rubens Barrichello to Williams.

■ Minardi has given up hopes of signing a deal to use Ferrari engines in 1999 following Sauber’s decision to extend its cur

win races against the

rent deal and, unable to

com

afford the Supertec VIO package, is looking at run ning Ford VlOs again next

Williams,

Benetton.

year.

Whatever the case, Jacques and his advi sors will be making a great deal of money.

■ Rumours that

Williams engineers Jock Clear and James

Robinson may be moving

The rumour mill in

to British American

Austria suggested that Villeneuve’s salary may be as much as US$16

from which Villeneuve

million

and his management can commercially exploit the Villeneuve brand, selling the potent image of

AUS$26m) - which is

Racing have yet to be con firmed. Clear is Jacques Villeneuve’s race engineer and gets on well with his charge but we understand that he is likely to stay at

(about

around twice what he

was

being

paid

Frank Williams. -JOESAWARD

Grove because he would like to work with Alex

ADIOS... Jacques Villeneuve Is risking his career next year.

Zanardi once again. Clear

but who will join him? of bar’s second driver, but very little substance. The signing of Jacques Villeneuve is likely to scare away any other top-line dri ver who is serious about try ing to win races because BAR has been put together as a vehicle for the FrenchCanadian and he will be the

■ Jos Verstappen is waiting to hear whether

market and so Stewart

McLaren, Ferrari and

Automotive - at the end of 1975.

that Jacques Villeneuve may appear dressed in Players colours, driving a Lucky Strike car...

Stewart Grand Prix will

tion in the short-term. It is unrealistic to believe that BAR will offer him the chance to

branded overalls. We hear

take up an option for him to stay with the team next season. Although the

This may be finan cially very successful but it is unlikely to be a very competitive opera

bines

Racing team may run its drivers in differently

many options at the moment, there is a short age of top drivers on the

champions all in action in FI: Villeneuve (1995), Vasser (1996) and Alex Zanardi (1997 and most like

ly 1998). Other names being men tioned include Dario Franchitti - another driver

managed by Pollock and sponsored by BAT - but he is still establishing himself in America and BAT has a glob al motor racing plan also involving CART. It is more likely that Dario

move from Salo’s point of

simply chasing more money. BAR might like the idea as it would give them two World Champions, which would keep the team in the news papers no matter what the performance, but it would suggest that Damon is more

It is more likely that the team will opt for a young charger who will be cheap and will not put Villeneuve under any real pressure. The BAR management

interested in earning money than winning races. It is more likely that

Renault will be coming back to FI with a factory engine in

Damon is using talks with

view.

seems

and Zanardi worked

together at Team Lotus in 1993 and 1994. ■ Both Raff Schumacher and Damon

Hill are expected to stay at Jordan. Hill’s chance to

believe

that

the year 2001 and that it will get the deal. This explains the signing up of Jean-Christophe

get out of the deal closed with an option expiring last week, although, there

may still be perfonhance clauses which would allow him to move if a better

deal came along. Damon is unlikely to go to BAR now that VilleneuVe has been confirmed and he has limited choices else

One rumour doing the

will remain in the US for the

BAR as a lever in his talks with Jordan. Another name we have heard in connection with the

rounds was that the second

time being and it is quite possible that Vasser will join

drive is that of Mika Salo,

page 9) and may result in a

Villeneuve’s closest friend

drive for a Renault candidate

there will be an extra race

among the Grand Prix dri

such as Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi, who is cuirently

Jerez on October 11. But

main figure in the organisa tion.

their manager Willi Webber spent some time trying to

driver might be his old CART pal, Jimmy Vasser. This would be very popu

him in Team Green.

convince Ferrari to release

lar with FI boss Bernie

also fading away as there is

Ecclestone, who could then

little reason for Damon to

have the last four CART

join Jacques unless he is

engine technology to Sauber in exchange for the switch.

the weekend with one of its

wild

Fittipaldi’s extraordi nary move from McLaren to the family team Fittipaldi

the Formula 1 paddock in Austria about the identity

join Schumacher, leaving his place at Sauber to Ralf

Jacques

vast industrial

THERE was much talk in

Alesi to retiun to MaraneUo to

Bridgestone will go into

haired rebel.

The switch is reminis cent of Emerson

at Ferrari to continue his

The agi-eement comes after complicated negotiations Jeem

SATCC

press.

Frank for BAR

partnership with Michael

worth several million dollars.

this weekend’s finale.

pound on a new case con struction, along with a new compound (a more heat resis tant 359-style) on the same casing, at Winton as Motorsport News closed for

Villeneuve quits

EDDIE Ii’vine is to stay on

Irvine’s new deal is expect ed to be for two years and is

all sprint race meetings. A final vote on the topic is expected prior to or during

test the revised tyre, Dunlop’s existing 359 com

starts filming

new British American

Ferrari Schiunacher. The deal is understood to have been struck in the course of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.

allow the company to bridge

its current significant perfor mance deficit to Bridgestone and Dunlop; ● Tyre companies will nominate their single tyre at each race, rather than nomi nate a single tyre type for the whole series; ● Strictly six tyres only for

Senna movie

Damon Hill’s candidacy is

vers.

Boullion as test driver (see

nice

racing for Renault in the

arrangement for Jacques but there is little logic in the

British F3 series. -JOESAWARD

This

would

where.

■ There continue to be

rumours suggesting that on this year’s calendar at most sources suggest that it is far too late for such a race.

siJufyms

The secret

Entries firm for life of Honda 2-litre Bathurst which will be somewhere in

By JOE SAWARD

entering a factory Form

Surrey. We expect that the team will be headed by former Honda president Nobuhiko

ula 1 team ... next season.

Kawamoto

HONDA is shortly expect

ed to announce that it is

Although there have been rumours for some months, there were doubts because

■ there were few signs of any activity suggesting that the new team could be ready in time for the new season.

We have recently learned that a number of Tyrrell engi neers have slipped away from Ockham in recent months

and have been designing the car in an office in the town of

Leatherhead in Sun-ey. Windtunnel work has been

done in Italy, at the Dallara Automobili facility near Varano.

The group includes allTim designer Densham, chassis man Chris Radage, suspension expert Chris Cooney and aerodynamicist Ben Agethangelou. round

are

told

that

the

designers have been working on a CAD system which is compatible with the one at Dallara and that the Italian

company is producing the pieces. The first car is expected to run in November.

A British factory will be set up shortly and many of the Tyrrell staff are expected to transfer to the new facility.

with

Satoru

Nakajima and Harvey Postlethwaite being the other team principals. Funding will come from PIAA and Mild Seven with

Tora Takagi driving one car. The identity of the second driver is yet to be established but the favourite for the drive

is believed to be Johnny Herbert, a driver with speed and experience and testing ability. He has experience with Honda personnel from his days at Lotus. The progi-am is understood to be causing some controver sy within the Honda company as the Motorsport Depart ment wants to be involved in the chassis as well as the

engine and Mugen boss Hirotoshi Honda - who owns

40 percent of the shares of Honda - wanted the company to support his program rather than go it alone. There have been sugges tions that Dome is trying to win the engine deal away from the Kawamoto/ Naka

jima faction and recently ran its FI prototype for this rea son.

It is unlikely to make much of a difference...

Skippy’s the man for Wynns DAVID Parsons will be the fourth driver for Wynns

Racing at the Sandown and Bathurst V8 endures. The 1987 Bathurst 100 winner will join New Zealander Simon Wills in one car while ‘Dl’ and ‘D2’, Darren Pate

and Darren Hossack, will team up in the other car. The 39-year-old Tasmanian, who has most recently dri ven at Bathurst with Glenn Seton, will be a benefit to Wills, who is a rookie to V8 Supercar racing.

The former farmer, known to all as ‘Skippy’, usually keeps in his racing hand jn by driving in local HQ Holden races, a far cry from Wills’ most recent experience in his Reynard Formula Holden.

ENTRIES are open for the Bathurst

1000 and the international teams are

organising their testing programs for the Great Race.

Vauxhall, Volvo and

Renault are all preparing for long-distance tests prior to bringing two cars each to Mount Panorama, while Nissan is believed

to be planning two cars to make the trip down under.

Last week Ray Mallock Limited, which runs

Nissan’s BTCC program, began preparing a car in long-distance trim. While the car is not expected to get financial input from either

Nissan

Nissan Australia, Nissan Motorsport Europe has green-lighted the deal. The car will be driven

by BTCC pilots Anthony Reid and David Leslie,

with sponsorship with the local

division

Vodaphone, their BTCC sponsor. As reported ear lier, Matt Neal will share his identical car Steven Richards.

with

Despite still not having publicly confirmed their entries Volvo are expect ed to run two 1998-spec S40s for Jim Richards/

Rickard Rydell and Flash Nielsen/TBN.

Renault team manger Didier Debae is pressing ahead with preparations for his two cars, with the Cook DC privateer Laguna also almost cer

FIX IT DEL... Derek Warwick is heading to Bathurst with his Vauxhall Vectra. The car may need a little maintenance after last Sunday’s BTCC stoush at Snetterton... (Photo by Bomweii Photographic)

blit no diesels? Tourers, 80 litres. In the European distance races the

THERE will be a class for

race (outright),” he said last

diesel cars at this year’s

week. “That is not the case.

Bathurst 1000 but there

Our cars have 220 horsepow er, so how could they compete with a Super Tourer?”

VWs and BMWs have had

Van der Watt believes that

the Bathurst 1000 on as few

pressure is being applied the

as two fuel stops. However, at least one Super Touring team manager doubts the validity of VW’s figures. At 2000cc with a SSOOipm rev limit (the same as Super

appears to be some doubt about how many cars - if any - will compete. Despite having several months warning about the race there is still no commit ment from the ‘Big Two’ of Ecotech racing in Europe, BMW and Volkswagen, whether their cars will appear at the mountain in October. BMW’s diesel effort is run

Ritches by Super Touring team managers to limit to

performance of the fuel-burn ing cars. This comes after fac tory BMWs went 1-2 in the recent Spa 24 Hour race, beat ing Super Touring cars on speed and fuel range.

larger tanks which could, potentially, allow them to run

Tourers) a turboed diesel

could, he believes, produce the same power (320hp) as a con temporary Super Touring engine - but with more torque

tain to come. The New Zealand con

by the Rafanelli and Schnitzer teams, both of which will be

“It’s not a correct compari son,” he says. “The cars

tingent of Schedule S cars looks like being at least eight strong. Local reac

running its Super Tourers in Italy and (Jennany that week

(Super Tourers) were several years old and are not typical

and less fuel consumption.

end, while VW Motorsport

of the cars racing today.”

weight, wheels and suspen

tion to the class has been

boss Andre van der Watt is still non-committal as to whether his cars wiU come.

Van der Watt is also believed to the less than

sion are similar to Super Tourers, that would put the

impressed that, under the

“(BTCC Scrutineer) Peter

rules for the race, fuel tank

pace of the diesel cars at least encouragingly close to their

Hitches has been telling peo ple our cars would win the

limits for the Ecotech cars will

‘racing’ brethren.

be the same as for Super

very positive and their inclusion in the 1000 field

is seen as great boost to the NZ category. - PHIL BRANAGAN

JFormula Holden 91DReynard,

Given that the dimensions,

-PHIL BRANAGAN

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31July1998

i again to all you V8 Supercar fans! I know

sport heroes. Hidden Valley definitely has my vote for the best V8 Supercar event this

it’s been some time

between drinks as far as my

year!

column goes but I have been flat out trying to win this championship. I am actually writing this column on the way back from Darwin, nearly a week

And then there was the rac¬

ing ...

II the drivers said the track would lend itself to over

taking

opportunities,

and

after the race. I loved it so

wasn’t that an understate

much up here I decided to stay on a few more days. It’s a great place to get my

ment! Mind you, a few were a tad optimistic but hey, at the end of the day that’s what people want to see. What I found interesting was how close together the whole field was compared to some circuits which usually spread the field. I think this definitely underlines the

head clear and do a bit of heat

has eclipsed every other venue.

training ready tor the showdown at

All the teams were treated like

Oran Park.

royalty throughout the whole town, with well organised events during

Foron once Ihadaftera little bit of luck my side the disastrous

the days and nights so the public could meet their favourite motor-

parity between all the cars, as going to a new circuit where no one

team has a technical advantage is the only true test of comparison between different brands. It defi

nitely looks pretty even to me! Apart from keeping my champi onship hopes alive, it was a thrill to be the first winner at the Hidden

Valley circuit, which was also Holden’s 100th win and the VT Holden’s first.

fter the race there was much

A discontent about the incon

sistency of penalties on the weekend. Imust admit Iwas very upset with my first race stop-go, especially after viewing it on video. And the stop-go that Tony

race I had at Calder, with a brake

failure dropping me back in the points race with Craig Lowndes. And what an absolutely thrilling race Hidden Valley turned out to be! Everyone Ihave spoken to so far is raving about Darwin and what a great place it is. I must firstly say ‘well done’ to

Longhurst received for momen

tarily crossing a white line to avoid an accident was totally unjust. There were blatant cases

of cars being deliberately hit from behind that did not receive stopgos, but I believe were dealt with afterwards.

In one of my first articles at

the beginning of the year I said that this stop-go system would either work well or be very dan gerous if not used properly or consistently. I am leaning towards the latter at the moment

from what I have seen lately. Receiving a penalty for a gen uine attempt at overtaking a car and when that manoeuvre is

more than 50% complete is total ly unjust. I have said it before and I will

say it again; the whole object is to race and passing cars is part of that. If that is taken away from us, its ‘yawn, back to boring’ races. It should be interesting if this championship is decided by a penalty!

everyone involved in the Darwin

event! If you didn’t get up there, do yourself a favour and book your tickets for next year now. At last a circuit is looking after the paying spectators. Free bus services from town (running at regular intervals all day), great grassed viewing mounds and, with so many food and drink facili ties

So, on with the showdown. Oran Park.

People keep asking me how confident I feel and am I going to win? I say it’s quite straightfor ward really, all Ihave to do is fin ish in front of Craig in three races. Easy hey! I wish it was going to be easy but I somehow think that, given the way that the year has panned out so far, it won’t be; it

around the whole circuit

inside and out, it had to be seen to be believed. There was also

easy road access and parking and every official was friendly and helpful. It was a motorsport spec tators paradise.

will be far from it.

All I can say is that I will be going there and giving it my all (as I have done all year) and I will either be the ‘98 Champion, or have one very bent VT.

The other circuits could cer

tainly learn a great deal from Hidden Valley. In its first year of holding a V8 Supercar event, it

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EARLY LEAD... Schneider and Webber domi¬

nated at the Hungaroring, from pole to flag. DRIVE, THEN DRINK... Not only is Webber fast, he respects his elders. Here he ensures that senior citizen Klaus Ludwig get a drink before he has ago... “I wanted to

MARK Webber is within a

point of the lead in the GT Championship after he and co-driver Bemd Schneider scored their third win of

the season in Himgaiy. The combination dominated

the fifth championship round at the Hungaroring in their factory Mercedes-Benz CLK LM, leading the 126-lap, 500km race fi'om start to fin ish.

Webber and Schneider are now back on course for the

the CLK LM car’s debut at Le Mans in June and he had bruit a nine-second lead when he handed the car over to Webber

world title in the series as they trail their Mercedes-Benz fac

tory teammates - German Klaus Ludwig and young Brazilian Ricardo Zonta - by just one point (35-34). Ludwig and Zonta finished second at the Hungarian round. Schneider set the pace after taking pole position for the fomfh straight time since

but in a brilliant stint at the wheel Webber stretched the

gap from five seconds to 39s as he clearly established himself as the quickest dri¬

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Zonta narrowed the gap

was a bit less for me than it

German had several anxious

August 23. The other races will be at Bonington in England on September 6, the A-1 Ring in Austria on Sptember 20 and then two in

was for Bernd at the start, but it was very hot in the car

moments lapping the slower GT2 cars and briefly ran off

the United States Homestead in Florida

and it’s hard to maintain

the track.

with lots of traffic and cor

ners. Fortunately, the traffic

on Schneider in the final

stages. The Brazilian set the fastest lap of the race as the

October 18 and Laguna Seca

However, the Schneider-

your concentration.

in Califomia on October 25.

DAVID Besnard had to make do with a

Besnard’s Van Diemen was third for much

third and fourth place in the latest

of the third race, waiting to take on the two Tatuus cars in front of him in a final slip streaming finish, but a late incident meant that the race finished under yellow flags.

round of the US Formula Ford 2000

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“I was very happy with my stint,” Webber said. “I just tried to keep on my own, which isn’t easy around here because it is a busy track

push hard during my stint so that I could build up a com

Besnard struggles

at the Hungaroring. They lost a couple of sec onds to Ludwig and Zonta during the stop after 44 laps,

ver on the 3.968circuit.

Tuip la the

Championship at Charlotte. Besnard’s weekend started badly when his team suffered an engine failure in testing at

In the second race Besnard felt that his

Savannah on the way to the track. That forced the team to change the car’s engine,

engine was a little off-song and, despite hold ing third or fourth position for much of the race, didn’t have the horsepower to challenge

which meant he missed the first session. On the 1.5-mile oval course - which had a

chicane inserted on the main straight to slow the cars - Besnard topped the second session but, with rain for the final qualifying session, lined up third on the grid for the two races.

Both Charlotte races were won by Ryan

Hampton, who is second in the championship and closed the points gap to series leader Besnard.

Ambrose MARCOS Ambrose was

pole position by only 0.08s. After a starting light fail

caught out by aggressive driving and finished fourth in the eighth

Ambrose slotted into second

round

behind Jenson Button.

the

British

Formula Ford champi onship at Snetterton last

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The Tasmanian qualified second for the race, missing

ure

forced

restart,

But, when he got caught up in a typical first lap Formula Ford argy-bargy session, Ambrose was shunt ed back to eighth position.

He had recovered to fourth

but the leading three cars were too far ahead and that’s where he finished.

The race was won by Daniel Wheldon from Button and Nicolas Kiesa. Button now leads the

series on 81 points, while Ambrose is on 49.

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Fanis had been imhappy with the team but, after looking around at the other available options, concluded that it was better to stay where he was and try to improve the situation. The team will remain unchanged in 1999 with Fanis continuing to partner

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□ Bankcard □ Money Order

exp date

the team to grow.

There are, however, expected to be

changes in the engineering structure of

the team, with John Bai-nard (cuiTently at TWR Aitows) tipped to be joining in a consultancy role.

We expect some recruitment in the engineering team with rumours that Frost wants to get his hands on David Brown, the former Williams engineer

,p/c

Jarno Trulli. The young Italian was in demand from Williams but was unable

who worked with Alain before joining

□ Cheque

to get out of his two-year Frost contract.

McLaren.

Frost also held talks with Ralf Schumacher and Heinz-Harald Frentzen but it was decided that it is

Competition Formula 3000 team, a

better to maintain stability to allow

Brown is currently running the West McLaren offshoot.

-JOESAWARD

31July1998

Driver

signing bolsters Renault BAR FRENCHMAN

Schuey $200m

■ FI circles are buzzing that there could be as

many as 20 Grands Prix every year within the

next five years. We expect there to be up to 18 next year, but only if the new Formula 1 Commission

agrees to the idea. We

Ferrari deal

hear that the plan is for the Thursday and Friday before each race to

become official test days with unlimited laps and then qualifying on Saturday and race on Sunday as at present.

By JOE SAWARD

Jean

■ Damon Hill has

Christophe Bouillon has signed to be the test dri

MICHAEL Schumacher is to stay at Ferrari until the end of the 2002 sea

resigned his role on the

ver for British American

son in a three-year deal which is rumoured to be worth in the region

Association and has been

Racing, strengthening with

of AUS$200 million to the 29-year-

28-year-old

old German. This will make him one of the most

the team’s Renault. The

links

Frenchman

highly-paid sportsmen in the world. Schumacher joined Ferrari in 1996 and the new deal suggests that he is more than happy with the way the team operates and it may be that he intends to

the

was

European F3000 champi on as long ago as 1994 and then joined Williams as its test driver. He did a few races for

continue with the Italian team until he

Sauber, replacing Karl Wendlinger, but then went back to testing for

retires from the sport. The deal is a big financial leap forward for Schumacher, who currently earns

Williams until the end of last season.

around $35m a year from Ferrari.

We predicted his sign ing with BAR as long ago as September last year. Bouillon is an experi enced development dri ver with strong links to the engineers at Renault Sport, with whom he worked throughout the Williams period, and these same people will be

Schumacher will act as an ambassador

In addition to driving for Ferrari, for Fiat, and will probably be involved as a consultant in the same way that Jackie Stewart worked for many years with Ford.

Schumacher’s future at Ferrari was

never in any great doubt as none of the other FI teams were in a position to make a serious bid for his services.

Williams has never paid high salaries and McLaren does not need his winning edge at the moment as the MP4-13 remains the dominant car in FI, despite

involved with the new

Supertec VIO engines

Schumacher’s three consecutive wins

next year. The

signing

which were all triumphs of race-craft and clever strategy rather than victories of outright speed.

adds

weight to the argument that the team is aiming to use Renault engines in the year 2001. As Williams test driver,

Ferrari has also announced that it has extended its contract with Jean Todt until the middle of 2001.

With Schumacher taking a role with

Boullion was the man who did most of the

Fiat, it is safe to assume that Ferrari’s

parent company has agreed to provide some of the increased salary.

engine development work for Renault and is trusted

Eddie Irvine’s status with the team is

Renault

yet to be confirmed beyond the end of the year, but there is little reason for change

by the engineers Renault Sport. When

announced its plans to pull out of FI and sell its

if his demands are reasonable.

engine technology to Mecachrome in January

loyal number two who does not make trouble and, this year at least, has backed up Schumacher with some good

The Ulsterman has proved to be a

1997 Renault chairman Louis Schweitzer said

results.

Irvine is not in demand among the other top teams, although he might be able to get a job as a number one driver

that the company could return to FI “in three or

four years”. -JOE SAWARD

PLENTY OF REASONS TO SMILE... With his new three-year contract, Michael Schumacher becomes one of the highest-paid sportsmen in the world. Teammate Eddie Irvine is likely to remain so next year.

Grand Prix Drivers

replaced by Alexander Wurz. 'The drivers met in Austria to discuss a new code of conduct over dri

ving standards but failed to agree on very much. It was decided, however,

that weaving to prevent passing was not accept able.

■ Among the visitors to the Austrian GP were Britain’s Princess Anne -

who kept a low profile and Austrian Prime

Minister Victor Klima, who is the President of

the European Commission for the next six months...

■ Philippe Gurdjian, who used to promote the French GP, is being sent to Malaysia by Bernie Ecclestone to supervise the organisation of the

planned Malaysian GP. The Malaysians hope to hold a race next year but the deal is still not

signed. ■ The Magny-Cours authorities have recently signed a new agreement with the French

Automobile Sport Federation (FFSA) for the French GP to be run at

the track until the year 2001. The circuit is believed to have lost con

siderable money at this year’s race but the local authorities hope that it will stimulate giwth in the region. - JOE SAWARD

with an outfit like Jordan.

Stewards under fire

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over GP cock-up THE three FIA Stewax’ds of the British Grand Prix -

All three stewards have

licences and it is possible that

- have been called before

the three men will have those

an Extraordinary World Motor Sport Council meet ing in Paris this week.

licences suspended as a result of what happened at

FIA

Stewards

all

There is a precedent for this with Silverstone’s Clerk of the Course Pierre

Michael

Schumacher’s

10-second

penalty in the closing laps of

as a result of an error.

Normally, however, the FIA is very protective of its stewards - who are generally part of the FIA hierarchy - so the incident will be swept under the carpet to avoid

The stewards did not apply the rules correctly and the result was the chaotic finish, with Schumacher being declared the winner despite having been in his pit when the race ended.

'<i

J O*

embarrassment. -JOE SAWARD

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Nigel Mansell unhappy World, of Sport-

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with the state of F1 NIGEL Mansell has spoken out about the problems of the sport that brought him 31 Grand Prix

is a shame that Formula 1 can H

victories and one world title.

The 1992 world champion believes the sport is suffering

get the format right.

because of McLaren’^ technical domination this season.

“Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motor sport and it is a shame that they can’t get the format right

s- ● V.*

computer and find you are going through certain corners 60kmh quicker than he is in the same car — he knows what is going on and

where two or three teams can be

really challenging, like it used to be,” explained Mansell. “Fortunately I’m not involved in it anymore, so I don’t have to worry

-f. '

that is fantastic. ●●

“I had a special relationship with

-I

Riccardo.

about it. But I do feel for them

“He was so upset in Brazil that my car was a lot better than his and, because we were such good teammates, we swapped cars in qualifying, which is unheard of in

sometimes because they do get some unjust remarks.” Mansell is well aware that single team domination is not a new phe nomenon in the sport. His 1992 world title was wrapped up as early as mid-August with Williams.

Formula 1.

“When you have got something special you do it. I went straight

But the difference between then

out in his car and was more than a

and now is one of style, according to

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second quicker on my first run. That was it; no more problems. “When you have a special rela tionship you can do that kind of thing. A lot of people are very secre tive now, but when you have a good teammate, you work together.”

Mansell. With so much more at stake in

the sport he feels there is less camaraderie and, added to the fact

that there fewer big names. Formula 1 is suffering. “You can’t turn the clock back,”

Mansell believes he has discov

he continued. “I think the differ ence was in the late-1980s and

Pep Boys Indy Racing League Aug 16 .. .Fountain

,Rd8

3 Aug 29 .. .Atlanta .

,Rd9

11 race series held inthe United States

ered that feeling once again this year in touring cars. “There is an intense rivalry, but

early-1990s you had Ayi-ton Senna, Alain Prost, Nelson Piquet and

also an intense camaraderie, which

Michael Schumacher. “There were a lot of world cham

you don’t have in Formula 1, although a number of years ago you

pions and there was such a depth of

did.

talent.

Formula 1 World C'ship Aug 2 ... .Germany Rd 11 ,Rd 12 Aug 16 .. .Hungary Rd 13 Aug 30 .. .Belgium Rd 14 Sept 13 ..Italy ... Sept 27 ..Luxembourg .. .Rd 15 16 race series held around the world

Winston Cup NASCAR Aug 1 . ...Indianapolis ...Rd 20 Aug 9 . .. .Watkins Glen ..Rd 21 Rd 22 Aug 16 .. .Michigan Aug 22 .. .Bristol Rd 23 33 race series held in the United States

“But more important than even that, Ferrari were competing, Williams were competing, McLaren were competing and Benetton were competing. “That was the difference; there was always more than one team going to challenge and that is what made it gi-eat.” And Mansell also believes that

even his 1992 world title, following one of the most dominant seasons

HAPPY IN TOURING CARS ...But Nigel Mansell still can't help talking about the good old days of F1 - when he was In It.

“I’ve always said that you never

win a world championship in a bad car. I think most important is the style in which you win the championship — you can make the cham pionship hard or you win it with

Junior Tourer

NHRA Winston

Drag Racing Series Aug 2 . .. .Seattle . Aug 23 .. .Brainerd

Rd 14 Rd 15

Sept 7 .. .Indianapolis .. .Rd 16 Rd 17 Sept20 ..Reading Rd 18 Oct 4 . .. .Topeka . 22 race series held in the United States

SOOcc Motorcycle Grand Prix C'ship* Aug 23 .. .Chez Repub. ..Rd 10 ... .Rd 11 Sept6 ...Italy . Rd 12 Sept 20 ..Spain 16 round series held around the world

Australian Rally Championship Rd5 I

Aug 30 ...Melbourne 7 round series held in Australia

Aug 21 .. .Finland Sept 18 ..Indonesia

Rd 11

M rally series held around the world All event dales In this calendar were

correct at the time of printing. Please consult any individual tracks and/or associations tor date changes. Seriesor eventstelecaston Network Ten are marked with an asterix.

Check your local guides for screening details.

A GROUP of Melbomme enthusiasts is planning to launch a V8 Junior Tourer categoi'y. The gi’oup, headed by Commodore Cup regular Steve Carless, plans to initiate a Ford/Holden V8 category based on VNAfP Commodores and EA/EB Falcons, with a number of controlled technical items, aimed at provid ing a feeder category for V8 tourers at restricted cost. Such a category has been discussed previously, pri

“No one is looking over the fence with a green eye. “I just think it is so much more competitive and I think the drivers know they can make the difference depending on the circumstances. “They’ve got things just right at the moment.”

AU Falcon on the line

rJi|E

■-a''-

marily by AUSCAR Thunderdome racers looking for a circuit racing outlet, but this latest concept comes from within circuit racing itself. Discussions on the technical make-up of the proposed category are in the early stages and a formal approach to CAMS is expected in the near future, following a meeting of interested parties next Monday (August 3).

Dif' yyT'

Brakes will be one-make, while wheels will be 16x8, with a Control slick tyi-e decided by tender. According to Carless, the philosophy of the category will be to update in two years to VRWS and ED/EL respectively. “With V8 Supercar fields now full, the opportunity exists for a category which gi'ooms competitors for the top category,” he said this week. - CHRIS LAMBDEN

Present discussion centres on the relative merits of

box. Rd 10

had five different winners in the first five races.

launch plan

304 Holden versus 302 Chev engines for the Holdens, the 302 Ford engine and evaluation of a standard gear

World Rally Championhip*

panache or style. It’s what you do to yoim teammate then, isn’t it? “In 1992, Riccardo Patrese conceded after a few races that perhaps I did something a little bit different to him. When you out-qualify him by two seconds and you turn on the

in recent years, was still spectacular.

“The other thing that is wonder ful is that the regulations have worked in touring cars, because we

1^"

9^'

wm ● f

This is the ifrst official photo of the new AU Falcon, chosen carefully by Ford Australia to reveal very little! Posing with the bare shell is Ford's motorsport manag er, Greg Harbutt, who has angered Holden teams by insisting that he will have an allnew wing on the car - despite Holden's view that an agreement is in place to retain the current wing cord. The Shell, Seton, Longhurst and Stone teams are all well advanced with their build programs and expect to beiftting running gear soon.

Bathurst 1000 Event Management and Motorsport News are pleased to offer you the chance to win an all-expenses paid

Race

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1000, October 3&4.

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VIP hospitality including Pit Suite viewing could all be yours just by clipping out the coupon below. Enter as many times as you like using original coupons, which will be printed in Motorsport News every issue until August 27. BETTER STILL - book your tickets through Ticketek before September 1 and you will

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Yes, our bonus prize winner will wave the chequered flag as the field cross the line to finish the 36th Great Race.

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}. Information on how to enter and prizes form part of these conditions of entry. 2. The

competition is open to all readers except employees of Australasian Motorsport News P/L and Bathurst 1000 Event Management, their associated companies, and families of

employees. 3. The judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

4. The prizes (2) are: (a) air travel for two from winner's nearest capital city within Australia to and from Bathurst, accommodation for one night, rental car, VIP circuit

passes and Pit Suite hospitality for the 1998 AMP Bathurst 1000 and (b) waving the chequered flag (under CAMS supervision) at the end of the 1998 AMP Bathurst 1000. 5. First entry drawn will win prize (a); if this entry has no Ticketek Transaction Number, further draws will take place until an entry with a Ticketek Transaction Number is drawn, which will win prize (b). 6. Entries must reach Bathurst 1000 Event Management no later than 5pm Friday 3 September. The draw will take place on Monday 6 September, with winner[s) notified by phone. 7. The promoter is Bathurst 1000 Event Management, Level 1, 100 Wharf Road, West Ryde, 2114. 8. Entries must be on the original coupons published in Motorsport News (no photocopies), except where this contravenes state law (SA). Permit number TC 98/5313.

12 SlJulyim Bobby’s holding the aces - and anchovies Among the dozens of drivers who have con

tacted the retiring Bobby Rahal recently about his soon-to-bevacant seat have been

seasoned professionals from nearly every rac ing discipline. But the most interesting inquiry came fi’om James Butcher, a 23-year-old Pizza Hut delivery driver fi'om California. Butcher

thinks he’s the irght man for the job and has tossed his paper hat into the ring. “Nobody’s heard of me, seen me race or knows my driving ability,” he wrote. “Consider the element of

surprise!” “Who knows,” Rahal said. “I’ve seen some sui-veillance video on

this kid. He may have what it takes!”

■ Irony of ironies: Franchitti may not have won the Toronto race but

one of his engines did. After all sorts of engine woes in practice Team Ganassi had to ‘bon'ow’ a

Honda engine previously eannarked for Team

Green. The engines were swapped after the morn ing warm-up.

Moore gets back on tr By PHIL MORRIS GREG Moore only led 36 laps of the US500 at Michigan last Sunday, but one of them was the lap that counted - the last one.

Moore won a sensational

race after coming from 14th starting spot to win frem Ganassi team-mates Jimmy Vasser and Alex Zanardi but the event was overshadowed

by the deaths of three specta tors who were struck by debris from Fernandez’s car.

Adrian

Fernandez was running third when his car hit the

wall on lap 175 of the 250 lap event. His front right wheel and tyre flew over a five metre safety hairier and into the crowd, killing two specta tors immediately. A third died later in the medical cen

tre and six spectators were injured. The race went on, with most of the teams and drivers

unaware of the tragedy in the grandstand, and Moore made the last of a record-shattering 62 lead changes on the final lap for the victoiy. “People came here to watch us race and put on a good show, which we did today,” Moore said. “But that tragedy definitely puts a damper on it.’ Fernandez set the tome of

WHERE’S MOORE?.. Well back In 14th spot. Fernandez and Vasser lead away at the start. Unser (third) is about to pass. the weekend by taking pole position, the first of his

was the fourth qualifier, A1 Unser Jr, who set the ball

career. The cars were slowed

rolling early in the race. He,

on the 2-mile superspeedway by the first racing appearance of the mandatory ‘Handford device’, a control rear wing designed to reduce downforce and increase drag, thus slow ing the cars. Alongside the Mexican on the grid was Vasser, but it

Vasser and Michel Andretti

The race settled down, with the two Ganassi cars duelling for the lead with Andretti, Gil de Ferran, Paul Tracy and

swapped the lead, often run ning three wide into the cor

Scott Pruett. Towards the end of the race it looked like de

race, That left four cars in a

ners in what was the most

Ferran who was going to

sprint race to the finish after

competitive

break through and take his

the final caution. Moore was in fourth and quickly disposed of Pruett. With a three laps to run he moved around the outside of Zanardi and

showing

Penske’s 1998 car for the sea-

first win in two seasons,

son. Eventually Little A1 was stopped by electrical prob-

The Brazilian had moved into second and looked to be closing on Vasser when, hter-

lems.

ally seconds after taking the position, his Honda engine expired and a cloud of oil smoke and he was out of the

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ack in US500

■its

^hoto by Race^cces^

U4V,

BUSINESS AS USUAL... Fernandez is attended to by CART Safety Officials after the acci dent. At this stage no-one was aware that debris from the car had killed three spectators.

Three spectators killed at Michigan

SLICK WORK... Forsythe Racing’s pit crew overcame an electrical problem to keep their (Photos by RaceAccess) men on the lead lap and Moore did the rest. then drafted past Vasser for

him and that helped me get

a lap when he missed his pit

the second win of his season.

in front. I had to do a little

box, but came back towards

“The last five laps were pretty intense,” Moore grinned. “Jimmy and Alex were having great restarts and I thought to catch them I needed a good draft off Pniett. I was able to get by Scott then I passed Jimmy with three laps to go in turn three. I was hoping that was the white flag lap but Jimmy powered by me going into turn one. “Then on the last lap I got a good run into turn one. Jimmy gave me the inside and took the outside. I proba bly took his air away from

weaving on the backstraight

the end of the race to finish

and was able to hold on.”

just over a second behind the

Zanardi was unlucky - and lucky. He had a oil leak after his final stop and felt his Honda engine tightening. He drafted alongside Vasser at the finish, missing second by

winner.

THREE spectators were killed at Michigan Speedway last Sunday during the US 500. A front wheel and suspen-

Sixth was Andretti from

Bobby Rahal, Patrick Carpentier and Paul Tracy, who also led until getting a wheel nut stuck during a pitstop. Bryan Herta was 10th from Tony Kanaan and Helio

0.08s and, around 300m after

the flag fell, his engine expired. Another unlucky driver was Richie Hearn. After qual ifying third and running with

Sion

cars finished on the lead lap. Vasser 122, Moore 118, Andretti 92, Fernandez 90, Pruett 76, Herta Rahal 61.

These were the first spec

-PHH, MORRIS

ALEX Zanardi had a frustrating race

under me and Alex was able Vasser was not far back in

third while, in a great run in his last race in Toronto,

Bobby Rahal was a strong fifth from team-mate Biyan Herta, who zoomed through from 17th on the grid. Scott Pruett, Richie Hearn (who was in the top six until a mid-race spin) and Max Papis, after an untroubled run in his Toyota car.

■

"//

■»-

■'» 3

●

■ '■ iri-:

Of the rest there were woes. Gil de Ferran was

challenging the Ganassi cars early on until hitting

■ <●.

: .V?

> 4

>r-i > ■

. r

■

.-S’* -

Star rookie Tony Kanaan looked strong until

stopped by a pit fire, while Robby Gordon fin ished 13th, a lap down. He had been in that spot as early as lap three after charging from

JT'

rll.

Christian Fittipaldi’s wheel in the pits, break ing his suspension. Likewise, Paul .Tracy was showing plenty of speed rmtil spinning his Kool Reynard out of the race on turn one, trying to make up time after stalling his car right behind Franchitti’s.

. ’ -fyl ■ ■

go.

22nd on the grid.

Greg Moore qualified 12th and, after a strug gle, came home 11th, and the Penskes went if-

f .^1 .

■'!

14.->

0^^

was now second.

Andretti, struggling for tyre gi-ip, looked to have the edge after the restart when Zanardi got caught behind a lapped and napping Robby Gordon. But, with three laps left, the Italian

back to their old ways after showing a bit of go at Cleveland, Alex Ribeiro retiring with gear

box problems while an out-of-pit-synch A1 Unser was 17th.

Mo Gugelmin motored to 12th and Mark Blundell struggled even more, retiring with electrical problems. A year- ago, after threaten

ing for a long time and winning at Portland,

the Brit won here. What has happened to PacWest?

Nothing has happened to Team Ganassi. Six straight wins, four for Zanardi. It seems nei ther the opposition or providence can stop

came fi-om around 20 metres back in turn three,

hammered past Michael under brakes and took

saw a little gap and I said, 'I have to go for it.’ I

“It was close, but we didn’t do it (have an acci dent),” Andretti said. “The car was halfway decent, but at the end of each fuel run I was struggling the keep the tyres

■m:

Firestone-shod Reynard. In the race he was passed easily by Michael Andretti, lost a posi

an unlikely-looking win. “I think he had a problem,” said Zanardi. “At the last moment, he lost the car a little bit. I

pedal and it

to take advantage of it.”

weekend in Toronto’s 11th round of the

Then it all went wrong. Pushing hard despite a long brake pedal, the Scot was caught out and spun the Team Green car, brashing a wall. He caught the clutch and tried to get going, but then he stalled, sideways on the track. Apart from his heartbreak, it changed the race. Andretti and Vasser went slowly left past Franchitti’s nose but team boss Chip Ganassi radioed Zanardi to stay right and he found a faster way past, zooming past Vasser into what

took my foot off the brake worked.”

*8^

By PHIL MORRIS

tion to Jimmy Vasser while caught up behind an accident and, with his own brake and tyre problems, spun while challenging his team mate for third position. All in all, a disappoint ing trip to Canada for the Italian. Apart, that is, fi'om winning the race... While the Italian was never really the man to beat in the Ontario capital Zanai'di, as usual, grabbed the opportunities presented to him, took the flag for the fourth straight race and finished off by practicing his donut technique. Zanardi won by 1.8s from Andretti and Vasser, but the story of the race was Franchitti. He claimed his second Toronto pole and led the race convincingly, failing to crash and/or stall the car and pulling an 11s lead with 15 laps to

They were also the first fatalities at a CART event -

tator fatalities at the track

t's a cruel, Kool world 1998 CART Championship. In qualifying, he was dominated by Dario Franchitti’s identical Honda-powered,

race on the road course, and the first ever on the oval.

or any other major oval track race - since the 1987 Indy 500, when a tyre came off a car and was struck by Roberto Guerrero's car, send ing it into the top row of the grandstand and killing a fan.

air-lifted there.

other, spectators were also injured.

67, Franchitti 66, de Ferran 63,

Motorsport driver lost almost

Adrian

one died later after medical attention at the track. Six

Points after 12 races: Zanardi 190,

since 1969, when one fan was

killed during a Trans-Am

to press. Ironically, it appears that the three were sitting in a section reserved for complimentry ticket hold ers from Foote Hospital in Jackson Michigan - which was on standby to receive any injuries from the race. The injured spectators were

Fernandez’s Reynard flew over a five metre safty fence and struck the three people. Two were killed outright and

Castro-Neves. The first ten

the leaders for most of the race the Della Penna

from

The fatally injured had not been identified as MN went

them. Points after 11 races: Zanardi 175, Vasser 106, Moore

ARRIVIDERCI DARIO... The only man capable of beating Franchitti in Toronto was Dario himself-and he managed to get the job done... (Pimto by Roben Laberge/Aiispori)

98, Fernandez 89, Andretti 84, Franchitti 66, Pruett 64, Herta 64, de Ferran 63, Rahal 55.

suufyms

DESPITE failing to win either race at Snetterton, Rickard Rydell maintained his British Touring Car Championship lead. The Swedish Volvo pilot claimed fifth place in the Sprint Race - won by Nissan’s Anthony Reid - and was

wreckage was cleared; Reid had

spent much of this period in the pits with engine problems brought on by his clash with Menu.

At the restart. Thompson opened

out a second-and-a-half lead over

Rydell, with Plato upholding Renault

second to the Honda of James

honour in third, ahead of Yvan

Thompson in an accident-blighted

Muller’s Audi and Kox’s Honda. Alas the Dutchman’s race was to come to a

Feature Race.

Rydell left Snetterton with the same 42-point lead he arrived with, but now Thompson is his closest

close after 15 of the 40 laps, when he spun at the Bombhole and hit a bar rier.

rival.

Plato was the first of the frontrun

The Sprint Race Reid made an impeccable getaway while Menu spun his wheels, allowing Jason Plato to steal second place as the pack bore down on Riches Corner. Menu recovered sufficiently to hold off the Honda of Peter Kox for third, with Thompson in the other works Accord taking fifth ahead of Rydell. For most of the race Plato hung tenaciously to the Primera’s bootlid, slipping slightly further back only when Menu was attempting to seize third place. In the end, a change of position depended on one of the top three making an error; but each drove impeccably all the way to the chequered flag, where just threequarters of a second separated the winner from Menu in third. Kox held off his detennined Honda

ners to make their mandatory pit stops, coming in after 18 laps. But any hopes he may have had of making a slicker stop than leader Thompson disappeared along with a fumbled wheel nut. The Honda man

DANGER, DANGER... Cleland gets turned around at Coram in race two and is about to get T-boned by Menu. Neither driver was seriousiy injured but the impact was so severe that the Swiss driver was genuineiy concerned for the Scot. That's really saying something, considering they are not the best of friends. (Photo by Bothweii Photographic) laps in the pits. Robb Gravett was the Independents victor in his Honda.

Menu made no mistake at the start of the Feature Race, getting

team-mate Thompson until the 12th of the 17 laps, the Dutchman spin ning away his chances at the Esses after a botched gearchange. 'Thompson held on to the end to claim fourth from Rydell and David Leslie’s Nissan, with Gianni Morbidelh in the other Volvo inheriting seventh from Yvan Muller on the final lap when the Audi suffered a puncture. Matt Neal scored a first for the

Independent runners by taking fastest race lap; unfortunately his Nissan had earlier suffei-ed a gear linkage problem which cost him three

away well from second spot on the grid to haul alongside pole man Reid on the dash to the first comer. But 'Thompson made an even better getaway and forced his way down the

British Touring Car Championship Snetterton 26 July 1998

Round 15 17 laps 1 2 3

4 5 6

8 9

Nissan Primera 20m 1,1.954s +0480S Jason Plato GB Renault Laguna +0.750S Alain Menu SWI Renault Laguna +3926S James Thompson GB Honda Aocord +4.356S Rickard Rydeil SWE Volvo S40 GB Nissan Primera +4.662S David Leslie +11.117S Gianni Morbidelli ITA Volvo S40 GB Ford Mondeo +11.699s Will Hoy GB Vauxhall Vectra 12.415s John Cleland GB Vauxhall Vectra +12.657s Derek Wararick

Anthony Reid

outside to make it a three-abreast charge into Riches. Alas there were too many cars and too little space: Reid and Menu clashed and spun into the vegetables, rejoining the field wen back as Thompson made his get away from Rydell. Worse was to come for Menu: as

made his stop two laps later, on his exit heading Plato and Leslie as Rydell and MuUer took their turns at the sharp end before their pit calls. Thompson was back in front of the race proper by lap 25, three seconds in front of Rydell and with Plato,

Leslie and Muller disputing third position. Indeed the battle for third

proved the high spot of the race, the trio circulating as if tied by a short length of tow rope for the remainder. The penultimate lap saw Muller mount a, challenge, the Audi man scrabbling past Leslie and almost managing to nose ahead of Plato before slipping back to fifth once more.

Thompson’s second victory of the .season was by a four-second margin over Rydell, with Plato clinging on to

1 2

Thompson 52m 37.426s +4 335s Rydell

the Renault man approached Russell Bend at the end of the first lap, fight ing to regain lost ground, he was in

3 4 5

Plato

+8.407S

collision with the Vauxhall of John

third from Leslie and Muller. Ford’s

Leslie

+8866S

Yvan Muller

+9123s

6 7 8

+18.726s Craig Baird John Bintcliffe +24.417^ +27.530S Hoy

Cleland, which had started from the back of the grid. Both cars left the track and struck the tyre barrier,

result of the season. Robb Gravett

Gravett

Round 16 40 laps

10 PaulRadisich

+28.393S

+30.981 s

Fastest lap: Matt Neal 1m 10.312s 99.94mph Championship positions Rydell 164 points, Thompson 122. Reid 119, Plato 114, Menu 113, Cleland 98. Leslie 91, Hoy 51, Muller 47, Morbidelli 42.

ending their races. Neither driver was injured but Cleland was shaken enough to require medical appraisal. TTie Safety Car was brought into

operation for eight laps while the

Craig Baird took sixth - his best was ninth and the top Independent; Neal had led the class but was

delayed with accident damage after a clash with Derek Warwick’s Vauxhall. Warwick retired as a result of the incident.

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31July19S8

Family photos, nationalism and the power ofperception M

y hotel room in Austria was not a hotel room at

all. It was somebody’s bedroom which had been rented out.

ys^

iriwi ESSEN^ol

.iaidoi^liie igmeming'bodf^lly ors

; whatjtje^spe

There are not enough hotels

the

"S’-V

area

around the A1 Ring.

Having three stewards seems to be a waste of time and expen

While the beautiful

people helicopter the

sive air fares. Put three motor

90km back and forth across the mountains

racing people in a room and you will soon have an argument. It

to Graz, the rest of the

would be better for there to be

F1 circus stays in every available inn, gasthof and barn. These are very basic and very jolly, full of locals playing cards, drinking beer and eat ing schnitzels. If one

one individual judge. The system should be refined as well. There should be no lee

way on punishments. If you over take under a yellow flag you should have a set penalty and each team should have ”a menu”

does not have to both

of penalties on the pitwall with them so they know what hap-

er with telephones,

pens.

faxes and other such

If there are post-race problems

things which play no part in rural life in

the race director should make a

Austria, then one can

should do likewise and the stew

have a fine time.

ard should decide who is right and who is wrong. To ensure independence, the steward should have a long-term

case and the team in question

As everyone is spread out around the countryside, people tend to find them selves with more time on their

hands than at city races, where there is a bar or a nightclub for distraction. Some find that their rooms have televisions which do

not quite work but most find them selves staring at the walls, admir ing the family snaps or whatever happens to be there. Thus it was that I found myself looking at Grandpa standing proudly over a bullet-ridden elk, some sweet baby photos and a

happy family gathering in the late 1930s with all the gentlemen

contract with the FIA rather than

on but no-one ever proved it. Although no-one wants to admit it right now, the scandal will do ter rible damage to the Tour de and NASCAR have shown in the United States of America that careful use of the

How could the team fix the race to that extent?

Pace Car can produce more exciting races, but the rules allow

The FIA responded with a daft and half-hearted ban on team

fields. The stewards are not.

for such interventions and tactics

orders which was totally impossi

They are worthy members of

are modified accordingly. There is no manipulation going on outside the accepted regulations.

ble to enforce.

Prgnc0 CART

The Austrians like to feel differ

the purpose of the sport for the spectator and - if they have any brains at all - for the players as well. If you have to cheat to win you are not really winning and the knowledge that you did not play fair will always come back to haunt you in the dark hours when

bours, but here was evidence that

following the call of the trumpets, ationalism can be a very con N structive thing if it does not turn ugly. The World Cup showed us that it does not take much for

the vast majority pf the population to suddenly become flag-waving nutters.

France’s victory in the World Cup released an explosion of joy and merriment which lifted the

entire country from the depres sion of recent years. It really was an amazing thing. On the way to the airport in Paris my taxi went past the Stade de France - site of France’s 3-0 victory over Brazil and, without knowing he was doing it, the taxi driver began whistling: ”We are the Champions”.

in Australia and the less than sub tle team orders involved. This

caused outrage in the real world.

motor clubs who

Next came Brazil, where there

was a big fuss about McLaren brakes and the FIA decided to

No-one peopleIt playing outsidelikes the rules. defeats

the association is closer than they like to remember. The only differ ence is that in Austria they do not seem to be ashamed of the past. At the time, of course, dressing up in smart uniforms with eagles on their chests was the patriotic thing to do and one cannot readily condemn simple country folk for

It strikes me that the idea of a

Permanent Steward is really the only way forward. There are now permanent delegates in all differ ent aspects of the sport, from doctors to media delegates to scrutineers and Safety Car dri vers. These guys are all (well, nearly all) professionals in their

dressed in very neat uniforms with eagles on their chests.

ent from their Germanic neigh

the people out there are thinking. The year began badly with McLaren’s complete domination

the demons come.

One of the problems facing sports these days is that reality is not necessarily the most impor tant thing. Perception is the reality in the business of sport because only a tiny percentage of people ever buy specialist magazines which explain the intricate details of the sport. For the rest of the TV audi ence there is no further explana tion of what happened. The Formula 1 paddock is, in many ways, as parochial as an Austrian village. We all like to think ourselves members of a

cosmopolitan jet-set, but the truth is that we are blind to what the

real world thinks about the sport. The other day this was drummed home to me by some one I vaguely know who

explained that he had given up watching Grand Prix racing on the

ban the system despite the fact that

the

FIA

have

risen

through the ranks. More often than not they are members of the FIA World Council. It is a perk of the job.

Technical

being one of the gang on the World

Council.

The

Steward

should not be allowed to hold any other position within the organisa tion. He (or she) should not be a former employee of the Brabham FI team. There are too many such people around. They are all good men and trustworthy, but it creates a bad impression.

What is really needed i; i sharp ex-team manager IS

who knows the ropes and the rules and is respected in the paddock for his knowledge and experience - in the same way that

Race

Director

Charlie

From the outside, it seems, it

ut these cannot possibly be B the right people to be making

looked as though the governing body was clumsily trying to cut McLaren’s advantage.

decisions because they are unlikely to ever make a decision against the organisation they rep

Whiting or his deputy Herbie Blash are respected in their roles because they have been there, seen it and done it many times

resent.

before.

Department had declared it legal.

Canada,

Michael

Schumacher was allowed to get away with a manoeuvre which most experienced FI observers concluded

was worthy of a black flag.

There are plenty of jobs which

There are people out there

The FIA does not seem to care what the

He won the race.

In France, the start light failure blew McLaren’s chances in the race and then the British GP descended into farce because of stewards who showed

no sign of knowing what they were doing. When you add it all up, it is not difficult to see why the sport’s credibility is being stretched to the maximum ...

The FIA, however, does not seem to care what the spectators think. There is a lot of arrogance

in the governing body. The argu ment appears to be that specta tors do not know what is going on and therefore should not be con sidered.

he FIA would be well-advised

A week later France was back

TV because he thought it was fixed. A few days later someone

Tto take steps to ensure that

in the dumps again with the Tour

told me about an article in an

de France - the most French of

all sporting events - descending into unseemly scandals over the drugs-being used by the riders. There have long been suspi

American newspaper which com pared FI to wrestling. Now I am not suggesting that the FIA is deliberately doing any thing to favour one team or anoth

the comparison to wrestling is quickly laid to rest. The only way

cions that such things were going

er, but it seems that this is what

to do that is to completely revamp the system of judging what is right and what is wrong so that deci sions show more logic and more consistency.

spectators think. There is a lot of arrogance in the governing body. could be given to the boys in the

who fit the bill - and who are not

blazers to keep them happy with out having them make a mess of

does not seem to want to give

the sport. They can be honorary grand marshals; flag wavers; they can say: ’’Gentleman start you engines”: they can hand out the trophies; make sandwiches: be door stops; the possibilities are

in lunatic asylums - but the FIA away that kind of power. The idea has been discussed

in the past and rejected because the independence of the person chosen would inevitably be ques tioned. It was thus decided to

endless ...

have four permanent stewards on

What the sport needs is pro fessional decision-making which is fast, final and unquestionable. There are no appeals against the

a rotational basis.

the sport is doing fine as a result.

This obviously does not work ... at least not if you listen to the mood of the spectators. While there are always going to be dan gers in giving one person too

Mistakes are made but that is part of the game.

ineffective form of government.

decisions of football referees and

much power, democracy is a very

Football referees make mis

Dictators make the trains run

takes because they do not have the benefit of video replays; a to use such facilities and there fore there would be fewer mis

on time - and, as long as they don’t make people dress up in uniforms, things can work very nicely. Bernie Ecclestone has proved

takes.

that...

permanent judge would be able

■

IS 31July1998

SH0OT-OUT Af After the drama of Darwin, Craig Lowndes and Russell Ingall are headed for a winner-take-all showdown at Oran Park’s Shell series

finale this weekend. The pressure is squarely on both teams to give their drivers the best chance and on the drivers to perform. CHRIS LAMBDEN looks at how the contenders have used the

intervening week and how they are preparing for the big clash. fter all the effort, the

sweat, the testing. the contests, it has come down to two

drivers, head-to-head at

Oran Park. Craig Lowndes has a mere six points in hand

>■

over

Russell

Ingall (and even that could change), so it’s quite simple. Win Oran Park and you win the champi¬ onship. All or nothing.

Darwin itself illustrated

just how quickly the tide can turn these days. For the Mobil HRT it was a charac¬

ter-building day. When things go wrong at HRT, it happens at the worst

time and they go wrong in multiples,” team manager Jeff Grech reflected wryly

early this week. The problem with both Mark’s and

Craig’s engines was a component failure

The pressure is on both sides now, which I think goes in my favour.

and it was a part that’s been com mon to all our engines for a long time. That they should both fail at exactly the same time was a mil lion to one chance.”

The team’s probiems on the day

cern,” Grech continued, “because

your personnel are your prime responsibility and concern. “The guys still got on and changed the engines as best we could. We had to take a few short

cuts, but we got there and sal vaged a result in the last race.” The team’s dramas didn’t end

there, though. Matthews is the team’s regular transporter driver and, with him clearly out of sorts, Grech himself decided to spend three days at the wheel driving the truck home. “That was not the best start to

our Oran Park preparation, but I figured it would be best if all the crew flew back, had a day’s rest and were ready to go flat out when the truck got back.” “But out of the negatives comes a positive. We’ve got home, looked at the engine problem, found it and solved it. And it’s preferable that we had the problem then rather

effort to make sure we don’t have

any silly mistakes, or have any thing in the car that is inherently going to fail. “One slip and we’re out; one slip and they’re out...”

Down at Perkins it’s homework time,Engineering, too, to ensure that Russell Ingall has the best opportunity to snatch what would be the team’s first Shell ATCC crown.

Unlike HRT, the Castrol team comes to Oran Park with some

momentum. Its VT performed fault-

The Wildcard - or should that be Red Card required the Stewards’ involvement.

While some produced instant Stop-Go penalties, others required post-race inquiry. Disqualifications, repri¬

deferred until the teams

meet again, in Sydney on Friday. Both involve Ingall. Although unlikely, the points gap could alter even before race day if the Stewards decide that race

positions

should

that

both

“The best I can do to assist Russell’s cause is to run second to

“We know we have the best dri

13 incidents which

ensure

tender.

vers, we know Craig can do the job if we give him the right equipment. We know our equipment is good. We just have to put in that extra

than

suddenly became seriously ill, with chronic dehydration. “That became our major con

edge.

of. Darwin’s action-packed racing produced no less

Russell’s car and my car are as strong as possible,” said Larry

team member Bruce Matthews

normal format, but with an extra

changed or points penalties applied. A repeat of the Darwinstyle race action and a close finish could also see a provisional championship outcome, decided in the Stewards room hours, days or even weeks later. Even disqualifications of a third party can effect the

“The prime thing we can do right now

mate to the championship con

This specific problem aside, HRT’s preparation has followed its

mands, points losses. It went on until after 9pm that night, with two cases

learned more about the new car’s characteristics.

were compounded when, in the humidity and heat of the moment,

than later...”

Some thingscontrol, are beyond a driver’s sort

lessly up north and the team has

points earned by either of

protest would result in six

the contenders.

more points for Ingall. In many ways, a clearcut victory to either Ingall

Worse still, a controversial protest from Larry Perkins concerning the non-disqualification of the Shell team from the Winton meeting after being found to have iilegal rear wings is still to be resolved by CAMS, Success for Perkins’

or Lowndes would be a

blessing... Footnote: Points are

allocated on each race, from 1st to 20th as follows:

40, 36, 34, 32, 30, 28, 26, 24, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2,1.

Perkins, both team boss and team

him, so that’s what we’re planning for, to get both cars right up there. “That same strategy will help me secure third in the champi onship.” The Castrol team’s late ace

could well be a new Dunlop tyre. Available in two compounds, the Dunlop runners ran the nominally harder 356 option in Darwin and are hopeful that the other option (a new, more heat resistant version of

the existing 359 compound) will be just the ticket for Oran. There is also a third option - the existing, proven 359 compound on the revised case.

“We’ll be testing at Winton on the way to Sydney,” Perkins said, “so we’ll have some idea on perfor mance when we get to Oran Park.”

For the two championship-con-

tending drivers, post-Darwin has been quite different, although both have adopted a “stay out of the way” attitude while their teams have got on with the core prepara tion work.

While Ingall spent the four days after Dan/vin doing the tourist bit at Kakadu, Lowndes spent the time at his adopted home, in Brisbane, before flying off to New Zealand with Mark Skaife and Greg Murphy at the weekend for a Holden

Special Vehicles promotion. “While some might think it’s a bit of an inconvenience, it’ll be good to

get away for a few days,” Lowndes said prior to flying the Tasman. “We’ll be in among HSV sup

porters and fans, so if anything it should be good for my confidence going into Oran Park.” Ingail, too, could see the advan tages in being away from it all for a few days; “If

hadn’t

been

there

(Kakadu), where the phone doesn’t work, I’d have been on it ali the

time, probably trying to reinvent the wheel I "We did have a fundamental

problem with the new car in Darwin which we couldn’t fix there. It

wasn’t the easiest thing to drive as a resuit, but Ithink we’re onto the solution now.

“We discussed a number of

things straight after the race to improve the car and it’s probably best to let the team get on with it. The car should be quite a bit better at Oran Park...”

t one point, after Darwin’s

A opening race, the champi

onship was all but over. A couple of hours later it was wide open

31 July 19%

again. Does this roller-coaster ride

affect the mental approach of both

Things are a bit more casual at the Castrol team.

drivers to the finale?

'Don't get in the way’ is dreamingl” Lowndes: “As much as people

We’re probably a little bit slack

might not want them involved, it’s

“Not much,” says Ingall. 'Til enjoy the situation in that neither of us can go to Oran Park and just cruise or pick up points. We're both in the same position, \which means there's pressure on both parties. “Up until Darwin, Craig could just have cruised around a couple of cars behind me and picked up enough points to win. Not any

in that area, to be honest," Ingall confesses. “We don’t have a par¬ ticular person there who’s yelling out where we are, what the points

not like that these days. I have to get by Larry cleanly as much as

more.

about that a bit more, but it hasn’t

are, don’t pass him, do that, etc. “At the end of the day, Igo out to win every race. In the end, that’s the best way to do it. If you’ve got a big points lead in the championship, you could think

“Now, we both have to win races

come to that and it won’t come to

and beat the other. The pressure is on both sides now, which I think

that now. For Cran Park, it’s just a matter of business as usual - go

goes in my favour. When the pres

out to win races.

sure’s on, that's when I seem to

perform my best...”

At Darwin, they told me Craig hadn’t started the second race, but

Although his lead is almost

negated, Lowndes maintains his approach will be unchanged. He also prefers to run at the front: “We outqualified Russell at

Darwin and won the first race.

What happened after thahwas just bad luck. We drove the car into the

garage and yet it wouldn’t fire up for the second race ...

“It would have been nioe to go to Oran with a bigger buffer than we have, but you have to look at it the way it is. It could have been worse. In some ways we were for tunate to get out for the third race -

Russell will have to deal with

Mark (Skaife).' As the teams head to Oran

Park there’s only one certalnty and that is that the 1998

Shell Australian Touring Car Champion will be driving a Holden. The rest is up for grabs. For a pair who have cleared out to such a mar-

gin at the top of the points table, it’s a grim reality that one will win, one will lose.

I still went on with the aim of win-

Lowndes’ refined

ning the race, rather than playing it safe in third. Bugger that. Those few points could end up being the difference between winning the championship or not...

pace versus Ingall’s controlled race aggres-

Both drivers havein contention strong teamfor mates who are third in the championship. Will they play a role? Ingall: “No matter what anyone says, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. Anyone who thinks the teams are going to say

Sion. It should be one hell of a contest.

■

My approach

((

will he the same as ever... race

as hard as I can.

we could have been going to Oran 20 points behind. “My approach will be the same

as ever. I'll try to qualify at the front and race as hard as I can."

Nevertheless, Oran Park could

be very, very close and, race by race, both drivers will to varying degrees rely on information input from their teams.

“My engineer Robbie Starr is my second pair of eyes,” Lowndes says. “He’ll tell me where Russell is, whether Ican afford to back off,

what the gaps are and so on. He’s been doing it all year and we're able to plan our races as they hap pen."

Team manager Jeff Grech is also listening in to both his cars and, when it comes to the crunch, makes the call.

“We tend to operate as a team and will discuss the options, but at the end of the day the buck stops with me.”

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AMA

unfair Gobert ANTHONY Gobert has claimed

that the American MotorcycUst Association’s drug testing pro cedures are ‘fundamentally unfair’ after being suspended for the rest of the season after

testing positive for marijuana. The suspension was announced last Friday by the AMA after the organisation received results of a urine sample taken earlier in the day. The positive test was Gobert’s second this month and third since

last Spring. Gobert has voluntaiily entered a comprehensive in-patient program for substance abuse in Southern CalifoiTiia.

In an official press release, Gobert said, “I wish I could go back in time and take back what’s hap pened. I should’ve figured out the toll my conduct would take on eveiybody, including my family, my fellow racers, the fans, and most of all my team, ‘cause they were counting on me. I know I've let eveiyone down.” Gobert’s attorneys have lodged an appeal of the AMA’s ban of his racing privileges urging that the Vance&Hines Ducati rider be per mitted to compete upon demon strating that he is drug-free. Said Gobert, “It would be great if I could salvage this season and race a bit more.” However, he made it clear rehab that he is committed to com

pleting the progi'am regardless of the outcome of his appeal. ‘T reckon I have a lot of work to do off the

track irght now. Racing is the easy part.” Gobert claims that on the Friday before the Mid-Ohio race he sub

mitted two urine tests, one inde

pendent and one administered by the AMA, that both came out nega tive.

Later, according to Gobert’s statement, the AMA obtained posi tive results by running his ui’ine specimen through an ultr.a-sensitive screening process that can detect minute traces months after

sm.oking the drug. Essentially, Gobert is claiming double jeopardy, that he is being punished twice for the same crime.

Gobert admitted smoking mari juana after returning his second positive result, after which the FIM suspended him from riding at Laguna Seca’s WSC event three weeks ago. The AMA refused to make any comment until they had a chance to foimally respond to Gobert’s claim, but spokesman Bill Nordquist said that the AMA plans to issue a press release in response to what he called the “half-truths” promulgat ed by Gobert and his attorney. Nordquist did say that it is a fact that Gobeif violated the substance

abuse policy agreement all racers must sign before being allowed to participate in AMA sanctioned races, and as such is liable to be sanctioned. When asked whether Gobert was

being singled out or made an exam

ple, Nordquist said that AMA issues random drag tests and other riders have been tested as well. The AMA has not released the names of

other racers who they have tested but might if this issue becomes so large that the AMA’s credibility is at stake. -DARRYLFLACK

Doohan makes it 50 MICK

Doohan

added

another chapter to his remarkable Grand Prix

career in Germany when he won his 50th 500cc GP

at the Sachsenring. By taking his fourth win of the year he stretched his world championship lead from seven to 12 points, with six rounds remaining. It was also the 100th for Honda’s NSR500V4.

“At the start of the race,

when we were running a full fuel load, the bike was not working that well,” Doohan said.

“Alex Barros came by but after I managed to get back in front the bike was better.

After that I was keeping an eye on Max Biaggi, who was second.

“On the last lap I thought, ‘Okay, now just make sure you bring it home!’ My only worry dur ing the race was the front tyre. The rear seemed okay, but the front was pushing a bit. Still, I had enough of an advantage to enable me to keep it under control and even play with it.” Biaggi, who started from pole position ahead of Kenny Roberts Jr and Doohan, was content to have maintained his record

of scoring points at every race in his 500cc debut sea

son - including six podiums. “I tried so hard all the

way - Mick and I were doing similar lap times for most of the race,” Biaggi said. “The early laps were too hot and both Barros and

Crafar came past me. I couldn’t run my own lines with them ahead and it’s so hard to overtake here that

Mick was able to get away. I wasn’t very happy about that. Finally I got back to second, but by then Mick was gone.

“From then on I was fast sometimes faster than him.

Now I’m happy enough. I never gave up and 2nd was the best I could do today.” New Zealander Crafar

had seemed poised for another excellent result until he lost control of the front-end of his Yamaha

and ended up in the gravel on the 12th of the 31 laps. “I felt really comfortable and didn’t think anything was wrong,” Crafar said. “I had a couple of warnings from the front, but I kept on going at the same pace and then it just let go. I really think it must be the higher track temperature today that caused a lack of grip. “I don’t know if I could

have caught Mick, but I was enjoying a good race and hoping to get on the podi um.” Doohan

now

has

160

points but Biaggi and Criville are still breathing down his neck in perhaps

the most competitive and exciting world champi onship season in history. Biaggi has 148 while Criville has 142. Australia’s other 500cc

rider, Garry McCoy, retired his Honda V-twin a lap before the finish. McCoy ran with the four-cylinder facto ry machines ridden by Japan’s Kyoji Nanba (Yamaha) and Nobu Aoki (Suzuki) for much of the race until his retirement.

“We ran a 250 tyre and it was great until we got into the last few laps,” he said. TETSUYA Harada led from start to finish on

his Aprilia to score his 13th 250 victory and

on an Apriha.

HEADING FOR FIVE...

Harada leads the world

championship with 149 points, while Italian Loris fourth in Capirossi Germany on his Aprilia - is second on 128 and Rossi third on 101. TOMOMI Manako’s 125cc

triumph on a Honda came after his country man, and world champi onship leader Kazuto Sakata, crashed his Apriha while challenging Italian 15-year-old star Marco Melandri for the lead.

Under Manako’s pres sure, Melandri fell on the last lap just as it appeared he was about to repeat last

Doohan blew the field away In Germany, despite being

unhappy with the Sachsenring track. He now has a 12 point championship lead. (Photo by Clive Mason/Allspori)

Qantas to sponsor Grand Prix QANTAS has added the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix to its list of

fourth of the season nine seconds ahead of Ireland’s Northern

month’s Dutch GP win after

motor racing sponsor ships.

starting from pole position. Melandri limped in 13th

which also sponsors the

Jeremy McWUliams, who

to retain third in the cham

notched

pionship on 113 points -

result, finishing ahead of

behind Sakata on 165 and Manako on 122.

his

hest

Italian Valentino Rossi

Honda’s anniversary Suzuka 8-hour 1-2-3

The Australian airline, Formula One Grand Prix and Mercedes-Benz GT

star Mark Webber, will back the Phillip Island event, which will take

place on October 2-4. The

announcement

means that the event’s future at the track is

secure, as is the track’s round

the

World

Superbike Championship. The WSC race will now be

backed by

Major

Melbourne

Events,

which

hacks the 500cc and FI events.

FORMER HRC 500 rider Shinichi Itoh and current Honda 250 works

Craggill originally being partnered with hritish endurance specialist Iain

second behind Qualifying Itoh/Ukawa, the Marlboro Yamaha

While the Qantas deal is

great news for the 500

star Tohru Ukawa successfully defended their 1997 victory when they took out the 1998 Sprite 8Hours at Suzuka, Japan on July

McPherson Team Kawasaki’s General Team

Racing entry of Noriyuki Haga and

race, the airline had been

Simon Crafar was the first factory

Director, Mr. Yasui, was pleased in spite of the problems: “We must be sat

Yamaha home after a series

27.

isfied with this result. We lost half of

Winning by 43 seconds, the Japanese pair headed a Honda cleansweep, with Sete Gibernau/Alex

mishaps. Crafar elected to start the race even though his ankle was caus ing him trouble fi’om a fall in Frida/s

widely tipped to be title sponsor of the 1998 IndyCamival. Qantas will keep its role as a leading support sponsor of the

and were very happy with the replace

qualifying. Crafar was initially unable to start his

expected

Barros and Colin Edwards/Tady Okada filling the other podium posi tions.

In great news for Australia, Team Kawasaki riders Marty Craggill and Damon Buckmaster claimed a fine

our scheduled irders before the event, ments.”

The race winner, Ito, was happy with the result after last year’s victory in the rain: “ I wanted to win in dry conditions. We won today because the team rtaff and our testing regime were fantastic. Ulcawa also performed veiy

fifth place, ahead of the formidable Yamaha pair of Noriyuki Haga and

well.”

Simon Crafar.

that we won because of the wet condi

The Aussies were teamed together at

the

11th

hour

after

several

Japanese Kawasaki riders were forced out of the event. Even after qualifying

their teaming was not confirmed.

Ukawa added, “Last year it was said

tions, however I like to win in all con ditions. The way today’s race devel oped was that Ito established the lead and I kept it. That is not the ideal result for me, but I am still happy.”

October race, and there is

bike and only managed to get away when he had been passed by many of the 64-strong starting hne-up. After the first lap he had clawed his way up to 19th,

announcement of the title

but the Red Bull Yamaha GP 500 irder

prices will be held to 1997

was severely restricted by his injuries

levels, while all grand

and handed the bike over to his team

stand seat ticket holders will receive a free Kodak

mate on lap 23 in seventh position. 1 Ito/Ukawa 212, 2 Gibernau/Barros 212, 3 Edwards/Okada , 4 Takeishi/Serizawa 211, 5

Craggill/Buekmaster 210, 6 N Haga/Crafar 210, 7 Hodgson/Izutsu 209, 8 Russell/Fujiwara 209, 9 H Aoki/Kamada, 10 Tamada/Nakatomi 207.

-DARRYL FLACK

sponsor of the CART race in the next 10 days. For the bikes, ticket

camera.

Support events for the GPs include HarleyDavidsons, Supersports and 250cc Production bikes.

The key to success is not only providing your customers with the best products available, but also looking for ways to constantly improve those products. At Pennzoil we're always looking ahead in the quest to provide our customers with the highest quality lubricants available. But it doesn't stop there. Looking to the future also includes supporting future talent and at Pennzoil we're proud to be backing a young champion of tomorrow, Rhys Archer.

Rhys Archer - Junior Karting Champion

20 3^ July 1998

SUPER SPEEDWAY

NEW COLOURS ... Fastrack

Racing’s Marshall J Brewer will be debuting his Chevy Monte Carlo’s splendid new Pennzoil colour scheme

Mount Panorama during the NASCAR support event sched uled for Saturday, October 3, at the AMP Bathurst 1000.

Brewer will also be running with a new number, his tradi

tional #30 now replaced with a less conspicuous #8 - “the old number took up too much advertising space,” laughed Brewer, “so we’ve gone for a single digit number this time.” Brewer’s Chev is sponsored by Pennzoil, CIGWELD and Goodyear. (Thunder-Pics/Agfa)

New Hampshire

Jeff Gordon won his fifth race of

to Burton Ford

Ward Burton won his second pole of the year with a 168.805 mph event record lap, Gordon to his out side with Rusty Wallace third Earnhardt’s ninth qualifying effort

Wallace following under ‘The

was the fifth race in a row he’s

Intimidator’ for the sixth spot.

Jeff Burton drove a heads-up 300 miles to take the spoils at New Hampshire Speedway on July 12. Dominating from just past halfway and leading 190 of 300 laps, he held on for the win in his

Bill Elliott, on a different pit sequence, led Spencer with Burton running third, followed by Gordon and a strong-looking Mark Martin, who would later move the Roush car under The Kid.’

was Burton’s second straight New Hampshire win.

The yellow flag waved again on lap 114 when Jeremy Mayfield bat tling with Rick Mast saw Mast hit the wall rearwards, enabling all cars to pit.

“We had an awesome race car

The two Jeffs lead the caution

Roush Exide Taurus Jjy 7.4 seconds over team-mate Mark Martin - it

today,” he said. “I tore up the front fenders early in the race, but other “We kept working on the set-up all day, we knew we had to keep working to stay up front. Skinner and Gordon beat us up real bad on restarts and we were lucky there

five restart. Burton relinquishing the point to Gordon, Skinner follow ing through into second. Amazingly, Skinner passed Gordon for the lead and headed just one lap, before Burton dived under neath to lead at halfway, John Andretti moving into third, with

were no cautions near the end.”

Gordon fourth.

than that it was a clean race.

Ricky Craven, making a come back at his home track after his

post-concussion syndi’ome, amaz ingly took the pole with a 128.394 mph speed.

Burton pitted for four t3res and fuel on lap 212, coming Out in the lead again. Burton headed Skinner, Martin,

front row start in the past eight

Gordon and Wallace on the lap 221 incident restart. Burton setting a blistering pace and Gordon and Martin eventually passing Skinner

races.

with Wallace some distance in

Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon

was on his outside, his seventh

aiTears. Craven headed Gordon through the first caution on lap 2, when . With 10 laps remaining, Martin Jimmy Spencer spun Kenny Ii-win, really piled the pressme on Gordon with Ward Burton, Ted Musgrave in a bid for the second place and he and Robert Pressley also involved. took that position under Gordon Crhven and Gordon swapped the with just five laps to run, as point twice after the caution, before Jeremy Mayfield hit the wall with

Gordon assumed what has become

a familiar place out front, ahead of Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton, Kyle Petty and Rusty Wallace. Hut Stricklin in the CAT Chevy, a fiery Steve Grissom, Joe Nemechek and Lake Speed were all involved in a heavy wreck on the front stretch when Geoff Bodine got loose and came down on Andy Hillenbm;g. After the third yellow, Gordon again headed Jarrett, J Burton, Wallace and Mike Skinner.

J Burton muscled past Jarrett and, eventually, Gordon on lap 78 for the lead, before pitting for four tyres and fuel on lap 93, leaving Gordon back out front before he pit ted on lap 95.

out a caution.

Skinner’s fine fifth place run should silence some of the doubters about his future with Richard

Childress, while Gordon recorded

his fourth straight top three finish and continued to head the points. Final position: J Burton (Ford), Martin (Ford), Gordon (Chevy), R Wallace (Ford), Skinner (Chevy), Andretti (Pontiac), Jarrett (Ford), Petty (Pontiac), Schrader (Chevy), Wallace (Ford).

Points standings: Gordon 2527, Martin 2475, Jarrett 2429, Mayfield 2390, R Wallace 2307, B Labonte 2209, T Labonte 2166, J Burton 2134, Spencer 1968, Earnhardt 1961. - MARTIN D CLARK

the season, dominating and lead ing 161 of 200 laps at Pocono on July 26, the second race at the track in five weeks.

qualified in first round trials. The green flag waved for the final time with just 19 laps to run and Gordon checked out on the field, Mark Martin riding second with a superb battle for fifth. Dale Jarrett overhauling Schrader, R Wallace and Earnhardt for the spot.

Gordon’s fifth Tight series points battle Labonte (Pontiac), Jarrett (Ford), R Wallace (Ford), Earnhardt (Chevy), Schrader (Chevy), Irvan (Pontiac), M Waltrip (Ford). Points standings: Gordon 2707,

B Labonte unsuccessfully hound

ed J Burton for third, while Ernie Irvan and Michael Waltrip came home with consistent runs, the lat ter imder threat of losing his irde at

Martin 2650, Jarrett 2584, Mayfield 2499, R WaUace 2462, B Labonte 2365, T Labonte 2236, Earnhardt 2112, Spencer 2074,

season’s end.

Final result: Gordon (Chevy), Martin (Ford), J Burton (Ford), B

Schrader 2066.- MARTIN CLARK

■ Lake Speed resigned July 17 as the driver and general man ager of Melling Racing and the Ford sponsored by the Cartoon

the maximum seven test dates each individual team is allowed

Network.

dming a season.

'This would eliminate the advan

tage multi-car operations have in

Speed was involved in a heavy Sears Point practice crash on June 26 - it’s possible you may not see the former karting world champion in Winston Cup again. ■ Forty drivers and over 70 cars

tested at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the week of July 13. Rusty Wallace posted a 177.504 mph speed in his Penske Taurus,

son, following the release of David Green in early June. Contrary to a team press release. Green will not drive a sec

ond Larry Hedrick car at the Brickyard.

(176.118) (175.884).

and

Mark

Martin

■ After engine trouble at the Watkins Glen circuit on June

their Monte Carlos with either

28, Kevin Schwantz was to make his next appearance at California Speedway on July 19, but he damaged his shoul

Eddie Cheever, or Davey Hamilton.

der in a Suzuki ‘fun’ Kart at ■ Buckshot Jones will enter a

Stavola Brothers entry at Indy sponsored by Realtree camou flage, who will continue their sponsorship of independent driver Dave Marcis. Jones will also drive the car at

10th for its first race at Sears Point

recently with driver Tom Hubert. One other possibihty was that the unsponsored LJ Racing could test

Joe Nemechek was second with

177.204, followed by Jeremy Mayfield (176.724), Ward Burton (176.439), Jeff Gordon (176.370), Ernie Irvan (176.308), Dale Jarrett

■ Hendrick Motorsports is to field a second car alongside Steve Grissom in the August 1 Brickyard 400 for David Green, No word yet on a sponsor. In the same race, Robby Gordon is to attempt to qualify a Taurus for the newly-formed Roehrig Motorsports. The team qualified

Sacramento the preceding week and was forced to put

■ Greg Sacks, who has been out of action since hitting the wall hard during the Texas 500 on April 5, will see a neurosur geon later this month, then

former USAC Silver Crown

decide if he’ll return to Cale

champ and now NASCAR Truck Series regular Mike

Yarborough’s #98 Taurus this season, or wait tUl next year.

Bliss in the car.

Unfortunately, Bliss also suf fered engine woes.

■ Ted Musgrave said this week that his parting with Roush Racing was a mutual decision. Look for Kevin Lepage to take

Michigan, Richmond, Dover and Rockingham. He will drive his own AquaFresh car at New Hampshire, Talladega

rookie season in which he is earn

over the #16 car after the

and Atlanta.

ing the ‘Dominator’ nick-name.

Brickyard 400 on August 1.

Jones has plans to run the full series next year with his familyowned team, after switching over

■ With all the multi-car teams

■ Tony Stewart tested his

taking shape, it looks possible

Menard IRL car under the new

from the Busch Series.

NASCAR is set to make an

■ Hut Stricklin will stay with the American Equipment Racing Caterpillar Chevrolets

aimouncement to stop testing at Winston Cup tracks and to allow teams to practice on the 'Thursday before qualifying for the respective race.

lights of Atlanta Motor Speedway on July 7, tiuming a speed of 228.505 mph - accord ing to track officials, this is a

for the remainder of the sea-

Dale Earnhardt Jr won the

event, his fourth of the year in his

world record for a mile and a half track.

Pennsylvania 500 - Pocono. July 26th, 1998. Jeff Gordon, #24 DuPont Auto Chev Monte Carlo Mark Martin,#6Valvotin^Cummins Ford Taurus 3. JeffBurton,#99 Exide Batteries Ford Taurus 4. Etobby Labonte,#l8 Interstate Batteries 5. Dale JarretL #88 Quality Care Ford Taurus 6. Rusty Waliace, #2 Miller Lite Ford Taurus 7. Dale EamhardL #3 GM Goodwrendi Chev Monte Carlo 8. Ken Schrader,#]3 Skoal Bandit Chev Monte Carlo 9. Ernie Irvan, #36 Sldtties Pontiac Grand Prix 10. Michael Waltrip, #21 Citgo Ford Taurus I.

II. 12. 13. 14. IS. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

Sterling Marlin,#40 Coore Light Chev Monte Carlo John Andretti, #43 STP Pontiac Grand Prix Darrell Wahrip,#! Pennzoil Chev Monte Carlo Geoff Bodine, #7 PhHips Ford Taurus TedMusgrave,#l6PRlMESTARFordTaurus Chad Litde.#97John Deere Ford Taurus Joe Nemechek,#42 BellSouth Chev Monte Carlo JeremyMaylield,#l2Moba I Ford Taurus Jimmy Spencer, #23 Winston/No BuB Ford Taurus Bobby Hamilton, #4 Kodak Maxx F3m Chev Monte Carlo

11/ Y'/f1

iJUll mR J

1998 WINSTON CUP SERIES RESULTS

Standings After Rd 19 2527 1. Jeff Gordon 2.

,2475

Mark Martin

3. Dale Jarrett 4. Jeremy Mayfield . 5. Rusty Wallace .. 6. Bobby Labonte . 7. Terry Labonte .. 8. Jeff Burton 9. Jimmy Spencer

2429 2390 . .2307 . .2205 ..2166 ,2134

1968

D 0 Dale Earnhardt ..

1961

STUCKEY

©:

TYRE SERVICE

An Open Letter to V8 Supercar Teams

! i

Dear Competitor

1 I

DEJJ^TLOP MOTORSFORT has been Australia’s major supplier of touring car tyres for the past three decades. Our first Bathurst win was with Peter Brock in 1972

{ I f

and our most recent was with Larry Perkins and Russell Ingall in 1997. Within those

i ! ;

25 years we have supplied a total of 14 winners, MORE THAN DOUBLE our !

i \

nearest competito.r

1 I1

For Sandown and Bathurst this year competitors will be permitted"^ to use Dunlop

: 1

I :

tyres again. In readiness we will have competitive tyres available. A tyre to meet the

needs and budget of YOUR team. We strongly urge you now to contact your local

i ‘

! I :

DimLOP MOTORSPORT distributor to secure supply.

! ; I I

We at RUNLLOP JROTORSPORTare strongly committed to the V8 Supercar

j !

i [

category. Whatever form of control tyre or regulation is finally decided, we have the

capacity and will to make the strongest bid. Competitors can be assured of receiving

' 1

the most competitive tyre, price and service.

t I

●

Russell Stuckey

} I i

Dunlop Motorsport Australia \ ' !

* TEGA rules have been modified to allow privateers to run Dunlop tyres at Sandown and Bathurst. i

AUSTRALIA VIC; Stuckey Tyre Service

SA: The Mag Wheel Centre

828 Sydney Road

35 Prospect Road Prospect 5082

Brunswick 3056

Ph: (03) 9386 5331 Fax: (03) 9383 9153

NSW: Stuckey Tyre Service Unit 4/10 Carnegie Place

QLD; Road & Race Spare Parts

WA: Kostera's Tyre Service

TAS: Bob's Speed Shop

58 Bullockhead Street

7 Meade Street

134 Main Road

Blacktown 2148

Sumner Park 4074

Kalamunda 6076

Moonah 7009

Ph:(08) 8269 4100

Ph: (02) 9676 8655

Ph: (09) 293 3500

Fax: (08) 8269 7805

Fax: (02) 9676 5300

Ph:(07) 3279 1533 Fax: (07) 3376 5804

Ph:(03) 6273 7555 Fax: (03) 6273 7666

Fax: (09) 293 1355

s 3iJufyim

HIDDEN VALLEY

Crocodile Rusty d Report by DAVID HASSALL Photos by DIRK KLYNSMITH

Abizarre series of events at

the inaugural Darwin round on July 19 has sent the Shell Australian Touring Car Championship into a grip ping grand final between Craig Lowndes and Russell Ingall.

The Darwin experiment was a monumental success from every aspect and the extraordinary ontrack action was the highlight on an already successful weekend from a promotional and organisational point of view. It seemed appropriate that Russell Ingall - so enthusiastic about the Darwin race, so active prior to the race with promotions and so popular with the locals should come through for victory, especially after being decked by a stop-go in the first race. But Ingall showed all his fighting qualities to somehow win the next two races and snatch the overall

honours from a digappointed Jason Bargwanna. The young Valvoline team star thought he had the win and only learned the tmth when Shell’s Ross

Brodie handed him the trophy for second place on the podium. “Haven’t you given me the wrong one,” asked Bargwanna incredu lously, having been told by his team that second place in the third race was enough for overall victoiy. Bargwanna was still happy with second, but Glenn Seton was noth ing short of staggered to have mounted the podium with third, having been off the pace all week end. And what about Lowndes? The

championship leader had a horror day, despite winning the first race and briefly extending his champi onship lead to an apparently impregnable margin. Motor racing, however, is rarely that simple. For no apparent rea son, the winning car simply refused to fire for the second race and Craig was left to watch Ingall winning fi-om the pitlane. Problems with the replacement engine almost did the same for the third race, but this time the gods were smiling on the Mobil driver because a red flag gave the team

● Darwin meeting an enormous success as 27,000 flock to Hidden Valley ● Ingall snatches a most unlikely victory ● Engine problems cost Lowndes title buffer ● Shell Series goes down to the wire ● Holden’s 100th ATCC round win, 4 more than Ford ● Bargwanna’s good form continues with second ● Controversy rages over on-track incidents time to get him onto the grid albeit the rear - and score enough points to retain a narrow margin going to Oran Park for the title decider.

It was a horrible day for HRT as Skaife also missed race two because

of an engine failure and the stress of two hurried engine changes in the heat between races caused one

crew member to go down with dehy dration.

Numerous incidents kept the huge crowd of about 27,000 enter tained, but angered many of the

teams, who feel that the officialing has become inconsistent.

While Ingall was quick to get a stop-go for punting pole winner Bright in race one and Tony Longhurst lost a possible overall round victory for a stop-go after running over the white line in turn one, numerous other apparently blatant infractions went unpe nalised.

It is an issue which the governing body needs to address, but was not enough to dampen an otherwise hot and exciting visit to what is now our most northern national champi onship circuit. Roll on 1999.

All hit the track on Friday, when there were two sessions to help sort out tyre choices on the new circuit. Bridgestone runners took the first five positions in the first session, but in the afternoon session the times tumbled and it was none

other than Tony Longhurst on his Dunlops who headed three Bridgestones (Lowndes, Bright and

Skaife). The Yokohama guys were way back. There was, of course, plenty of interest

Cannonball Run, but there were considerable changes to the venue. The entire front straight had been relaid, turn one was redone, the wiggles around the back of the circuit were modified, run-off areas were created, a huge hill in the mid dle of the track was simply removed and turned into a spectator area, a control tower built, an entirely new

pit and paddock complex was creat ed, massive car parks built and the natural amphitheatre section near the hairpin was tiered to provide excellent corporate facilities. There was much more, and more to come next year, and the end result was a most impressive com

plex which immediately showed up many of the existing circuits. The teams certainly supported the new project as 35 cars arrived to contest this important penultimate round and quite a few drivers and crews took the opportunity of extending their trips and holiday ing.

how

the

new

Commodores were performing as Lowndes and Ingall shaped up for their title battle and the answer

was clearly ‘very good’.

With the the benefithurried of more Calder testing since debuts, both drivers were ahead of their VS-mounted teammates. That

must have been a great relief for the rule-makers who had forced the teams’ hands on the VT issue.

On Saturday morning, Skaife was the first to dip below the ImlOs mark and he was joined in the mid day session by Lowndes and Bright, the Bridgestones appearing to be at least half a second quicker than the Dunlops. When it all counted in the 14-

minute qualifying session, the Bridgies were certainly to the fore, taking the first five places. Fastest of all was not Mark

Skaife, who was gunning for his fifth successive pole, but the Pirtek Falcon of Jason Bright.

Five times this year Bright has been in the top four, proving the pace of the Stone Brothers’ Falcon and their star driver, but this was Jason’s first pole and he was delighted. “It’s great,” he gushed. “We’ve been knocking on the door, but now we’ve put it on pole. We had a real ly good test at Lakeside before Calder and been in the top three every session since then.” Lowndes completed the most laps in the lm9s and used both sets of tyres, but could not resist a

Practice & Qualifying

Hidden Valley has been appropri

ately named because, besides a brief exposure as the starting venue for the ill-fated Cannonball Run

four years ago, it has been hidden from the rest of the mainstream

motorsport community.

With the backing of the Northern Territory Government, however, the funds to upgrade the venue to national championship level were made available and the whole trav

elling circus that is the Shell Series hit the road in a massive migration north.

Your reporter was one of the few people to have been in the

■■"A

NO SECRET ANY MORE... The Hidden Valley circuit proved to be superbly suited to exciting racing. Note the new main straight and the other new pieces of tarmac (which are darker than the old sections), the new pit and

paddock complex and the bus terminal at bottom right. (Photo by John Gmte) U

● I

MILESTONE... Jason Bright has been quick all year and finally scored his first pole position, but a bad start in race one put him behind the eight ball and his day ended with little to show.

Shell

Australian

Touring Car Championship Round 9

arwin

Ij >

oes

^:*Cr

RACING ROOM ...Ingall resisted a great challenge from Bargwanna to take the win and spray the champagne. final flyer from his Ford rival that was only two-hunyredths faster. Nevertheless, he was happy to be

of the grid, which is a tribute to their consistency - and their tyres,

on the front row with the VT.

Completing the second row was Bargwanna, which was his best effort to date, one place higher than his 5th at Wanneroo, so he was optimistic about going one bet ter on race day than his second overall in the previous round at

“We did some good, clean laps,” said Craig, “and that’s the best I could do.”

Lowndes said that two days of testing had not improved the times with the VT, but the team came here with new shocks, which Craig was not really happy with, and a new specification engine which was vei-y strong.

Skaife had to settle for third, three-tenths slower than Craig, after throwing the car into a tyre wall trying to go faster on his sec ond set.

“I just locked the rear brakes and turned it around,” said Skaife.

of course. ■

was

replaced

Dunlop had a development of its 356 tyi-e for Darwin with a new con struction and, while it simply was not fast enough for qualifying, the teams were expecting it to be durable on race day. The four leading Dunlop runners

“The VT seems to do everything right and responds to changes, but not in the same way as the VS,” said Ingall. “I would still rather have the VS if I had the choice.”

Rounding out the top 10 was Glenn Seton, who is really strug gling with his car set-up.

Calder.

Although is nm separate ly, a fine his 5thcar qualifying effort by

Bowe, despite complaining about oversteer in the Shell Falcon, par

Incredibly, he was a full second slower than Bright’s similarly Bridgestone-shod Falcon, so there is obviously something very wrong with the defending champion’s Ford Credit Falcon. Answers on a post

Mark Larkham reflected the strong

ticularly on the new sections of the

card ...

form of the Stone Brothers outfit, but the MitrelO driver was actually a little disappointed, even though it was easily his best starting position

track.

John Faulkner was lucky to even make qualifying, his team having to change an engine in less than an hour after John grabbed first instead of fifth at 205km/h in prac

“There’s not much room at that part of the track.”

sensor which was worth maybe a

Nevertheless, it was the sixth

engine

were within three-hundredths of a second of one another. Fastest of the four was John

of the season. “There was a little misfire because of some shit on the crank

time in nine rounds that both HRT cars have been in the fi-ont two rows

The

overnight.

Just a couple of thousandths slower was an impressive Longhurst, now using the same Level 1 Dunlops as the Shell team.

costing him 0.3s down the long main straight, but was relieved just to get a time after all the dramas. Steve Ellery unusually used new tyres in practice to ensure he made

the faster group in the split qualify ing session and it seemed to pay off as he whistled around 12th fastest, very good for a Yokohama tyre run ner these days and his best for the year.

His Gibson Motorsport team

mates, Darren Pate and Tomas Mezera in the Wynns cars, were

three rows ftu-ther back on the grid, Tomas unhappy that he had mis timed the traffic and then flat-spot ted a tyi’e when Skaife went off just

Castrol

tice and buzzed the team’s latest-

in front of him. Between them were Alan Jones

Commodores, Ingall in the VT bare

spec Benson unit to 9400rpm. Not surprisingly, the valves didn’t like

mate Longhurst because of bad

that.

understeer). Garth Tander (who

JF reckoned the telemetry showed the replacement engine was

was going off to check teammate Bargwanna’s settings), Dick Johnson (bewildered about being

Then

was

the

tenth or two,” said Larko. “We cer tainly should have been on the sec

ly faster than Perkins in the VS and still wishing he had his old car to use, which he reckoned probably

ond row.”

would have been on tbe second row.

(half a second slower than team

half a second slower than on old

tyres two hours earlier) and Paul Romano (who was sidelined early by a broken gearbox input shaft). Rounding out the open tyre run ners were Terry Finnigan (who had clutch problems), Mark Poole (still getting his car irght after its Calder crash) and Greg Crick (who didn’t get a lap in because of a broken oil pump belt). John Briggs in the Super Cheap Autos Falcon narrowly took priva teer honours from Steve Reed’s Lansvale Commodore and series leader Mai Rose in the Fairfax Holden.

Young Paul Weel showed good form

fourth

from

the

Commodores of Kevin Heffernan, Rod Nash and Chids Smerdon while Brett Peters was next on his return to the series at the wheel of the sec ond Colom'scan Falcon.

Race 1-17 laps

The morning warm-up was quite

WHITE LINE FEVER... As Larkham leads Bargwanna.

Bowe, Longhurst. Romano and Faulkner through the first turn of race one, Ingall is squeezed down low by Ellery. One race later, Longhurst was pinged for a similar offence which probably cost him overall victory on the day.

revealing as Bowe and Ingall both on Dunlops - actually set their fastest times of the weekend.

Clearly Bowe had made big improvements with the Shell Falcon as he improved by half a second to get well into the lm9s bracket, half

24 SlJulyim

HIDDEN VALLEY

ATCC

l^®0®[F8[p®[T0

CLOSE RACING... There

was plenty In Darwin, with Lowndes chasing Perkins and Larkham to the line in

race 3 (left) and Weel lead ing Smerdon, Briggs and the rest of the privateers in the Dash (right). and Tander, who were up to fifth and sixth as early as lap 7, with Ellery right on the

--5L

tail of former teammate

Longhurst. No love lost there. It was at that point that Tander dropped back to 26th, but Ellery stayed with Longhurst until he spun with just one lap to go, dropping him down to 12th, just behind two more battling ex friends, Glenn Seton and Alan Jones.

Race 2-17 laps t was a somewhat dejected

a second faster than he managed in qualifying and fast enough to have qualified

back up to second behind teammate Skaife by lap seven. But by then the lead

third.

was over 5s.

Lite burn-out derby.Unfortunately, while doing

There was plenty of inter¬ est in the start, particularly as the prodigiously fast Lowndes and Ingall were now trying to get the job done with new cars. But both were confident. Ingall predicting be would be up to fourth by

some burn-outs in front of

turn one.

Surely the team would ensure that Skaife moved aside for Lowndes to win and gain the extra points - which Skaife admitted after the race he would have done, despite the FIA edict pro hibiting such McLaren-like behaviour from the sport

the Wynns people we were slammed into by

Ingall was right, too, though he was helped considerably by Bright getting away slowly from pole (on the dusty inside line) and getting a tap under brakes which pushed him into Bargwanna, sending the Valvoline car spinning off and causing all sorts of mayhem. In the middle of it all,

world-wide - but he left it

Perkins and Bowe also came

orders,

together, sending JB off. which was a shame given his obvious form improvement on race day.

There was no doubt that Skaife was going to let Lowndes pass an}rway and it would have been interesting

Darwin Briefs ■ Your humble reporter is not used to being in the news, but that was the

case on Sunday morning when Itook the opportuni ty of passengering Darren Hossack in the Holden

Jason Bargwanna cfoing about 80kmh. The mas

sive impact wrote off both vehicles and left yours truly with a few aches and pains which were eased by a massage from Sharon of Race Rub, who

looks after many of the drivers. Oh, and thank

you to fellow scribe Paul Marinelli who kindly stood aside and insisted Igo for the ride ...

to see what GAMS would

H Jason Bright’s pole position certainly had an

the end of it all, Skaife A[ merged with a big break from Larkham - who seems

effect on the local book

ies, who siashed his odds

to be missing the mayhem these days - Bright, Ingall, Longhurst and Lowndes, whose confidence of starting

from 33/1 on Tuesday down to 9/2 on Saturday afternoon. At that point Lowndes was an even-

money favourite from teammate Skaife at 3/1. ■ Senior Shell girl Sharon Phipps scored some revenge on Mark Skaife after the HRT driver spent most of the Saturday ‘meet and greet’ session spraying her with water from a bottle. Just as he

was planning his next attack, Sharon ambushed him with a fuli bucket of

water which left Skaifey drenched.

■ Russell Ingall swapped his usual Castrol cap for one with a succinct mes

sage on Saturday. “2-Litre Sux” is all it said.

■ The Danvin police wel comed the southerners in

typical fashion, pinging Larry Perkins and Glenn Seton for traffic offences.

■ Darcy Russell enjoyed his first success since

joining the V8 Supercar fray, but it was not out on the track. He came up victorious in a Camp Quality charity crab race. Only in the Northern Territory... - DAVID HASSALL

until the very end. Despite turning his slowest lap of the race, Lowndes loomed up on Skaife and passed him on the line, just as Skaife’s engine started to fail, forcing car 50 to stop completely just out of turn one, giving the officials an easy out on the issue of team

well was not well-founded.

Ingall pm-sued Bright for a

few laps before they finally

came together, the blue pole winning Falcon spinning back to 17th. But the officials saw it on the monitors and immediate¬

ly called Ingall in for a stopgo penalty, which in turn dropped him hack to 18th.

Right there and then. Rusty thought his championship challenge was over. “I was following two cars that were blocking quite badly, two seconds off the pace,” Ingall said later with a fair degree, of exaggeration, “There was an opportunity to pass there, but this particular driver doesn’t use his mirrors and just tm-ned down on me. He knew I was there.

light of the apparently tough stand since the Australian Grand

Prix. As it was they consid ered the matter and took no action.

“The engine just stopped,” Skaife reported. “The temper atures and pressures were qK; it’s as if it just seized.” Larkham had a consistent

i*un into third place, five sec onds in arrears, while Longhurst was just another 6.5s further back in fourth

place despite ob-viously lack ing pace (his fastest lap was the worst of anyone in the top 10).

Romano and Faulkner pi’o-

duced excellent drives fi-om back in the field to take

fifth and sixth, just ahead of the recovering duo of Bowe

and Bargwanna.. Bright was next, but only after punting Dick Johnson on the final lap, an incident which would surely have attracted a stop-go had it

I thought it was a had call

happened eai’lier in the race.

[to penalise him]. The consis tency with black flags has been quite bad this year, hut you just don’t have the chance to argue about it.

As it was, the stewards

Jason fi-om the Race 1 results

spent a long time after the race reviewing the incident before deciding to exclude

Bright, of course, saw it

and putting him on the back

differently and said he was taking his normal line when Ingall “tm-ned me around”. While Ingall worked his

of the grid for Race 2 - only telling the driver as he went

way back up to a 13th place finish (12th after Bright was

been off line a few comers in succession and had “pushed

later excluded), title rival Lowndes was recovering from

me onto the dirt”. Two big movers in the

his poor getaway and was

early running were Ellery

out onto the track.

Bright claimed Dick had

IRussell Ingall who drove up pit lane for race two. He thought he had blown the title in the first race, as the points deficit had grown from

34 points to an apparently insurmountable 60. But then his mood sudden

ly lifted. Not one but both HRT cars were missing as the cars formed on the grid. Skaife’s ney/ engine was installed in time, but a faulty fuel pressure sensor stopped him from getting onto the track.

More importantly, though, Lowndes’ car had refused to

fire in the pits - even though it was perfectly well after winning the first race. The engine was turning over, but would not fire. It had to be

replaced. “I was disappointed to say the least,” Craig said later, “but there was nothing I

could do. I actually felt sorry

for the guys [in the team] because they just didn’t stop [working].” With the Mobil team in disarray, the front row of the grid was empty for the start, It was bizarre. For Ingall, though, it was a godsend. Not only had he instantly gained two places, but Lowndes had no points

in him being excluded from the results).

There were five laps remaining at the re-start and, now right on Ingall’s tail, Bargs threw out the challenge. It was gripping stuff and a credit to both dri vers - Jason made the moves

without putting Russell off the road while Russell gave him room and avoided being hit while still holding onto

road but gaining a place in the process. “He hit me,” complained Romano, who recovered to finish fifth.

Four incidents; two fines

totalling $4000; exclusion from the results. It was cer

tainly an interesting race for young Tander. By simply keeping out of trouble, Seton managed to finish sixth from veterans

Bowe

(later

excluded),

the lead.

Perkins and Johnson.

T arkham and Bowe should Xjhave been next, but JB

Race 3-14 of

put paid to that when he went for an impossible pass, turned Larko around and lost

scheduled 17 laps

HRT hadengine completed second change its of

three places himself, Incredibly, no action was taken until the end of the day. He was then excluded from the results, but did not have to start race three from the back of the grid, Larkham had run solidly

the day in time for Lowndes to get out for race three, but in the haste they cannot have bled the water system prop erly as the engine immediate ly overheated. mood that he clobbered the

crestfallen

Lowndes

returned to the pits in such a

and would have to start the

in third and deserved the

third race from the back of

result, but the tip dropped

pit entry without doing too

the gi-id. Rusty must have been really fired up because, from being the 10th car on the grid, he was up to 5th in no time and then despatched

him down to 14th. Without

much damage. Craig faced the likelihood of few, if any, points again. And with Russell on pole ... But in this topsy-turvy

Romano to claim 4th;

Tander!

Of com-se, he was not content with that, and when Bowe ran just a little wide on the second lap the Castrol Commodore was into third. He then poured the pressure on second-placed Bargwanna, slipping by at half-distance when Jason ran a little wide also, before

Having started back in 21st position, the young West Australian had made a tremendous start to be 10th by the end of lap one, then picked up places as others had trouble ahead of himsome of them of Garth’s making! Ellery was the first to go,

that he may well have won the day! That left the consistent Longhurst in third place at the finish, just ahead of ...

steaming in on surprise

going off into the wall and

leader Larkham. On lap '9 Ingall hit the lead. From 12th place on the grid! It was awesome stuff. But Ingall was not quite home free because

losing his early eighth place. but the officials later took no action because of “insufficient evidence”. In the laps after the restart. Bright muscled past,

Bargwanna - as gritty a fighter as Ingall himself was hard on the case, having

but Tander retaliated and turned Bright around, putting him out of the race, Again, the officials only took

also despatched Lai’ko. But the chase was briefly

action after all the racing

put on hold when the safety

was over for the day, fining

car came out in order to have

him $2000.

day, anything could have happened. And it did. There was mayhem at the first comer as Bright tried to carve his way through the mid-fielders, only to have

Pate, who was nudged into a spin, chp the Pirtek car into a spin which saw it slam into the barriers quite heavily. There were cars every

where - Bright, Pate; Poole, Nash, Kendrick, Ellery, Romano ... it was hard to tell

what had happened to whom! It was bad new's for them,

but the inevitable red flag

was good news at last for the Mobil team. Lowndes, with

the water system now re-bled, was able to join the re-start. It almost goes without say

ing that Ingall dashed clear at the start - both times - as

he basked in the rarity of

starting from pole, and

Faulkner’s car removed fi-om

And Tander didn’t stop

behind him this time all was

relatively calm, except that Longhurst was forced down

the top of the straight, JF

there because no sooner was

having been nudged into the

Bright out of the way than he

barriers by a Tander (which at the end of the day resulted

attacked Romano, putting the Queenslander off the

the inside as everyone jostled for space.

HIDDEN VALLEY

ATCC

31JufyW98

- .1:

ifi

'●a w

EARLY SET-BACK... Despite being punted off at the start of the first race, Bargwanna came back briiiiantly.

HANG IN THERE... Glenn Seton lacked speed, but somehow managed third overail. Here he leads Perkins and Bright. earlier dropped to 15th after tangling with Perkins),

Shell Australian Touring Car Championship

Tander and a fast-finishing Skaife, with an unhappy

Jones next, just ahead of Mezera in the first of the

Wynns cars, Johnson in the

Qualifying

second Shell Falcon and Crick in the Ericsson Commodore.

1 2

John Briggs took privateer

Mark Skaife

1:09.7440

Mark Skaife

20:31.5632

1:10.6947

Jason Bargwanna Valvoline-Cummins Commodore

1:10.0333

Mark Larkham

20:36.4181

1:11.1859

MarkLarkham

Mitre 10 Falcon

1:10.0885

John Bowe

Tony Longhurst

20:42.9626

1:12.0321 10

Shell Helix Falcon

1:10.1411

7 8 9

Tony Longhurst Russell Ingall Larry Perkins

Castrol-Longhurst Falcon

honours for the second time

on the day, but that was not enough to prevent Steve

quences and would cost Tony victory (if he had been able to maintain that fourth posi tion, as he had done all day). The competitors had been told not to cross the white

line which separates the main straight from the other

side of the drag strip beyond the centre wall, and the race director called Tony in for a stop-go penalty, despite the fact

that

had

been

the previous race, though, it

squeezed down there. It

was good to see two hard rac-

seemed a bit harsh.

ers giving each other room and not coming to grief

Tony clearly thoughthimself it more than just a bit harsh and shook his fist

as he passed the pits - twice

- before finally coming in angrily. He retm-ned in 17th

place, victory now gone. Down in the Valvoline pit, there was a cautiously buoy ant mood because they believed that Bargwanna would now win the day if he just maintained second place. But they had not been advised of Bright’s race one exclusion, which had handed

Ingall an extra two points. As the race progressed and Bargs was in a position to challenge Ingall, they reminded him that “second is OK”. u

Bargs is a racer,” said

team boss Garry Rogers later, “so we told him he could go for the win but not to do anything silly. We were

telling him that second place

But that was Jason’s last

shot in the bolt and he raced

to the line a couple of car

lengths behind an elated

Ingall, but still thought he was the winner on the day. The podium scenario put paid to that.

Seton somehow managed

to hold on for third from

Perkins, while Larkham charged impressively through

to fifth in the MitrelO Falcon.

7 3

1:10.1584

John Bowe

20:48.8293

1:11.0977

Castrol-Perkins Commodore

1:10.1678

Ford Credit Falcon

1:10.4021

Jason Bargwanna 20:49.7980 1:10.8690 20:55.2637 1:11.0038 Jason Bright

10 Glenn Seton

8 9

11 John Faulkner

“I thought it was all over

Betta-Rsher&Paykel Commodore

1 ;10.4735

Glenn Seton

20:55.9260

1:11.6636

12 Steve Ellery

Konica-HYL Commodore

1:10.5304

Steve Ellery

20:56.8842

1:11.8630 10

for me on the first comer of

13 Alan Jones

Komatsu-Longhurst Falcon

1:10.6783

12 Alan Jones

20:56.3377

1:12,3072

the last race,” said Big Bird. “I got pushed out onto the dirt and had to work my way

14 Garth Tander

Valvoline-Cummins Commodore

1:10.6994

13 Russell Ingall

20:58.9660

1:10.9114

15 Dick Johnson

Shell Helix Falcon

1:10.8144

Mark Poole

21:05.7289

1:12.6192 10

16 Paul Romano

Romano Commodore

1:10.8891

Tomas Mezera

21:05.8738

1:12.4833

17 Darren Pate

21:06.1811

1:11.7163

21:07.4816

1:11.3597

21:08.3653 21:16.2995

1:12.5250 1:13.4823

7 9

tered only by teammate

Skaife, who followed him

through the pack for the first half of the race until he spun while trying to pass Tander. Close behind Craig at the

finish were Bowe (who had

23 Mai Rose

1:10.8950 Wynns Racing Commodore 16 Dick Johnson 1:11.3680 Wynns Racing Commodore 17 Lany Perkins 1:11.7123 Sony Autosound Commodore 18 Darren Pate Bosch Service Centre Commodore 1:12.2739 19 John Briggs 1:12.3283 SuperCheap Autos Falcon 20 Steve Reed Lansvale Smash Commodore 1:12.3734 21 Greg Crick Fairfax Newspapers Commodore 1:12.3738 22 Brett Peters

24 PaulWeel

Castrol Falcon

1:12.4569

25 Kevin Hetfeman

1:12.5394

26 Rod Nash

Price Attack Commodore Commodore

27 Chris Smerdon

ITC Commodore

28 Brett Peters

Blast Dynamics Falcon

1:13.3930

27 Darcy Russell

29 D'arcy Russell 30 Danny Ostrame

Commodore

1:13.6407

Robert Smith

Colourscan Falcon

1:13.6661

Mike Imrie

18 Tomas Mezera

couple of rounds so it is very

pleasing to say the least...”

Bargwanna happy enough with was second, but

19 TenyRnnigan 20 Mark Poole

21 John Briggs 22 Steve Reed

Garth Tander

1:12.6074

21:39.1456

1:13.6856 14

1:13.0163

26 Geoff Kendrick

Rod Nash

DNF Kevin Heffeman

1:15.0651

DNF Mai Rose

33 Robert Smith

Commodore

1:15.2199

DNF Paul Weel

34 Charles Ryman 35 Greg Crick

Falcon

1:18.1029

careful after that because

they were on the radio saying, ‘Second’s good, second’s good!’...” Of course, Longhurst and

Larkham were also pondering what might have been as

a stop-go and nerf respectively cost them possible victory,

tion, but a broken engine rocker on the first lap side-

lined him early.

Overall positions on a most

extraordinary day were: Ingall, Bargwanna, Seton, Larkham, Longhurst, Lowndes, Perkins, Romano, Skaife and Bowe.

■

1:13.3895 14 6

1:14.8740

and thought I’d better be

21:24.6806

Commodore

Trust Bank-Ericsson Commodore

1:12.7700 14 1:11.3915

SAABWreck Commodore

Had we known the situa

1:13.2434

1:14.2142

32 Mike Imrie

tion I might have had a big ger go,” he said. “I had one go

21:18.7266

21:19.5084

21:38.9867

31 Geoff Kendrick

24 Chris Smerdon

not knowing he had to get

past to win the day.

21:27.7617

was certainly displeased with

Having started the race in 5th, that was a good proposi-

Craig’s fastest lap was bet-

F/Lap On 1:10.3527 3

1:11.9495

way through from the back of the grid to finish sixth, right

on the trio ahead.

20:30.6994

1:11.8735

Lowndes, however, was really awesome, carving his

second race...

Race time

20:48.5460

And Romano was thinking he should have been on the podium as 7th place would have placed him third overall.

But for getting punted in the

Driver

Craig Lowndes

20:45.3538

“I never thought I would be in this position,” said Ingall, “To get handed back a few points is just great. I’ve had a couple of shockers the last

Larkham earlier but couldn’t make it stick. Like in

Paul Romano

know because we were never told about the points, which is just ridiculous.” Bargs did have one big go at Russell in the dying laps -

hander near the end of the

1:09.4312

John Faulkner

back.

lap where he had nailed

Mobil-HRT Commodore Mobil-HRT Commodore

might have. We will never

down the inside of the left-

Pos

teer honours.

less event had dire conse

1:09.4110

1:10.1434

rewarded with over^ priva

was enough. “Now it may not have made any difference, but it

Race 1 (17 laps)

Pirtek Falcon

Castrol-Perkins Commodore

Reed’s consistency being

But this seemingly harm

Jason Bright Craig Lowndes

16 laps 16 laps 16 laps 16 laps 9 laps 2 laps 1 laps

1:15.0930 1:15.3147 1:16.2670 1:16.9907 1:13.7994 1:15.8590 1:32.2485

4 7 8 3 3 2 1

4:43.5700

Race 2 (17 laps)

Race 3 (shortened to 14 laps)

Pos Driver

1 2 3

Race time F/Lap On Russell Ingall 26:26.3314 1:10.5038 5 Jason Bargwanna 26:27.2986 1:10.5899 4 Tony Longhurst 26:32.3592 1:11.1351 5

Russell Ingall

Jason Bargwanna'16:52.8011 1:11.2721

Glenn Seton

Garth Tander

26:34.6568

1:11.1591

Larry Perkins

17:03.5573

1:11.8528

Paul Romano

26:35.5660

1:11.0900

Mark Larkham

17:03.9942

1:11.2931

Bright 536 Bargwanna 516 Longhurst 492

Glenn Seton

26:36.0386

1:11.2343

Craig Lowndes

17:04.2037

1:10.9433

0 Johnson

468

Larkham

406

26:36.4397

1:10.9141

John Bowe

17:04.4247

1:11.2511

Romano Faulkner

332

Jones S Johnson

249 238

Ellery

224

188 188 158

DQ John Bowe

Points

Race time F/Lap On 16:51.8446 1:11.3268 5 17:01.1874

1:11.5251

Lowndes

872

Ingaii

866

Perkins

694

Skaife Bowe Seton

660 632 616

346

Larry Perkins

26:37.1926

1:11.4621

Garth Tander

17:05.4090

1:11.8324

Dick Johnson

26:39.2908

1:11.8553

Mark Skaife

17:06.1139

1:10.6062

Mark Poole

26:40.7391

1:12.1650

Alan Jones

17:11.7721

1:11.9140

Tomas Mezera

26:42.1879

1:12.2329

Tomas Mezera

17:12.5083

1:12.1621

Tander Richards Hossack

Finnigan

149

Pate

128 124 106

Darren Pate

26:42.9889

1:12.2675

Dick Johnson

17:13.9103

1:12.2021

Greg Crick

26:43.3515

1:12.4176

17:14.5292

1:12.3823

17:29.2259

1:12.1467

17:33.0295

1:13.5434

17:34.2561

1:13.1420

MarkLarkham

Steve Reed

'26:53.0779

1:12.9018

13 Greg Crick 14 Tony Longhurst 15 John Briggs

15 John Briggs

26:50.1311

1:12.9646

26:43.9440 1:10.8256 ' 2

Steve Reed

Poole Mezera Crick Raed

72 69

Brett Peters

26:51.8434

1:13.0843

PaulWeel

17:34.4253

1:13.0227

Chris Smerdon

26:54.0735

1:13.6106

Chris Smerdon

17:54.1478

1:14.7493

Rod Nash

26:55.8069

1:13.4741

Darcy Russell

17:56.2764

1:15.1792

Weel

Geoff Kendrick

27:02.5003

1:14.7821

Geoff Kendrick

17:56.5145

1:15.1044

Rose

Robert Smith

27:07.8546

1:15.1313

Robert Smith

DNF Jason Bright DNF Darcy Russell

13 laps 13 laps 10 laps 9 laps 5 laps 1 lap

1:10.5044 1:15.4411 1:14,4609 1:11.2355 1:11.7490 13:23.2997

7 2 4 6 4 1

Mike Imrie

DNF Kevin Hetfeman DNF John Faulkner

DNF Steve Ellery DNF A|an Jones DNS Craig Lowndes

DNF Brett Peters

DNF Charles Ryman

13 laps 1:15.3778 13 laps 1:17.0987 9 laps 1:13.5109 8 laps 1:17,7175

DNS Mark Skaife

Smerdon

Briggs Murphy

Doulmaj^

4 Tran 9 Brewer 941op

7 5

Ashby

too

Crompton

38 32 28

26 23 20 14

Osborne

Nash

13 10

Mdeod

Heffeman Price

Moik

ORusselt

R Smith

2 2

Crosswell

Memory Tyre

Computer Stopwatch

« Tyre Durometer

Air Density Gauge

Grant Munday Performance Parts, 37A Fenton Street, Oakleigh VIC 3166 ph: 03 9543 6222 fax: 03 9543 6244 -1.

2S sijufyms

Motorsport

A romp in th for rampant i

’ Th \

/T ■

NICE JOB, HONEY... Erja Hakkinen congr. his dominant Austrian GP victory. Report by JOE SAV ika Hakkinen and David Coulthard showed the world in Austria that the McLai-en is still the dominant car

of 1998 with an emphatic 1-2 finish at the A1 Ring. This was despite some spirited driving from Michael Schumacher in the early laps as he and Hakkinen diced for supremacy - Michael with a light fuel load and Mika with heavy tanks. In the end Schumacher made a

mistake and went off but he fought back brilliantly and, with a little help from his friends, managed to finish third and keep his World Championship losses to a minimum. Michael’s was a great drive, but even he was eclipsed by Coulthard, who drove a storming race right through from the back of the field to finish a strong second to his team mate.

Qualifying

the en to the GP sti

good f( Per] old di Bosch which winne

inaM the lir

ry), A Johnl It is

fying Osten came

began minul scram

mosti

In i

always say that qualifying was “a lottery” but this is not really fair because there is a large element of skill involved in a team ensuring that a driver is on the track at the

TheyouOsterreichring can call it theatA1Zeltweg Ring at

right time, in the right place with the right tyres.

Spielberg if you want to confuse peo ple - is not the ideal place for racing

gy callers did it right and in the final

when it rains. It is built in a natural bowl in the

side of a Styiian foothill so when it rains all the water runs down the

On this occasion Benetton’s strate moments of the session Giancarlo

Fisichella swept out of the last cor ner to snatch pole ft-om Jean Alesi. It was great stuff.

hill and collects in the paddock, along with whatever it has swept along in its path. This is definitely not in keeping with FI’s belief that it is glitzy and glamorous.

Giancarlo was, of course, beside himself with delight and bright-eyed gabbled memly about the achieve ment, the first pole position for an

But for all the mud and rain and

put his Williams in the number one

Italian driver since Riccardo Patrese

LITTLE BROTHER IN THE POINTS...

Ralk Schumacher finished fifth, only 11 seconds behind his third-placed brother, in his Jordan-Mugen Honda.

Up until FisicheUa’s final charge, pole had belonged to Jean Alesi’s

slot at Portugal in 1992. Fisichella had not got to pole with out dramas, having two big spins in

While things went well for Fisichella, the same could not be said for local hero Alexander Wurz, who

Sauber who also switched onto inter

the middle of the session, but man aged to stay away from the walls. There was some minor damage but

never managed to get settled in the car in the changing conditions. He

mediate rubber at the irght moment and was in the right place on the

this was repaired and Fisichella was sent but again. “I was third fastest and my engi neers called me up to ask me if I wanted to change tyres,” he explained. “I asked if there was time and they said yes. It was the irght choice for the last lap.”

had traffic on his final hurried runs

track to make the most of the condi

and ended up a very disappointing 17th on the grid. It was a pattern which was repeat ed by several other teams with one driver getting it irght and the other

tions.

getting it horribly wrong. In the clos ing minutes, intermediates were the

always a gamble when you have to go and do it. You have to push 100 percent and I did that.” Johnny Herbert was not as fortu nate and ended up a desperate 18th on the grid, having ruined his own chances looking out for Alesi in his

tyres to have.

“The car was very good in dry con ditions,” Jean admitted, “and I did

not change anything on the car. When it is like that in the wet it is

mirrors so that he did not destroy Jean’s lap.

“The temperatm-e in my tyres had

dropped because I was miming slow ly,” Johnny explained. “That made me run wide in the first comer on

my fljing lap and that put me on the wet part of the track, which dropped the temperatures some more. It was a real shame because the car was

good.” ile almost all the field chose to

. . run with hai’d compound tyres, it was worth noting - although in-el-

evant in qualifying - that the Saubers would be on soft Goodyear nibber for the race.

Hakkinen had been quick from the

beginning of practice, although it is worth noting that Coulthard seem to have the edge for the first day and a half.

Hakkinen’s final run on intermedi

ates was a little bit too early for the

tyres to be at their most effective and on the final inm he found it difficult

to get confident with the car, but still finished 3rd.

“It was so easy to lose the back end

AUSTRIAN GP

Motorsport

3iJufyim

e woods IHdarens

r \\

PIT WORK... Schumacher was

forced to pit early when he went off and damaged his nose while Barrichello, after a strong run in the Stewart, was an early retirement. Ferrari did better than most

teams in ensuring that both drivers were up the front with Eddie Irvine

lining up 8th, complaining that the team had been too indecisive. He

ended up spending the final minutes on full wet tyres. “I should have gone out on inter mediates at the end,” said Eddie, “but for these tyres to work you have to do several laps and going out too early would have been a gamble. In

the end we left it too late ...”

Fifth on the grid was another sur prise, Rubens Barrichello delighted to be up with the big guys again in his Stewart-Ford. Rubens was actu

ally disappointed because 'he reck oned that his last lap would have been even faster if it had not been for traffic.

of the car under braking,” Mika explained. “I had a couple of running across the track. The last

“I ran wide,” he explained, “and that put me 14th.” Fastest on Friday and Saturday morning, Coulthard blew his chances

three corners were the best part of

in that one moment. The best he

moments on the irvers which were

the track but I lost a lot of time because I had to back off. We have never driven here in wet conditions before and so we had no idea what

this track needed and were relying on settings from other circuits. It was a bit of a guess and I was not veiy comfortable with the car.”

But if Hakkinen was disappointed, Coulthard was way down in the dumps, setting only the 14th fastest

“We have done extremely well,” he said.

Jos Verstappen also did very well, lining up 12th, although he felt that if he had gone out a minute or two

could hope for on Sunday was a point

later than he did he would have been

or two.

in the top 10. It was nonetheless a great day for Stewart. It was also a good day for Arrows with Mika Salo 6th and very cool,

Fourth on the grid was Hakkinen’s World Championship rival Michael Schumacher, which was not a little surprising given Michael’s reputation as FI’s rain king. On this occasion - it does some times happen - Schumacher made a string of mistakes: he switched to

time as a result of an off on his final

intermediate tyres too late and spent too long making his mind up in the

lap.

pits.

calm and collected about it.

“I took it easy for the first eight laps,” he explained, “getting used to the difficult track conditions and

then I just went for it. I felt I was even quicker on my last lap but I had to deal with traffic so I had to aban

don my attempt to improve.”

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28 31Julyl998

FORMER CHAMPIONS... Michael Schumacher donned some local

headwear and signed autographs for the fans; Damon Hill found himself on the wrong tyres for the conditions in qualifying. Life was not as uncomplicated for Fedro Diniz, who stayed on wet tyres and ended up 13th, which would nor

mally have been a good showing but in the circumstances was a disap pointment. The Williams team was not a par

times you go out too early. This itme we got it wrong. I don’t think it is too bad for the race because I am confi dent that Salo and Barrichello will

not be able to keep their positions.” TTill reckoned that the car was

ticularly happy place after qualify

XXgood enough to be in the top four

ing. The cars seemed to be lacking the

and was rather frustrated to be on

pace of the Benettons on this occa

Jordan were also frustrated. The

sion and it was curious that, with

curious thing is that both sides

Goodyear going as well as they are,

seemed to think that the others were

the team did not do better.

to blame for the problem - which is not a very healthy situation. Frost suffered a similar split in

This was in part explained by the fact that Jacques Villeneuve made a mess of the session by spinning off and stalling in the sand trap. He rashed back to the pits and jumped into the T-car but inevitably it had a different set-up and so Jacques was a little at sea.

After playing around on wets, he went for intermediates, but it was

too late to make much of an impres sion. He was 11th on the grid, four places behind Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

HHF reckoned that he would have

been on pole if he had not been the first man to take the chequered flag. Ninth on the grid was Ralf Schumacher, with Damon Hill back in 15th, and both Jordan drivers

were felt that things would have been a lot better if they had not gone out so early on intermediates. “It is a gamble,” said Ralf. “Sometimes you wait too long, some-

the eighth row. The engineers at

fortime with its two drivers, Olivier Fanis - who had never raced at the

A1 Ring - ending up 10th while Jamo Trulli was 16th. Fanis reck

oned he would have been as high as 5th if he had been able to get anoth er lap on intermediates while Jamo reckoned he should have gone out a little later than he did. Down at the back we had the

usual melange of Minardis and Tyrrells with the winner on this occasion being Esteban Tuero, who aced out Tora Takagi, Shinji Nakano and Ricardo Rosset to be the top Ford privateer. Takagi should have done a lot bet ter - he was very quick in the early sessions - but spun off in the middle of the session and clonked a wall. He

later went out again in the same car without any drama. It was just not as quick as it might have been.

Race-71 laps Qlunday dawned over¬

Ocast and ai nasty-look-

ing but as the morning progressed the weather improved; the sun shone down and the temperatures crept up.

The warm-up brought

game with the McLarens 1-2

Unfortunately he spun into his

(Hakkinen faster now) and then an

teammate Salo and then bounced

Schumacher’s disappearance left Hakkinen aH alone up finnt.

appreciable gap back to the Ferraris.

off and tipped Coulthard into a spin. There were cars all over the place.

been focused on the lead battle,

TTien came Alesi and a remarkable

Takagi. The temperatures rose throughout the morning and as the cars lined up Austria was finally warm and sunny as it should be at this time of year. Expectations were also rising because here was a most unusual grid and there was much pondering whether the inevitable accident would be at the first comer or at the second.

'The trath is that the crashes hap

pened at both the first and second cor

Salo tried to do a spin-tum to get going again and smacked the rear of his car into Coulthard’s front wing. The Safety Car was despatched to neutralise the race.

Both Salo and Coulthard ended up in the pits, where Mika retired, while Tuero and Diniz both also stopped for repairs.

Theat the Safety wastwoshort-lived and end Car of lap the race was

ners. And it was pretty close on the grid, too, because when the lights went out Fanis was left sitting on the grid and those behind had near-misses as they squeezed through. Foor Fanis did get going but was out of the game after a couple of cor ners. He has yet to complete a racing lap in Austria... Up at the front, Hakkinen had

on again, with Schumacher challeng ing Hakkinen for the lead. Two laps later Michael tried to go around the

made the best start and was able to dive into the first corner ahead of Fisichella and Schumacher.

outside of the Gosser Kurve. This

Unusually, Alesi had made a bad start and was pushed down to 5th by Barrichello.

While much of the attention had Coulthard had driven a remarkable

recovery after his repairs. He was on a one-stop strategy but was up to sixth before the two-stoppers began coming in. He passed Alesi for fourth on lap 19 and, finding clear road ahead, set two fastest laps as he chased after Irvine.

At the same time, second-placed Fisichella came into the pits and was sent out again just as Alesi arrived in fourth place. Fisichella did not want to give way. Nor did Alesi. At Remus Kurve they collided. For Jean there must have been a

Kurve and a lap later he tried again,

sense of deja vu because last year he did exactly the same thing with Eddie

made

allowed

Irvine at the same comer. It looked a

Fisichella to grab second. It did not last long. Schumacher

time he tapped the rear of the

little like a racing accident but the slow-motion TV revealed that per haps Fisichella should have lifted, rather than itpping Jean into a spin. Alesi could probably have kept going but he stalled after a spin-turn and

McLaren.

was out.

outside of Hakkinen at the Gosser a

mistake

and

quickly got ahead again and on lap 7 tried to pass Hakkinen again on the

And then began a remarkable bat tle of fastest laps between the two dri vers. They set eight new fastest laps

The first crash was at the back,

between them in the course of the

where Takagi overcooked it as he braked for the comer and spun, tak ing off 'Tuero’s Minardi and causing

next six laps but then gradually Hakkinen edged ahead. , On lap 17 Schumacher made a rare

both Nakano and a slow-starting

mistake and the Ferrari bounced

Herbert to go off into the sand trap in avoidance. They aU rejoined. Up at the second comer, Fisichella went wide, allowing Schumacher to get alongside at the exit and in a flash Michael was ahead and off in pursuit

wildly across the sand trap, tearing off its front wing and barge boards. Michael managed to get the beast under control and rejoined. He had to do an entire lap to get back to the

of Hakkinen. Behind them there was

pits but the Ferrari team did a good job to send him on his way with a

more chaos as Diniz spun as the field

new nose, new tyres and some more

arrived at the Remus Kurve.

fuel.

I was side by side with Jos Verstappen,” Fedro said, “and he pushed me onto the grass. I lost con-

The loss of itme was minimised by combining it with the first pit stop. He rejoined over a minute behind Hakkinen and began to charge.

“I never like to have accidents but

it is even worse when you have them with somebody that you like,” said Jean. “And I redly like Giancarlo!” Fisichella was similarly affected by the crash.

“I don’t want to complain about Alesi; usually he is a veiy fair driver,” he said, “but this incident could have been avoided.”

With Fisichellawereoutleftof the way the McLarens running 1-2 with

David

20s

behind

Mika.

Hakkinen pitted first on lap 34 and David followed on lap 36, having led for a couple of laps. When they rejoined and were up to speed the gap was down to 15s and David, despite a mistake which cost him 5s, had no trouble keeping Irvine behind him. Further back, attention was now focused on Michael Schumacher’s progress.

Although the gap to Hakkinen remained pretty much unchanged he moved up through the field hke a hot knife through butter and by lap 47 he was right behind his brother and

fighting for 4th place. On lap 52 he tried a curious move around the out

side at Remus and nearly went off but dealt with Ralf a couple of laps later. And now we had a curious situa

tion for Irvine was a long way clear of Schumacher and yet no-one in the

paddock believed that Eddie would finish ahead of Michael. MILESTONE... Giancarlo

Fisichella (above) scored his first

pole position in the wet qualifying but was quickly passed in the run to the first corner by Hakkinen (right). Behind him soon after the start are Michael Schumacher, Alesi and Barrichello.

Just watch, we all said, any minute now Irvine will develop a problem. And so he did. Eddie’s lap times dived

by 1.5s because of “a brake problem”. Michael Schumacher said he had a

similar problem and backed off. He was only able to do lml3s while Eddie was doing lml6s.

On lap 68 Schumacher went ahead of Irvine and suddenly Irvine’s prob lem cured itself and he was back in the lml4s.

AUSTRIAN GR

^®0®[F8I])®[?0^

31Jul^W98

McLaren defends Ferrari tactics McLaren

Ron

Schumacher then went

Dennis lent surprise sup port to rival Ferrari after

boss

past to seoure a podium place and a potentially vital extra championship point. Dennis, delighted by Hakkinen pulling eight points

the Italian team's drivers

traded places at the finish. "There's a subtle differ ence between a mascarade

clear of Schumacher in the

and a charade," Dennis said.

Ferrari was unlikely to spark

"This was a charade.

"You must draw your own conclusions. There is noth

ence with a race result,

ner-up in the title standings, was fourth.

including overtaking a team mate under team orders, after Coulthard let Hakkinen win the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in March.

Irvine was coy about Sunday's race, mumbling

It was a completely daft piece of theatre and an insult to the intelli

gence of all spectators. Of course, Fen-ari was arnning to team orders and of com-se that is now illegal. If the FIA had any consistency Ferrari would have been punished.

Oneingcannot blameandFeiTai-i play charades one for cannot prove beyond doubt that orders were in force but when Schumacher told i

the press office that they had both had brake problems there was a gale of laughter. If the-whole thing had happened a yeai- ago or 50 yeai-s ago no-one would have blinked but the FIA’s mad i-ul-

ing after the Australian GP made all tills necessary. By r-ights, there is no justification for no action being taken. Such is the way of the sport these days.

And so a fine afternoon of racing ended on a silly and annoying note. It was a gi-eat day for McLar-en and a brilliant drive by Hakkinen. Schumacher’s mistake was recom

pensed by a mar-vellous drive through the field. It was all good stuff. Fifth place went to Ralf Schumacher, who overtook no-one and simply profited from the demise of those ahead of him, but he over shadowed Damon Hill all after-noon.

Damon’s strategy was not as good as Ralfs but he came home in 7th

place and Iris best lap was only a cou ple of tenths slower- so he was quite happy at the end of the day. ● The pair were split by ViUeneuve, but this was not a vintage day for Williams.

Frentzen ran 7th early on but retired with a major engine blow-up

him to slow

much as three seconds a

result is fine as it is." Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn said both of his drivers had had to slow down because of brake

lap.

problems

but

that

Schumacher

had

been

'■ A

I# if 7

. /

''s

Ferrari's

number two driver had deliv

quicker because he was the

ered a near-perfect perfor

better driver.

and

after

When asked about a pos

Schumacher passed was able to reduce his lap times

sible sanction. Brawn said:

mance

"We are here to win," he

The FIA outlawed interfer

forced

Before that,

result is now banned.

Ferrari had courted con

Michael Schumacher, run

a formal protest, even though any manipulation of a said. "The result today was right."

in third place and teammate

had

ly. I could have had a really good result today. But the

down, allowing Schumacher to overtake on lap 68. His times fell away by as

standings, suggested that

ing wrong with what hap pened today. Formula 1 rac ing is about teams winning championships." troversy when Eddie Irvine slowed down in the closing stages when he was running

something about longer ped als and brake problems that

again.

EYE ON THE MAIN GAME... Ron Dennis (here with Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug) said there Is

"It's for other people to judge.

"Brake wear had been

"Both drivers know that

critical through the race, and

they must not have each

I was told to ease off, which

other off," he said. "We'll see

is how Michael caught me," Irvine said. "Once he got

what happens." "We both had problems,"

past, I pushed again for a couple of laps as Ralf was

said

behind me.

Eddie wouldn't make it too difficult for me to overtake."

nothing wrong with what Ferrari did in Austria.

"It's a bit of a shame, real-

Schumacher

about

passing Irvine. "It's obvious

on lap 17. It is a very long time since we saw a Renault engine do some thing like that... Villeneuve’s bad qualifying was compounded by a fearful start, which dropped him back to 14th. He made quick progress in those early laps but then had a similar kind of

race to Schumacher Jr, driving ai'ound until the chequered flag. At one point he seemed to fall asleep and fell off, presumably providing himself with enough adrenaline to get to the finish. Johnny Herbert finished 8th, his cockpit was full of stones as a result of his fil'st comer off, but he drove a sen

rf"'

sible and steady race to pick up a few places and then settled into a rhythm all the way to the flag. Alexander Wurz was 9th. For a

long time he was trapped by Jos Verstappen - after an early incident which saw them both going off at high speed - but eventually he managed to

get clear- of the Dutchman. Tenth place fell to Ti-ulli, but his progi-ess was I'uined in the second half by a broken shock absorber,

which meant that he could not capi talise on the early progress that saw him running 5th.

Nakano his first came corner homeexcursion 11th despite and

despite Barrichello ruirrring 4th in the early laps. Even then Rubens was in

“because I couldn’t drive the car. It

up.

problems.

ally failed to finish, coming into the pits on the very last lap after a tyre deflated.

Stewart did not have a good day.

World Championship, Round 10 Zeltweg, July 26th, 1998 - 71 laps

‘T had no choice but to come in,” he explained after stopping on lap 8, was too dangerous.” Verstappen ran 12th early on and battled at length with Wurz but was

Rosset was classified 12th but actu

Austrian Grand Prix

trouble with his brakes.

reported nothing particularly exciting in his race, while Tuero pitted to try to get stones out of his cockpit and then fell off while charging to catch

forced to retire on lap 52 with engine It had been a most entertaining race and, but for the amroying issue of team orders, would have been a perfect advert for Formula 1 at its finest...

■

Wflil

1 2 3 4

Mika Hakkinen, McLaren-Mercedes MP4/13,1 h30m44,086s David Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes MP4/13,1 h30m49,375s Michael Schumacher, Ferrari F300,1h31m23,178s Eddie Irvine, Ferrari F300,1h31m28,062s

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Ralf Schumacher, Jordan-Mugen-Honda 198,1 h31 m34,740s Jacques ViUeneuve, Williams-Mecachrome FW20,1 h31 m37,288s Damon Hill, Jordan-Mugen Honda 198,1 h31 m57,71 Os Johnny Herbert, Sauber-Petronas C17, 70 laps Alex Wurz, BenettOn-Mecachrome B198, 70 laps Jarno Trulli, Prost-Peugeot AP01,70 laps Shinji Nakano, Minardi-Ford M198, 70 laps Ricardo Rosset, Tyrrell-Ford 026, 69 laps

Fastest lap: D.Coulthard, lap 30,1m 12,878s Lap leaders: Lap 1-34 Hakkinen, 35-36 Couithard, 37-71 Hakkinen Retirements:

1st lap 1 St lap lap 1 lap 3 lap 8 lap 16 lap 21 lap 21 lap 30 lap 51

Tora Takagi, Tyrrell-Ford 026, collision Olivier Panis, Prost-Peugeot AP01, clutch Mika Salo, Arrows A19, collision Pedro Diniz, Arrows A19, collision Rubens Barrichello, Stewart-Ford SF2, brakes H-H Frentzen, Williams-Mecachrome FW20, engine Jean Alesi, Sauber-Petronas Cl 7, collision Giancarlo Fisichella, Benetton-Mecachrome B198, collision

Esteban Tuero, Minardi-Ford 198, spun off Jos Verstappen, Stewart-Ford SF2, engine

World Championship points standings: 1 Hakkinen 66, 2 M.Schumacher 58, 3 Coulthard 36,4 Irvine 32, 5 Wurz 17, 6 Fisichella 15, 7 ViUeneuve 12, 8 Frentzen 8, 9 Barrichello 4,10 Alesi, Salo and R.Schumacher 3,

13 Herbert, Diniz and Magnussen 1 Constructors’ Championship points:

SCENIC... The Austrian Alps provide a superb backdrop as the field negotiates the second corner of the race.

1 McLaren-Mercedes 102, 2 Ferrari 90,3 Benetton-Mecachrome 32, 4 Williams 20, 5 Stewart-Ford 5, 6 Arrows and Sauber-Petronas 4, 8 Jordan Mugen Honda 3

30 SlJulymS

Audi in sixth heaven ● Jones and McConville score wins as Audi

dominates for sixth straight Mallala win « Richards off-pace as Volvo S40 loses day and struggles for set-up ● McLean takes Independent honours and two thirds

● Hills tops rest in Independents battle ● Gearbox problems stall Ron Searle ● Bewley subs for ill Rolfo in Mondeo THERE’S STARTS and STARTS... Jones and McConville led from the start of both races. In

race one Jones (4) got the jump and took the points. HAVING A TOUGH WEEKEND...

Richards and Volvo had a weekend that they will not remember fondly. THE THRILL OF VICTORY... Jones still has a commanding series lead.

Report by

Of the rest, there were

PHIL BRANAGAN

mixed stories. Peter Hills

IF losing ‘home-ground’ advantage with the move of the final round of the

BOC Gases Super Touring Championship was a blow to Audi Sport Australia, the team more than made up for it with a dominant performance at Mallala’s sixth round of the series. Brad Jones and Cameron

McConville shared top billing with a pole position, a win and a second each as

the quad-ringed team seem ingly slammed the door on Jim Richards’ champi onship hopes. Richards struggled for car speed in the S40 after losing a day’s set-up time on Friday while an engine was changed. Cameron McLean beat him to two

third places on his way to Independent honours.

had his best weekend ever, running to two fifth places, but team-mate for the week Carlos Rolfo was forced out

after being hospitalized on Saturday night with a per forated eardrum.

In his absence Dwayne Bewley stepped into the second Mondeo and, despite a total lack of time in the

car, came home seventh in race two.

Ron Searle had all man

ner of gearbox woes in the Toyota Camry, the crew puling the unit out five times in two days before the ‘box stopped the car in race one.

Qualifying

Motor Racing,is asofunny goes the saying, business.

Sometimes things go to plan. Darwin in July; hot, dry. Adelaide in July; cool.

wintry. Mallala in July; ft-eezing and bloody windy. The weather in the North

may have been sufficiently scorchio but, down south, the meteorologists were way off. Qualifying day dawned bright, sunny, not a breath of wind and 17 degrees, just enough to get the track tem perature into the low 20s. Perfecto.

Of such things are race teams’ nightmares made. Anyone who made an Antarctic tyre choice was in big trouble. Weather people aren’t the

only ones with crook predic tions. Pop Quiz; what’s bet ter in qualifying - a Volvo S40 or an Audi A4 quattro? The Swede? Not this time...

Audi Sport Australia were resting on two poles. Jones one, McConville one. Rest of World nada. McConville, sec ond in the first session, was less than thrilled, feeling that an engine-stalling

(Photosby Carlo Lilti/Klynsmith andJohn Morris/Mpix)

brake lock-up cost him the point for pole position and, as third man on the points totem pole, felt that the extra point had gone beg ging. It had cost him he reckoned, a tenth of a sec ond.

The Audis were quick. A lm09.61s for Jones did the

job in Ql, while Cam’s lm09.57s was the proof in the pudding in the second session.

Jones had no problems to report - well, no mechanical problems. His were more of the biological variety; he had picked up a virus and, while making light of it, he sounded like hell and looked like it too

(sorry. Brad). His driving was, however, about spot-on, his

two best times 0.04s

apaii. Richards was third in both sessions. The S40 was con

founding its minders. On Thursday, with a well-used engine (which Richo mused

“The engine seems as was down maybe lOhp) fit ted Richo had banged off good,” he mused, “but I can’t the times (from consistent if not easy nines get but, after sitting out Friday . Thursday).” Neither could McLean. while a new five-cylinder was clipped in, a lml0.20s The Greenfield BMW led all comers on Friday, well into was the best he could wring the nines but, again, out of it. In the morning an apparent misfire was traced McLean felt something awi’y to a throttle sensor but, all with the car’s balance in told, JR and the crew were qualifying. He thought the greater than average temperplexed.

31July1998

♦

WARWiC'.*-

DIFFERENT STROKES... The start of race two was

Race 1 (16 laps)

● t

The first surprise of the

much different. From pole McConville got away well

day was that Eolfo was missing - literally - from the

but chopped Jones onto a kerb (above). That let McLean (right) through into

track. The Hills crew awoke

at 6am to find him gone. He was in hospital with an inner ear problem and wasn’t going to drive. But the car was there, Dwayne Bewley was there and, quickly, paperwork was

second, which lasted until

the pitstops. DWAYNE McLEAN?...

Bewley and McLean com pare fashion wear. That’s McLean on the right - er,

organised to allow him to drive. McLean offered his

ten... (Photos by Noel Papalera, John Morris/Mpix and Carlo Lilti/Klynsmith)

spare suit, Adderton had some boots and the NZer was aboard.

But, he still wasn’t out of

peratures were partly to blame and was hoping for better

(and

cooler)

the water. On the formation

lap the car wouldn’t fire and, while the cars filed around,

for

Sunday. So much for the Big Four.

he would drive the car for MtCHEUH

Mark Adderton was fifth.

Hang on, no he wasn’t. It seems hke an eternity since

Friday, he snipped a couple of seconds off every time he went out and would line up

Jones, Justin Matthews and Paul Morris - didn’t fall into it, either. The Vauxhall, now

13th and 12th.

running a most un-Richards

Hills heading the ‘Rest’, run ning neatly in the Knight Racing Mondeo. He, too, was very consistent, running

While he was sixth in Q2, Adderton had to make do with ninth in the first session. He was quite literally scratching his head as to

had nothing to report. Well, apart from a new

why the beast would not go in the first session and was considering a late-night call to previous pilot Steven Richards in the UK to help things along until things

set-up for the first time, was only 0.2s off Hills’ time in Ql, but lost a half second (and two spots) in the second session. All in all, an encouraging day’s motorsport, Kaplan was in seventh, twice, in the Hunter Holden Nissan Primera. He felt that

improved for the second ses-

the car was not best suited

sion.

David Auger was, as ever, cheerful. The Olympus Alfa

to the track, pointing out

155 was sent to the rear in

Ql after failing to start on the weighbridge (a faulty crank sensor the culprit)

the Honda Accord has been

anything less but this time, it was blue, not white, lead ing row three. It was Peter

12.(is in both sessions, and

team-mate. Carlos Rolfo was

going to skip the meeting, his BBX BMW refusing all persuasion to get all of its electrics on the same page as BMW Motorsport’s owners

returning

Adam

So who was sixth on the

realised the second Ford was

first grid? Bob Tweedie,

that the aforementioned Richards Jr had a rum time

idle for the weekend, he stepped aboard and went front-wheel driving again. After missing Thursday and

that’s who. And the veteran. - joining the 50 race club this week, territory previ

of things in the same car a year ago. “It’s not bad, it’s just not

ously plundered only by

good,” he said. “Mind you.

manual

The

but,

when

it’s not getting any worse or, any better.” Er, yep. Searle was eighth in the first session but, literally, nowhere in the second. The Phoenix team had had the

car’s gearbox out four times in 24 hours and, after eight laps in the first session, the gears stopped again. Searle missed session two and the

crew,

suspecting

mis

aligned gears, got to work again.

But, with a lml3.6s in the first session the car was 2.6s

faster than a year previously. The BMWs of Anthony Robson

and

Justin

Matthews swapped positions in th.e two sessions, the DCM car of Robson taking a pair

llths

while

Matthews felt that the Faber-Castell car was suf

fering in set-up, oversteer ing despite the Bob Holdenled team’s efforts to cure the

car’s tail-happy antics. Biggest tale of woe Tony Newman. If re-organisihg his team after splitting with Paul Grimm’s Starion team

and the car suffered electri

wasn’t enough to deal with,

cal woes on Friday before changing plugs and leads.

he had the mother of all on engine blow-ups Thursday after almost no

seat time in the car.

The engine wasn’t a prob lem - the team had another

unit - but, somehow, a piece of sump, blown off in the blast, ruptured the car’s fuel

cell and, overnight, two crew members headed to Bendigo ^

to get the fuel bladder

repaired by an aviation spe cialist.

That worked and, had the team been running 100 octane fuel, that may have been the end of it. But the ■ \

car’s Elf racing fuel ate the bladder’s glue like Tweedie’s cake and they sat out Friday and Saturday while help was, hopefully, forthcoming. From the hack, he was hop ing for a wet Sunday. “I like racing in the wet,” he grinned. “Hang on; I’ve never driven this car in the

wet. Or, even in the dry, here...”

DOING THE RIGHT THING... Newman was trying to get out of the way of McConvitle when the two got their letts and rights muddled up. It cost McConville the lead but not the win. Man on left, considering prayer, is TOCA’s Peter Greviile.

Attention, Motor Racing gods - can something nice happen to this team, please?

the first time starting from pit lane. Jones and McConville got away well at the lights. So did Richards while McLean

- again - was slow away. “Eastern Creek (where he

blew an engine on the line) is really bugging me,” he said later. “I just can’t get past it.” Hills was past from the grid but, at the Northern Hairpin the yellow Beemer slid by into fourth. Hills and Tweedie

followed

from

Robson, Searle, Kaplan, Adderton, Auger, Matthews, Newman and, after a long gap, Bewley. Despite having lost his power steering - on the warm-up lap! - Searle was

past Robson on lap three and started to gain on Tweedie but, on lap five, he found no gears again and coasted off at the Northern Hairpin. This really was the end; the Phoenix team were out of bits and he would miss the second race.

Jones’ car looked unsteady on cold tyres but, once up to temperature, he consolidat

ed his lead. He broke the lap record on lap three with a lml0.25s effort and, with

McConville riding his bumper, pulled a gap to Richards.

Still, all was not well with

the S40. Apart from losing ground to the A4s McLean

was closing and, after lap five, the chase was on. He caught him on lap 10 and, one lap later, pulled ai-ound the outside in the sweeper to take the line and third into

Bridgestone. That’s how they finished in a processional race. The Audis finished side by side, Jones taking the win. McLean was four seconds

Continued over page

52 suui^ms Let them eat Bob’s cake WHAT do you give the man who has ‘everything’? A cake. Bob Ttveedie

received a special gateau after qualifydng to mark his 50th Super Toiming meeting and, after a

raspy-voiced speech from Brad Jones, carved the unit with gusto before offering all and sundry a slice of the action. This,

after his best-ever qualify ing performance. ■ Peter Hills’ team suf fered a set-back in the

lead-up to the meeting'.His transporter, which had been loaned to him for

the duration of the season, had been sold before the

race and the Knight team had to act fast to rent/bor row another. While he was

grateful for the loan of the first unit, he was not that

impressed with the sud den way the loan ended. 9 While BJR’s Audis

were a year newer than in 1997 and his Michelins

were too, a second’s improvement from 12 months earlier was a big leap, pleasing the team no end.

■ Adam Kaplan will drive the Nissan Primera for the last time at Oran Park’s BOC finale. The car

is currently ‘unoccupied’ for Bathurst and the for

mer open-wheeler driver will concentrate on busi

ness next year. His employer and sponsor, Himter Holden, moved over 8000 cars last year... ■ Michelin man Trevor

Scheumack had a busy time between BOC

rounds, aniving in Adelaide after a lightning visit to the UK and France

to assist planning for the French companys assault on the AMP Bathurst 1000.

■ Paddock whispers suggest that a third brand of Super Touring tyre after Michelin and Dunlop, may be tested locally before the end of the

series. And no, it doesn’t

stak with a capital ‘B’.

■ Missing from Mallala on the weekend was Greg Murphy. The racer and commentator was on hand

on Thm-sday and Friday to have a poke around before

jetting off to Darwin for a Network Ten commentary gig at the first Shell race in the Territory.

■ One of the things which delayed the race two restart was checking with the drivers to waive the restart minimum time

Continued from page 31

ruthlessly took the line, leaving Jones riding the

back, similarly ahead of

kerb and bouncing the inside

Richards at the end. Hills

■in the air. On the exit of the

was lonely but happy in fifth

first turn he lost his speed. McLean got alongside and

Race 1 (16 laps)

sixth, holding out the clearly struggling Adderton who had struggled past the other ex-Richards car of Kaplan. Newman was happy just

took

the

Race time Team/Car F/lap On Quel Grid Audi Sport Australia A4 Quattro 19:03.6270 1:10.2569 3 1:09.6139 1 Cameron McConville Audi Sport Australia A4 Quattro 19:03.7394 1:10.4501 2 1:09.7466 2

McConville consolidated the lead from the two bat

3 4 5 6 7

Cameron McLean Jim Richards Peter Hills Bob Tweedie Mark Adderton

to finish from Robson, whose

Richards was behind Hills (a

battle with Matthews was

situation he righted at the Northern Hairpin) and ahead of Adderton, Kaplan, Tweedie, Matthews, Auger, Robson and Bewley,

8 9 10

Adam Kaplan Tony Newman Anthony Robson

Justin Matthews

12 13

Dwayne Bewley David Auger

while

Tweedie. finished

ended with a deflating tyre of the Faber-Castell car.

Auger lost a spot with a trip onto the grass - to Bewley, who had toured sensibly around before slicing his

second

into

Southern Hairpin.

tling German cars, while

times to within 1.7s of Hills’.

Knight Racing Ford Mondeo Tweedie Vauxhall Cavalier BOC Gases Honda Accord Hunter Holden Nissan Primera

Newman Peugeot 406 DCM BMW318i Faber-Castell BMW 318i

Knight Racing Ford Mondeo , Olympus Alfa Romeo 155 TS Transtar Express Toyota Camry

DNF Ron Searle

Driver Race time Cameron McConville 35:56.3508 35:56.9906 Brad Jones 35:58.3037 Cameron McLean 36:19.8819 Jim Richards Peter Hills 29 laps

6 7

Adam Kaplan Dwayne Bewley

McLean. It would take a

away at the second asking and did, easily slotting in front of the S40 and taking

Formula One-style solution - a pitstop - to aid matters. While the duo were losing ground to McConville, Richards was in even worse

Bob Tweedie

9 10 11

David Auger Anthony Robsori Tony Newman

12 Justin Matthews DNF Mark Adderton DNS Ron Searle

29 laps 29 laps 28 laps 28 laps 28 laps 28 laps 28 laps 13 laps

19:07.8315

1:10.7328

19:11.2477

1:10.6318

19:42.7408 19:50.2330 19:54.8620 20:00.8764 20:02.6416 20:19.0032

15 laps 15 laps 15 laps 4laps

1:15.2840 1:14.5970 1:14.7797 1:14.3445

6 1:14.9980 12 7 No time 14 3 1:13.8351 10 3 1:12.3865 8

F/lap

Dual

4 11 15 3

1:09.5742 1:09.6549 1:10.5959 1:10.3923

1 2

1:13.0522 2 1:13.6498 4 1:14.3162 21 1:13.5372 2 1:15.2596 17 1:15.0649 26 1:13.9549 4 1:14.9194 2 1:12.7922 10

1:12.0878 1:12.5079 No time 1:12.7657 1:13.6230 1:14.5916 No time 1:14.5412 1:12.4561

5 7 ' 14 Kaplan 8 Pickett etc 9 Robson 11 Henderson 13 10 Bewley Newman 6

4 3

2 1:10.2075 3 1:12.8242 2 1:12.0743 5 1:12.8226 2 1:12.2951 6 1:13.2148 8 1:12.8310 9 1:13,7371 5 1:12.3019 7 1:13.7950 7 No time 13 1:15.0030 14 1:14.1016 11

1:10.2624 1:10.3838 1:10.4528 1:10.6899

No time

Grid

6 1:10.2601

Independents Points McLean Adderton Hills Tweedie Holden etc R & T Searle

162 112 92 72 58 46 39

Richards 133 McConville 127 McLean 98 Adderton 60 48 Hills Tweedie 34 Holden/ Sheumack/ Matthews 28 T Searle 26 R Searle 24

Auger Kaplan

20 19

Pickett/Shaw/ McGill/ Kratzmann 15 Henderson 8

Bewley

Robson

Newman 2 Manufacturers 174 Audi150 Volvo

Teams Audi

■Rolfo

Drivers Points 153

Jones

Sport

Australia

150

Knight Racing

100

shape. Pre-race adjustments to

the

Volvo

had

made

things worse, not better, and Jim was losing touch with the McLean-Jones battle by around 0.4s a lap. Using NASCAR-gained experience, Jones told his crew to be ready for him any time after the pit window opened on lap five and, at the end of lap nine, in he came for an 11s stop. But more telling was his in-an-

corner and the Nissan ended

up on the outside of the first comer, front lights smashed and stalled. He got going last but, with glass on the track, the officials pulled the red flag. It was an odd call; they do have a Safety Car, after all but, after a wait, off they went on their warm-up lap again. Except for Newman. After the repairs to his fuel tank, he was having trouble pick ing up fuel and, despite the fact that the tank was full, he wanted to save gas by skipping the warm-ups and starting from pit lane.

out time (time added to his

‘pit’ lap), which was almost exactly 20s. He resumed fourth.

Jones’ strategy was clear to see. His first flying lap on new nibber was a ImlO.SSs, his fastest of the lap and, while he was gaining only 0.4s to the still-pushing McConville, he now looked

The second start was a

cracker. McLean was away well but the Audis leapt away together. From second

the threat to McLean.

Jones had a sniff at McConville’s inside but Cam

Richards came in two laps later for an 13s effort (23s

track time) , followed by McLean a lap later. His was

13s stopped (also 23s track time) but, as he exited the

pitlane, Jones swept by into second.

The

plan

had

worked. All McConville had to do

exited the pitlane Jones sped by. I didn’t see him,” said

ruling, no-one admits to team orders these days.

McConville later. “I turned

Dennis.

in (for Southern Hairpin), say a yellow mirror next to me and thought, ‘Errrr’...” Jones took the lead and,

was a sensible stop but his ‘in’ lap was a disaster. Out of

dutifully, McConville slotted

the second corner he came

ing him around for a while, McConville got through at Northern Hairpin and won

across Newman, who was

trying desperately to stay out of the way. Newman went right, just as McConville did, then went left as the Audi did also. McConville had to lock his

brakes to avoid pile-driving the pitwall (one crew mem ber holding a pit board actu ally though he was coming over the wall and ducked)

and, after sorting out the muddle, McConville lost three seconds.

That was enough. As he

in behind. Then, after follow

the race.

Why? Jones later said that his early stop - while great tactically - meant that he had less rubber at the end of the race than McConville. 'There was also the matter of the cold he had carried all week

end had ‘probably tired him. Translation; McConville needed the points to chal

lenge Richards for second in the series but, since the Australian CP and the FIA

Thanks David, Mika and Mr So the Audis went 1-2,

again. McLean was third ahead of Richards, again, while Hills was a lonely fifth, again. Kaplan was a good sixth but behind was an

excellent

seventh

rowed racesuit, boots and Mondeo, everyone was impressed. ’Tweedie, Auger, Robson and

Newman

followed

(Newman happy just to have gone the distance) while Matthews trailed in last. Six wins in a row for Audi

at Mallala is an impressive effort. Winton is next, and their form there is not a lot worse than at Mallala.

Harbui^’s Porsche double

Paterson and Chris Stannard.

In race two Morgan again won the jump but was soon pit-bound for a stop/go penalty. That left Harburg to ease home six seconds clear of Paterson and Stannard, with Morgan well back in fourth.

Greg Keene was well out of luck, having a first corner off in race one before recovering to fourth, while it was even worse in race two, retiring in the same spot with broken suspension. Most spectacular retirement of the day was Adam Wallis. In race one his car was ablaze for

almost a whole lap before he parked it at the Northern Hairpin, the marshals quickly on the scene to put it out. The damage was mainly cos metic and he made it out for the second race.

Class B honoui's were shared by Peter McRae and Peter Bolton in the Carrera 2s, while C hon

between starts but, with

ours were shared by Tim Hearse in his 930 and

unanimous approval, the

Gordon Sutherland’s 928S.

show went on well inside that time limit.

Points after six rounds: Morgan 181, Bradbury 108, Harburg 101, McRae 145, Bolton 124.5, Balodis 105. -PHILBRANAGAN

Bewley. He’d stayed out of trouble, driven sensibly and, as he gave back his bor

JULIAN Harburg took two wins in the Australian Porsche Cup at Mallala to throw out the challenge to series leader Geoff Morgan. The two drivers put on some gi-oat racing but a race two penalty for a jumped start cost defend ing Champion Morgan dearly, putting him back to fourth place. Morgan dominated qualifying, taking two poles, but was only 0.1s ahead of Queenslander Harburg in each case. In race one Morgan got the jump and Harburg piled the pressure on him, until a mistake forced Morgan to have a half-lose at Bridgestone. That left Harburg in the lead and he turned on the pace to win by 3.5s from Harburg, Roger

rule. Usually there has to be a 20 minute gap

-PHILBRANAGAN

' Volvo Racing Volvo S40

Pos 1 2 3 4 5

cLean was determined

But behind, dust and chaos. Kaplan, Auger and Robson tangled in the first

Greenfield Mowers BMW 320i

Race 2 (shortened to 30 laps)

two laps and it was obvious

third behind the Audis.

Pos Driver 1 Brad Jones

McConville was building a gap while he could. It was that Jones was having a struggle to find a way past

M to make a better get

Round 6, Mallala, Julyl8/19

Newman.

almost three seconds after

Race 2 (shortened to 30 laps)

BOC Gases Super Touring Championship

DRAMA and GREG... Harburg and Morgan get aivay safely from the front row but things are about to get awkward for Greg Keene, who is spinning into retirement behind them. tPimiobyNoeipSpeierai

31Jufy1998

While the Viper’s By PHIL BRANAGAN

B, David Ratcliff took twin poles in his Class C Camry while in Class D

IT was a 911 double at Mallala when Domenic Beninca and

Rodney Forbes shared the hon

it was Phil Kirkham (Mazda 626) doubling up, as did Nigel Stones’

ours in the sixth round of the

Suzuki on Class E.

Century Batteries GT Production Championship. The two charges out-raced their more experienced opposition to take the points, an especially determined

Race 1 (18 laps)

Without the lesser American VIOtheto harry the mortals start was going to be even more important than usual. Beninca got the revs and the clutch perfect and jumped away to lead Forbes, Crompton and Fitzgerald, who had old sparring partner Bosnjak slide past at Bridgestone for fourth.

effort from Beninca who had to over

come a practice shunt which serious ly hurt his Porsche 911RSCS.

Entry and Qualifying

Theweekend main talking pointdemise before theof was the Wednesday when, at the end of the back straight, he went for the

started an all-class battle further

back, but the struggle ended for Halliday when the neat Toshiba car caught fire on lap five. Crompton wasn’t wasting time

brakes and there was nothing there. He left the track at aroimd 240kmh

and rolled into a ball and, although Waldon was shaken but unhurt, the

and took second from Forbes at

car was out of action for the week

Bridgestone on lap two, quickly clos

end.

ing on Beninca. After he took the lead on lap seven it looked like a red

The other drama was Beninca’s.

After taking the first pole with a

day but a front suspension ball joint broke on the next lap and, unfortu nately, Neil was through for the day. While Fitzy re-asserted his way past Bosnjak and took off after the leaders, there was no way that Beninca was going to let one get away. Despite closing right onto the black car’s tail Fitzgerald fell 0.2s short, while Forbes, Bosnjak, Stokell and Halliday filled out the top six. Kousparis won B in the Subaru, Ratcliff took family car honours after Peter McKay’s Falcon XR8 ran out of stop and spun, while Kirkham took his first win of the year in Class

lml2.90s he and Ross Almond col

lided at the Southern Hairpin in the second session. The Club Sport was badly damaged in the front left sus pension and the crew faced an allnighter to repair it. Forbes was second on the first

grid but took pole (lml3.28s) in the second session. Crompton was sec ond from Peter Fitzgerald and Teny Bosnjak. who looked right on the pace in the ex-works Mazda RX7SP.

In the classes, Kousparis edged out first Carter and then Ron

(guesting

itIMK

Stokell, Almond and Halliday were close behind, while Carter, Barnacle, Canto, Dean and Boylan

Garry Waldon’s Viper. The big Dodge had been out in practice on

Barnacle

PUIM

John

Trimbole’s Lancer Evo 3) for Class

D. Nigel Stones won E.

ten

Photos by Carlo Littl'KIynsmith

TRIPLE TREAT...The 91 Is of

Forbes, Fitzgerald and Beninca dominated at Mallala. TOYOTASAURAS... Dean’s Soarer and Almond’s Lancer had a battle.

Race 2 (18 laps) ith no Ferrari Forbes had the

Wifront row to himself and won the jump into turn one. He held out Fitzgerald who, as in race one, had Bosnjak all over him early in the going. Beninca was fourth from

Stokell and Kousparis. The pattern of the race was the same. Beninca hung on until

delayed by a spinning Magna at Bridgestone on lap eight, allowing Fitzy to get right onto the tail of Forbes by the end of the race but the young’un didn’t crack under the pressure and he held on for a 0.2s win.

After making back his lost ground

The battle for the series is deli-

in the second part of the race

cately poised and, despite the set-

Beninca consolidated his series lead with third from Boz and Stokell,

back, Waldon is sniffing for a competitive ride for the last four races of

while Kousparis, Ratcliff, Kirkham

the championship,

and Stones completed the doubles in their respective classes.

Fitzgerald 130, Waldon 123, Bowe 73,

Points after six rounds: Beninca 139,

Forbes 68.

WiON Motor Raceway

Ian ilfer Ioux4|ig

wmm

.iL’l

1 II

l=? N^V'f C2 K.

IF / v 4:

o Full catering

● McLean

r t

o Sunday adults $25 o Children under 15 free

,y{is

4- ^

L ● Audi

Support races include:

o Century Batteries GT Production Championshi

o Australian Porsche Cup Series_^^^^^^

[ ● Volvo

V ● BMW

o ROM Wheels Commodore Cu

For information contact

Winton Motor

Raceway 03 5766 4235

August

34 31Jtilyl998 Rally New Zealand

report by JON THOMSON

Toyota Team Europe has com

Sainz by fovr soKonds

pletely dominated the Rally of

New Zealand with a perfect one-two finish on July 27 in

what was the wettest World

Championship ever staged in the Shaky Isles; Carlos Sainz crossed the finish

line in Auckland on Monday night

just 4.1 seconds in front of team mate Didier Auriol, signalling the fact that the German-based Toyota factory team’s WRC Corolla has come of age. Auriol drove the rally of his career with only a spin on the longest stage of the final day pre venting the Frenchman from beat ing his Spanish team-mate. The rally also saw Australian

Michael Guest take victory in the

Group

class,

his

Subaru

Australia-entered Impreza over coming the likes of world Group N champ Gustavo Trelles to confirm the young Newcastle driver’s claim to a place on the world stage. Subaru’s Colin McRae led the

rally ft-om the second stage, taking over from Sainz, who was fastest on

the opening stage - the sodden Manukau Super Special Stage - on Friday night. McRae clung desperately to a narrow lead, fighting with Sainz throughout much of the first day in the Maramarua Forest south of

Auckland, with the gap between them never more than two seconds. That was until the final two

TOYOTA TRIUMPH... Low-flying Rally New Zealand victor Carlos Sainz headed a Corolla WRC 1-2 in rather soggy conditions. (Race Access pic)

stages of the leg, when Auriol grabbed back time and took the lead into day two just 2.2 seconds

Guest was also making a steady start to the rally, knowing that the

ahead of Sainz, with McRae third

ambitious driving and eventually finishing the day fifth in Group N behind Trelles, Kiwi Stumpy

another 2.2 seconds back.

McRae admitted to being at a dis

conditions would not reward over-

advantage as first car on the road

Holmes

in the treacherous and muddy con ditions on day one, which he

Mitsubishis of Ross Meekings and Katsuhiko Taguchi. Other Australians in the rally were having mixed fortunes. Marty Beckton, in a Peugeot 306 S16, was out at the end of special stage two with an engine failure, spending the rest of the weekend spectating with co-driver Claire

described as inconsistent.

“You get grip on one corner and not on the next,” said the Subaru driver.

He also was at a disadvantage after hitting a photographer, the Scotsman clipping the man as he stood on the edge of the track - the photographer scored a broken leg,

in a Subaru

and the

Parker.

Wayne Bell was struggling with the Hyundai World Rally Car, while

crashes in so many places - now I know what Nicky Grist must go through on every rally,” he said. McRae had slipped back to fourth behind a hard-charging Burns,

by Japanese driver Katioka during the day. Guest worked his way through the day, taking time off the Group

while Kankkunen was fifth and

Holmes, just 6.9 seconds in arrears. Day three was to be the critical leg, the longest day in competitive kilometres and the longest stage, the first of the day surely proving the theory. Auriol, leading the field, spun on the opening stage and stalled the car, losing over 45 seconds. “The car seemed to be cutting out and then we spun in a left hand bend and lost time getting back on the road,” he said. He wasn’t the only one. Burns also spun, this time off the road, putting the car on its side and losing 15 minutes getting back on

Makinen was surprisingly off the pace in sixth. Liatti was in seventh, Radstrom

eighth and Bourne in ninth, the lat ter moving up after Gronholm blew the engine in his Corolla on the opening stage of the day. Bourne’s engine sounded dread ful, but the Kiwi was battling on with little effect on his stage times, while Ordynski was showing the disadvantage of running his older Evo III Lancer, sitting in 11th, just behind Fujimoto’s Corolla. Dines went off the road in stage

McRae a broken front bib on the Subaru.

team-mate Kenneth Eriksson was

Bmno Thiry was the first of the factory cars out, after he rolled on special stage seven in a big crash at

fourth in F2, just over a minute ahead. Bell sitting 42nd outright. Jackie Dines and Linda Long had

over 120kmh - both he and his co driver were unharmed.

their Lancer in 51st and Simon Evans/Joe Brick were 58th in their

Auriol was pleased to be leading,

F2 Toyota Corolla. David Hills/Sophie Handley were

stages of the day to hold a massive

62nd in their Lancer and Jason

30.4-second lead at the end of the

SlotAVill Logan in their corolla Cup car were 66th, heading the similar car of Scholarship winner Roman Watkins by ten seconds. Leg Two was even wetter than day one, with torrential rain continung overnight and causing offi cials to reroute the first transport as land slips blocked roads through out the countryside north of

leg over Sainz, with Bums fighting through the day to be third, just

Auckland.

he clobbered rocks.

but also worried that the lead

might bring him undone on day two ●as he led the field through equally slippery conditions. “Perhaps for the first time in my career I would prefer not to be at the front of the field, but we know the car is good in these conditions

and I have a good feeling and 'rhythm now,” said Auriol. The difference between the two

Toyota drivers appeared to be in the tyres, Sainz running wider Michelins before switching to nar rower ones later in the day, after Auriol showed their superiority in the mulch. Possum Bourne led the Kiwi

charge and was the best of the local brigade at the end of leg one, 56.1 seconds off Auriol’s pace, but sitting in 11th after a trouble-free run.

Ed Ordynski was feeling his way back into the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evo III and was 49 seconds behind

Bourne, until a spin on the final Super Special at Manukau dropped him another six seconds and a place to finish the day in 13th.

Auriol may well have been say

ing that he was womed about lead ing the field, but didn’t show it. Although Sainz won the first stage, Auriol was to assert himself strongly. The second and third stages were cancelled due to floods blocking the road, but Auriol was unperturbed, beating Sainz by 9.9 seconds on the next stage and throwing the Corolla around aggressively.

12 on one of the most difficult cor

ners on the rally and the Western Australian was out, the car stuck in a hole. Auriol won five of the last six

N men in front to be second behind

the road.

McRae was now only 7.7 seconds behind Auriol in third and the fight was now on in earnest.

Bums flew over the final stages, but his problem had put him too far behind Makinen, his team-mate

moving up to take third, ahead of Kankkunen and McRae. But there were nervous moments

for Kankkunen, his Escort’s engine spluttering on the long, final trans

port, the Finn lucky to make the line in fourth.

Guest had a strong final day, withstanding early pressure from Holmes, who was just seven sec onds behind at the start.

But the young Australian drove the rally of his life, putting the pressure back on Holmes until, on stage 22, the Kiwi barrel-rolled into a irver out of the rally. Guest would come home Imin 10 ahead of Trelles in a dominant dis

play. Harri Rovahpera clinched F2 from his SEAT team-mate, Toni Gardermeister, with Eriksson giv

eighth. Bourne ninth and Fujimoto tenth.

ish a dismal 23rd.

end of what was a fraught event for

The see-saw continued, with Auriol back in the lead on stage 21,

the Corolla driver.

14.5 seconds behind, with McRae fourth, Kankkunen fifth, Makinen sixth, Liatti seventh, Radstrom

Auriol had his share of luck,

needing the Michelin mousse tyi-es to work for him on two stages when

“It required maximum concentra tion to build up an advantage head

ing into the final day of long stages,” said Auriol. McRae was subdued on a rally he had very much made Ws own in the past - a spin and a windscreen that was continuing to mist up made for a bad day and ruined any chance he had of winning. But then, on the final transport. Bourne’s Subaru died and he was out of the event with a failed

moving 4.5 seconds ahead - and then, on the next stage, Sainz closed the margin to just 0.9-seconds and

shaved another 0.3 sec

onds on stage 23, the margin back to just 0.6 seconds. McRae had dropped off after he

Bell went off the road in special stage 19 and was out in his

Hyundai, while Evans was out of late time and didn’t make it to the

The remaining Aussies were Hills taking 42nd, Watkins in 45th and Slot 46th.

The event win has given Sainz a three point lead in the WRC Drivers title standings over McRae (38), with Auriol. moving up to fourth (27), equal with Kankunnen

and just one point behind reigning

failed to function, dropping three minutes after running 30kms on the flat tyre.

champ Makinen in third. Toyota now moves into the lead of the Manufacturers title with 63

Sainz took 1.5 seconds off Auriol

points, 11 ahead of Subaru, with

on the penultimate stage to be 2.1

Mitsubishi in third. It’s the first time since 1982 that

seconds ahead going into the final

“I have never seen him drive so

This promoted Ordynski up to 11th, after he had been overtaken

than Auriol, who was third on the

engine.

ing the new Hyundai third on its debut.

punctured a Pirelli and the mousse

hard and be so close to having

Auriol was driving ferociously.

onds.

Sainz made a wrong tyre choice on stage 20, giving Auriol a ten sec ond advantage and putting Sainz just 1.4 seconds ahead Ordynski had an uncharacteristic off on special stage 19 and lost 13 minutes while he was pushed back on - the problem would see him fin

11.3 km stage south of Auckland. The Spaniard emerged second fastest, but was two seconds faster

Co-driver Denis Giraudet said

stage - Sainz’s time gave him the Rally New Zealand win by 4.1 sec

Toyota has taken a 1-2 on Rally New Zealand, Bjom Waldegard and Per Eklund achieving the feat in a pair of Toyota Celicas.

31Jiifyl998 The word at the Rally of New Zealand was that the deal for Colin McRae to move to Ford in 1999 to

drive the new Focus WRC car has been done. McRae will move from

Subaru, leaving his spot open for Richard Burns, who will return to the team which

gave him his start in the WRC after several seasons with Mitsubishi Ralliart.

Toyota World Championship Carlos

Sianz

Rally driver

has

told

Motorsport News that

McRae for Ford The fact that Subaru will

lose the sponsorship of 555, a brand owned by Formula One entrant British American Tobacco and the

dollar has meant that the

cold at the team. -JON THOMSON

Prodrive-operated

team

many of them.

“The organisers are contin rallies shorter as some trade

off to having more events, but we need less events and

400 kilometres in competitive length, around half the dis tance they used to be and are spread over three days. Sainz argues that the World Championship should be limited to 12 events, rather than the the current series which runs to 14 ral¬

New Zealand this week ' was that there coidd be a

possible schedule swap between the RAC Rally and the Rally of New

lies, with more expected to be added. ‘We are at the limit of our

endurance - we are away from home maybe 300 days a year at the moment and with more rallies we would be

away longer,” said Sainz. “It is crazy; we need to have some rest times and the cancellation of Indonesia this

come three weeks after Rally

year is very good, because it has given us a break.” The final rally of the year, the RAC in Britain, now takes place in late November, with the Monte Carlo the first rally of the next year taking place in January, leaving drivers and teams only a few weeks

Australia and avoid severe winter weather.

the

between the events. Sainz also believes the

RAC and NZ to swap? Word around the Rally of

Thiry who has run hot and

Less rallies, says Sainz are now limited to less than

uing to talk about making

McRae to bring aggression to the team, with the Scotsman

to replace Belgian Bruno

they should be longer,”said the Spaniard. World Championship Rallies

Sainz said that he would

Ford was keen to snare

consequent millions which allowed it to pay McRae top

WRC events are now too short and there are too

prefer longer events again, because they allow drivers to fight back after problems.

could not hang onto the young Scottish driver.

the european summer, while moving the New Zealand event would mean it would

Zealand if the World Rallies Commission has

The big stumbling block is

longer rallies would ensure

the desire of the RAC Motor

drivers who have a minor

its way. After the wettest Rally of New Zealand on record, in

Sport Association to host the finale of the World Rally Championship.

hiccup could have more time to recover, making the out

which a number of stages

-JON THOMSON

were cancelled due to flood

ing, the idea gained more momentum.

The logic of running the New Zealand leg in the dead of the southern winter and the RAC as the UK

approaches its coldest time of the year escapes most people involved in the sport. Swapping the dates would allow the RAC to be run in

come more exciting. - JON THOMSON

BATTLE OF THE HAIRCUTS ... Toyota team Europe co-di'ivers Luis Moya and Denis Giraudet are several months into a bet which has seen their manes blos

som, as they have dared each other to try and reach next year’s Monte Carlo without having a hair cut. Both Moya, who calls the notes for Carlos Sainz and Giraudet, who partners Auriol, are now battling to get their helmets on as they both refuse to give in to the bet, which is for a bottle of French wine.

The pair made the bet at this year’s Monte and neither will relent.

Years ago,rallying, when IIfirst started also

-JON THOMSON

flooding

rode motorbikes.

Island

However, a ruptured spleen, crushed discs, a broken nose and plenty of other injuries helped me to decide that a course of self-

preservation was called for. So I quit riding and conbentrated on my rallying. Lately, though. I’ve had a desire to get back on two

the

North

and the drivers’

comments after Leg Two centred around the treach

but I’ve had to ban the motorbikes from the work

shop and remind them we are here to go rallying and not to turn the place into a motorbike shop. Riding bikes is especially good for my Team Manager, Pete Reynolds,

because it’s very difficult to have a smoke in your mouth while wearing a full¬

injury.

Oh, well, if you didn’t have a bit of a fang, it wouldn’t be any fun any way!

They’ve had serious

forward to the chal

■ Leading Australian dri

lenge of the remaining rounds of the Championship.”

ver Michael Guest has denied rumours that he will drive a Mazda RX7

FREEBIES IN DUBAI ■ The Dubai International

in September’s Round Australia Rally.

Rally is living up to its rep utation for providing over

Sources confirmed that Guest would drive the Mazda RX7 that Les

seas drivers with some of the best incentives in the FIA Middle East

Walkden drove in Targa

Championship, although

deal with us and there is no

Tasmania in 1997 in the

the final round of this

reason to break up a rela tionship that is proving so

18,000km marathon - but, according to Guest, he’s heard nothing of it.

year’s series is taking one

successful

when

World

Rallying is becoming more and more important. Ford will put a lot more emphasis on it in the future.” UPTON WINS BATTLE

■ Alan Upton and navi gator Mark Laidlay took victory in the Kelly Country Trial after a raUy-long battle with the Peugeot of Graham

Rumours have it that

Canberra Mazda expert Jon Waterhouse was to co-drive

in the car and go along as an on-board mechanic, but Waterhouse, an RX7 punter for many years, wasn’t keen on the navigating side of things.

This consists of refunded

entry fee on starting the event, return air tickets for

driver and co-driver, free seven nights’ hotel accommo

KANKKUNEN WINS

dation for driver and co-dri

ver at the official hotel, start money to cover vehicle

driver Juha Kankkunen

a fortnight ago. Upton’s favour on the penul timate stage of the event,

powered his Escort World Rally car to victory on the Channel Four Rally in Finland on July 11.

when Wallis and Nicholas

Kankkunen won the one-

entered a passage control from the wrong direction, incurring a 30 minute penalty. Starting in Glenrowan and using the Kelly theme throughout, the event trav elled through much of the country in north east Victoria once traversed by the Kelly gang. In fact, Ned himself was even up at Stringybark Creek manning a passage control, complete with armour!

day event by two seconds. The rally, based near the city of Tampere, consisted of 12 special stages over fast gravel switch-back tracks covering 100km of competi tive driving. The top three places were taken by Ford Escort World Rally cars that have all been driven by Juha Kankkimen on previous events. Sebastian Lindholm fin ished second at the wheel of

Upton and Laidlay won the fully navigational event by

the Escort that Juha pow ered to second place on last year’s RAC Rally, while his car from Rally Australia fin

28 minutes from the Datsun

ished third.

The Daihatsu Charade of

Bringing the seven-round championship to a climax on December 3-4, the Dubai event is again offering over seas competitors a highly attractive assistance package.

■ Ford World Rally team

Wallis and Phil Nicholas The battle was decided in

detour firom tradition.

fi'eight costs, special air trav el and hotel accommodation rates for service crew and

other personnel, assistance to acquire UAE entry visas and 500 litres of free fiiel. The Jebel Ali desert

plains are dropped from the rally schedule for the first time, as the familiar special stages normally run through the port area have become unsuitable because

of rapid industrial and com mercial development. The rally has been moved inland, and a number of

brand new desert stages have been introduced. The Dubai International

Rally will be based at the impressive AL Bustan Rotana Hotel. Both the first and sec

ond legs will begin from the hotel,the leading car setting off at 10am and returning at 5pm on each day.

challenge for competitors.

Zealand.

around flooded sections and make it to the service

The Ford World Rally team used the event to com

Kankkunen’s

for the second half of the

World Rally Championship which began with Rally New

him, which all meant he

started the next stage back behind them again.

Possum finished the Leg Two stages in ninth posi tion, only to have the engine stop on the final liai son back to Auckland.

Iwas really disappointed about missing out on NZ, but now I’m thinking maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all?

this.

I’m looking forward to having a drive and seeing what these V8s are like.

Cheers, Neal.

VIC: Stuckey Tyre Service Ph: (03) 9386 5331 Fax: (03) 9383 9153

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 V/ QLD: Road & Race Spare Parts Ph: (07) 3279 1533 Fax: (07) 3376 5804

WA: Kostera's Tyre Service Ph: (09) 293 3500 Fax: (09) 293 1355 mi i

WINNER - NSW & VICTORIAN RALLY

CHAMPIONSHIPS - DUNLOP SPS4-R

300km maximum set for the

championship by the FIA.

He’d started behind a

Weel’s Falcon at Lakeside.

From all accounts over

which all worked well, so I am now looking

With a total distance of

s I wrote this column,

there, it was a mud bath.

GUEST DENIES RX7 LINK

been made to the car

738km, the route features 16 special stages accounting for 292km, just below the

ByIwould the timehaveyoutested read Paul

Rally of New Zealand was underway.

Ford Motorsport’s Martin Whitaker said the company was extremely happy with Malcolm Wilson’s M-Sport company which currently runs the WRC program. “We are delighted with what M-Sport is doing, both in the World Rally Championship and on the new Focus World Rally Car,” said Whitsiker. “M-Sport has a long term

By Peter Whitt Editor - Australian Rallyspoi Jews

native

How time heals.

A the

gram.

old Kankkunen. “Some

Finland, before departing

couple of Japanese crews, passed them in the stage, then spun and they passed

So, even if I don’t ride

minor changes had

held in fine conditions, although snow had fallen on many of the roads used on the night, adding to the

Even the service crews

instead.

particularly well, at least I look professional Most of the guys in our team are bike riders as well,

over their British Touring Car Championship pro

were complaining - they had lots of delays on the main roads trying to get parks. Ed Ordynski was strug gling in the conditions and was not enjoying himself in Leg Two.

grid-iron players.

ed test,” said 39 year-

plete its week of testing in

went riding in the rain, his lighter became water logged, so Ifigured I’m get ting him fit, denying him the opportunity for a smoke and filling his lungs with fresh air

thinks I look like one of those American football

the event as an extend

gram to Prodrive, the company which is to take

Nicholas third. The 340km event was

break between rallies at the

Darryl Bush, our gearbox and transmission specialist, is a superstar on trail bikes and this is a real problem for me, because my “ever so slight’’ competitive nature gets in the way. Trying to keep up with Darryl would negate any thoughts of riding for fun, riding carefully, or avoiding

Rally Championship pro

Bluebird of Doug Femie and Ray Daniel, with Wallis and

face helmet. And, when we

moment, Ihad some time to

“I was very pleased to win the i-ally, consid ering we were using

erous, slippery roads. ‘Porridge’ was a description I heard of the muddy conditions.

wheels and, with a bit of a

put on the riding boots and rediscover my youth. Well, in reality I was try ing to discover a bit of fun and fitness - I’m not quite as silly as Iused to be. I have every bit of pro tective gear known to mankind and my wife, Jane,

M-SPORT & FORD ■ Ford has denied that it intends to move it’s World

36 31 July 1998

eteran Australian drag racer

Graeme

Cowin

shocked many within the sport a fortnight ago

with his announcement

that he was heading to the

11 ● I ●

United States at the end of this

year to contest the Winston Finals, before ininning a limited seven to ten race campaign on the toughest tour in drag racing. But

Cowin’s

decision

return to the US, where he had raced on and off in the mid-’80s,

-1 \

didn’t shock those who know the man and have followed his

n_-

1^'

K-.y

30-plus year career in the sport - and understand his desire to

-4

be considered among the greats in his chosen sport and his abil ity to set goals and achieve evei-y one of them. GERALD McDORNAN sat down with GC and talked to

him about what helped him make the decision to pack up

Us tshs*

CDi

' h

LL ims

and head east, along with what drives him in his quest to be Australia’s first, world-level professional drag racer.

Graeme, you made the announcement a fortnight ago that you are heading back to the United States to contest a number of events on the NHRA tour.

Are you as excited about rac ing in the US now as you were

back in the mid-eighties?

Absolutely. I’m very excited about running in the best competition in the world and this time having my boys, Andrew and John, with me, along with my godson Shane Olive and the rest of the crew. It’s going to be an exciting time for all of us. Obviously, the US is the mecca for drag racing competitors, but veiy few Australian, or nonAmerican racers, ever actually make the move.

Wliat was the deciding factor in Graeme Cowin heading back overseas to race against the world’s best again?

Obviously, that then flows into a team like ours being able to use those opportunities to achieve what we wish to achieve as a professional team, with a full-time professional

being negative about the sport here - I’m just being realistic. Perhaps the best example of that was when I went to a Christmas

ers. Racers need to be able to make

dinner with my sponsor No Fear and all of their other sports stars last year. While everyone else got to enjoy

a business out of what they are doing. There should be the opportuni ties to be the Craig Lowndes of drag racing, but there aren’t any.

Now, that just doesn’t happen here in Australia and that’s not me

dinner and a few drinks after

wards, I had to head back to Rocket Industries to work ... I was the only one with a full-time job away from my chosen sport. I have to earn the money to go racing. The opportunities aren’t here for an Australian drag racer to be a full-time professional With that in mind - the fact that

you aren’t a full time profes sional drag racing team - does

There should be Dick Johnsons of

drag racing, but there aren’t any. Drag racers are still paying out of their back pockets and it’s wrong. If it doesn’t change, the sport will go backwards.

The only opportunity that drag racers have in Australia at the

moment is to spend their own money to go racing - at all levels and its about time that changed.

found that, as much as we wanted to be a full-time professional drag racing team, there just weren’t the opportunities for Graeme Cowin and his team to be as professional

know’ say, “Hey, aU you had to do was run 5.0s, or 4.90s,” not really understanding how

as we wanted to be.

these cars part time, away from

Regarding opportunities, obvi ously you will need some sup port to achieve the perfor mance level that you are aspir ing to, so how does an Australian go about getting a sponsor to run in the US? I thought hard about being an Australian trying to get a sponsor

The US gives us those opportuni ties and they then enable you to present those to sponsors who can capitalise on what there is. The opportunities are there and corporate sponsors can take advan tage of those.

the main centre of action in the

in the US and when I started look

US, like you do? If you take the race out of drag race, you don’t have much. I’m a very competitive person and I’ll always try my best. Sometimes it doesn’t pay off ...

ing I saw that most of the compa

We took a good hard look at what we were doing here with the Shell/Rocket Industries team and

it annoy you when you go to a track and try everything you can to run fast, but it doesn’t work out and those ‘in the

tough it is to actually run one of

up &heads_StM]m

track conditions can bite you, parts can fail, or you can just try too hard - then again, sometimes it all comes together. But we’re not here for the pro moters, we’re here for the challenge and it has been the promoters’ way for too long. It gets back to opportunities and they need to be available for every one in drag racing, not just promot

crew ... that’s what it’s all about.

t2f

nies’ markets were the world - and

we’re talking to a number of those companies about sponsorship and there has been some great response already.

■j

i S>

So, already there are some oppor tunities for us, especially for my boys, who have the chance to be full-time professional racers in the

Once we are established, I would say that after the first 12 months we would expect to qualify at every

US.

national company’s name on the

event we attend and have an inter side of the car.

In your search for sponsors and, bearing in mind the sched

You announced that you have

ule of seven to ten races that

ordered a new car from Murf

you have mapped out for next year, would it be right in saying that it realistically costs no more money to run in the US

McKinney; how is that coming

than what it does to run the same amount of races in

Australia, at the performance level that you’re currently at

I’m waiting on a fax from them now to bring me up to date with what is actually happening. The car is already paid for, but I think because I’m not there I might be on the bottom of the list!

I called the shop last week to let

now?

That all depends on the exchange rate and if you’re trying to fund the US operation from Australia. Obviously, with the dollar at the moment, it is more expensive, but if you can obtaining funding from the US, then it’s not too bad. When

along?

the

dollar

them know that I have commit ments to run at the Winston Finals

and everything is revolving around whether the new car is ready to run. So, at the moment. I’m in their hands.

So the Winston Finals appear ance depends upon taking delivery of the car first and

favourable, obviously it can be more favourable to run in the US, due to the fact that you don’t have such high transportation costs, duties on

Yes, it depends on McKinney and

parts, etc.

also whether we can then get it

What is the main aim once you

make the Finals, obviously we’ll

are in the US?

run the Wintemationals.

Our main aim is to get ourselves

Of course, we’ll need to do some extensive testing and we’ll head to Pheonix, or whereever they all go

foremost?

completed on time. If we don’t

established over in the US and to

get everything together. Obviously, it’s not as easy as just saying we’re going to go racing in the US, as we’ve got to get a work shop, telephones, faxes - we’ve still got to conduct business back here, of course - we need transportation for the race car and the crew and, of course, we need money.

now prior to the start of the new season, if that is the case.

At this point in time. I’ll be dri ving the car at the national events, while Andrew will be doing all the

testing once a national event is over.

BEEN THERE... During Cowin's first foray to the United States he stunned those who had never heard of him by running, at that time, the equal fastest speed ever recorded by a Top Fuel or Funny Car during an IHRA Stroh's Night of Fire event at Norwalk, Ohio. Motorsport News’ Dave Ostaszewski was there to capture on film the historic 266 mph pass.

5/Ju/yOT With that in mind, how long until you can see Andrew taking over the seat permanently from yourself? It could be as early as next year, but it could be another 12 months.

Realistically, I would say that it would be the year 2000.

Performancewise, back in

It’s like a lottery ... if you haven’t got a ticket, you’re never going to win it. We plan on being in the

middle of the field by the end of next year and, fi-om there, you never know what’s going to happen. If you can get past first round, you’re in with a show.

It’s tough getting there, but if you are there when they play the national

the ’80s the best you had run with the Funny Car in Australia was 6-flat, but you went to the US

anthem, it’s special. The tougher it is getting there, though, the sweeter it

and ran in the 5.7-second

there.

range immediately. Is it because you’re in amongst the ‘action,’ so to speak, that your perfor mances step up straight

is when you are actually A little known fact is that

prior to you actually tak ing your Aussie Raider Fimny Car to the US, you

away? Yes, but that’s not the only thing. Obviously the condi

Brothers’ experimental quad-cammed fueller at

tions are better with the

the US Nationals in about

tracks, while the parts avail ability is superioi', especially in regards to the latest tech nology, which we won’t know

’82, or ’83. What was the experience like?

Yeah, gee, (laughing) that was a hotch-potch deal at the

about for a little while here

time

in Australia.

McGees got it happening and

Couple all of that with the information that’s available

because they race all the time and it helps you to run quicker and faster. In 1985, how did it feel being an Australian rac ing in the US - especially when our country was riding a wave in tenns of popularity - with the ‘Boxing Kangaroo’ flying high over your pit area? Being an Australian in a USdominated sport is very gi-atifying personally, but I felt that many Americans

drove

the

...

well

McGee

before

the

ran in the fours with their

engine.

I remember heading down the track and the accelerator

pedal fell and I was trying to keep the car going by push ing down on the cable. Not the way that you like to go racing? Absolutely not! No, I like to be professional, I like to have spare parts and conduct my racing like my business. You can’t sell fresh air in

couldn’t understand what

business and you can’t go professional drag racing rac ing without an extensive

the ‘Boxing Kangaroo’ really was, where it all comes from

spare parts inventory. If you do, you can’t produce.

and what we were all about.

This time, I think that to

be true professional drag rac ers, it is more important that we fly the flags of our spon sors and proudly represent them, while at the same time still be proud that we are Australians mixing it up on the toughest drag racing tour in the world.

We want to be a profes sional drag racing team which just happens to be ■from Australia and is backed

by an international sponsor. Don’t get me wrong here, though. We are proud Australians and, hopefully, what we achieve in the US

will help the sport grow here - and give racers the oppor tunities that I believe that

they are entitled to. No doubt your runner-up to Kenny Bernstein in Funny Car at the Winternationals in ’87

would rank as one of your proudest achievements in drag racing? Absolutely. You'know, that event proves that if you can

qualify, you’re in with a show of getting somewhere.

Back in the ’80s, you got to run alongside the Bernsteins, the Forces and, perhaps more impor tantly for yourself com peting in a Funny Car at that time. Prudhommes.

the

Now in the ’90s, you’ll again be running against Bernstein, along with the Amatos, Kalittas, etc. How will it make you feel, lining up in the lanes for yoiu: first run? It’s just going to be sensa tional... definitely a huge high. The best. I’ll definitely have big eyes! There is something about it, though, as it seems to make you try hard and run better. Even when you’re in

Doug Kalitta

Cruz and the Professor back on top Doug Kalitta recorded the first Top Fuel win of his

at 5.198/293.35 and scored

the Pro Stock ranks, as he scored an impressive fifth ’98

career this past weekend

5.230/289.29, 5.101/306.01

win in Sonoma.

and 5.134/29^92 wins over

it’s swing into northern

Cory Lee, brother Tony Pedregon and A1 Hofmann, before defeating Whit

California for the 11th Annual Autolite Nationals

at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, California, on July 26.

The former USAC Sprint and Midget racer dominated

the event from the first qual ifying session on Friday, grabbing the top position at 4.732 seconds and improving to a heat of the day 4.719/310.88 on Saturday. The American International

Airways/Kitty Hawk fueller then opened round one of eliminations with an out

standing, low e.t. of the meet shot at 4.664/314.79, which sent the JerZees car of Bob

’VandergrifF headed to Seattle early. In round two, Kalitta squared off with the Bud King of Kenny Bernstein. Kalitta, again set low e.t. of

the

round

with

4.706/311.63 that ended any chance Bernstein had of

making up ground on the points leaders. The semi-final round saw

him line up against a rejuve nated Jim Head, but Head’s bright red car was no match for

the

4.820/309.17

crew. We can’t wait.

Graeme Cowin - Fast Facts

finalist, Bruce Sarver. Sarver had qualified in the

fifteenth spot at 4.860/299.20 and scored a stunning 5.250/267.37 upset in round one over the number two

man in points and the num ber two qualifier, Joe Amato, who lost traction immediate

ly, then pedalled and spun the tyi-es again. Sarver then drove his way into the semis when his near tenth of a second holeshot and 4.906/295.17 defeated

Patterson.

5.123/290.04 to 5.201/302.01, then took out defending event champion Ron Capps, 5.076/304.25 to 5.172/282.39.

when Gaines left too soon

and lit the big red bulb.

last year vfith Winston back ing, qualified second with a

68 for the “Professor,” tying

5.141/289.01.

him with John Force for sec

In the final, Pedregon overcame a slight starting line advantage, when Bazemore began to lose trac tion and pedalled once. At the finish line it was

Cruz and the Wes Cerny power getting the victory, 5.073/300.80 to 5.268/289.38. That makes it three differ

ent Pedregon brothers win ning Funny Car in three con secutive events. With Chuck Etchells out-

qualifying Force and both drivers losing in the opening round, Etchells takes a one point lead in the current pointscore standings. Warren Johnson got back to winning form as well in

That is career win number

ond place on the all-time win list.

Gaines had earlier stopped

Lingenfelter’s Chevrolet scored a close 7.805/174.24 to

7.819/171.78 victory in the final, after stopping recent Madison winner Freeman in the semis.

the semis. John Shoemaker took the

honors in the Federal Mogul Dragster class, taking a sin gle in the final when oppo

John Nobile, Steve Schmidt

nent Steve Faria was imable

and number two qualifier

to show, following an enginehurting -win in the semis.

(6.994) Richie Stevens.

Johnson really padded his point lead at Sonoma, when six cars in the top ten lost in round one, including the sec ond and third-placed cars of Jeg Coughlin and Kurt Johnson.

Fourth place Jim Yates DNQ’d for the third race this year, as did Bruce Allen. The furthest advancing top ten car was the Pontiac of

Rick Henkelman’s nitro

burner set low e.t at 6.465, while Darren Nicholson set

top speed with a 254.66 mph blast.

Bucky Austin won over Larry Miner in the Federal Mogul Funny Car final, 5.980/239.68 to 7.969/115.74. Pat Austin held low e.t

honors

5.760,

Mike Thomas (fifth), which lost in round two to Richie Stevens.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

SOUTHSIDE [ENGINE CENTRE] HIGH QUALITY MACHINING FOR STANDARD AND RACE ENGINES SPECIALISED MACHINING FOR

* RESTORING 1950'S & LATER ENGINES TO STANDARD * SPEEDWAY

over the Pennzoil dragster of Eddie Hill put Sarver into

* SKI BOATS ♦STREETMACHINES

the final round.

In the final, Kalitta left on

was

light

and

enough to

the

* CIRCLE TRACK * HISTORICS

notch a

4.802/306.43 win for Kalitta. Sarver had the car loaded

for bear in the final, posting a 4.783/302.41 losing effort. “It’s hard to believe we

won this thing”, said Kalitta. “It’s a tribute to Ed “the Ace”

McCulloch and all the guys”. Points leader Cory McClenathan, Joe Amato (second) and Mike Dunn (fifth) were all eliminated in

in the second round.

●

First 290 mph run in Australia

Cruz Pedregon returned to his early season winning form by driving the Interstate

John Zappia relies on Southside Engine Centre to keep his Zap's Rat III running fast & reliably

SPECIALISTS IN CYLINDER HEAD SERVICE BORING AND SUNNEN HONING CON ROD RESIZING CRANKSHAFT REGRINDING LINE HONING PIN BORING ENGINE BALANCING SURFACE GRINDING ALLOY WELDING

MAGNAFLUXING/CRACK TESTING

the upset-filled first round,

ALL TYPE OF PRECISION MACHINING

while Scelzi (third) and Bernstein (fourth) were out

Ph: (08) 9317 1233

Batteries/Small Soldiers Pontiac to win number three

of the ’98 campaign.

while

Johnny Gray’s 249.16 mph pass was top speed for the

* DRAG RACING

.478

Tim

Points leader Larry Kopp was defeated by Patterson in

David Grubnic. A semi-final 4.840/301.70

First Four Second run outside North America Twice Nationals winner

defeated the Dodge of Todd

and 7.168/197.83 wins over

Mark Pawuk, Ron Krisher and George Mamell. In the final, he defeated the Pontiac of Vieri Gaines, 7.135/196.24 to 7.106/195.31,

Bazemore, who is in his

his first career win in the Pro Stock Truck class when he

6.972/199.46, 7.009/199.07

the quicker 4.823/293.92 of

●

Australia’s quickest drag racer - 4.81 secs 1987 NHRA Winternationals Runner-up First 200 mph pass in a Fuel Altered

tyres extremely hard”. John Lingenfelter scored

Pontiac in the top spot at 6.949/199.64, then moved through eliminations with

face another second-time

Former Australian Top Fuel Champion Former Australian Funny Car Champion First Five Second Funny Car pass in Australia First 250 mph pass in Australia

● ● ●

his GM Performance Plus

Fuel driver, where he would

● ● ● ● ●

the final and we shook the

his rookie season as a Top

McCulloch power in the car

I’m looking forward to it, as too are the boys and the

“We were too aggressive in

Johnson again qualified

That sent Kalitta into his second career final round in

caiTy on. I don’t know... it’s a huge thrill. Over there, the racers are

tastic.

Bazemore’s Winston Camaro in the final. Hofmann had earlier defeated John Force in a first round match-up.

“Luck played a huge part in this win”, stated Johnson.

Kalitta.

Sarver with a great .454 to

against them and get the recognition like them is fan

Pedregon qualified fourth

as the NHRA tour made

the pits warming the car up, people holler, cheer and

household names and to race

I ens his car'' r

Fax: (08) 9317 1922

Unit 3/7 Blaikie St Myaree WA 6154

3S 31Ju!yl998

^[^®0®[FS[p®J70 the George Bryce/Angelle Seeling Pro Stock Motorcycle.

■ Larry Frazier, crew chief for

Randy Anderson’s Pontiac Funny Car, resigned from the Following dismal outings at the last two events - where the car

state

DNQ’d - and no round wins since

Visionaire Northstar Nationals

the April event in Richmond, Virginia, Brad Anderson brought “Big” Jim Dunn to the team as a consultant for the flopper. According to Frazier, he (Frazier) has not played a major

role in the tune-up on the car and the adding on of Dunn was the last straw.

Frazier will become the crew chief on the new Schumacher

David Ostaszewi Frank Pedregon-driven Funny Carout of his own pocket for the most part, with a bit of help from Johnny Lightning Die Cast Toys and Wheels Vintique. The team just ran out of fund ing, as Dunn puts it. Dunn will seek a sponsor for the

Racing/Exide Batteries Top Fuel team, which will debut in Reading

1999 season.

with Tony behind the wheel, which

■ Jim Head signed a one-race

vacates the Peek Bros ride.

deal for Sonoma with Scelzi

In Sonoma, Randy was undergo ing medical tests and had to miss

Enterprises, a trucking firm with strong footholds in the

the Sonoma event.

northern California area and

service and flown in to drive the

owned and operated by Winston driver Gary Scelzi and

car - the team fought traction

his brothers.

problems in every session, carding

Also appearing on the red drag ster was McWhorter Transportation, which is owned by Scelzi’s wife,

Dale Creasy Jr was pressed into

a 6.482 second best, which was not

enough to make the show.

Julie.

driver of the Parts America Top

Fueller, suffered an engine failure in the opening ses sion of the Autolite

Nationals on July 26 in Sonoma, California. The resulting

explosion punctured both rear tyres, send ing Shelly for a irde. The flaming car went

across

the

track, hitting the opposite retaining wall.

The car then spun around and slid downtrack back

wards, with flames

surrounding the dri ver’s compartment.

Hoover has missed much of the

Substitute driver Cory Lee will be back, though, as the team will carry the Pioneer logo for a few more seasons, but with much larg er backing from Pioneer Electronics.

■ A1 Segrini made a return to Funny Car racing at Sonoma. Segrini, a tough racer in the 70s and 80s, was driving a car fielded by chassis builder Steve Plueger. The interesting thing about the Pontiac is that there is one mag,

eight plugs, no computer, or data recorder and it is equipped with a centrifigal clutch that has no timers.

The car has one of the largest, in size, fuel pumps, which did catch

the construction of a new A-grade drag racing facility next door to Eastern Creek appear to be unfounded at the moment, although Motorsport News understands that there is a distinct possibility that a venue could be built near the controversial motor racing circuit in the very near future. Sources within the industry have informed us that discussions are currently taking place with the NSW State Government and it is believed that they are keen to have professional drag racing return to Australia’s largest city. While the State Government has stated that there

would be no more public money spent on the Eastern Creek venue, it doesn’t rule out the possibility of fund ing being made available for motor racing venues

the attention Austin Coil.

Plueger designed the fuel pump, clutch system, camshaft and pis tons.

The

car

sports

Brad Anderson “Fat”

heads, as used by

Head qualified fourth at 4.758/307.69 and had a strong semi final showing.

burns on her left hand and shoul der and on both ankles.

BLOWN AWAY... Jim Oddy is unhappy with the new overdrive ruie.

IHRA hi-helix blower furore Outrage, say Cannon and Oddy IHRA Director of Technical Services Mike Baker has announced a limitation on the

Cannon feels that his tenth of a

second advantage comes from run

ning ten times as many races and tracks.

overdrive for competitors who utilize hi-helix superchargers, beginning with the IHRA

“The Nitrous guys doing all of the complaining are just “chicken shit -

Northern Nationals in Stanton,

that’s about it” stated Cannon.

“They all want to go faster, but they don’t want to work for any of

■ Jim Yates field ed a second car in

Michigan. At the beginning of the 1998 sea son, a maximum of 34% overdrive on hi-helix superchargers was

Denver, with son

allowed.

the alcohol racers and did make the show with a 5.724/250.20 best.

Jamie at the con trols. A 7.491 left him out of the show.

Jim, who was the defending champ at Denver, qualified fif teenth with a 7.443 before getting stopped by Kurt Johnson in the opening round. One week later, in Sonoma, the

We will closely follow all of the developments and keep you informed.

Anderson was admitted to John

failure.

Reports of a $3,000,000 State Government grant for

Muir Medical Center, where she was treated for second degree

aJKTOK

upcoming

’98 season, recovering from a bro ken leg he received in a drivetrain

STOP PRESS

other than Eastern Creek.

the

in Brainerd, Minnesota.

■ Shelly Anderson, i

rnsasamBuu

■ Tom Hoover will return to the driver’s seat in his home

team before the Denver event.

■ Whit Bazemore will not

again defending event champion

She was expected,to be released on Sunday.

cari-y the team Winston colors

DNQ’d for the third time this sea

in 1999. An announcement was made in

son.

■ Jim Dunn has parked his two-straight event-winning Dodge for the time being. Dunn has been running the

Sonoma, where R.J. Reynolds announced the team will comprise

of the 7.049 bubble.

the Top Fuel car of Alan Johnson and driver Gary Scelzi, along with

in optimum conditions when his

His best of 7.075 fell way short Yates had lost his evening run transmission failed.

NOT SMOKIN’... Whit Bazemore, (right) and crew chief Rob Flynn ponder a future without Winston.

The new rule will drop that to a 30% maximum.

The change was made primarily due to the large number of Nitrous Pro Mod racers that complained the blown cars now had an unfair

advantage and that a few cars were holding back, hiding their potential. There was even a rumor that

there could be a boycott of the next event by some Nitrous racers, if

something wasn’t done to make the field of play a bit more level. “Something has to be done. I have to make a decision” stated IHRA

President, Bill Bader. ‘The decision

it. While we have our stuff torn

apart between rounds, they just sit there with their heads in their

hands, crying, waiting for a rules change that’s in their favor. “Instead of finding a way to go quicker, they cry and get them (the IHRA) to slow us down.

“There’s not an advantage for us with the rules, we just have a big advantage in development, both with this car and with our engine program,” Cannon went on to say. “In Florida, Tommy Mauney could have won the event, but

shook in the final. At Darlington, I won on a holeshot, then we go to Cordova. “I showed Bill and the IHRA

I make has to be in the best interest of the IHRA and it’s members. If it

guys that the air was like, 650 feet

is wrong, I will correct it.” The nitrous-equipped cars have been as competitive as the blown

and it ran the 6.39/217.

and that I would run a big number

cars at the first two events of the

“On good tracks, the better nitrous cars run as good as we do it’s on the bad tracks where Oddy’s

year.

car and me have an advantage.

In Bradenton, Florida, two super

“I spent a ton of money getting

charged cars made the sixteen car field and, during final eliminations,

this car over here. I have the best car out here and I wouldn’t have

nitrous cars accounted for six of the

spent the time and money if I didn’t

ten quickest runs. At Darlington, three blown cars

think so. If they want to take some of what we’ve done away, we’ll go to work and eventually get it back.” Jim Oddy, car owner for Hahn, thinks that the rule change was

qualified and posted five of the ten quickest passes during elimina tions.

At the last two events, Cordova and Leicester, two cars have had a

performance edge, the Murray

prematm-e.

“Cannon and me have the only two blown cars that qualify regular

Anderson-huilt cars of Scotty

ly,” stated Hahn. “Nitrous cars

Cannon and Fred Hahn. The cars of Cannon and Hahn

should have won the first two races

have been able to get down the tricky tracks, where most of the

“This change will probably take 100-125 horsepower away from oiu' motor. I think a weight break in the

others have had some problems. Both of those events had com

plete qualifying sessions washed out and the better-handling cars of Cannon and Hahn were able to put

up better numbers right off of the trailer.

One must also realize that these two racers run more events than most of the other Pro Mod racers,

of the year - they won at Cordova.

nitrous cars’ favor would have been a better decision.

‘Bill Bader says he wants the Pro Mod cars to go faster, so why slow us (blown cars) down to their level of perfoiTuance. “It will be tough for a blown car to win the next event. The rule

Cannon some 50 to 60 dates a year

change basically says to us, come to Stanton and race, but you won’t be

on marginal tracks, under every kind of atmospheric conditions.

able to win.” - DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

31JufyW98 Cory McClenathan and the McDonald’s team of

Joe Gibbs, led by crew chief Mike Green, once again chose Denver to debut a new car and the result was the same as

1997, a win on the moun tain at the 20th Annual

Mopar Parts Mile High Nationals on Jvdy 19. Last year, the Denver win started a four-straight win ning streak that saw the car in five straight final rounds. Joining McClenathan in the winners’ chcle were Tony Pedregon in the Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang, Pro Stock’s Jeg Coughlin and Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Matt Hines. Racers

had

battle

extremely high temperatures around 100 degrees and a

Cory Ma< beats the heat Tony Pedregon scores another at Mile High Nats some cloud cover on Sunday gave some relief, but temper atures still hovered around

100 degrees. In the final

round,

McClenathan defeated the

second in points car of Joe Amato. McClenathan left first and never saw the Tenneco-

backed fueller of Amato, as Amato began to haze the

tyres at 300 feet, pedalling and lighting them up again at 600 feet.

Amato

In his semi-final race with

5.242/270.92. McClenathan dominated

trailing

with

Kenny Bernstein, Amato left on the “Bud King,” .462 to .487 and took a close win by .022 seconds, 5.014/295.37 to 5.011/284.45 - Bernstein had

Warren Johnson’s huge Pro Stock points lead is get ting smaller and it’s not Jim

just a wisp of tyre smoke at

Yates in his rear-view mirror.

4.868/289.57.

half-track, while Amato’s car

Amato was right behind with an identical 4.868, but the slightly slower speed of 287.90 mph kept him second. Amato made his way to the final by posting 4.957/294.88

began to lose traction near

At Denver, it was Tony Pedregon and the Castrol Syntec Mustang grabbing the victory at the tricky track on the mountain, his

Jeg Coughlin Jr has been the dominating car of late and, in the last five events, beginning with Englishtown, Coughlin’s Oldsmobile has been in four final rounds, winning three. At Denver, Coughlin stopped the one, two and three-qualified cars and sin gle-handedly ended the day

sun-scorched track that had

The McDonald’s dragster

surface temperature read ings as high as 160 degrees -

streaked to win number five

Mike Ranney and Bruce

of 1998 with a 4.926/297.52,

Sarver.

Someone named Pedregon has now won 50% of the

Funny Car event titles in the 1998 season.

second of 1998.

FIT ‘ I

the finish line.

1 ●9.

1 I;

Rnmadal

<●

\-3

3LfSSil~

■"'Q/

FAST FORD... Winter Finals were good for Tom Coonan’s spectacular LTD. (Marshall Cass)

Coonan cleans up

Pedregon won the final against the Copenhagen Camaro of Ron Capps on a holeshot, 5.417/282.30 to a quicker 5.399/279.93, both cars mixing up cylinders on the top-end. “It was just one of those weekends when you get beat up”, stated Pedregon. “We’ve got engines laying all over the pits; we’re tripping over

ence, as he left on Kurt’s good

“Small Soldiers/Interstate Batteries” Pontiac. A round two 5.355/284.81

mance

Vem Moats had the quickest

the semis.

Spann defeated main rival

was enough to erase the tyreblazing 5.694/251.74 from

In the final, Coughlin fined up with the GM Goodwrench

John Parker in the second

John Force and his Castrol

Plus Pontiac of Pro Stock

kingpin Warren Johnson, who was the low qualifier at

winner on the night was Alex

The event was the final round of the Winter’s Smash

Coonan went on to win the final over Debbie Reed in her

Kidas on his A/S Suzuki.

In the semis, Capps faced off against low qualifier Whit

Repairs Track Championships and fom- of the eight brackets still did not have a clear cut

small block dragster with a perfect 7.50 on a 7.50 dial in. Super Comp was another

winner leading up to the

bracket to be decided on the

event.

night, with Colin Lloyd and Jon Sting locked on 275 points coming into the event. slight chance with 225 points

Funny Car on 300 points and Coonan on 275, while John Payne in his JP Racing

to his name.

Lloyd dropped out of the race early, with a loss to

The only other bracket to be decided on the night was Modified and, once again, the championship winner was defeated in the semis, Dave Mullins going down to even

event, with Juan Kudnig winning Super Sedan, Ross Munster winning Super

dragster were tied on 250 points.

were eliminated in the semis

Allan winning the unofficial Junior Dragster bracket. Both Kudnig and Munster capped off a good season by taking the event win in their respective brackets as well.

Payne was next out when defeated by Debbie Reed in the second round. This left a two-horse race

Petterwood went on to take the event win in his Pro Stocker.

hold

off

the

Alcohol

racer

Camaro, taking a close win,

and fastest car in Denver at

7.510/183.71 to 7.5'14/183.41.

5.969/240.19, but crashed his Dodge Avenger in the second

an unreal 7.346/187.46.

Coughlin had his best reaction time of the day, a .437, while Johnson was right there with a .464 - but the Jeg’s team, led by engine

round when the chutes failed

to deploy and the throttle hung open well past the fin ish line in the shut-down area - Moats’ car was bent in

half just past the front axle, but he got out of the car under his own power, shaken and bruised. - DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

Canberra 199S/99 calendar Canberra International Dragway has released its finalised calendar of events for the 1998/99 season of racing.

Street, Trevor Sage winning

and both Schluter and Sting

the first round.

Both drivers deep-staged and, at the green, Capps was off and gone, while Bazemore

All the remaining brackets

Modified Bike and Mark

drop out of the race when defeated by Les Winter in

the Winston Camaro.

were decided before this

Schluter in the first round

by Kym Petterwood and Greg Leahy, respectively but Sting had earned enough points to take the track championship in his A/Dragster.

Bazemore (5.167/289.85) and

tual bracket winner Bob Millet.

Coiwette and Russell Schafer in his Caloundra Wreckers

Swinscoe was the fii'st to

Car class, his final round

5.999/237.96 stopping the 6.058/232.79 of Tony

Gavin Spann took the Comp Bike Championship, despite only going as far as

Mustang.

Superformance Chev Beretta

Johnny Gray recorded the only five of eliminations in the Federal Mogul Funny

Delco Chevy Camaro.

Bartone. Veteran

round, while the eventual

Rookie Jai Schluter in his A/MS XC Falcon also had a

David Wells.

Kurt Johnson and his AC

.485 with a better .458 - the

the closest races of the night to secure the championship.

coming into the meeting,

“It’s just unbelievable, not just to win in front of the home town fans, but to do it three years in a row ...” -

Jeg’s Olds had the perfor

Willowbank Raceway’s Winter Finals on July 11.

with Steve Swinscoe in his

7.826/175.06 to 7.885/171.07.

Pedregon and his new-look

final, where Coonan took the win by .008 seconds in one of

four contenders for the title

In the final, he defeated the only other winner of this season, Angelle Seeling,

5.315/285.35 win over Cruz

the wheel of his CF Performance/Holts Crane Hire Ford LTD at

The Top Comp bracket had

season.

and top speed at 7.806/175.06. Shelly Howard took the honors in the Federal Mogul Dragster class, her final round 5.892/238.53 defeating the engine-killing, partsscattering 6.012/227.84 of

taking

for the first official Top Comp Ti-ack Championship. The two met in the semi

finals - that’s all of them this

and his Western Motorsports Pontiac, 7.479/183.97 to 7.498/183.63 - Gaines had qual ified third at a very respectable

fourth at 5.306/286.07 and

honours with a totally dominant display behind

took

elated

Hines had earlier set low e.t.

He had earlier used reac tion times of .457 and .459 and the semis saw no differ

round

In round two, he stopped local

Cap^s had been a picture first

Afterwards,

Coughlin stated: “When you go against both Johnsons in the same day and get by both of them, that says a lot.” Matt Hines again dominat ed Pro Stock Motorcycle as he ripped off a string of 7.80s, setting low e.t. in every round on his way to win number seven in eight

Colorado resident Vieri Gaines

In the semis, Coughlin had the tough task of stopping

between Coonan and Schafer

Coonan

the burnout.

7.399/184.91.

the

Tom

Coughlin qualified sixth at 7.410/185.60 in the power robbing thin air and used a 7.473/184.35 to stop the Mopar Parts Dodge of Scott Geoffrion, which broke after

Pedregon and team strug gled during qualifying, run ning a best of 5.597/255.68, good for only the tenth spot.

Johnson trailed at 7.476/186.10.

for both of the Johnsons.

blocks”.

of consistancy, qualifying

builder Dick Maskin, had the power to hold off Johnson. Coughlin took win number three at 7.468/184.31, while

way to a 5.518/273.55.

the qualifying at Denver, running in the fours right off the trailer and grabbing the number one position at

and 4.961/295.95 wins over the “Colorado Raider” car of

I*-'

blasted the tyres and shut off - Capps shook and hazed his

Darrell Hinson was the event winner in the Modified

Bike bracket, as was Ben Bray in Junior Dragster. - KEN FERGUSON

August 9’* September 12

Winter Series Round 2

December 5

NSW Wild Bunch Titles

Nostalgia Drags

January 1

Nitro Funny CaiChallenge Top Fuel Invitational All Bike Drags

9 am to 5 pm

September 12

September 13 September 27

Four Cylinder & Rotary Di-ags. 5 pm to 10 pm Winter Series Final Monster Swap-Sell-BuyTrade Meet

November 7

Februai-y 6 February 27

’^T/ie rained-out July 26 event has now been rescheduled for August 9, all entries

All info on 018 623243

being held and carried over to the alternate

Supercharged Shootout

date.

1998 IHRA CHAMPIONSHIP DRAG RACING SERIES - POINTS TO JULY 27TH, 1998.

PENNMIL

1998 IHRA Top Fuel Championship Tommy Johnson Jr, TJ Warehouse .3,600 Paul Romine, CarQuest Racing ... .3,280 Doug Herbert, Snap-on Tools 2,280

David Bieneman

Danny Dunn

1998 IHRA Pro Modified Championship .4,010 Scotty Cannon, OnSat

Fred Hahn, Oddy’s Automotive

2,540

Ed Hoover

.2,030 1,480 1,140 1,110 1,030

Shannon Jenkins

Dale Brinsfield ..

6. 7.

Carl Moyer .... Tommy Mauney

Mike Castellana .

9. Luigi Novelli, Dave O’s Great Paint. 1,020 .990 10. Danielle Deporter

Quain Stott ....

.2,460 1,840 1,810 1,780 1,660 1,500 1,420 1,410

Steve Smith

Jack Ostrander

Bruce Litton, Moser Axles

10. David Chambers

1998 IHRA Pro Stock Championship .2,250 I. Jon Yoak ..2,140 2. Floyd Cheek 3.

..2,130

Thomas Lee

4. John Montecalvo .. 5. Jerry Yeoman 6.

Tim Nabors

Ron Miller

8. 9.

Tony Gillig David Jenkins

10. Daniel Seamon

...

.2,010 1,950 1,930 1.910 1,770 1,650 1,520

40 31JulyW98 Monte Carlo in the 100 kilometre

dash at Mount Panorama in early

Six weeks ago,

October. It would have been better if

Haudenschild suffered a shoul

they had told us that we would be competing there next year, as we

der injury and car owner Jack Elden lost his crew chief, it appeared all was lost for the

would be able to source all the

Pennzoil team.

gear that is required for a road racing circuit over a longer period

ever, Haudenschild has failed to

flAW

I’m

back

racing

W Sprintcars in the USA and what a hectic time it was back

home before I hopped upon the plane at Sydney airport. Melinda and I had a good time at Club Crocodile in Northern

Queensland, where she managed to get one feat ahead of me by taking a parachute jump out of a light aircraft. Why would anyone jump out of a perfectly good airplane?

was in our Melbourne workshop several weeks ago when it snowed in the surrounding hills, so Melinda and I thought it would

I've managed to get a Jerico transmission and I’m currently on the hunt for disc brake compo nents and other associated parts to help our Bathurst attack. I enjoy racing on the Mount several years back in the John Sidney Racing V8 Touring Car Ford Falcon, we managed to fin ish in the top ten, as well as take

the World of Outlaws, his latest win, his third Kings Royal crown on July 18, pushing him to a career-

home the ‘Rookie of the Year’ honours.

best seven Outlaw A-Feature wins this season. Haudenschild led the final 14

laps to claim the US$50,000 first prize in the 15th Annual Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway - he pre viously won the ’87 and ’94 titles. As is his style, Haudenschild won his third Kings Crown in dramatic fashion.

Last week,newweJ&Jset chassis up Geoff Clifford’s for

The #22 Pennzoil Maxim stopped pumping fuel to the engine when

the forthcoming US races.

Haudenschild entered the third cor

Geoff is the owner of Clifford

Excavations out of Terang in Victoria and races a Modified Hot Rod at the moment.

However, he will be moving into the Sprintcar ranks when the car returns after my Knoxville

be neat to take the kids to the

Nationals assault.

It’s certainly going to be a busy time, as I’m taking in the 360ci Nationals, plus the 410ci

was there, I contemplated racing our Valvoline/No Fear Chevy

Since returning from injury, how finish outside the top five and has racked up his best-ever season, with

snowfields on the way back to Sydney. We stopped off for several days at Perisher Blue and had a great time with the family, as I had a snowboard - and while I

when Jac

of time - that wouldn’t hurt our

^ current budgets as hard.

51-

ell,

By BRETT SWANSON

Nationals with all the Pennzoil

World of Outlaw guys - and we’ve organised a Shaver engine for the 41 Oci events over there.

More news soon. Max.

ner during the final lap, causing him to coast under the chequered flag, only three car-lengths ahead of hard-charging Sammy Swindell. Haudenschild, the third-fastest qualifier in the 60-car field, earned the right to start the main event out side the second row by following the Swindell brothers - Jeff and Sammy - and Steve Kinser across the finish line in the ChanneUock Dash.

Sammy Swindell jumped into the lead in the A-Feature and was rac

ing away from the field when BFeature winner Andy Hillenburg stopped his #2 J&J in turn 4 after hitting the wall in the third lap.

FORTUNATE... The gods smiled on Jac Haudenschild at Eldora.

King Jac! Lucky Haudenschild claims his third Kings Royal Haudenschild, who passed Kinser early, took the low line through the second corner to pass Jeff Swindell for second place as the green flag replaced the yellow.

Jeff Shepard, 1996 Kings Royal champion Johnny Herrera and Brooke Tatnell coasted into the pits to make repairs during the next caution. Tatnell had timed in as

14th fastest, ran fifth in his heat

Honours taken by Speedcar Farrell and Compact Baker Australia #1 Ken Thomas new VCSC Club Champion Mirador receptions in Coolaroo once again saw a combined Victorian Speedcar Drivers Association

(VSDA)

and

Victorian Compact Speedcar Club (VCSC) presentation night on July 18. In the big car division, if you can

VSDA elections, seminar A new broom has swept through the Victorian Speedcar Drivers Association and some big changes and developments are expected.

“It’s tough to say it, but let’s face it, a lot of cars in Victoria are what you’d call second-rate cars,” Mills continued. “And where’s the incentive for the guys with these cars to New President, veteran racer race them week after week against John Mills, expects to see some the Bishops, Powers and Millses of changes made to take the the sport. Victorian Speedcar ranks forward. “I would like to see two diviThe rest of the new VSDA com- sions, 1 and 2, probably both runmittee is made up of “young” Eric ning together, but it would give the Smith (Vice President), Troy division 2 guys something to aim ‘Tlash” Jordan (Secretary), Kelly for and a reason to keep racing.” In an effort to get the class mov Himter (Treasm’er), Haydn Bishop and Graham Summers. ing again, the VSDA is holding a “There has been no forward seminar on August 9 at the Bells planning in the club, which is still Hotel in South Melbourne for all doing things the same way we did interested parties, where they will them years ago,” Mills explained. discuss such issues as inmning two “We have got a totally new com- divisions, promotion of the sport, a mittee, with some good yormg guys . control tyre, racing discipline, the whose job will be to step up and chief steward and racing committake the sport forward over the tee, fund I’aising, NASR (National next few years. The time has come Association for Speedway racing), where we need some fresh ideas the ASCC (Australian Speedcar and something to drag the cars out Control Council) constitution and of the sheds and back to the tracks, changes and enhancements to the “I’m only doing this job because racing foi-mat. I was asked to do it. I’m here to

chair the meetings and help the young guys who can hopefully

The seminar is scheduled from

9.00am to about 3.30pm.

take over next season.” Mills has his own ideas on how

If you are interested in attend ing, please call either Troy Jordan on (03) 9534 0195, or Eric Smith

to drag some of the cars out of the

on (03) 9546 5164.

garages.

-BRETT SWANSON

call them that, Paul Farrell capped a stellar year by taking home the major hardware, including the Motorsport News Most Consistent Driver, the Frank & Dot Allwell

Championship and the A G & G M Allen Automotive trophy for third place in the club championship on 214 points.

Most Feature Race Wins and the

big one, the Revolution Racegear Club Championship, which Farrell

Engineering trophy for second place in the club championship on 221 points, while reigning Australia #1

added to his State Title win.

Ken Thomas was a clear winner on

Multiple Club and State champi on Ray Bishop was demoted to sec ond spot in the club championship

315 points, earning the VCSC Club Champion trophy. Completing the top ten were

and the State Title, while his son,

Brian Cardwell (207 points), David Robotham (187), Peter Robotham

Haydn, was third in the club cham pionship. As well as taking out his second Beasley Memorial, Ray Bishop also took home the Motorsport News Most Heat Wins award.

Paul Bignell received the Power Racing Most Improved and the Bob Boast-owned Ian Lewis-driven #13

Pearce/Canaday

team

was

adjudged as the Ghent Automotive Best Presented Car & Crew.

Gordon Cardwell won the Melfab

(170), Tiger Martin (161), Craig Hume (157), Simon Amato (156) and Glen Wiles (124).

Bryon woods was the Redline Engineering Rookie of the Year, while fellow rookie Jason Crawford

received the Ron Hume Body Works Encouragement trophy. The Hume Racing team was the winner of the Fleetwood Roofing Best Presented Crew, while the Bob

and then seventh in the B-Main -

as first reserve for the A-Feature,

he got to start when Craig Dollansky couldn’t take his place. Swindell controlled the next restart and had his #1 ChanneUock

Stealth six car-lengths ahead of Jac when he entered lapped traffic dur ing the 11th lap. He lost his advan tage seven laps later, when Charlie Fisher spun on the back straight. Haudenschild was unable to keep

pace with the 1992 Kings Royal champion as the green flag replaced the yellow and was seven carlengths behind Swindell when they entered lapped traffic again early in lap 25. Haudenschild caught Swindell within two laps, however. Seconds later, Steve Kinser steered his #11 Quaker State Maxim high between turns 1-2 to

pass Jeff Swindell for third place. When Keith Kauffman’s flat

right rear tyre forced him to stop in the fourth corner late in the 28th

lap, the red flag replaced the yellow so the cars could be refuelled for

the final 12 laps. Haudenschild raced away from Swindell as the green flag replaced

the yellow and was more than a half-straight ahead within five laps. A broken rear-end on the #8H

Maxim forced Joe Gaeite to stop on the back stretch, setting up a three-

lap dash to the chequered flag

Troy Jordan earned himself the

Boast-owned #33 won the Car

which Haudenschild almost lost

Merc-Bits Encouragement award. The non-racing presentations

Busters Suzuki Wrecking Best

when his fuel system malfunc tioned less than half a lap from the

included Club Member of the Year

to Sam Papa, an Appreciation award to Dot Allwell for years of support for the club and drivers and an Appreciation award to Rodney Hudson-Davies for out

standing service to Speedcar rac ing, both on and off the track.

Presented Car award. Thomas was also the winner of the four-race Sensa Series.

Drivers medallions supplied by

Kinser, a four-time Kings Royal champion, finished third, ahead of

Pearce Chassis were awarded to all

Jeff Swindell, Danny Lasoski,

those who competed. The prestigious Alan Curren Memorial Club Person of the year

Blaney, 17th-starting Mark Kinser, Kenny Jacobs, Walker and Stevie

was awarded to Mai Tournier. ■ Australia #1 Ken Thomas will

■ The event was also a big night for the Victorian Compact Speedcar

have two cars at his disposal this

Club (VCSC).

season.

Numerically, Andrew Baker had

Thomas’ super-quick, ultra-reli

a big night, winning the Gordon

able Suzuki-powered Compact is to

Cardwell Travel Most Improved award, the McIntyre Auto Repairs File Indian Handicap

chequer.

be joined

by a turbo-charged

Suzuki-powered car. -BRETT SWANSON

Smith.

Danny Smith was back driving his own Smith #4, as Garry Brazier was now back in the States to drive his father’s #21 Schnee for a short

time before returning home for a full season in Australia.

Smith had timed 23rd, ran sixth in his heat and finished 14th in the B-Main.

IMd9®i7S[p®diO^

31Jufy1998

Prizemoney Farr and Murphy cuts by PCR NSW Sprintcar dates set The New South Wales Sprintcar Association has set it’s race

dates for the upcoming season but, in securing those dates, it has been forced to swallow a

bitter pill in the form of an average reduction in prize money of over 20% at a time when the cost of racing has increased dramatically due to

At this stage, the only visiting American will be Todd Shaffer, who will be doing six shows around the Christmas-New Year period with

Reigning Australian Speedcar Champion Robbie Farr joined

the John Walsh team - Walsh’s car is the car that Shaffer drove here

and met with immediate suc

that the frames are purge-welded dramatically increases the chassis strength without sacrificing weight,” he explained. Farr agreed with Richardson’s assessment.

last season.

cess, winning both nights of the Easter trail and the overall

NSW Sprintcar Association Race Dates & Prizemoney

(all Parramatta, with the exception

the fall in the Australian dollar.

of Feb 16 at Newcastle)

Club President Bill Roberts nego

October 3 ($8,000), October 17 ($8,000), October 24 ($8,000), October 31 ($8,000), November 14

tiated

with

Promoter

David

Lander, who wouldn’t move much

from his original offer. In a close decision, the club voted to accept the reduced amounts of prize money. There is only one date scheduled for

Newcastle

International

Motordrome, that being a World Series Sprintcars (WSS) round, but the club is endeavouring to secure a couple of other low dollar shows aimed primarily at the second half

lo race Avengers

the

O’Brien

Aluminium

Sprintcar team late last season

cash bonus.

races in the car and it’s been fast

The bad news for fellow racers is

that Farr, in conjunction with O’Brien Aluminium and Quick Race Parts, will be racing the Avenger Chassis house car in the

($8,000), November 21 ($8,500),

upcoming season. “Quick Race Parts is now the sole

December 5 ($8,500), December 12

Australian distributor of Avenger

($8,500), December 19 ($8,500), December 26 ($16,000), January 8 WSS, January 9 WSS, January 16

($8,500), January 23 WSS, February 13 ($8,500X February 16 WSS Newcastle, February 20 ($8,500, March 13 ($11,000) NSW Title, March 20 ($8,000), April 10 ($8,000), April 24 ($8,000).

of the field.

-BRETT SWANSON

Chassis,” stated Quick Race Parts proprietor Rob Richardson. “And, as such, in conjunction

with O’Brien Aluminium Racing, we are glad to have Robbie Farr racing for us this season.

for Knoxville Jac Haudenschild in the #22 Pennzoil Maxim has shot to

claim his tenth A-Feature this sea

favouritism for the upcoming

son as he defeated Steve Kinser.

Amoco Knoxville Nationals

Mark K repaired the car and, by virtue of having lapped up to sixth place, restarted seventh and fin

after yet another win at the famed Marion County halfmiler on July 22.

Smith to lead the last two laps and

one of the fastest racers in the “Im also thrilled to be involved with Ian McKee and Ron OBrien.”

On top of the fact that Farr will run the Australian house car,

Richardson also told Motorsport News that Pete Murphy, currently racing and winning on the West Coast of the USA, will be driving another Avenger for the American factoiy in his Australian campaign this season.

“Jay

Jonas

(the

owner

built Avengers are perfect for

Kinser, Andy Hillenburg, Joe Gaerte, Jeff Swindell, Skip Jackson

I USA, with high temps and high

and Stevie Smith.

Garry Brazier, back behind the

humidity and, with high stakes

32nd and Brooke Tatnell 35th.

son good form. So far, we have won six feature

with a fourth in his heat.

Brazier (seventh), Moyle (sixth) and Madsen (seventh) were in the B, while Tatnell had to win the C to make the

B, where he finished seventh ahead of

Brazier (eighth) and Moyle (11th) Madsen ran fourth and made the A, where he finished 24th.

Two nights later, Mark Kinser broke his 18-race winless streak

when he passed Hillenburg mid race to take the 30-lap feature at the State Fair Motor Speedway. Kinser had to battle Lasoski, who i-an second for the second straight race,

with Steve Kinser third from Johnny Herrera, Hillenburg, Jeff Swindell, Haudenschild, Sammy Swindell, Stevie Smith and 'Tyler Walker. Tatnell drove his #7K Racing Eclipse Sprintcar past nine cars to finish 14th. Brazier finished 17th

and Moyle failed to start. The following night, a dominant

Kinser lost the win after hitting the wall and flipping while over half a lap ahead and with two laps left. Kinser’s mistake allowed Stevie

“The unique roll cage on the Avenger chassis is a breakthrough in safety technology and the fact

races just around the corner, the #55 Jensen Construction Team

Jackson went straight to the A

Australian conditions.

t’s the middle of summer in the

wheel of the Brazier family’s Schnee, timed 11th, Jackson 14th, Kerry Madsen 24th, Jamie Moyle

and myself feel like we are in posi tion to capitalise on our early sea

' I

races, which is a credit to every

Raceway stands at 6-2 on regular Saturday night race meetings. Fellow Sydneysider Kerry Madsen put in a great effort with all the odds stacked against him on June 27, with just his dad and mate Adam crewing for him in Syd Moore’s car.

That night, we came from 12th to the lead three times, only to be knocked back.

Sometimes yellows work in your favour, but this night, the Gods smiled on Kerry - well done.

I Sprintcar features at Knoxville,

Aluminium racing components, an agent for Weld Wheels and stock ists of D&F Racing products, Racetec products and many others,” said Richardson.

“Trying to race and sell parts is not the best way to do business, so I’ve retired from racing and will be concentrating on my parts busi ness.”

For Farr, it looks like being a

(OBrien),” Farr stated.

season, kitted out with the new

range of race parts manufactured by O’Brien Aluminium. “Ian McKee will be the crew chief

and we’ve got a couple of young guys who are new to the game, but are keen to learn,” Farr elaborated. “Ron, Ian and I spoke about our plans for this season, which vidll see us do all the major races - the Title, the Classic, the Easter Trail, State Titles, etc - and a fair few of the World Series rounds. “With all our various work com

mitments, we are unable to do the

full World Series schedule, but with

20 shows at Parramatta it’s going to be busy anyway. We just want the freedom to be able to pick and choose where we go.” Farr will also be defending his Australian Speedcar title in the Bob Woods/Steve Smith car.

“Depending on the race dates, I think we should be able to do eight to ten shows in the midget, but six to eight is probably more realistic,” Farr believes. “I’ve spoken to both Bob and Steve and they’ve told me there will be a car for me whenever I can fit it in. “Both deals are set for this sea

son, which is a real luxury. I’m dri ving for the two best car owners in the country and have two homes where I feel settled.

“Hopefully, this season in the Sprintcar we can prove that we are one of the fastest teams out there and win a few races and show how

“Jay Jonas is good to work with. After each tace we talk and he pro vides good support and feedback. It will be good to see Avengers run ning around, hopefully fast.”

good these Avengers really are - and cement a long-term relationship for myself and the teams. That would be really nice,” Fair concluded.

several weeks ago (July 3 and 4), we had a really good run on Friday night, finishing a solid ninth. On Saturday night, the Outlaws

turn things around and get back on track immediately with a car that always has the potential to capture more feature wins.

- BRETT SWANSON

made us realise that we had a

After we ran with the Outlaws

good car, but needed to improve. They are the yardstick that everyone needs to judge them selves by. I am looking forward to the day when 1 can not only run with them,

on the fourth of July and struggled all week, the guys on the Jensen

Construction tearh and myself talked about what we should do to

I won the first 16-lap feature

was watching our son, A.J., run

from Don Droud Jnr and Leonard Lee.

amuck on the track after the races.

of our game.

He was having so much fun playing with the dirt and running up and down. Many people told us

With the Knoxville Sprintcar Nationals just around the corner, our focus and goal is stiil the same

that it looked like we have a racer

week to week: to do the best we can with what we have and look

but beat them - but I’m sure this wilt come with time. two in the first heat.

There was a total grid invert for the second 16-lap feature, putting me back on the eighth row. At first, I couldn’t get moving. Luckily, there was a caution around lap 6 and after this we were on our way pretty well. Iwas able to finish third, behind Brent Anthill and Marlon Jones.

Both the #55 team and myself were pretty pleased with the night, because the track was dry like it

n the recent Brenton Bank twin

was when the World of Outlaws

we were able to set the quickest time trial lap with a 15.491-second

guys were here. We need all the practice we can get on track surfaces like this.

run.

We transferred through the heat and were racing from position

Victorian Distributor of O’Brien

two new chassis for the upcoming

go better. With eight quick times this year, some new Real qualifying wheels, plus strong Shaver motors running Pennzoil’s finest, we have been able to stay on top

one involved with our team.

The ratio of Aussies winning to Americans at Knoxville

Farr added.

car for Rob (Richardson) and Ron

TatnelTs 27th and then finished

- SWANSON

the best I’ve ever seen and having that extra protection around the cockpit, especially on the left hand side which is so open, can’t hurt,”

Richardson.

seven-time Kno.xville Raceway Champion Danny Lasoski through

and finished 21st.

“The welding and craftsmanship on these cars is second to none - it’s

veiy busy season. “I’m really looking forward to next season and driving the house

Richardson believes the well-

11th at the end. Tatnell ran fifth in

difference.

Avenger) told me this morning that he will be coming to Australia him self to spanner Murphy’s car through the World Series,” stated

Brazier timed fifth compared to

the B, experienced a spin in the A

and you could feel the changes. Some cars you have to double the adjustment just be able to feel any

Edwards’ #55 JSR last season, has retired from racing to concentrate on his business. Quick Race Parts. “As well as being the Australian Avenger agent, we are also the

‘Wild Child’ tag and matured into

Haudenschild’s fifth straight win

the win by a matter of inches. Steve Kinser finished third, ahead of Sammy Swindell, Mark

they improved the car each time

us, because he has shaken off the

here came after he battled with

out the 25-lap race before taking

“When we made adjustments,

Richardson, who drove Fred

ished there behind Haudenschild, Lasoski, Sammy S and Herrera. second in the dash, but faded to

everywhere,” Farr said.

“I’m wrapt to have Rob racing for

country,” Richardson enthused.

Jac looking good

“Ive only done seven, or eight,

The car with which Farr won the Easter Trail has been sold to Victoria’s David Brown and the O’Brien Aluminium team will have

hen the Pennzoil World of

W Outlaws roared into town

The best thing about that night

in the making, as he looked like he was checking the track out. Lori simply said that he was just a nine month old playing and eat ing the dirt. I told them that he has to quit doing that and practice more on his golf game. Really, we will support him whatever he does.

As with all good performances

that we have experienced these last couple of weeks, there have been some disappointments. A significant strength of this team is that it has the ability to

for areas that we can improve in. This holds true for every race, no matter if it is with the World of

Outlaws, or not.

I am looking forward to the Nationals and especially all the Aussies that will be coming over for the event.

Ihope that all the Aussie racers and myself perform really well in the ’98 Nationals - we’ll all be

doing the best job possible, so that everyone back home is extremely proud of our efforts. Bye for now. Skip.

42 J/Ju/yOT

SPEEDWAY

Tucknott aims for se<ond title “There’s a plaque on my wall in the office here with my name on it and I intend to keep it there,” said WA’s Speedcar ace Tony Tucknott. The plaque honours Tucknott as the reigning Speedcar Champion in the West and he is going all out to

“But, after the national title,

things seemed to be uphill again.” In fact, Tucknott believes that he finished on the podium in just about every face he finished - “and the last month was really good.” So impressed with the faithful Murphy frame is Tucknott, that he

win back to back titles.

has taken it back to its maker and

After running the same Murphy chassis for the last four years, a

asked for another one just like it. “It will only have a few little impi-ovements, but as far as the suspension goes, it will have identi cal pick up points as last year.” Looking to next summer, Tucknott said he will again concen

new one is under construction in

Geoff Murphy’s workshop and parts of the Fontana powerplant are all over the nation being freshened up. The 1997/98 season was by far Tucknott’s

best

his

brief

Speedcar career, but it could have been even better if there wasn’t a

mid-season slump, thanks to engine failure.

Tucknott dominated in the open ing feature races, his efforts culmi nating in a thrilling State title win that nearly went all wrong at Claremont in early December. It was heart in the mouth stuff as

trate on the West Coast season and will consider the occasional run across the border.

On the wish list are a couple of runs at Adelaide and possibly part of the Speedcar Super Series. Then, of course, there is the next national title, to be contested in

HAPPY CAMPERS... F500 winners enjoy the limelight. Back row: Troy Anderson, David Swayn, Graham Mollenoyux, Kane Cruse. Front row: Phil Woodberry, Ken Willsher, Darryl Willsher. (Thunder-Pics/Agfa pic)

Darwin in 12 months’ time.

And, naturally, he wants to keep that plaque on the office wall at his automotive business.

Tucknott came undone passing traffic in the last turn, only to recover in the dying stages to take his biggest win.

“It has created a huge amount of interest with the people when they come in. The only reason I put it in

Then a crash at Collie seemed to

the office is that I had no where

trigger off a series of engine dramas that sent the new champion in a downward spiral. “Our highs were really high, but our lows were really low,” a reflec

else for it,” he explained. “A lot of people have seen it and said they knew John Fenton, or

tive Tucknott said.

Keith Mann, or others like that, so it’s been a great thing for the - DARREN O’DEA sport.”

REIGNING \NA CHAMP... Tucknott will run a new Murphy. (Brad Steele)

Awards aplenty for champ Ken Willsher been rewarded with his second

ed to Willsher. Former saloon

Formula 500 championship series title, the 39 year-old Laang motorcycle mechanic’s win a highlight of the Victorian club’s presentation night on July 18. Willsher, who last won the series in 1995-96, netted this year’s title from his cousin, Darryl Willsher and Phillip Woodberry of Goulbum.

car

veteran

Troy Anderson of Allansford was the Most Improved recipient and Ian

Burrows of (ioulbum snared the Best

of aggregate points over the six

Presented Car award, with reigning Australian champ Trevor Harding having the Best Presented Crew.

rounds of the championship. The Presidents Trophy for the

A special appreciation award was made to Anderson’s parents, Trevor

first Victorian to finish in this

and Marie, for their endless ser vices to the sport.

year’s Australian Formula 500

■ Adelaide’s Speedway City has announced its provisional

Speedway City and Riverview Raceway new season dates

calendar for the 1998/99 season.

Speedway City intends running mainly Saturday night shows this coming season, generally fortnight ly and 'Turner has confirmed that

Sedan and Street Stock Cups), February 27 (SA versus Victoria Sprintcars); March 13 (Speedcar Series), March 20 (State Sprintcar

the dates announced could be sub

title); April 17 (closing show Speedway City Sprintcar Cup).

dar’s release had been delayed after she and co-promoter Bob Sincock were obliged to make changes. The speedway venue’s next-door neighbour, Adelaide International Raceway, altered some of its main dates, leaving Turner with little option but to switch her pro gramme around. It has been Speedway City’s poli cy to avoid clashing with AIR where possible, due to logistical problems such as a shared access

ject to alteration.

A night practice on November 7 will be followed by the opening show on November 14, featuring the 13th Australian Sprintcar Masters.

Other meetings: November 28, December

(World

Series

Sprintcars round 4), December 26 (Kids Night/fireworks/Demo Derby), December 28 (World Series

problems if both tracks ran shows

Sprintcars round 6); January 16 (American Sprintcars), January 23;

on the same night.

February 6 (Speedway City Super

road which would cause traffic

Max Dumesny Motorsport

stalwart Tony Bartlett in his newly-

acquired ex-Kaeding sprinter. Bartlett has been sidelined since

Two sections are scheduled for

blowing an engine during this year’s Warrnambool Classic, but after selling his OTR to Victorian connections recently, is looking for

possible debut racing appearances

ward to the new season in his

in Adelaide this season, AMCAs

upgraded mount.

and V6 Spilnts, while the track wiU be running Shoot-out events for Street Stocks dming the summer to

■ The coming season at Riverview Raceway is due to

be decided on a points system. Adelaide top Street Stock di'iver Brian Chadwick is among several

feature three State title meet

ings, according to track manag

competitors showing strong inter

er Moss Buchanan, who last week announced the Murray

est in switching to AMCAs. The local Sprintcar class will also be enlivened by the appearance of

Bridge track’s calendar, with most meetings being run Saturdays on a fortnightly basis.

contested,” she said.

“The Perth-based pet food compa

ny “Tuckertime For Pets” has already indicated that it will spon sor the series, which is fantastic for the class.’

- GEOFF ROUNDS

Official practice on Saturday, October 10, precedes an all-sec tions opening programme, plus fireworks display, on October 17. Other race dates are: October 31, November 14, November 28, December 12 (Christmas show, F500 Victorian series), December

26, January 9 (F500 State title), January 23, February 6, Februaiy 20, March 6, March 20, Sunday April 4, April 17 (season closes), April 24 (annual Riverview Classic). The SA Modified Rod title is due

to be run at Murray Bridge in March, while the venue has applied to host the State V6 Sprint title, which may be run Easter weekend. - DAVID McNABB

1998 WORLD OF OUTLAWS/SKOAL OUTLAW SERIES

Australian Distributors for

Xoo$ifrl

^ ^ RACING TIRE

tary Cheryl Willsher said that the championship series would contin ue next season and expand to eight rounds with the same sponsorship. “Next year’s championship will go to eight rounds, instead of the usual six and should again be well

Leon Caccaviello.

Zivkovic Shield for the highest tally

Turner confirmed that the calen

and off the track. Formula 500 Association secre

Graham Mollenoyux, in his first season of racing in the class, won the Rookie of the Year, while the Encouragement award went to

He (Ken) also won the Mike

Promotion spokesperson Wendy

Camperdown’s David Swayn won the Chief Stewards’ award, present ed to the driver judged to have the best attitude and behavior, both on

championship, held at Bunbury earlier this year, was also present

Ken Willsher’s consistency has

For more information on Hoosier Drag and Speedway Tyres call:

NSW:

02 9679 1990 Fax 02 9679 1187

VIC: SA:

03 9331 6477 08 8332 0800

Fax 03 9331 7444 Fax 08 8364 0296

1-55! RACEWAY-JULY 27TH

POINT STANDINGS TO JULY 27TH, 1998 I. 2.

Steve Kinser Mark Kinser

Sammy Swindell

Stevie Smith

5. Danny Lasoski 6. Andy Hillenburg 7. Johnny. Herrera 8. JeffSwindell 9. Dale Blaney 10. Jac Haudenschild

6,142 6,086 6,066 6,051 5,872 5,865 5,814 5,655 5,617 5,607

II. Tyler Walker 12. Joe Gaerte 13. Greg Hodnett 14. Donny Schatz 15. Craig Dollansky 16. Dion Hindi 17. Lance Blevins 18. Brooke Tatnell

19. Larry Neighbors 20. Daryn Pittman

5,547 5,489 5,407 5,343 4,701 3,029 2,981 2,674 2,403 2,002

A-FEATURE (40 LAPS)

I. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Stevie Smith Steve Kinser

Jac Haudenschild Danny Lasoski Sammy Swindell Johnny Herrera Mark Kinser

Gary Wright 9. Tyler Walker 10. Kelly Kinser

11. Garry Brazier 12. Andy Hilienburg 13. Dale Blaney 14. Jeff Swindell 15. Joe Gaerte 16. Craig Dollansky 17. Donny Schatz 18. Greg Hodnett 19. Jerrod Hull

20.

Paul HcMahan

II^®0®178U)@I70

Vogels topssVIC Super Rous

Simpson’s John Vogels has again eclipsed his rivals to win the Victorian Super Rod aggre gate at the association’s annual presentation night on Jidy 18. Vogels, a veteran in the class, amassed 1763 points to win from racing stalwart Mai Rankin (1652), also of Simpson and Cobden’s Darryl Nelson (1200). The yearly Encouragement award went to Kevin Stanley of Warrnambool and Tony Meehan,

Improved driver of the season. Rookie of the Year was won by Simpson’s David Magilton and Darryl Nelson also had the Best Presented crew and car.

Warmambool’s Wayne Williams was deemed the Unluckiest Driver

of the year. The night was well attended at the Warrnambool Football Club

rooms, with comedian and magician Warren Jackman providing the

also of Warrnambool, was the Most

- GEOFF ROUNDS

Support for new WA site proposal Wliile a site is yet to be chosen for Claremont Speedway when it leaves the Royal Showgroimds in two years time, it appears there is a bit of conununity sup port should the track go to the FoiTestfield area.

A motor sport display, encom passing speedway and drag racing, was held at the local shopping cen tre recently and was well-received by shoppers. It is understood that more than

600 people signed a petition in sup port of a motor sport facility in their shire during the one-day display.

It is further understood that only 80 people registered their disap proval on another petition that took two weeks to gather. Forrestfield, on the eastern out

skirts of Perth’s metropolitan area, is just one suburb that has been earmarked for a possible purposebuilt facility that will include speedway, drag racing and a driver training facility. An implementation committee, featuring State Government offi cials, is looking at four key sites in the metropolitan area. - DARREN O’DEA

Vale: Dean Qualmann Loss to Classic Speedway in South Australia ';The South Australian Classic

Speedway movement is mourning the loss of leading identity Dean Qualmann, who passed away in Adelaide in late June.

Qualmann was a prime mover in establishing the SA Classic Speedway Association in 1989, having been founding president, a

position he held for many years, as

t/l

entertainment.

shows - and, despite his illness, was able to attend this year’s event in April. Qualmann succumbed to bone cancer at the age of 54, after a lengthy battle with leukaemia.. Hundi'eds of speedway followers attended a church service in Adelaide on June 26, where they were able to pay their respects to

Qualman.

The Classic Speedway fratei’uity well as owning several race cars. Qualmann was instrumental in has lost a good friend and MN helping co-ordinate the annual . extends its condolences to his wife, Riverview Speedway Classic - one Kathy and children Michael and - DAVID McNABB of the country’s leading classic Bev.

DEFEATED... Australian 1st Test Team at Wolverhampton. Back row: Leigh Adams, Steve Johnston, Neil Street, Mark Lemon, Jason Lyons. Front row: Shane Parker, Ryan Sullivan, Craig Boyce. England won 55-41. (Mike Patrick pic)

rand Prix rider Andy Smith is

G looking for a new club in the British Elite League. Smith, a former Coventry rider and triple British Champion, has quit Belle Vue, claiming he could not make the sport pay on the terms on which he was racing with his club.

since

his

Aussie

mechanic,

Shane, returned Down Under.

Nigel Boocock is flying Australia to race at hisfrom old ByTony MillardL^i^

home of Coventry in a special ‘Golden Greats’ meeting to be staged by Barry Briggs on August 16.

Boocock, a member of Britain’s

lenn Cunningham, last year’s third-placed rider in the World Longtrack and Grasstrack Championships, has been brought into the England team for the remaining two Test Matches against Australia. Cunningham is the only rider from outside the Elite League to be

maxima in British speedway in

1968 World Team Cup-winning

one sensational weekend for his

team and twice a bronze medal

club, Newport, in the British Premier League. His first was on Isle of Wight against the local ‘Raiders’ and, 24

winner in World Pairs, spent 18 seasons at Coventry and last raced there in August 1980. He moved permanently to Australia four years earlier.

Jtoason Crump is set

chosen for the meet

return for Australia in the two

ings on August 1 at Eastbourne and August 2 at Kings Lynn. Top men Chris

remaining Test match es with England, just five days before he

Louis, Mark Loram, Joe

rides in Grand

Screen, Martin Dugard and Paul Hurry, along with Cunningham, will race in both meetings -

the British Prix at

Coventry. The Aussie is also

among the favourites

local rider David Norris

to take the British GP

rides at Eastbourne,

title, having made the

final in Denmark last Andy Smith at Kings PRESSURE... Shane Parker chases Paul Hurry. (Mike Patrick) month. Lynn. The first meetings saw England hours later, he did it again in front With Todd Wiltshire. Craig win 55-41 at Wolverhampton on of his home fans at the South Boyce. Leigh Adams and Ryan July 6. Wales circuit against Berwick. Sullivan all in the team, manager Watson has been spending Neil Street, Crump’s grandfather,

Australian plenty of timehisinown the equipment workshop, ismatches confident Australia can win both grabbed his Craig first two Watson 15 point maintaining to take the series.

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3t July 1998

By SEAN HENSHELWOOD Ryan kept a cool head, convinced he could still do the job in the final. But for fate yet again, he may well have made good his promise.

He may be in the shadow of his compatriot and reigning Formula A World Champion James Courtney, but Ryan Briscoe is shining his own light around the circuits of Europe as the leading driver in

Under the Suzuka schedule, the Formula A final was the last event

on the program and it was coming under increased pressure from

Formula A for the notorious

water on the circuit, after the track’s drainage points became

Italian CRG factory team.

Ryan put on a dominant display in the Junior ranks in Australia,

blocked.

claiming multiple Australian Championships in Js and the inter nationally recognised Junior

was under more than two inches of

Half the back straight chicane water, yet they started the event, despite losing half the field in the rpll-around laps. By the time they cleared the car nage and restarted the field, Briscoe, who was starting 30th, struck problems restarting his kart, eventually firing it as the field

Intercontinental A class, where he was first recognised as a talent by the CRG factory. After a fantastic display at the 1996 Oceania Championships at Oran Park in Sydney, Ryan was offered a full time Formula A facto

made its way around for a start,

ry drive for 1997 in the highly com petitive European Karting Championships, his first full year

some three quarters of a lap in front of him.

Within three laps, he was classi

as a Senior driver.

Ryan duly rewarded that confi dence by setting pole position at the first and

final

rounds

of the

Championships against 100 of the world’s best drivers, including at that time fellow Aussie and the man who would become the 1997

Formula A World Champion, James Courtney. Unfortunately, Ryan was unable to convert his qualifying positions to race wins, despite running com petitively in each round prior to racing incidents. But it was all part of his learning experience against drivers whose only course of action to combat the young Australian was to “see him off’

Briscoe’s pace throughout the 1997 season could only be described as sizzling - at almost every event he entered, he was the pace-setter from the outset.

From his first major race at the revered Italian Margutti Trophy, he was immediately the fastest in practice, ultimately qualifying

Beating the best Australian international Ryan Briscoe, the young CRG factory driver now setting the pace in Formula A, is gearing himself up to become our next World Champion. Two weeks after the Las Vegas meeting, the teams were back in Europe for the Margutti Trophy, where Briscoe really showed his brilliance in a race where the

fourth.

European stars are all combined

From there he set pole position at the first round of the European Championships at Lonato and again at the final round at Genk in Belgium to claim eighth overall in

into one Foi-mula A class.

the championship in his debut year as a Senior, three places behind !

STAR ASCENDENT... Ryan Briscoe is a major player on the worid karting stage. (Sean Henshelwood pics)

Courtney. At the World Championships at Salbris in France, where compatriot Courtney set the karting world on fire by becoming the Formula A World Champion, Briscoe was again on the early pace, all but matching Courtney’s times before falling away late in the week when the rain came.

A quick trip home for Christmas and some fast display laps in a CRG 125cc kart at the opening of Eastern

Creek

International

Karting Raceway and it was back to business for the young Australian, who was appointed the number one Formula A driver for CRG for season 1998.

Returning to Italy just after Christmas to his flat with fellow CRG Formula A driver Patrick

Long, Ryan immediately began testing for CRG engine tuners F&M and became an official Dunlop test driver in Europe with reigning World Super A Champion Danilo Rossi.

His first meeting for the year was in

the

North

American

Championship, a series which the Italian manufacturers were start

ing to gi-ace because of its potential for chassis and engine sales. Ryan was immediately on the pace, but followed flat-mate Long to the flag in both finals to claim sec ond overall in the championship.

Briscoe was again a pace-setter early and was giving some of the more experienced drivers a real headache - but it was the final

which drew a standing ovation from the crowd for the young Australian, after he forced his way from the rear of the grid to first with only three laps to go. The fairy tale ending wasn’t to be, though, after second-placed man and ’95 World

Super A Champion Max Orsini tried a des

perate move on Briscoe only a few corners fi-om home to take the

win, Sweden’s Rickard Kaell following him through the gap for second

and Briscoe

taking a valiant third. One of the members of the crowd who wit nessed the feat and

competitors and faster than the elite Super A drivers. Again luck was against the team and changeable conditions, includ ing heavy rain, cost him any chance in the heats, eliminating a stai-t in the final. At the second round of the cham

pionship at Val D’Argenton in France, the Dunlop wets were con siderably better than they had been at the opening round, Briscoe again lightning fast until the wet qualify ing sessions. Despite this, he managed to con solidate his results with ninth in

was languishing around mid-field with fellow Dunlop drivers, Briscoe was one of the top half dozen dri vers in Formula A and the standout

Dunlop perfoi-mer. Despite qualifying third and fin ishing the heats in sixth and second

places, respectively, Briscoe still looked threatening for the finals then the rain came.

Given Bridgestone’s association with

the

Suzuka

circuit

and

Dunlop’s track record with its wet weather tyres, you could hear an audible sigh of frtistration from all the Dunlop competitors when the day of the finals dawned wet - very wet.

the water by now covering the entire chicane and obliging officials to cancel the event with no result for 1998.

In his haste to get within reach of the leaders, Ryan had set the fastest lap for a Formula A kart in the wet, only fractions of a second behind Super A winner Matsuya’s best times (Dunlop-shod Matsuya won the Super A final by over 26 seconds).

From Japan, it was back to Imola in Italy for the third round of the European Championships, which was iTin on a makeshift circuit util

ising the Imola Formula One Grand Prix pit lane and front straight. The nature of the circuit had

upset competitors prior to the event, as they had concerns over its safety. These concerns were justified when the teams arrived at the cir

cuit, a number of them, including the CRG factory team, instigating a withdrawal fi-om the event. This left the final round of the

championship at Mariembourg in Belgium, where the Dunlop run ners were again hampered by a poor compound, losing up to a sec ond over their Bridgestone irvals. Most Dunlop competitors eitherfailed to qualify, or withdrew dur ing the finals because of lack of competitiveness. Overall, it has been a disappoint

Despite the drivers’ concerns, Dunlop was more than pleased to

in his final year in Formula A and

see the rain, as it had

he will now concentrate his efforts

been concerned that

on the forthcoming World Championships at Ugento in Italy on September 12-13, where he recently set the fastest lap of the circuit in tyre testing - Ryan was

Bridgestone had the edge over them in dry conditions - but they had a ‘very special’ compound wet, which would bridge the gap in the worsening con ditions.

They were right. the Immediately, was 1995 Formula One Dunlop drivers who WET ’N STICKY... Briscoe on his Dunlop wets at Suzuka. were struggling midworld champion Keke the first heat and fifth in the sec field in the dry came to the fore. Rosberg. Briscoe, who started the wet pre Rosberg was at the event with ond. His weekend included a fine final from sixth, immediately runaway heat win on the Saturday. his son, Nico, who is part of the Within three weeks of the third jumped to a commanding lead, CRG factory team as a Junior dri round, the competitors were back until fate took him yet again and he ver - it is through this association spun onto the infield after aqua that Briscoe spends his time at the across the globe for the all-impor tant Shell Showa World Cup at planing through a huge puddle on Finn’s home whenever he gets any the track. Suzuka in Japan. spare time. While trying to restart himself in As has become the norm in top At the opening round of the European season, Briscoe picked up level competition, Briscoe was the a still respectable position, he was where he left off in 1997, dominat early pace-setter and, in fact, hit by an errant back-marker who Dunlop’s hero for the weekend in broke one of his rear wheels and ing his irvals throughout practice. badly bent his axle, ending his race In fact, his dominance was so dry conditions. then and there. While fellow CRG driver and complete that he was half a second faster than his fellow Formula A Despite the obvious frustration. World Super A Champion Rossi

joined in the ovation

fied fourteenth and, as the leaders came around to end lap four, he was the length of the straight behind them in seventh place then they bought out the red flag,

ing season for the young Australian

faster than all other teams who have tested there and faster than

his Super A teani-mates. Prior to that, he is due to com

pete in the second round of the North American Championships at Mosport Park in Canada on August 16 and then the final round at Charlotte on October 31.

Between those rounds, he is also

likely to line up in the famed Monaco Cup at the request of spon sors AMG/Mercedes Benz.

Our next opportunity of seeing Briscoe and compatriots Courtney

and Ben Horstman may well come at the final round of the Wynn’s Australian Karting Championships at Eastern Creek International

Karting Raceway on October 11, where the trio is rumoured to have entered for the Formula A class.

We’ll keep you informed.

KARTING

(^®0®£S[p®l70

JHorey and Gathercole star at Mallee Titles The 15th Annual Southern Mallee Titles were held at Swan

Hill

July

Victorian-South

with

the

Australian

Challenge incorporated into the meeting being won by the South Aussies by just over 100 points a small margin, considering the 40,500-odd points won all up. Twelve classes competed on the excellent and fast track in mainly very windy and cold conditions, with only the last couple of races being wet. Troy Morey dominated Senior National Heavy with three firsts, while Brett Ai-nett (three seconds)

and Robin Dumesny (three thirds) finished in that order.

Junior National Light produced close racing, with no-one really get ting clear - Jake Wigley had a win and Brent Rose fought hard for a victory, but Jay Bruce took the class win from Rose and Chris Porter.

Dale Carpenter made the trip

Taylor came back, getting second in the final, but couldn’t beat over all winner Gathercole - Westbrook was second and a consistent Graeme Rethus third.

Dale Carpenter and Brett Morey changed places several times in the last half lap of heat one in Senior National Light. Heat two was very close, with Ashley Mitchell making an early break before being swamped by Roger Goss, Morey, Carpenter and Aaron Berry, who bumped their way to the finish.

The same group fought out the final in the same manner, with Carpenter taking the overall points from Goss and Berry. Mark Scott won all heats of

Junior National Heavy to take the points, leaving Shane Wright (sec ond) and Kenny Dean (third) to fight out the minor placings in a great last heat. The large Clubman Heavy field

from Bairnsdale to take on the

had to watch as Marcus Zukanovic drove to the lead in all three heats

Clubman Light class and took first place for his efforts, leaving Clayton Groves second and Todd

and won the day, while Peter Boys from AlburyAVadonga had to battle Harley Maxwell and Angelo

Nicholson from Mt Gambler third.

Belmonte, with the rest of the field not far behind - Boys was second.

After some opposition from Jed Stokes in heat one, Mildura’s Brian Mason waltzed off into the distance

for an easy win in Clubman Super Heavy. Stokes seemed to have second

sewn up, but third place went down to the last lap before Brett Douglas just edged out Bill Gould for third overall.

Maxwell third.

Junior Clubman saw some great close racing all day produce three different winners. Kane Rose looked set for the win

in heat one, but on the last lap M DeMeyrick and Rick Kelly slipped byRose took the win in heat two

The Rookies was a close-fought battle all day, Eddie Wignall from Barossa making a good pass on the last lap to win heat one. In heat two, Matthew Hall made up for the second place in heat one by winning comfortably, while

Wignall and Clint Cox swapped places repeatedly to the finish. Despite a late charge by Rhys Archer in the final. Hall won the day from Wignall and Pox. Clubman Over 40 driver Ross

Gathercole won all heats easily to win the day.

after many passing moves, with Kelly second and DeMeyrick third, the result setting up a great final. The final was very close, with lots of passing and jostling for posi tions between the top three, Mark Hester and Sean Wyatt joining the fray. But Kelly was in front when the flag dropped, followed by Hester, Rose and DeMeyrick - and Kelly got the overall win from Rose and DeMeyrick. Benjamin McCashney showed his style in the Midgets, winning heat

Heat two saw Peter Lowe and

one from the back of the field and

Brian Raynor touch going into turn one, both leaving the circuit - Rod Westbrook snuck through, but Peter Hallett and Martin Taylor

easily outpacing the rest in the

both locked brakes and slid off.

other two heats to take the title.

Scott Pye eventually came sec ond, after battling with Nicholas Pavan and Benjamin Falk, who

snuck into overall third with a sec ond in the final.

Dale Carpenter made his trip from Gippsland even more worth

while, winning Pro Clubman as well as the other two classes he had

already won, while the second class placing of Mt Gambier’s Todd Nicholson relegated Scott Ferguson to third.

- GRAEME BURNS

POCKET ROCKETS... Rookies winner Matthew Haii heads

Barossa-based runner-up Eddie Wignaii in the 15th Annuai Southern Maiiee Titles at Swan

Hill. (Graeme Burns pic)

Rookie Todd too good A perfect day dawned for the fourth round of the Victorian Superkart Club Series held at Calder Park on July 19 and, with this event the halfway point in the schedule and no-one ultimately hav ing a commanding lead, the series is still wide

Ian Gray was just off the pace of the front couple, but put in a solid day for third, just ahead of Jason Lee.

New South Wales driver Ross Hansen again came down to check out the speed of the Victorians in the 80cc class, Hansen winning the first two heats com fortably and leaving David Thompson, Darren Dunn, Paul Ristic and Nick Mann to fight out the minor places between them. In the third heat, Thompson took the win from

open.

Dean Crooke and Lee Barabasz had a great tussle all day in the lOOcc Junior class, with Crooke winning the first heat and Barabasz the next two.

Evan Rogerson lacked just a little and was pushed very hard by Jared Laws, while Ulrich Deyssis, in only his third race meeting, proved he is getting quicker with each outing. Barabasz looked to have the final with a small gap over Crooke, but an off put him back and under pres sure from Rogerson and Laws - a spirited drive then saw him closing the gap on the leader, but he ran out of laps and settled for second overall, tied on points with winner Crooke, while Rogerson was third. lOOcc Light saw Colin McIntyre win most heats, but he had to fight off a very determined group of karts. The front bunch - comprising McIntyre, Darren

Dann and Ristic, with Hansen fourth. In the final, Hansen pulled a gap and Dann got in front of Thompson, Ristic being chased by Mann. Hansen got the points from Thompson and Dunn. The controlled class (B-Grade) saw Ian Lennox

not far off the open karts for the win from Wayne Gould and third-placed Meno Luneman. Pete Carter won all the 125cc heats and Mark

Purcell looked to have second spot sewn up with three second placings, but a DNF in the final let James Graham slip by, dropping him to third and one point ahead of Peter Hageman, with newcomer

Formosa, Ban Castles (later to retire with terminal troubles), David Williams, Stephen Castles, Barry

Charlie Galea next.

Bredenback, Rodney Reynolds (who struggled a bit to keep the pace) and Shane Fewster - changed positions constantly during the four heats. Formosa followed McIntyre on points for second,

The 250cc Nationals were plagued with gremlins, Mick Bakker (three heat wins and a DNF) winning the day from Stan Tadd in his first outing in this class after stepping up from an 80cc. Bill Todd stepped up into a 250cc International

with Williams third.

from the 125cc class and Mark Brundell (who has

Gary Pegoraro is proving to be the pace-setter in lOOcc Heavy with four straight wins, although Darren Spencer kept plenty of pressure on him early. Rod Clarke recovered from a bad first heat to pull a great inside passing move at turn 6 on Michael Bramich in the next heat to follow Pegoraro home. Clarke’s team-mate Dean Roberts got on the pace for the final and the pair raced each other for several laps, until Roberts dropped back a bit and Darren Spencer passed him for third.

never raced anything) made his start in this class. Robert Erlenwein, with plenty of experience, was very quick, but a broken chain on the start line of the third heat dropped him back to third overall. Todd, with consistent drives, was just able to keep Chris Mann at bay to take the win by five points. The next round will be at Calder Park on Sunday, August 16. - GRAEME BURNS

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The JIAonaro turns 30, mate Jr coming Hamilton

IT was reminiscent of an

of the now famous Ford ver sus Holden battles on the

enthusiastic one-eyed footy crowd at Victoria Park when 10,000 Holden

fans

By BRIAN REED THE 1998 Classic Adelaide has received a boost with the news

descended

racetracks of Australia, and the Monaro scored its first

Wangaratta on the week end of July 18 and 19 to

win at Sandown that year with Bob Watson and Tony Roberts. Thirty years later

celebrate 30 years of the

Watson was on hand as one

famous Monaro.

of the judges at Wangaratta, having played a major role in the development of the original car. Also in 1968, the Monaro

There wasn’t an opposi tion marque in sight as the mostly sparkling Monaros arrived in town for an offi

that the Le Mans winning C-Type Jaguar driven to victory in the 1953 event by Duncan Hamilton and Tony Rolt will take part in this year’s classic and will be dri ven by Hamilton’s son, Adrian. Duncan Hamilton (pictured above)was one of the great char acters of the gentleman motor racing era when a good time was just as important as racing a

cial welcome by the Mayor, followed by a procession through the streets of Wangaratta at 1pm on Saturday.

scored its first success at Bathurst when Bruce McPhee outsmarted the

The Town Hall was not

rules stipulated there had to be a driver change - but they didn’t specify the required time behind the

motor cai'. In between a swash

where the loyal followers warmly welcomed several

buckling lifestyle, Hamilton man aged to race Maseratis, ERAs and Jaguai-s mostly as an extravagant privateer, and stories aboxmd of his deeds.

big enough to cater for the hundreds who wanted to

attend the Saturday night gathering, so the Da Vinci Club became

Bruce McPhee and John

^ survived two shipwrecks and an

more than two hours while

i-ecovered to be back behind the wheel thi-ee weeks later.

Hamilton

was

sacked

Jaguar’s team manager ‘Lofty’ England when he disobeyed orders to let Paul Frere win the 1956 Rheims 12-hour race and

decided to take the chequered flag himself. Two hoiu-s after being fired he was signed by Ferrari as a works driver, but finally retired from competitive driving when his

Harvey and members of the original design team Leo Pruneau and Noel Bedford, who answered questions for

the wide-eyed assembly lis tened spellbound. It was a captive audience - as GMs Public Affairs rep resentative Kris Aquilina said of the special guests, ‘It was an honour to be in then-

presence.” The celebrations gathered momentum, and on the fol

lowing day 7200 fans passed through the gates at Wangaratta’s Airworld to

THEM OLD DA YS... Bruce McPhee’s GTS 327 leads the PalmerAA/est car and the Gibson/

another three Monaros in a

Seton Falcon GT into the Dipper on the way to Holden’s first Bathurst win.

clean sweep of the event. Another memorable year

take in the display and judg ing of the best cars. The organising group

ners could not be announced before the faithful left to

went to South Australia’s Kurt Hartleib who had three

return to various parts of

engine removals before the

from the Monaro Club of

Australia.

the

event - and still arrived on

Victoria led by its President, Peter Bailey expected up to 5000 people for the weekend and ‘260 adoringly buffed

organisers were able to pre sent two trophies on behalf

the end of a towrope! The Monaro (an aborigi nal word meaning ‘high plain’) was Australia’s first home-grown muscle car and was clearly designed to counter the impact of Ford’s

Monaro cars’ - instead the crowd was double the antici

However

ofCM-H.

The ‘Car of the Day’ award went to Sydney Monaro

Club

member

pated number and there were 304 cars to judge plus

Jeffrey Brown and his

another estimated 50 in the

Monaro and another Sydney

CT Falcon. It resembled somewhat the American

car park that either arrived late or couldn’t be squeezed

member Paul Redovic won

Pontiac, and ultimately

the Design Award for the

grew to become the mighty CTS327

Due to an unfortunate

best modified Monaro with his 1970 HT model.

computer failure the win-

A ‘Hard Luck Trophy’

immaculate HK CTS327

first great touring car folk hero Norm Beechey scored three firsts and a second to win in the Australian

Touring Car Championship behind the wheel of his

Monaro, much to the delight of the partisan crowd. From the launch of the

HK range in 1968 to the end of the line with the HZ in

1980, the Monaro has culti vated a legion of fans. Wangaratta 1998 showed the passion is set to contin ue for a long time to come. -BRIAN REED

and

friends

group of motor racing

Classic

buffs in central Victoria was held on

- BRIAN REED

Simday, July 12. The group normally

Motorfest latest

meets for a lunch on the

first Wednesday of the month

one

Bendigo’s old, historic hotels. Here the stories

abound, and the skills of those assembled leave no doubt that Austraha is indeed a haven of

BRUCE McPhee, the winner of the 1968 Hardie-Ferodo 500 is

tation for all members of these

version with a

250bhp V8 engine. 1968 saw the beginnings

was 1970 when Australia’s

Maldon Classic, a ‘Clayton’s car trial’ amongst members

Adelaide.

McPhee joins Tony and Diana Caze, 88-year old Keith Laity, a pio neer racer in this country, and the wiimer of the first Armstrong 500 at Phillip Island in 1960, Frank Coad as participants. Other “greats” of Austrahan motor racing are expected to aimounce their support shortly. Some 800 motoring and motor sports clubs around Australia are being invited to display their vehi cles and run parade laps on the cir cuit, and the Motorfest patron Noi-m Beechey has issued a personal invi

Maldon controversy

His famous #18 Jaguar C-Type

Shannons Australian Historic Motorfest to be held at Winton on November 7 and 8.

]

THE second annual

^vill be a welcome addition to the

the latest ‘legend’ to confirm his intentions to take part in the

the

called him in, and led home

close friend and fellow Ferrari driver Mike Hawthorn was killed in a road accident in 1958.

field in this year’s

win

running as a privateer with limited finance, put his co driver Barry Mulholland into the Monaro for one lap,

invited heroes. These included former

Holden Racing Team man ager Harry Firth, drivers

wheel. McPhee, who was

the venue

Apart from some stunningly good performances in long dis tance sports car races, Hamilton’s life was one of bizarre flirtings with death, and legend has it he enemy firing squad diuing WW2. He was even pronounced dead after hitting a pole and being thi-own high into a tree during the Portuguese GP of 1953. In his inimitable style he miraculously

opposition

Hardie-Ferodo 500. The

ITALIANISSIMO... The Mas pose outside Lakeside's Monza-style garages (!) Lto R Ken Oberman (Giulia Tl), Greg Lamond (1750 GTV), Colin Wilson-Brown (1750 GTV), Vaughan Stibbard (Giulia GT Sprint) (Photo by Richard Harris) and Wes Anderson (Giulia Tl Super).

Forza Alfa Romeo By BRIAN REED THE 1998 Historic Lakeside meet

ing held on July 4 and 5 really saw the event come of age in its 21st year with a record 245 entries received by the oi^anisers. It was gratifying to see such a strong interstate representation make the long haul north - a task epitomised by a group of Alfa Romeo enthusiasts

from

NSW

and

Canberra who pooled their resources

organisations to be involved. For further information and enti-y

and had their five 105-Series Alfa race cars delivered to the Lakeside

forms contact the Benalla Auto Club on 03 5766 4235. -BRIAN REED

circuit on an interstate transporter. According to Queensland enthusi

ast Richard Harris, ‘Team Alfa

Romeo’ was housed in the new pit facilities, and all cars performed creditably, except for the Ciulia CT

Sprint of Vaughan Stibbard which required a gearbox replacement on the Saturday night. Hai-ris said “... the gearbox change

highlighted the sportsmanship and generosity of the historic movement, with local Alfa Romeo identity Richard Anderson of Avanti Spares providing a complete gearbox for use over the weekend.”

The Alfa 105s created plenty of interest both on and off the track,

especially when they lined up for a photo shoot in front of the pits.

great driving talent. After more than two

year's, co-ordinator John Lawton tired of hearing the feats of skill and daring, so decid

tovmer, and so she and her navigator

ed it was time to issue an ultimatum.

Jennifer Tebbs (above,, with the

He organised the inaugural Maldon Classic last year (the result of which was decided by a dummy-spitting competition), and such was the suc

Reverend’s MC B CTV8) declared the winnere.

were

non-denominational service” (other

Amidst boos and hisses, the trophy (a Repco Brabham ord mounted on a metal base) designed and built by that “erstwhile metal sculptor,” Max Floreani was presented to the vic tors, who responded by assiu-ing fel low competitors thei'e was no bias or

wise known as “a di-iver’s bi-iefing”) and the serving of “coffee and a stir-

favomitism in the decision. The second Maldon Classic attract

nip cup” before the intrepid competi

ed an interesting field of appropriate cars including two BMWs, an Alfa, Alan Easton’s Jensen Interceptor and six MCs ranging from a TD to the

cess of the event that it was decided

to do it all again in 1998. The Classic began in Maldon on Sunday morning following “a short

tors were sent on their way.

There was a thi-ee-way tie for first place, but to avoid the dummy-spit ting competition to finally decide a winner, the Rev Lawton announced to his congregation that he thought his daughter Andrea should be given five bonus points for being an out-of-

latest “F.” The Rev Lawton was last seen nm-

ning in the general direction of Ballai-at to escape the lynching party. -BRIAN REED

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Cortina Sports Sedan, body only with interior aluminium and windows. Very light, includes moulds. Best offer, will arrange freight. Ph: 0412 521 810. 133 Mazda RX4 rolling shell, full steel cage, seam welded, fresh paint, new seat, harness, s/wheel, 4 wheel discs. Suit 2 litre Sports Sedan, Club Car or Hillclimbs. Offers. Ph: Barry 0413

Datsun 240Z rally car. Excellent shell and body, 2.8 litre, CROD box, 4.6 diff, twin Thermos on 3 core, Koni wet sleeve adj suspension, adj platforms, fully adj front end, big brakes,

Terraphone, 18-poinf steel cage, excellent seals/harnesses. Rally 2000 lights, alloy wheels, March 99 reg. $8,300. Ph: 03 9584 9353,018104949.132 Escort Twin Cam 1972. Big valves, Cosworth LI cams, bored 711M block, 1750cc, steel crank etc. Recent motor/gear box rebuild. Minilites, Momo wheels. No rust. Reg 5/99. Forced sale. Ph: 02 4234 2497. «

973 478. 133

JPS BMW 325 M3. Original car, built by JPS in 1986, raced in 1987 ATCC by Longhurst/Richards. Spare engine, gearbox, diffs and suspension etc. Complete car package with fresh engine. NZ$90,000. Ph: 00 11 643 338 0471, fax 00 11 643 338 0915. 132

Falcon GT XB. Immaculate condition, 1 owner. 2 alarms, air, sunroof, low kms, other extras. $25,000. Ph: 02 4655 6266,0412

AUSCAR Sportsman, VL Commodore. No expense spared, championship-winning engine, winner of Best Presented Car, heaps of spares including engine and 16 different sway bars etc. Very competitive, must sell. Ph: 03 9404 4113, 0417 014

Nissan Pulsar GTiR 1990. 4WD, turbo, 12 months rego, all options, ABS, 240hp. As brand new. $29,500. Ph: 03 9437 1645,0418322642.132

383. 132

inside and out. Full Brock Group 3 body kit. Mag wheels. RWC.

233143. 133

Maserati 425i BHuifao, Shamal upgrade, immaculate paint work,leathersuedeinterior,Zenderskirts,Simmonswheels,tinted windows, Kenwood 10 CD stack, excellent cond & extremely quick, Rego AEE 52Z. $37,500. Ph: Jim Cornish 02 9893 0023. .33

Holden VK V8 Calais, while duco, all electrics, immaculate $8,000ono. Ph: 03 5433 2417.132

Bathurst 12 Hour Group E Falcon EA S-pack. Fully adjustable Koni suspension, LSD, 5-speed, race computer, roll cage, tinted windows, 2 sets of mags, many more extras. Urgent sale. $8,950. Ph: 02 47741621,0418 455 168. 133 Thunderdome HQ, all log books, new sealed motor (as new), sealed box. Can be test driven before sale. $7,200. Ph: 03 95637072. 133

AHa Romeo Guilia Sprint 65.2 litre engine, running gear + brakes. Many performance parts, superb condition. Have owned 16 years. No rust, immaculate. $12,000. Ph: Paul 02

Datsun 260Z, 2+2 auto. Good condition, new tyres and mags. Some spares. 99 rego. $4,700ono. Ph: Ken Karen 0414

9958 0402,0418415 129. 133

434 246, (AH) 02 4369 3170. 133

Commodore HDT VC Brock, black, factory manual, 5,000kms, In storage, immaculate. One of the rarest Brocks left. $33,000. Ph: 02 4384 1447 (AH), or 018 432 066. 132 Escort Twin Cam, std engine, new gearbox, original car $9,500 incI spares. Rebel 13x7 competition 4 spoke wheels, as new, $650; big axle LSD rear loader assembly, suit Escort, $950. Ph: 08 82785988. 132 Falcon XR 1968 sedan, 351 Cleveland, 11:1 pistons, Stage 4 cam, 4MA crank, 750 Holley. $13,500 spent on motor c$ auto, HD gears, 3500 rpm stall converter, 9” LSD, 2 stage nitrous. Body ■& interior VGC. Central locking security system. Reg 6/99. $12,800.Ph: 07 32096464, 132

Mazda RX-3 Group 2E Club Car. Brand new 13B race Bridgeport, IDA Weber, 5 speed, Lockheed calipers with vented discs, Koni/Bilstein suspension, Recaro, CAMS logbook, spares. Title winner, Winton 6Hr placegetter. $6,500ono. Beat the RX7s and Datsuns for a third of the price! Ph: 03 5248 3044 132 NASCAR Pontiac Grand Prix front steer, complete $25,000 or will wreck. Dash 10 heads, Pontiac heads, both complete with manifolds. Scales, two-ways, gearbox Jerico, camberedrearend. Ph: 02 96364447,0418637454. 132

continued over page

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CATEGORY;

Cars: □ Sedans □ Open Wheelers General; □ Parts □ Engines □ Trailers

□ Speedway □ Drag □ Wanted □ Photographs □ Other

3/July m

Dud

len Wheelers

■f

Super Sedan, Pontiac, ex Aust #1. 350 Chev, 4 bolt, magne to, methanol carby and fuel pump, quick change diff, coil-over shockersetc. $12,000.Ph: 08 8262 4663 (BH).

9)d

Weber carburettors: 48mm side draught, in good oond, $600 the pair; 48mm downdraught, in good cond, $600 the pair. Ph: 03 9237 4502, (BH), 03 9878 9515 (AH), 133

3 BBS 19 inch Snake Tongue touring car rims, centre lock nut style, with Michelin slicks. Worth $6,000, sell for $2,500. Ph: 02

■'I

6655 5715,019125965.133 Brand new 2 litre Kombi heads, 48x38 titanium stainless valves, Chev double springs. These are the best heads. $1,800. Ph: 02 66555715,019125965.133 Wheels, 3 piece 16x12 and 16x11, suit Sports Sedan. Ph:

VC HDT Brock Commodore, white factory manua . 140,000kms. Driven daily. Alarm, Sony CD, Irmsohers or Simmons, HDT paperwork. $15,000ono. Ph; 02 4384 1447 (AH),

Van Diemen RF9Z Strong engine, one race old, well main tained, many spares, race winner. Complete, $26,000. Ph:

0412 521 810. 133

Roberto 0412 435 500.

Getrag 5 speed (dogleg pattern), direct top gearbox, from

or 018 432 066. .32

Kart - 1995 Speed chassis complete ready to race with

133

325i BMW, $1,000. Ph; 014 803 859. 133

Yamaha KT100J motor. Suitable National or Clubman class.

Plenty of spares. Excellent condition. $1,650ono. Ph: 03 5334 3104. 133

Formula Holden, 91D Reynard, ex Kevin Weeks car, recent ly undergone near complete rebuild. Fully rebuilt John Sidney engine (zero race miles), new carbon clutch. Spares package includes full set suspension arms, ratios, springs, front & rear wings, floor and more. No expense spared. Priced fro prompt Ford Mondeo, rebuilt Rouse car - V6 Cosworth, 6 speed, Xtrac sequential, all factory parts. Truly affordable at $55,000 firm. Spares package available. Ph: John 02 9796 4328 (BH), or fax 02 9790 7035, or Peter 02 9597 6393, fax 02 9567 6506, 018 117070. .32

Mazda 626, late 94, V6 hatchback. 1 owner. Sport Alloy mag wheels, 5 speed manual, ABS brakes, ale, sun roof, CRS/CTRL, CD, E'windowrs, P/S. A drivers car. Luxury cruiser, handles like a sports car. $26,000. Ph; Bob 018 749 403,018 647 626. 132

Torana Super Production LX hatchback. Roller, Cortina rack, NASCAR bar work, new seat, new net and harness, Holden & Hilux rear ditl. Spare wheels & panels. $1,200ono. Ph: 026352 2773. 133

F2 parts: F2 Cheetah Mk7/8 wheels, 2 front, 2 rear, in vgc.

sale, $68,000. Ph: Rod Wilson 03 9872 4522,0417 511 911. 133

0413877 774 or 07 3375 6000. 133

Escort Modified Production (ex Peter Graham). 2100co avgas engine, power steering, Willwood brakes, adjustable sus pension, all fibreglass panels, spares, ultra reliable. $5,500ono. Ph: Brad Bassett 02 9548 2227 (AH) or 0418 424 689. 132 F500 Speedway car, roller, competitve car. Torsion bar car, rear splined axle, comes with spare wheels and tyres $4,500 ono. Ph: Danny 03 9785 1898. 132 Fender Bender HG, one meeting old since full rebuild, motor sealed. Competitive car ready to race, less window net and har ness, with spares. $1600ono. Ph: Ed 0414 240 006, 02 9628 5170.

Ford Escort SS, red & silver, Windsor Super T10 close ratio. Falcon diff, fibreglass bonnet, boot and guards. Must sell $6,500ono. Ph: Barry Wraith 07 5594 0860,018 450 213. 132

132

Kart - very fast, winner of 6 meetings in a row 97/98 season, with winning JK tuning Clubman. Best of all parts, with race suit. Italian frame. $2,200ono. Must sell. Ph: 08 8337 2092.

Drag Racing

133

Pontiac Formula Nitro Flopper, Atholwood Bros, com

plete operation with enclosed trailer. Weldwell chassis. Strange live axle rear, CragarAWeld wheels. Complete car is 2100lbs, suitable also Top Alcohol. Most beautifully presented, profes sionally built car In the country. Phone for full details. Replacement cost $180,0004-, Give away at $110,000. Ph: Jeff

07 3841 2358 or Glen 0414 752 482. .33

Suzuki Swift GTi. Black, 15 inch alloys, Pirelli tyres, Koni adjustable suspension, engine mods, power chip, K&N Rampod filter, stainless extractors, Tokico brakes, quick-shift 5 speed, V. tidy interior. 4/99 reg. Must be sold for $8,500 (cheap

The Tighe Vincent. Famous Australian air-cooled car. Built 1958 by Ivan Tighe. Championship winner. Fully restored to original. Comes with moulds, jigs, spares. Group Lb logbrxik. All offers considered, Ph: Peter 02 9211 2854, 02

Torana LX 4 door rolling shell. ANDRA spec steel roll cage. Engine bay modified for BBC. Ideal project car. Ph: 02 6242 6675 (AH). 132 Suzuki Pro Motor 1327cc. Star racing head, titanium valves, big block - Wiseco, new guides & rings, 3 speed auto, new crank. Great motor - provenm 7 second motor. Complete $10,000 (will accept Villa in Monaco if short of funds). Ph: Maurice Allen 03 9602 5833.

131

and Centrelines. $6,950ono. Ph: 08 8396 5607.

‘

1946 Hudson 8. Original, with Hudson radio, new & used spares. Reasonable offers. Enquiries to Hudson, P.O. Box 105, Palmerston North, New Zealand. 132

Cooper Honda Formula Libre, powered by Honda CBR1000 engine. Immaculate presentation. Currently leads class in 1998 Hillclimb Championship (NSW). Includes fully enclosed trailer and spares. $9,000ono. Ph: 02 6337 3510. 132 =

rir—:—-1-

V- -

Commodore Sportsman, Iront row runner/qualilier. Selling due to AUSCAR commitments. Rebuilt and race prepared by JFR. Fresh engine, all near-new equip, spares package inci all new VL body panels, rims, brakes, shocks etc. Ph: Ken 018 325

131

Engines

Mazda 13B p/p, Rotomotion housings, 51mm IDA Weber, tooth belt drive, baffled sump, modified dissy, fully rebuilt, 3004-hp, new twin plate clutch, close ratio Holinger g/box. $5,000neg. Ph: 02 9579 6382, 015 468 166. 133 Two 700hp Rodeck engines. Brodix heads, Kinsler injection, Barnes dry sump, roller cam, Jessel rockers. Grower crank, Carlllo rods. Super magnetos. Only $25,000. Ph/fax: David 02 6021 3962 (or 02 6025 5561 AH). 133 Toyota Supra 3-litre six. Genuine complete Group A TRD factory engine. Ex John Smith. Last raced Bathurst 1989. Complete, assembled, less turbo. Replacement cost $60,000, sacrifice $4,000, Ph: Dennis 02 9683 1444 (BH), 02 9629 5848 (AH). 133 Porsche 911 2.7 engine. Totally complete, including exhaust, flywheel and injection. Requires top end overhaul. $2,500. Ph: 03 9469 5162 (AH). 133

062. ,32

13B peripheral port motor, just been run in on dyno.

Genuine 320hp. Cost $9,700 to build, self $5,500ono. r

Toyota Corolla Levin, factory supercharged 4AG. Ready to rally etc. All options, roll cage etc. 1994 model, like new, lowkms. $14,000. Ph: 03 9437 1645. 132

Elfin Catalina FJ #629. Built 1962, magnesium wheels, discs, twin Webers, 1558cc pushrod. Original, restored. Group M logbooked. Easy to drive & maintain. New Dunlops, radiator, battery. $31,000. Ph; Peter 02 9211 2854. 132 Kaditcha F2 82, Mk 9, Golf engine. National series winner. Spares to suit. Offers around $26,000. Ph; 03 5881 4411 (BH), 03 5881 1506 (AH). 132 Van Diemen RF86. Damaged, ex-Paul Morris, some Historic value in future. $4,500ono. Ph: 07 5446 7611, fax 07 5446 7480. 132

Genuine enquiries only. Ph: 03 5422 7474, 0419 334 786. 133 Chev small block, 360ci, built and maintained by JSR, 7004- hp, 370 ft/lbs. Bowtie, Scat, Carillos etc. Pontiac heads, titanium Jessel etc. Barnes dry sump. Complete engine. Best available, inspection invited. $26,000ono. Ph: 03 5174 0664 (AH). .32

Present owner searched world-wide before deciding on this particular vehicle. Car owes him NZ$74,000-t-, an absolute bar gain at NZ$45,000. Ph: Steve Weeber 0011 643 338 0471. 132

CRG Kart, very good ’J’ motor, rebuilt carburettor, seat cover, new electronic tacho, hydraulic brakes & ventilated disc. $1,800ono. Also race suit, immaculate cond. $200ono. Ph: 02 9636 5464,0419698 132. 122

|(ir’«r,?»i IV

TE Cortina Modified Production - Super Production. Strong 250 methanol engine, 2 parts powerglide, adj Konis, aluminium seat + tank + radiator. Power steering. Currently ACT/NSW #2. Has won at Canberra, Cowra, Goulburn & griffith. $6,000ono. Ph: 0414 253 174. 133

Mini Cooper S, Group NC, 1330. Straight cut geras, alloy panels, LSD, 6x10 Minilites, perspex. Nothing to spend, with trailer, $12,000ono. Consider part swap for XU1 road/race. Ph: 03 5977 8372. 132

3 Litre Saloon/Production Sedan. VSC/ASCF reg. LH Torana, 2 yrs old, maintained as new, ready to race with spares. Trailer and additional Hoosiers & wheels available. $5,650. Ph: Neale or Kevin 03 9744 3424 (AH), 03 9348 9500 (BH). 133

Ph: 0416053 620. 132

Rear axle housing, V8 Supercar, 9". New & s/h, suit CommodoreVP, VR, VS. $600. Ph: 03 9587 6199, fax 9587 6807.

.32

Mazda rotary components - complete 13B to suit rebuild $450; two RX4 gearboxes $250 for both; various distributors, starters, radiators, oil coolers, tailshatts, sway bars, complete RX3 Club Car with Bridgeport. Ph: 03 5248 3044. 132 Sprintcar parts - 3 x 1994 JSR29"bar ohjassis, 2 x KSE steering boxes, Sander driveline. Winters rear end, 23 x torsion bars, left rear wheel, FBI fuel tank, -r various other parts, Ph: Brett 015 601 053 or 08 8390 3017.

132

tanks: 2mm alum 750x500x250H $100. Steel

640x440x360H $50. Commodore knife-edged crank, 202 exSpeedway $350; 202 steel main caps -r studs $350; BRC 1.6 roller rockers + posilocks 186-202 $240. 202 windage tray $50. Ph: 03 5422 1942 (BH), 03 5422 7037 (AH). .32 Harness: ’Total" 6 point, rotary buckle, 3 inch webbing, long shoulder straps, clip-in. Used twice, no further use. One of the best available. $400. Ph: 03 5248 3044. 12

NASCAR Pontiac Grand Prix body panels: full front sec tion, flat track diff housing. NASCAR block, 30 over $3,500. NASCAR chassis, suit rebuilt Speedway Lumina body com plete. Ph: 02 9636 4447,0418 637 454. 132 Mkl Cortina 2-door body, rolling chassis, ideal for Group

N6 Historic racing. $1,200ono. Also Mkl 4-door body (no motor, g/box) $290ono. Ph: Bob 018 749 403,018 647 626. 132

Transporters/Trailers International ACCO 2030 2 car transporter. Pantec

with annex, quicklift hoist, fridge, generator, compressor. Reg & RWC., Bargain. Ph: Julian Harburg 0411 667 799. 133 F250, 460ci, C6, CD, air, LPG, 5 seat. Trailer 21ft, aluminium tilt, electric winch. Both units excellent condition. $18,000ono.

Will separate. Ph: 0418 979 388 or 02 6258 8266. ,32 1972 Bedford Bus car transporter. 6 cyl turbo diesel, 5spd, semi auto, seats 8, sleeps 4. Fridge, cupboards, 12/240 volts, winch, good tyres. Vic motor home rego 11/98. $12,500ono. Ph: 07 3812 4398 or 0418105 016. ,32

Isuzu Dual Cab Transporter. Set up for karts, but suitable for Formula Ford also. Comes as complete unit with full pan,

aero kit, generator, winch, lighting, fridge, microwave, tool chests and racking, plus a fitted 20x20 annexe.' $50,000. Ph: Paul Burfitt 03 9480 0977, fax 03 94841029. 132

015 601 053,08 8390 3017. 132

Parts

Speedway

Sprintcar parts - Hi bar chassis with tank & parts $2,750. 4 quickohange rear ends, from $2,000 ea; complete front axle, Sanders driveline, shocks, torsion bars, radiator, gear sets and more. Ph: 08 8251 3096 (AH). .32 Cosworth Sierra cylinder head, new exhaust seats, reconditioned. Bare, plus 2in and 2 ex valves. $1,000obo. P95876199, fax 9587 6807. 132 Head gaskets, Ford Sierra Cosworth. New, 12 off, $90 each obo. Ph: 9587 6199, fax 9587 6807. 132 Gearbox: Doug Nash 5 speed (1:1 top), back-cut 3rd gear dogs, hydraulic throw-out bearing, just refreshed by Rod Smith, with Hurst shifter (reverse lockout), excellent condition $3,100.

2065 (BH). ,32 Chev engine parts - complete Dart 23 degree alumini um heads. Crane 264 camshaft, Barnes dry sump kit, tim ing cover, rev kit 4- various other engine parts. Ph: Brett

■

PSi

3044. 132

Ford Boss 302. SVO A4 block, steel crankshaft, Carillo

rods, Wiseco pistons, 4V heads, Roush SVO manifold. Comp 9000 dist, Romac balancer. Dyno figures. $9,500. Ph; 07 38782740, 015 673 707. 132 186-202 Starfire rods, floating bushes, new $250; Arias pistons 202 4-.003’’, suit supercharger 4- turbo $400. GM 202 billet cam $70. MSD5 ignition control $100. Ph: 03 5422 1942 (BH), 03 5422 7037 (AH). 132 SB Chev, 355 SB Chev, 520hp, splayed caps, 6” Lunati rods, Ross pistons. Dart leads, steel crank, stainless valves. Crane cam, MSD Dist, Vicotr manifold -t- more, $8,000firm. Ph; 07 3807 5590, 0412 272 603, or 07 3807

1963 Mkl Lotus Cortina. Nicest example you’ll find.

ous mounting brackets, $350; Golf F2 - new alloy adapter plate $250, new alloy sump $250, s/h inlet and exhaust $250, s/h side-mounted Cosworth oil pump $350. Ph: 03 9237 4502 (BH), 03 9878 9515 (AH). 133 Gaerte Chev engine parts: Air Research heads, matched manifold. Grower rocker’s stud, Gurdle roll followers, push rods, complete top. As run by USA Ronnie Adams. $4,500. Ph: 03 64262262,018144404. Coii overs as new $400; Hugo shifter and cable as new $200; 9" housing braced 46" 31 spline axles $250; Hornet seat $80; Mini spool $50. Ph: 07 3282 7971. 132 Dorian Data-1 timing transmitter, c/w charger and mounting bracket. Only used twice, no further use. $400. Ph: 03 5248

Fuel

LH Torana Drag Show Car. YZ Inch lines, scoop, harness, drag suspension, SL/R dash, wheel. Fresh paint, detailed undercarriage. Too many new parts to list. Less 308/Glide 9"

er than std GTi and lot more fun). Ph: 03 5248 3044 132

019125 965, .33

$1,100 the lot; Ralt RT3 rear legs, also partially built tub and vari

Championship-winning Tony Karts: Extreme $2,800: Formula $1,900; Exagone $2,600 or $3,000 for near new chas sis. Very fast engines, J or Clubman, ono. Ring Greg Paynter on Elfin Crusader 1987, top 10 car, complete with spares and enclosed trailer. Urgent sale, $8,000 includes free air ticket to look at car and freight to Melbourne. Ph: 017 875 426 (TAS). m

AVS 17 inch poiished rims, made by Yokohama, with 245x45x8 P7 new series tyres. Good for road or racing, suit Porsche or VW Porsche stud pattern. $2,500. Ph; 02 6655 5715,

Harrop 4 spot caliper, 11/4-1 1/2 lug mount. Ph; 0412 120 720. 133

T/AD motor

& parts: 3 complete WAR motors,

Whipplecharger, Grower clutch, complete heads, manifolds, fuel pumps, mags etc. Everything but a chassis. Ph: Mario, Spaghetti Bender/Lenco Racing (US), 00 11 1 408 484 1269, e-mail jerry.kumre@autodesk.com 133 Celica GT4 1988 3SGE, turbo, 5 speed, a/c, p/s, front half

only complete. All mechanical & panels $2,500. Delivery arranged anywhere. Ph: Daryl 018 149 592. 133 Brodix 18 degree heads, Jessel rockers, 3 piece Hilborn manifold. Ph: 0412 120 720. 133

5th wheel trailer, 27’, 20 ft floor length. Full annex, elec brakes, drop door, alum, w/bench, cupboard storage, 6mth old

long wheel base V6 auto, cruise control, a/o, p/steer, tinted win dows, LPG/petrol, air bag. Economical tow vehicle. Ideal for Sprintcar, Speedcar, Formula Ford etc. The lot $33,000ono. Ph: 02 9709 5884 (BH), 02 97151735 (AH), 0418 403 744. 132 Leyland bus transporter, 460 big block &C6 auto, set up for LPG, 2 speed diff, DC10 seats, sink, fridge, bed, 16’x16' annex and tilt ramps. Good tyres and paint. No rego. $10,000ono, Ph; Adam 02 4655 3242 a 0418 600 908 (AH). 132

Wanted Enclosed trailer required for average sized sedan. Must be NSW reg. Ph; 02 6297 2920. 133

SUulyms Endurance co-drive sought by experienced NASCAR driver with excellent circuit racing results. Super Tourer or V8. Interested teams please phone 0417 014 383.

Lancer 1974 factory comp parts. Anything, any condition, especially oil separator, sump or pul

ley for alternator and water pump. Rebuilding Southern Cross car. Ph: Roger 02 6280 5540 (BH), 02

Adjustable shock absorbers to suit Torana. Ph: 0412 521 810.

07 3269 2094 (AH). 132 Motec Computer interface and transmit modem unit, to suit 2 Group ECU. Ph: 02 6579 1180. 132

6297 9446 (AH). 133 Crew member for North Brisbane based Super Sedan team. For a chance at this rare and exciting opportunity, phone 0417 789 053. 133 Sponsorship for 1999 Victorian HQ Holden rounds. I have the car but my budget is limited. Experienced motor sport competitor. Ring Joe, 0414 842 662 any

4.77 or 4.9 owp suit English Cortina/Escort axle. Ph:

time.

08 8204 8869, 08 8278 5988

133

Other

133

Unfinished sports car or racing car project. Prefer vehicle of Australian design eg: Elfin, Bowin, Lynx, Renmax etc. Please phone 07 3407 4469 (BH),

Dorian lap timer. Holden 202 race motor or cylin der head. Yokohama 205/60/13 second hand tyres 008R. Ph: 0419 440 973.

132

ZF gearbox parts for 5 sp dogleg 1st, Gearbox model 5-18/3 fitted to early BMW/Escort rally oar.

Flamecrusher overalls, 2 pair. Underwear, balaclavas, socks, long gloves. Nomex boots. Bell full face helmet, 7 1/8. Suit 5'10". Carry bag. $400 the lot. Ph: Gary 0415 751 359 (Gold Coast). 133 Historic racing book, the Book of Australian Motor Racing, by Bill Tuckey. Autographed by author & Jim Clark at point of sale. Offers. Ph: Ian 07 3267 1620. m

OMP race seat, black, fixed back. Never used. EC. $350. Ph:

Historic photos: 70s, 80s. Brock, Johnson etc. Majority unpul> lished, b&w and colour. Tourers, sports cars, F5000, F2 etc.

0412323941. 133

Two open face helmets, with inbuilt earphones and boom

Search senJce also available. Fax for details, 02 9960 6552. 133

microphones. Both used once. $150 each. Ph: 03 9237 4502 (BH), 03 9878 9515 (AH). 133 OMP suit, red, size 52. Brand new, never worn. $650. Simpson race boots, high type, blue, size 43, $100. Ph: 0412 323 941. 133

Tyres - Hoosier racing wets, brand new, 16", 22.0x10.0-16 x4. New $1200, sell $850. Ph: 0412 337 227. 132

Australian Motor Racing Yearbooks, 11-17: Bathurst ‘82, '84. JH 1000 82/83,83/84. Ph: 02 42341069. 132

M'otorsport News' RACE'$^ilfll^ipgives yog tfie opportunity to promote your products' __apd services to the widest possible range of motorsport competitors and enthusiasts. ^ Advertising in: igACE .'plt!ibP'‘Costs as little as $59 per issue! | VC' -’r Ca\\’&t'-9SWWi^no\N\. \ The Australian Race Center tor

PERFORMANCE IGNITION SERVICES Distributors & Ignition C

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Kits from $795 03 9739 6323

Unit 47, 41-49 Norcal Rd Nunawading VicST^I

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QLD: (07) 3808 1986

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Ph 03 9357 0778 or Fax 03 9357 0001

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Contact Geoff Pratt on

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phone/fax 08 8381 8722 or

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IMOI^ M

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(08)

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018 276 323

82818722

For all your karting needs

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We can do it all for you from a bare shell to race track specifications including storage

● Existing trailers and coaches refitted out

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Rate & Retail Centres

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● 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

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,(^®0®[^S[pcp[F9 Pots and Kettles

Murphy was correct to point out some glaring inconsistencies.

lUI

Dear Sir,

Alan Jones has to be kidding

Editorial

doesn’t he? I tuned into the Formula 1 tele

Editor

cast last night and couldn’t believe the crap he was talldng about how gi-eat it was to see the drivers get ting down and dealing with the general public, signing autographs

David Hassall

Technical Editor

Tony Glynn Assistant Editor

and all that stuff.

Phil Branagan

Send letters to Talk Co.nverter to PO Box 1010 North Caulfi

Vic 3161, our E-mail address, or fax to 03 9527 7766.^^

Michael Sturrock

The staff of Motorsport News does not necessarily agree with opinions express ty readers.

That’s what it’s all about, he

Graphics Co-ordinator

reckoned.

Viv Brumby

Advertising Advertising Manager Gerald McDornan

Administration

Yes, it is Alan, but who the hell

Compare the comments of people

are you to be preaching - the same driver who pre-pays his fines so he won’t have to attend the public gatherings at Shell Series races?

like Johnny Herbert (I made an error - it was my fault”) and Damon Hill (“I was having a bad day at the office”).

What a hypocrite!

The only time Schumacher admits to any fault is when over whelming evidence is presented, or his own countrymen start to ques tion his ability. This in itself is disappointing, as I do believe he is an outstanding

Alan Yeates

Moorabin, VIC

Managing Director Chris Lambden

Sticking up for Saward

Contacts

I felt obliged to stick up for the

driver. The fact remains that Schumacher

best journo in the GP business. He is the main reason I buy MSN each

has as yet failed to prove he is the complete racing driver.

fortnight - all 131 issues. He is incisive, worldly, intelli gent, sophisticated, knowledgeable and accurate - in his opinion. And I agree with his opinion. If you can’t appreciate both

I doubt very much whether he could have lived with the pressure

Dear Sir, 89 Orrong Crescent CatJifield North VIC 3161

(PO Box 1010 Nonh Caulfield 3161) Phone: OS 9527 7744 Tax 03 9527 7766

Etnail. minowsOcorplInk.com.au

Coinpuseive: iooz37,ii6s

Contributors General: Mike Kable. Jon Thomson,

Michael’s brilliance and faults (and

Brian Reed, Darryl Flack

we all have faults), then my opinion

FI: Joe Saward, Adam Cooper Europe: Ouentin Spurring,

PS: Any chance of Damon Hill returning on occasions as a guest contributor?

Norbert Davey Tingalpa, QLD moment.

It’s

funny how sportsmen price once they win Championship.

World

Speedway: Dennis Newlyn, David McNabb, Wade Aunger, Geoff Rounds. David Iniriont, Chris Metcalf. Sue Hobson, Michael Atiwell,

Nick Nirholas. Steven UTiite,

:Ken Ferguson, Scott Jug Super Speedway Martin Clark (USA),

Sunday afternoon in Darwin.

Photographers. tAT, Dirk Klynsmith, Zoom Photographies, Neil Hammond, Nigel Snowdon & Diana Eiurnett. Brad Steele, l ony Glynn,

Mike Harding, Firisbane Motorsport. Frank Midgley, John Kosher, Phil Williams, Mike Patrick (UK) MOTORSPORT NEWS is put^lishrtl Oy Au?:i»'tf'r'*SiDn

More spurt Niavs Ud ACM No 06U !7'? '72(i ,● , c LimtRivn (Wa'gmg). U AG:>t'U Publisher; .C Uimbclcn

Printed by: :Wilkfi Color 37A9 Browns Rd ClajTon 3168 Distributed by: NOD Ltd

t)ijbl:slx-(J by MOrORSPOST NEWS is ;

;copyngfft rip.d rruiy not Pc reproduced in full or in | !pcUi Without the written perrnKiion or the ; :puOlishe*. I●^celin■u.e contr.hutions Die wefcoirie, ' !ond while uli Lorf? will be rdken, Austr^ilrision I ,Mororspon News Pry Lrd does nor accept 'rcspons'Piliiy for darri.ige ot loss of marerial 1submitted

best.

The facilities, food outlets and access to and from the track (with the free bus service) was faultless. I would also like to thank the dri

vers for being so accessible and friendly to the public; never before have I experienced drivers so will ing to meet the people. It was won derful.

All the very best to Russell Ingall for round 10 at Oran Park.

Stacy Saathoff Casaurina, NT Dear Sir,

RED MIST... Jason Bright was highly prominent at Hidden Valley. of FI racing when such drivers as Senna, Prost, Piquet, Patrese and

I have a couple of comments:

Firstly, I wish to congratulate Hidden Valley and Ten Sport for a very entertaining race meeting. I was watching the racing on Ten

CAMS were shown to be correct

Sport and it was one of the best

races I’ve seen this year - even bet

superb fortnightly overview of motor sport across the world.

Motor racing in its entirety is no different to all other sports -

new Commodore.

ter than Winton’s race meeting. Secondly, congratulations to

The balance of interviews, photos, articles and reports is equal, if

nobody really likes self-opinionated bores,

not better than any other magazine

RusseU Ingall on a great race in the VT. I’m an HRT fan and Holden it s just good to see Holden

However, in recent months the “slagging off’ of Joe Saward and his column is totally unjustified. Michael Schumacher has, with

Schumacher, like Irvine, blames everyone else for his faults and failures. Could it be, however, that Schumacher is still pissed off that someone continually removes his

Funny how both teams suddenly managed to transform their VT into a front-runner when they absolute-

out doubt, a perverse conception of what it takes to be a complete

beach towel from pole position on the starting gild?

sportsman and to uphold the histo ry of the sport. Saward rightly brings to our attention a personal view, but it

Well done, Joe Saward - as far as I am concerned, your reports and articles give readers a view that is

in this format.

'Thunder-Pics, Marshall Cass,

Valley is, in my opinion, by far the

in sticking to their guns and forcing

Congratulations on yet another

;Graeme Burns, Edward Krause

I’ve attended many touring car

Mansell were racing,

Dear Sir,

Brett Swanson, Grant Nicholas Karts: Ian Salvestrin, Allan Roark,

I would like to congratulate the organiser of round nine SATCC at events and this one at Hidden

next year.

Leigh Edwards Leigh.Edwards@forestry.tas.gov.au

Dear Sir,

Dear Sir, What a strange but exciting

opposite, so please keep him for

Rally Peter Wliiitcn, Jon Ihomson Drag Racing Gerald McDornan, Greg Waid, Jon Asher (USA). Dave Ostaszewski (USA),

the British GP, with the driver pitting for his Stop-Go on the last lap of the race.

Hidden Valley on a job well done.

Saward lovers as there are the

riony Millard (UK). D.nrrcn O’Dea

it was because his incident hap pened late in the race and a Stop-Go at that stage might

Darwin’s theory of revolution

ent ideas and understand that just because you love Michael, not everyone else has to and that to admonish others for having differ ing opinions is churlish. I’m sure there are as many Joe

US. Brute Smith, Phil Morris

was summoned before the Stewards after the race. Race Director Tim Schenken tells us

themselves out of the market

is to open your mind to some differ

NZ: John Hawkins

Boronia, VIC Asst Ed: As we now know, Bowe

have led to the same fiasco as in

Asst Ed: No plans for a return of Damon at the

How come Ingall and Longhurst

cop Stop-Go penalties, yet Bowe gets away with a blatant bit of shunting? Please explain. PS; Go Russell (Ingall). If Never Say Die wins races, then the cham pionship should be yours.

different.

should be remembered that Joe

I may not agree with every sen

writes as he sees things happening. Over the past few years, Schumacher has started to be a leg

tence but I would rather see some-

end in his own “lunchbox”.

I for one agree that Saward’s comments are balanced and reflect

Lowndes and Ingall to run with the

lyhadto!

Good coverage by Channel 10,

with one miss.

I needed to know exactly why Lowndes failed to start race two -

reporting that the engine failed to start wasn’t enough. Did it break something as he switched it off in the previous race, or what? Jason Bright - what a mixture.

Obviously quick and then unlucky

to be taken out by Ingall. But clear ly over-aggressive once the chips

getup-

Thirdly, I hate to say it, but it’s

goo^^ *-o see Mark Larkham had a

good race. It’s a shame that Bowe

spun him in race two. Anyway, as I said, I’m an HRT fan, so I’m wondering if there is a fan club. If so, do you have an address?

Last of all, thank you Motorsport

News for the best magazine I’ve ever read.

were down.

Kelvin Sanders

read. As to the loss of David Carlise as

Compare that with Bargwanna, who again came out a virtual win ner after being punted off to the

Horsham, VIC Asst Ed; For HRT, contact the

a subscriber - perhaps he should

back of the field in turn one, race

the opinions of a vast majority of

apply for membership of the

one.

readers.

Michael Schumacher Fan Club.

one write what they believe, rather than what they think we want to

Finally, Stewards. Commentator

team at Clayton Business Park, 1508 Centre Road, Clayton, VIC 3168. Fax: 03 9562 9921, E-mail: HRT@HSV.com.au

■Opinions expressed 'n Mctoisporl News r^re not

inecessarily those of Australasian Moto'‘spDi i News ;Pry Lrd or ifs staff. ; 'Recofnrnended and rnaximum price only

By Barry Foley

. '

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IT'S THAT SIMPLE!

. . ■COMPLICATED AMD VeRVCOKlFOSlNa

WMsercook

(tential. After his recent wins with co-driver Bernd Schneider in the

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