Motorsport News Issue 149 - 26 March-8 April 1999 by V8 Sleuth

Full V8 Supercar series preview Issue 149

$4.50 (NZ$5.95lncl GST)

L. 26 March - 8 April 1999

NEWS

The future ofV8

racing?

l.k il OjW

IRL Indycars for Calder!

hetii IA(i)

^Holden V8 ^

Supercar j Lieam guidiM Pirtek Ford poster ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

● Drag National^^

● Ingall writes ● Craggill’s Euro debut

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26 March 1999

OfBSt

Holden plans to race Monaro' V8 coupe

By CHRIS LAMBDEN HOLDEN has laid its cards for

its future V8 Supercar con tender on the table by suggest ing that it will seek homologa tion for the recently released Holden two-door Coupe.

No F1 for

Webber yet Strange rumour of the week; Mark Webber’s Manager Ann Neal has dismissed reports doing the rounds that if Alex Zanardi

doesn’t pick up speed soon at Williams he would be replaced by Webber! “It’s nice to think people are talking about Mark,” she said on Tuesday, “but that’s a really strange one...” Webber himself has spent this week undertaking more Mercedes long-distance testing in the US in preparation for Le Mans. ■ Even stranger: when A1 Unser broke his leg at Homestead last Sunday a buzz went a2-ound that Mercedes-Benz would place

Holden Motorsport has released its impression of how the Coupe,'

Webber in the vacant Penske for the ne.xt FedEx CART round. But

which received rave reviews at the

Sydney and Melbourne Motor full production, will look in race

it appears that, with the Motegi oval next, Roger Penske will either sit the race out or place former dri

trim.

ver Andre Ribeiro in the car.

Shows and is scheduled to go into

Holden

Motorsport’s

John

■ Jason Bright has been putting a number of te.st miles on

Stevenson told Motorsport News this week that it was likely that homologation would be sought for

the Pirtek Falcon. We hear the Bathurst winner ran a number of

the car in due course.

consistent low 50 second laps

“Once it is in production, we can exercise the option to put it up as a race car,” he said.

early this week at Lakeside... ■ Not out testing has been

“The V8 Supercar category has

John Bowe. 'The Cat team has

an open mind on these kind of things. It was this sort of openmindedness and thinking, which allowed Ford to homologate the Tickford version of its AU road car

for racing.” Response to the proposal among Holden’s race teams has been, pre ! dictably, positive. “The Australian public has voted for this car in a big wky, so we should take notice,” Mark Skaife said this week. “After all, we are in the enter

tainment business and if the public want it, we should deliver.” No date has yet been set for pro duction of the Holden Coupe,

although Holden has committed to manufacturing the car. And while no formal name has been allocated, it seems the Monaro could well live

again - Holden’s first win at the Mountain came in 1968, with a two-door Monaro.

Ford Motorsport’s Greg Harbutt told Motorsport News on Tuesday that he had “no initial fundamental

problem with that, but we’ll look at it when the vehicle goes into pro

scrapped plans to debut its new Fast like the wind: Holden will seek homologation for its wild new Monaro coupe when production begins.

Toyota still have that V8 Supercar feeling PROGRESS on pre liminary discussions

by Toyota with a view V8 to entering Supercar racing is steady, although the company may well suggest a further development of the category as it seeks to join the contest; Senior Manager for Toyota Conversions, and

Accessories

duction and an application is made.”

have

spoken

individual

category to use a unique space-frame chassis for

Peter Motorsport, Evans, told Motorsport News this week that, although things were

teams and a couple of CAMS Motor Racing

moving slowly, a num

Executive members. To

rather than the current

ber of current V8 teams had contacted him to

date we have yet to talk formally with

caged bodyshell struc

express interest in the

AVESCO.”

project.

Evans says that Toyota may well suggest that if the V8 group is serious about expanding and looking for other manufacturers, it should consider adapting the

“We have still to take

the

project

the

Board,” he said. “We’ve

been delayed a little by the hospitalisation of one of my key staff, but

some

mat, much like the US SCCA TransAm series,

ture.

“It would cut costs con

siderably, allow easier entry by other manufac turers and even allow,

say, US teams to send cars over for Bathurst...” he said. - CHRIS LAMOBDEN

George seeks out 'dome for IRL Indy chief meets with Bob Jane to negotiate February 2000 race by surprise, he loved the place with it reminding him of Charlotte [Motor Speedway] which, of course, this place is

open-wheelers, Jane said he did, although again empha

event at Calder Park

the sister track to. “He is keen to run the

Indy Racing League, no

Thunderdome as early

event

February,

before the Grand Prix [in

as next March.

although I can’t see it being

While in Melbourne for the AGP earlier this

run before the Grand Prix.” Jane believes that the IRL

month, IRL boss Tony

race

George

Calder in the two weeks fol

early March],” he said. “I spoke with Ron Walker and he, quite frankly, echoed my thoughts about not being able to run the

By GERALD McDORNAN

THE Indy Racing League could run an

visited

the

'Thimderdome to talk with

promoter Bob Jane about the prospects of his series running at the venue as early as next February. Jane told Motorsport News on Monday that while meeting with

George at the AGP the outspoken IRL CEO had expressed a keen desire to run an a race at the venue

in February next year.

“Tony’s interest took me

can take

place

lowing the AGP and just prior to the annual drag rac ing Nationals - providing the venue retains the rights to

the

Nationals

with

ANDRA this week inviting

expressions of interest from promoters wanting to run

sising not in February. “I see a market for the

doubt about it, but not

event before the then.” The Calder Park

Thunderdome has 24 degree

banking on the turns - the same as Charlotte where the IRL contest a 500 mile

race under lights in May with the front and back

that event (see separate

straights laid at five and six

story on page 31).

degrees.

Asked whether he believed there was a market in Australia for another inter

cussions with George when he visits Indianapolis next

national event featuring

month.

Jane will hold further dis

AU Falcon following delays from some component suppliers.

■ A late change of driver for the Sensational Adelaide 500 will

see former Castrol Cougar Kerryn Brewer drive Owen Parkinson’s ex-Mark Poole V8 Commodore.

Backing comes from Mullins Wheels and the Earl of Aberdeen Hotel. ■ The first Dick Johnson Testimonial to allow fans to

farewell Queensland’s favourite racing driver will happen in Adelaide. The Hyatt will host the event on April 8, the eve of the Adelaide 500. Tickets are $125

each and bookings can be made on (03) 9523 8290 or on the "net at cis@ozemail.com.au

■ Profits from the V8 Supcrcar

test day at Eastern Creek have aided the Sydney’s Children Hospital in Randwick. Tomorrow (Friday) a $10,000 cheque will be handed over to the hospital by Larry Perkins and Neil Crompton. To eveiyone at

AVESCO for supporting the hos pital, top marks. ■ Akira Yanagawa fans can meet their hero at the opening of Brighton Kasva-saki’s new premis es on Saturday April 10. 'The seemingly-flameproof Japanese WSC star will open the new' shop at 815 Nepean Hwy, Brighton.

■ Terry and Maureen Rose have won the Ipswich 300 off-road race. The couple’s Raceco-Chevpowered cruised to their first national championship win ahead of the Raceco-Porsche and Peter and Janelle Svenson’s StealthPorsche.

■ Craig Connell and Steve Martin overcame hostile weather

at Phillip Island for wins in the second Australian Superbike

Championship round. Connell backed up his wn with a second place while Martin’s 1-4 finishes gave him second overall. Yamaha’s new R1 looked ot have the second race won until Kevin

Curtain pulled off on the secondlast lap.

26 March 1999 ■ The course for the 1999

Australian Safari is starting to take shape. Bob Carpenter is laying out the course in the Northern Territory and the first survey will take approximately five weeks. The event is being held on August 21-28. ■ The President of Ford

Australia, David Morgan, has announced his retirement, effec tive May 31. Morgan, who has led the blue oval in Australia

since 1995, will be succeeded by Geoff Pilotes, dealer principal of City Ford in Sydney and who was most recently Chairman of Ford’s Dealer Council. ■ The FLA is to introduce a

rear wing deflection test in Brazil to stop teams which have

Drag future for Sandown? Davison prepared to quit circuit events & bid for the Nationals SANDOWN’S June 27

would if you’ve been treated the way we’ve been treated.”

Blast off: Promoter Jon Davison

The Australian National

may look to drag racing for

Drag Racing Association (ANDRA) this week put the Nationals up for bids (see

Sandown's future.

Shell V8 Supercar round race may be the venue’s last touring car race with the future of the facility looking like resting with drag racing.

separate story on page 31),

Australian Peter Salmon

ready to move the event

and Top Fuel Bike star

Promoter Jon Davison

from Calder Park if a suit

Brett Stevens with both

last week signed a deal with the American Drag

able bid is presented, prompting Davision to put Sandown’s name forward, approaching ANDRA to seek track specifications and documentation relating

giving the venue their seal of approval prior to signing a date agreement for their

Bike Association to run the

body’s World Finals in February, 2000 and„in a shock revelation this week, said that he was preparing

been experimenting with flexi ble rear wings. The test will con sist of a 100kg rearward loading and the wings must not deflect more than one degree. The rear ward loading may be increased if the FIA thinks it is necessary.

And, if Sandown is suc

take extensions for the

cessful with its bid for the

braking area, but I think

B Flavio Briatore has rejected criticism that the Supertec VIO engine is not powerful enough by pointing out that when he was running Benetton, the team

Nationals, Davison is quite prepared to close the venue entirely to circuit racing. “If we can’t rely on con ventional motorsport, we’re prepared to, quite simply,

won the 1994 World

Championship with a Ford V8 engine, which had an 80 horse power disadvantage. Our sources in the Supertec teams

say that they would be happier if Briatore stopped talking and delivered some more horsepower as the engines are rather too expensive for their level of per formance.

B With the Argentine GP off

for this year it appears that any future race in the South

American country may not be held at Buenos Aires. The form

at the moment suggests that the race may move to Cordoba,

600km north-west of the capital. The Circuit Oscar Cabalin

already exists, having held races in the 1960s, and the funds to upgi-ade the circuit could be

sourced from the thriving local tourist industry.

B There are suggestions in Italy that 22-year-old German

driver Andreas Scheld may be given some testing this year with Minardi. Scheld raced last

year with the Zakspeed GT team and, until the talks

between Zakspeed and Arrows

collapsed had hopes of becoming the Arrows test driver. fl Benetton has stmek a deal

to run a second Formula 3 oper ation in its Fl colours. The com

pany has been involved with KMS in the Gennan Formula 3

series for some years but has

now decided to expand to Italy as well with RC Motorsport planning to run Luca Calcagni and Swiss Gabriele Varano. RC

Motorsport has won three Italian Formula 3 titles in

recent years, notably with Giancarlo Fisichella in 1994. KMS will run Gabriele Gardel

and Thomas Jaeger in the German F3 series.

B Toyota has launched its bid to win this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours. The squad will include Allan McNish, Emmanuel

Collard, Martin Brundle, Thierry Boutsen, Ralf Kelleners, Ukyo Katayama, Keiichi Tsuchiya, Toshio Suzuki and Vincenzo Sospiri.

U'^®o®[?8m®[FO

to make a bid for the Nationals - Australia’s

longest running drag racing event.

get rid of it,” Davison told Motorsport News on Monday.

“Currently, there is no security for promoters with circuit racing and we would consider removing Sandown from the circuit racing cal endar all together - as you

to the Nationals. “I believe that Sandown

has a lot to offer drag rac ing,” he said. “We may have to under that can be done without

too much of a problem. “No doubt, the infrastruc ture we currently have in place we be of great benefit to the sport, its supporters and corporate backers and I think we could run a drag

(Photo by Wayne Nugent)

event.

Former Calder Park boss

Steve Bettes,

the

man

responsible for securing the Nationals for Calder Park

in 1992 said the venue, with a number of alter

ations, is quite capable of running a major drag rac ing event. While some may consider the noise factor a compo nent which would disquali fy the venue from holding more than its current level

of off-road street drag meetings, Sandown’s per

of this with the local coun

race to a standard that has never been seen before in

mit allows international standard events to run vehicles unmuffled - the

Amateur Turf Club] as yet,

“We may not be able to run the event into the late evening like Calder, but I can’t see fin-

this country.”

ADBA’s

but they’ve been supportive of our endeavours and I’m sure if we could bring an

ishing an event such as the Nationals in the early evening being a problem,

ADBA President Buford

Edwards inspected the facility last week, along with his Vice-President,

World

scheduled

Finals, run

February 26 next year, being just that. “I haven’t discussed any

cil or the VATC [Victorian

event such as the Nationals

to Sandown they’d both continue to do just that.”

“In fact, I could see it

being a bonus.”

_ GERALD MCDORNAN

Riley & Scott in Weel destroys All Reynard’s eyes test

late News - Step Press;

: ^

AS we closed for press on Tuesday came the news that Paul Weel has luckily escaped from a massive car-destroying accident at Lakeside.

The 19-year-old was testing his brand new PWR Falcon

AU on the second day of a two-day test when the car

suddenly turned left at the high-speed Kink, spinning off the track.

By JOE SAWARD

Automobile Research Centre in

REYNARD is rumoured to be

half-scale windtunnel and a seven-

on the verge of buying US rac ing car manufacturer Riley &

post test rig.

Indianapolis, which his includes a

●s

Johnson’s Shell Helix team, is believed to be a total write¬ off. Weel will miss the Shell

Championship Series opener at Eastern Creek this week end.

Peter Beehag, who pre pared Ford Racing’s Falcon bodyshells, was due to the car after inspect

Motorsport News closed for press on Wednesday and the

team’s plans are now up in the air.

The car hit the safety tyre wall, rolled over, and came to rest in the sandpit. Weel emerged from the wreckage shaken but unhurt,

on the heels of Weel’s major accident at Albert Park, which severely damaged the

but the car, which had been sharing the track with Dick

-PHH.BRANAGAN

The bad news comes hard

team’s older F^con EL.

Scott.

The Indianapolis-based company produces a range of different racing machinery, notably the highly-successful sportscars and the IRL sin gle-seater. Founded in 1990 by Bill Riley, Bob Riley (unrelated) and Mark

Scott, the company has enjoyed considerable success in sports and touring car racing, although it has struggled badly in IRL. If the deal goes ahead, it will give Reynard a much stronger presence in the United States, to date the company has only provided local support to the CART teams. Last year Reynard expanded its support services with the new

Speculation of M-Benz TAG buy-out GERMAN newspapers last week began speculating that DaimlerChrysler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, may be negotiating to buy Mansour Ojjeh’s 60 percent m the shareholding TAG/McLaren Group. This would include buying McLaren International. The stories came about after

DaimlerChrysler’s Jurgen Hubbert told the Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspaper that he could not rule

out the possibility of buying into

The acquisition of Riley & Scott would provide the company with a US production facility and the opportunity to supply chassis to sportscar teams and to the IRL. Although IRL cars are less expensive than those built for

CART, the series could provide a profitable market for Reynard and enable the company to compete at the Indianapolis 500, the most prestigious race in North America. The

deal

would

also

allow

Reynard to strengthen its links with General Motors. Riley & Scott is currently developing the racing Corvette C-5R for Chevrolet and is

also building the prototype for the planned Cadillac Le Mems 24 Hours project. Rejmard will be able to fund the

deal with money raised by the issu ing of shares in Reynard Motorsport Inc - Reynard’s holding company.

According to the latest filings by the Grand Prix team.

“One can never say never,” Hubbert remarked. “One day it could be in our interest to gain con

ing high on its success in Fl and he could ask a high price. From an industrial point of view the acquisition of TAG McLaren

trol of the technical know-how.” Hubbert mentioned Mercedes

would be

subsidiary AMG, which for many years worked as an independent operation in touring car racing before coming under full MercedesBenz control in January.

would gain not only a top level rac ing team but also an advanced elec tronics subsidiary, an automotive marketing company, an advanced

McLaren is very sensitive to such stories, but it is worth pointing out that if Ojjeh is considering selling his interest in the group, now is the best time to do so. The team is rid¬

of some interest to

Mercedes-Benz as the company

automotive stereo unit and an oper ation capable of building top-of-therange supercars.

Whether Ojjeh wants to sell, however, is another matter... -JOE SAWARD

Reynard with the US Securities and Exchange Commission this will

raise $40.4m for the company. Half of this money will be used to pay for the acquisition of a trans mission company and to pay off debts, but $4.3m has been allocated for investment in computational fluid dynamics technology and another $14.4m has been ear marked for acquisitions.

The filing states that: “Reynard may seek to acquire companies that complement existing operations”. Riley & Scott fits that description perfectly.

26 March 1999

*1 i

U Falcons finally approved

THE AU Falcon V8 Supercar has finally been formally homologated, with the CAMS Board okaying the car on Monday evening. Despite the outcry from Holden teams over some aspects of the

Stevenson said on Tuesday. “TEGA was granted the right to

run this category and its homologa tion and we all agreed to a number of things, in writing. Ford simply chose to revert to the old CAMS

system, because it suited them. “If nothing else, this has high lighted that failing and hopefully it

ing that the strategy and route taken by Ford in its homologation process placed some tough demands

can be corrected.”

on his teams:

'For his part. Ford’s Greg Harbutt is glad the process is over, accept-

“We were keen to have as many teams wanting to start the year with an AU able to do so,” he said on Tuesday. “If we miscalculated, it was in the lead-time necessary to prepare enough aero kits up front and that placed some strains on the teams.

Ford’s aero kit, the car has been accepted pretty much as-raced at the season-opening race at the Australian GP.

The one noticeable change is to

“That’s behind us now.

the depth of the front air dam,

“We chose a different strategy to Holden. They adopted a mid-year homologation and only really ran

which was found to have been man

ufactured some 10mm too deep on the first batch of aero kits. That has now been rectified.

two new VTs for the rest of the

year. We wanted to start at the beginning of the year and have a number of cars running.” The story now moves to the race

While Ford’s Greg Harbutt is relieved the process is over, Holden’s forces are left pointing to

a series of agreements on the homologation process which, they

track. All the new AU’s will be

monitored against Holden for the first three races, starting this week end, at Eastern Creek. If any

claim, were never followed.

“It’s just Rafferty’s Rules from here on, unless the deficiencies in

the current system are rectified,” Holden Motor Sport’s John

imbalance

Wing and now a prayer: Ford’s AU runners are now all approved and ready to go at Eastern Creek this weekend, (pnoto by Dirk Kiynsmith)

exists,

then

the

Performance Review Committee will strike...

Bathurst 1000 takes Advantage finalise a few things very soon.” Frazer also said that he hoped an announcement would be forthcoming very soon from Seven concerning their commitment to a regular motor sport programme.

SPORTS management group Advantage International may take a strong role in the run ning of this year’s AMP Bathurst 1000 meeting. CEO Steve Frazer this week confirmed that a series

Although Frazer was unable to comment in detail, the grapevine is suggesting that the emphasis will go off importing overseas Super Tourers for the event, with a local category - some suggesting the all-new Junior Tourer category - being groomed to join the Super Tourers on the bill. Bathurst Event Management Chief Executive Greg

of meetings have taken place between Advantage, the Bathurst City Council and the Seven Network. However, Frazer described his involvement as pri

marily “looking after the interests of AMP, the event’s prime sponsor, whom we represent.” Advantage does undertake substantial work for the insurance group, most recently its involvement with the “Ignite the Dream” programme, centred around the

Eaton is moving ahead with other motorsport projects and will not be involved with the event in the future.

Olympic torch. Nevertheless, Frazer was able to confirm that all

aspects of the Bathurst race were being looked at particularly in light of the Seven Network’s recent financial downturn and the losses made on the race

over the last two years. “It would be the easy way out for us to advise AMP to

“I don’t know how advanced the Advantage thing is. At the same time, I have one particular motorsport event we are working on and we are hoping to make an announcement about that shortly.

THE deal to broadcast Super Touring racing on the Seven Network this year is almost

“As far as the Bathurst 1000 contract is concerned

TOCA Chief Executive Kelvin

we are negotiating an exit of my management contract at the moment and, until that is settled, I will not be in

simply withdraw from the event, but I think there are a lot of people who believe that it’s good for motor sport for there to be two races at Bathurst,” Frazer said on Tuesday. “In the ideal world, Channel 7 would simply want to broadcast the race and sell their advertising. I’m not

Hones.

televised in a series of one-hour

- CHRIS LAMBDEN

“We’ve had a number of meetings and I hope we can

F2 moves to become AF3 simply

purists are hoping that a push

Australian F3.

can be sourced from both the UK

The association already has a dozen F3-spec cars confirmed for its 1999 series, the bulk of which will run as a support category to the

and Japan. A number of cars are currently in

convert

the

one-off

Australian F2 category to a more universal F3 spec will boost the class back into the

national limelight. While the F2 class has in recent

years largely consisted of ex-F3 cars with the 2-litre motor removed and

a 1600cc AF2 Golf engine added, an

increasing number of full 2-litre F3 cars, with a 24mm air restrictor, have been joining the grid. The AF2 association is now cam

paigning to have the restrictor size eased to the same 26mm used in F3

overseas and for the category to ●O’

known

cal cars a year old or more, which

AUSTRALIA’S openwheeler to

O’Reilly is said to be close to con firming that the BOC Gases Series

year, along with the British Touring Car Championship. The two series are likely to be

announcements in the near future.

become

finalised.

a position to comment.” The Australian Racing Drivers’ Club, which took a organisational role in last year’s race, vyill continue to be involved, according to ARDC spokesman Chris For a clearer picture of the event, expect a series of

sure they really want to be a promoter and take on the whole financial risk.

TOCA to confirm Seven

Super Tourer championship, from the May 30 Mallala round on. ‘It’s taken a while to get this far,” AF2 Association President Chas

Jacobsen said this week, “but we’re

convinced that adopting the F3 spec is the way to go, if we are looking at

creating a strong, relevant open wheeler category.” Like several other countries, the Australian group will exclude highcost current-year cars, opening up

the category to relatively economi-

IBSgi Next year, kM maybe:

Hj| Marc Hynes’

race-winning

’99 Dallara

lyfc will be eligi■B ble for

Australian

duty in

gU (Sutton 2000.Images)

the process of being landed from Japan, bought as rolling chassis, with the association sourcing a supply of fresh (Toyota) engines in the UK “You can currently buy 1995/6 rolling chassis for not much more

than $20,000 in Japan and fresh engines ex-UK for a similar amount,” said Jacobsen. “Freight, taxes etc add to that, but it’s possible to have a

top race car for veiy good money...” Part of the plan for the growth of the category is to encourage upand-coming young drivers into

something which relates directly to the equivalent category they would aspire to in the UK. To this end, a number of car owner/drivers are acquiring two cars, with a view to offering drives

will be shown on the network this

packages, building up to the tradi tional Seven broadcast of the AMP Bathurst 1000 in October.

O’Reilly would not be drawn on the details of the arrangement but sounded confident when questioned by Motorsport News on Tuesday. O’Reilly said that there “was still a legal requirement from the previ ous contract that we are working

through, but there is no impedi ment to the Championship having a free-to-air broadcaster”.

In previous years, TOCA has packaged the programs in conjunc tion with an independent producer for broadcast and this appears cer tain to happen again this year. Television industry sources sug

gest that Watchout Productions, which packaged the series in 1996’98 and “a number of production companies” have shown interest in the broadcast. When the deal is finalised Seven

is expected to announce details of its full motorsport package shortly. A deal with Foxtel is also in place and an international arrangement which beams the racing into 53

600m stretch of the old circuit at Monza. Luca Badoer and Eddie Irvine did a series of runs over the new surface under the watch

ful eye of the FIA’s Charlie Whiting. All reported that the new surface dramatically reduced the amount of spray. ■ There are a variety of rumours about the future of Mika

Salo. In addition to a possible job as test driver with Honda, we have heard his name linked with

Ferrari (the Finn is highly-rated by Ferrari boss Jean Todt) and Williams. One daft rumour is that if Alessandro Zanardi cannot

make the pace in FI, he will be replaced by Salo. ■ The Bertelsmann media

empire has sold its stake in the Premiere pay-'TV channel to the rival Kirch group. Kirch will become the majority shareholder in the company and is now expected to shut down its loss making DFl service which car ries the multi-channel digital Grand Prix telecasts and switch

programming to the more suc cessful Premiere. ■ Researchers at the

University of Warwick in England have developed a tech nique which uses ultraviolet light to cure resin-coated composite materials in complex shapes. This eliminates the need for

joints between composite sec tions. It is not expected to be long before this technique is intro duced into Formula 1.

■ It was interesting that at the opening round of the CART series in Homestead the Forsythe Racing Reynards ran without their Players branding. This is the result of the deal between the

tobacco industry' and the attor ney-generals of the different states which means that tobacco

companies are restricted to one brand in each sporting event.

Philip Morris sells both Marlboro and Players in the United States and as it wants to push Marlboro, the Players cars had to run unbranded.

■ According to the most recent

Reynard Motorsport Inc. filing with the US Securities and

Exchange Commission, the spon sorship deal between British American Tobacco and British

American Racing cannot be ter minated until Januaiy 1,2002.

■ The FIA last week officially unveiled its new headquarters near Geneva, Switzerland. FIA

president Max Mosley said that the FIA had moved to

Switzerland to integrate its offices with those of the

International Touring Authority and to be closer to other sporting bodies such as the International

Olympic Committee. ■ The Arrows team says that the recent Contract Recognition Board decision that Pedro Diniz

is at liberty to join Sauber does not mean the end of the legal bat tle between the team and the Brazilian driver. Arrows is claim

ing $7m and damages from Diniz for breach of contract. It will be

“That’s an important part of the package,” said O’Reilly. “Our inter

interesting to see how the team intends to argue the case at the High Court when the accepted

national exposure is important to

Additionally, the association is in the midst of negotiations which

Europe concept - a British trip and

our sponsors and all the sponsors in the series. It’s been a big part of maximising their exposure, and attracting drivers like Jamie Wall

F3 test for the future series winner.

into our series.”

should see a return of the Driver to

■ Ferrari helped the FIA test out a new anti-spray tarmac on a

other countries.

to young hopefuls.

legal authority in FI has ruled that there is no case. The contin

uing battle underlines that the team is in need of money...

26 March 1999

■ One of the cargo planes carrying the Formula 1 cars from Melbourne back to

Europe was delayed because of technical prob lems and that means that several teams have had

to revise their testing plans. These include Jordan, Ferrari and Williams. Minardi was

not troubled by the delays but has suffered a setback as one of its chas

sis was damaged in transit.

Cat Racing

grabs Jim JIM Richards has signed to co-drive the Cat Falcon with John Bowe in the

year-end long distance races.

■ The Jordan team

says that Heinz-Harald Frentzen was not able to

mount as strong a chal lenge to Eddie Irvine in Australia as might have been the case as the result of a sensor failure in the car’s airbox which meant that the German

driver had to change gears earlier than he would have liked. ■ The FIA has abol

Hjt]®9®[7SUXo)[?0

Despite a number of possi bilities, Richo has chosen to go with Bowe’s all-new team and thinks they will be a

strong threat: “John rang early to see if I was keen and it sounded like

a good challenge,” he said this week.

“After 11 years at DJR he hasn’t moved to Cat Racing without knowing the team has the basis of a very strong outfit.

“I’ve got great respect for JB. He is as good if not better

than anybody in Austraha in touring cars today.” Bowe too is thrilled to have

the experienced all-rounder (a

finalist

for

MotorSportsman of the Year at last month’s awards) in

his squad: “I’ve always admired Jim, not only as a driver but also as a person,” JB said. “He is a team player and that fits perfectly with the philosophy of Cat Racing — all egos are left in the bin outside our garage. “You really have to be able to think on your feet in these races, because they are such a different game. Jim is a great thinker who is well-

Two of a kind: Jim ‘Cat’ Richards and John ‘Cat’ are Bowe ready for the endurance races,

suited to these long distance races — he already has a bucket load of victories at

Bathurst and I’d love him to get one more with us. Bowe’s sentiments are

echoed by team owner Kevin Otway: “I couldn’t think of a better

partner for John,” he said, Bowe is well aware that

one of the keys to success is

having a co-driver familiar with the team and car:

“I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to give Jim plenty of miles in the car through the year.

ished the FI Safety Commission. This will be

McLaren dominates Silverstone

replaced by three differ ent committees: the

Advisory Expert Group will be renamed the

Research Group and will continue to investigate ways of making FI cars safer; the Circuit Commission will ensure

that FI tracks are up to standard and a new

Approval Group will examine clothing and equipment to ensure that safety standards are

McLaren, Benetton, British American Racing and Arrows were all in action last week at

Silverstone with McLaren working on the reliabil ity of the cars and everyone else trying to figure out how to catch up with the rapid silver cars.

maintained in this area. ■ There have been

Although there were more technical problems for

rather predictable stories in recent weeks suggest ing that Arrows will use Anglo-Danish Formula

McLaren, David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen were able to complete a total of 254 laps (800 miles) of the seven

3000 racer Jason Watt to

test this year. The team which is nominally con trolled by Nigerian Prince Malik ado Ibrahim

is aiming to develop black involvement in the sport. Watt is the only black driver in action in top

level international racing at the moment.

which was four-tenths faster than Hakkinen’s best and

1.5s faster than Giancarlo Fisichella’s best lap in his Benetton.

Sayonara Seven: The familiar Mild Seven branding, seen here on Giancarlo Fisichella’s Benetton-Supertec last week, could soon depart the Formula One scene. (Photoby suKon images)

Fisichella and Alexander Wurz managed to complete only 110 laps between then with the Italian setting a

Winston and

best time of lm27.198s and the Austrian lm27.746s.

■ The planned British Formula 3000

Championship has been cancelled because of lack of interest. The series was to be for teams which

did not have an entry in the International series but it seems that the international teams are

offering such good deals in order to get any money

that there are no pay-dri vers left for the British

series. Attempts are also being made to establish an Italian F3000 series.

Camel go east JAPAN Tobacco, the owner of Mild

Seven, has just agreed an $8bn deal to buy all the non-American tobacco busi ness of RJR Nabisco. The deal means that JT will be able to sell Camel, Winston and Salem brands around the world.

FI continue to rumble on

largest tobacco company after Philip Morris

with reports that several get coverage of the Australian GP and that Fox TV in the United

States is considering

As a result Ricardo Zonta was able to beat his time in

the BAR. The Brazilian managed 86 laps with a best of lm27.746s as he worked on reliability and set-up. He also did a lot of pit stop practice after a race simidation ended in gearbox failure. The Arrows team was also in action with Pedro de la

Rosa completing 73 laps with a best of lm28.224s and Tora Takagi 20 laps with a best of lm29.185s. - JOE SAWARD

The deal makes JT the world’s third and British American Tobacco and marks the

first major international expansion for the conservative company, which enjoys a 78% share of the Japanese market but has little market penetration internationally.

porting the Honda FI programme. The deal marks a further consolidation in

the world tobacco industry and, although RJ Reynold will continue to sell cigarettes in the United States, the company is planning to divide its food and tobacco businesses, leav ing Nabisco to trade without the share price being dragged down by the uncertainties sur rounding tobacco companies. Japan Tobacco won the deal over bids from

Philip Morris, BAT and a joint bid by SEITA of France and Tabacalera of Spain. The two European companies are now expected to enter into full merger discussions. SEITA

boss Jean-Dominique Comolli told French

legal action because of

In recent years JT has tried to use Formula 1 to promote Mild Seven as an international

the restrictions imposed on TV companies by

brand, although this has been largely restricted to Asia. The deal with RJR Nabisco

against Philip Morris, BAT and JT.

Bernie Ecclestone.

could result in Benetton returning to Camel colours in the future, particularly as there are suggestions that Mild Seven may be sup¬

its Gauloises products.

- JOE SAWARD

Wurz woidd probably have gone faster if he had com pleted more than 36 laps in the course of the two days.

Is this the end for Mild Seven?

■ The various disputes over the TV coverage of Asian countries did not

Northamptonshire track, which was twice as much running as anyone else managed. Coulthard ended up with the fastest lap of lm25.783s,

pressmen that there needs to be “a federation

of the European tobacco industry” to compete SEITA uses Prost Grand Prix to promote -JOESAWARD

Coming along nicely: Ricardo Zonta and BAR are devel oping all the time.

(Photo by Sutton Images)

DIM

Stewart-Ja By JOE SAWARD

has any concrete plans to enter Jagua in FI, sources within the compan

OUR spies within the Ford Motor

admit that last year there was a ser

Company tell us that there is a strong possibihty that Ford’s VIO Formula 1 engines will be rebadged as Jaguar VlOs next sea¬ son.

The decision will depend on whether

or not the Stewart-Fords perform well this year. If the engine proves to be a winner or at least highly-competitive it will become a Jaguar VIO in 2000. This makes a lot of commercial

ous evaluation carried out to see if

deal could be organised for Jaguai badged Ford VlOs to be supplied t Benetton. In the end the Benetto

Family backed away from a deal wit Ford and, as a result, Benetton’s mai

aging-director David Richards left th

team,

If there is a switch to Jaguar ne? year it will be interesting to se whether or not Ford continues with il

own FI programme as well. An F

sense. Jaguar is currently going head- , engine programme would not necei to-head with BMW in a sales war with sarily conflict with Jaguar as Ford he the new S-Type which is known with- its own marketing battles to win. in Jaguar as ‘the BMW killer’ aimed at

The cost of supplying two tean

the BMW 5 Series market and the

with differently-badged engines woul

planned X400 ‘Baby Jag’ going for the that the S-'Type will double Jaguar’s

not be excessive and such a mo\ would help to gain the maximum value from Ford’s investment in FI

sales and that the X400 will then dou-

which has been considerable,

ble them again in the year 2001. The best marketing weapon available to Jaguar would be to beat BMW

It is not unusual for a manufacturer to extend its engine supply once it has been successful, although normally the engines carry the same name, If the Ford programme was to continue there is no shortage of teams which would like to use the engines. The most obvious candidate would be Jordan although Benetton may return to the negotiating table now that the team has seen the potential of the new Ford VIO and realised just how uncompetitive the Supertec VIO is going to be. Sauber is also looking for an engine deal and there is no doubt that Arrows

BMW 3 Series market. Ford hopes

on the race track and with the Munich company due to start racing in Grands Prix with Williams in 2000, Ford

would be well-placed to humiliate Munich with a switch of badging next year.

The process of bringing Jaguar into FI received a shot in the arm last

week with the appointment of Wolfgang Reitzle as the new Jaguar chairman. Until recently Reitzle was the number two at BMW and the man

who was pushing hardest for the BMW Formula 1 progr^me. Reitzle is now in charge of Ford’s new Premier Automotive Group, which includes Jaguar, Aston Martin, Lincoln and Volvo. He is also chairman of both

Jaguar and Volvo. Although Ford has denied that it

The Lights are on and we’re coming home: Jaguar dominated sportscar racing in the 1980s and are (Photo by Pascal Rondeau/Allsport) looking to re-badge the Ford-Cosworth Formula One engine in 2000.

... as Barrichello takes

Barcelona lap record

too would like such a deal, One point which should be taken into account is that David Richards is still lurking around the edges of FI and is no doubt hoping that he can be involved in a future Ford-related FI programme.

Timing is everything: Barrichello made Jaguar happy - presumably - by scorching around Barcelona. RUBENS Barrichello demol

ished the 1999 lap record at Barcelona last week, lapping the Circuit de Catalunya in

lm20.491s. This was half a second faster

than Jamo Trulli’s best lap of the winter, which was set just before the teams headed off to Australia.

To back up Stewart’s domina tion of the test Johnny Herbert was second fastest, although the

English driver did not run with light fuel and new tyres and had to make do with a best lap of lm22.101s.

Dad, Jaguar’s on the phone: Will Jackie and Paul Stewart change brands for the new millennium?

Er, just where the heck is Williams? THE only Formula 1 team ^ which was not seen out testing last week was Williams

once-dominant pre-season accidents that the

Between then the two Stewart

drivers completed a total of 207 laps (990 km) although there were some engine reliability problems on the first day of the test. The team did a number of race start simulations to check that the

overheating problems in Australia have been cured.

Ferrari spent two days at Barcelona

but

with Michael

Schumacher out of action having

sprained an ankle while jogging, the work was left to Melbourne Eddie Irvine. The winner

Ulsterman completed 153 laps of the track to set a best time of

Cuppa for Eddie: World Championship leader Eddie Irvine got plenty of work in between sucking down Darjeerling in Spain. (Phoios by sution images) sive 330 laps of the track which is almost 1000 miles of running. Hill

Grand Prix which ran Jarno Trulli and Olivier Panis on all three

matched Irvine’s best time while

Frentzen’s best was just a tenth

days of the testing. Trulli complet ed 209 laps and Panis 200, bring

slower.

the team’s total running for the

Clocking up a similar amount of running was the Sauber team

best lap of lm23.290s while Panis

week to 1200 miles. Trulli set a

which ran both Jean Alesi and

was three-tenths slower.

Pedro Diniz. Alesi completed 219

Minardi also had a very produc tive test with Marc Gene doing a

lm23.196s. The Ferrari test team

laps

himself while

the

variety of work, including gearbox reliability testing and weight dis

and we hear that this was because the team is suffering

team had to cope with at Kyalami, foUowed by Alessandro

then moved on to Jerez where it ran Michael Schumacher over the

Brazilian did 105 before an engine failure. Alesi’s best lap was a

tribution tests. The Spaniard com

spare parts for the FW21.

weekend. Jordan had two cars for Damon Hill and Heinz-Harald Frentzen

lm23.282s while Diniz had to be

Melboume.

content with a lm24.081s.

pleted 153 laps and set a best time

The record for mileage in Barcelona went, however, to Prost

of lm23.925s.

from a serious shortage of If this is the case, it is a poor reflection

the

industrial

Zanardi’s sizeable shunt in The team is expected to be in action this week at Magny-Cours.

and the pair completed an impres-

-JOE SAWARD

Mh)OCD[I’S[JXDDij'

26 March 1999

■ Having decided that all the events in its 1999

F3000 championship will he support races at GPs, the FIA has appeased the promoters of the Grand Prix of Pau. The FIA has re-established the formula

3 European Cup which will be held 22-24 May 1999 , as the 59th Grand Prix de Pau. The intention is that this will become a

high-profile annual motorsports occassion, much like the Macau Grand Prix.

■ Formula 3000 gains a Russian driver this year. Graduating from Italian F3, 22-year-old Viktor Maslov has signed up with Lukoil-sponsored, UK-based Arden team. His team mate will be

Marc Goossens, the 29 year old Belgian who was

third in the points in 1995 and ’96.

BAR escapes penalty By JOE SAWARD BRITISH

American

Racing has escaped sanc tion from the FIA World

Motor Sport Council.

The World Council accept ed this argument but insist involved that he disassociat

funding the programme, depending on whether they wanted to promote 555 State Express or Lucky Strike. With the team being forced

ed that Pollock should con

firm in writing to all parties ed himself with the actions,

to run both brands on the

The team had been asked

statements and documents of

to respond to allegations that

the BAR lawyers. Pollock agreed to do this and apolo gised to the World Council for what had happened and

two cars, the BAT brand managers are not happy.

it breached articles of the

International Sporting Code and the FIA Statutes by fil ing a complaint with the Commission European against the governing body of the sport. This was contrary to the rules of arbitration as

laid down by the Concorde Agreement. Before the World Council

meeting in Geneva BAR’S managing-director Craig Pollock gave a hint as to his strategy by telling reporters that a lot of the problems between the team and the

■ Recognising the increasing manufacturer interest in Group N saloon racing, the FIA has renamed the categoi^ Super Production. It is expected that, as with Super Touring, the rele vant European national racing bodies will work

the complaint to the European Commission did

towards one standard set

not reflect his own views.

FIA had “been driven by my partner BAT”.

Pollock has the ear of influ ential members of the BAT

hierarchy and as long as they stay powerful he will remain in a strong position. There is no question that

said that British American

Racing accepts the full authority of the FLA. In a pap-filled press release after the hearing Pollock spoke of a “misunder standing” between the team and the FIA. This was quite clearly not the case, but the World

Council

chose

BAT wauts to be involved in

FI it is the only effective form of global tobacco adver tising left open to tobacco companies. At the same time there is no doubt that FI

accept it as such. What was left unstated by everyone involved is that bar’s legal team is actually the same group of lawyers which is used by British

Pollock told the World

American Tobacco in their

Council that the lawyers rep

legal battles with govern

resenting the team had not

ments around the world.

acted on his instructions and that declarations made in

The important point, how ever, is that the lawyers were clearly not acting with out authority and that authority must, therefore.

wants to soak up BAT’s money.

have come from within BAT.

medicine for BAR is to have

at BAT but at Pollock him

It has to be concluded that by disassociating himself with the views of the lawyers. Pollock is being forced to reject the views of the majority shareholder and principal sponsor of the team he is running. This suggests that the FIA

its links with BAT put under further pressure without being seen to publicly punish the team. The relationship between BAR and BAT is already under some strain because the team sold its FI package on the idea of running cars in different liveries

self. It may not seem very

has decided that the best

with different BAT affiliates

of regulations. ■ Des O’Dell, a familiar motorsports figure most notably associated with Peugeot in rallying, died on March 15. He was 72.

O’Dell’s early competition exploits included involve ment with Aston Martin’s

1959 Le Mans victory and, later, assisting Andrew Cowan’s London

to Sydney victory of 1981. ■ Lanky Austrian Alexander Wurz, at 82.5 kg is the heaviest of the current FI drivers and the diminuitive Luca

Badoer the lightest, weighing it as just 58.5 kg. The FIA held its annual pre-season weighin at Albert Park to ensure that the combined

weight of a driver, in his racing suit, and his race-

harsh but the Scotsman is

going to have to be extraordi narily smooth to carry it off without upsetting the people he needs most.

And that is exactly what the FIA intended.

See Box Seat on page 15 for a slightly different view.

Guest crashes

in Portugal MICHAEL Guest has had a tough debut to his WRC campaign after an accident on Day One of the

year’s World Rally Championship, McRae however had no trouble

grabbing the advantage from the word

event.

SO in his Ford Focus taking up where

The Group N hopeful crashed out of

he left off in Africa three weeks ago.

On the opening super special stage he

the rally on the first stage of Monday’s competition, completing only the

was

opening super special stage in Oporto

Grondholm, the stand in driver in the

on Sunday before disaster struck.

Mitsubishi team 'The Finn was draft-

The young Newcastle driver battled with suspension settings which did not suit the conditions and found the car was not turning in and getting very tally in the tight and slippery

ed in to the Mitsubishi squad when Freddy Loix was forced to pull out because of spinal damage caused in

conditions.

Toyota Corolla pair of Carlos Sainz and Didier Auriol, with reigning champion and points leader Tommi Makinen fifth. Juha Kankkunen was sixth quickest, while his Subaru team-mate Richard Bums was down

600 kg.

Colin McRae was leading the Rallye de Portugal with a commanding 49.2

- QUENTIN SPURRING

at the end of the first full day of com-

car meets the minimum of

The punishment, there fore, is obviously not aimed

Escaped: BAR boss Craig Pollock. (Photo by GeraU McOoman)

second advantage over Richard Bums petition in this fourth round of this

0.4s

faster

than

Marcus

the Safari Rally, Third and fourth went to the

Still Focussing: McRae led in Portugal as we closed for press. (suBon images) in twelfth, 4.5s slower than McRae.

in hot pursuit but, with road condi tions differing from those during the course recce. Guest’s Subaru was not

“It was a tightening right hand bend that narrowed with a gutter on the inside and the rear end just stepped out and hit a tree,” he added. “It was inexperience on my part going full soft setting on the shocks

tuned into the road conditions and the rear left hand comer was taken off the

because of the loose surface but the subn had backed it hard and then the

car, forcing him out of the event. “I am pretty devastated, the team had done a fantastic job an it was up to me to come up with the goods so this is very disappointing,” said Guest.

lead cars had swept it clean and the road became veiy slippeiy,” he said. A full report will be in the next

Group N was being led by Rudi Stohl in a Mitsubishi and Guest was

issue ofMN. -JON'raOMSON

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26 March W99

EU Commision crumbles amid

resignations By JOE SAWARD THE

battle

between

Grand Prix racing and the European Commission took a new twist last week when all 20 of the

European Commissioners resigned in the wake of a scathing report into fraud and mismanagement. The

Commission

had

agreed to an independent investigation in January in order to avoid being sacked by the European Parliament. The report published demolished the credibility of the Commission, alleging corruption and widespread mismanagement. It conclud ed that “it is becoming diffi cult to find anyone who has even the slightest sense of responsibility.” Among the specific criti cisms were allegations that the Research Commissioner former French Prime Minister Edith Cresson had hired her dentist to be an advisor on AIDS. She was

Parliament renewed their calls for the Commission to

resign. The Commission which

was due to finish its five-year term in January 2000 Commissioner Karel Van

Miert. The 57-year-old Belgian was not criticised at all in the report and hopes that

when

The club has received a number of offers for the track in recent months

and has been considering the various options with advice from the merchant bank Dresden Kleinwort Benson.

become the home of the British Grand

Prix in the future, the BRDC’s decision

over Silverstone could be very signifi cant for British motor racing. -JOE SAWARD

Andrej starts testing Formula 3000

new

FORTEC

PWlCtMC

meantime he continues in a caretaker role. “I would like to exercise

my mandate until the end of the year,” Van Miert said, adding that he intends to retire from politics after that. By while Van Miert said that it would be business as

usual, in the days after the Commission’s resignation there were a rash of deci

sions from the Competition Directorate including the goahead for the mergers of Renault and Fiat foundry operations; BAT and Rothmans and several oth

Commission has legal dead lines on mergers. If it does not meet them, they clear automatically.

published

circuit which it owns.

Commission is constituted he will be reinstated. In the

ties in the Leonardo educa

was

the future of the Silverstone racing

One of the circuit’s chief strengths in the past has been its policy of reinvest ing all its profits into improving Silverstone, something which will not happen if the company is floated. With Brands Hatch bidding to

includes the Competition

ers. According to European

report

While the circuit could simple be sold and the money divided up between the club members which would mean a pay off of around $100,000 each there is the possibility that the BRDC might float itself on the Stock Exchange in London. Silverstone is a profitable business and there is plenty of room for expan sion with a much larger technology park being planned next to the track.

800 members next month to decide

also accused of failing to respond to serious irregulari tional programme. Immediately after the

Silverstone’s future THE British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) is to hold a meeting for its

deputies from the European

competition

rules

the

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie: Andrej Pavicevic is hard at work testing the Fortec Motorsport Lola-Zytek F3000 car. (PHotos by Sutton images) ANDREJ Pavicevic has had his first serious Formula

3000 test disrupted by the weather. The Sydney driver had completed only a few laps at Jerez in Spain when the rain brought things to an early close. French driver Fabrice Walfisch (Draco Racing) raised a few eyebrows by setting the fastest lap time on Wednesday ahead of Mario Haberfield (West Competition) and

Stephane Sarrazin (Gauloises Junior). In Thursday’s rain-affected session, Bruno Junqeira (Petrobras Junior), Pavicevi’s Fortec team-mate Norberto Fontana and Nocolas Minassian (Jensen) were the top three.

Testing continues next week. - QUENTIN SPURRING

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BMW wins on debut World of Sport

Motor Ra€ing Calendar

Shell Championship Series VSSupercars* Mar 28

.. .Eastern Creek .. .Rd 1

April ....Adelaide 500 ....Rd2 May 2

Wanneroo

Rd3

May 16 .. .Phillip Island ....Rd4 Junes .. .Hidden Valley ...Rd5 June 27

. .Sandown

,Rd6

Read all about it: Jorg Muller, Tom Kristensen and JJ Lehto celebrate BMW’s debut win

FIA Formula One World

Chomionship Apri 11

.. .Brazil

May 2

BMW Motorsport and Audi ,Rd2

have served notice on their

San Marino

,Rd3

May 16 .. .Monaco ..,

,Rd4

May 30 .. .Spain

Rd5

Le Mans competitors with stunning dehut perfor mances in the Sehring 12

June 13

. .Canada

June 27

. .France

..,

Rd6 Rd7

FedEx CART

Championship Series'*

Hour in Florida. The BMW V12 LMR won the

American sportscar classic in the closest result in living memory, with the sole Tom Kristensen/JJ

Apr 10

Motegi, Japan .. .Rd 2

Apr 18

Long Beach, Ca .Rd 3

Lehto/Jorg Muller car getting home 9.2s clear of the Daytona-

May 2

Nazareth, Pa

Rd 4

winning Riley&Scott-Ford of

Rd5

Elliot Forbes-Robsinson/Butch

May 15 .. .Brazil

SOOcc World Grand

Prix Motorcycle C'Ship* Apr 18

Malaysia

Apr 25

Japan

May 9

Rd 1

Rd2

Spain ..

Rd3

May 23 .. .France

Rd 4

June 6 .. .Italy

Rd5

June 20 ..Catalunya

,Rd6

World Superbike Series South Africa

Rd 1

April 18 .. .Australia ..

,Rd2

May 2

,Rd3

Apri 4

Britain

May 16 .. .Spain

,Rd4

May 30 .. .Italy

Rd 5

FIA Formual 3000

International C'ship May 5

Imola ..

Rdl

May 15 .. .Monaco

Rd2

May 29 .. .Spain ..

Rd3

Australian NASCAR Series* Apr 3

.CalderTdome** .Rd5

1999 NHRA Winston

Drag Racing Series April 11

Houston

Rd4

Apri 25

Dallas .

Rd5

Australian Rally Championship Apr10-11

Spain France

May 30 .. .Italy

Super Touring Car C'ship April 11 .. .Lakeside

Rd 2

May 2

Rd 3

Calder Park

May 30 .. .Mallala

Rd4

ten screening times All event dates In this calendar were

correct at the time of printing. Please consult any individual tracks and/or associations for date changes. Series or events telecast on Network Ten are marked with an asterix.

Check your local guides tor screening details.

Boutsen/MullerA/Vollek Porsche 911 GT1

-5 laps

5 Pirro/Biela/McCarthy Audi R8R

-9 laps

Ferrari 333SP

-19 laps

24 Hour in June.

It is also significant because

the car matched for pace the Dyson Racing Riley&Scott, which has been the fastest car in the American ALMS series until

Average Caddy? The R&S-built Cadillac Le Mans car sure looks different: with a turbo V8 is will go faster too.

now.

“We reached our goal by finish

By JOE SAWARD

ing the 12-Hour race with both

cars,” said Audi’s Head of Sport,

GENERAL Motor announced at

Dr Wolfgang Ullrich.

the Geneva Motor Show that, despite gloomy forecasts for the European car market, the com pany has decided to expand its sales in Europe and will be entering a two-car Cadillac fac tory team for the 2000 Le Mans

“I am also very happy about the positions our cars achieved although this weekend also

McCarthy said: “I’m delighted

24 Hours.

A prototype sportscar is being developed for Cadillac by Riley & Scott in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company has enjoyed considerable success in US sportscar racing in recent years.

with the results Audi achieved

The cars will be powered by

but more importantly, we’ve

twin-turbo 4-litre Northstar V8

learnt a lot for Le Mans.

engines. According to Cadillac chief exec

Our

car’s only problem was with the clutch just after the first driver change which cost us around 15 minutes in the pits.” who Johansson, joins McCarthy in the Audi Sport UK squad at Le Mans, added: “The result is extremely satisfactory but we will need to work on

Check your local guides for

313 laps 2 Forbes-RobsInson/LeitzingerA/Veaver -9.292s Riley & Scott-Ford 3 Alboreto/Capello/Johansson Audi R8R - 3 laps

debut for BMW’s Williams-devel

schedule but in race conditions.

BOC Gases Austraian

Kristensen/Lehto/Muller BMW V12 LMR

oped racer, three of which will be lining up on the grid for Le Mans

Rd6 Rd7

Result: 1999 Sebring 12 Hr\ 1

Pirro/Frank

Rd5

FIA World Rally Championship*

leads Lehto in the middle of the race. (Photos by Sutton images)

Biela/Perry McCarthy fifth after losing 15 minutes during the race while a clutch was changed. Former winner Wayne Taylor brought home the first of the Ferrari 333SPs in sixth, sharing the driving with Alex Caffi and Juan Fangio II. The win capped a startling

Audi has been testing the twin-turbo, V8-engined R8R throughout Europe since last summer. The annual Sebring race was designed to continue the car’s test and development

Rd 2

rmcKAMi

Apr 21 May 9

Audi’s new R8R open proto types both survived the bumpy Sebring track, Michele Alboreto/Rinaldo Capello/ Stefan Johansson taking third and

showed that we have much to do before Le Mans.”

.Coffs Harbour .. .Rd 1

May 7-9 ..Canberra*

German muscle: Capello’s Audi

6 Taylor/Caffi/Fangio II

Leitzinger/James Weaver.

Emanuele

Consonant craving: JJ’s BMW VI2 LMR was the class of the field, winning by a scant 9.3s at Sebring.

increasing the speed for Le Mans.”

Alboreto/Capello/Johansson finished six laps ahead of Pirro/Biela/McCarthy with both Audi’s clocking up almost 2,300 racing miles.

utive John Smith, motorsport is a good promotional tool in the European markets. The Cadillac brand is one of the most presti gious in the car world but the com'pany wants to liven up what has

become a rather staid image by taking on the top European mar ques such as Audi, BMW and Porsche. It is not the first time that

Cadillac will have raced at Le

Mans, Briggs Cunningham entered a pair of privately-run cars for the classic French sportscar race in 1950.

THERE may be more to the

Benz have tended to use the Le

Cadillac announcement than

Mans 24 Hours as a testing ground for their engineers before entering Grand Prix racing. Toyota is cur rently doing the same and it may

meets the eye. The

decision

mount

European programme vdth Cadillac

is, therefore, a significant policy switch for GM.

The interesting thing is that any motorsport marketer will tell you that if you are aiming for the European market, the best way to draw attention to yourself is through Grand Prix racing. The Le Mans 24 Hours attracts some inter

est but it does not supply anything like the same kind of exposure as Formula 1 racing. As a result car manufacturers

such as Peugeot and Mercedes-

be that Cadillac is thinking along similar lines.

If that is the case, the move by Reynard to buy Riley & Scott is a significant one. Reynard is a part ner in British American Racing. It provides the technical know-how for the FI team. Judging by the performance in Australia, the BAR chassis is not a bad starting point. And that is good reason to sug gest that a GM Formula 1 project is quite likely and, logically, that would follow on from a Cadillac

programme at Le Mans...

DIM

26 March 1999

D(D

he first round of the

News readers. Well I'm back

TChampionship, as you know, is

again with my first column

at Eastern Creek this weekend.

i again to all the Motorsport

that is going on around the place and hopefully dig up some dirt that

Ipersonally am looking forward to returning to the Creek after being absent off calendar for a whilp. Okay the viewing isn't terrif ic, but Ithink the most important thing where a high percentage of

most don't know about.

the tracks fall down is the track

The firstIwould (and most thing like toimportant) do is thank

facilities. At least everything is fair ly accessible and its one of the few high speed circuits instead of one of these tight twisty little goat

for 1999. As last year, I will try and give you some inside info after each of the Supercar meetings this year, or in fact any motorsport

the Motorsport News readers who

Coulthard duo, they certainly

voted for me in the recent

come under what I said before of

Motorsport Awards. Being voted as Personality of the Year certainly meant a great deal to me, especially when it was voted by the public and for me that

the ‘corporate cardboard cut out’ if you know what Imean. Eddie is a real character, someone you could go down to the pub with and have a real good time.

tracts.

is the one that counts the most. It

certainly was a surprise, but of course a pleasant one, and I think reinforces my statements last year of how important to show and express your emotions in a sport and not be the ‘cardboard, corpo rate cut out’.

Our sport is currently losing some of the true characters of

Motorsport with the Brocks and Johnsons retiring. Ihope we do not lose the type of style and per sonality they had from the sport.

Speaking of personality it was great to see Eddie Irvine win the Formula One race at Albert

Even though Irespect greatly the abilities of the Hakkinen and

get an indication who is going to be amongst the front runners. Of the Ford brigade it is even harder since it appears that they seem to be having more than a few prob

While the subject of Albertoff Park,onI finally got knocked

lems with their new car.

my pedestal with my winning

M named the Silver Bullet)

streak. It would have been nice to

go for 10 straight but I'spose, as predicted, it looks like HRT will be our main opposition again in '99. Even though Iwas very disap pointed about our performance, both Larry and myself were having a bit of a hard time in the handling department with our VTs. Ican tell you nothing revs you up more than when you get your but kicked to find out why and how to fix it. The good thing is after a successful test last week, that we have found

Park.

Apart from HRT, it was hard to

our missing speed and both of us are more than looking forward to a good fight at Eastern Creek.

Brabham, Webber head Le Mans entry AUSTRALIANS Mark Webber and David Brabham head a

huge list of acceptances for Prequalifying for the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hour race. Webber and Brabham will drive

two of the 62 cars which will line up to qualify for the Jvme 12/13 classic, in which 48 cars will be given starts.

These

seems to have got the thumbs up by everyone. The whole team is extremely pleased with the response especially when it is

such a departure from the previ ous scheme.

You never know, for Bathurst

we might come out with something really radical (maybe a fully chromed car??)

911s, one in GT2 and one GT3.

The outright contenders for the race are now divided into two class

es, one for open LM P cars and one closed LM GTP cars. The former GT2 cars become LM GTS and a

new category of cars are allowed to race, LM G'T cars, which are gener ally GT3 cars. Webber will share his AMG

entry

Don’t forget Channel 10

an Indian GP? INDIA is still hoping to hold a Grand Prix in

the autumn of 2000 but

progress will need to be made soon if the ambi tion is to become

reaUty. The project is being backed

British

American Tobacco but the battles between BAR and the FIA have not

the programme is expect

alistic tendencies which led to the controversial

ed to come from the local

West Bengal government and we hear that Jyoti Basu, the chief minister of the state, is keen on the idea, despite the

socialist ruling party hav ing some worries about funding what is an elitist

nuclear testing last Spring. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s 18-party coalition is decidedly shaky and suf fered heavy losses in

at Rajahat. Madras-based

The

national sporting authori ty the Federation of Motor Sport Clubs of India has expressed reservation about a cir cuit in Calcutta but the

Drivers

Brundle/Collard/Sospiri Boutsen/McNish/Kelleners

Katayama/Tsuchiya/Suzuki tba tba tba tba tba

Johansson/Theys/Ortelli WallaceA/Veaver/McCarthy Magnussen/O'Connell D Brabham/Bernard tba Pescarolo Martini

Kristensen J Muller

Bscher/Soper tba Gomez tba

Krumm/Comas/van de Poele Terada/Freon Tinseau/Bouillon Lammers/Kox/Coronel Saldana tba tba tba

Gache/Helary

Formato/Orbell

Lister/ThyrringA/Vallinder

Saunders

Dupuis/Breyner

51*

Donohue

52*

Wendlinger

53 54 55 56

Beretta Belmondo/Gosselin/Rostan Clerico Glasel

57 Hugenholtz 58 Maury Laribiere/Fabre 59 Cunningham 60* Kaufmann/Ligonnet 61

Iketani/lshihara/Jurasz

Hurtgen

63 64 65 66 67 68 69

Ahrle Konrad Chereau Monteiro/Monteiro Jarier/Goueslard Jones/Hammond Trunk

Felbermayer/Felbermayer

that other cities were con

80*

Basseng

notably

81 82

Muller Leconte

Bangalore in the south,

Ayles/Macquillan

Pune

Perrier/Ricci

85 86

Guitteny/Camus Clark/Konig/Cunningham

sidered.

sport.

It is unlikely there will be any finance from

under consideration. One at Bantola and the other

Mumbai and Delhi in the north.

near

Bombay-

Category LM GTP LM GTP LM GTP LM GTP LM GTP LM GTP LM P LM P LM GTP LM GTP LM P LM P LM P LM P LM P LM P LM P LM P LM P

LM P LM P

Suzuki/Motozama/Kageyama LM P

backers of the project say

recent state elections. At the moment there are two sites in Calcutta

JnnkMT

Nick

Bernd Schneider.

Brabham will line up for Panoz's squad, sharing with Eric Bernard, while the other American car will be

driven by ex-Fl man Jan Magnussen and American Johnny O’Connell.

The biggest obstacle to hopes of a third Australian win at the Sarthe

would appear to be the three works BMWs, a four car Audi effort (two

GT coupes and two roadsters) and Toyota’s three car GT One team, headed by Martin Brandle, Thieivy Boutsen and 1998 winner Allan McNish. Nissan will also attract interest with the news that theit 1997/’98 R390 GT cars have been trans

formed into ‘391’ open sportscars, and will do away with their turbo engines in favour of nornally-aspirated 5-litre V8s.

The biggest gi'oup of entries, the LMP cars, include 10 different con structors, (Audi, BMW, Courage, Fen-ari, Lola, Nissan, Panoz, Riley

& Scott, WR Peugeot and Autoexe) with 14 factory-entered cars and 10 cars entered privately.

ENTRIES - 1999 LE MANS 24 HOUR, JUNE 12/13 No

government.

German

other Benzes will be piloted by M-B’s usual drivers, headed by

8 9 10 11 12 13 t4 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

despite its strong nation

with

Heidfeld and Scottish newcomer

India’s

cars

Peter Dumbreck, while the two

Sunday, or better still come on out for one of the best years in V8 racing. See you next time.

Additional finance for

five

AMG Mercedes, the two ORECA

2 3 4* 5 6

helped progress.

the

exempt from prequalifying - one

By JOE SAWARD

include

Dodge Viper GT2s, and two Porsche

y new SLX Castrol car (nick

LM P LM P LM P LM P LM P LM P LM P LM P LM P LM P LM GTP LM GTP LM GTS LM GTS LM GTS LM GTS LM GTS LM GTS LM GTS LM GTS LMGTS LM GTS LM GTS LM GTS LM GTS LM GTS LM GTS LM GTS LM GTS LM GTS LM GTS LM GTS LM GTS LM GT LM GT LM GT LM GT LM GT LM GT LM GT

Team

Car

Toyota Motor Sports Toyota Motor Sports Toyota Motor Sports

Toyota GT One Toyota GT One Toyota GT One

AMG Mercedes AMG Mercedes AMG Mercedes

CLK-LPM CLK-LPM CLK-LPM R8 Roadster R8 Roadster

Audi Sport Joest Audi Sport Joest Audi Sport UK Audi Sport UK Panoz Motorsports Panoz Motorsports Courage

R8 Coupe R8 Coupe LMP Spyder LMP Spyder Nissan C52

Pescarolo Promotion

Courage C50

BMW Motorsport BMW Motorsport BMW Motorsport

Vt2LMR Vt2 LMR V12 LMR V12LM 98 V12LM 98 WR LMP99 C52 R391 R391 LMP 99 LolaT98/10 Lola B98/10 Kremer B98/10 Kremer B98/10 Ferrari 333SP

Price/Bscher Team Go Welter

Nissan Motorsports Nissan Motorsports Nissan Motorsports Autoexec M'sports DAMS

Konrad Motorsport Kremer Racing

Kremer Racing JB Racing JB Racing Riley&Scott Europe Riley&Scott Europe G-Force Motorsport Gaumont/Parr Msport CicaTeamOreca

Viper Team Oreca Viper Team Oreca Viper Team Oreca Paul Belmondo Racing Paul Belmondo Racing Chamberlain Eng. Chamberlain Eng. Maury Laribiere GT Developments Freisinger M’sporl Freisinger M'sport Roock Racing Roock Racing Konrad Motorsport Chereau Sport Estoril Racing Larbre Competition Macquillan Krauss Race Sports RWS Motorsport Dave Mara

Manthez Racing Larbre Competition Macquillan Perspective Racing Red Racing Brookspeed Racing

Ferrari 333SP Mklll Series 2 Mklll Series 2 Porsche 911 GT1 Porsche 911 GT1

Viper GTS-R Viper GTS-R Viper GTS-R Viper GTS-R Viper GTS-R Viper GTS-R Viper GTS-R Viper GTS-R Viper GTS-R Viper GTS-R Porsche 911 GT2 Porsche 911 GT2 Porsche 911 GT2 Porsche 911 GT2 Porsche 911 GT2 Porsche 911 GT2 Porsche 911 GT2 Porsche 911 GT2 Porsche 911 GT2 Porsche 911 GT2 Porsche 911 GT2 Porsche 996 GT3 Porsche 996 GT3 Porsche 911 GT3 Porsche 993 RSR Porsche 993 RSR Ferrari F550

Viper GTS

* = exempt from prequalifying

For Sale/For Lease Built to your budget and specifications Phone Steve Harrington 0418 359 999

26 March 1999

Gobert, Mladin lead in USA ANTHONY Gobert

(Vance&Hines Ducati) won the sec ond round of the US

Superbike Championship at Phoenix, Arizona on March 21, while fel low Aussie Mat

Mladin’s second

place has shot him in to a clear lead in the

points standings. Starting from pole position, Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)

was forced to pass sev eral riders in a bid to

catch Gobert, who

made a blinding re start after the race was

red flagged on the first lap due to a crash. The pair soon pulled away from the rest of the field led by Gobert’s team-mate

and defending AMA Champion, Ben Bostrom, and quickly ran in to heavy lapped traffic which Mladin

fell victim to.

On the final lap though, Mladin made the most of a Gobert slide to show the Ducati rider a wheel to drive on to the final

banking, but was edged out again. At the open ing roimd at Daytona Mladin was pipped by 0.014s by Miguel DuHamel (Honda), who

could only manage eighth at Phoenix. Mladin’s top two fin ishes have vindicated

the judgement of his main rivals, who in a recent magazine poll, tipped him to win the 1999 AMA title. -DARRYL FLACK

ussies ready for WSC opener

TROY Corser (Ducati Performance) heads into this

conquering Ducati. Absent at Misano, the Castrol

weekend’s opening round of the Superbike World Championship at Kyalami full of confidence after dominating the final test

Honda team chose to conduct a final

private test at Laguna Seca to test new brake and suspension compo nents. A bogey circuit for both rid ers, Aaron Slight was able to circu late close to the pole time for ’98 in

session at Misano two weeks ago.

The 1996 Superbike World Champion circulated one-and-a-half seconds below the lap record at Misano, to out-point team-mate and defending champion, Carl Fogarty

cool conditions, while Colin Edwards

crashed, suffering arm injuries.

CORSER will not be the only Aussie hoping for a good season for Ducati.

who was 0.74s slower to finish sec-

Castrol VT Commodore driver

ond quickest. Among a number of surprise

Russell Ingall and NF Importers,

results was Britain-based Aussie

motorcycles, have joined forces for

Troy Bayliss, who put his GSE

1999.

Ducati in to fourth fastest ahead of

The controversial Motorsport News columnist has taken deliveiy

World Superbike stars, Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha), Peter Goddard (Aprilia) and Pierfrancesco Chili (Suz).

While Chili has complained about lack of power, Haga remains confi dent despite similar problems on the

the Australian distributor of Ducati

of a limited edition Ducati 916

Senna, and will carry the Ducati logo on his helmet and car during the 1999 Shell Australian Touring Car Championship. “There are a few other drivers

aU-new Yamaha R7.

who own bikes, and it’s true what

“I managed to produce my quick est ever lap of Misano on the final day and the whole test was very pro ductive,” he said.” The stability was good, as was the straight fine speed and grip.” Goddard’s all-new Racing De Cecco Aprilia RSVIOOO is likewise afflicted by horsepower deficit disor der, with rumours that the factory is busily working to perfect a threepoint injection/per cylinder system, similar to the one used by the all-

they say, once you’ve owned a Ducati, you’ll never look back. It’s the Ferrari of the motorcycle world,” Ingall said. “The racing side of it also ties in rather well. Castrol are heavily involved with the Ducati Dealer

Team in the Australian Superbike Championships, which vnll allow for many cross promotional opportuni ties.” No word on whether it’s silver... -DARRYLFLACK

Looking for a boost: Goddard hopes a new injection system will help his Aprilia.

New Sepang GP Coulthard, the book track unveiled By JOE SAWARD

ed next to the new Kuala International Lumpur

SEVERAL members of the Formula 1 circus

Airport. Both World Champion

stopped off in Malaysia on the way back to Europe from Australia to be present at the official launch of the Sepang International Circuit.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who

championed the policy of using FI to promote Malaysian industry, opened the track, which has cost US$75m to build. It is locat-

Mika Hakkinen and Melbourne winner Eddie

Irvine were present for the festivities and Hakkinen

gave the locals a taste of what is to come when he demonstrated a McLarenMercedes FI car.

The first major event at the new circuit will be the World

Motorcycle

Championship next month. Grand Prix racing is due to arrive in October.

IT seems Formula One drivers are get ting like cricketers; all of them seem intent on producing as many books as possible for us racing fans to read in the off-season.

‘David’s Diaiy, the Quest for the Formula 1 1998 World Championship’ is slightly differ ent. The race-by-race story of David Coulthard’s ’98 season is a fair read which is

undoubtedly aided by some terrific photogra phy by our own Keith and Mark Sutton. The words are by Gerald Donaldson, the vet

.wntrsHAtriMAinH

eran Canadian FI writer who wrote the biogra phies of Gilles Villeneuve and James Hunt. They are the two best FI books I have ever

read and, while the squared-jawed Scot is not the personality that Gilles and James were, it is an insight into the life of a modem GP dri ver, and having a model for a girlfiiend ... ‘David's Diary, the Quest for the Formula 1 1998 World Championship’ by David Coulthard with Gerald Donaldson, $59.95. Available from Technical Books, Melbourne. Review copy supplied by the distributor, Simon & Schuster, Sydney.

( r*'

DRIVE A FORMULA 3

. FORMULA 3 DRIVES ARE NOW AVAILIABLE IN AUSTRALIA CALL 0408 320 094

1995 Bathurst

Ready to race. Complete with Holden V8 engine & 6 speed Holinger gearbox.

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IMo){}®[?su)®[fO

26 March m9

Show Matt

●V

the money NISSAN is taking great form into the first round of the British Touring Car

BTCC testing Silverstone 11/3/99

Championship on April 5 - and not just the works team, but Independent

Matt Neal

Nissan Primera

David Leslie

Nissan Primera

1:22.798

Matt Neal.

Laurent Aiello

Nissan Primera

1:23.139

While David Leslie topped the most recent BTCC test day at Oulton Park on March 17 Neal set the opposition on its heels a week earlier at Silverstone by lead ing the times for everyone - including the Nissan factory team. And Neal, who finished second in the 1998 Bathurst 1000, did it with a 1998 wing kit which, according to team chief Steve Neal, means that the Primera is capable of picking up another 0.3s when

Anthony Reid

Ford Mondeo

1:23.150

Alain Menu

Ford Mondeo

1:23.255

Yvan Muller

Vauxhall Vectra 1:23.270

the 1999 version arrives.

If this form keeps up Neal looks like threatening the £250,000 ($625,000) boun ty put up by TOCA boss Alan Gow for the first Independent driver to beat all the fac tory teams and win a round of the series.

James Thompson Honda Accord Jason Plato Peter Kox

Honda Accord

1:23.658

Rickard Rydell

Volvo S40

1:23.730

BTCC testing Oulton Park 17/3/99 Leslie

Nissan Primera

58.205

Neal

Nissan Primera

58.576

Kox

Honda Accord

58.618

Aiello

Nissan Primera

58.662

Thompson

Honda Accord

58.700

Muller

Vauxhall Vectra

58.750

only threatening the factory

Ford Mondeo

Radermecker

58.916 59.185 59.297

threatening Alan

59.359

Cow’s £250,000

Neal led Leslie and Frenchman Laurent Aiello in a Nissan 1-2-3 at Silverstone

Rydell Reid

Ford Mondeo

while, at Oulton, Leslie topped the sheets

knock him over.

rapidly improving Honda.Accord. Ford had an encouraging run at Silverstone, with Anthony Reid and Alain Menu running strongly in their new Mondeos, still fitted with 1998 engines. A week later Menu was 0.7s off the pace

while Reid suffered a couple of spins among a few minor engine problems. Where

1:23.365 1:23.484

Renault

Volvo S40 Volvo S40

from Neal and Dutchman Peter Kox in the

1:22.784

Rydell failed in the mission; with no

ning a round outright.

nominal team orders in the TWR-run

teams it looks like an interesting season coming up...

Spence for hire: BTCC newcomer Russell Spence gets to grips with his ex-Williams Renault Laguna, (Photosby SuttonImages)

was

Rickard

Rydell? He struggled to at

Silverstone, a full second slower than

Neal,

teams in the BTCC he is

bonus for win-

’98 Champion

10th

Neal and deliver: Matt Neal is not

I left Nissan for.

This. Anthony Reid has had

his trials in preseason testing for Ford.

White back for FHolden assault A LAST minute entry from internationally-expe rienced Stephen White has boosted the top end of the grid for the opening

while

newcomer

Vincent

Radermecker, who joins the Bathurst win ner this sea

round of the Australian Holden Formula

son, led the Swede all day at Oulton, forc

Championship this week

ing Rydell to run soft tyres

uling problem with the sec

in an effort to

has been partially resolved.

end. At the same time a sched

ond Formula Holden race Both Formula Holden and

When you want to find an automotive site on the Internet, see ozcar.com

Formula Ford categories will conduct their opening races late on Saturday afternoon,

White’s entry, in Arthur

two Birrana-entered cars,

Abrahams’ ex-Noske NRC

Brenton Ramsay in the sec

International Reynard 95D, adds a strong entry to the sharp end of the field, to take on likely outright contenders

ond.

Simon

Wills

and

Adam

Also

making the

trip

across the Tasman is Kevin

Bell. The 34-year-old from Christchurch last appeared

Macrow.

in Australian at the AMP

“We are having a difficult time securing our budget for the season,” White said this week, “but we couldn’t miss the opening round, as it may help us land a major backer.” cars have Eighteen entered for the opening

Bathurst 1000 but is taking to jump into the Gold Star category in a Reynard and is hoping to follow in the foot steps of Scott Dixon.

Among the debutants.

Formula Ford champion Adam Macrow will run his

with the second Formula

out New Zealand’s Gold Star

Holden race late on Sunday

series in December) keen for

92D Reynard out of the Spectrum workshops, while youngest entry will be Paul Dumbrell in the Wynns-

morning.

the double, driving one of the

backed 94D.

roimd of the Gold Star series, with Kiwi Wills (who took

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INI

26Mdrchl999

Nine answers GP critics

TOMS’ son killed

By PHIL BRANAGAN

in testing crash

CRITICISM of the Nine Network’s broadcast of the Australian Grand Prix at Albert

YOUNG Japanese driver Shingo

Park has been answered by the

“Get used to it,” suggests Sinclair. “FOA are restricting terrestrial broadcasters to one on-board camera

per race. We were aware of it on the Wednesday and we weren’t happy

“Who hosted the Formula One

telecast before Eddie McGuire, and

who before that person? We’ve never had a ‘motor racing person’ host the telecast.

It was Mike

about it and, with (Jean) Alesi not

Gibson, Ken Sutcliff and now Eddie

Tachi has been

TV network.

Wide World of Sports Executive Producer Tony Sinclair has defended the quality of the telecast, which has received considerable criticism by many people in the sport, not the least of which are Motorsport News

going very far, we did get some pic

McGuire.

killed in testing at

tures from Villeneuve’s on-board but

readers (see Page 50). The criticism centred mainly

broadcast which is seen by all ter restrial broadcasters throughout the

“McGuire has outstanding all round sports knowledge and is an excellent all-round sports presenter throughout his career. He hasn’t just done football. He happens to do lots of things. “To anyone who comments nega tively about him I’d say, ‘you’re oneeyed; open the other one and have a look’. I wouldn’t say he is a motor racing rev head, but I wouldn’t say

the Aida Tl circuit.

The 21-year-old was testing a Toyota Supra GT car at around

4:45pm last Thursday when the car suddenly veered Into a con crete wall at the first corner.

Reports indicate that the steering wheel hit his chest and he was killed

instantly. Tachi was the

son of Toyota

wveteran Keiichl

returning to Japan

Tsuchiya.

in 1997.

Tachi’s had been confirmed in

sonable post-race summary, the lack of in-car vision compared to previous years, and the performance of first

TOMS’ All Japan

time FI host, Eddie McGuire.

His finishing position in the Japanese Formula 3 Championship was sixth in 1997

and third in 1998. He drove a

Toyota MR2 GT car

Team TOMS owner Mr. Nobuhide Tachi. He started

for the first time

his racing career in

the GT300 class

the UK and drove Forrhula Vauxhall Junior and

around three aspects of the broad

Formula 3, before

last year, sharing championship of All Japan GT Car Championship with

cast; the sudden finish without a rea

GT where he was

The sudden end of the telecast

to share a Toyota Supra with Hideki

was, apparently, a simple of matter of running out of time.

Noda, and he was

“We had a network commitment to

also due to move

the Rugby League at 4 o’clock and that was that,” says Sinclair. “We would have liked to have stayed on

up to the Formula Nippon champi onship in which he was going to drove a Reynard. He had already tested his Mugenpowered car at Suzuka’s tyre test on Monday and Tuesday in the days before his

air for another hour but we didn’t

have that option. “Obviously, with the delayed start of the race and the Safety Car during the race we realised we were in trou

fatal accident.

Motorsport News extends its condolences to

Tachi’s family and friends. - PHIL BRANAGAN

even that disappeared as well.” But FOA’s digital service did not provide the pictures you saw at home. “The Nine Network does the host

world. There has been some criti cism of our broadcast but I don’t see

how that’s valid. We didn’t change any camera positions so we haven’t done anything different from previ ous years, and if anyone can tell me an incident that we missed, either live or off tape. I’d be happy to dis

Benaud, Chappell and now Taylor, and golf fans get Newton and

cuss it with them.

Baker-Finch, the wait for a host

“In a motor race, seeing incidents live quite often relies on luck.

who clearly understands FI goes on.

Formula One cars seldom run nose-

Nine’s broadcasts will be similar to

to-tail and it’s often hard to get two

previous years. Rumours from Europe that Nine had been ‘repri manded’ by FOA for lack of qualify ing highlights or for not showing its races live are just rumours, accord ing to Sinclair. And any coverage of F3000 or other classes depends on

cars in one shot. You have to make a decision as to which car is the

right story to be following at any given time.” Nine’s director was solely respon

ble, but we had an immovable com

sible for the feed to Nine and other

mitment. We had to do what we were told.” The lack of on-board cameras has

networks, whose telecasts are usu ally supplemented by their own pit cameras and reporters.

been prompted by restrictions placed on broadcasters by the Formula One Association which is now reserving the vast majority of its in-car vision (from up to 20 cameras) for its own pay-per-view subscribers in Europe. If home viewers were upset by what they saw from Albert Park, the news

McGuire’s debut appears to have been poorly received by many who see him purely as Nine’s AFL expert, and President of the Collingwood Football Club. “Eddie McGuire happens to host ‘The Footy Show’ but that doesn’t mean he’s a one-trick pony; he’s anything but,” replies Sinclair.

is not very encouraging...

that Ken Sutcliff or Mike Gibson were either.” So while cricket lovers can watch

As for the rest of the season.

the deal made available to the net work.

There has also been suggestions that Nine may lose its GP coverage to Ten, which now shows so much

motor racing. Sinclair refutes this, saying the network would continue with FI “well into the new millenni um” while Ten would not be drawn

on whether it was looking to acquire the category when Nine’s current deal ends.

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26 March W99

Wfa—--

Where there Will there sombre play called ‘Oldfellow’. And after such success the the

ith “Shakespeare in Love” doing well at the Oscars and

every actor in the world des perate to get into doublets (particularly those belonging to Gwyneth Paltrow), Iwas wondering what The Bard would make of modern

Grand Piix racing. This may seem an odd thought-process but one must remember that we poor F1 folk have spent a lot of time on aeroplanes in recent

weeks and, while engineers have wasted their time

dreaming up new gearbox es, other minds have wan

atres would be crying out for a sequel: the story of British American Racing ‘Much ado about nothing’.

And what wouldmake of Shakespeare the recent FIA World

of letters.

I can see, a year after the visit, Shakespeare’s first Grand Prix play would open at The Globe. ‘As I like it’,

the story of the rise to promi nence of a man called Ecclestone.

It would be followed by a tragedy called ‘King Leer”, the tale of a smiling politician called Mosley, fated to be a leader but deprived of that possibility because he was bom with the wrong name. McLaren would provide the setting for ‘The Merchant

Cartoon by Allan Schofield

of Australia. You were

going to win the first

which Igiven many bags of gold.” Pollock: “Aye, my lord, and we would have done but for the other

teams. If everyone

a rabbit from his hat and

ahead of us had retired

blamed his lawyers instead.

before we did, 'twould

The World Council, which

have been a different

obviously had magic mush room quiche for lunch, accepted this defence and rather than giving the BAR boss a good public flogging, decided to make him explain to everyone involved (in writ ing) that the lawyers were to

story.” King Bat: “If my aunt

Beware the Ides of March. Indeed so...”

(Enter a messenger) Messenger: “My Lord. A letter” (exits with Equity Card) King Bat: “What drivel is this? Ah! ‘tis from the jester Pollock. About the racing team. Bla-bla-bla. In Geneva. Bla-bla-bla. More

bla. Aha! The point of the missive. But it cannot be! What is this? It is the fault of

my lawyers. Is that not my fault? For is it not I who con

trols the legal eagles? Imust read this again. No. ‘tis true, ‘tis my fault. “Am Imad to interpret it

had a moustache, worth

less harbinger, per chance she would be my uncle. (Aside quietly) 'Tis lucky that he does not know that my aunt does have a mous tache.”

Pollock: “My liege, it may have seemed strange at the time, but our strategy of strutting like rampant roosters bore great fruit. All the scribes in the world fell

upon us and in Australia everyone was talking only of BAR, of the great Pollock and of your magnificent tobacco products. There is no publicity that does one harm.”

King Bat: “Except, mere vassal, the announcement of one’s execution...”

Pollock: “Allow me, great leader, to change the sub

ject. Let me amuse you with tales of hot water in the mountains of Geneva.”

King Bat: “I have read your letter...”

Pollock: “Ah, but Imust

explain it some more. ’Twas a game we had to play with the wizards of the sport. We do not wish to be mere

pawns on the FIA board of

without authority.” King Bat: ‘The lawyers that you claim as your own are my lawyers. You have blamed me!”

Pollock: “My lord, great master of my universe, Icriti cise neither them nor you except in public.” King Bat: “But why could it not have been your fault? Why must the poor lawyers suffer for you.” Pollock: “Lawyers, my lord, are easily replaced. There is

German driver and some

stand how a King can be blamed by a jester.”

The Bard would, no doubt, soon have the warring Scottish chieftains, Jackie

British engineers and still

(Quietly, with menace).

Stewart and Tom

called Dennis’ and Ferrari

would be perfect for ‘The Rape of Luca’, a story of how an Italian car company gave away all its money to a

did not win the World

Championship. And what of Eddie

Jordan? What a great char acter for the stage. The per

thus? Get me a scholar to

unravel this for me! Clearly I have not the wit to under

“What fool does this Pollock take me for? With a flick of

his hair he has escaped his predicament and Iam the dunce in the corner. ’Tis out

fect star for ‘All’s Well that

rageous. Ishall have him

Ends in my Pocket’.

killed.”

Jackie Stewart and Tom

(Enter Pollock in 555/Lucky Strike uniform) Pollock: “My liege. How joyful it is to see you in such

Walkinshaw, fighting it out

fine form and fettle.”

The Bard would, no

doubt, soon have the war

ring Scottish chieftains, on the moors in ‘MacBest’

and the smiling Prince Malik would pop up in ‘A Comedy of Arrows’. And for those who tike a little darkness in their lives

Shakespeare would chart the demise of Tyrrell in a

to Hell later. Tell me now

Council. Imust say Ithought BAR was for the high jump but, no, Craig Pollock pulled

The court of King Bat. The

resident if not a great man

race with this team for

dered in ethereal places... What would Shakespeare blame. think of FI ? If he spent a day Oh, what a story! What in the paddock and had a beautiful irony. What poetic long lunch with the (working) ■ justice! Who else but the evil media what plots and char Mosley could have dreamed acter sketches would he up such a sweet poison for a have in his notebook? punishment? Actually, he would proba Just imagine, what Will bly not be allowed in the would make of it... paddock at all. The FIA would say that a Stratfordupon-Avon schoolteacher King is reading. had no right to a pass just King Bat: “One is always because he had written a down in a Depression. But few plays. In the end he really, profits dropping 16%. ‘tis a disaster. And then this would have to be smuggled in as a guest of Johnny Pollock and that racing team. Herbert, a former Stratford

Pollock: “My Lord. If I had to go to the depths of Hell to serve you, I would do so gladly.” King Bat: “You can go

King Bat: “Quiet thee, cringing silver-tongued slave. Iam in the depths.

Walkinshaw, fighting it out on the moors in ^MacBesT chess. You must be the King and I...”

King Bat: “ ‘twould be rude to say Queen.” Pollock: “...would ride

beside you. But, alas, they called my bluff for they have evil ways which Iimagined not. Iwas, I admit, outwitted,

Silence or I shall send thee

but I found a route to

to Brackley. ’Tis not so a glamorous a place for a man

escape. Ihad to explain that

of the jet-set. Do you often

nate misunderstanding and that my lawyers had acted

go there?”

it had all been an unfortu

no shortage of them. They are expendable.” King Bat: “In this you are correct. There are a plague of lawyers on this earth and what are they fit for? They

wisdom on this subject.” King Bat: “A good way to begin.” Pollock: ‘Thou jesteth like a professional. Great master. But please make me not redundant with your jests. King Bat: “Redundant? Yes, that could be a word for what Iintend. Yes indeed, a

jester without a head is indeed redundant. What a

fine description. Pollock: “My lord, that would be a trifle harsh. If I

appear to be a critic think not evil of me for it is my belief

tuous maid.”

Pollock: ‘That is gracious of you, majesty.” King Bat: “Away with you now. Ineed peace to talk to myself.” Pollock: “Your wish is my

command, great leader. And let not your soliloquy be sombre for soon there will rise over China a cloud of

your sweet-smelling tobacco smoke.” (Exits) King Bat: “I am to be the fool in the jester's tale... and Isuppose that he thinks that he will be the king and all for

that this is the best way to

a few Chinamen with smoke

sell cigarettes to Chinamen. ‘Twould serve no purpose if

coming out of their ears.

my team was to stay at

this game we play. “My wealth is mountainous but my power is always

home...”

King Bat: “My team!” Pollock: “...the right deci sion, my liege, was to blame the lawyers and make them look fools but for a brief and

soon-forgotten moment.” King Bat: “Ah, but that makes me the fool in your story?” Pollock: “ ’Tis only a story,

my lord. Remember that. Short and irrelevant, like

most stories in this sport.

can run countries and inter

The aim was not to demean

national sporting federations, but things always ends up in a mess. Do you know what you call a burning building full of lawyers?” Pollock: “No, my lord, Ido not. Pray impart your great

you, but to sell cigarettes to Chinamen. Is that not the

aim of our game?” King Bat: “Aye, so it is. I suppose you have done well. I am the fool and

you are whiter than a vir¬

How little he understands of

under threat from the ene mies within. China can wait.

My power cannot be seen to be challenged. Iam the King and no jester will bring me down to where they are for ever sharpening the corpo rate knives.

“If Iwere a mere jester, I would be walking the corri dors, watching my back. I am the King and the first rule of being a king is to know how to keep power. And no smoke signals from the east will alter that fact of life. “I must find the execution

er. Forsythe. Where are you?”

(Exit King Bat).

26 March 1999

£A0

British American Racing arrived at Aibert Park with a lot of hype and high expectations. They didn’t win on debut, but they weren’t entirely unsuccessful either.

ADAM COOPER had an insight into BAR’S first race weekend.

0 team has come into Ft rid

ing a tidal wave of such con troversy or hype as British American Racing and yet, after all the fuss, the megabuck outfit’s debut in Melbourne was something of an anti-climax.

serious team. And we’re very proud of Ricardo.”

Weeks of testing had given the team time to gel, and the garage certainly looked the business come Friday morning. Since BAR could afford to start afresh, everything was

There was so much going on

brand new and state-of-the-art, from

elsewhere that BAR, stranded down

the carbon fibre-look waste bins to

at the unfashionable end of the pitlane, didn’t create the stir we might have expected. That ambivalence extended to the team’s on-track per

the nifty flat screen monitors on the pit stand. The dual livery may have been compromised on the cars, but the mechanics’ uniforms were split into different camps, as were the drivers’ suits and the garage walls. From one side you could see three Lucky Strike cars and a 555 background, and from the other direction exactly the opposite. It looked great, but

formance. It was far from the debut

win scenario which has dogged the project since its inception, and nei ther was it the total disaster that

some critics had been expecting. As the team packed up its equip ment on Sunday night, three conclu sions could be drawn. Firstly, the team has some way to go before it

there were no illusions about the task ahead.

Z-cars: While Allessandro Zanardi gathered a lot of pre-race attention the other Z, Ricardo Zonta, made a brilliant debut. Breakfast of ex-champions: Villeneuve and Pollock (above, left) enjoy a snack before the serious stuff starts.

Awinter of talk andat speculation finally stopped 11 am on

tratingly present. And thirdly, and far more encouragingly, it was blindingly obvious that in Ricardo Zonta the

breaking down, and Idon’t know how competitive we’re going to be compared to the top teams. It’s difficult to compare with anybody else, as we’ve only really tested with

team has found someone who has

Friday, when Villeneuve headed out for his first lap of practice. Like everyone else he motored straight back in for a quick check up, and as the car was pulled back into the garage he and Pollock grinned at each other, apparently sharing a joke over the radio. “For me it was probably the most nervous time that I’ve spent in motor racing,” Craig explained. “I

Wiiliams.”

was worried that he wouid turn out

quite a future. I’m very happy, very proud of all the guys,” said team boss Craig Pollock just after the flag. “I think what we’ve actually proved is that we are very competitive, we are a

Notable by his absence was nominal technical director Adrian Reynard. It seemed inconceivable that “business” could keep him away

of the garage and go up in smoke. So Jacques getting back after to the pits after the very first lap was important, and getting through the rest of the first session without any big hassle was tremendous.”

can be a match even for fellow

Supertec users Williams and Benetton. Secondly, the reliability problems which have haunted the 001 since it first turned a wheel three months earlier were still frus-

”A victory would make me happy!,’’ grinned Jacques Villeneuve on Thursday. "There’s a fair chance of the car

from his team’s debut, but that was the official line.

And what had Jacques said to bring about that big smile? ”l was just laughing because he already wanted to change some thing major on the car and he hadn’t done a flying lap! That’s Jacques...” Zonta did hardly any miles that morning, and right at the start of the afternoon session he coasted to a

halt with gearbox trouble. Fie ended the day stranded in 22nd, barely knowing his way around the track. An encouraging ninth in the morn ing, Jacques slipped down to 15th. It was a low key first day, to say the least.

Zonta’s fortunes did not improve on Saturday morning, and he stopped without even completing a flying lap; he had to go into qualify ing without any proper knowledge of his car or the circuit.

'S'*.

Blurred images: Like the rest of the Supertec drivers Jacques Villeneuve struggled at Albert Park .(Photos by Sullon Images)

In contrast Jacques gave the

’enthusiasm”...

“We’ve seen is the potential of the car,” said Pollock. “We lost out in communications: there was a

problem between Jacques and Jock; he was told to stop and then Jock realised that there was time for

another lap. Fie was held up on his fast lap by a yellow flag, and had to lift off. We know he could have

gone faster.” Zonta was down in 19th, but an incredible four seconds faster than he’d been all weekend - an indica tion of how little track time he’d had. Pollock admitted that the team had

let their rookie down, “but if we can

finish the race, we’ll be well placed. The car will be competitive, but reli ability is what scares us the most.” ver a relaxed breakfast on

o Sunday morning Jacques had

team a considerable boost when he time to reflect on progress. “I’m disappointed, because the jumped up to fifth right at the end of ■ car was quite a bit quicker than that. the session; he was top Supertec We just had a bad qualifying. The runner, behind only the two confidence was always there, we McLarens, Johnny Flerbert and knew the car was quick. If we can Damon Flill. That caught the atten tion. Could he come close to such a get it work properly, and not lose time, then we’ll be happy. performance when it mattered? Timewise he did, for in the heat “The team is working smoothly. There have been so many things to of the afternoon he was only 0.171 s fix, but we’re not the only ones who slower than in the morning. But oth are not sure to finish the race. I ers improved, and he tumbled down want to be in the points, that’s the to 11th on the grid, the fourth minimum. Just finishing is not Supertec runner. Matters were not enough. I’m not going to be taking it helped when his session was inter easy. I’m going to be pushing to try rupted by a huge spin at the first corner. and get in the points. We’d rather get up to fifth and break down than just finish seventh.” ronically right at the end a miscue between the two closest-knit mem The warm-up did not bode well; Villeneuve was 19th, two places bers of the team - Jacques and behind Zonta. But a closer look long-time engineer Jock Clear showed that an improvement of cost him a final flying lap. The wife of a senior BAT executive was 0.8s would have put the Brazilian fourth, so compressed were the apparently listening in to the pit

radio, and was said to be impressed

times. BAR’S race form remained a

by Clear’s colourfully expressed

total unknown.

26 March 1999

being chased by Zonta. After completing an ominous 13 laps, the team’s worst nightmare

Senna. Then he got stuck in fifth gear, and had no choice but to quit. "After many problems during the weekend Ionly had time to set up

was realised. Villeneuve was run

ning flat out when the rear wing fell off, pitching him into a high speed spin. The eventual impact with the wall was thankfully minor, but it

the car in qualifying,” said Ricardo. “I think for the race we cduld

have improved the set-up if ihad done more laps. We need to improve the car a lot, and Ineed to

could have been much worse.

No driver can simply shrug his

learn a lot, because in one race it’s

shoulders after such a shock, even

very difficult to get everything.”

if it is effectively his team, and Jacques was none too pleased. The big question was what to do vvith Zonta. He was running superbly,

Just eight more laps and a BAR

would have made the chequered flag in its first race. Still, the team got further than McLaren, Prost,

and the team had conducted an effi

Bananas in pyjamas: Not much looks more bizarre than the BAR wrenches in their ‘55-Strike’ uniforms.

Fans with faces: Okay, we were wrong, there’s something that looks more bizarre ...

(Hakkinen into spare, collapsed pit

gantry), Stewart (the

excitement.

double fire), Ferrari (Schumacher’s stall) and Sauber (Alesi out on grid), BAR

I saw Jacques doing an overtaking move,” said Pollock, “but I

bound to be a stress-

ful time for BAR,

especially as one of its drivers was a rookie. Yet while disaster struck McLaren

“There were reliability problems for quite a few reasons,” Pollock explained. "We are a brand new team. We couldn’t build everything in-house, so we’ve had to out

source certain parts. We’ve had suppliers letting us down slightly. From here it can only get better, but we’ve got five weeks to work on it before Brazil.”

Designer Malcolm Oastler had

that rear wing. Despite this second stop, Zonta

a lot on his mind as he headed for

able.

spot to Rubens Barrichello, regained seventh by charging past Tora Takagi, and then set his sights

the gate, but he still found time to stop off for a chat with old pal Irvine; he engineered Eddie’s F3000 Reynard back in ’89, and the Ferrari ace still regards the Aussie as one of the best guys he

was soon into seventh. He lost a

on Pedro de la Rosa, before mis

It was not a perfect start," he run up to it was

Sauber and Minardi.

Jacques seventh and Ricardo 10th. Ithought this can’t be -1 nearly hit the screen! Absolutely unbeliev¬ self.

sailed through this major test without problems. Indeed when the lights went out, both men made good getaways. Already gifted two spots. Jacques passed Alex Wurz and then a spinning Hill to get up to seventh. Even more impressively. Zonta jumped up to 10th. When the cars flashed by at the end of the first lap, relief was mixed with

cient first stop under the full course yellows Jacques had brought out. But there remained the possibility that he too could suffer a breakage. The early stop put him out-ofsynch with much of the opposition, and helped by retirements ahead, he moved up to sixth by lap 23. When countryman Diniz retired a lap later he ran fifth, but after just three laps he was back in the pits; the crew knew it had to check out

Zonta was clearly enjoying him¬

The start and the

said later, “it could have been better, but it was the first lime I started

the car. I had a few problems, but other people had problems too. and I had time to find the gaps. I

think Iwas very lucky!”

Onlostthea second Villeneuve place tolap Jarno Trulli’s Prost, and he radioed in to tell the

team that the Italian had passed under yellows. An enquiry to race control led nowhere, so Jacques

couldn’t see Ricardo. Then Ilooked

remained stuck behind the Prost. He had the Sauber of Pedro Diniz

up at the timing screen and saw

right behind him, who was in turn

reading a pit signal. "I thought it was two laps to the end, but it was two laps to come into the pits to look at my rear wing again, in case it was broken. I knew I could pass the car in front I could be sixth, I tried very hard to overtake.” The third stop finished any real hopes of getting in the points, but by then Ricardo was already having trouble with his gearbox, and trailed a smoky haze behind his car. For several laps he refused to let leader Eddie Irvine by - a combina tion of inexperience and the sort of chutzpah we saw from the young

ever worked with.

Despite the traumas of the weekend, Oastler remained upbeat.

“We’re pretty happy,” he said. “We’ve done a race now, and

we’ve got a race team. The pattern continues; we find problems and solve them and have less problems as we go on. We lost a wing

straight away on our first day; today’s was bit more complicated, and it was a vibration-related issue.

“Still, the guys did a good job all weekend, and the team is starling to work together.’ m

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26 March 1999

My generation is thefix4t generation in Africa, We have to fix problemSf and the only way is by getting up and doing something. ((

Vl/illiam$ may have a

knight but Arrows has a

PRINCE

- Prince Malik Back in black: Prince Malik appeared with the Arrows team in Albert Park’s pit lane and, with the amount of financiai clout he brings to the team, clearly has big plans. He and co-owner Tom Walkinshaw (below) may seem an Odd Couple but fun nier combinations have worked in Formula One. Before the race there was even time for some fun in the garage (below).

He’s Nigerian, under 40 and he own a majority share in the Arrows FI team. IAN PORTER met Prince Ado Ibrahim Malik at Albert Park. THE Formula One paddock, heart of the most venal business in the

world, is an unlikely place to find a social reformer

looking for a platform. The paddock population comprises a mixture of mechanics, marketing types and managers - of teams, of people and of money. And an equal number of hangers-on.

Countdown to success:

The last thing anyone expected from Arrows at Albert Park was

points. But, with rookie Pedro de la Rosa behind

the wheel, the Repsolsponsored car brought home the bacon and gave the Prince a dazzling debut as a team owner. (Photosby SuttonImages)

The new owner of the Arrows Formula One team

does not fit into any of these categories, and that’s mainly why he paid £77 million ($A197 million) for a 70 per cent stake in the team, in partnership with the investment company Morgan Grenfell Private Equity. Prince Ado Ibrahim Malik is in FI for all the same rea sons other team owners and

guage,

Prince does not see Arrows’ lacklustre

little bit of help and little bit of direction, I will have got ten what I want out of this,”

“I want Africans to aspire

Prince Malik, 38, wants to break the mould and show

that Africans, Nigerians, can be role models and leaders. He had none when he set out on a career that has included

oil trading in London and, more recently, establishing mobile phone networks in Nigeria. “There is no Bill Gates of

Africa. There is no Rupert

only way is by getting up and doing something,”

is Africa’s team, support us, we are going to get there. If we fail

million investment in the Arrows team and the Prince

as a monopoly. There are 600 million Africans, 70 mil

that for 310 races.

can be smart, can own FI teams, can raise $200 mil

is a crucial part of that strat

lion Afro-Americans and more than 10 million

that somebody is there. We got 300,000 hits on the

lion legally. If I step forward and other people of my gen eration come into key posi

The Arrows team and its

Africans in Europe.

Aitows website in the first 40

Africa.

either Nelson Mandela or

some tyrant. “I want to show Africans

tions it would be wonderful,

but somebody’s got to get there first.

“My generation is the fix-it generation in Africa. We have to fix problems, and the

egy, too.

sponsors, like the rest of FI,

“I’m a Muslim and I am

will still address the tradi tional FI markets in

Europe, Japan and South America, but the prince will help the team tap into the largely untouched (by FI) African market and other

team made it to the second

that Africa does not know about FI and that it will be

Of course, there is also a business side to the $200

Everybody you can name is

“Nigeria has 126 million people. When the soccer

than on-track suc

markets previously over looked by FI. “I am the only African in FI and I can market myself

Murdoch

sors of the Arrows team.

round of the World Cup,

“I am saying this

at Albert Park.

and, importantly, for spon

history in FI - no wins in 22 years as an impediment. What he is offering is more appealing cess, he believes.

he said in the Aitows garage

tired of going places and having people judge me on the fact I’m black. I’m young and, oh-oh. I’m Nigerian and then walk away.”

the

Importantly, the

sponsors are there, but he has another agenda, too. He wants to help Africans stand up and take a place on the world stage. “If I can give one person a

to a different future. I’m

look

look.”

for 10 years it is not going to make any difference because Arrows has already done

“Africans are just proud

more than $300 million of merchandise was sold - T-

shirts, caps, scarves.” He dismisses suggestions

difficult to excite widespread interest.

“They watch FI. A lot of people have access to satel lite TV. They just didn’t have anyone to support.” The prince is counting on a knock-on effect, where

newspapers will start cover ing FI, and then radio sta tions and then terrestrial

television as word spreads that Nigeria has its own FI

going to market to that area very strongly, too. India, Muslim Asia, these are the places FI is going to. My entry to FI is predicated on

days after the buyout asking for caps, T-shirts and kit.” If his plan works and

team.

Africans take the Arrows

their television screens and

team to heart, that affinity could turn into some large

sponsors will want to adver tise because everyone will

the ability to go to these areas and speak the Ian-

revenue numbers for the team’s own merchandise

want to see how Malik’s

“They’ll sit in front of

team will go on Sunday.” ED

26 March 1999

^ €

^ . 4. -

Moore

y ■

>■

IkN

andPrix

rib ad

Daylight second: Greg Moore dominated much of the race in his Reynard-Mercedes, although (Photo by Sutton Images) the gap was closed to just 1.110 seconds at the finish.

One hundred pound and three sets of 12 reps: Strongmen Andretti, Moore and Franchitti got to hoist the spoils high above their heads, much to the amazement of those watching. (Photo by stmon images)

4S. -

r .V

i :/

i: PHIL MORRIS

AFTER failing to win last year’s CART opener at Homestead in Miami after

dominating almost the entire race, everything finally fell right for 23 year old Canadian Greg Moore this time. Moore dominated the ’98 race

only to come up short because of a broken airjack, drove a strategic race Sunday and pulled away to an easy victory under the hot Florida sun.

Michael Andretti, winner of the race for the last two years, had the

Reynard-Mercedes started from the pole for the second straight year and led until lap 59, during the first round of green-flag pit stops.

He didn’t regain the top spot

until a group of cars that had moved to the front with a fuel

stretching strategy, including Dario Franchitti, finally had to pit under caution on lap 114. Moore, who led 96 of the 150 laps, inherited the lead and pulled steady away from Andretti, beat ing Andretti’s Swift-Ford to the finish line by 1.110-seconds. “The difference today was we got a couple of lucky breaks,” Moore said.

luck turn on him and finished sec

Andretti said his mistake proba

ond, blaming a mistake he made when he shut off his engine on his final pit stop. Moore said teamwork paid off

bly cost him a shot at another vic tory. He made his second pit stop on lap 85, during a caution period, coming off the track trailing only

for him.

“I expected my car to be perfect from beginning to end and it defi nitely wasn’t,” he said. “At the beginning, we were very,

very poor while at the end, when you need to be fastest, we were. That’s the sign of a very good team.”

Player’s

Memorial Hospital for further

leader

the

Castro-Neves and Gil de Ferran,

examination and treatment.

restart, but coming

fell to eighth. After the restart, Franchitti charged back, passing Vasser for third place on lap 146. Only three caution periods were called for the entire race although

Andretti said.

Report by

Moore’s

Franchitti, who was third prior to the final pit stops, trailing Helio

up short. “I tried to get underneath Greg and he forced me to go down on the apron,”

Forsythe

Franchitti and driving out in sev enth place. “I think we had the best car and

I made a mistake on that pit stop when I killed the engine,” Andretti

explained. “I don’t know what hap pened ... it was just a stupid mis take.” Andretti found himself back in

second place when Moore regained

Energize me: A late race pit stop kept former FedEx champ Jimmy Vasser from winning the race, Moore elected to stay out and win. (pnotobysutton images)

Both were airlifted to Jackson

the lead, attempting a move to pass the

“It ended up that was for the win, so it

was all right, but that was a pretty hairy moment for me.” Franchitti, one of the pre-season favourites for the CART crown

along with Moore and former champion Jimmy Vasser, was one of the four drivers who pitted on lap 115. “I saw Dario pit and I thought, ‘Oh God, we’re going to have to pit again,’ “ Moore said. “But my crew said, ‘Stay out, stay out.’ The Mercedes is really good on fuel mileage.”

the first came when the race was

just two comers old There were only three caution flags in the race, but the first one came out before the event was two turns old with debutant Naoki

Hattori sliding into A1 Unser Jr.’s lone Penske, the two cars then spearing off into the wall. Unser sustained a fractured

The only other incidents in the race came on the 82nd when Scott

Pruett hit the wall in turn one,

and on lap 110, when Adrian Fernandez, who was running fourth at the time, blew his engine, ran through his own oil and crashed in turn four.

Patrick Carpentier started third and kept teammate Moore in sight until he was penalised for making a late entry into the pits prior to his second stop. He had to drive slowly through the

pits under the green flag and fell back to 13th, nearly a full lap

right ankle in the accident, the medical team needing considerable

behind.

time to remove the former champi

of the final caution to move back

on from his car, while Hattori

among the leaders and wound up seventh, just behind Max Papis

received a compound fracture of his lower left leg from the incident.

But Carpentier took advantage

and de Ferran.

Unser's bad break PENSKE 1999start season got off toRacing’s a disastrous at Homestead when Al Unser

suffered a broken leg in a lap one crash. Unser and rookie Naoki Hattori

came together and were pitched into the wall between the first and

second turns in a big accident, leaving the former CART champion with a broken right ankle and Hattori with a fractured

left leg. The accident took place seconds after the green flag, with Hattori appearing to take a high line through the opening turns. But he wound up driving into Unser, sending both info the wall and bringing out a caution flag that lasted 17 laps.

virus that attacks the spinal cord. She left a basketball game complaining of numbness in her legs. She Is paralysed from the waist down and learning to walk

again at a Phoenix neurological

wins in the past three seasons, owner Roger Penske decided to field a one-car entry for the first time since 1970, with Unser his driver.

There is no word on whether

Unser will be fit to drive in the

hospital. “When it rains, it pours," said Michael Andretti, Unser’s long

second round of the series at

time rival who finished second at

in the event he does not drive,

Motegi in Japan on April 10 but,

Homestead.

Penske is expected to run

“I feel bad about Cody, and now this happens. It’s been a tough winter for him. But they’re tough

former driver Andre Ribeiro in

people. They’ll get through it.” It also was a bad start to the scaled-back effort of Marlboro

Team Penske. After just three

the race.

Ironically, Ribeiro broke his leg while racing for Penske last season, driving with a cast on a still-broken bone. -PHIL MORRIS

Both drivers were airlifted to a

Miami hospital and require surgery.

Unser, 36, was transferred to

hospital in Indianapolis and was due have surgery within a few days while Hattori, 32, was to be operated on in Miami.

/ -

The crash was another blow for

Unser, who was trying to end a

three-year winless streak while coping with the sudden paralysis of his 14-year-old daughter Cody. Unser was called away from

testing at Homestead last month when Cody was diagnosed with a

’’ -

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26Mdrchl999

Our Super<up runneth over

’CT’.

When two dozen Porsche 911 Supercup cars showed up at Albert Park we knew we were in for some terrific racing.

The 911 GT3s are great cars: PAUL COVER drove one. THE Porsche Supercup is serious. Serious drivers, serious racing, serious prizes and serious cars.

inside - how one of the race-

made 911s really behaves. You don’t need to be told

for the champagne spray. Gardner got a third, but even he was surprised to run so well against guys like Le Mans winner Stephane

built two

that the Supercup cars are quick, but they still look

dozen 370-horsepower 911s and will pay out more than

almost like street cars and

Ortelli,

there’s nothing special about

Alessandro Zampedri, former

their flat-six exhaust note.

FI driver Jean-Pierre Jarier

But to get the best from a Supercup car you need to live in the grey zone, using its anti-lock brakes to get in deep on the picks, extract all the grip from the hard-com pound Pirelli slicks and keep the momentum going in a car

and Supercup aces Patrick

Porsche

$1 million

has

to successful

Supercup stars this year. The ambitious young front runners are also hoping a

good show on a GP program could get them a shot at something really serious from Le Mans to FI testing.

Indy

regular

3000 and sports car speed and success.

There are plenty of rea sons for racing in the Supercup class, apart from a guest drive offer from Porsche Cars Australia at the AGP weekend.

Jarier does it for fun, even

Huisman, Half Kelleners and

though he’s paunchy and

Oliver Mathai.

past it; Ortelli does it as part of a pro

“I thought I was nowhere, but a few of them must have

gram

keep him sharp for

at the Australian

which gets through gears

Grand Prix meeting - and check the backgrounds of the Porsche punters - to know

and luckier than crash vic

that it was much more seri

surprisingly quickly. A handful of laps is never enough, but just enough for this Winton guest driver to

Porsche’s Le Mans comeback

tim Murphy and Richards or Pirelli partner Rod Wilson, who didn’t get much chance

and former British F3

ous than the Ferrari fang

learn

to shine.

champion

You only had to watch the

a little

about the

and the Lamborghini lash-

Supercar

challenge.

Then again, plenty of oth

out at the two earlier Albert Park events. It was wild as well as Winton on the weekend

showed the cars are fast and

ers have had a crack at the

challenging, but raceable and tough enough to take all

Supercup and come away with nothing. Porsche had

2000;

Oliver Gavin does it because he’s sick of

kinds of abuse.

invited guest stars to 54 races before the AGP but

leading every FI

two dozen Porsche players

It’s an important part of the success of the Supercup,

race as the

which is into its seventh sea

only four were won by blow-

got to know their new 911

ins - and two of those victo

racers and tuned up for the start of a competition that’s a big thing in Europe. It was the biggest thing at Winton since world champi

son and will roll through 10 races this year as the only regular production-based race series on the FI support

pace

ries were scored by world champion Mika Hakkinen in the days before he cracked

driver without

the

act.

McLaren ride.

on James Hunt was lured from London for the Rose

They opened up at the

before the GP shoot-out, as

City 10,000 in the 1970s, with everything from a Le Mans winner to the GP pace car driver out in action.

It also meant a rare chance to see - from the

car

AGP, where three-wide rac

So the Supercup isn’t an

competing. Porsche says there’s no such thing as a free ride in the Supercup, but It does

easy business and the cars

ing and banged-up bodies

take plenty of learning and work. That’s why Huisman

occasionally ‘place’ a promis

were common and even three

of Australia’s best guest dri vers - Jim Richards, Wayne Gardner and Greg Murphy couldn’t climb to the top step

combination

for

has been a back-to-back

champion and previous title holder Emmanuel Collard is well known for his Formula

Supercup circus now heads back to Europe for the rest of what loo

taken each other out,” a laughing Gardner said on the way to the victory rostrum. He was right, of course,

action

Twenty three thousand, six hundred and eighty six: That’s wha

ing youngster or a driver it

needs to keep. ’That’s why 21year-old Marc Basseng is in the field, learning what he needs to become a 21st cen

tury star for the German

going 911s from a distance,

company.

Aussie Warren Luff also

but get up close and they’re

had a look at the Supercup

purpose-built racers. “Around 70 per cent of the parts are from the normal series production. The rest,

and was at Winton to see some friends from his

Nurburgring runs over the past two years, but says it’s way out of his league.

“A season in Supercup costs $800,000,” he said sim ply, watching the 911s blast past him in the Winton pit lane. “That’s way too much

This years cars take the late 996 bodyshell, with an integral rollcage, and add a

for me.”

water-cooled 3.6-litre boxer

That’s the price for a pay ing driver, but when you’ve

six based on the GTl engine.

got people like ex-DTM stars Alfred Heger and Roland Asch, as well as a bloke

revving to 7800 rpm with a

says Supercup manager Uwe Brettel.

It’s a short stroke motor

dry sump and catalytic con

Persson

verters. The gearbox is the six-speed from Porsche’s GT2 Le Mans car, the brakes are

Mercedes CLK-GTR against Mark Webber last year - it’s

drilled 330 mm discs with

called Bernd Maylander who

drove

a serious, professional busi ness.

massive vented and cross-

race-tweaked ABS, and the suspension gets uni-joints with adjustable roll bars and

Porsche turned up at Winton with 26 racing cars and 40 tonnes of freight, including everything from four tonnes of spares - for sale from the factoiy shop to wheel alignment rigs and

equal. Then it’s up to the teams and the drivers,” says

rattle guns.

Brettel.

height-adjustable spring and damper units.

“Our biggest challenge is to ensure all the cars are

But the teams still face a

It’s a combination that

$250,000 bill for each of their cars, which they can cus tomise slightly - with Pi dashes and things - but still

allows teams to only adjust the suspension settings with

have to take with the same

single-spec engine, springs

’L21 From Spa-Francochamps to Winton: After a shakedown session at Winton - which took four days! - the field was ready to have their first run in Australia at Albert Park. And, of course, Paul Cover got a drive ... (Photosby nsh Hammond)

like the engine and the gear box are special for racing.”

and dampers as the rest of their rivals.

The cars don’t looking much different from road-

out changing the units, and they can also fiddle with the rear wing setting on the body kit copied from the GT3.

'The cars each weigh 1140 kilograms and run 245 x 648 front tyres and 305 x 645 rears on 18-inch alloys, have

26 March 1999

Specifications: Porsche 911 Supercup Engine:

Bodywork:

- flat six cylinder boxer engine, four valves per cylinder

- 996 chassis

- 370 hp (272 kw) at 7200 rpm - max. torque 370 Nm at 6250 rpm

- plastic rear lid with adjustable wing - front spoiler, aerodynamically optimised - fibreglass doors, plastic rear

- max. rpm: 8000

window

- water-cooled

- welded-in roll cage - 4-kg fire extinguisher

- 3600 cc stroke 75.4 mm, bore 100 mm

- dry sump lubrication - two-stage resonance intake man - -ar-

ifold, one central inlet air duct I

- racing exhaust system with lambda sensor-controlled catalytic con verters

- fuel quality: 98 octane RON unleaded Power Train:

- six-speed manual gearbox - rear wheel drive

- single mass flywheel with racing clutch

- limited slip differential 40/65%

MSI-

■■■■

■

That’s powerful stuff: The water-cooled 3.6 litre flat six packs enough wallop to impress the most determined driver. The stopping power is just as impressive: brakes (above left) are straight off the GT2 endurance racer while the interior (below) is designed to make the driver comfortable, but not much more, at 260kmh plus.

strain as you might expect or fear.

an unsuccessful late braking

more like a very, very fast

move.

round car with a touch of V8

Richards was quick and drew a string of inquiring

moves, while Gardner gave up a day with his Coke

Supercar to the comer to cor ner speeds. “Now it is your turn but, please, not so fast as Marc. That was just to show you how the car operates,” said

The Supercup car is a wellbalanced package with great brakes, plenty of power but a linear delivery and suspen sion with great grip and no nasty weight transfers side-

Commodore to torture tyres and learn about Supercup

left-side steering wheel.

now,’ he said intently after his second session. “You hammer in with the ABS

engine it was time for a cou ple of laps of Supercup

going, turn in and get it out as quick as you can. “Yeah, yeah, I think I’ve got it now.” Marc Basseng didn’t need to learn nearly as much, just adjust to the extra power and slightly upgraded car,

action.

because he knows about

Europe, and didn’t hit the

A handful of laps went by far too fast, but with only one

much work this time.

ally, abused without worries. And it felt, most importantly,

Winton layout. The most impressive thing was the brakes - even with

he also knew how to get

for more action.

for the crash crews too, not with wrecks but dragging

anyway.

Even so, the Supercup

went to work on their new

There was plenty of work

calling out the tow truck,

meant no relief from the Winton heat and little real

Porsche felt like a car which

out triggering the ABS - but

combinations.

spex side windows which

digital lap time readout, although it wouldn’t get

down,

cars, new drivers and new

find the limit. Not without

and switches. And a small

cleaned out and re-prepared

dusted

no chance of a big lunge to

The cars all came with per

he was at Eastern Creek in a

the Supercup crews as they

Porsches

also admitted, so there was

Wynn’s Commodore so it didn’t really matter.

ment around the familiar

It was a frantic time for

The only worry was find ing second, which Murphy

road-going 911 instruments

but surprisingly comfortable as Besseng went to work, warming the tyres carefully for the first lap and then putting on an impressive dis play of balance and commit

The cars were only fin ished a couple of weeks before their AGP outing, in time for the teams to apply their sponsors’ wet paint before their long trip from

the cabin.

turns on the extension.

Actually, it was Greg Murphy’s silver streak but

The car was hot and loud

stripped-bare cabin.

ing the 962 that won the 24 hours of Daytona, started on the key and idled smoothly and evenly. No sign of 370 horsepower except for the hollow drum reverb through

as a V8 Supercar, but a long way down the track from a rocky-roily GTP car. Especially over the bump into the Winton squiggle beyond the pits, as it would take plenty of brake without getting nasty. It also stopped brilliantly far better than a four-lap newcomer - after the big sweeper and for the tight

car.

and full-face helmet as we

out at Winton.

The car, like every racing Porsche I’ve driven, includ

to-side or front-to-rear. It didn’t feel as race-tuned

sensation of speed. The clutch was light, no chance of stalling, with a comforting synchro six speed

strapped into Porsche’s spare

standard instruments in a

Brettel as I slid in behind the With some extra slack in the belts and a reminder of the 7800 hard cut on the

“OK, so we go now, just a couple of laps to show you the car,” he mumbled through his nomex face mask

over-eager drivers back to the pits to have their

Weight: -1140 kilograms

car felt far like a 911 and

feeder series.

track until they were rolled

305/645/18” rear

sharply, but otherwise the

Supercup and Porsche from two years in the German

Recaro racing buckets and

- dual springs - spring and damper units height adjustable: gas pressure dampers - three piece light alloy wheels 18” with magnesium centre piece and central locking system - front roll bar, adjustable in 5 positions; rear - 3 positions - Pirelli slick tyres D6

911s spun off the blacktop

Porsches. “I think I’ve cracked it

'^RSTEINER

- McPherson struts front - multi-link rear axle

and fired into the dirt after

Germans to ask about the old Aussie with the fast

V--'

Suspension: - power steering

246/645/18” front; Pirelli slick

Brake System: - internally vented, cross-drilled brake discs (330 mm front & rear) - ABS, adjusted to race conditions

- 3-point air jacks

- sequential multi-point fuel injec tion

t you get when you multiply 911 by 26, as we did at Albert Park earlier this month. The Porsche (Photo by Marshall Cass) <s like being a competitive season.

- 64-litre fuel tank

and a face full of familiar

Anyone who has driven a quick 911 knows about tailtricky handling and the importance of finding a bal ance and working with the car instead of trying to force it. Sp the first lap was all about tasting the steering, warming the tyres, and row ing around the - surprisingly notchy, and indirect to sec

incredible grip from both

ond - shifter. Next time round the flat six was bark

mild moment - a tail slide on

turn-in, just like Basseng and not enough commitment to learn what the car would be like closer to the limit.

could be used and, occasion

like a car which would do the work as needed and let the

driver get on with the impor tant racing stuff without

having worry about taking too much out of it or compro

mising on commitment. It was the best 911 I’ve

driven, as well as the fastest so far, because it felt bullet

proof, composed and ready for anything. Which is just as well, con

ends of the car without ven

ing, the car was working

the Umit and most went over

turing into the pendulum

harder and each corner was

sidering the AGP action and

- and not just once. There were regular and impressive

world of Porsche tail slides.

a step closer to the Basseng position. It was simple, easy and not nearly as much of a

what

Everyone was looking for

dust storms as one of the

The back popped out once when he turned in a bit too

the

two-dozen

Supercup GT3s face for the rest of the ’99 season.

Ena

26 March 1999

D.d

The 1999 Shell

Championship Series starts off with a clean sheet

of paper at Eastern Creek. PHIL BRANAGAN . Mr.

previews the action.

■

1999 Shell Championship

I Series is being described as the start - and end - of an era.

No longer can a driver complain about their tyres and tell us poor, innocent and trusting journos that “mate, if I was on Dunyokestones, I’d have this thing won”. For the first time, control tyres will even the playing field in the most tightly-controlled multi-make, road race touring car category in the

tifi:

world.

No longer can a driver complain about not having the latest and greatest cars, since the 1999 cars seem about as fast a the 1998 (or, even, 1995) ones.

But they can continue to complain about traffic. A total of 46 have nomi nated for the first round of the series

at Eastern Creek next weekend, 32 of them

Professionals

and

Privateers.

,3^

Gone is the confusion ‘Level’ sys

tem which categorised drivers according to which tyres he could get for his car and which, at one stage, say four separate categories of car line up on the same grid.

The more things change; the more they stay the same. Everyone else may be on Bridgestones this year but so is Craig Lowndes. Trying to (Photo by Dirk Klynsmith) beat the Mobil-HRT team leader will be just as hard as it was in 1996 ... and 1998. i

The 10 things to watch out for in the Sheil Championship Series in 1. Qualifying positions

Supercar racing is a tightlyQualifying is always important; V8 use the same gearboxes, drive-

■ff

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Castro!

2. Less overtaking

U’l

always has been. Now, it’s going to be more vital than ever.

controlled formula. All the cars

Several factors will contribute to

lines, wheels and have similar

that importance. One of them is the new ban on tyre pressure bleed

weight, brakes and horsepower fig

valves which means that the first

Now they have the same tyres as well. Philosophically, that’s a good thing; having the one component which made the single biggest dif ference to a car’s lap time ‘free’

‘out’ laps of the 14 minute session will be more difficult as the tyres come up to temperature.

These are also the laps on which a new tyre is traditionally at its quickest. The driver who comes to term with it the best will be a big winner.

Conditions will be similar to what we have seen before. After

Could this be a preview: Russell Ingall starts the year without his usual Albert Park whitewash to keep his openents on their toes, but the silver Castrol SLX Commodore VT will still be a Contender.

Can I buy a vowel: Steven Ellery may have made the Eastern Creek Practice day vyith no ‘E’ on the car but his Albert Park performances have made sure that everyone will be watching the youngster.fPhoios by oirk Kiynsmiih)

running in separate “Pro’ and ‘Priv’ practice sessions the field will be split into groups representing the faster and slower halves of the field

and they will get the usual 14 minute session to post a grid time, with a two minute gap between the sessions.

But, as before, the grids for the second and third races will be

based on the finishing order of the

ures.

stood out like a sore thumb in a

world where everything else was virtually the same. The off-shoot of having control tyres will be, while the cars are potentially closer than ever, there will be no more tyre degradation of, say, Yokohamas on a ‘Dunlop’ circuit. With all the cars having the same tyre speed overtaking will be harder than ever.

If you thought some of the races last season were processions albeit, close, fast processions - this season will have more of the same, only ‘worse’ or ‘better’, depending on your viewpoint.

preceding race, which means that there could be an outbreak of con servatism in Race 1. The size of the

3. First lap fun!

grids mean that working through from the rear wiU be much tougher than before, especially with all the cars on the same tyre, so scoring in

0 technical changes which has

the first race will be vital. A Race 1 DNF could mean a

ne of the less-talked-about

come in for the ’99 season is the

exclusion of tyre bleed valves, which were previously used by some teams to ensure that the dif

Championship contender goes home vrith less than 10 points for

ference in tyre pressure between cold and hot tyres was kept to a

the weekend, and that would be a

minimum.

disaster.

A bad grid spot will sentence any driver to a weekend of misery, because with the lack of discrepancy in tyre performance, there will be ...

But, with the valves not being used this season, some drivers will have adapt to running on under

pressured rubber on the first lap of the races.

26 March 1999

Crown

The Blue Max: Seton showed speed in the FTR Falcon AU at Albert Park and will be a factor in the series.

Battle scars: Dick Johnson’s final season started

badly at Albert Park but the Helix AU showed (Photos by Marshall Cass) plenty of spee6.

Can I get wings with those fries? Seton may have early-season problems but is still capable of winning races.

(Photo by Dirk Klynsmith)

rear-guard defensive battle for

Many of the front-line VSs and

the rest of the race. Then there are drivers in the field who have

ELs from last season have been

the ability to nurse their tyres

passed on to smaller teams and, together with the control tyre,

until the end which would be con

some drivers are finding them

siderable advantage. Sure, all this happened before but, with the ‘open slather’ tyre rule, if you were on the wrong

selves in front-line equipment for

Holden to Ford to Holden: For all those drivers who would like to see

tyre at the right track, you could

the back of Bathurst winner Steven Richards, here it is. (pnoio by oirk wynsmith)

have driven like Jim Clark and

This

will

have

two

main

was too cheap, according to Russell Ingall... that’s tongue-incheek, of course; the tyre bleed

effects; the drivers who have shown strong form on cold rubber before (like Craig Lowndes) could

valves were more effective on

increase their advantage, and some drivers in the pack could

other brands, like Bridgestones, than they were on Dunlops.

find the man in front of them

‘propping’ under brakes while their tyres aren’t quite up to

4. Tyre management

The effect of that could be some

Okay, the tyre advantage/dis advantage of previous years is

lap one carnage. Of course, not all teams used

gone. But that will not be the end of tyre-related issues in the races.

speed.

still been pummelled by someone on the right tyres. The first time Russell Ingall tested Bridgestone’s control tyre, he said they were so used up he could almost see through the cas ing, but they still felt consistent. Now we’ll find out who’s good at this and who’s not.

5. Who’s that in

second place?

the first time in their careers.

The results will be fascinating. At Albert Park, both of the Stone

Brothers Racing Falcon AUs had a good look at the rear of an SBR EL driven by Steve Ellery, who revelled in running with the big guys. Greg Crick has an identical car, and the Holden Young Lions’ cars were pretty handy when Lowndes and Skaife raced them last season.

Paul Romano is a proven con tender in his Commodore VS and newcomer Cameron McLean’s ex-

DJR Falcon EL is certainly no slug.

6. Beware of the ‘guest star’ drivers

Sometime the season there willduring be some ‘guest’ appearances to upset the delicate order of things.

Wayne Gardner is ruiming a lim ited program in the Coke/Donut King Commodore, now run by Larry Perkins’ team and, with suf ficient testing, there’s no reason to

presume that WG should not be near the pointy end of proceedings. Likewise, following MHRTs longheld policy of blooding its endurance co-drivers during the Shell Series, expect to see Cameron McConville during the year in a third Mobil Commodore or John

Faulkner’s second car, which Paul Dumbrell is also likely to race.

Never before in Australian tour

Anyone who has seen McConville

ing car racing have so many good

in the works Audi over the last two seasons would have few doubts

them. Even some of the front

Some drivers may choose to use

up their tyres at the start of

There’s interesting spin-offbeen froman all the new

cars been on the track at once. If

runners, like Castrol-Perkins, shunned them in the past. Larry

races, build a gap, then fight a

Commodore VTs and Falcon AUs.

thing.

for no other reason, that’s a good Continued on page 24

about his speed. He could easily end up on a podium. Jim Richards has already been confirmed as John Bowe’s co-dri

ver in the endurance races and,

while he may drive during the year, it’s more likely that Tim Leahey or Steve Renshaw may steer the Cat El once JB gets into there’s

behind him and it was little sur

prise when he jumped onto the Good Ship Caterpillar late in the year. Both guys now have the

Steven

Johnson. There’s no sign of him on the Eastern Creek SCS entry list, and the future of Racing for Life is not clear. Presumably he may have an outing in a third Shell car sometime during the

rubber, the cars and the motiva

tion to do the job this season. Speaking of motivation ....

8. Things are just Dandy in Dandenong

season.

Take the Bowe and Longhurst

7. Remember the

‘Forgotten Men’

factor and apply it to a whole team and you have Gibson Motorsport. It’s been a long road

emember the

first half of

back for the one-time dominant

So does Tony Longhurst. Remember the last

team in touring car racing, but now all the pieces are in place. One thing the team didn’t lack, even in the dark days of uncom petitive tyres and inexperienced

R 1998?

IE\®9®[FSIDCo)[fO

sport that two such competitive drivers could have two such vary ing half-seasons in one year. For the first half of‘98 we hardly saw Longhurst, until he got Level 1 Dunlops and started going like a blur, especially in qualifying. Bowe had the other trip; over the last half of the year he was clearly dragging the Shell car

Continued from page 23

the AU. And then

\AI

26 March 1999

half of 1998? So does John Bowe.

It says something about the quickly-changing nature of the

Mowing along: Queenslander Cameron McLean has swapped his (Photo by Marshall Cass) Super Touring BMW for an ex-DJR Falcon EL.

New look: Tony Longhurst will run his new Castrol AU Falcon for the first time at Eastern Creek,

k\r

drivers, was presentation and reliability, the hallmarks of a good team. Now, with new hard ware, control tyres and a $2m plus budget, Wynns Racing has a good shot at making a mark in

1999.

II"

(■●●J

(Photo by Dirk Klynsmith)

is?

But while the Farewell Dick

Tour will be in full swing, it would seem pretty presumptuous to think that #17 will be on the

front row of the grid in any of the races this year. On the other hand, even with

And, if we’re talking motiva tion, just look at the team’s dri vers, Steven Richards and Greg Murphy. Wouldn’t Murf love to put one over on HRT, do ya

did enough at the AGP supports to convince anyone who still needed convincing that he can cut

think?...

it with the local heroes in the

9. Bye bye Dick, hello Paul

Itthathasthis beenwillwidely be thepublicised final sea¬ son in the long and successful career of Dick Johnson. It will be

a great send-off for the Queensland legend, which is real ly the point of the whole exercise.

minimal time behind the wheel of the other Shell car Paul Radisich

V8s. The relocated kiwi is clearly quick and it will be fascinating to see how he adapts to the bigger cars and grids down under. It will be especially fascinating to see how Radisich - known as

one of the most aggressive over taking drivers in the business will go if he has Bowe - one of the hardest to pass - in front of him on the track ...

Ford is 30 . -IN this, the 3Dth year of the FormulaFord Championship in Australia, it seems quite appropriate that ‘ownership’ of the'series has now fully passed to Mike Borland’s Australian-built

Spectrum chassis.

On'paper Van Diemen’s long-held domination is apparently a thing of the past, with around 15 Spectrums expect ed on the grid at each.meeting, many of

which will be wheeled by strong series . challengers;

●

come from fellow Victorian Greg Ritter ● and the French-built Mygale chassis. Ritter drove the ex-Derek Hayes Mygale, which finished second in last year’s British FF championship, at the GP, impressing not only himself with its potential, but also many observers after a stirring second race result, Ritter hav ing charged from the back of field to fin ish fifth.

Still, despite all the pundits saying that they may be finished as front run

● Series favouritism is being cast upon recent GP Alan Jones Trbphy winner

field can’t be discounted as Murchison,

Victorian Steve Owen.

Arron McNally, Kerry Wade and Wynn’s-

● Owen, wheeling the George Stockman-owned Spectrum 07, run by Neil McAuley, led the qualifying sheets

ners, the leading Van Diemens in the

recent Grand Prix.

While saying that he’d love to take

race, although a clash with champi onship rival Christian Murchison while leading in the second race ended any chances of a clean sweep. ■ , - Ashley Seward and Owen Kelly, both driving Spectrums being fun out of Borland’s own shop, are also expected to be strong challenges for the title, while the Christian Jory customer Spectrum will also figure in the results, Jory having finished second in the sec

another crown as car builder, Borland

One of the toughest challenges to Owen’s and the Spectrum’s favouritism, though - if the funding for a full series assault can be found - is expected to

backed Alex Davison, all who drive the class’ benchmark brand showed at the

at the GP and then dominated the first-

ond GP race.

These are the Good OF Days: Thirty years of development has changed the look of Formula Ford cars. In 1969 Richard Knight’s Elfin 600 won the title but the modem FF. like Aaron McNally’s Van Diemen (below) is a much different-looking and efficient (and faster) animal. ii>hwi>hy.\iar^haiK-a-i

I s-

himself sees that the key to this year’s championship, though, will be in each drivers’ ability to actually finish each race

“The series is panning out a little dif ferent to last year and being able to fin

ish a race with the championship in mind, as Adam [Macrow] did last year is what will be the difference at the end of

the year,” Borland said last week.

“There are some extremely flamboy ant and tough racers in this year’s series so, whatever happens, it should be a year to watch." -GERALD McDORNAN

I.:

► ,1

A f

26 March W99

Shell Championship Series entries PROFESSIONALS No

1 2 4 5 6 7

10 11 12 15

16 17 18 19 22 24

28 30 31 32 34 35

43 46 70 75 80 96

Team

Driver

Car

Mobil Holden Racing Team Mobil Holden Racing Team Pirtek Racing Ford Tickford Racing Ford Tickford Racing Wynn’s Racing Castrol Perkins Racing Mitre 10 Racing Castrol Perkins Racing Wynn’s Racing Noske RacingA'oung Lions Castrol Perkins Racing Shell Helix Racing Shell Helix Racing Coca Cola Racing Colourscan Motorsport Seimens Mobile Motorsport Castrol Longhurst Ford Bob Forbes Corporation

Craig Lowndes

Holden VT Holden VT Ford AU

Ericsson

Steve Ellery Racing Plaspak Racing Team Team Valvoline/Cummins Team Valvoline/Cummins

Mark Skaife

Jason Bright Glenn Seton

Neil Crompton Steven Richards

Russell Ingall Mark Larkham

Larry Perkins Greg Murphy Todd Kelly Dugal McDougall Dick Johnson Paul Radisich

Wayne Gardner Danny Osborne Paul Romano

Tony Longhurst Rodney Forbes Greg Crick Steven Ellery Tomas Mezera Garth Tander

Jason Bargwanna K & J Thermal Products Racing Paul Weel Cummins/TBA (Betta Electrical?) John Faulker SuperCheap Auto John Briggs Anthony T raft Toll Racing Bob Thorn SuperCheap Auto Paul Dumbrell/ John Faulkner Racing

99 Noske Racing/Young Lions 600 CAT Racing

Cam McConville Mark Noske John Bowe

Ford AU Ford AU Holden VT Holden VT Ford AU Holden VT Holden VT

Holden VS Holden VS Ford AU Ford AU Holden VT

Ford EL Holden VS Ford AU

Holden VS Ford EL Ford EL

Holden VT Holden VT Holden VT Ford AU Holden VT Ford AU Ford AU Ford AU Holden VT Holden VS Ford EL/AU

Team

Driver

Car

3 26 27

Lansvale Smash Repairs Team Gatorade Racing Terry Finnigan Racing Pro-Duct Motorsport The Xerox Shop Challenge Motorsport Greenfield Mowers Racing UltraTune Racing

T revor Ashby

Holden VS Holden VS Holden VS Holden VS Holden VS Holden VS Ford EL Holden VS Ford EL Holden VS Ford EL Holden VS Holden VR Ford EL

33 37 39 40 50

Metro Central

John Cotter

Chris Smerdon Cameron McLean Mick Donaher

51 52 54 55 77

Barry Morcom Racing I

Charles Ryman Barry Morcom

Simon’s Earthworks

Simon Emerzidis

AutoPro/Budwejser Motorsport Richard Mork Racing

Richard Mork

Cadillac Productions

Mike Conway

10. Could 13 be a lucky number? - either during a race course of a full seaStrategy the or over

Rod Nash

The GT Production Championship jumps onto the Shell Series program this yea,r giving a bigger audience to some of the best racing in the country. Phil BRANAGAN previews the action. THE

Australian

Production Championship is shaping up as the Porsche ver sus Ferrari battle we have

seen in past years - with a few new wrinkles thrown in. While Domenic Beninca’s title

defence will lead the way for Porsche against the 355 Challenge of Darren Palmer, it’s the newer cars which add spice to the mix. There will be Dodge Vipers for Gary Waldon and rally ace Neal Bates to hurl around, a twin-turbo Toyota Supra for Jamie Cartwright and the fast Lotus Esprit Sport 300 for Paul Stokell.

But perhaps the two most inter esting cars have badges that are not so familiar to many spectators. Ian Palmer

Don’t call him Mad Dog: Geoff Morgan slides into the ex-McConville Porsche RSCS, and will drive with the former champ in the enduros.

will race a TVR

for American Ford nuts, Steve

Chimera, a 1990s version of the

Saleen has been in the Ford perfor mance enhancing business for

classic British sportscar with a big V8 engine jammed under the bon net. The car combines excellent

handling with considerable thump, courtesy of a 5-litre Rover-based engine. In almost every sense the Chimera represents the reincarna tion of the Shelby Cobra, which which was inserted, initially, a 289ci Ford motor and, eventually,

Terry Finnigan Allan McCarthy Scotty Taylor

A Prime Time Production

was based on an AC Ace into

PRIVATEERS

more than a decade and counts

among his clients ‘Home Improvement’ TV star Tim Allen,

the two actually co-owning a racing team.

Craig Dean is also a fan of Saleen’s work. The Melbourne car

importer sources vehicles from all over the world and, after a season cutting his road-racing teeth in a

a 427.

Toyota Soarer turbo, is stepping into the bi league this season.

Perhaps even less recognisable in this country is the name Saleen. A kind of Holden Special Vehicles

Dean has acquired a Saleen Mustang which features a 35lei supercharged V8. Despite the fact

Bathurst counted towards the dri

any successful team’s operations. The good teams usually have not only their own moves covered, but everyone else’s. So there will hardly been a team manager in pit lane who by now does not realise that the change in series layout, from 10 Shell sprint plus a bunch of non-championship

vers’ title as they will this year. Rusty would have won the crown. The previous year he would have scraped in too. And if Albert Park counted both years, the Enforcer

do about it?

don’t like standard models or com mon cars like the Porsche

911RSCS. That’s why I was attracted to the Saleen Mustang.” Joining Beninca in the Porsche ranks will be the ‘usual suspects’, Peter I^tzgerald, Jim Richards and Ed Aitken, while Porsche Cup ace Geoff Morgan will also have a shot at the title in his 911RSCS. Terry Bosnjak, who qualified his Mazda RX7SP on the front row for the

Bathurst 3-Hour last season, is also back to fly the flag for Japan. In the other classes the Class B

Subaru flotilla - Geoff Full, Peter

Boylan, Dwayne Bewley, Dean Canto and Grant Kenny - will be challenged by two Lancers (Mark King and John Trimbole) and, for Elstrek.

Defending ‘family car’ Champ David Ratcliff has moved the

preparation of his Carary to Chris and Nick Kousparis and will fend off Commodores (Peter Phelan, Denis Cribbin and Mark Cohen)

and a Falcon (Ryan McLeod). In Class E three Suzuki GTis

face Darren Best’s Hyundai, while Class S for sportscars will see a new Mazda MX5 for Megan Kirkham to do battle with three

would have waltzed it in.

So now everyone knows it. The question is; what are they going to

that the pony car carries a lot of weight Dean expects it to be a com petitive proposition among the European thoroughbreds. “I like specialist cars,” he said. “I

the first time, Mazda RX7s (not SPs) for Bob Hughes and Paula

enduros to all 13 races counting (some with double points) will, on paper, play right into the hands of one R. Ingall. Last season, had Sandown and

son - is one of the cornerstone’s of

My heart will go on... and on: Craig Dean’s new supercharged 351 Saleen Mustand packs more punch than the Titanic. (Photo by ceraWMcooman)

Toyota MR2s and BMWs for Michael Simpson and Wayne Russell.

Welding the impossible The poor man’ TIG An oxy-acetylene welding torch that was invented by an lussie but made In America, Is enjoying amazing success in Australia and had changed the rules of welding. The "Henrob 2000" Welder imported by Barry and Lyn

McGough of American Welding Distributors has attracted interest from all states, especially welders of difficult materials such as aluminium, chrome moly, stainless steel, cast iron etc i “The secret is the narrow concentrated heat pattern, low

Demonstration video availabie

for $15 plus $5p&h (refundable if returned within 30 days).

thrown away. The Henrob Just welded it together with no ‘ sign of collapse. No way could even an expensive TIG have done All that is required is a standard oxy plant (the torch just replaces the conventional hand piece and you are able to upgrade to TIG strength and quality welds).

The torch has a huge range (welds from an aluminium beer can up to half an inch thick steel cuts one inch thick steel) and can work

I flame velocity and a virtually oxygen-free environment around

even in the wind.

package and has a 2 year guarantee.

savings." Darren Bowker of Wilka Automotive in Tullamarine Victoria is amazed at what his Torch can do. “We had a Kawasaki motorbike engine casing that was

cracked. As it is about 95 per cent magnesium, it normally cannot be repaired and is

■ -t

this job.”

■ the weld area (similar to the inert gas shield around a MIG B or TIG Welder). Barry said: “This prevents the molten weld

" puddle from blowing out and gives gas consumption

Henrob 2000 Welding Systems comes complete in one portable n

PO Box 351 Beauty Point Tasmania 7270 Phone 03 6383 4066Pax 03 6383 4067Mobile 0419 373 598

I-

- '-t

Ford Falcon nu U8 Superc

lKl®o®[?0rp®[FO

26Mdrchl999

He’s won another two Australian

Superbike titles and now the Marty Craggill Show is heading to the UK. Craggili told TONY GLYNN about ' life at Suzuki, the Poms and taking on the world. MARTY Craggill is finally on his way, the affable multiAustralian champion having paid his dues and been reward ed with an entry ticket into mainstream Superbike racing in the Em-opean theatre. Determined not to be left waiting in the wings for yet another season, a more street-wise Craggill has at last been able to capitalise upon his notable local successes and secure a berth with Suzuki Great Britain’s

racing arm, thus opening the door to the immensely capable hardcharger’s holy grail, the World Superbike Championship. “The opportunity to ride in

England came up as a result of my efforts to get a World Superbike ride with Suzuki,” said Craggill. “I have a good relationship with the All Star Group, which cam paigns Chili and Fujiwara in the World Superbike Championship and they thought they would be able to offer me a irde in 2000.

“In the meantime, they got me the irde in England with Crescent Racing, which looks after Suzuki

GB’s racing interests.” His result at the Suzuka EightHour in Japan late last year helped Craggill gain an enormous amount of credibility, Craggill and Damon Buckmaster coming home fifth after Cragill was drafted into the I4awasaki team at the last minute. “I was asked to be the reserve

rider again for 1998 and said no, so they asked Damon, who said yes,” recalled Craggill.

“But the week before the EightHour, we were racing at Darwin in the 'Two-plus-Four with the Touring Cars and, on the Monday after that event, Peter Doyle [Team Kawasaki

Australia principal] came into my room and told me I was going to Japan for the Eight-Hour to irde a factoiy bike because one of the ird ers had fallen off and hurt himself.

tory endurance-spec Kawasaki ZXR750 irde with the more physi cally compatibile Buckmaster. “Now, this turned out to be a piv otal event,” said Craggill. “Racing in Australia the year before. I’d won everything and taken out both local Superbike championships, but that fact wasn’t opening any doors. “You see, while Australians in the

past have generally rated as terrific riders, there’s a perception these days that not everyone coming out of Australia is automatically bril liant, due to the number of duds

that have surfaced recently and the poor results they’ve produced. “The problem for me, therefore, was that I couldn’t say that I’d beat en any of the big names overseas, which was the big stumbling block that I had to come to terms with at the end of 1997.

“So, even though I’d won both Superbike titles again last year,” Craggill elaborated, “I believe that it was the Eight-Hour result that changed things for me a little bit, as my qualifying and lap times in that race were very carefully scrutinised, I can tell you. “On the Friday before the race, I was fourth fastest, but I made a

huge mistake during the next day’s Super Pole one flying lap session and ended up tenth - but even from that, they figured out that I wasn’t a dud.

“From that point on, I was chas ing anyone and everyone for a World Superbike irde this year - I wanted to stay with Kawasaki, but there’s something wrong there and

they never responded at all; they

which is why I rode the Italian team’s ’97-spec 250 GP bike at

Phillip Island late last year at the

practice the next day - luckily, I

crashed and broke my hip didn’t actually help my cause - they must have thought I was an idiot!” he

pion found himself sharing the fac¬

saw me recommended to Suzuki

Great Britain and I think that, basi cally, that was all it needed to get something happening for me. “One phone call from someone like that changes everything and the deal was done - it wasn’t a case

of having to prove anything at all. “And it’s worked out veiy well, as one of the Suzuki mechanics at Paul

Denning’s Crescent Racing had left and that meant that my Kawasaki mechanic, Dave Marton, was able to get a job as well to look after my bike.” During his 1999 tour of duty over seas, Craggill will be campaigning an updated ’99-spec ex-Harris Suzuki GSXR750 machine used by Peter Goddard, the 1997 World Endurance Champion, which was taken over by Crescent Racing after Harris lost the Suzuki GB contract.

Last December saw Craggill Europe-bound for the team launch

and shortly afterwards putting in his first laps on the Team Sony Suzuki at the Paul Ricard circuit in France.

“We didn’t actually get to do too much, as it was so foggy, but one day was pretty good and we got a few hours in,” said Craggill. ‘The Suzuki ran a ’98-spec motor and was very similar to the Kawasaki, but with a ’99-spec motor I’m sure it will be even better.

“The emphasis on development with these bikes is to make them smoother and easier to ride and

commitment to fuel injection this year with the World Superbike

Superbike, but the fact that I

MacPherson, the Australian cham

“Anyway, my relationship with the Belgian-based All Star Group

“But I did get really good respons es from both Suzuki and Aprilia,

found that I had to be in Japan for

of size differences, the six foot-plus Craggill having initially been paired with five foot tall Englishman Ian

ferent.

we’ll also be using the new homolo gated fuel injection system for the

Australian Grand Prix.

After a bit of a mismatch in tei-rns

“That week had been going so well and I was up to speed with Harada and the rest - I was having a ball and I’m convinced that, if I hadn’t lost the rear-end and high sided at the Southern Loop, it would all have turned out completely dif

never did anything with Damon, or Mat Mladin, either, so I don’t know what the problem is, as you don’t get any answers to the questions.

“So, with no passport with me or gear for an overseas trip, as I was going to have a holiday in Darwin, I had a valid visa!”

Chasing new

“I got really close to riding their

mused.

“But, just for the record, I was

sixth fastest in practice and catching their world champion, Valentino Rossi, when it happened.

first time this season.

“Suzuki has made a pretty big Championship and its racing pro grams in America, Great Britain

and Germany. “The test bike was actually fuel injected, which was interesting, as I’ve only ever ridden carburetted bikes before and it was smoother

with its power delivery - and remember, when you’re racing these things, smoother is better,” he added. “The engine pulls well from 8000 to 14,000 rpm, but I think they’ll be trying to get that a bit lower, maybe to 7000 rpm - but you don’t really

Wot, no green? Craggill looks a little unfamiliar in Suzuki colours, but he’s happy with the switch. The British Superbike series starts next week, want to be down around 7-8000 too

much; from 11,000 to 14,000 rpm, though, it’s really nice.” Surprisingly, Craggill found the step up from the local Kawasaki to the Suzuki GB machine to be a

rather small one, as the power, torque and outright speed proved to be very similar. “I actually expected their bike to

be so much faster, but it didn’t hap pen, so I expect to be quite competi tive from the start of the season, particularly as we’ll be running Dunlop tyres, with a compound very

tion, I don’t know whether its the

bikes or the irders, but my initial impression from the first outing on their bike leads me to conclude that

the bike isn’t a problem. “Now, whether that’s different

when it comes to fifteen laps of flatout racing and it starts to move around, I really don’t know at this point, but I can’t see any reason why Suzuki hasn’t had any success. “The racing in Britain is consid

similar to what I’ve been used to

ered to be real cut and thrust and I

competing with,” he explained.

had no idea how big it is over there, the championship attracting more spectators and television viewers than the Touring Cars,” he added. “If I’d known that a couple of

“I’m also expecting to be doing development work, not only with Crescent Racing, but with the All Star team for the world champi onship as well - they want me to get involved vrith them and I want

to get involved anyway. “Hopefully, all that work will lead to something with the World Superbike Championship in the year 2000, but this year I’ll be

focusing on the British Superbike Championship, which is a 12round affair comprising two races per round, each of around 25 min utes duration.

“I’ll also do two rounds of the

World Championship, as they’ll be run in Britain and I’m also the reserve rider for the All Star team on

their 600 and 750 machines, so that

means I’m in with a chance, I guess.” Craggill will be based on England’s south coast in Bournmouth, about half an hour

away from Team Sony Suzuki’s Berwood headquarters, the British team

anticipating

that

the

Australian’s efforts during the gru elling superbike schedule should net a top three finish in the champi onship at season’s end. “In general, Suzuki

Is gun, will travel; Craggill spent last week in Spain, testing at Albacete. Yes fans, that IS a Suzuki.

(

championship for Suzuki anywhere in the world,” Craggill stated. “In terms of the British competi

hasn’t

achieved much success in Superbike and Grand Prix racing over the last five years, Peter Goddard being the

only one of note to have won a

years ago, I might have tried to get over there to race, but I never

thought of it as an avenue to the

World Superbike Championship. “I was pretty stupid, actually, as it does open doors and I regret the fact that I was so blinkered, as it’s now so hard to get into the world championship, where new blokes aren’t given a chance at all. “I went to a race in America last

year and spoke to a lot of riders about the problem and they find that it’s just the same as here they can’t get in. “So, having signed with the Suzuki GB operation, I’d like to think that I’ve turned the corner now m my career.

“I’ve been racing nationally in Australia for six years and taken all four Superbike titles on offer in the last two years, so I now want to put myself on the international map and gain some real credibility

by racing in England and Europe and for more than just one year. “Regardless of the hardships I might face trying to come to terms with unfamiliar tracks, I desperate ly needed a new challenge, though I don’t believe they come much

tougher than this.”

IZT71

DIM

26 March 1999

IXD

Challenges After five successive Worid 500cc Championships Mick Doohan wiii acquire a new title in 1999 - Dad.

MIKE KABLE spoke to Doohan about the year ahead. THIS is going to be a season with a difference for Mick Doohan!

First and foremost, the five-times

SOOcc world motorcycle champion will embrace fatherhood status dur

ing 1999. A baby is due in August for Doohan and his long-time part ner Sehna Sines. If all goes well, its arrival will be between two of the

European rounds, enabling Mick to be present at the birth in Monaco, where the couple live. If it’s not on schedule, well,

:i“h\ts;^S

respect of his prospects in the forth coming 17-round series, which gets under way at Malaysia’s new Sepang GP track on April 18. He made the point that Honda Racing Corp was not as prepared as

He predicts quicker lap times this year, primarily because of tyre

it could be, in so far as its 1999-spec NSR500 will not be ready for test

than they used to be.”

ing until a few days before the first

his new toy, slowly. Time is a con

development. “Over the years we haven’t made much progression in

outright lap times, but we have made the bikes more consistent

Finally, Doohan is learning to fly

race. The team’s thrust had been on its 250cc bikes.

stant problem and to date, he’s had only one theory examination. It’s a

“Well have only four days testing

“further down the track” project,

and a total track time of 12 hours with the new machine. It will be a

which he’ll probably achieve in his post-retirement phase.

on fatherhood:

the Cessna Citation II execu

tive jet aircraft he bought at the end of last year, with a professional pilot at the con trols.

He concedes, with the

biggest of grins, that the August event will be the start of a lifestyle change.

does change some

Waiting, waiting: Doohan and partner

people. But it hasn Y changed others, like

Selina Sines await the arrival of a new member

Michael Schumacher.

“But as far as my racing is con

cerned, there’ll be no change,” Doohan insists. “I’m 100 per cent focused on that, because the safest I

can be is by giving 100 per cent. If I start to give 98 per cent, there’s a 2

per cent chance I’m going to crash.” At 33, the reigning king of the premier SOOcc category reckons the time is right to become a father. “I’m not getting any younger. Selina and I are both looking for ward to it. We’re not sure at the

moment whether it’s going to be a boy or a girl. “It’s fantaistic to be able to have a

child, hopefully a healthy child, but as far as what I’m doing it won’t make a difference. My attitude will

NSR500 GP bike.

machines per race.

“Perhaps we will end up with one of each. All the teams are looking

strong. Last year, the Yamaha was probably the best motorcycle out there and it’s going to be a stronger competitor this year. Suzuki have gone away from just having Japanese riders and they seem to be going well with Kenny Roberts Jnr. “But I don’t think we’re going to

be out of the ballpark, because of the experience we have as a team and myself as a rider. We can keep our bike consistently at, or near the front.”

Doohan is relaxed about the

“It does change some people. But it hasn’t changed others, like

son tests, in which Roberts Jnr

emerged fastest at Phillip Island

Michael Schumacher.” The Doohan trio’s first Australian

and HRCs Nobuhiko Okada was

appearance should be just prior to the championship’s Australian

where Doohan was sixth on the list.

occupied a large slice of his tradi tional pre-season press conference, the champ still had a lot to say in

difficult call between the ’98 and ’99

results so far of the various pre-sea-

While questions and answers about Doohan’s impending family

of the family in August. Meanwhile Mick has work to do on Honda’s ’99

bikes, as we’re only allowed two

still be the same.

Grand Prix round at PhilMp Island.

quickest at Sepang in a session “It never really means a lot until we’re all there together in the first race. Some people read too much into testing. A hot lap doesn’t win any races. Testing is about being consistent. We try to achieve the best set-up for what we need.”

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26 March 1999

Pro Stock winner: Joi

JXA

Dysomax |^be.-

(Marahall Cass pic)|

CSr- computer EHGIME OESK»

Report by

33rd

Trailers fueller, copped much

start.

of the blast and was later to

Most other showers were

GREG WARD

THE

before the program was to

very light and there were surprisingly few oil downs, which contributed greatly to smooth running of the event. Competitor numbers weredown on last year’s event, but almost 400 vehicles pit

Australian

Drag Racing Nationals at Calder Park on March 18-

20 produced a mixture of record-shattering perfor

find that his helmet was pit ted by fragments from the explosion - and his wing struts has some major dings, courtesy of chunks of blower casing hitting them. What a way to open your Top Fuel career!

ted within Calder Park on

the weekend and it is pleas ing to report that there were nomajor racing ‘incidents, despite the huge number of passes made over the week

mances, dramatic action, a touch of controversy and some stunning upsets -

all witnessed by a crowd that definitely got it’s money’s worth.

end.

On several occasions the

loses by blown sedans during burnouts, perhaps the scari est moment came in Top Fuel when Steve Read deto

nated a blower nearing the traps in the first round of Top Fuel. His opponent, Andrew

show to stick to schedule.

Saturday’s eliminations were a bit late getting under way, after the weekend’s heaviest showers struck just

wheelstand

Cowan, making just his first pass in competition in Top Fuel aboard the Motorsport

late

Friday afternoon almost saw Darren DiFilippo become the first victim of a Top Fuel blowover in this country, the Redback

Apart from one or two

weather looked set to disrupt a great weekend’s action but - apart from one or two mod erate interruptions - it was cooperative and allowed the

In other incidents, a spec tacular

Performance

Exhausts rail soaring sky wards until Darren got out of it and it came crashing back to the tarmac.

It bent up the front-end and split the fuel tank, but the car was otherwise OK.

Victor Bray was also the unwilling feature of an inciden in his loss to the surpris ing Dave Simpson in the first round of Top Doorslammer

Numero Uno: Crowd favourite Romeo Capitanio

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Battered ’n bruised: It just wasn’t cult hero Victor Bray’s Nationals. (Sean Hensheiwood pic)

IMo)0®[7SIV(o)[FO

26 March 1999

We have lift-off: An awkward Top Fuel moment for Darren DiFilippo, whose landing was more than a little bumpy. (Marshall Cass pic)

-1

! 4"

Nationals and Wintemationals.

Modified racer Anthony Selva won the first one at the

Nationals with a perfect .400 light - one of five recorded by racers during the event.

rier for the first time in this coun-

tiy.

It could have been a very strong

pass apart from that problem on the top-end and it would end up proving to be the team’s best pass for the weekend.

The DiFilippo team was probably favoured to be the one to push back the barrier, but they too were hin dered along the way. After their wheelstand, a broken

blower belt and a major clutch problem, the team went back to get

ting the car down the track for eliminations rather than chasing

the speed and finished up making it through to the final. Rachelle Splatt also put herself forward to smash the 300 mph mark in the final session of qualify ing when she unleashed a terrific 4.88 at almost 289 mph, despite

getting off the throttle before the finish line.

The

warmer

conditions

Saturday and the pressure of get ting through eliminations rather than chasing history may have been factors and the Valvoline team

didn’t improve upon that speed, going down to Romeo Capitanio in the semis after fireballing a motor on the top-end. Capitanio was the last one to put

his hand up for the money and the team ended up collecting Top Speed honours with a 291.82 mph blast in the first round against the resur

gent Jim Read. Crew chief John Capitanio felt that they had more than enough power to go 300, but just weren’t

getting the momentum they needed early in the run as the half-track speed was down. A brave adjustment to the clutch was made that would make the car

come alive and, while the speed

didn’t pick up, the ET did. Capitanio improved to the only four of eliminations in the final with a 4.96/288.00 that covered an

ailing DiFilippo for one of the fuel veteran’s best career victories.

Many of the brackets were sim ply brilliant entertainment. 'Two which spring readily to mind were Pro Stock and Top Doorslammer, which featured very

tight fields and awfully tough bump spots, as well as unpredictable results in each round of racing. The cool and overcast conditions

encountered in qualifying were almost made to order for the nor

mally aspirated Pro Stock brigade

■ Auto Meter Competition Instruments is awarding com petitors a 6861-model Playback tion time during eliminations at each remaining ANDRA series round this season, including the

All the hype in the lead up to this year’s “Big Go" was focused upon the Top Fuel brigade and the quest to break through the 300 mph bar

ket near 1000 ft.

By Gerald Me Dor,

Tachometer with the best reac

wards.

With Bob Jane offering up a $100,000 reward, many of the teams were very interested in tweaking their tune-ups to go after the mark and, when the conditions in Thursday and Friday’s qualify ing sessions proved to be ideal, they gave it their best shot. ‘Pommie Steve’ Read, driving Santo Rapisarda’s rail, came right into contention after Thursday’s lone session when he posted a tough 4.88 at just 259 mph, cross ing the finish stripe towing a ball of flame after pushing out a head gas

when the big Castrol Chev went into more horrendous tyre shake just off the line. It sprung the driver’s door open and it banged about on the rest of the pass, hurting Bray’s right knee and wrist before it departed the car on the top-end. Bray needed some attention from the ambulance crews on the top end and had quite a headache after

■ Competitor numbers fell again at this year’s Nationals, with just 392 racers entering what was, just a couple of years ago, the biggest event of the year. Last year’s event fell below 400 competitors for the first time in four years, down to 399, while 520 racers entered last year’s

and they made themost of it.

Despite a small nine car field, the qualifying was exceptional and in the end every one of the cars was in the 7.80s or better.

Kym Petterwood was the unfor¬

Wintemationals at Willowbank.

tunate one when he missed the 7.86

Australia Pontiac, while Joe Polito

bump with a 7.88 from the Lifestyle

■ During Saturday’s first round of eliminations, Rachelle Splatt’s

led the field with a fine 7.74 from a

fueller carried the ashes of

surprising Jon Andriopoulos, who punted his Chev Lumina to a 7.77/174.28 (top speed of the meet)

respected crewmember Greg Heath for a last ride down the

quarter mile. Heath, 36, passed away just prior to last year’s Nationals.

for second.

Reputations counted for nothing during eliminations, either and it

■ A whopping 15 drums of VHT traction compound were allocated for this year’s Nationals, with four of the $1,500 drums being

took at least a 7.80 to win every

race on the Saturday, apart from one which was affected by parts breakage. When Joe Polito won over Craig

sprayed on the track prior to the event beginning. The track prep drew rave reviews from many of the racers, with traction being strong all the way through the finish line in

Hasted in an all-Ford final with a

7.83 downing a 7.87, he knew he had won a good one here, but it was Continued on next page

both lanes.

Before the storm: Pommie Steve

Read’s Top Fueller engine let go big time. (Sean Henshelwood pic)

■ How well did this Nationals

run? Well, not one bag of oil-sop-

Nationals up for grabs ANDRA puts out feelers for new home CALDER PARK RACEWAY is

tinuation of the Nationals at that

at risk of losing the Nationals following ANDRA’s decision to seek expressions of interest from venues in running drag racing’s most prestigious and, imtil last year, biggest annual

venue,” he said. The original three year contract, with a further three year option, ran out following the conclusion of the

event.

and Calder Park Raceway existed, with a first-draft three year agree ment drawn up by the sanctioning body not having been signed.

The sanctioning body are calling for potential promoters to notify them of their interest and, if a bet

ter scenario becomes available, the Australian

Drag

Racing

Championships will switch from its home for the last eight years to another venue as early as next year.

According to ANDRA Chief Executive Officer Tony Thornton,

1998 Nationals. No official contract to run last week’s Nationals between ANDRA

TTie failure to agree to a contract

between the two parties almost

continuity. One dilemma with seeking an alternative home for the Nationals,

the previous contract. “ANDRA is delighted the way the Nationals has developed over the

last eight years, due in no small part to the efforts of Calder Park,” 'Thornton said this week.

“We have a responsibility, though, to ensure that the sport and its con trol body is getting the best possible deal and it is appropriate that we explore all opportunities. “Having said that, we would cer tainly give priority to any

approach by Calder Park for a con-

though, is a current lack of suitable venues, although a number of pur

pose-built drag racing facilities are currently being proposed around the coumtry.

However, Sandown circuit racing

promoter Jon Davison is known to have approached ANDRA this week to seek documents relating to the

to remove both his Calder Park and

Adelaide tracks’ Street meetings from under ANDRA sanctioning.

icant increase in the sanctioning fee for the 1999 Nationals. The decision to award Calder

Park the rights to run the Nationals each year was taken just

prior to the ‘92 event, (the last time the Nationals were allocated

on a State-by-State rotational basis), with the announcement at that time drawing huge cheers from the crowd.

The Nationals grew quickly over the following years, with spectator,

sponsor and competitor numbers all improving each season. The ’98 Nationals saw the first

Veteran racer Jim Read has also

fall in racer numbers, coming in below 400 while this year’s event saw the numbers fall, marginally, again.

privately serious interest in

- GERALD McDORNAN

expression of interest and may bid for the Nationals (see separate story).

■ What well-known team owner

was seen ‘punching on’ with a crew member from another high

■ Speaking of punch-ons, what about the goings-ons in the pits, with a couple of rumbles reported in the Super Sedan pits as well

and Calder Park may have become strained following Jane’s decision

As a result of the perceived lack of

to the current situation following failure to reach agreement with

season.

though relations between ANDRA

support, ANDRA requested a signif

being overlooked in the interests of

what’s happened in the past. Only five bags were used in the braking area, leaving the track with plenty of supplies for next

profile team at the Centra hotel just the night before the begin ning of the Nationals?

ning last weekend’s event, with a suggestion to ANDRA’s National Control Council in mid-Februaiy to shelve the event for the year only

entire event - a far cry from

consortium currently proposing to build a new facility near Adelaide will also express an interest. From the outside, it appears as

ended Calder Park’s chances of run

the body is looking for alternatives Calder Park for the continuation of

obtaining the rights to run the event at his proposed track in Sydney while Motorsport News believes an as-yet unidentified

ping irce hull ash was used on the actual racing surface for the

as in the Junior Dragster pits. The JD drivers doing the ‘job

bing’ were believed to have been arguing over a girl! ■ Does Top Doorslammer racer

Peter Kapiris like chassis builder Murray Anderson or not? 'That was the question being asked after Kapiris gave Anderson a friendly bear-hug - a

hug that apparently fractured Anderson’s irbs, along with other damage.

After appearing at the track on the Friday, Anderson was not well enough to make an appear

ance on race day, staying home after being prescribed pain killers by doctors. ■ How bad was Victor Bray’s

bout of tyre shake in the first Continued on page 32

26 March 1999

Sixty Footers Continued from page 31

round of racing? Bray drove through the shake, but the car took such a

battering that the driver’s door became unlatched

and started flapping about madly - as it would at 215 mph. The door clouted Bray’s rollcage, his head, am, hand and leg, ambulance officers being needed to remove him from the car.

Bray’s hand was broken, but he was out the Calder

door Sunday heading for a match race in Townsville this weekend!

■ What does it cost to post $100,000 as an incentive for someone to break the

300 mph barrier first.

About $12,000 if it doesn’t actually happen and around $18,000 if it does. An insurance policy, much like having a wager on the horses, is taken on the chances of the barrier

actually being broken. Santo Rapisarda tried to also post the same for the Willowbank round at the

start of the month, but

was knocked back, as the underwriters of the policy thought the irsk with Calder Park alone was

The Nats

Continued from page 31

still not enough to stop Hasted from basically secur ing the Pro Stock Championship. Reputations also meant lit tle in Top Doorslammer, where perennial crowd favourite Bray was able to take little pleasure from his /

weekend’s efforts. The Castrol team

was

intent on calming the big Chev down enough so that it would keep glued to the track and avoid shaking the tyres, as it had done at it’s previous Calder outing. They looked to be on course after he led qualifying with a 6.46 going into the final session, but then Shane

Elcoate stepped up with an easing-off 6.41 at just 196 mph after a rear intake val¬ ley gasket let go on the topend.

Bray could ‘only’ counter with a spectacular wheelsup, tyre-shaking 6.56/218 that saw him lift early, then pull the front wheels way off the deck when he got back on the throttle.

The bump spot for Top Doorslammer was a tough 6.78, held by Peter Kapiris’ new Studebaker, but it may have been even tougher. Dave Koop was first alternate with his 6.80, which

enough for them.

saw a rod come out on the

■ Melbourne Pro Stock

racer Nick Moutsos picked up dramatically from his best-ever performances in the American Perfonnance

Imports Chev Z24, step ping up from a previous 8.14 best to a great 7.81, enough to qualify him in

.S’

top-end of what would have been a 6.5-second run if it

had held together. Bray was gone after the first round, victim of more horror tyre shake which was

Banana benders: Daytona Doorslammer of Peter Gratz (above) and Phillips Top Alcohol-winning team (below), burst panel on the top-end against Peter Gratz in the semis, it allowed the contro-

versial Dodge Daytona through to the final against the bucks-down Searle.

Andrew

Searle is almost the epitome of the low budget racer. who follows his dream and races as fast as he can afford to.

After winning his firstever Top Doorslammer race here at Calder in February, it seemed that he thought that life couldn’t get any better - but, when Gratz had

so severe that it blew the

problems and shut the big Dodge down just off the line in the final, it did get better.

right hand door off the car. When Elcoate popped a

Fibreglass ’56 Cusso to an

took

his

Acme

the stout Pro Stock field.

The power for Moutsos’ tough efforts is believed to have come from a new

powerplant purchased from NTlRA Pro Truck

champion Larry Kopp. ■ Jon Andriopolous and Con Sideris took out the

Semis only: Wayne Newby missed a Top Alky finals berth.

ANDRA Best Engineered Award with their Auto

Concepts Pro Stock Chev Lumina.

The pair qualified sec ond with a best-ever 7.77, although they fell in the first round, failing to leave the start line.

Continued on next page

Top Fuel

Top Alcohol

Qualifying 1 2 3 4 5. 6. 7

Qualifying

Rachelle Splatt, Vic. (Hansen/496) ., Steve Read, NSW (McKinney/498) ., Robin Kirby, Vic. (Swindahl/496) ,... Romeo Capitanio, Vic. (Hadman/496) Jim Read, NSW (Uyehara/511) Darren DiFilippo, Vic. (Hadman/496) . Andrew Cowan, Vic. (Andrews/496) .

Eliminations - Round One W Rachelle Splatt

.4.885 .4.889 .5.031 .5.066 .5.211 .5.609 .8.719

287.90 259.96 277.86 287.26 273.14 166.14 91.62

.891

5.47

180.18

.603

5.51

213.04

.610 .488 .511 .496 .549

5.59 5.01 5.89 5,22 5.27

NSR 291.82 172.08 213.42 269.94

Bye W

Steve Read Andrew Cowan ..

W j Romeo Capitanio Jim Read

Darren Dl Filippo Robin Kirby

1 2 3 4

Steve Harker, Qld. ('97 Avenger/526) Gary Phillips, Qld. (Uyehara/482) ... Wayne Newby, NSW (Meyer/469) ... Steve Reed, Qld. (‘94 Cutlass/540) ..

.5.72

248.55

.5.79

238.99

.5.90

236.59

.5.98

239.29

■ Paul Shackleton, Qld. (Meyer/470) ..

.6.11

222.27

6. Tom Easton, Vic. (Anderson/526) ... 7 Dean Oakey, NSW (Uyehara/470) .. 8 Matthew Featon, Vic. (Maverick/480) DNQ: Frank Intini (6.47/194.76)

.6.27

219.94

.6.43

220.42

.6.47

206.28

Eliminations - Round One W

W W

Semi-Finais W

Romeo Capitanio Rachelle Splatt .. Darren Di Filippo Steve Read

.463

5.04

281.69

.545

5.21

221.83

.497

9.74

89.71

.broke

Romeo Capitanio Darren Di Filippo

.475

4.96

288.00

.555

7.98

103.96

Matthew Featon Steve Harker

Gary Phillips Dean Qakey Wayne Newby Tom Easton Steve Reed Paul Shackleton

Semi-Finals W Gary Phillips ., Wayne Newby

Final

Top Doorslammer Qualifying

Steve Reed .., Matthew Featon

Gary Phillips Steve Reed ..

Shane Elcoate, Qld. ('33 Willys/526) VictorBray, Qld. (‘57Chev/511) Andrew Searle, Qld. (‘56 Customline/511) PeterGratz, Qld. (‘69 Daytona/511) Gary Cortield, NSW (VP Commodore/561) Ben Gatt, NSW (EA Falcon/540) David Simpson, WA (EL Falcon/526) .... PeterKapiris, Vic. (‘53Studebaker/518) ..

6.41 6.46 6.60 6.60 6.66 6.67 6.73 6.78

196.63 212.76 206.80 210.82

211.01 202.65 215.98 213.11

DNQ: Dave. Koop (6.80/167,56), Marcus Chambers (7.06/197.28). Cotln Will (7.13/189.87), Steve. Stanic (7.44/188.28), Robert Broadbent (7,46/183.44), Lou Raschella (7.51/130.35), Alt Sorbello (9.38/127.44) .588

6.55

217.39

238.85

Eiiminations - Round One David Simpson VictorBray

563

8.35

106.58

.454

.522

5.94

234.13

.487

6.35

216.76

216.08 205.19 183.18 NSR

..526 .751

5.93 6.14

239.36 220.64

.472 .440 .665 .522

5.85 5.94 6.04 20.56

236.77 230.47 236.65 28.25

.462 .516

5.84 6.00

237.96 237.25

.534

6.37

198.98

.489

6.76

234.55

.508

5.80

.713

Final

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Gary Cortield

,NR

6.71 6.70 6.81 6.60 NTR

Shane Elcoate

.608 ,547

6.37 6.59

212.06 211.26

Shane Elcoate Peter Gratz ... Andrew Searle

.558 .481

David Simpson

.537

6.56 6.57 6.68 9.11

181.59 219.83 203.16 102.24

.430 .523

6.53 10.50

210.67 85.21

Andrew Searle BenGatt PeterGratz

Peter Kapiris

.596 .NR

Semi-Finals W W

.445

Final W

Andrew Searte Peter Gratz ...

26 March W99

sX^

Sixty Footers

damage with an engine

Continued from page 32

explosion.

■ While presenting the Best Engineered Award at the Nationals, ANDRA Marketing Consultant Vic

■ Former alky racer Jeff

Wood also announced that

Scotty Cannon’s IHRA World Pro Modified

Burnett has been working away with a bit of carbon fibre lately, as well, Burnett having constructed a new vertical injector hat. I

Third generation racer Dean Oakey debuted the

Championship-winning Studebaker, built by Melbourne chassis builder

Mun-ay Anderson, won the Racecar of the Year Award for 1998.

injector on his American

Auto Parts alky dragster, the unit impressing those who saw it.

Rachelle Splatt crew chief Peter Wileman has one of

■ Adelaide Comp racer Simon Miller had a bit of a

wild ride in qualifying when the wing of his CC/Dragster first dropped, then flew off at half-track, unloading the back of the car and making it skate around a little at

the top-end of the strip. It was ironic when the

7.40 et came up that it was

actually Miller’s quickest run of the weekend,

Batmobile: Peter Kapiris happily broke car-builder Murray Anderson’s ribs and then lost in the first round. (Thunder-Pics) easy 6.53/210 win to secure ble when he wheelstood in downing the Olds Cutlass of them are yet to be confirmed, his first Nationals title and the final qualifier and almost Steve Reed in the final on a but one of the most stunning go one up on the likes of his went off the track, but he 5.84 to 6.00 count to round performances of the weekend recovered from that. - if not the year - came from off an impressive display. hero, Victor Bray. Danny Baines at the helm of “Hey, it just launched with Pro Stock Motorcycle was It would nearly be safe to another bracket to have it’s the wheels in the air and the Tectaloy BB/G Camaro. say that there were no happi Powered by just 332 cubes they kept on coming up,” championship decided here, er people at the presenta of PSI-blown small block tions than the Searles. as Jason Lee simply domi quipped a beaming Phillips. Chev, the Camaro unleashed “It hit that bump in the nated proceedings in order to If happiness was able to be a brilliant 8.85/203.11 on the quantified, then the Lucas right lane and that just clinch his first title and break the reign of Trevor Thursday to just bury the Oils team of Gary and unsettled it and it headed to rest of the Competition Debbie Phillips would have the wall. Otherwise, it was Birrell’s Castrol team. been close behind the Searles Lee, riding Dale Gilbert’s Eliminator field. going to be OK.” Things almost turned to Phillips was able to march Suzuki, qualified at the head - Phillips became the first ash in the first round, his way through the tough of the field with a 7.88 and person to win four consecu tive Nationals titles and he field, a task made easier though, when the Chev got gained top speed points did it by dominating one of when arch-rival Marker before outrunning Sam loose in a big burnout and took a brief excursion onto Scerri’s 8.07 from the Castrol the toughest classes around slipped up in the very first Suzuki with a 7.93 of his ●round. the grass. in Australian drag racing. own. Steve Barker dented his Opponent Chris Soldatos Severe tyre shake pounded There were quite a few was given a bye as ANDRA performance by taking'his the Dodge so badly that a records broken and many of Dodge Avenger to a brilliant brake caliper fell off and he Continued on page 34 went out early. 5.72/248.55 for the top quali Unicycle: Pro Stock Bike Champion Jason Lee. (Nugent) It was the opening which fying spot and that was the only time that Phillips was Phillips needed in order to clinch his latest Top Alcohol overshadowed by his compe tition on the weekend. title, a deed which he did in He looked a little vulnerastyle by comprehensively

the Burner injector units on the way, as too does Victor Bray. ■ Australia’s latest 300

mph racer, Andrew Cowin and his twin brother John

made an extremely quiet appearance at this year’s Nationals, watching the action ‘incognito’ with regu lar fans on the spectator mounds.

although it came up a little short in making the 16-car

The Cowins, with their dad Graeme, will return to

field.

the US in around five weeks to recommence their attack

■ Adelaide bike racer Les The Snake’ Kennewell’s

on the NHRA drag racing

Comp Bike appeared with the first two-wheeler engine

scene.

investment, at about $400, cheap compared with the possible damage he could suffer if his bike’s engine

■ While drag racing has never been a sexist sport, four-time world Top Fuel champion Shirley Muldowney and Rachelle Splatt being prime exam ples, the commentary box at the Nationals has, certainly for the past eight years,

failed and he crashed.

been a male domain.

■ On the subject of diapers, Santo Rapisarda’s fueller also has the country’s first carbon-fibre full engine dia¬

with Adelaide commentator

diapers now being produced by safety experts Aerotech in Brisbane. Kennewell sees the

This year things changed, Monica Van Reit and junior

dragster racer Stephanie DiGianvincenzo making

per.

their Nationals debuts

Produced by Deist in the US, the Top Fuel diaper

behind the microphone. Both performed excep tionally well and added to

covers the whole short

engine and also protects the frame rails from possible

the colour of the event.

Continued on page 34

Pro Stock Qualifying 1. 2.

Joe Polito, NSW (Probe/3370 Jon Andriopoulos, NSW (Lumina/352) Bruno Cugnetto, Vic. (Cutlass/331) .. Nick Moustos, Vic. (Cavalier/356) ... Robert Quattrocchi (Beretta/352) ... Bruce Leake, NSW (Cutlass/334) ...

Craig Hasted, Old. (P Bird/334) ....

3. 4. 5.

,7.74

173.81

.7.77

173.01

.7.80

174.28

.7.81

172.87

Technical Officer

.7.82

173.91

.7.82

173.11

.7.82

172.28

.7.83

171.59

7.85

172.47

National Drag Racing Association Inc.

Joe Polito

..501

7.81

173.17

Based in Adelaide, the job is responsible for the fallowing areas of

Rob Tucker

.492

7.90

170.84

the Association’s operations:

Nick Moustos

.508

9.66

148.76

Robert Quattrocchi

.519

12.62

65.24

Bruno Cugnetto

.454

7.87

172.84

Bruce Leake

.522

7.96

171.78

Semi Finals W Craig Hasted . Bruno Cugnetto

.469

7.81

171.98

.438

7.86

173.17

.501

7.78

173.07

.517

8.34

162.54

.497

7.83

172.61

Craig Hasted

.533

7.87

170.93

8. Rob Tucker, Old. (Cutlass/348) DNQ: Kym Petterwood (7.88/170.32)

Applications are invited for the position of Technical Officer with the Australian

Eliminations - Round One W W W

. ..998

Craig Hasted Jon Andriopoulos

Joe Polito

.broke

● liaison with manufacturers and suppliers to the industry, ● inspection of facilities

■ ● development/maintenance of vehicle and procedural regulations in line with policy

...

Nick Moustos

● recruitment, training and co-ordination of the volunteer officials, ● development/maintenance of standards and procedures,

The successful application should display ● excellent people skills ● excellent organisational abilities

● ability to worth without supervision ● computer skills

A detailed job description is available on request. Application should be directed in writing to: Chief Executive Officer ANDRA PO Box 250

Final W

Joe Polito

otfci

Adelaide SA 5071

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26 March 1999

Sixty Footers Continued from page 33

■ Competition Elim top qualifier Danny Baines was controversial ly disqualified in the first round when his BB/Gas Camaro got out of control on the burnout and ran

The Nats

Continued from page 33

officials signalled for Baines to be shut down - he protested, was rein stated and won the rematch when Soldatos refused to return. But disaster struck the South

onto the grass, siding along the track and sending opponent

Australian team in the semi-finals,

Chris Soldatos on a solo win.

damage as it tried to get around Grant O’Rourke’s BB/G, letting go on the top-end.

Baines, disgusted at the ANDRA steward’s ruling, appealed the decision and won, with a rerun being ordered. Soldatos, disgusted at the sub sequent decision, elected not to contest the rerun, putting him self out in the first round.

Baines’ appeal also disappoint ed his second round opponent Jeff Gatt, with Gatt’s crew wear

ing the Soldatos team’s crew shirts in a sign of protest. Baines, who ran the class’ first six in qualifying (6.85/203), lost in the semis when his engine let go-

when the small block suffered some

It was the break the West Australian team needed and O’Rourke went on to take the title

when he ran his best-ever, a 7.03/199.37 that was enough to unload the Blumensteins.

Camaro

the

Top Fuel Motorcycle was another

bracket that had plenty of high lights and they mainly centred around the Xcessive Force Harley ridden by Murray Johnson. He managed to claim all the plaudits, including Low ET honours with his stout 7.01 from the big Harley. While he was at the head of the

■ Darren DiFilippo’s wild wheel standing qualifier in the Redback Performance Exhausts Top

field, it wasn’t far back to Brett Stevens’ 7.08, but the Jack Daniels

Fueller took a bit of a toll on both

team didn’t get through to the final.

the car and driver, DiFilippo uri

That left Johnson to hold off a

nating blood following the blow

valiant Jeff Smith, after Johnson had a few problems off the line. In summary, the 1999 ANDRA Australian Drag Racing Championships may not have had

when the car landed and the car

needing new A-arms and wheels for the front. Both were OK for

racing the next day, with DiFilippo having voluntarily sought a medical clearance before he raced.

■ V8 Supercar stars Russell Ingall, Steven Richards and Jason Bargwanna all fronted at the Nationals for a taste of nitro. Ingall and Bargwanna never having been to a drag race

the same amount of record perfor mances that some other title events

have had in the past, or the same amount of spectacular incidents. But what it did have was one of

the best couple of days of racing right across the board and the num ber of upsets was testament to that. Ups ’n downs:

Nino Cavallo looked good in Super Stock until an engine let go. (Tony Glynn pic)

before. All were stunned with the

power of the Top Fuel dragsters, Bargwanna asking team owner Garry Rogers, who was standing nearby, for a ride in a fueller after witnessing his jet boatcrashing antics, Rogers declined.

■ Romeo Capitanio’s second Nationals Top Fuel crown - and third in total - may be his last in the class, with the now-unsponsored racer looking to put his 18 year-old daughter, Renee, behind

Costly: Rachelle Splatt also damaged her engine. (Sean Hensheiwood pic)

Top Bike W

Murray Johnson, SA (Harley 165) Jeff Smith, Old. (Harley 180) Jason Lee, SA (Suzuki/1327) Sam Scerri (Suzuki/1327)

Grant O’Rourke, WA (BB/AP Torana 348) Sam Blumenstein, Vic. (/VAP Olds 500) ..

Competition Bike W

he’ll only be seen driving a fuel

Modified

Nationals when they were informed that their agreement with Sidchrome was not going to be ongoing. The team were quite joyed at winning the event and getting all the media attention, saying that their former sponsors were only missing out on the glory - it was ironic that the team were pre sented with a tool kit from

Sidchrome for winning - but it was promptly given away!

168.25

7.57

174.82

.490

7.93

167.25

.508

8.07

160.22

.7.28

.464

7.03

199.37

.7.38

.507

7.35

188.79

.8.09

.507

7.98

171.49

.9.08

.335

8.84

153.74

.8.97

.408

8.94

142.45

.8.98

.472

9.00

145.63

.8.20

.451

8.27

152.67

.8.28

.514

8.30

161.89

Super Stock

Capitanio entertained the crowd with his descriptions of the fuellers being ‘girls cars’ and said

were delivered a blow before the

7.42

.537

Competition Eliminator W

■ While on the subject of Capitanio and his team, they

.531

Pro Stock Motorcycle W

the wheel as of next season. The colourful and controversial

Funny C)ar from now on.

Whispering Death: Sammut Brothers’ turbo Nissan won a second Nationals Super Stock title. (Thunder-Pics)

Peter Sammut, vie. (DD/GNIssan/172) . Nick Xerakias, Vic. (G/G Probe/355) Perry Mackie, SA (P/CB Harley/120) John Parker, Old. (P/CB Harley/120)

Steve Russell, Vic. (Dragster/355) Rachel Clancy, Vic. (Dragster/355)

Super Sedan W

Juan Kudnig, Old. (VS Commodore/381) David Grima, NSW (Torana/480)

9.92

.472

9.92

134.69

9.89

.408

9.98

129.68

.10.95

.498

10.95

121.78

9.97

.476

10.03

129.44

.11.00

.522

11.17

98.28

.11.29

.951

11.32

118.96

.11.54

11.53

54.90

8.80

8.77

71.50

Modified Bike W

David Blackley (Honda 900) Darren Mason (Katana 1074)

Super Street W

Ray Ross, Old. (Valiant/340) J. Koropecykyj, NSW (Torana/308)

Junior Dragster W

Dean Bragg, SA (Dragster/210).. Daniel Princi, NSW (Dragster/210)

Super Gas W

Graeme Spencer, Vic. (Commodore 400)

.407

9.90

9.93

135.70

Colin Griffin, Vic. (Celica 485)

.478

9.90

9.86

140.20

1999 AUSTRALIAN DRAG RACING SERIES - PROGRESSIVE POINT SCORE 21 MARCH 98/99 Australian Top Fuel Championship 98/99 Australian Top Alcohol C’ship 98/99 Aust Top Doorslammer C’ship Steve Read 2.

.260 .255

Gary Phillips 2.

.400 260

.240 .200

2. Andrew Searle 4. David Koop ..

120 120

David Simpson

Romeo Capitanio Darren DiFilippo Robin Kirby .... Rachelle Splatt .. Terry Sainty ....

jim Read

105

Mark Brew 5. Tom Easton 7. Paul Shackleton . ..

Andrew Cowan .

.40

3. 4. 5.

.230 .205 .200 140

Steve Harker 3. Steven Reed

Wayne Newby

Scott Ferguson Dean Oakey

10. Matthew Featon ...

Victor Bray .. Peter Kapiris .

Peter Gratz ..

Les Winter ...

.60

8. 9.

Shane Elcoate.

.40

10. Colin Will

100 .80

Robin Judd ... ...

.623 .300 .300 .290 .280 .260 .250 188 170 160

26 March! 999

unit. Forte and WJ tiaim gold

it retord-breaker Gator Nats

THE record book took a beating

as new e.t. and speed records were established in four of the

Runner-up: Doug Herbert’s Snap-

on fueller went down to Mike Dunn“”* ‘

and missed out op the US$100,000

five professional categories dur ing the running of the Mac Tools

.Jflfinston l^-Bull bonus by a mere

Gatornationals at Gainesville

(Keith Burgan pic)

■ )

15-thousandths of a secondl

Raceway on March 18-21. The crowds at Gainesville also

broke records, as the four-day atten

dance was the highest-ever for an NHEA event - the Friday crowd was

the largest-ever in Florida and Saturday’s crowd was the highest attended Saturday at any event. John Force scored his second

straight win, again in dominating “Force” style, setting a new e.t. record at 4.799 and a new mph mark along the way at 324.05. Force and his Castrol crew, led by

Austin Coil, qualified the Mustang third at 4.872/316.52 and were

relentless in eliminations, taking 4.799/324.05, 4.830/318.84 and 4.818/324.05 wins over A1 Hofmann,

Tim Wilkerson and Frank Pedregon enroute to the final.

Force, in taking career win 72, used a final round 4.819/311.92 to

stop first time finalist Cory Lee, who lost traction in Tom Hoover’s Pioneer

Dodge Avenger - Lee had earlier gone a career-best 4.918/309.06. Force’s Castrol teammate, Tony Pedregon,

recorded the quickest elapsed time for the breed in a round one win over Phil Burkhart

when he piloted the Syntec Mustang to an

astounding 4.779/319.90 blast, which left the huge Gainesville crowd in awe. The Funny Car field was the quickesever, ranging from Whit Bazemore’s number one qualifying 4.856/307.58 in Chuck Etchell’s Kendall Camaro to the 5.095/257.28

The Mopar team, led by Ken Veney, quali

Service Pontiac finally made it to the win ners circle in 1999, following early exits in

4.510/321.42 to reach the final round. Herbert had an added incentive in the final round with a shot at an additional

both Pomona and Phoenix, where he clearly

$100,000 from Winston and the No Bull Challenge bonus and was having his best

day in a while with his Dick LaHaie-tuned dragster.

Herbert qualified fourth at 4.551/316.67

of Del Worsham.

and followed with very imptressive wins at

A total of nine cars dipped into the fours and former Pro Mod standout Scotty Cannon

4.663/307.16, 4.560/312.86 and 4.551/316.60,

is now the quickest alternate in Funny Car history at 5.099 seconds. In Top Fuel, Mike Dunn drove Darrell Gwynn’s Mopar Parts dragster to a popiilar win in front of the Florida home crowd,

Warren Johnson and his GM Goodwrench

fied third at 4.540/297.75 and strung togeth er runs of 4.561/320.66, 4.529/311.56 and

stopping Cory McClenathan, Doug Kalitta and low quahfier (4.532) Larry Dixon before his demise at Dunn’s hands.

The Top Fuel field in Gainesville was the quickest-ever, with Paul Romine’s 4.697/307.02 holding down the bump spot.

defeating the Snap-on Tools dragster of Doug

Eleven cars qualified in the 4.50s and you

Herbert in the final round, 4.550/319.98 to

had to run better than Eddie Hill’s 4.577 to

4.563/318.62.

get into the top portion of the show.

had the quickest/fastest car at the events. In the final round, Warren defeated son

and current points leader Kurt Johnson, 6.970/199.37 to a shut-off 7.250/167.07.

Enroute to his 73rd career victory, WJ

local hospital, where he was kept overnight for observation.

Angelle Seeling recorded the four quickest passes in history during eliminations to take the win in Pro Stock Bike, setting a new record at 7.212 in the process.

Seeling, aboard the Winston Suzuki, defeated John Smith in the final round, 7.224/185.79 to 7.269/189.18.

established new records for the class at

Smith had earlier become the first rider to

6.866/201.37, breaking his own previous

crack the 190 mph mark, eventually setting a new speed record at 192.22 mph.

records set last October in Dallas. Allen Johnson suffered a violent crash fol

lowing a first round loss to Greg Anderson. Johnson had qualified fifth at 6.930/199.43 and in the first round got the car out of shape at around 1000 feet. The car swayed back and forth, finally

swinging around and beginning a series of barrel rolls, the car finally rolling on top and over the guard wall well past the finish line.

Mark Osborne also established a new e.t.

record at 7.529 while taking the Pro Stock Truck win.

Osborne, the number one qualifier, drove

the Kissinger Motorsports Chevrolet to a final round 7.535/177.60 to stop the 7.594/175.50 of Todd Patterson’s Dodge -

Brad Jeter set a new speed mark for the class at 179.09 mph.

Johnson was alert and transported to a

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26Mdrch1999

Speaking Frankly

1 CfSJ

WHAT a privilege it was for

worked for a drive. It was he who

members

changed the gear ratios, rebuilt the engines, drove the transporter from race meeting to race meeting and lived on his earnings from one event

the

Victorian

Historic Racing Register to hear one of Australia’s greatest and most successful racing drivers in full song at its March meeting! In his inimitable laconic style, Aussie international Frank Gardner delivered a memorable address to

those fortunate enough to be pre sent

it was a mixture of hard-hit

ting, no nonsense stuff and good advice from a man who came up the hard way and carved an enviable record overseas that would be hard to emulate.

Gardner was a top all-round spoi-tsman a surf lifesaver, a morethan-handy boxer, a man who could turn his hand to most physical activities and succeed. His motor

racing career was equally versatile,

to the next. Gardner

recalled

that

Jack

Brabham earned £80,000 pounds for winning his first world champi onship “Michael Schumacher wouldn’t get out of bed these days for 80,000 pounds,” he quipped. When the night eventually got around to question time, Gardner was asked about the worst car he

had ever driven. Without hesitation, he nominated the early Porsche 917s and they had an extra 600 horsepower on tap with the flick of a switch on the dashboard. He recalled a conversation with Porsche race director Huschke von

Hanstein who was trying to con

as the record books show.

vince Gardner he should drive the

A multiple winner of the British Saloon Car Championship, the European F2 and 3 titles, the European F5000 winner, an out standing long distance sports car pilot and a test driver beyond peer

917 at the Nurburgring (“a race track designed by Hitler for Jewish racing drivers.”) Gardner tried to avoid the assignment by nominat ing various other drivers Jo Siffert, Vic Elford and Brian Redman only to be told in a thick guttural accent they were all in various German hospitals! It was a night of laughs, with no better story than the one about waking up with a tall, blonde German countess alongside. When she asked Frank for some marks, Gardner said “I gave her ten out of

these were some of the achieve

ments that led to the tough Australian becoming the first per son to score 100 international victo

ries in motor racing. But not only did Frank Gardner talk common sense it was the man

ner of delivery that held everyone’s attention throughout. The jokes abounded, and the only person pre sent who didn’t crack a smile was the man himself

How

times

have

changed!

Gardner recalled his era as a works

driver in Europe when he really

ten, and took off!”

Everyone lucky enough to hear Frank Gardner on March 2 reck oned he was worth at least eleven out of ten.

A rolling stone gathers a Jag: Stirling Moss always enjoys his trips to Australia and came to grips with a C-type Jaguar when he drove at the Australian Grand Prix meeting at Albert Park. (Photo by Marshall Cass)

Sterling Stirling By BRIAN REED

MN: You’re here especially for the Qantas Australian Grand Prix carnival and to drive in the Tattersall’s Historic Demonstrations what other

events of this kind have you taken part in over the past 12months?

SM: Quite obviously this is a one-off, a very special event and we love coming here. But I mean there are other things similar, I suppose Laguna Seca, Monterey and then we have events in

-BRIAN REED

England at Goodwood and Silverstone... and we go to those. And I’ll hopefully be taking part next month in the Tour de France...

we do quite a lot of Historic shows.

MN: When you get back behind the wheel of a car such as the C-

Type Jaguar you’ll be driving at this meeting do you live for the present or does your mind go back to days gone by when you raced these cars seriously and successfully?

SM: No, it has to be the present. I’ll tell you why. I mean, these cars are now so valuable. When Idrove

them originally and we broke one it was obviously quite serious. Now it’s a far worse thing to do. Also,

because the preparation was up to date then. One knew the car, one

A knight and a gardener: Jack and Frank have a chat. (Photo by Dirk Klynsmith)

knew the preparation, and if it wasn’t a Lotus you weren’t afraid

of it breaking. Today, obviously, one doesn’t (know). The Jag I’ve got here, the C-Type is a beautiful

car, it really is... but it doesn’t go very quickly. In my day it would.

’ <■

MN: I know your intense patrio tism towards British cars, espe cially those painted in British Racing Green, but what about this blue car painted in the Ecurie Ecosse livery? SM: Well, OK, but Ecurie Ecosse to me is British. It isn’t

English, it’s Scotch they wouldn’t like to hear me say thatl But my mother was a Scot, I’m half

Scottish, my middle name was

Craufurd, so I feel I have the right to drive it as though it were a British car.

CLASSIC racers, like this ex-Amon Matra-Simca MS120D, are being readied for the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The 1999 event will be held on June 18-20, the weekend following Le Mans. (Photo by suiion images)

MN: This loyaity in retrospect do you now feei it may have adversely affected your career?

SM: Oh, absolutely. It depends what you think about it affecting it adversely. Let me put it this way. Certainly Ithink if I hadn’t stuck to the British cars I think I may have been world champion. But that to me has not much value. The value

that Iput in my motor racing was that the other drivers felt I was the

man to beat, and that was all that I

required really, rather than the title. MN: Today’s racing, with all its hype and commercialism is it as

good as in days gone by? SM: To me it certainly isn’t, because a lot of the sport has gone out of it. It was motor sport, now it’s motor business. I think the cars

they have are fantastic, but there isn’t the humour or the affection or the honour of tradition or the ethics that there was but I still think it’s a

great business. It’s very competitive today, but

the big problem we’ve got is a dri ver of immense ability cannot demonstrate his skill as easily as he could at the time of Fangio. I think that in Fangio’s era, a man of his stature could demonstrate any

MN: Britain lost its dominance of

the motor industry and virtually lost completely the motorcycle industry, yet it continues to lead the way in Formula One with the likes of John Barnard, Adrian

Newey, Harvey Postlethwaite, Ross Brawn and others. Why do you think Britain still leads in this regard?

SM: It wasri’t like that originally.

It evolvqd that the English people were very good in this particular area in the same way if we look at art. If you go back over the period of art you find certain countries coming up taking over, whether it be the Dutch, the French or what ever.

And Ithink it’s the same with drivers as well. We’ve seen amaz

ing Australasians come in, we’ve seen the odd American come in, the French, the Italians, the

Germans, the English I think it just goes in cycles. At the moment we

(the English) are lucky, but quite a lot of our men are actually working for foreign companies. Imean, Ross Brawn is with Ferrari why not?

where that he was that much bet

ter. Now we’ve got Michael Schumacher who is probably the best in a similar situation and I

don’t think it’s quite as easy unless the weather goes bad and it rains then he can.

So, in that way Ithink we’ve lost something. I think we’ve lost because the cars are so fast we’ve

had to push the public a long way away. The cars are obviously more streamlined, so you can’t see the drivers so much there are a lot of

negative things but I still think if one’s talking sheer competition, yes, that’s still there.

MN: Do the modern day drivers enjoy their racing as much as you and your contemporaries did? SM: Oh, no! Oh, good Lord, no! But they get a big wage packet so they laugh at that! I think we had the fun time. We didn’t get the money - we made fairly good money - but we didn’t get the money they make today. But I do genuinely think we had the com radeship and the enjoyment of

each other’s company, and yet we

MN: You are generally regarded as the unluckiest driver never to

have won a world champi onship. Can you speculate on how different your life might have been had you been world champion? SM: In some ways I suppose it would have made a difference. At

the time they would have said “world champion” and so forth, now I would just be a year. They’d say “You won it in 1957 or 8,” or when ever it happened to be, and now

I’m lucky that Icover the years when they say you never won it and you should have. Imean, Iwas runner-up I think,

five times in the world champi onship (by half a point was the least), but to me that didn’t matter.

What did matter was having the respect of fellow drivers, that I was the guy they wanted to beat and

that, frankly, carried me through it nicely. And now I’m happy as an older

driver flogging a fading image (or an older image trying to stop it

other, so Ithink that times are just

from fading!) - whether I’d been world champion or not, I don’t think would have helped me much in

different.

that.

were very competitive to each

PENHZOIL

yVD-V E RTIS E JVT ElNf T

Big Darryl Eastlake launches 'Stop. Go. PennzoM' campaign

■ Congratulations to Pennzoil sponsored Sprint Car racer Skip Jackson who has won the coveted

Australian MotorSport Speedway Racer of the Year Award for the

second year in succession (along with his second World Series title).

"I couldn't make it to last year's presentation of this award and my brother stood in for me, but he also kept the trophy, so now this one can stay with me!"

The launch of Pennzoil's bold,

aggressive and far-reaching new advertising campaign

PENHZOIL

and slogan was always going to be a huge event.

moMi

The fact that Pennzoil chose Channel Nine's famous Studio

Jackson said. Pennzoil was also an associate

9 in Melbourne, coupled with the event's MC, the Nine Network's excitable Grand Prix

the entire television studio

and general sports presenter Darryl Eastlake, ensured the event was a huge success for

adorned in 'Stop. Go. Pennzoil' slogans, Pennzoil corporate logos and new Pennzoil product packaging and point of sale displays.

the 100 Pennzoil staff and

customers present. Eastlake, a lifelong motor

using the company's exclusive Pennz 7 molecular technology.

that his first contact with

the 70's.

marketing projects to now

He also described how he came into contact with

include the well known Pennzoil brand as a co

Go. Pennzoil', represents a new marketing direction for the expanded Pennzoil range of

Pennzoil in Australia through motor racing competitors who

presentation sponsor of the

automotive lubricants." Mr

Nine Network's 1999 FLA

Borschman said.

raved about the high quality of

Formula One World

Pennzoil products.

Championship telecasts," Eastlake said.

It became obvioiis to him

then, that for performance and general motoring apphcations, Pennzoil was a preferred product for the experts.

experienced drivers for their

neutrahse the acids formed by

motor racing spectrum," MD Chris Borschman said.

Pennzoil's involvement with the Nine Network's exclusive

additives that minimise the

Formula One coverage

with anti-weai’ agents which significantly reduce engine wear. Considering that 80% of

■ V8 Supercar driver Rod Nash made good progress at his debut Albert Park appearance in his Autopro/Pennzoil Commodore. "Having never driven at the Albert Park circuit, Iwas pleased to come away from the event with 20th place out of the 44 car

accumtdation of contaminants,

motor vehicle kilometres

presented an interactive

"Since then Pennzoil Australia has set about a total

address to his new

re-structure in its branding

customers at the gala campaign launch: "The new campaign, 'Stop.

1999 Formiila One season. The choice of the Nine Network's Studio 9 in

driven in Australia require the driver to stop every 500 metres, it makes sense to

Melbourne, was an apt selection for the campaign launch with

choose an engine oil that is designed specifically to meet these requirements.

field and to have avoided the

carnage that was happening all over the place during each race."

Pennzoil NASCAR thunder at the GP Pennzoil

had

double-

barrelled presence in the three Bob Jane T Marts

Nascar

Sensation races in support of the 1999 Qantas Australian Formula One Grand Prix

The regular Pennzoil NASCAR

team of Marshall Brewer, was

joined by debutant Pennzoil Motorsport Manager Neville Wilson, both jointly tackling the

Albert Park Grand Prix circuit for

practice and qualifying. For Wilson, this was his first entry in competition motor racing in six

years. The Thursday practice and qualifying sessions represented his

first ever Taps in a 700 horse power NASCAR!

The more experienced Brewer

remained close at hand to assist his

new colleague, while enjoying a strong and determined run

Gardner joins Pennzoil push Supercar

the

practice, during qualifying and in the races.

Brewer

was

top

runner

throughout, fifth in the first race, although a gearbox malady made life difficult from there on, the

experienced NASCAR driver suffering a spin in the third race, trying to move up the field.

"We were looking really good for

a while there - the car was great and I was sure that we could n ave

taken a podium position before our

troubles started. We were knocking on the door of a top result here at

the Grand Prix and it has been very

frustrating, but we'll be back..."

Brewer said. Debutant

Neville

Wilson

completed a steady three races after his qualifying effort was cut short following an incident with Russell

However, Kirby and his team were

100 metres to go.

major

Kirby was left with no further option but to shut down while leading the final eliminator against Steve Read.

Kirby missed out on a final round victory by just 6/lOOths of a second.

Despite the disappointment, the

Gardner is confident that his

team is now focussed on the

State

new Coke VT Commodore will

Australia Managing Director

be a potent car at several major

Mechanic of the Month

"The recent merger between

David Monaco (DM Performance)

has

marketing alliance for the Pennzoil brand. Pennzoil Australia has concluded an associate

V8 Supercar events this season.

Pennzoil and Quaker State will see our involvement in motor

sport increase in a range of categories.

accomplished V8 Supercar,

Our marketing alliance with Wavnne Gardner is indicative of theIincreased motor racing

World Champion Wayne Gardner for Pennzoil logos to

Pennzoil brand in Australia and is a taste of even bigger

sponsorship agreement with

International GT and ex SOOcc

profile we are building for the

appear on his new Perkins' things to come in the future," prepared VT Commodore V8 Mr Borschman said.

Willowbank

quickly tempered when the Pennzoil Top Fueller's super charger belt failed with a mere

the first V8 Supercar race,

Borschman

Queensland's

round.

Despite enduring a rough and tumble GP appearance, which included a major shunt during

announced an exciting new Australian motor racing

round of the ANDRA Australian

Top Fuel Championship at

Raceway on March 6, reaching an outstanding terminal speed of racing! Only 3 laps of practice and 291 mph. 4 laps with a crash thrown in This super-fast elapsed time was yesterday, a hard race one and a top ten finish on the second day. clearly the most impressive of the This is one hell of an experience I weekend, creating a mood of excitement for the Pennzoil team have to say," Wilson said. leading into the event's final

season.

Chris

■ 43 year old Victorian Pennzoil Top Fuel drag racing team driver Robin Kirby recorded a sensational 5.14s pass in his semi final appearance during the 4th

"What an initiation to NASCAR

showcase and V8 Supercar

Quaker

Nash said.

Ingall.

endurance events of the 1999

Pennzoil

display of first class motor racing

of oxygen and heat, along with dispersant and detergent

continuing during the entire

position and expanded upon the company's successful

awards and it was a fantastic

inhibitors that coimter the effect

Australian Grand Prix with hve and exclusive telecasts

management, staff and

sponsorship of these prestigious

brilliant efforts from the total

Mr Chris Borschman,

Australia Managing Director,

first

combustion, oxidisation

commenced with the

Pennzoil-Quaker State

Pennzoil's

"We look forward to continuing

corrosion inhibitors to

Indianapohs 500 visit during

was

our association with this event in the future, rewarding new and

This includes rust and

Pennzoil was at an

"This

talent.

Pennzoil formulates oils

racing fanatic, made the point

sponsor of the 1999 Australian MotorSport Awards Dinner.

"We had an excellent race

Park on the Wednesday and

Performance In Sydenham, Victoria, is the Pennzoil

was raced by Neville Wilson at

Mechanic

all weekend. DM Performance

David

Monaco

from

the

Month

winner for March.

David is a worthy winner,

having

completed

total

NASCAR engine and gearbox fit, along with a complete car

set-up during the weekend prior to the Grand Prix! The Pennzoil NASCAR was

ready for testing at Calder

remaining rounds knowing that the Pennzoil Top Fuel team has the ability to win.

the GP, where it ran faiiltlessly has

meeting

and our team is

improving with each round," said Kirby. "We are now in second spot in

the Championship behind Steve

performance road vehicles and

Read, with three rounds to go, so Iam sure that our best racing is

strong

client

base

is also a specialist in left-handdrive to right-hand-drive truck conversions with Freestone

Transport. He also occasionally works on 700hp NASCARs...

still ahead of us for 1999. There

is no point dwelling on the failure of a part - that's drag racing," he added.

l^&)0(s)[FSm®D^0

26 March 1999

■ Donald Trump and Bill France Jr teamed up for a press confer ence in New York, announcing a joint venture in the development

Rain favours Burton

of a race track in the New York

city area.

JEFF Burton won a

France’s International

Speedway Corporation would operate the venue when they find a suitable site - one they are look ing at is on Long Island. The track would be in the coun

try’s largest media market, but among those concerned about the

wild Darlington race on March 21 and for the second race in succes sion the event was rain-

By Martin D Clar not going to race Formula One. Every time someone asks me, I

say the same thing - yeah, they’re neat cars. Yeah, they’re really

addition of another track was Jeff Gordon.

fast. Then someone asks me if I’d

“Who’s going to lose a date?

like to drive one for a few laps -

Because 1 do not want to see

another race added - not for my sake, it’s more for the team,” remarked Gordon.

yes, I’d love to do it. I don’t mean that I’m going to race one, but that’s the way it comes out. ’That stoiy never dies.” Gordon also mentioned his

event scored the third-best TV rat

phone conversation with Jackie Stewart some three years ago -

ing for the series - 15 million households were tuned in, third only to the Daytona 500 and the

around the track; he didn’t mean I was going to join his team.”

■ The Las Vegas Winston Cup

“he just meant taking a spin

1997 Texas event.

■ NASCAR took six cars to the

■ Morgan Shepherd, Steve Grissom and Robert Pressley failed to qualify for the Atlanta race, with previous week’s Vegas winner Jeff Burton going from the penthouse to the outhouse and taking a provisional, along with Ken Schrader, Jimmy Spencer, Kevin Lepage, Ricky Rudd and

wind tunnel following Atlanta the Fords of Mark Martin and

Dale Jarrett, the Pontiacs of Bobby Labonte and Ward Burton and the Chevys of Jeff Gordon and

provisional until Martinsville on April 18.

■ Ex-World of Outlaw Sprintcar champ Dave Blaney won his first

■ Bill Ingle has parted ways with

race after a year of trying at Atlanta on March 13, but only when Mike Skinner was stripped of his victory due to an engine rule

was to resign following MailinsviUe in September last year - but Rudd’s subsequent vic tory in the race kept him on the scene.

NASCAR Busch Grand National

infraction.

Skinner and Team Emerald

Performance are to appeal the decision, which their engine builder, T&L Engines, stands behind.

■ Steve Grissom has been released as the driver of LJ

Racing’s Monte Carlos - Grissom had a contract for four events, which have passed. Team owner Joe Falk explained

when Rick Mast cut a

wreck started by Ernie Irvan who spun coming off turn 4 - Kenny Irwin and Ricky Craven then looped around, with leader Burton hitting the wall while avoiding the sideways Jerry Nadeau. Burton

sustained

severe right side damage, including the toe knocked out and two flat tyres. At the same time, the rains came and the red

flag waved again. Burton and crew chief Frankie

Minutes later, with

its debut at the Brickyard in August.

“In no way do the employees of Emerald Performance have any knowledge of any of the modifica tions done to any part of the engine,” T&L said in a prepared statement. “All the modifications

Gordon lead the open ing tours, the first caution airing quickly on lap 2 tyre

the stUl reasonably new spoiler rules and to compare stats with

Dan-ell Waltrip used his fourth past champions provisional in a row and is not eligible for another

Burton ninth.

important, called for a

Stoddard doing a rain

the new Monte Carlo, due to make

owner driver Ricky Rudd. Ingle

Caution three on lap

four of five Roush cars in

the top ten, Mark Martin starting third, Kevin Lepage seventh and

163 after 224 miles was

Mike Skinner. The main reason was to check

Brett Bodine.

had served as crew chief for the team for more than one stint and

delayed and eventually shortened, the rain giv ing Burton his victory.

ed his best start by far this year, the fastest of

dance.

darkness and rain falling, NASCAR called the race

with 163 laps run, the track too wet to dry before

valve stem

and

slowed, only to be hit by Lepage - all hell broke loose Ken behind. Schrader, Dale Earnhardt and Nadeau all involved in the fracas.

Gordon continued to head an under the weath

er Martin until lap 38, when Mayfield streaked

below Gordon, only to drop to fourth in the pits when he stalled his car,

Gordon heading Martin and Burton off pit road. Martin passed Gordon for

the

lead

suffered with handling

Burton

the race and drop to fifth

slipped by.

moved him to the top of the points table, bringing Jeff Gordon into second, as leader Mike Skinner

Wet, wild winner: Jeff Burton. (Martin d ciark pic)

tyres.

problems to finish 32nd in

also

-i

restart, others following suit, with Mayfield again up front as Gordon slipped back to save his Mayfield continued at the point, but Gordon was again fast during sched uled pit stops, only for Mayfield to pass him on the apron exiting the pits to lead once again, before

darkness set in. Burton’s win

the

and

Jarrett

The shortlived green flag racing was all about

Jarrett (Ford), Gordon

Burton - but, had the rain not come, Mayfield

Stewart

or Jarrett would possibly have been the victor, nei

Burton (Pontiac), Andretti (Pontiac), Matt

ther suffering damage in

Kenseth (Pontiac).

the final caution melee.

Points standings: J Burton 763, Gordon 751, B Labonte 737, Martin 714, Skinner 697, Jarrett 677, W Burton 629, Mayfield 629, T Labonte

Caution two aired on

Series ‘Rookie’ Tony Stewart finished aq

almost one mile an hour faster than outside sitter

lap 42 for rain, the red flag waving three laps

extremely creditable sixth on a track ‘too tough to

later for the inclement

tame.’

Johnny Benson, who post¬

hours 44 minutes.

in points.

Gordon won the pole with a 173.167 mph lap,

(Chevy), Martin (Ford),

Final result: J Burton

weather and lasting two

(Pontiac),

Hamilton (Chevy), W

601, Irvan 589.

(Ford), Mayfield (Ford),

- MARTIN D CLARK

Atlanta makes it two in a row for

Gordon, but Skinner tops points

that the team was not gelling with the driver, added to which they have a temporary sponsor, Textilease, to keep happy.

done to the cyhnder heads are within the guidelines of this rule,” referring to a rule that states, ‘all

■ Triad Motorsports has with

must be submitted to NASCAR

March 14, also becoming the

before any proposed modification \vill be eligible for approval.’

than one event.

Roush team-mates Mark Martin and Jeff Burton finished third and fourth. Burton using a provisional

mduced set-up problems. stablemate,

ond penalty for speeding in the pj^g^ ^ut rallied to finish fifth, even

three now m the top 10 in pomts.

. ^ x

drawn from racing until funding is found from a backer - both of

cylinder heads must be NASCIAR approved and all modifications

JEFF Gordon won his second race in a row at Atlanta on first di-iver in 1999 to win more

major hit at Darlington, when he

Gordon spent the first half of the race struggling with set-ups in the cold, damp, rain-delayed race, but when halfway rolled around,

plug on a full schedule.

crashed his Busch Series Pontiac into the outside and then inside

become a familiar style to win by

■ Donnie Disharoon parted ways with Darrell Waltrip and Carter Haas Motorsports prior to Atlanta - Disharoon, serving as crew chief

retaining walls during practice, breaking his irght shoulder blade.

'Ti-iad’s sponsors for the 1999 sea

son did not come through with the agi-eed funding, so team manager Hut Stricklin decided to pull the

for the new team, has moved to

Lan-y Hedrick Motorsports, where

■ Bobby Labonte’s chance of win

ning the 1999 Winston Cup took a

Labonte entered the event sec ond to Mike Skinner and was

forced to relinquish the steering wheel to Matt Kenseth during the

he will undertake the same duties

second caution - Kenseth finished

for David Green.

tenth, dropping Labonte down one place in points. ’

■ Following Atlanta, Jeff Gordon

Kenseth, a ‘Roush development driver,’ won the previous day’s

put to rest rumours that he would

accept a Formula One drive - “I’m

Busch Grand National event.

Gordon moved forward in what has

2.537 seconds over Bobby Labonte.

Gordon was one of the first to pit during final round stops, his Hendrick team going for two tyres and fuel, the remainder of the

front ninners following suit. Gordon passed Labonte for the final time on lap 304 and, vrith the win, he moved from fifth to third

in the points standings. Polesitter Labonte looked a firm

favourite and, along with points leader Mike Skinner, the pair led

many laps and raced hard during

hit in the points standings, drop-

the first half of the 325-lapper.

ping from second to 11th after major

handling problems, the team even changing shock absorbers - Wsdlace finished 35th, 14 laps off the pace

37th slot to start, with Martin struggling until late with self-

Chad Little finished ninth all

and ended his top 10 finish run. Dale Jan-ett picked up a 15-sec-

^ broken jack hampered his g- ^

Along with a delayed start, the P^S“lt: Gordon (Chevy)\ weather also played a part in two i/qoqc v, n t u +

short cautions for precipitation. f® Skinner is, amazingly, the only driver ot have completed aU laps run f

in this year’s four events - he’s also

’ ’ Skinner (Chevy),

the only driver to have finished in the top 10 in all races.

(Pontiac), Little (Ford), M Waltnp (Chevy).

Childress crew, who changed a battery just past the halfway mark, but managed to keep the

Labonte 598, Gordon 586, J Burton 578, Martin 554, Jarrett 512, Little 50^, Irvan 498, M

Credit is due to Skinner’s

Lowes Chevy on the lead lap. Rusty Wallace took the biggest

Points standings: Skinner 690, B

Waltrip 489, W Burton 487.

- MARTIN D CLARK

1998/99 AUSTRALIAN SUPERSPEEDWAY SERIES

NASCAR

AUSCAR

TenyW/hoon,#25BPCarCareR»tiTbW

2. 3. 4.

Kim Jane,#27 Bob Jane T-marts/GoodyearChev645 Mal^Bre^^«-.«8Pemzo^ragv^rek^T:as(^ Russel bigal,^ Vision AlanTisiF>eworisKr^Chev.j624

I. 2. 3. 4.

Leigh VVaddns, #47 Watidns Racing Falcon 520 MatthewWhite,#28MaxrCii)effTei^iterCdore 505 Nathan Pretty, #2 Dewalt/GoodyearCdore ....495 TonyMalley,#l6TramstopGardenCtrC’dore .470

Neville Lance,#! 4 AutoproFordThunderbird ..604

Darien McDonakt<3iretian Holden Cdore

6. 7.

.553 Terry Byers, #26 Byers MotorsportChev Bob Middleton, #95 Whiteline Transport Chev..531

a 9. 10.

RodieyJane,#3BobJaneTeleccimmunicationsaiev530 Gene Cooir, #41 Shell Helw Ford Thunderbird ..444 Ken James, #01 Revell/Wet Paint Chev .443

6. 7. 8. 9.

Anthony Leitdi, #66 Atot Heavy HaiiageCdore...435 Nicole Pretty, #3 Dewah/GoodyearCdore .422 Shane Houlahan, Houlahan Racing C'dore 394 Leigh Moran, Sheen Panel Service blastings ....591

EdwardWoods,#S5HeadStijdDeveLCdore

.670

/mcMi

SPORTSMAN

454

389

AndrewGMespie,#09Pennzoil/B&AAuto .:...520

2. 3.

Graeme Gilliland, #18 Repco/G&G Engineering .478 .469 Ron Savas, #00 Balnarring Panels

4. 5. 6.

.461 Gerry Raleigh, #2 PPG Solar Warrior... .452 Tony Flowlett, #02 Pedders Suspensions Sam Milton, #42 Chris Milton Engine D’ments...447

7. 8.

John Umseher,i«9 Union Steel LeaimeRoss,#! BobJaneTmiarts

9. Chris Robinson, iS4 Tyre Seal 10. Dallas Crane, #30 Dallas Crane Racing

.438 .412 .411 398

26 March 1999

Tko.

lJ\

Racer Scoreboard U FARR CLAIMS KRIKKE MEMORIAL VICTORY New South Welshman Robbie

Farr grabbed the gold when he won

the Krikke Memorial

Sprintcar meeting at Bunbury City and Regional Speedway on March 20. Fan- won from Ron Krikke and

California’s Randy Hannagan. Krikke took over the front run

ning from early leader Hannagan and, when the American’s top wing began to buckle, Farr slipped by to gi-ab second. Fan- then got his chance to pull alongside Krilcke in turns 1-2 and, as they hit the back straight, he loaded up the O’Brien Aluminium Avenger chassis and shot past. Three laps later, Krikke fought back in one of the best races seen

ROOKIE Francis

Sprintcar “Frank”

racer

Ramsdale

upset the establishment after resisting incredible pressure from new SRA series leader Jeff

Judd to win the crash-punctuat

ed 25-lap feature at Ballarat’s Redline Raceway on March 20.

Upset win by

rookie Ramsdale

By virtue of his close second place just ahead of Tim McCubbin,

rolled the Clifford Excavation J&J.

Thomsen, who broke his front-end

Judd now holds a slender 10-point

Judd, driving the Camperdown/Andy’s

Service

and claimed Rod Matthews, who then rolled and Shane Stephenson,

lead going into the final round at

Station Euroa Gambler, started out

Avalon International Raceway on

of position three and, after passing McCubbin on lap 3, exerted pres

march 27.

Top qualifier Ramsdale inverted the front row and led away through all restarts in his Pakenham Upper Licensed Store/Watson Steel Fabrications Fred Edwards-owned

JSR - he was passed only briefly for the lead by Judd, but was saved by a red light when Darren Russell

Autopro

who hit the turn 2 concrete hard. While the two main combatants

to collect the spoils of victory. Runner-up Ron was obviously upset - “I’m very disappointed for my crew and my family,” Krikke said. “I tried to do it for the boys, but we will be back.”

hasn’t given up and is still in con

Once again, a consistent run by McCubbin in the PPG/Specialised

tention.

American Randy Hannagan

Panels J&J saw the third-genera.tion racer on the podium.

2572, Van Bremen 2491, Rankin 2017, Boult 1841, Bell 1787,

Victims of the rough track includ ed Roy Wright, Russell, Ian

Matthews 1693, Milburn 1568, Thomsen 1523, Maggs 1419.

The quietly-spoken driver, who operates a tnicking business in the mining town some 600 km east of Perth, wasn’t sure if he’d even race, admitting after wards that work commitments were too demanding.

He only made his mind up to fly to Perth the night prior - and there was no looking back after he won the race from Mick Goode and Scott Glazebrook.

Staged before a big crowd. Little started on the

inside of the seventh row, quite some way back from

pole-sitters Steven Doyle and Aaron Holswich. With eight laps to go in the 25-lapper, Glazebrook’s lead had been reduced, seeing the top four together in

early leader was back in fourth place and Little was leading from Tony Tucknott and Goode and that’s the way it stayed in the dash for the line. Tucknott made a desperate higher move on the last lap and nearly eclipsed Little, but in the end it was for nothing, officials disqualifying him for not going to the back of the pack after a first lap incident. The 1997/98 WA champion was not happy, but his misfortune promoted Goode to second and allowed Glazebrook to be on the podium.

■ Eighteen year-old Jamie Maiolo claimed the Sprintcar feature race after starting from the third I'ow of the grid - Mailo won from Mark Wells and Mike Figliomeni. -DARREN O’DEA

a fantastic duel.

well after a dismal run in his

heats and was relegated to the fifth row of the 19-car grid. Out front. Waters resisted attempts by Max Carlin to close the gap and seemed set for certain victory until a flat right rear on lap 24 had the Falcon driver in severe trouble.

fourth.

■ FIRST FOR HANNAGAN

Race-leader Glazebrook’s experience was his only downfall, as he hesitated - in the blink of an eye, the

Peter McCarthy - the defending champion’s Mildura Crash Commodore wasn’t travelling too

cars into the corners, Farr opening

up a small lead on Krikke as they passed lapped traffic and going on

next weekend, Mick Van Bremen

KALGOORLIE driver Joe Little is sure glad he defended his Marlows Speedcar Grand Prix crown at Perth’s Claremont Speedway on March

time this season and over 20 nom inations fronted in an effort to wrest SAl from Mildura veteran

Waters managed to hang on, however, taking the flag for his second SA crown, half a car length ahead of Carlin, who was destined to repeat his runner-up placing

will go head to head for the title

Little defends WA Speedcar GP crown

The Adelaide racetrack was

running Modifieds for the first

at Bunbury this season. But Farr, the reigning Australian Speedcar Champion, wasn’t done and, in the blink of an eye, was back in front again. The leading duo then went bal listic as they literally threw their

sure on the leader for the remain der of the race.

Pointscore: Judd 2582, McCubbin

A veteran of nearly 20 years racing. Waters had his XR Pennzoil Falcon firing well, claim ing two heat wins and a third to line up for the 25-lap title race on the front row as top pointscorer.

became the first overseas dri

ver to claim the prestigious Coca-Cola King of the Wings at Claremont Speedway on March 12.

from last month’s Victorian State

Title - McCarthy came home Waters had earlier broken the

10-lap record in one of his resounding heat wins, while other heats went to Trevor Mills, Carlin,

Greg Gartner and Neil Howard. ■ MICK’S SA SEDAN TITLE Victoria’s Mick Nicola barn-

stoi-med his way to an emphatic victoiy in this season’s SA Super Sedan Championship, after a keenly-fought race at Waikerie Speedway on March 14. For the second time in three

years, the SA Title was run at two tracks

The pocket-sized Californian stole the Sprintcar event from hometown hero Pino Priolo in the

dying stages of the non-stop 25-lap event and along the way scorched to a new track record.

Ryan Farrell finished third, with defending champion Ron Krikke fourth.

The declared Speedcar feature race was claimed by youngster

Tony Gibbs, who took his second feature for the season. - DARREN O’DEA

■ WATERS WINS... JUST Mildura’s Chris Waters ran

out a worthy, if rather lucky,

over

one

weekend,

Renmark hosting the first round of heats for the 25-car entry. Penola’s David Gartner led the

points chase after the preliminar ies and the former Street Stock star seemed set for honours in the

final, until his car suffered a bro ken diff after a racing incident. Adelaide’s Bill Miller finished

runner-up, ahead of Kadina’s Steve Murphy, Barossa Valley’s Steve Vaughan and former SA champ Steve Stewart. Winner of the past two SA titles, Peter Logue was unable to defend his crown due to injuries, but the AUS3 car of Nicola was

always going to be hard to hold

winner of the SA Modified

back on the slick Riverland race

Sedan Title at Speedway City

tracks.

- DAVID McNABB

on March 13.

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26Mdrch1999

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Three-way SRA Mount victor: I&V Truck Repairs-sponsored Mike Van Bremen how sits in third spot in the SRA pointscore, behind Rosedale winner

THE points battle in this sea

B-Main in the East Coast Auto

son’s SRA Series has intensified

Spares/Dalton Tuckpointing Gambler, spun - Anderson, who was about to lap Dalton for the sec

to become a tight three-way bat tle with just two rounds remain ing after the running of roimds nine at Rosedale Raceway on

Stephen Bell and points leader Tim McCubbin.

March 6 and round ten at Mt Gambier on March 13 -

Stephen Bell and Mike Van Bremen were the respective vic

ond time, couldn’t avoid him and

collided, ending both their races. Bell now assumed the lead grate fully and went on to complete the last five laps with a handy gap over Gary Chippindall and Judd. 'The big mover of the last few laps

tors, but the wins were achieved in contrasting styles.

was McCubbin, who went from

The factor which set up the intense three-way points scramble was the consistency of Jeff Judd and the bad luck that points leader

missing out on third. Completing the finishers were Wayne Milburn, Allan Barlee, Steve Knight, Gerard Boult, Frank

Tim McCubbin suffered at the lat

Ramsdale and Darren Russell.

ter event.

■ Thirteen proved to be unlucky for McCubbin, when his charmed run of luck finally ended at Mt

While Stephen Bell was the vic tor in the return of big-bore Sprintcar racing to Rosedale, David Anderson, fresh from his record-

Leslight looking good

ttle

sixth to fourth on the last lap, just

Gambier. Taking advantage of it, however, were championship chal lengers Van Bremen and Judd, who finished first and second, respec

breaking fifth South Australian Sprintcar Championship, was the real star in the Wagga Mobile Cranes/Bandag Morwell Foster. Anderson was extremely unlucky not to come away with the first place prize and to maintain his per

tively, with rookie Darren Russell putting in a stellar drive to progress out of the Osprey Carpet Care B-Main onto the podium. Maggs thought his run of bad

fect record of three wins from three SRA series starts.

points and won the Pro Shock cour

luck had ended when he topped the

JOHN Leslight clocked yet another Super Sedan feature

When the green flag flew to get the feature underway, Leslight

Randall edged ahead with just two laps to run.

race

Archerfield

went straight to the front and

Anderson, who last competed here back in the mid to late eight ies, was clearly the class of the field, looking both smooth and fast

that’s where he remained. Brims slotted into second ahead

on the dirt surface. Anderson won both his heats to

alongside.

Speedway on March 13 and vir tually wrapped up thel998/99 Coastline Vehicle Transport Super Series pointscore in the

When the chequer appeared, Leslight was almost half a lap clear of his rivals and finished the

earn the Max Diunesny Motorsport Pro Shock for highest pointscorer and then inverted the top six cars

start and led the pack away, with Maggs running in second from Judd. Roy Wnght, on his return to racing, had put in a demon first lap

win

process.

Starting from pole position aboard his American Truck Parts

Camaro.Leslight led from the out set and expanded his lead signifi cantly in the second half of the race

his

rivals

became

embroiled in a fantastic scrap for the minor placings. Blair Granger put in the most

misfire to reclaim fourth from

Anderson made contact with Mike

When Van Bremen encountered

the fight for the minors intensified.

Randall.

Van Bremen, breaking the steering

lapped traffic and had some close

calls, it allowed Maggs to close right in, but the Lilydale plumber was never able to get past. Sadly, Maggs’ great run came to an end when the rear brake caliper came off and he half-spun in turn 2. Half a lap later, the car half-spun again when McCubbin was trying to pass him and the pair spun, McCubbin being hit by Rankin,

When a vibration forced Brims

Des Korn (Boral Pontiac), Kelvin

to slow his pace a little, his pur suers closed the gap and a thrilling

Hamilton (Murdoch’s Car Court

battle developed. McHugh continually looked for

Commodore), Graham Lehmann (Wynn’s Commodore) and Bruce

some space on the inside, but

Camaro), Paul Geary (Infinity

wasn’t going to surrender his posi

Marshall (Federal Tyres Commodore) completed the field. ■ Dirt Modifieds provided the

home in second spot ahead of Ross Brims (Independent Fuels Camaro), who was seeking his

tion without a fight.

supporting action,

Girdlestone

Warehouse

Pontiac),

(Racers

Jamie

McHugh (Miami Suspension Camaro) and Wayne Randall (Ian Boettcher Motors Pontiac) were

next in line after 30 non-stop laps in what was one of the best races of the season.

Van Bremen made the better

night with maximum points. Granger finished a fine second ahead of Girdlestone, with McHugh overcoming an engine

Brims was in defensive mode and

Nick

Bremen onto the pole with Maggs

of McHugh, Granger, Girdlestone and Randall, with Gee sliding to a halt on the infield on lap 10. With lapped traffic proriding no obstacle, Leslight skipped clear as

polished drive of his career to bring his Retravision Pontiac

third feature win in succession.

tesy of Max Dumesny Motorsport. He then inverted only the front row for the feature, which put Van

When McHugh drifted high on lap 24, Granger and Girdlestone, making his first Brisbane appear ance for the season, slipped under neath.

Granger’s forward progress con tinued on lap 26, with a sizzling pass around the outside of Brims to snare second.

McHugh’s backslide continued when

both

Girdlestone

and

with

Ian

Vickery surviving a couple of late race restarts to take out the 20-lap feature event.

Haring taken the lead on lap 2, Vickery had to withstand a late race challenge from Toowoomba’s

Ray Klarich before securing the win. Polesitter Jarrod Duckworth

annexed third spot, ahead of Don Stephenson and Mark Owen. - CHRIS METCALF

for the feature race.

At the first attempted start, Van

Bremen’s

I&V

Truck

Repairs/Penrite Foster, which

slewed across the front of the pur suing pack onto the infield. “That was the worst two seconds

of my life,” was the Flying Dutchman’s comment on being sideways in front of the pack - Van Bremen requested two minutes to repair the car, but ran out of time.

On the second restart, Anderson, now starting fourth, swept around

to be quickly up into the top six.

who was on McCubbin’s tail.

his pursuers and was never again

Wright maintained fourth from Matthews, Boult, Stephenson, Enderl, Blair Jones, Dalton, Ramsdale and Troy Shiels. With just two rounds remaining McCubbin now leads on 2263 points

headed, until his unfortunate

from Judd 2258 and Van Bremen

demise just five laps from the end. On lap 21, Ron Dalton, the win ner of the Osprey Carpet Care 100

on 2236 - Rankin is slightly further

the outside of turns 1-2 to be in the lead as the field headed down the

back straight for the first time. He immediately opened a gap on

adrift on 1911.

- BRETT SWANSON

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26 March 1999

M<Comb again

Western Auto

Speedway WESTERN Auto Speedway, the newest Victorian speedway in Bacchus Marsh, is getting set for its official opening on April 24, after the successful running of a charity day on March 14.

DEAN McComb won his second

Cameron Gessner (Union Steel

feature race in as many weeks

Maxim) and Sutherland sharing

when he steered his Titan

Perfect weather saw a crowd of about 4,500 people in attendance, pro

moter and track designer Geoff Trewin welcoming race fans and com petitors.

“This complex has been a long time in the planning and dreaming and it’s only just the beginning,” stated Trewin. “I believe this will be differ ent in many aspects to what most of you would normally see. Western Auto Speedway will host up to twenty night events in the following sea son and promises, to open seven days a week for practice and hire pur

As the field hit turn 3 in prepara tion for the green, Gessner jumped on the gas way too early and jumped the start by a considerable

on March 20.

Into turn 2, Sutherland got out of shape and was tagged by Scheurele, sending both cars into orbit - although Sutherland took no further part in proceedings, Scheurele was able to replace the top wing and rejoin the fray.

self elevated to the front row of the

grid when Matthew Sutherland (Betta Electrical Tognotti) flipped

Australia’s own triple world champion and former speedway racer Sir Jack Brabham was in attendance and spent plenty of time talking to the Speedcar and Sprintcar drivers about their modem day machines. “I wanted a low key affair with about twenty cars, just to see how everything went,” explained Trewin. “Instead, I got 80 cars and four and

out of contention on the opening lap. Nathan

McDonald

(Fraser

Shores Schnee) charged home in the latter stages of the race to fin

a half thousand people. “We raised about $6,000 for the local hospital, as well as the Lions,

Rotary and Apex clubs, which also got a slice of the pie, as did the local council.”

The Compact Speedcars, Sprintcars, Super Sedans, Modified Sedans, AMCA Nationals and Vintage Speedcars all put on a gi-eat show for the crowd.

The Western Auto Speedway will be officially opened on April 24 and

lished Sprintcar protocol regarding

rollover to finish third aboard his Lucas Oils Maxim.

cars involved in a race stoppage. Once underway, the race ran

Making their first Queensland appearance since the Australian Open in January, only 10 of 12

non-stop and McComb never looked likely to lose as he cleared away

nominated entries fronted for com

fuss, collecting his third feature win for the year, clocking a new 25-lap record and moving to the top of the series pointscore.

cept and former racer of V8 Supercars, AUSCARs, Formula Holdens and HQs, is setting

himself up to add another string to his bow by hitting the speed way scene on a permanent basis.

Williams, who raced Melinda Dumesny’s Sprintcar at Mt Gambler on last year’s Easter trail, has teamed up with Ballarat busi nessman John Brewer’ who has put

together an excellent package. Williams and Brewer took their ex-David Anderson/Colin Bulmer

engine with them to Sydney to install into the ex-Bob Tunks

Johnboy chassis - the sale of the Johnboy will have precluded Tunks from racing in the rescheduled con-

elusion to the NSW Sprintcar title. “The deal with the Johnboy from Bob 'Tunks is an excellent deal and

includes lots of spares and support from Bob himself and the Johnboy builders in the USA, who would like to see a Johnboy racing in Victoria,” Brewer told Motorsport News. “We’ll run it as soon as we can

get it together,” enthused Williams. “I’m rapt that this is happening and

start, but initially we’ll just be look ing for a basic set-up until I learn how to drive the car properly,” Williams said. “But Bob has offered

to help us with set-up advice, which we’re veiy pleased about.” Williams’

inclusion

the

Victorian Sprintcar ranks is a wel come addition and, given his ability in the many diverse classes of cars he’s raced, it shouldn’t take long before he’s is mixing it with the reg ulars.

am really looking forward to it. Sprintcar racing represents every thing that circuit racing doesn’t close sideways action.” The car will be supported by

run the entire SRA Series and,

Brewer’s business - Ranbuild Steel

erally run over summer on a

Buildings - which manufactures and erects prefabricated steel build ings for agricultural, commercial,

Saturday night, I hope there won’t be too many, if any, clashes with

industrial and domestic uses.

Williams.

“We know we will struggle at the

back, Scheurele was promoted to

Scheurele bouncing back from a

Williams t rare John^ y Sprinter BRUCE Williams, the man

With Gessner banished to the the front row in a decision that seemed to contradict the estab

After the preliminaries, nine cars remained for the main event, with

-BRETT SWANSON

margin.

ish a close second, with Andrew

petition.

wiU feature Sprintcars, Super Sedans and the AMCA Nationals.

the front row.

Garages and Carports Eagle to victory in round five of the BXI at Series Sprintcar Toowoomba’s Charlton Raceway Starting from position four in the 25-lap event, McComb found him

poses.”

behind the Junior 'I'ourer con

“Our plan for next season is to

depending on how we’re going, who knows? With speedway being gen

the Junior 'Tourer schedule,” stated

from his rivals with a minimum of

McDonald, who demoted Scheurele from second on lap 6, chased valiantly throughout and closed the gap considerably in the latter stages in an impressive dis play. Scheurele remained in third, ahead of Tony Bridge (AB Bridge Removals Stealth), Gessner and Darrell Hodges (Hoosier Maxim), who went into this meeting as series leader.

Veteran Bob Kyle (NQ Engine Reconditioning Gerhardt) and David Grose (Crazies/BXI J&J)

completed the field. ■ Jim Gollagher (Just Ford Wreckers Redline) looked to have

the 20-lap Litre Sprintcar feature race safely in his keeping until his engine expired less than two laps from home, handing the win to Queensland champion Andrew Shilletto. Jason Bell finished in second

position, ahead of Peter Campbell, Murray Fleming and tbe ailing Gollagher. - CHRIS METCALF

■ Peter Thorley driving his Brisbane Diff and Gearbox J&J Holden, took out the Limited Sprintcar feature race honors at Archeifield on February 27 after downing a strong field of cars. Following Thorley home were Adrian O’Connell (J&J Hemi), Danny Devers (Challenger Holden), Shane Conradi and David Rodgie.

■ The fabulous Surfair Speedway at Moruya on the New South Wales south coast will host a two-day feast of dirt track motorcycle racing when it presents both the Senior and Junior New South Wales Short Track Championships on April 3-4.

Supported by O’Brien Aluminium, the NSW Short Track Championships will be held under lights on both nights, with the Juniors running off on the first night and the Seniors the next, with rac ing starting at 4 pm. Surfair (pictured below) is a big, sweeping, 450-metre granite circuit

located at one of the prettiest towns on the coast, offering excellent view ing and amenities and making the championships a must over Easter. A strong support programme of FTX Motorcrossers, Sidecars, Sliders and Classics have been engaged by the Surfair management, as well as an excitement-charged Harley-Davidson versus Triumph shootout. In February, irders from all directions came for the Jack Hogg Classic, giving a unanimous thumbs up to the venue for the NSW

Championships. Further details are available from

club president Geoff Kimpton on (02) 4472 5918, with accommoda tion and tourist information avail able from freecall 1800 802528.

-BRE'TT SWANSON

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THE

PRIX ^ BOATS

26 March 1999

MURWILLUMBAH’S

Ross

Brims emerged victorious at the conclusion of a drama-charged Super Sedan feature event at Maryborough Speedway on March 6.

Brims (Brims Bulk Haulage Pontiac) took the lead from Ian

Marshall (Federal Tyres Commodore) on the opening lap and remained out front as his rivals

battled furiously for the minor placings.

The return of Super Sedan com petition to Maryborough after a two year absence attracted a huge crowd and a good 19-car field for round 13 of the Coastline Vehicle

Transport Super Series, setting the scene for what should have been a

terrific night of racing. Heat

winners

were

Jamie

McHugh (Miami Smash Repairs Camaro), Michael Gee (Weatherall Prestige Autobody Falcon), Rod

Maryborough mayhem Gough (American Truck Parts Pontiac) and John Leslight (American Truck Parts Camaro).

On a track that is extremely nar row and slick, time trials became

even more important than ever and had a significant impact on the fea ture race results.

McHugh, fresh from his superb Australian Title qualifying perfor mance the previous weekend, stopped the clock at 15.896 seconds to cut the quickest lap. Leslight was next best, followed by Gee, Brims, Marshall,' Gough, Wayne Randall (Ian Boettcher

Commodore), Des Korn (Boral

Tyres Camaro) and Bob Domjahn. The pre-race lottery saw McHugh invert the first three rows, promot ing Gough to the pole slot for the 30 lap feature. At the third restart, a 10-car pileup ensued when Gough slammed

with the race leader. The resultant domino effect saw

both McHugh and Randall hard on the brakes and the latter spinning

But Brims remained out front

through to the chequer to record his second feature win in succession.

to a halt.

the carnage was cleared, Domjahn, Blair Granger (Retravision Pontiac) and Warren joined Gough on the

McHugh was somehow deemed responsible and banished to the back, a decision that led to much post-race debate and frayed tem

Commodore) were next in line, with Ede (Repco Corvette) and Kay the only other survivors.

pers. When a seething McHugh

-CHRIS METCALF

grass.

Stewards opted for a single row

Motors Pontiac), Peter Warren (North

but drifted high through the open

Concrete

that was unsuccessful and had to

jump on the brakes to avoid contact

stopped to discuss the matter with

officials, his left rear tyre caught alight before he begrudgingly rejoined half a lap in arrears, only to head infield a few laps later.

the turn 2 concrete head-on - once

start at this point, with just 10 cars remaining without a lap completed. Marshall inherited pole position,

Coast

Into turn 2 on lap 15, Leslight attempted an inside move on Brims

ing lap and allowed Brims, Gee, Leslight and McHugh to slip through. McHugh moved into third briefly with an inside pass through turn 2, only to be muscled aside by Leslight in turn 4. Lap 13 proved costly for Gee, as he was demot

ed by Leslight, McHugh and Randall.

Leslight, a rejuvenated Randall,

Gee and Graham Lehmann (Wynns

Wright tops NSW Litre Sprintcars IN an enthralling display of controlled aggression, Litre Sprintcar drivers Andrew 'Wright, Nathan Smee and Clay Laneyiere finished in the top three spots in the Newcastle Kawasaki NSW Litre Sprintcar Championship. After the first three rounds - held at Gilgandra, Nowra and Parramatta - Smee went into the fourth and final round at the

Newcastle Motordrome with a healthy points lead. Costly: Ian Marshall ran wide on the opening lap.

claims Coke Nats

CAMPERDO'WN charger Jeff Judd continued to enhance his reputation as a classy competitor when he led 24 of 25 laps to take out the CocaCola Nationals, round eight of the SRA Sprintcar Series, at Avalon on February 27.

Jones and Shore shared row two, followed by Van Bremen and Rankin.

Boult, Saillard, Daryn Maggs, Ian Thomsen, Wayne Milburn, Allan Barlee, Phil Johnson, Clifford, Russell and Simone completed the grid.

On the opening lap, Saillard broke his steering

Judd’s biggest problem, apart from Gosford’s John Shore, was maintaining his rhythm and concentration

going into turn 2 and rolled to a halt - Shore also had

ter Smee’s two seconds and one win on Friday and a win in Saturday’s heat race.

The feature race turned into a two-car affair, Laneyiere’s Gordon MacDonald Electrical-sponsored car against the Cenovis/Computers Reborn Nissan-powered car of Smee.

These two drivers put on a spectacular show, keeping the crowd glued to the on-track action as Smee worked hai-d to take the lead, only to have it taken from him at the restarts.

But, in a desperate dice to the chequerer, Laneyiere and Smee, run ning high, encountered a slower, lapped car, forcing them to take evasive action which allowed Wright to snatch victory from third position in what was a very entertaining conclusion to this four round champi onship.

survived a moment when he rode a wheel and hiked

through numerous incidents.

the car.

Shore actually hit the lead at one point, but then his bad Avalon luck returned, a rose joint on the steering breaking and ending his race. Championship points leader Tim McCubbin made a successful return to racing after injuring his shoulder by working away for a second place finish, while local hero Rob Rankin had an up and down night, but man aged to grab third at the end of a gruelling drive. With half a dozen Victorian cars off racing inter state, the field of 26 cars was better than expected

When the race got underway for good, Judd led from Shore and McCubbin, with Jones, Rankin Thomsen and Van Bremen next.

On lap 5, Rankin tried a move which took himself, Jones and Van Bremen temporarily out of the race. As these three sat on the infield, Johnson and Maggs made contact before a further lap had been run and Maggs rolled.

Rankin and Van Bremen both effected repairs and rejoined the race, but frantic efforts to repair Maggs’ car were in vain and, despite restarting the race, Maggs was disqualified for some minor infringements. Judd led Shore away again until Shore made his move, the latter hitting the lead on lap 10. Shortly after. Van Bremen’s car ground to a halt on the front straight and Clifford clipped the stricken

and included interstaters Shore and Gerard Boult and

also first-timer to Victoria, Darren Saillard (Komatsu Johnboy). Former F500 campaigner Troy Shiels was also

making his debut in the Droste Tognotti. The heat racing was basically problem-free, with Boult, Mike Van Bremen, Rankin, Saillard, Blair Jones and Judd all recording wins. Shane Stephenson rolled in heat 4, bending his

racer - both were now out.

When racing resumed. Shore’s steering broke. From here, Judd was untroubled, pulling away from McCubbin and Barlee, who was under pressure

Pennzoil JSR and Rod Matthews hiked and hit the

wall in heat 5, but otherwise there were no other stop

from Thomsen, whose Apex trusses Maxim was flying. Thomsen demoted the bigger-engined car a spot and was looking set for a podium finish when the car hit a rut, hiked and rolled, ending his gallant effort during the stoppage, Barlee changed a flat tyre, send

pages.

Bob Forbes was dicing for a transfer position in the B-Main when he rode the wheel of Andrew Light while trying to lap him and rolled the KL Linear Systems Stealth. The Clifford stable of cars, Geoff Clifford and

ing himself to the rear.

Darren Russell, along with Tony Simone, made the

Over the closing laps, Judd had no trouble out front, taking his-second feature event from McCubbin, Rankin, Boult, Milburn, Motorsport News Hard

jump from the B-Main to the feature.

Rankin won the Max Dumesny Motorsport Pro Shock for being highest pointscorer and then proceed ed to invert the top six cars, which put McCubbin and

Charger Award winner Simone and Barlee - no other cars finished.

Judd off the fi-ont row.

- BRETT SWANSON

Max Dumesny Motorsport

Tassie tourist Ken

cleans up Carrick FOR the first time ever, the Tuckertime King of Wings Series for Formula 500s ven tured to Tasmania’s Garrick’s

Combined Cranes Speedway on

With six laps down, Redpath ended his race when he clipped Viv RocklifTs car while trying to lap him and broke the steering arm. Ken Willsher went on to take a

March 6 and, for the first time this series, someone was able to

comfortable win over

win the Super Challenge Jackpot for winning all of their

Apart from he Super Challenge Jackpot, Willsher also picked up

heats and the feature -

Xoo$irr 1

POINTS STANDINGS after Rd 11

Cruse.

that

the Ozw'heel voucher, the Klotz Oil

someone was defending champi

pack and a tool kit, courtesy of

on Ken Willsher.

Repco Launceston.

Willsher, by virtue of taking a clean sweep of the event, has also taken over the championship points lead, with his cousin, Darryl Willsher, moving to second. Following the Ozwheel top six spin, Ken Willsher was off pole from Adrian Redpath, Darryl

All in all, a good night for the defending champion, who now heads the points chase on 335 from Darryl Willsher 314, Luke Dillon 264, Trevor Harding 241, Ken Sartori 202, Danny Hogan 183, Graham Mollenoyux 178, Ian Burrows 178, Roy Urpeth 170 and Anthony Chitty 151.

Willsher, Kurt Luttrell, Jason Redpath and Kane Cmse.

Ken Willsher led away, with Adrian Redpath hard on his ham mer as they diced for the lead.

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Round seven of the eight race series is at Hamilton’s Western

Speedway in Victoria on April 24. -BRETT SWANSON

1998/99 VICTORIAN SRA SPRINTCAR SERIES

Australian Distributors for

^ ^ RACING TIRE

Wright emerged as top pointscorer for the final, courtesy of two wins and a second in qualifying heats and one win on Saturday night, to bet

26 March 1999

B\ Perer Whitt

- i

Dlf.d

DUNLOP TO THE RESCUE

es AUSTRALIANS Dean Herridge and Glenn Macneall finished the first round of the British

Rally Championship, the Vauxhall Rally of Wales on March 13-14, as the third non kit car.

Driving their Aussie-built Hyundai Coupe FX, Herridge and Macneall suffered a myriad of prob lems during the event, but were nevertheless happy with their end result and the experience gained during their first British event. Although their overall outright result was 29th, the third non-kit

car result is impressive, given their problems and the opposition. The Australian team’s problems began well before the rally started.

when the Hyundai and all their spare parts missed the shipping connection out of Singapore because of bad weather.

As a result, the car didn’t arrive

in England until a day and a half before the event and it then had to

be transported to the other side of Britain to the rally start. The car wouldn’t start in pare ferme at the start of the rally and Herridge and Macneall had to push the car around the start ramp,

where it was then jump started (without penalty). The first stage of the rally was going well until a punctured right rear tyre slowed their progress and then from stage two onwards a fuel pump related problem hampered

the car’s performance. Things didn’t improve much on day two, with another puncture and a con tinuation of the fuel problems. Herridge will now stay in the UK until the next round, the Pirelli International Rally, on April 24-25. Former Daihatsu Challenge win ner Andrew Pinker, with Terry Harryman in the co-driver’s seat, finished 19th outright and 10th in Group N in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5 (despite a second stage roll), while former Aussie resident Ernie Graham was 39th and fourth in

Class N3 in his Peugeot.

Marty Beckton’s Subaru Impreza WRX suffered gear selection prob lems on the fifth stage and retired. - PETER WHITTEN

■ Dunlop will sponsor this year’s Toyota Corolla Cup class in the Australian Rally Championship after the withdrawal of last year’s sponsor, Bridgestone. Bridgestone’s withdrawal, due to touring car commitments, has given Dunlop the opportunity to be involved in the popular series, with competitors to use their SP84-R as the control tyre. AUSTRALIAN SAFARI

Millen’s mount for the Easter

motorsport spectacular will be the radical Toyota Celica 4WD Turbo

■ Entries opened late last month for this year’s Australian Safari,

with which he holds the outright

which will be conducted in the

hillclimb, Colorado USA’s Pikes

Northern Territory from August

Peak.

21-28.

The organisers of the event, which is a fully-sanctioned FLA international cross country rally, are delighted with the constant flow of international enquiries and early indications are that there will be a very strong field of cars and motorcycles from all around the world converging on Australia for this unique event. This year’s new format brings competitors back to populated cen tres each night to enjoy the hospi tality and the friendship which Territorians are noted for.

In addition, the new “loop” for mat is more competitor cost effec tive than in previous Safaris. Also new for 1999 is the

“Formula Four” category, which caters for under 2 litre 4 cylinder 4WDs and should prove to be a popular and relatively inexpensive way to compete in the Australian Safari.

record for the world’s most famous

Millen thrilled the 20,000 strong crowd with the 1000 brake horse

power Toyota at the debut Queenstown event last Easter, but was beaten on race day by his great friend and arch-rival, Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima. Millen is confident that he can

make good the three second 1998 deficit to the flame spitting Suzuki Vitara of the Japanese rally ace however, he has added competi tion this year, with the entry of former World Rally Champion Swede Stig Blomqvist. Blomqvist will be piloting a pur pose UK-built Ford RS200 Group B rally car, sporting 850 brake horsepower and acceleration to match a Formula One car.

The Silverstone Tyres-sponsored Queenstown (Lold Rush International Auto Hillclimb

“Race to the Sky!” will take place in the Cardrona Valley, Central Otago, this Easter, April 2-4.

Competitors looking for more information on the Safari should

log into the new website www.australiansafari.com.au, or phone the Australian Safari office on (03)

9427 9655, or email at advanint@ozemail.com.au

FOREST CLASSIC RALLY

2GO FOREST CLASSIC: Hyundai Lantra of rookies Steve Harding/Justin Miller is pictured on full noise at Yambo (Mike Harding pic). Harding and Miller, both QANTAS 747 pilots and competing in only their second rally, led stage two on

day one, before experienced a battery failure on stage three which cut short their progress, Sunday proved to be even more heartbreaking, the motor letting go on Watagan Road and sidelin ing the pair.

Fourth title for Possum? Rally

we have to wait and see if we are

Bourne hopes to become the first

Champion and Motorsport News Rally Driver of the Year Possum Bourne is itching for this year’s Australian Rally Championship and believes his new machinery will have the goods to win a fourth title this

right,” he said. The Subaru driver was also glow ing in his praise for his young Australian protege, Cody Crocker, who will again drive the Subaru Australia Group N contender this

driver to win four consecutive

TRIPLE

Australian

year.

The fl)ring Kiwi said he beheves that his new Subaru World Rally Car will be up to 0.6 seconds per km faster on stages in this year’s Australian Rally Championship and he hopes this will be enough to hold arch-rival Neal Bates at bay. “You can never be sure about it

until the first special stage, but it is a real weapon and I feel it will do the business,” said the ebullient Kiwi.

“It fells better in every area com

pared to the WRX from last year, but Neal is on better tyres this

year, so it is going to be a very tight struggle,” he added. “The engine has much better

response and power and the trac tion is improved as well, so we are pretty confident.” Bourne believes the opening round at Coffs Harbour on April 10-

11 will be the perfect place for the Subaru WRC to prove itself. T think the roads at Coffs will be

ideal for the new car, but I guess

year.

“Cody is coming along tremen dously. Winning the Group N title last year showed he has what it takes and I reckon another year in

Group N and he will have the pace to be a top contender in an outright car,” Bourne said.

Australian Rally Championships this year, leaving him just one short of equalling Ross Dunkerton’s record total of five

Australian

titles. He believes Bates’ switch to

Michelin tyres will make him a much more formidable foe in 1999 -

“he had to do something; he wasn’t going to be able to match the Pirellis if he had stayed on Dunlops,” Bourne added. -JON'THOMSON

Will Ed return to ARC this year? FORMER Australian Rally Champion and Group N supremo Ed Ordynski could make a return to the Australian Rally Championship this year at the wheel of a Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V.

Although Ordynski wouldn’t officially comment on the return to the Super Series to contest the Production Car class, it is believed he has been working to pull the sponsorship money together to mount an attack on reigning titleholder Cody Crocker’s Subaru Impreza. Ordynski is likely to be paired with veteran Queensland co-driver and former national champion Iain Stewart, who last year partnered Wayne Bell in rounds of the WRC in the works Hyundai - the highly experi enced duo in an up to date car would prove to be a formidable team as they attack the five round series, before possibly moving up to an Evo VI Lancer for Rally Australia in Perth in November. Ordynski sat on the sidelines last year, only competing in Rally Australia after a fracas over the television levy on the Australian Rally -JON'THOMSON Championship earlier in the year.

■ A steady flow of entries have been received for this year’s “Forest Classic Rally,” a

FINLAND IS TOP RALLY

■ The prestigious 1998 Rally of the Year Award has been won by Neste Rally Finland, the first time it has gone to a ‘nordic’ rally. The award is presented by the World Rally Teams Association, and voted for by the Association’s members who are the leading teams in the sport. FUJIMOTO RETIRES

classic/historic event which is

being held on May 1-2 this year and, if early entries are any indi cation, there will be some exciting ly different vehicles competing in the two-day, 750 kilometre event. Already the entries include a Triumph TR7 V8, a Valiant Charger E38, a Madison V8

■ Reigning Asia Pacific Rally Champion Yoshio Fujimoto has announced his retirement from

710 SSS Violet - in addition, there

rallying, with 24-year old Takuma Kamada taking his place as lead driver in the Tein Sport team. Fujimoto’s 17 year career was highlighted by last year’s Asia Pacific title victory and his Safari Rally win at the wheel of a Celica

are an Austin Healey Sprite,

GT-Four.

Roadster and an unusual Datsun

Escort Mexico,

MGs and a Datsun 2000 Sports roadster.

You can get further information on the rally from Rallysport

He remains the only Japanese driver to win the event.

His aim of having a Japanese driver win the World

Championship has forced his

Promotions, P.O. Box 784,

retirement and the promosing

Wangaratta 3676, phone (03)

young Kamada will take over the

57221250, or fax (03) 57215590

wheel of his Corolla World Rally Car.

NEW SAXON SAFARI DATE

■ The Board of CAMS, at their

meeting on January 28-29, ratified the change of date for the Saxon Safari, Tasmania’s round of the ARC Super Series. The new date of September 11-

Kamada competed in the Malaysian Championship in 1997 and 1998, driving for Tein Sport. COFFS OPEN 1999 RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

■ 'The 1999 Australian Rally

clash with the Rally of China, an event which several regular ARC

Championship gets underway next month with the rurming of the Coffs Harbour Rally on April

competitors look like competing in.

10-11.

MILLEN FOR MOUNTAIN ■ With the final countdown now

sponsor Bridgestone just before

on for the second annual running

Halpin is confident of a near capacity field for the first big event of the year.

12 was agreed upon to avoid a

of the Queenstown Gold Rush International Auto Hillclimb, the

latest glamour entry for the event

Despite losing naming rights Christmas, event director Bob

With the reinclusion of the NSW

announced the backing of NZ com

Rally Championship component this year, entries should again skyrocket. Entry or spectator enquiries can

pany Parker Enzed for his 1999

be directed to either Bob or

has arrived.

Rod Millen, expat Kiwi now 20year Californian resident, has assault on the 15km “Race to the

Christine Halpin by phone on (02)

Sky.”

66551800.

26 March 1999

IM®0(o)[?8m)[?0

Report by

and Tim Macrow next in order.

GRAEME BURNS

ABUNDANT hard luck

stories were countered by the good luck stories of > others at the Bridgestone 1999 Victorian Open Championships hosted by the Eastern Lions Kart

Club at Puckapunyal on March 14. The 440 entries came from

Huge turnout for VIC Open Titles

all around the country to contest 20 classes of racing, with the final-only count sys

tem making it easy for the spectators to determine the results. Junior Piston Port saw

Troy Woolston (46.276) didn’t get a look in in Junior Clubman, Adam Graham making up for his third earli er when he came out in front

of a race-long battle with Taz Douglas. The rest of the field was

spread out by several minor incidents, with Steve Kwiatkowski, Josh Hunt ann Matthew Cherry next. A big biff in the roll round unsettled the RESA Light field, in which Jason Hryniuk (45.551) was anoth er fastest qualifier to do no good. Tim Weitzel had all the

pressure taken away when second-placed Andrew Tomlinson stopped, leaving Barbara Agrimi and Timothy Karmiste to fight it out, wdth Karmiste getting second from Agrimi, while Ashley Wright and Cane Mouat

Peter Hamilton (45.075)

quickest in qualifying, but when it came to the final

Tony D’Alberto pulled away for a comfortable win. The battle for the minor

places continued right up to the line, with Daniel Elliott, Adam Graham, Ben

were next.

Redmond and Ricky Occhipinti in that order. In Clubman Light, Clint

Skinner

Jason

than two kart lengths apart in Clubman Super Heavy. The lead changed several

pace, but Travis Medwin got the best of the starts in the

times with Skinner in front

final and slowly built a small lead over the scrapping bunch of Kevin Stray, Cathcaft and Kane Rose.

fe.Tr1

Nick Agland, Jason Varley Lee

Uhlhorn

Rose next.

Jordie Lindstrom set the

pace (51.742) in Midgets, but Ben McCashney got the run

into

turn

one

then

caught and joined in, places swapping until the final lap when Cathcart passed Stray for second, with Varley and

with

Chris Macri

Rob

(48.352) were never more

Cathcart (46.189) set the

and

Stania, and

at the flag, Stania, Macri, John Budge and L’Argent Wilson following. Adam Klunyk (46.05) had a great battle for second with Clint Cathcart in Formula

Resistance aplenty: Battlescarred Formula 100 Light driver Jamie Whincup after some close racing. It wasn’t all bad news, though, as Whincup was completely untroubled as he took the honours in Formula Yamaha Light. (Graeme Burns pic)

Yamaha Light, while Jamie Whincup built on an early

Lindstrom right on his tail

With six to go, Lindstrom

and Rick Pringle, Josh Tynan, Brendan Turner and Victor Zavadil were swapping places behind the lead-

bumped McCashney and left the circuit, while McCashney recovered to win easily from Turner, Tynan, Zavadil and

in winning. Cathcart was passed late in the race by Klunyk and

ers.

Jake Wignall.

saw Travis Medwin (49.219) having to settle for third place in a field that took sev-

pace-setters to win with the

eral laps before the snake of frhe pair pulled away from the large pack behind them karts split up. By half-distance, Bart Bart Price and Jason Varley Price and Brett Morey were were next.

field spreading out behind Adrian

Fighting hard: Although not at the front, Peter Carr, Glenn Jones, Kenton Ferguson and

Luke Harper had a good dice in Senior National Light. (Graeme Burns pic)

race break to be untroubled

Clubman Heavy saw Adam Murray set the pace (47.39) and be the first of the Rossetto,

Jess

Douglas, Angelo Belmonte and Adam Clark were next

well ahead of the field and

Jace Lindstrom (47.05) set-

in the minor places.

finished in that order, with

tied in front of the field in

Senior National Light

Travis Medwin, Trent lagers

Junior National Light and

tSk

Dirty business: The dust flies as Jamie Carter takes to the infield to avoid an incident in a

r m

closely contested Formula Yamaha Light field. (Graeme Bums pic)

|Briggs & Stratton Manco Funkart Competition Briggs Stratton is offering a Manco Funkart (Quicksilver 5) to the best presented Midget/Rookie driver and kart during 1999 WIN A MANCO FUNKART COMPETITION DETAILS

IP--;

1. The competition is open to any current midget or rookie licence liolder.

2. EntrauLs are required to send in a photo of tliemselves in their kart at a race

Stratton Motorsports cap and t-shirt and will have their photo published in Motorsport New^s. 4. Winners will be judged by Briggs and Stratton and notified by phone.

meeting. The kart must display a Briggs ^BRIGGS &STRAl lUNjs. winner of the main prize of the Manco and Stratton Motorsports sticker that is

risible on the front and side of the kart.

,S. The monthly winner will receive a Briggs and □ For more information on Manco Karts

Forward to:

□ To obtain a Briggs and Stratton Motorsports sticker

Daphne O'Biien Briggs and Stratton .Australia Pii\ate Mailbag ,5048 Dandenong Vic 317,5

Name

^^Ty^n^ame^witt^n^^h^^ng^^^IancoFunkarh

Funkart will be chosen from the monthlv

winners and presented with the prize in

December 1999.

Pbone

Addretis

Cla.ss

p/c

Racing Club

26Mdrchl999

lMo)[kD[7su9®ni} went on to win easily from Tyson Hoffman, with a gap

Rose and Jace Lindstrom. Then Lindstrom went

back to Cade Bell, Cameron

missing, leaving the rest to change places right up to the finish Rose, Elliott, D’Alberto, Hogan and Adam

Farr and Glenn Powles.

Formula Yamaha Heavy produced a great race for the final between Adam Murray (47.242), Remo Luciani, Tony Pugliese, Ralph Van Doom and

Stuart

Morrison

Graham was the order. Clubman Over 40s saw

the field break up after a couple of laps, with Victoria’s Geordie McDonald (47.615)

Murray won, with Luciani, Pugliese, Morrison and George Sera following him

Maxwell, Trevor Ansell, John

home.

Pringle and Trevor Gann.

going on to win from Harley

Joshua

Arandt,

Aaron

Ivermee and Adam Bullas followed.

Peter Tops! led from start to finish in Senior Piston Port.

Jason Burns (44.755) was

second, but went wide and dropped back to fifth, while Keil Johnston took over sec

ond, with Tyson Pearce and Alan Gurr third and fourth, respectively. Shane Price (50.817) raced

Michael Caruso (44.134)

Remo Luciani (45.615) sat

off into the distance when

could not stop local David Clark from winning Formula 100 Light, but

in second place in Formula 100 Heavy for a few laps before taking the lead and

the Mght turned green for the Rookies, leaving Jarrod

Caruso, second, led Mark Winterbottom, James Small

from then on was never trou

Medwin, Ben Small, David Sera, Anthony Contarino,

bled in winning. Gary Pegoraro was shuf fled back by Peter Patrizi and Tommy Nicolaou, with

Andrew Thompson and Ashley Rintoul to fight out the placings - Price won eas ily from Rintoul, Sera,

challenge and was in the right place when it mattered, winning Formula Yamaha

Brad Redmond fifth.

Contarino and Small.

Junior.

the start and had to be restarted later.

and Richard McLeod across the line. Brent Rose withstood the

Tony D’Alberto (46.259) made up a lot of ground to

Junior National Heavy was red flagged soon after

tack onto the front runners,

Troy Woolston (49.665) managed second behind

Daniel Elliott, Jade Hogan,

Kane

Wiltshire,

while

Senior National Heavy saw Shane Turner take the win and fastest time

(50.703).

The race was a hard, close affair, with plenty of side pod rubbing.

Fortunate son: #53 Tim Weitzel is pressured in RESA Light by Jason Hrynuik, who expe rienced a niechanical problem and dropped out, Weitzel taking the win. (Graeme Burns pic) Brett Arnett came from the rear to run with the lead-

and slipped through for the win, Skinner’s efforts drop-

ers and almost pulled off the win, but a late race slip up

ping Macri to second ahead of Jason Stania, Craig

Masterson and Murray Edgar - pace-setter Scott Webb (48.515) had no luck at all.

allowed David Jacobs and Adrian

Clark through, while Adam Hickey was fifth. Rob Macri looked set for a win in Formula Yamaha

Super Heavy, but Chris chased

Skinner him down

Yet another Title:

Midget star Ben McCashney adds the Victorian Title to his current

Western Australian, South Australian and Tasmanian

Championships tally. (Burns pic)

COMING EVINIS

Big boys: Clubman Over 40s saw pack leader #7 Ken Kelsall eventually passed by a threatening #43 Bernie Kelly, who chalked up another career victory. (Graeme Bums pic)

in KARTIi

Top Geelong 5000 WITH everything stacked against it, the Geelong 5000 was nonetheless a great race meeting, the quality of the

fields vying for the $5000 in cash and trophies on February 21 making up for a lack of numbers.

The experimental Formula Rotax Heavy produced a good race between Richard Wooley and Andre Sutej and, when Wooley went wide, Sutej went past for the win, with M Beckwith third. Piston Port and RESA were run togeth er, with Craig Domaschenz winning the for mer, while Tim Weitzel took control of RESA, Cain Mouat dropping Matthew Evans back to third.

Ben McCashney was in a class of his own and won Midgets easily, while Greg Baxter was second and Brendan Turner just pipped Andrew McFarland on the line for third.

The final of Formula 100 Heavy was a showdown between Remo Luciani, Mai

Kilsby and Tommy Nicolaou, who were very close all race distance and finished in that

order, with the rest of the field close behind. Clubman Over 40s was very close for the full 15 laps, with Bernie Kelly getting the lead early but unable to shake Ken Kelsall off his tail. Kiwi Fenemor having a

lonely drive for third. Clint Cathcart always finds a little extra at the hig meetings in Clubman Light and

and Anthony Bullas were were very close, until Macquire was touched and left the cir cuit, Chris Weitzel taking third. Danny Richert and Philip Bateman passed and repassed each other at the front of the experimental Formula Rotax Light class, Richert coming out on top and

-■t-

i)pril2/5

Archer and Hoffman.

Clubman Super Heavy was a runaway win to Anthony Higgs, while Scott Webb couldn’t withstand the challenge of Andrej Sutej, who took second from him.

Western Australia - Kalgoolie

|h' ●

Bateman second - A Gill (NSW) got past

Vince Santoro with a couple to go for third. Half the Senior National Heavy field exited at turn 1, making Adam Hickey’s job of winning a little easier, Dion Gretgrix and Glen Chadwick following behind. Tyson Hoffman took an early lead in Junior National Light, but the scrapping Rhys Archer and Dean Foster caught him up, the trio swapping places all the way to the flag where Foster stole the win from

AKA Nationals

///

Easter Classic

Rpril 4

Swan Hill

HprilH

South West

April 11

Enquiries 03 5032 1968 Grand Annual Classic

Enqurieis 03 55932 9204 Open meeting Eastern Lions

Enquiries 03 9844 4847

David Clark had to work hard for his win

in Formula 100 Light, overcoming Mark Winterbottom and Danny Richert who tried everything to get past, but faded a bit

^.2 t

towards the end and finished as written.

Junior National Heavy saw Bryce

Godfrey, with Adam Bullas on his tail, pull away from Andrew Karabatsakis and Darren Camilleri, Bullas ultimately getting

this event was no exception, Cathcart going on to win comfortably. A five-kart bunch was jostling behind for

the win over Godfrey and Karabatsakis. Remo Luciani used his years of experience and let Mark Zukanovic and Danny Buzadic

space and, after an incident, Kenton Ferguson emerged in second, with Matt

have the start of Clubman Heavy, Luciani

Wall third.

ing them off on his way to a win over

Junior Clubman was an all the way win for Anthony Mrhar, while Travis Macquire

Zukanovic and Buzadic.

biding his time for a few laps and then pick -GRAEME BURNS

^loY\C10«\M4KMa\RG KSSOC\M\OU Pta 03 5449 6362 or 03 0362 1144 Our Web site is: www.kartguide.com.au/vka.htm Our Email address is: vka(gb I40.aone.net.au Victorian Karting Association Inc Registered No: A13837D

lEk)0(o)[7SUXDI7{}

26 March 1999

No Fear here: Jason

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■ Brett Youlden, owner ' of advanced driver educa-

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Yella Terra goes platinum with new rockers GIVEN the opportunity and budget, most serious street or race engine builders would choose

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26 March 1999

JJA

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M]®o®[Fsrj)®i70

26 March 1999

CLASSIFIEDS Sedans/Sports Cars pjrti

Ford Escort CU> Car, Recaro & Scheel interior, Bilstein susp, full race big valve motor, twin 48s, RS extractors, stainless nxiffiers. Must sell. $4,0tXwio. Ph: 03 5168 1371,018 513 928. ,« Group C RX7, fresh 13B p/p and Holinger gearbox, not start

ed. 5:1 LSD, 2 tanks, dry brake fuel system, some spares.

$9,500ono. Ph: 02 6241 0678.

Ford Escort Lotus twin cam, ex-rally car, Boreham arch es. adj Bilsteins, 12 pt cage, all-steel Lotus motor. Ideal Targa Factory team Jackaroo. Race ready for 1999 Australian Safari or off road championship. Fresh engine never raced, Motec

E Type Jaguar, Prod Sports, highly competitive in new cate gory. 325bhp, well developed package. Eastern Creek 1:47. At $37,500 this is cheap!. Ph: 0414 801 699 or 02 4990 1699. 150 Sports Sedan. Full space frame TD Cortina. Big brakes, full body moulds, (loaler 9" rear end, 1 set spare wheels, spare panels. Suil V8 or 6 oyl. Fresh spray job. $13,500. Ph: 0408 113

Celica Rally Car, 1974 GT spec, 4.8:1 pinion, LSD, 4 wheel discs, complete seats/harnesses, lights, rally and road tyres, spares available. $5,300. Ph: 03 9702 2458. .50 Ford GT40 replica kit. Can assist with assembly if required. Has all body panels and space frame chassis. Suit 302 Ford V8.

injection, dual Proflex on all wheels, close ratio gearbox, twin Terra Trips, 180 litre fuel cell, carbon fibre pads, race seats and belts, all FIA approved. Complete car ready to race. $35,000 ono. Numerous spares also available if required. 12 mths rego

$12,950. Ph: 02 4576 1222. ,so

Speedway VL Commodore. 3 litre Nissan-powered, spare motor, panels, struts, plus heaps more. Very quick reliable car.

NOT 679. Ph Ross Nicastri on 0418 226 752.«

$10,000. Ph 03 5659 0111 w

716,024659 6470. .so

car. Must sel. $4,500. Ph: 03 5168 1371 (AH), 018 513 928. .«

BMW 3181 super tourer, ex-Longhurst-McLean, 6-speed sequential, adjustable shocks, 12x BBS wheels, spares include spoilers, diffs, ratios, panels, brakes, shocks, uprights, driveshafts etc. Would consider lease or purchase complete $64,000. Ph 02 9709 4655 or 018 868 306 ,«

© Falcon XY GT. Genuine car, one owner past 22 years, always garaged. WhiteAan interbr, gold stripes, 5 slot wheels, manual trans, H&M headers, Edelbrock Hi-Riser, 780 Holley. $25,000. Ph: Bob Bailey 07 3863 0727 (AH) or 0414 834 684,

LJ Torana Club car, possible Group NC. Fresh 208 motor. XUI gearbox, race seat, roll cage. Exc cond. Complete with spares and tandem trailer with brakes, tool box, tyre rack. $9500 ono. Ph 02 9824 9406 or 0419 461 254,«

LondotvSydney Marathon Falcon KAG 001. Secure a part of Australian motoring history - ready to rally with many spares. Reg'till 11/99. $22,000. Ph:0418 106 116. .50 HQ race car. Very good condition. Complete car $3800. Will sell as complete roller minus engine lor $1800. Ideal conversion to Group Nc. Assistance given to new owner. Ph Mark 0417 461

Super Serian IROC Camaro V43 quick change diff. Six meet ings old, 600rip mota complete and registered. Ready to race. Comes with heaps of spares. Good car. $12,500 complete or $14,500 with good trailer built to carry super sedans with spares underneath car in trailer. Ph 0359751666 or 03 5975 6116

1«

421.«

Falcon XR6 PRC rally car. Big horsepower motor. Wolf 3D management, V8 T5 gearbox, hydratrak diff. multi-point cage,

Gemini race car. Very competitive car. has race wins and fastest laps. Koni suspension, new tyres, brake and HP engine. Four spare wheels and tyres. Heaps of spares. $5000. Ph 07

many spares. $18,900ono. Ph: 03 5447 9302,

54954095 .«

L_dEi-»

t.410n:^{Aft

Sportsman VL Commodore. Fresh motor gearbox. Not raced since rebuild. New fire bomb, updated fuel cell. Consider split ting. Exc cond. Ph 03 5275 5988

Thundcrdomc HQ, log book, brand new sealed motor, twoway radio, spare parts, spare set Pro Star rims, spare bodyshell.

Ford Escort Mkl club car! Twin Webers, Pedders suspen sion, full rollcage, race seat, very good paint job, Yokohama

A008Rs tyres, 1600! iTghe cam, very competitive. $7500 with trailer. Ph 03 5127 8247 or 0415 860 256 548

Mustsell.$7,200ono.Ph:03 9317 8460. .a

Corolla KE55 Coupe, twin cam 2TG built to TRD specs, twin Solex carbies. steel case 5 speed, locked diff. extractors & sports exhaust, adj heavy duty suspension, nothane bushes throughout. Full roll cage, harnesses and seats, Halda twin mas

ter. Terra phone. VDO gauges, 3 sets mags, many spares. Great Club Car and v comp. $4,000ono. Ph: 02 4294 4058,

HOT VC Brock Commodore. Build no 332, 308 V8, 4-spd manual, p/steer, air con, immac original condition, with books

0416070329. ,a

and delivery papers. Reluctant forced sale. DH0493. $15,500.

-●

.v>>

Cruise Mustang '66 coupe, 6 eye t-bar auto. Straight body.

1971 Corotia KE20, 4AGZE Supercharged twin cam. Microtech inj, 5-speed, 3.9 LSD, 4WDB, adj camber, front Konis. Grig body, tittle rust. EC, RWC, 6 mths reg. $6800. Ph 03

Good int. Strong motor. LHD. $7000. Ph 07 5576 1718 149

9777 0314 ,<8

Ph 0418 133 274 .«

^-■-7 Lancer. 13B Bridgeport, fresh rebuild, 51mm Weber, extend

ed fuel bowl, 5 spd. Commodore struts, adjustable sway bars. Cobra seat, alloy race tank. Amaroo 48.1, EC 1:49. Gouldbum 1:12. Priced to sell, $4,000. Ph: 02 48221563. ,50

Austin Healey Sprite "Bugeye." Quickest and best presented in Aust. Extremely competitive. Maintained regardless of cost. Current CAMS log book, ready to race. $23,000 ono. Ph 02

HQ Holden, new Ian Tait engine, new VDO gauges, HM exhaust system. Pro One roll cage, seat, harness, s/wheel,

9652 1482 or 0414 351 364,49

paint. Four spare cars. Never been raced. $11,000. Ph: 03 5472

sport racing wheels, slicks, locked diff and coil over adjustable suspension. Best value Suzuki around at $10,900. Ph Jason

4716.

,50

--Vi

Toyota Supra twin turbo. Fully sorted, ready to race, Motec engine management, dry break fuel system, spare unraced engine. Numerous spare parts, wheels and tyres. $69,000 plus spares. Ph John Briggs 07 3252 3933.«

Suzuki GTi built lor GT Production Racing. Comes with Suzuki

Alfa 2ltr sports sedan roller. Ready to race. Just needs motor and gearbox. Engine mid-mounted. 9" diff. Complete with new seat, harness, radiator, tyres and gauges. Aluminium fuel tank. $5500 ono. Ph 019 331 845 ,48

0414 898 203,50

-i.

Toyota Starlet, factory GT turbos, fully option, 5 speed, 15 inch mags, 107kw motor, plenty ol potential. 12 mths reg and warranty. From $15,000. Ph 02 4721 5060 bh. ,4s

AUSCAR Sportsman XF Falcon. Brand new. season ago. Professionally tjuitt. Never bent. $10,000. Spare race engine, wheels and spares. Also small truck and enclosed trailer avail able. Ph 0413 709 981 or 08 82632159 146

1975 Chrysler Ranger S/wagon. Good cond. Suit enthusiast/restorationArariety club car. No reg. Must sell. $800ono. Ph: 0353314023. ,so

Gemini Series race cars. Four to choose from, from $2,500

to $6,000 (pictured). Many race wins, fastest laps. Nothing to spend. Laps Lakeside in low 68sec. Ph: 07 3391 1682 (BH), 07

61b 1.^

3201 1215 (AH). 149

Sports Sedan Escort MK1 Leyland P76 motor, Borg Warner 4 speed, 4 link Torana disc brake rear-end with watts link,

Formula Ford wishbone type front-end. Needs roll cage, shocks, body work, engine rebuild for completion. $1600 ono. Ph 02 9585 1817 or 0418 423 007 149

Porsche RSCS 1995, LHD, suitable fa GT-P and/or Porsche

Cup categories. All set-up information and spare wheels includ ed. Price $168,000 ono. Ph Bob or Rodney Forbes 02 9450 2100. ,48

Subaru WRX Irrpreza GTP car 1996. Full Pnoflex suspension, two complete and one short motor, 12 wheels, 12 near new Yokohama slicks, Dunlop wets. $35000. Ph Trevor 0412 057 295or0397632B56«

Peugeot 405 Ml Super Tourer. 6 speed X-trac (non sequenlial), AP brakes, 18" wheels. Extensive engine/gearbox rebuild just completed. Make v comp 2 litre Sports Sedan. Urgent sale. With spares, $22,000ono. Ph: 02 4628 8322 (AH), iso AUSCAR Sportsman. VL Commodore, fully prepared for 1998/9 season. Complete with rebuilt Gene Cook tuned 253 V8

Holden engine, dyno sheets available. New updated fuel blad der, brand new fire bomb. Complete with two sets wheels and complete radio system. Ready to race. W/ill consider separating parts. $7,000. Ph: 03 5275 5998.

,50

Westfield SE1 wide, 1997, Toyota 1600cc 20 valve (120kW), 4 wheel disc brakes. IRS. $28,000. Ph: 07 3372 4384.

,49

Suzuki GTi red 90 mod. 8/99 reg. 96spec engine. 46000kms. Sport air filter extractor, Auscar mag wheels. A1 cond. $8500 ono. Ph 0415 158 714 or 02 4735 5142 ,49

Nissan Pulsar GTiR Group N rally oar. Ex-Dean Tighe 1997 QRC champion. Ready to race. $25,000. For more info ph Andrew Theo 07 3883 3133 Brisb. Inspection will not disap

Mazda RX7 senes IV Ex 97 Targa Tas Tenatnp, Wolf comput er, series 5 engine and gearbox. Simmons wheels, mounted slicks, cage, adj suspension inci Konis. Lots of spares. Road reg. Lakeside 63s. Ttly quick road car. $19,800. Ph 02 6622

point. ,48

1147bh,48

IMo)O(o)[F0[J)®[79

26 March 1999 For lease Christian Jory Racing 93 Swift only one position left to become part of this immaculately prepared 2 car team fa 99 Vic series with national rounds. Optional transport, pit crew and all equipment provided. Engine fastest 93 Swift in Aust. Expressbns of interest ph Peter Banfield Molorsport 03 9762 6719a 0417159434ie

sportef, track-tuned suspension paciage. Memo, tow-pack, air-

91D Reynard Fonnula Holden. Championship-winning car is available immediately, complete, rebuilt, ready to race. Perkins engine (1500km to next rebuild). Pi System 2, 2 sets wrheels, full set-up data. Car won 96 (Stokell) and 97 (Bright) Championship. Don't waste a season learning the ropes proven package. $60k. Ph Malcolm Ramsey, 0419 846 374

con, p/steering. $14,990. Ph 018 231 014 a 02 6562 7762.48

Adelaide, iso

Ford Falcon Ed GU 1994,4.0,5-spd, 16x8 AMG wheels, rear

Engines Wayne Gardner Racing offers for sale one

Chevrolet V8 Supercar engine. Rebuilt by Rob Benson (RED) with one day's running only. Complete to flywheel in engine box for transit, $30,000. For details contact

M8HW lUM

wetttii

Eailhmo.iw

(02) 42 262 999 BH. .so

Pantech trailer. Tri-axle, heavy duty coupling, elecT brakes, bench, tyre racks, airlines & fittings, 240v power, 250lt pres

Bowin P6F Historic Formula Ford, 1972. Full rebuild

surised methanol tank, with bowser hose, 80lt water tank, truck

including a new engine just completed. Immaculate. Log book and cert of description. Complete with ratios, spares and reg lightweight trailer. $22,000. Ph; 02 9312 9986:018 253 983. .49

airtanks. Good cond, suit Super Sedan. $12,000ono. Ph; 02

Kart - CRG Charlotte, four races since new. Set up for JICA. Qual 5th at first outing, started 2nd in JICA final at 99

65821154,018494 495. .a

$10,000 ono. Ph 03 9408 9796 bh, 03 9462 0050 ah or 0414

Woomera 1 Racing offers for sale two unique engines: the Metea engines from the Woomera 1 Land Speed Record pro ject.. These engines ran 223mph at 3,800rpm in testing at Lake Gardiner last year. Genuine reason for sale. Specs include unique in-house manufactured port injection; twin T18 turbos, professionally counter-weighted & balanced crankshafts; new bearings (1/2hr running since rebuild). Engines capable of deliv ering 5,000hp at over 4,000rpm. Good value at $25,000 each. Genuine enquiries to Glen Davis, PO Box 278, Port Augusta, SA

338 270. T48

5700, a 088641 0391. .os

Oceania C/ship. Would suit other senior classes. $3,500. Ph: 0418 882030. .49

XD Falcon drag car. Less mota, current ANDRA tech, CIO stage 3, 5000 rpm stall convertor, 9". 4:11s, MT slicks. Auto meter dash, mega-shifter, roll cage. Freshly built, may trade.

Foimula Vec Spectre, brand new engine (zero miles) front running car. two gearboxess, Iwo set rims/wide. Lots of spares. Exccond. $12,000. Ph 03 9369 4812 a 0417311 240.49

Isuzu FSR 500, 6.5 Itr, 6 speed, dual cab, 48" sleeper. 45' mini semi tri-axle, 8' inside height, 45' awning etc. POA. Ph: Andrew 03 5248 7377. .49

1980 Crew Cab Chev Duallie 454, 4 speed, gas & petrol,

sleeper box & turbo wing. Plus 40' Chapparal (USA) trailer, 240v &12v power & lights, generator, awning and much more. POA. Ph: Andrew 03 5248 7377. .49

BB/Chev LS7 drag racing bracket engine. In perfect cond, complete and running, Std bae and crank sizes. Carillo, Crane, Ruidamper, KMotion, 8.6 et, 154mph. $11,000. Ph: Peter

Open Wheelers

0245808082. .so 'A'"

Spectre Vee No V5185. New body and paint, spare set new unused tyres. Engine fully rebuilt by VW Performance. Not start ed. $4500. Ph 03 9735 5315.49

Speedway

Formula Vec, Elfin NG. Very quick and successful car. Top hp engine. 2 gearboxes, trailer, 2 sets wheels & tyres. Many spares, ready to race. Spare alum body. $8,900. Also, Dorian timer, hardly used, $300. Ph: 03 9803 2142 (AH), a 0417 593 997. ISO

Sprintcar, V69, ex Wanless Schnee, Winters, KSE, Kirkey, Weld, Sanders etc. All good gear in good cotxl with heaps of spares. $11,000. Ph: 03 5561 7333. 150 Modified Rod, Vic4. New, never raced. Chev 355, full steel, roller motor. Dart II heads, Veta Jnr etc. Quick change dill, alloy rims, Dumesny steering, alum quick release body. $16,000ono. Ph: 02 6032 8092. iso

Frankland Quickchange, 4.86 with lift bar, 54 3/4"w, $2,000. Gundrilled axle 29.5', $200. Trutrac $300. 4.11 crown

wheel & pinion $120. New shooker, suit 5th & 6th coil $85. Simpson 5 point seat belt, $125. Ph: 03 5422 7037, 03 5422 1942. ISO

Formula 500, rebuilt twin 250, Kawasaki motor. Ready to race. With spares. $4000 ono. Ph 03 6452 2086 iso The car and mota used by Skip Jackson, $50,000 otkj. One new Shava engine $60,000 ono. Plus many spares available.

Formula Ford race engine. Completely rebuilt by Sport Engines with flywheel and clutch for Spectrum. Proven fast on the track. $6,500. Ph: 07 3266 2183 (BH), 07 3263 6919 (AH), .so Ford 367 stroked Cleveland, Venolia 13.5:1 pistons, 4mab Crower billet steel rods, 4V heads extensive porting, titanium valve retainers. Yella Terra rockers. Crane girdle, active inlet, 750 methanol. 640hp, spare 4-bolt block. $10,500. Ph: 07 3878 2740,0412202 733. .so Ford 1600CC Crossflow race engine & parts. Major rrxxls to head. Haltech elec ign system, purpose-built injection manifold, dry sump etc. Will separate parts. POA. Ph: Mark 02 9634 1299 (BH), 02 9686 8596 (AH). 0417 475 409. .49 Chev SB 355 Street Strip engine, manifold to sump. Phone lor details. $6,000. Ph: 02 9604 8910,0417 253 324. .49

265 Hemi turbo engine. Inject Computer 351 injectas. Will separate. Dry sump. 400+hp. $3,500ono. Ph: 03 9359 5722 (BH), 03 5784 3105 (BH). .49 Ford Sierra Cosworth cylinder head, ex Peter Brock. $1,000. Ph:0351681371,018513928. .49

Kart engines - JICA 98 Rotax, with clutch, carby, muffler, if required. Very little use. rebuilt by Yarwood Racing Developments. Ready tor running in. $2,350. Also, Yamaha J, suit Junkx Light. Placed 2.3 at State Level (Rookie). 1 race since rebuild $1,000, Ph:

Kart - Tonykart Esprit. Used by Jamo Trulli in his last appear ance as lead factory driver at Oceania (Championships, Oran Park. With letter of authenticity. $3,200. Ph; 02 9629 4891. ISO Formula Vee, ready to race, brand new eng, zao kms. Front running car. spare set irms, new tyres, short & long gearbox. New shocks, otts of spares, exc cond. $12,000. Ph: 03 9369

5446 1688. 149

Parts Crankshaft, steel s/b Chev 304, Group A New. $2,800. Steel crankshaft. V6 Formula Holden. New. ACL with 9CX) wide

$1,600 set. Dill centre. Quick Track IV, new, QC-531A, suit

Speedway, $500. Dill housing, bare, suit VN-VS Group A (9" Fad), with wedge flanges, $600. Cylinder heads. V6 Holden, bare, new, $150 each. Ph: 03 9587 6199. iso

Pontiac 23 degree heads, with r/rockers, stud girdle Morosocovers & inlet manifold,roller cam followers,$4,000, Chev 23 degree heads, r/rockers, stud girdle, alloy covers & inlet manifold, $3,CXX). Two ways, complete race set in own case. /\s new, $3,5(X). Ph: 02 9636 4447,0418 637 454. 150

Super Sedan VR (Bommodore complete a roller. Fresh Chev 358CI Brodix heads, all new engine parts. Bult by Chris Milton, Tilton clutch, Q/change diff, otts of spares. Ph Jason 08 8261 Superkart - Peter Worrall's 125cc Australian Championship winning kart. 97 Stockman chassis with full bodywork. 94 Honda RS125 engine, just rebuilt, $5,500. Ph; 02 9824 7350. im Rotax Max 125, 6 iweeks old, $2600. Kali Indy rolling chassis with spares, exc cond $10(X3. Kali Epoch full rebuilt as new

Ford related: parts and panels of XM/P hardtop, engine parts: 429 CJ rods, Windsor factory 2 barrel intake, card and exhaust manifolds, Ph: 03 9850 6993,0419 554 019. 150

07 3803 6309. 149

350 Chev parts: 6 Manley alum rods, 5.7, small journal. $260. 750 Holley methanol carb. $500. 202 1.6 roller rockers, $200. MSD5 ignition, $100. Knife-edged Commodore crank, .010, $350. IAG-202 double valve springs + alloy caps, $60. Ph:

Super Sedan ex-/\llan Butcher high bar, rolling chassis com plete less engine. Bert box, loads of spares, inc alloy wheels.

C&S Holley, suit Modified Production 350, with 500 lease methanol carby, as new. $980. Ph: 07 3204 2241. im

6672 POA. 149

VH Commodore, 6 cyl 4 speed, lock diff, 15 race tyres. 2nd

last year in season points. On methanol, must sell. $3,500. Ph:

length roll-out awning, all original seals replaced, new bull bar with 4 Cibie Oscars, VHJF and UHF radios, plenty ol rego. $28,000 ono. PVX 752. Ph Ross Nicastri on 0418 226 752 m

Ford L9000,350 CAT. 13spd Road Ranger, air ride, 1200 litre tank, 25kV generata. Also 45ft Dasey trailer, air ride, new tyres, full awning, big compressor, wrinch, engine changer, air con, 0(l & fuel tanks, otts of cabinets, lounge with toilet. TV. fridge etc. Both professional units in exc cond, priced to sell. POA. Ph: Steve 0411 700303.

149

C60 Chev 454 10 speed, gas & petrol. 11' lounge, velour intertor & 36' trailer. Both units are fully loaded. POA. Ph: Andrew 03 5248 7377. .49

New 35’ Motorsport Trailers gooseneck. Air cond,

240/12V power & lighting. This trailer has everything. POA. Ph: Andrew 03 5248 7377. .«

Wanted cond considered Ph: 03 57621266. im

big end journals, $2,5CX). AUSCAR pistons, +.030, new, JE,

4812. ISO

200 litres hot and 200 litres cold water, external shower, lull

Tachometer, Smttis. chronomeinc. lU.UOOrpm, with teit-lale. Any

0418882030. ,49

Ph Paul 02 9829 7229 ah 149

Sprintcar - J&J ,as raced by Danny Smith, with a without Donovan 372. Raced once since complete rebuild. 1 new J&J roller, 1 Maxim complete Sprintcar, 360 engine, not raced. Extensive spare parts. Contact Les a Margaret Hamower, 03

FSR Isuzu dual cab, turbo. 6 speed truck set up as service

wehicle for 1998 Play Station Rally Round Australia. Only 80,000 km ex-government vehicle, full set new steel belt radiate, carries

0354227037,03 5422 1942. tso

Comics: copies of Hot Rods and Racng Car comics ie: Oinl Curtis and the Road Knights, from 50s ot 60s Details ot 2 Sedden Place, Rym, ACT 2615 a pMax 02 6258 2425. iso Owrwrs pte 1990 Gnxg> A atKl C. If you CKvn one of the above cars and are interesled ot competing with fetow enthusiasts.cont act TenyAshAOOd.0296327933.alax0296531804. i» XPFutura13”hubcaps.Ph:0398506993,0419554019 190

Engine dyno wanted. Any condition. Heenan and Froude, Stuska, Superilow, Shenk, etc. Anything considered, Ph 08 9375 2722lax0892768174 i«

other FM frequency convertors to suit imported Jap radios/cars, $55. Trade enquiries welcome. Ph: 0408 535 245,018 535 245. IM Aluminium fabrication service: wings made to ader fa

all categaies of Speedway and circuit racing. Also, fibreglass repairs. Ctompetilive prices. Delivery Bris area. Ph; Shane 07 54652510.

ISO

Flowbench Superflow SF-600, perfect condition, com

plete with manual and graphs, $10,000. Ph: 07 5441 7700, a 07 5448 5569 (AH), im

SUSPROG3D for Windows 95 V3.50 (build 0.214) NOW AVAILABLE. A complete three dimensional automotive suspen

sion design & analysis software package la road & track $255.

chassis, new Tillet seat, brakes, disc etc $1600. Ph 02 6362

Chev small block exhaust: steel headers, stainless secon

Download SUSPROG3D and otha automotive software evalua

2683 iM

daries. suit 18 degree Chev + VT chassis. $2,5(X) neg. Also Kinsler fuel injection: 57mm butterflies, 10.5" tube, complete with fuel rails and linkages $1,800 neg. Ph: 03 9587 6199.149 Race tyres, new & used slick tyres including Avon. Dunlop and

tion programs from http://byoung.mtx.net/ Engine dynamometer, Heenan & Froude, DPX 445, 600bhp at 9000 rpm. Offers. Ph; 08 8376 0460 (BH), 018 082

Historic racing car, Harley-Norton special built by Ron Ewing 1955. CBompeted at Bathurst, Orange, Castlereagh, Silverdale, Tamworth, Warwick Farm. CAMS LB otg book la 500cc Norton angle, 1340cc Harley-Norton V Twin and 134(X;c Harley-Norton V Twin supercharged. A compete and potential worldbeater. $12,000 ono. Bendigo 0417 546 973. im es, restricta plate, log book, ready to race. $3,000neg. 02 4443 2112. iM

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tyres, shocks, springs. $12,000. Ph 07 4632 1194 bh 149 Camaro Supa Sedan. NSW ACT Board approved. Complete rolla, less engine and box. $1800 ono. Ph 0416 241 006 or 02 96285170149

Car racing photos: all the 1999 new cars & colour schemes,

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Ph; 0412 615 333 a lax 02 9712 5315. i«

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Adelaide FI, (Bold (Boast Indy posters and promo material too numerous to list. Also some mid 70s FI postas. Ph Anthony 07 5479 1049149

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Ferrari. Wiliams, Target Reynard. Fully operational, full-size race car simulated in exc cond. Investment opportunity. Ideal lor

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VH Sedan 6 cyl 3-sp on Methanol. 500 Holley superflow head,

VS Commodore ute drive train for sale. Doug Nash 5 speed, heavy duty tail shaft, Harrop lull floating 9" dill, complete with Harrop rear brakes & Detroit Locka internals. As new cond. Can be test driven in my ute. Half new price is $5,500. Ph: 08

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$450 ono. Ph 02 9625 3440 ah 149

car trailer and spares. $5500. Ph 02 6881 8879. i4e

Drag Wild Honey Nostalgia FED, ex Withers AA/FD, 390 ci BB/Chrysler, 440 heads by Walder, 727 torqueflite, new Dominator converter, Olds rear, MW centre, comes with near

149

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Mazda RX7 series III rear axle housing. Has been

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;

Transporters/Trailers

0419 231 040 149

Isuzu 6 spd, 200+hp turbo. Reg, longrange tank, nose cone, sleeping area, lighting 240v, tyre rack, shelves, belly lockers,

Camaro 88, tube chassis, strut, 4 link, SU, BB, Lenco. 1120 kilos with 92k driver. Ran in T/D '92. 638ci Merlin, Big Chief,

Partially completed box trailer, 2.1m wide, 3.0 long, 1.5

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high. Steel ftoa, low centreline axle. Fad stud pattern. $1,000.

64 4 938 5426. 149

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new enctosed trailer and heaps of spares. $23,000 ono. Ph

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$150; RTC30 5 tray toolbox $120. Suit prof workshop a race team. Will sell individually a in one ott to best olfa. Sydney area.

4602 bh a 03 9878 9515 ah. 143

plus spare. Winning car from last season in its division. WII sell

regardless of cost by Dave Hepworth. Immac cond. Bargain

149

Repco tool storage, 4 units all new - RTC26 wall cabinet

Two open face helmets with inbuilt earphones and bcxim microphones. Both used once. $150 ea. F2 Cheetah Mark 6/Mark 7 wheels, 2 front, 2 rear, in very good condition. $11(X) the ott a offer. Ralt RT3 rear legs also partial built RT3 and vari ous mounting brackets. $350 or offer. New alloy Golf to

Superkart, 250 Int, 98 Stockman MR2, 93 TZ Yamaha (260ks+). Spare 1996 mota plus barrels, heads, crankshaft, 4

Supetfcart - 250 International Zip Eagle, lightweight factory frame, only used 14 times. Carbon fibre body work. Maintained

plus last 10 years of racing photos. Ph: David a Bill 0419 448

Performarx:®cams aixl bolt kit. $5,000.Ph: Rod 02 6562 7762. 149

Hewland adaptor plate $250. Golf inlet and exhaust $250. Cosworth oil pump and filter adapta $350. Ph Ian on 03 9237 piston rings, gearbox sprockets, wets, leathers, etc. (Bomplete package, ready to win with. POA. Ph: Vic Duncan, 02 6766 4522 (BH), 02 6760 9063 (AH). 149

256. 149

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149

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■

26 March 1999

£xe.

Telly Blubbies NEWS

Editorial

Northern Ireland is part of the British Empire and proudly accepts the Union Jack as its flag. The back

Dear Sir,

ground to the cover of MN 148

depicts the flag of Eire, or Southern

Two points:

Ireland.

1 - You have the most outstand

Editor

Phil Branagan Technical Editor

Tony Glynn Assistant Editor Gerald McDornan

Graphics Co-ordinator Viv Brumby

Advertising Advertising Manager Brendon Sheridan

Administration Managing Director Chris Lambden

Contacts 89 Orrong Crescent Caulfield North VIC 3161

(PO Box 1010 North Caulfield 3161) Phone: 03 9527 7744 Fax: 03 9527 7766

Email: msnews@corpllnk.com.au CompuServe: 100237.1165

Contributors General: Mike Kable, Jon Thomson.

Brian Reed. Darryl Flack. David Hassall, 7\aron Noonan. Allan Schofield

FI: Joe Saward, Adam Cooper Europe: Quentin Spurring US: Phil Morris

IMZ: John Hawkins

Speedway: Dennis Newlyn. David McNabb. Wade Aunger, Geoff Rounds, David Lamont, Chris Metcalf, Sue Hobson, Michael Attwell,

Tony Millard (UK), Darren O'Dea Rally: Peter Whitten, Jon Thomson Drag Racing: Greg Ward, Jon Asher (USA), Dave Ostaszewski (USA),

ing and enjoyable motor sports mag azine I have seen for a long time. It’s a shame I didn’t discover you earlier. Congratulations on excel lent and in-depth articles. 2 - Channel Nine’s coverage of this year’s Australian FI Grand Prix should disqualify them from ever covering motor sports in this country again. The best you can say about it was that is was simply appalling.

Vic 3161, our E-mail address, or fax to 03 9527 7766.

The sBff of Motorsport News does not necessarily agree with opinions express

of Eire. Had Damon’s Hill’s Jordan

won the race you could have been excused for having Irish green, white and gold, but I wonder what Damon would have said as he is a

V8 Supercars, but they have proved that they have a true interest in the sport and that they have their view ers interests at heart - they do an outstanding job. In fact, I thought I would never say it, but CART racing now leaves FI way behind and with TV cover age like Nine’s they do themselves an even greater disservice. I speak for many here who gath ered on the day to be disappointed in everything but the results. Missed pit stops, missed passes, ads for their own programs right in the heat of the battle, next-to-no in-car shots, poor track coverage, a mid night recap on Thursday, etc, etc. And, for God’s sake, even the legitimate advertisers must realise that they lose as much business as they gain by full screen ads - they would win many friends by pullthrough advertising, or by saving them for between the events. Let’s

be creative - satisfy viewers and win business at the same time.

Poor old Dazza must be really embarrassed, Jonesy clearly was.

Super Speedway: Martin Clark (USA),

Mossman, QLD

ic towards the Union Jack.

But I do love the mag - keep it up! GW (Tim) Holt

Coominya Qld ED: Let’s sort this out. Irvine is, as stated, from Northern Ireland.

He hves in Dublin (Rep of Ireland) but has neither flag on his helmet. He has a poUticallyneutral shamrock and publicaUy promotes neither political nor religious causes. His win, Fm sure, was celebrated loudly on both sides of the border.

But we are in Australia; most Australians see the Union Jack

\d Great minds: Lachlan, 3, and our editor start the day the same way.

cracking Irish jokes about his win,

Dear Sir,

I can’t believe, with the USA hold ing a FI race, that they wouldn’t have had more exposure. And thank God I don’t hve in NZ.

As long as I have free-to-air TV, I won’t be paying to watch FI. By the way, I find out more about the race

by reading Motorsport News! gypsyj@cawa.com.au

Well, Channel Nine has done it

Photographic, Neil Hammond, Nigel

again - filled up five and a half

Snowdon & Diana Burnett, Brad

hours on Sunday with all the crap

Steele, Tony Glynn, Thunder-Pics, Marshall Cass, Mike Harding, John Morris/Mpix, Brisbane Motorsport, Frank Midgley, John Bosher, Phil Williams, Mike Patrick (UK), Tony

under the sun and when the whole reason for the weekend comes

D.-ecta's c Limbden |Mjnaging|, A Glynn Publisher:

C Lambden

Printed by:

Wilke Color 37-49 Browns Rd Clayton 3168 Distributed by: NDD Ltd

MaieriJl published by MOTORSPORT NEWS is copyright and may not be reproduced in full or in part without the written permission of the publisher. Freelance contributions are welcome,

around, we haven’t got time to see it all.

TEN seconds after Irvine sprays the champagne it’s goodbye and we are off! What a rip-off! We wait for years for Eddie to win his first race and we don’t even get to see the post-race interview, let alone get the final results. They didn’t even tell us who came fourth, fifth or bloody sixth! If we didn’t spend so much time watching giggling pop stars prang their BMW celebrity cars earlier in the day, we might get a bit more time for the real racers.

and while all care will be taken, Australasian

Motorsport News Pty Ltd does not accept responsibility for damage or loss of material submitted.

Opinions expressed in Motorsport News are not necessarily those of TLustralasian Motorsport News

was looking forward to replaying the tapes of a great weekend. Well Channel 9, it was sub-stan dard.

Thanks Motorsport News for a great Grand Prix rundown. Peter Flanagan

Dear Sir,

No doubt Gerry Adams would

thank all the newspapers and maga zines like yours reporting the result

SI05

Overseas (Air Mail) New Zealand, PNG

AS 160

AS I70 AS 180 AS200 AS2I0

US, Canada

Europe

rtow pleasant it is to sit INTH£SEclOSIOMoF ones home and c?oieTLV coNxenPuATe Txe

SPOILS OF ASUCCeSSFUU SEASON^ MOTOR

TO WHEEL BATTLe.TMe breath tAKIwC, FiNiSri ...

Bankcard, VISA Mastercard, TVnex accepted

Motorsport ADVERTISING WORKS. IT’S THAT SIMPLE!

Call Brendon Sheridan on

03 9527 7744

SPORT COMPETITI ON... TO RENB4BER THE WHCeL

Post or fax to address above.

sure, Eddie would not have been

too upset. So leFs raise a

Guinness to him and move on.

Motorsport News: Educating ■ j -

^^6 young minds of Australia

accents for advertisements.

Dear Sir,

Gordon Drennan

I am pleased to be able to send you this photograph of my grandson showing his interest in your maga

Ultimo NSW

Dear Sir,

I have been a motorsport enthusi ast since ny father took me to see

zine.

Lachlan is just three years old, he enjoys a day at Lakeside and, obvi ously, makes the correct choice of

reading matter when retiring to the throne room.

Eddie Irvine was a kid his family made an annual pilgrimage from

Northern Island to the British GP.” Eddie Irvine is from Northern

Bailey

Aspley, QLD

Island. Mr Editor, where the hell is

ED: The first smart alec to make the obvious comment has their

Northern Ireland?

subscription tom up...

Malaysia. Indonesia Phillipines, HK, Japan

the British Union Jack’. For all the

jokes, if everyone who wanted to be

Please feel free to publish the Sir, you have committed the faux pas of the century! You have raised photo to show fellow enthusiasts me to such a state of indignation just how young the fans of motor that I am writing to complain! In the sport, and readers of your great very first sentence on page 5 (MN' magazine are. 148) Adam Cooper states “when

Irish eyes ain’t smilin’,

(I year - 26 issues) Australia

Eddie is actually from Britishoccupied Northern Ireland, and the flag that goes with his nationahty is

15 years old.

WiUetton WA

●Recommended and maximum price only.

Subscriptions

we ran the Irish flag on the cover. Politically - and technically - incorrect? Guilty. We wanted to celebrate a great win and, Fm

the Ulster Grand Prix. I was about

implied support in crediting wiimer Eddie O’Irvine with being Irish, l7

Pty Ltd or its staff.

the week of St Patrick’s Day so

him.

on appallingly-had phoney Irish

of the Melbourne FI GP for their

Greg Feltham Gagebrook, TAS

or south. MN was on sale during

object to would be the ones who put

Having officiated at the Australian GP and missed most of the action, 1

regardless of whether it’s north

orange Irish colours and flag with

And the only ones the Irish would

Dear Sir,

and think of Britain, then England, and most strongly asso ciate the tri-colour with Ireland,

and associating the green-white-

Irish was, even if it was only for St Patrick’s Day, the whole world would be Irish, to be sure, to be sure.

Glenn Jones

Dear Sir,

MOTORSPORT NEWS is published by AusiMlaskin Molorsixin News Ply Lid ACN No 060 I79 928

For your edification, Eddie Jordan

is from Dublin, which is the capital

Pom and, I understand, very patriot

Malcolm McKellar

Loxley, Daniel Wilkins, Wayne Nugent

self-same chair.

I was worried when TEN took

Ken Ferguson, Scott Jug

Photographers: Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Bothwell

readers.

into the editor’s chair. Consider

yourself hit on the head with the

over CART, the GP bikes and the

Nick Nicholas. Steven White,

Brett Swanson, Grant Nicholas Karts: Allan Roark, Sean Henshelwood, Graeme Burns

Send letters to Talk Converter to PO Box 1010 North Caulfield

You said in your editorial you were gratified to receive so many kind comments since you stepped

i: ●

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