Motorsport News Issue 192 - November 10-23, 2000

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motorsport

news

Issue 192 10 - 23 November 2000

INSIDE

News and Opinion

4 7

20 28 30 98

Lowndes quits HRT What now for The Kid? Murphy for Panoz ALMS The Muii in with the Nosk CART'S latest news Jimmy with Nunn, Dixon's Lights Motor Mouth 30 years later with Allan Moffat The Box Seat Saward on chatting up hosties Talk Converter Step up and have a blab

Features 32 36 38 60 72

David Coulthard More class than arse Ford's WRC in Focus A peek inside the Forest Rocket FAI 1000 Bathurst Preview Everything you need to know Mick Doohan Five titles and still competitive John Force Funny Cars,funny blokel

Race Coverage

22 27

54 62 71 77 As Lowndes’ HKi negotumons disintegrate.^

CART California 500 Christian wins, Gil's title Las Vegas ALMS McNish gambles and wins Phillip Island MotoGP Max's 500s, gangbuster 250s Wakefield Park BOC STs New venue, usual podium Calder Park Drag opener Stevens wins, Victor 237.4mph!

Victorian SRA Judd repays Autopro's faith

Regular Departments

19 66 68 76 82 84 87 92

Motorcycles Rallying Drag Racing Speedway NASCAR Histories National Scene Marketplace

Photos: Cover: Dirk Klynsmith and marcosatnbrose.com Contents: Dirk Klynsmith, Sutton-lmages and Lynley Reid,

3

Lowndes quits

Shock talks break-down - but is Gibson Motorsport now the

THE future of Craig Lowndes is again up in the air after the shock announcement - via his solicitors - last Friday that he will finish his partnership with the Holden Racing Team at the end of this year.

The three-time Australian Touring Car Champion rocked the motor racing community, which had concluded that a deal to stay with HRT was imminent, with his apparent about-face.

Lowndes, 26, is being courted by a number of teams, but he and his management is staying tightlipped about his immediate future.

In its own subsequent statement, highly critical of Lowndes’ management, HRT and Holden Special Vehicles boss John Crennan expressed disappointment at Lowndes’ departure, hinting that Lowndes will drive for a Ford team in 2001.

The statement(see page 9) said

that the team was unimpressed with the manner in which Lowndes and his management team handled the announcement (MN understands that HRT management were told of Lowndes’ decision just prior to the issuing of the media release, which came on Friday afternoon).

Options for Lowndes now centre around a couple of potential new teams -in particular a reconstituted Gibson Motorsportor expanded existing ones.

Lowndes had been linked to the Stone Brothers Ford team, but it is now understood that David Besnard will race the Caltex car next season while V8 rookie Marcos Ambrose suits up in the Pirtek Falcon (see separate stoiy, page 6).

Ambrose had been considered an option to take the Ford Tickford Racing seat which is about to be vacated by Neil Crompton, but it now appears that Glenn Seton and

his team will have to look elsewhere - but Lowndes is not on the hst.

MN understands that the driver in the FTR frame now is Cameron McConville.

HRT management maintains that no announcement regarding Lowndes’replacement will be made until after the FAI 1000 on November 19.

However, since last Friday’s bombshell, almost all the current Shell Championship Series grid has already been linked to the ‘Reds’, whether they are under contract with their current team or not!

Russell Ingall and Garth Tander are the two names most rumoured from among the existing line-ups but, again, the most obvious choice appears to be Holden Young Lion, Todd Kelly.

Team Manager Jeff Grech has always preferred the option of bringing on the new young drivers, but the decision is likely to involve senior people at both HSV and Holden itself.

Ingall and Tander are under contract to Castrol Perkins and Valvoline GRM respectively for the next two seasons and would require considerable ‘buyouts’to become available.

However, the creation of a vacancy at HRT threatens to kick off the best V8 silly-season for years...

-The door comes down on Craig Lowndes at HRT: While one door might have shut, other doors are opening for both Lowndes and HRT. (Photo by Dlfk Kiynsmith)

Gibson latest . '.Vv

qnfirmed th&tithe Untain team’^priority at the Craig Lowndes from HRT will j not affect the team’s driver 'ies for is to sew up the Shelf Mark Skaife, but thar'if Tander pairings for Bathurst, according to team manager has a problem whiclrputs him Jeff Grech. out of contention, then obviously At the same time, any our strategy will change...” consideration ofjust who will “As far as a replacement for Craig replace the three-time champion goes, we’re not even going to think will be left until the FAI 1000 about it until Bathurstis over. weekend is over.

However,I must say the number of “No,there’s absolutely no drivers who’ve already been on the thought of splitting Mark and phone is quite surprising...”

HRT was scheduled for a final Craig,” Grech told us this week. shakedown of its Bathurst cars “He [Craig] is professional enough to do exactly the same job at Phillip Island yesterday as he’s always done and I’m (Thursday), with both of its Eurobased drivers on hand for final confident that he, along with everyone else here, wants to win familiarisation laps.

- CHRIS LAMBDEN the championship for the team.”

THE l^pendin^o^arture of

4

THE CONTENDERS 1 Gibson Motorsport?

Until now an unpublicised option, but seemingly now the most likely Holden option for Lowndes, according to our spies.

Since selling his team to Kmart Racing, Fred Gibson has retained his team owner status and registration, albeit diminished over time to 'Level 3' We hear there have been serious attempts lately to reconstitute the team, with Holden support, but that the commercial funding is proving difficult...

Rumours also suggested that.

to get things going quickly if the team actually eventuated, Holden would push for HRT to se a car to Gibson!...

2 Mitre 10 Racing Mark Larkham staying/second car ?

There has been talk about a link between Lowndes and long-time Larkham mentor, Greg Siddle. The team would need a large injection of sponsorship to expand to a second car, which would likely run in different colours - like SBR does with the Caltex/Pirtek cars. People are saying its unlikely - but others reckons this is the one ... motorsport news

I

NEWS

HRT

) Holden option?

\

Options surface Lowndes management receive more and more offers by the day

by GERALD McDORNAN CRAIG Lowndes has up to three realistic options available to him, according to his management team.

Former Glenn Seton manager Noel Watson, who was recently engaged by Lowndes’legal representatives to advise the triple SCS champion on his future, told Motorsport News this week that a number of options were possible once Craig’s departure from HRT became public knowledge, with up to three possibilities unravelling themselves last Friday night.

"To the time Craig made his final decision concerning HRT, no negotiations of a deal with any team, either Holden or Ford, took place,” Watson said.

Watson said the negotiations with HRT had been ‘difficult and complex’ although he stressed the completion of those negotiations had been their first priority.

"We now have a clean sheet of paper and I will talk to all interested parties in conjunction with Craig’s solicitors. We will advise him what is best for his future once every possibility has been fully looked at and explored."

Watson said he believed Lowndes’ depai-ture could potentially provide a major shake-up within the V8 ranks, with the potential for a number of new teams to be bom and/or existing teams expanding to multi-car operations.

Webber news at GP launch?

NEXT Tuesday is the official launch for the 2001 Qantas Australian Grand Prix. Mark Webber fans should keep an ear out for the general media - we hear the proceedings may include confirmation of his muchanticipated Benetton deal...

■ A diary date for GP party-goers the 2001 Australian MotorSport Awards will again be a GP Week highlight, at Melbourne Park, on the Wednesday evening of GP week February 28. Pencil it in now. t

He added that Lowndes was disappointed with the ‘letter’ posted on its internet site(and seen here in its entirety) by HRT following the breakdown of negotiations; "Craig was certainly disappointed as what they have claimed is not necessarily reflective of the trae situation," he said.

"Craig has acted in the utmost professional manner right throughout the negotiations with HRT and the tone of their response was unnecessary.”

■ As we closed for press, Marcos Ambrose was just starting the twoday indy Lights test earned by winning the Honda Challenge at the Honda Gold Coast event.

"While it's fairly academic now, [given his V8 Supercar drive for 2001], it will be interesting to simply meet the people over there and enjoy the drive," Marcos told us last Friday, before hopping on a plane.

■ Great Dane Dept; CAMS CEO Peter Hansen returned to the track at Wakefield Park. The Dane had his first start in 16 years in a Mirage Cup car, qualifying eighth and finishing both races.

"Craig was certainiy disappointed as what they have claimed was not necessarily reflective of the true situation"

■ Also running in the FWD battles was Garry Holt. The Wakefield boss was having his first run in the series and qualified strongly, just behind dominant forces Dean Evans and Warren Luff

- Noel Watson on HRT’s response

We were wrong too!

What Craig Lowndes said and HRT's response, see page 9

RADISTOH:' NOW^FOR

option for The Kid? 3 Prancing Horse/Noske?

Mark Noske/?

The stories about a new. Fordbacked, Melbourne-based team refuse to go away. Noske and Lowndes have driven together at HRT and Prancing Horse has the infrastructure required to run two V8 Supercars. Would be a Level 3 franchise (unless they buy an existing franchise) but that's not a big deal.

4 Dick Johnson Racing Paul Radisich/Steven Johnson Both drivers are believed to be under contract for 2001. The only apparent way that Lowndes could join the team would be in a third car, which would mean a

10 November 2000

large funding increase from Ford and Shell. Maybe...

5 Ford Tickford Racing Glenn Seton/TBA A vacancy - but, the question is not so much why FTR would want Lowndes, but why would Lowndes want FTR? The team has a record to date of having little success with its second entry, which would weigh large on the minds of Lowndes' advisors - one of which, Noel Watson, left the team last year on less-thanfriendly terms. Unlikely...

6 Castrol Perkins Russell Ingall/Larry Perkins Ingall is under contract and

Perkins has already said that he would be unlikely to pay the kind of retainer that Lowndes would require. Castrol might...

Would LP swap Ingall to HRT for Craig? Seems like a real longshot, if not impossible.

What if LP won Bathurst next week and decided it was time to hang up the helmet?...

7 Stone Brothers Racing Definitely not an option now...

8 Kmart Racing Greg Murphy/Steven Richards Constantly denied and with two drivers apparently secure with valid contracts, an almost certain impossibility.

-I

Why he j IS| staying

with HRT I

1

Craig Lowndes’ shock statement last Friday took a lot of people, us included, by surprise. Some very heavy hitters in V8 racing had told Motorsport News that Lowndes was staying put- and were as shocked as we were with the events that followed a few days

later...

5

p

i

n

Besnard

New drivers, new look; Tony Longhurst and David Besnard will carry revised livery to Bathurst next week before an all-youth 2001 assault.

-

-

Ambrose to Stones for 200 Besnard also set for Stone's new look Ford attisii FORMER Formula Ford star and international F3 contender Marcos Ambrose is set to join Stone Brothers Racing in a two pronged V8 Supercar youth attack in 2001.

Although a formal announcement is not expected until after Bathurst, Motorsport News believes a deal has been inked between the two parties which wdl see Ambrose take over Craig Baird’s slot in the Pirtekbacked SBR team.

Ambrose will join another recent Aussie international, David

Besnai-d, who is expected to take over Tony Longhurst’s role in the Caltex Ford team, at SBR. Longhurst is expected to stay with the Stones in a long-distance driver/testin^mentor role with Stone’s two young chargers, while recent success in the US TransAm scene may well see Baird head Stateside.

Neither Ross Stone nor Ambrose were able to confirm their deal this week, although both did separately confirm that their 2001 plans were in place:

W

My desire, if you iike, was to get into a team which is competitive and where I couid be an equai number one, if possible ft

- Marcos Ambrose

For NZ, read Tasmania: Ambrose will be making his V8 Supercar debut at Albert Park in March. (Photos by oiri<Kiynsmiiti) 6

“We know what we’re doing next year,” Stone told us on Monday,“but we’re not going to talk about anj’thing until after Bathurst.

We’ve got two strong pairings up there and, naturally, that’s what we need to concentrate on at the moment.”

Pressed further. Stone confinned that a 2001 driver line-up was settled and that “it doesn’t include Craig Lowndes!”

Ambrose was in the States early this week undertaking the Indy Lights test earned by winning the Honda Challenge at the Honda Indy, but before he left confirmed that he had a V8 Supercar deal in place which “should be confinned after Bathurst.”

While Besnard has already raced for the Queensland team,in both Lites and the recent Queensland 500,Ambrose hasn’t even tested a V8 Supercar.

A recent scheduled test with the FTR Falcon team was washed out (negotiations with that team subsequently grinding to a halt).

Clearly his overseas success (leading two Formula Ford Festivals, winning the 1999 Formula Ford Euro Cup)has been sufficient to impress both Stone and Ford - which is expected to up its support for the SBR team. motorsport news

NEWS

Panoz: Craig out, Murf in Marcos Ambrose

Everyone tough it is over knows there. Ihow went over.

Ins and outs: Noske /eft will now be partnered by Murphy in Adelaide.

GREG Murphy will replace Craig Lowndes in the third Panoz in the Race of a Thousand Years in Adelaide on December 31.

The New Zealander will replace Lowndes and share the drive with Mark Noske in the ALMS season closing race on New Year’s Eve. While Prancing Horse Racing, which will run the car in the race, has not confirmed it, sources suggest that the team was on the verge of announcing that Murphy would line up as a third driver in the entry in the 1000km race.

“This is something I’ve really been looking forward to,” Murphy said from Auckland on Monday.

“Panoz run a good team and I

am sure that Mark and I will be able to achieve a good result for them.”

Lowndes’inability to grid up on New Year’s Eve comes as a result of his recently announced departure fromHRT. On Tuesday, Craig said,“I was given permission at the time to do the Adelaide race, but that has now changed.

“My contract actually runs out on December 31 and at present the team will not give me permission to do the event despite the fact that I am leaving anyway.”

Both Lowndes and the race organisers are hopeful of a change of heart by HRT. - PHIL BRANAGAN

From the publisher. w

ELCOME to the issue of Motorsport News which completes our transformation from newspaper to news magazine.

While we were able to absorb some of the costs of the initial switch, in July, to the new size and look Motorsport News without affecting our cover price (apart from the imposition of the dreaded GST, which came at the same time), recent dramas with our dollar have meant that a 10 November 2000

a Speaking of careers in the US, Aussie Troy Critchley has finished fourth in the final points standings for the IHRA's Pro Modified category. With rules like ANDRA's Top Doorslammer, Pro Mod attracts up to 60 entries per round. Critchley won his first IHRA national event earlier this year. a On the subject of drag racing, it was interesting to note a couple of Perkins Engineering and HRT's leading men at the 'skids' at Calder Park last Saturday night. With both Jeff Grech and Ron Harrop having come from the quarter-mile sport, could they be thinking the experience was more than worthwhile?

on coming home to a V8 Supercar future gave it my very best and know exactly where I stand in the scheme of things - in terms of my driving ability, I’ve raced against guys who test for F1 teams and am satisfied that I can hold my own. I’m young and hungry and have cut my teeth in one of the toughest motor racing schools.

Now is the opportunity to put that into practice back in Australia and, believing I have a lot to offer, I’ve spoken to a number of teams.

My desire, if you like, was to get into a team which is competitive and where I could be an equal number one, if } possible.

I’m very happy with the opportunity I now have...

n Could there be a future for Craig Baird in Trans-Am racing in the United States? The Kiwi grabbed a second place finish in the Las Vegas Triple Challenge one-hour race recently, which was a support to the Le Mans Series sportscar race.

price increase has become inevitable.

However, at the same time, we have made a further change to the internal look of Motorsport News, incorporating a new grade of paper, which will further enhance the colour reproduction of one of the most colourful sports in the world.

GST aside, it is twp years since the price of Motorsport News last went up, so we hope you’ll forgive us...

The staff here at Motorsport News remain committed to producing the best possible Australian motor racing publication. Your comments and our sales since the switch in July tell us you like it so far. Thanks.

Do continue to tell us what you think of Motorsport News. We value the input and hope you continue to enjoy reading Motorsport News for a long time.

Chris Lambden - Publisher

a Congrats due to Mike Heaton.

The producer for Seven Sport's Super Touring broadcast became a dad for the first time in the week before the WP round, forcing him to miss qualifying. n Apologies to Tim Sipp for getting his name wrong in the Bathurst entry list in the last issue.

Sipp will share the Graphic Skills Commodore with Shane Beikoff. n Jamie Whincup has tested the Luke Youlden-championship winning Mygale SJ2000 Formula Ford. The Victorian completed 30 laps at Winton to get a feel for a front-running car before he decides what to do next year. Whincup has been running selected races in an elderly Van Diemen RF94 this season as well as the Ford MAX Challenge karting series. n Jamie Miller will miss this weekend's Super Touring round at Mallala. However, the Toyota Camry driver has committed to the final three rounds of the series.

Returning to the grid at Mallala will be Jim Cornish and Paul Leabeater, both having had engine failures rectified from Wakefield Park. n Kiwis Peter Van Breugel and Ashley Stitchbury have won the LK Drivesafe 500 endurance race at Pukekohe in a Holden Commodore.

Defending winners Andrew Fawcet/Wayne Huxford (Falcon EL) were second, while the top twolitre car was the BMW of Kevin Bell/Rod Hicks. The team car of Simon Wills/Brett Riley finished eighth, while Paul Radisich's Falcon was classified 17th.

1

Seton fit for Bathurst

-:Rhotpiby.J01iaMpjTWMpK

GLENN Seton has made a full recovei’y from his dramatic Phillip Island crash and will line up as planned for the FAI 1000.

Ford 'Ticldbrd Racing tested its all-new AU Falcon last Thursday with Seton at the wheel and reported no ill effects.

After a few “nervous” laps, the former touring car champ was right back on the pace and happy with his new machine: “I’m very happy with the new

M«TH' i -i-.. itIHHOTUI

car,” he said.

“It’s fantastic, and responds very well to any change we throw at it.

“We designed the car for Bathurst and it’s worked out really well. The Island is the closest track we have to Bathurst and it’s really working well around here, so I can’t wait tom get to Bathurst.”

Also testing at the Island was Wayne Gardner, putting in more familiarisation laps with the #6 FTR Falcon he will share with Neal Bates.

MtfflPUt ■AR4WAHNUI <RA61US MARKIH iltAinUI

One of 12 specially signed and framed versions of the Holden Gladiators lift-out poster (signed by all eight drivers) featured in the centre of this issue.

How? Just put your name, address and phone contact number on the back of an envelope, along with the answer to the question: Which Holden driver has won the most Bathurst 1000km races in a V8 in the Nineties?

Post it to us to arrive no later than Friday December 1 and you're in \ the draw. Winners will be advised by mail/phone.

Post to; Holden Gladiators Competition, Motorsport News, PO Box 1010, Caulfield North, Vic 3161.

MICHAEL Schumacher will miss the whole of the December testing period.

The World Champion has had an operation this week to remove a pin from his right leg which was a legacy of his leg-breaking crash at the British Grand Prix last year.

Team test driver Luca Badoer will perform the bulk of the Ferrari team's testing once the official FIA ban ends on December 1, as Rubens Barrichello will be on an extended winter break.

While the schedule for the team is yet to be confirmed, it is expected it will spend most of j its time refining its 2001 car at Mugello and Fiorano before it hits the track with the F1 opposition.

Paul quits Jag THERE was no big surprise last week when Paul Stewart announced that he was resigning as executive director of Jaguar Racing.

The resignation has been expected, as the management of the team has passed gradually into the hands of Ford nominees in recent months.

Stewart, who has been suffering from cancer of the colon, has not been involved in the team since the spring and the role he would have taken is now being filled by Bobby Rahal. Jackie Stewart remains a director of the team, but he is expected to disappear at the end of the year, leaving the team in Ford's full control.

Paul Stewart has been making

good progress with his cancer treatment but it will need to continue for some time yet.

We hear, incidentally, that there are currently some political problems between Visteon (formerly Ford Electronics) and PI Research, which was bought

by Ford in November last year.

PI Research is expected to have a much bigger role in Jaguar's electronics in the years ahead and this seems to have upset some of the people at Visteon.

In recent seasons, PI has been working with a number of FI teams, notably Jordan and British American Racing, although both deals have now ended as Honda software is to be used instead.

- JOE SAWARD motorsport news

NEWS

What Lowndes and HRT said On Friday, November 3, Craig Lowndes issued the following statement through his solicitors, Ebsworth & Ebsworth;

!

1 /

W:

n "Tv

Photo by.Suttoh.'lmages

Australian motor racing star Craig Lowndes confirmed today,through his lawyer,that he will leave the Holden Racing Team (HRT) at the end of this season.

"After lengthy negotiations with Holden and the Holden Racing Team, Craig Lowndes has decided that he will not drive beyond the end of this championship season with the team," Philip Battye, a partner of the legal firm Ebsworth & Ebsworth said today.

"Craig is disappointed that he was unable to reach agreement with HRT on the terms of a new contract which, despite recent media reports, had nothing to do with his driver remuneration, but only with marketing and management issues. He has enjoyed a fantastic relationship with his team and is grateful for their camaraderie,their efforts and support.

"Nonetheless, he is comfortable with the decision and is fully committed to finding a new base for his talent.

Battye also announced that former AVESCO board member Noel Watson and his company have been engaged by Ebsworth & Ebsworth to advise concerning Craig Lowndes future.

"Noel Watson is well-known to the sport, having nurtured Glenn Seton's career and was instrumental in encouraging the Ford Motor Company back into tbe sport by forming FTR (Ford Tickford Racing) and the FTR Merchandising Company at the end of 1998," Battye said.

"Watson's marketing, advertising and sports management background,together with his involvement in the sport over a considerable length of time, and at the highest level, is vitally important to us in assisting Craig's future decisions."

Battye went on to say that Lowndes, career path from here has yet to be determined.

"Absolutely no decision had been made on which team Craig would join next season.

"Obviously Craig until now has been a Holden man and very aware of the expectations of his many loyal sponsors, supporters and fans; therefore, staying within the fold must be considered.

"It is fair to say several Ford teams have made approaches to Craig for his services; however, it would be premature to suggest that we were in negotiations with anybody.

"Craig will drive in Australia in V8 Supercars in 2001 and beyond, whetherthat be in an existing team or new team but, we are not in a position to announce any firm commitments."

Later that day, HRT issued its response, via a ietter posted on its supporter's website Official HRT Response to the news that Craig Lowndes will leave the team at the year's end.

MUGEN are pulling out of Grand Prix racing, the announcement from the ^ Japanese tuning company putting to rest any talk of a possible deal between it and Minardi for the 2001 season.

“Regrettably, we have decided to stop our FI activity at the end of the season,” said Mugen president Hirotoshi Honda.

It is believed that the transfer of not only Mugen’s UK-based infrastructure but also some of its key race staff to the factory Honda team which will supply BAR and Jordan next year, are two of the key problems.

Mugen,in partnership with Honda, won four Grand Prix (Panis Monaco ’96, Hill Spa ’98, Frentzen France, Italy ’99) and has been supplying engines to the Japanese Formula Nippon series, which it will continue to do.

Minardi is now expected to secure a supply of Supertec VlOs.

10 November 2000

Friday Novembers,2000.

Earliertoday and without prior notice, both Holden and the Holden Racing Team received a letter and a media statement from Craig Lowndes' solicitor, advising Craig would leave the Team at the conclusion of the season. In the pastthree weeks during a number of meetings, we were given every indication that Craig wished to stay with the team,and he also conveyed those thoughts in recent press articles.

Naturally HRT is very disappointed at this news, particularly if - as it has been alleged by many calls to our office today -that he will drive for a Ford team in 2001.

The most awkward part of the entire process overthe past five months for HRT's management,is that Craig left everything to his lawyer and we cannot begin to tell you how frustrating that has been, dealing through difficult third parties, who have no understanding of our sport At one stage we even began to wonder whether Craig's lawyer was going to turn up at race meetings to drive his car for him!

Craig Lowndes leaves the Holden Racing Team with our best wishes and congratulations on the three Championships we achieved together. Our hope now is that he and those close to him, start to realise his single most importantfocus is racing cars, and not all the peripheral and secondary money, management and merchandising issues that have taken up all his time, energy and attention overthe past twelve months.

During all these negotiations, HRT has been very single minded on "not playing the field", deciding instead to concentrate on trying to get Craig to continue with the Team. Following Bathurst, we shall devote our energies into a replacement driver and you - HRT's loyal supporters - will be advised as soon as possible.

Thank your for your on-going support and it's certainly not our choice that Craig broke this news just prior to the FAI 1000 at Bathurst, as the Team works hard to win the Championship for Mark Skaife and HRT and hopefully, second place in the Series for Craig.

As one door closes another one is certain to open for the "Red Team" and its loyal band of supporters. Team work is the essence of this business, and we will continue to deliver our supporters plenty of team work and continuing success.

The Holden Racing Team

n Procar has invited requests for the eligibility list for the 2001 Nations Cup and GTP Championships.

Before next year's list is made, the pros and cons of all machines are taken into account by series eligibility officer Barry Lake and a list will be derived of cars eligible for the respective classes and series. n Get set: Some of Australia's best bands will perform at two concerts following the Race of a Thousand Years in Adelaide. The 'Pitside Party' will feature INXS with guest vocalist Jon Stevens and joint 1999 ARIA winner for best new artist, Taxiride. The 'New Year's Revolution" will be headlined by The Living End, You Am I and Spiderbait. n Super Touring front-runners Paul Morris and John Henderson will be joining the Mitsubishi Mirage Series at Maliala this weekend in a one-off appearance. Warren Luff has already sealed the series and has lost just one of the 16 races run this season. n Alex Davison has finished his debut season in the German Porsche Carrera Cup series with an 11th at Hockenheim. The 20-year-old also ended up 11th in the overall pointscore. n The 2001 CART series will now begin in Mexico after the Rio round has been moved back to March 25. in addition, the Brazilian round of the FedEx Championship Series will now be held on the road course which surrounds what has been dubbed the 'roval' used in the previous four visits of the series. "This change closes a month-long gap in our schedule and helps the flow of our races during the early part of the year," said CART president of racing operations Hal Whiteford. n John Madden, Fox's lead NFL analyst in the States, has reportedly been asked by network officials to turn his hand to calling NASCAR races, in particular the Daytona 500, tor when Fox takes over the coverage of the Winston Cup next year. n Scott Sharp has turned the first laps on the brand new 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway which will host its inaugural IRL race on September 2 next year. "I can't wait to come out here and race," Sharp said. "This track is set up for some great side-by-side action." n Also testing were his team mate Mark Dismore and Team Menard's Greg Ray, the duo though at Homestead taking part in a Firestone tyre test prior to the IRL's first race at the former CART track in April next year. Dismore set an unofficial 28.35s lap, compared to the late Greg Moore's CART track record of 24.86s.

9

ten ,

I

home of

n [motorsport] Shell Championship Series V8 Supercars* Nov 19 .. .FA11000 - Bathurst ... ,Rd 13

FIA World Rally Championship* Nov 12 .. .Australia ... l Rd 13 ,Rd14

Nov 26 .. .Great Britian

NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series Nov 12 ...Pomona

.Rd 25

Australian Rally Championship* .Rd7 Nov 12 .. .Rally Australia

I;

3

JIM Cornish has got a drive in the Race of 1000 Years at Adelaide in December.

Shell Championship Series V8 Supercars 2001*

The Sydney vet will line up in a Nissan-powered Piibeam in the 1000km event, the final round of the ALMS.

Mar4

Albert Park . . .(Non Championship)

Mar25

Philip Island Adelaide

●Rdl ,Rd2

Apr 29 ....Eastern Creek

,Rd3

May 12 ...Hidden Valley Jun 7 Canberra

.Rd4 ,Rd5

]■

Championship 2001 Mar 4 . . . .Australia

Accord last season) and Michael Mallock, son of UK engineering guni Ray Mallock.

Cornish was impressed after his first experience with the car.

"It’s a great thing," he enthused.

"It’s got a 400 horsepower rocketship and, considering it was the first time I have driven that sort of car, I was impressed at how forgiving it was to drive.

"It was easier than I thought. The car is much closer to the limit that I am used to with the Honda,but I am really looking forward to driving

, Rd2

Apr 15

. . .San Marino

, Rd4

Spain

, Rd5

, Rd3

,Rd3

Super Tourer driver /<

,Rd4

kj May 20 . . .France . . .

17"^ June 3 . . . .Italy

.Rd5

AARON McGill will be a busy driver at Bathurst if his

FedEx CART Championship Series 2001* Feb 11 . . . .Rio

.Rdl

Mar 11 . . . .Monterrey

Rd 2 .Rd3

Apr 8

.Long Beach

Apr 29 . . . .Texas . .

.Rd4

May 6 . . . .Nazareth

.Rd5

May 19 . . .Motegi .

.Rd6

ciurent plans come to fruition.

-4 ●if.® 3S3 I'll

RmmKcny ^ » mKcuy MmiHon 2000 nmmr mirror foot Locker. Q chase image

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home of

motorsport Ail event dates in this calendar were correct at the time of prinling. Please consult any individual tracks and/or associations for date changes.

Series or events telecast on Network Ten are marked with an asterlx. Check your local guides for screening details.

(Sutton-images)

McGill

●Rd2

Spain

While he and Barclay were in the UK,they obtained some parts to rebuild the engine ofthe Visit Your Vet Accord after the engine expired during practice at Wakefield Park.

"The engine is being rebuilt and will be ready for this weekend at Mallala. It should be on the pace, and I am looking forward to getting back into the racing."

competitors.

SOOcc World Grand Prix

May 6

resources with Barclay’s project Racing in a combined assault on the Adelaide race.

line of the NY City Marathon.

Trulli finished 10,230th of 30,000

Motorcycle Championship 2001* ,Rd 1 Aprs .Japan . . . .

1 Apr 22 . . . .South Africa

the car with the guys at Adelaide."

The Baker team will share

WITH the New York skyline in the background, Jordan driver Jarno Trulli, left, crosses the finishes

● Rd 1

Maris . . .Malaysia . Brazil

Apr 1

Apr 29

Cornish and team manager Nigel Barclay flew to England last week, where the Super Touring driver completed a test session with Roy Baker Racing at Silverstone. He will share the car with British drivers Jamie Wall (who raced Cornish’s Honda

FIA Formula One World

i-i.

Jim Cornish iands Piibeam ride for Adeiaide ALMS

American Le Mans Series* .Rd 12 Dec 31 .. .Adelaide

■1' Aprs

m

Drive of lOOO Years

The Nissan Super Touring driver will be stepping into a V8 Supercar for the FAI 1000, sharing the Nemo Racing/Big Kev Commodore VS with young charger, Owen Kelly.

As if that wasn't enough to do, he will also line up in the 3-Hour GT Production race, driving a Subaru with Michael Brock.

"This is something I've been looking forward to for some time," said McGill, who will also race in the Mallala BOG Gases round this weekend.

"I've been speaking to Paul Morris and his team for some time and I am really looking foiAvard to driving his Commodore. You might say, 'I'm

motorsport oews

NEWS n Alexander Wurz has undergone an operation to his right knee to repair an injury, which has been causing some problems in recent months. The Austrian is expected to be fully fit in time to begin testing for West McLaren Mercedes at the beginning of December. n Michael Schumacher has lost a court case in Stuttgart, his claim that a Dutch lookalike is damaging his image. Frank Sassen has recently turned professional as a Schumacher double, giving up his job as a horse feed saleman. The court said that Sassen was entitled to make public appearances impersonating the World Champion, but he is not allowed to do any advertising.

>■

starred in his first ever pfianESi British Formula L^OrH^Gh^pipfl lapping England's Oulton Park l^ir4^^yerfphi^|feond quicker than a number |ro£mj^^|®'UrienGed drivers at the same test. ^ undertook the test with expatriate ^^St^jranAlan D.ocldng’s championship*winningADR same team whicli Mark Webber drove for iri'l^^:iL;tiie,two-time World Karting Champion being natilse^ agamst Doddng^s lead driver, Derek Hayes. jhce in .a ‘wings and slides’ racer, Courtney licker than Hayes within six laps before .docking ;a jap, overtone second quicker at the Esite dMcult ,●damp and no previous th^.s.essibn; , ' conditions '

Courtney’s manager, former TOCA boss Alan Gow, was delighted with the results of the test.

“James was doing it very comfortably and was clearly driving within himself,” Gow said. “He never put a foot wrong and the only mistake he made, if it was one, was stalling the car as he left the pits for the first time.”

Gow said the test underlined everyone’s feelings of his driver, “J ames is a very special talent indeed.”

Courtney was due to test for the Jaguar Jimior F3 team late this week, with a ‘shootout’ of a number of leading contenders for a drive with the team expected to take place.

- GERALD McDORNAN

doubles up

ands Bathurst V8 and GTP 3-hour drives Excited!'."

McGill will carry support from cun-ent sponsors 'IWnovin into the race, the first time that they have appeared in an SCS race.

"It's gi-eat to be returning to the

mountain. I've had some success there in GTP cars and I think that, with Owen sharing the driving and Greg Wooster and the Morris team preparing the car, we are capable of getting a good result."

Who’s excited? Aaron McGill’s plans for Bathurst include swapping his Nissan Primera ride for a ‘Big Kev’ V8 and GTP WRX. (Photo by Dirk Kiynsmith) 10 Hovomber 2000

Finnigan out, 'Truckle' in KMART Racing has made a driver change on the eve of the FAI1000.

The team has dumped Terry Finnigan from the second car he shared with Darren Hossack at Queensland, replacing him with David 'Truckie' Parsons.

Parsons drove a Gibson Motor Sport-prepared VT in last year's race with his namesake, though hasn't driven since he was forced to sell his car to Rodney Forbes when Challenge Recruitment cut his original racing budget.

Finnigan has found another seat in time for the race, partnering Alan Heath in the South Australian's Falcon.

- AARON NOONAN For the full update on who's driving what with whom at Bathurst, see page 39

n Bernie Ecclestone celebrated his 70th birthday on Saturday.

Ecclestone, who had heart surgery 18 months ago, is currently working to secure the long-term future of the sport. The negotiations with the automobile manufacturers are advancing slowly, while Ecclestone is also trying to settle his differences with the European Commission Competition Directorate so that he can eventually float the remaining 50 percent of the Formula One business. The deal could net the Ecclestone family around US$2bn ($3.9bn) if all goes to plan. Bernie has no intention of giving up his control of the business and plans to stay on as Chief Executive for as long as possible.

■ Rising Italian star Giorgio Pantano clinched this year's German Formula 3 championship at Hockenheim over the weekend.

Pantano finished fourth in the race but it was enough to secure the title for the KMS team. The 21-year-old's title is remarkable, in that it was his first full season of motor racing and he had never raced on the German circuits before.

■ There was a nasty accident at the weekend at the Ferrari Challenge meeting at Mugello, which had been turned a Ferrari celebration after the team's victory in the Drivers' and Constructors' World Championships. German Ferrari Challenge driver Ulrich Plattenhardt died after being involved in a head-on accident with Daniel Kunzie, who had spun his car after a collision.

■ Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo was being feted across Italy this week, with the University of Modena granting him an honorary degree in mechanical engineering in recognition of his influence and achievements with the Ferrari team. Montezemolo will be awarded his degree in a ceremony on December 4.

11

Bathurst rookie of

f

by AARON NOONAN

ARROWS driver Jos Verstappen has been found guilty of assault by a Belgian court and has been given a five-year suspended prison sentence.

Verstappen avoided going to jail because he agi’eed an out of court financial settlement with the victim of the assault. Verstappen's father was given a similar sentence. The pair were involved in a fracas at a karting track at Lanaken, close to the Belgian border with Holland near Maastricht, in May 1998. 'fhe fight ended up with a man in hospital with a fractured skull and it is understood that he pi'essed charges against Verstappen until deciding to drop them when Verstappen offered to pay him. Thereafter, it seems, the Dutch prosecution service decided to continue the case to make an example of Verstappen.

The five-year suspended

SIS a

SO Is Grice

FORMER Bathurst winner Allan Grice pleaded guilty to assault in a Queensland court last week.

Grice, now a National Party member of parliament in Queensland, entered the plea over an incident with former V8 Supercar driver, John 'Trimbole.

The Southport Magistrates’ Court was told that, on August 2, Grice punched 'Trimbole, fracturing his nose and cutting his eye.

The dispute reported arose over Grice’s wife, Christine.

Robert Mulholland QC, Grice’s solicitor, said that the cause of the attack was Trimbole’s “despicable and outrageous” conduct, which 12

sentence will probably have no effect on Verstappen's future in FI, but he can count himself lucky because Bertrand Gachot's Formula 1 career was very seriously damaged when he was jailed for 18 months by Southwark Crown Court for spraying CS gas into the face of a London taxi driver after an incident at Hyde Park Corner in December 1990.

The 7Up Jordan driver did not know that the CS gas canister was illegal in Britain.

The Le Mans 24 Hours v/inner was found guilty of actual bodily harm and six counts of possession of a prohibited weapon. As a result Gachot lost his Jordan drive - to Michael Schumacher.

The bad publicity will not help Verstappen's chances of re-signing with the Arrows team for next year but, as Tom Walkinshaw has few real alternatives, Jos is expected to stay on with the team.

-JOESAWARD

he alleged had happened over a three month period.

But Magistrate Laurie Melrose said that “It might be fair to say there’s a lot of people in the community who would say you (Grice) acted just as they would in the circumstances, but the law is there to protect everybody”.

Grice was placed on a six month good behaviour bond, and no conviction was recorded. He will continue to serve the seat of Broadbeach Waters in the State Parliament.

If Grice had received a convinction he would have, under the rules of the parliament, been forced to resign from his seat.

ANOTHER of the enduring aspects of the Bathurst 1000, the Rookie of the Year Award, has died.

Earlier in the year AVESCO announced the Mike Kable Rookie of the Year award which would be awarded tO:the top rookie in the 2000 season of racing, however AVESCO and IMG, the Bathurst race organisers, won't present a Bathurst award for 2000, primarily as it now has been encased as part of the Shell Championship Series.

Drivers from both the Shell and Konica Series are eligible for the Kable Award, which will be presented at AVESCO's gala dinner in Adelaide in December.

The award includes a $15,000 scholarship to assist the winner's career.

Candidates must not be older than 30, competed in at least three Shell or Konica Series races and one enduro, must not have raced in any more than three sprint events prior to 2000 and must have applied before the deadline.

A list of criteria, not just driving and results based, must be met for drivers to be eligible and a panel of 10 judges will rate nominees on not just their

'W^VOKOHAMA

M on-track performance, but also their media skills, sportsmanship, presentation, peer respect and efforts in performance improvement.

Since the 'Great Bathurst Split' which saw two 1000 kilometre races run in 1997 and 1998, the lines between what constitutes a rookie, and whether their involvement in the 'other' race was counted, had been somewhat blurred.

Last year's scene where Paul Morris (a driver with class wins and an outright win in 1997 only

GRM Commodore test

Full Konica VS program for LEANNE Ferrier has had her first drive of a V8 Supercar.

'The former Formula Fordster, who will drive one of the team’s current VTs in next year’s Konica Series,shook down GUM’s brand new Commodore over 70 laps at Winton.

“Putting the power down was the hardest part,” said Fender.

‘Tm not used to 600

horsepower,a Formula Ford only has 100! Changing gears so quickly takes a while to get used to - it gets up to the revs quick enough.

“I had fun - it was great.I can’t wait to start racing at Wakefield Park next year.

“Garry’s trying to concentrate on this season first though.”

The car wUl be run out of the molorsport news

NEWS

Donington DTIVI?

Year

IN addition to its ALMS fixture (which has a projected April date), Donington Park in the UK is hoping to secure a round of the high-powered DTM in 2001.

The German 'silhouette' series,for 4-litre V8-engined spaceframe cars, is expected to have four 'away' events next year. Al-Ring (Austria), Helsinki (Finland), Spa (Belgium), Zandvoort (Holland) and Zolder (Belgium) have also registered an interest.

A return to Donington would sure to be a great attraction.

The 'original' DTM series ran at the British venue in the early and mid-1990s and, with the BTCC in a state of change, English fans would likely welcome the Mercedes, Opel and Audisupported series.

-QUENTIN SPURRING

1 for Leanne Ferrier in 2001 GRM workshop,however with a different group of mechanics.

Another new car is underway at the Valvoline team’s headquarters in Glen Waverley,the two newer cars to be used by Garth Tander and Jason Bargwanna next year, while Ferrier will run one of the current VTs. -AARON NOONAN

10 November 2000

to secure the long-term future of the commercial side of Grand Prix racing, Haffa's EM.TV company continues to have a rough ride on Frankfurt Neuer Markt stock exchange.

On Wednesday the shares dropped to their lowest point yet, falling to 31.10 'Euros ($26) before bouncing back by the end of the week to around 34.

month, despite analysts saying that it is now undervalued given the assets of the company.

The rising and falling of the share price in recent days could indicate that someone is quietly buying small chunks of stock in an Still the same: The BAR power struggle goes on, and on, and on...

(Photo by RaceAccess)

to be disqualified) was named the Rookie of the Year, on the basis that he'd never raced a V8 Supercar at Bathurst, obviously may have placed the issue in the 'too hard' basket for 2000.

Past Bathurst rookie winners include Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards, both of whom went on to win the race.

AS negotiations continue for a deal between Bernie Ecclestone, Thomas Haffa and a consortium of automobile manufacturers

The shares were trading at 120 Euros earlier this year but uncertainty over the Formula 1 deal and poor accounting saw the share price collapse and it has remained low for the last

Star rookie: Former rookie winner Steven Richards went on to win the Bathurst race in 1998 and ’99.

(Photo by Brisbane Molorsport)

Trouble coming for EM.TV

BAR: Yadda, Yadda, Yadda BRITISH American Racing has been playing down suggestions that a showdown is coming between team bosses Craig Pollock and Adrian Reynard, saying that the board meeting which was due to take place last week (but was delayed) was simply a quarterly gathering and no major moves were planned.

This is a shame, as the team needs to sort out who is in control if it is to make any real progress in the future.

There is no reason to suspect that the team is not telling the truth about the meeting and, so, one must conclude that Adrian Reynard's bid to take over the team has flopped. This is not a

surprise, given the recent stories about the economic problems afflicting Reynard Motorsport, which would seem to suggest that Adrian Reynard is no position to do anything to take over the team.

If this is indeed the case, Pollock needs not to worry, as Reynard's only active involvement in the team comes to an end at the end of 2001 when his contract to run the technical side of the team runs out. After that, Reynard Motorsport will be merely a minority shareholder in the team, which will have its own technical structure.

The team said that there will be no announcements about the meeting this week.

- JOE SAWARD

effort to build up a large shareholding in the business without drawing attention to themselves.

This could lead to a bid for the company, despite the fact that the Haffa Family still controls 51 percent of the business.

EM.TV has considerable assets in the cartoon and merchandising worlds and its investment in Ecclestone's Formula One group of companies should bring in income of around S200m this year.

Haffa would like to sell his FI shares for S2bn but as EM.TV is now valued at only slightly over $3bn he has to be careful of a hostile takeover bid either from the car manufacturers or from a media company interested in getting its hands on Haffa's cartoon library.

- JOE SAWARD 13

TOGA gets Futures BTCC loss

■Si

■-‘M ●●■A ●●■ - ● ■ 3:

Racing into the Future: Future Tourers, like Ray Sidehottom's Commodore VT, have a future with TOCA.

■

(Flwio by Lynley Reiii)

TOCA Australia has assumed the management and control of the Future Touring category.

The move was announced at Wakefield Park last weekend after several months of discussions between TOCA and Octagon Motorsport, which has run the class until now.

The move means that the V8 Commodore and Falcon category will receive greater TV exposure

through TOCA's broadcast deal with the Seven Network.

Octagon will continue to run its other motorsport projects, the Targa Tasmania rally, the Australian Safari and the AGP Rally. It will also promote the sixth round of the BOC Gases Championship, at Tasmania's Symmons Plains, on December 10.

- PHIL BRAIMAGAN

Toyota buys Fuji

Redeveloped track may get Japanese GP

THE Toyota Motor Company has given more details about what it hopes to achieve with its Formula 1 program.

“We are going after the hearts of the younger generation,” explained Toyota President Fujio Cho last week, when he announced that the company has bought the Mount Fuji Speedway near Tokyo.

“Formula 1 can be seen as part of that strategy.”

Toyota may be the biggest and strongest of Japan’s car manufacturers - and the third biggest in the world behind Ford and General Motors - but it has a rather duJl image. The cars are solid and not expensive, but they are not very exciting. Honda has a much more sporty image both in Japan and around the world and tends to attract a younger car buyer.

14

Toyota is aiming to change that and as part of the plan, intends to revamp the Fuji circuit to be the future home of the Japanese Grand Prix. The race is currently held at the Honda-owned Suzuka.

Toyota says that the rebuilding of Fuji should be finished by 2004 and it hopes to stage a race soon after that.

Suzuka's contract for the race runs out next year, but the circuit authorities are already negotiating for a new five-year deal.

Formula 1 boss Bemie Ecclestone will be happy to see a rival for Suzuka because the track has dragged its feet in making important changes over the years and this will force Suzuka to do what is demanded for fear of losing the contract.

MATTHEW HaUiday has returned home to New Zealand following a test with Indy Lights team, Brian Stewart Racing.

Halliday, who finished third in this year’s Formula Holden, tested last week at Parump, a small test road course some 60-kilometres west of Las Vegas.

“It went really well,” Halliday told Motorsport News on Tuesday, going^ix-tenths

Ifi

1

S®, T

/

iT,

’■

.

lA .

's

faster than the team had previously been around that track.

It’s a fairly demanding track.

“I didn’t spin and I didn’t stall, which was good, because I’ve never used a carbon clutch before.

“They’re (BSR) a private team, but someone like PacWest has got the sponsors to get the best drivers - there’s 50 guys lined up though!

“From here on it’s a bit of a monkey ride.”

Halliday said that he should

.3

-JOESAWARD

motorsport news

NEWS “O

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sponsor

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THINGS continue to get bleak for the new organisers of the British Touring Car Championship, with the news that series sponsor Auto Trader has ended its eight year association with the championship.

"The decision has nothing to do with the arrival of (new series organisers) BMP on the scene. I'm sure they'll take the championship forward in the years to come, and we wish them every success in the future," said Auto Trader's Matt Thompson.

New BTCC boss Richard West is confident of picking up a new backer, also confirming that the BBC will continue to cover the series.

soon hear back from PacWest regarding a test, saying that a test with the championship team was a strong possibility.

“Kenny’s(Smith)been working really hard on getting us a good deal but there’s a lot of people trying to get drives over there.”

Halliday ran 140 laps, before jetting back home^for the ^ Pukekohe 500 where he shared

s

an AU Falcon.

THE Kiwi has also confirm( himself a starter in the Tasman Series for Formula Holdens.

Having driven a Reynard 94D for Graham Watson during the .

Gold Star season in Australia, Halliday will slide into one of NRG Racing’s machines for the two-race series.

-AARON NOONAN

mHr41.

I

LI

2000

Prost Michelin?

by JOE SAWARD IT is no secret that Prost Grand Prix is thinking about joining forces with Michelin, but the recent engine deal with Ferrari is complicating matters as the French tyre manufacturer does not want its tyre technology leaking to Ferrari, which remains one of Bridgestone's top teams.

Bridgestone says that, as far as it is concerned, there is no problem for Prost to run on Michelin tyres, because it wants to divide the grid 50-50 with Michelin.

At the moment, Williams, Jaguar and the new Toyota team are declared Michelin runners, Benetton wiU announce a deal shortly and Prost would have made a fifth team. Minardi is also thought likely to switch to the French tyres, although probably not from choice.

The links with Ferrari are not likely to amount to much, as Alain Prost cannot afford to be seen (or even suspected) to be handing over sensitive information to Ferrari, and there is little that Ferrari can do to insist on such activity.

... as he signs up Joan Villadelprat AS we have been predicting, Alain Prost has signed up Joan Villadelprat and Henri Durand to be managing director and technical director of Prost Grand Prix.

The appointments help the process of internationalisation that the team has been undergoing in recent months and that should help Alain to attract new people and to alter attitudes within the team itself and within France.

Villadelprat will take over the role previously filled by Jean-Luc Gripond, while Durand will work with the team's young engineering team: head of design Jean-Paul Gousset and assistant technical director Loic Bigois. Both Durand and Gousset have extensive international experience in Formula 1 with British teams.

n Michael Schumacher will go on holiday this week and is not expected to be back in a Ferrari until the 2001 car is ready in January. The new World Champion is expected to spend some of the time at his secluded house in Norway away from the pressure of living with constant attention. The team's testing work in December will be carried out by Rubens Barrichello and test driver Luca Badoer. n We have heard that former Grand Prix driver Martin Brundle, who now works as a commentator for ITV while also being President of the British Racing Drivers Club and the owner of a thriving car dealership, is talking about one day setting up his own Formula 1 team.

Brundle has exceptional connections 'in the FI world and has particularly strong links with Toyota. Watch this space...

B There were suggestions in Malaysia that Renault Sport boss Christian Contzen is to retire shortly.

These are not new, and would make a lot of sense as the French car manufacturer gears up for its own assault in FI in 2002. Contzen is one of the biggest supporters of Flavio Briatore, although the Italian’s position remains secure for the moment, at least as long as Patrick Faure remains a force within Renault.

Faure, however, has lost the mantle of being the rising star of the company and, when current chairman Louis Schweitzer retires, his job is expected to go to Carlos Ghosn, who is currently in charge of the restructuring of Nissan.

B We hear that Jordan will shortly announce a major new sponsorship deal, but that there is no truth to the suggestions in recent days that Benson & Fledges will be pulling out of the team. Our sources say that B&H is negotiating for an extension to the current deal, although the branding used on the car will probably be changed. The identity of the new sponsor has not been revealed, although we believe that the company already has a small involvement in the sport. Jordan has already announced a three-year extension to its sponsorship deal with computer company, FlewlettPackard. n The Formula 1 teams will now go on holiday for a few weeks during the six week testing ban, although there will be plenty of work going on back at the team factories in Europe.

Testing is due to begin again in the first week of December in Jerez when several of the new combinations will be in action for the first time. The test is expected to see Jenson Button having his first runs in , a Benetton-Renault.

-JOE SAWARD 15

Replacing Ted Czapski CHRISTIAN Murchison has continued Ms Formula 3000 testihgat Barcelona in Spain,albeit with the test being not quite assuccessful as his original test for Red Bulbsome thren-nipllths-:. ago. .

Driving for Astromega during.an offitrialFIA test,the^pmul&jir"&^ ‘Holden Rookie of the Year rdbcked.a lm'36.1|8S;lapjhjn^^teseGp^gtf ' nfr»the.pao6'SgtbyRedlBWfdnyeri^H^^ei3^d^^^^t:$l|^^M rMiirchison 26f3i out oTthe.^drayCTB/pT;eaOT?*J^^^jS^^^ ' However,- donT read aJ0ttotDjthe^trieg;5eV:bli^n^^eJ^^-j^ i ,with-te,possiblen|e.;jff.3igl^pm^1^rs;s^ia^^yi|^^ra‘‘ I spec m'gines'ffil^^frlihtanig^fasterj^^jtn^g^mn^ ’^i-actise'of running‘ille^l’spec carBaf%^Belsij^8?^ip< amongstffie teains.ti3dngi^.-ih^e imjil|gp^^i^^ In what'coiiI3;^nr^Be.cpnsid^^ras^ aslowfethanM^^gantAnaiiBL; >^etotit^AstxomegaT®,on^eday.,r~^ <■

ALTHOUGH no-one will confinn the fact that Ferrari’s electronics man Tad Czapski is leaving the team,there seems to he tittle doubt that this will happen,as Ferraii is now rumoured to sniffing aroimd trying to hire McLaren’s top software specialist,Anton Sitpinovic.

The word on the street is that Sitpinovic is being offered three times the money he is earning at McLaren.

In the past Ron Dennis has been known to match such salaries in order to hold on to his best men.

And while Dennis may not like such behaviour, he has been as guilty as anyone in the past, luring a number of Williams employees to Woking in the mid-1990s when Williams was the dominant force in FI. Among those who switched were Adrian Newey, race engineer David Brown and research and development Paddy Lowe.

Brown,incidentally, is about to leave McLaren to take up a new role at Jordan Grand Prix, and the McLaren Formula 3000 team which he has been imnning in recent years is to be closed down.

There is no word on what Czapski is planning to do. The 43year-old was happily mnning an aerospace electronic engineering consultancy when he was recruited to join Benetton in 1992.

Losing a friend: What will Michael do without Ted Czpaski?

He developed many of the advanced electronics systems used

by Benetton in ’93.

After the ban on electronic systems in FI at the end of’93, Czapski stayed on at Benetton throughout the controversial ’94 season when the FIA found a “launch control system” in the Benetton software.

The FIA was unable to prove that the system had ever been used although Benetton was fined $100,000 for failing to supply the governing body with access to its systems within the time limits dictated.

Czapski followed Michael Schumacher to Ferrari.

- JOE SAWARD

Williams test drive up for gralI-

With Bruno Junqueira going off to race in the United States, the BMW Williams team has begun to look for a new test driver and with experienced Formula 1 men few and far between, it is not going to be an easy task.

The trend at the moment is to use drivers who have been racing in FI in recent years and McLaren has signed Alexander Wurz, Jordan has snapped up Ricardo Zonta, Ferrari is continuing to use Luca Badoer and Toyota has signed up Mika Salo.

This means that there are not many suitable drivers left for Williams with the most likely candidates being Marc Gene and Jos Verstappen. Johnny Herbert has already turned Williams down while other available men such as Enrique Bernoldi and Stephane Sarrazin do not seem to be exciting much interest.

16

Mark Webber is expected to join Benetton although recent comments made by team boss Flavio Briatore that Jamo Trulli will be moving to the team in 2002 are likely to have given the Australian second thoughts about the team. He may, however, already be under contract to Benetton.

Williams is expected to sign up the most experienced driver it can get its hands on but may also sign up a youngster to help the development work. The man most likely to get this role is the new German F3 champ Giorgio Pantano.

The team is going to be doing a considerable amount of testing next year with a new engine, Michelin tyres and a reduction in the amount of testing allowed which means that teams will want to use as many drivers as possible on days when running is allowed.

- JOE SAWARD

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Positions vacant, apply within; Who will be Williams.BMW’s test driver?

(Photo by Sutton-lmages)

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NEWS \

Yamaha dumps SBK YAMAHA has withdrawn its factory team from the 2001 World Superhike Championship, as part of a global re-organisation of its racing programs.

The YZF-R6 took both the Riders and Manufacturers Supersport World Championship this year-, while Noriyuki Haga finished runner-up in the Superbike World Championship.

Development of the YZF-R7 will continue for the Japanese Superhike series and for the Suzuka Eight Hour endurance race.

Haga has re-signed with Yamaha but will move across to the SOOcc Grand Prox Red Bull team to partner Australian Garry McCoy.

So long F7; Haga is heading to GP racing after Yamaha pulled out of SBK. (Photo by Clive Masoo/Allsport)

Photo by sutton-lmages ^ THE McLaren Formula 3000 team is no more.

While it was reported to have been in negotiations with a British Formula 3 team, the team has elected to close its doors.

Having been in the Formula 1 feeder category for three years and won the championship with Nick Heidfeld in 1999, the team had a largely wasted 2000, with just the one win for Tomas Enge.

David Brown, the team's manager has left to work for Jordan.

Tady for CastrolHonda SBK team TADAYUKI Okada is to replace Aaron Slight in the Castrol Honda Superhike team for the 2001 World Championship.

“I'm very happy to be joining the Castrol Honda team and making the switch to Superbikes,” said Okada, who will partner World Champion Colin Edwards.

“I know riding alongside the world champion will set its own targets but I'm confident I can be successful.”

The 33-year-old Japanese rider has raced both 250cc and SOOcc Grand Prix bikes for Honda in a 10-year career and was runner up in the SOOcc title to Mick Doohan in 1997.

“Okada has twice won the Suzuka 8 hours endurance race, on a Superbike,so his Superbike potential is there for all to see,” said team manager Neil Tuxworth.

Peugeot to race PEUGEOT has announced that its 2001 British Touring Car contender wiU be based around the 406 Coupe,not the 306 3-door which raced in the series this season.

Two of the cars, which will be prepared at the Peugeot factoiy under the management of long-time Peugeot Sport chief Mick Linford, will race for the factory team. Other works-supported cars may appear for Independent teams.

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\ 19

Champ Cars

Dixon wins Indy Lights title SCOTT Dixon has won the Indy Lights championship in the best possible fashion - with victory at California, The former FHolden diarnpion took the fead from the cheqaered flag ajid clinch the title. ‘^WhaS, a gi-eatfeeWBg,” SMaDixon.“This is definitely the biggest elfampionship I’ve won in my career. This really was not the finish we wanted based on having to fight it ont in the final event, but I finally had some luck after two bad races.

“My team was incredible ail! year and it finaly paid offin spades. I owe Tony PEenna)a lot for staying nip behind!me almost the whole race, and I just wish be could have fimshilS’^ second.”

Aussie Jason Bright finished just 2.17s behind Dixon,j^beik in 14th! ^ The end ofthe race was spectacular, for Lnis Diaz flip coming onto the maim straight for the final!time,liit by hi Herdez team mate Maiio Dominqiuez. Diaz emerged Irom the upturned Lola without injuiy.

mm Lucky, lucky, lucky: Luis Diaz was iucky to survive this last lap Lights crash.

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JOHN Della Penna may be forced to pull his team out of the FedEx Championship Series.

The team hasn’t been able to keep its supply of Toyota engines for 2001, as the manufacturer begins supplying to a number of other teams who are reportedly switching from both Honda and Ford.

“It's veiy disheartening to be in this situation,” said Della Penna, whose team ran Jason Bright on the Gold Coast.

“The current climate in CART with regards to engine supply is damaging the series and in particular the small teams.

“Memo (Gidley) and I have

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developed a great working relationship and we want to continue to work together, however, right now there’s no manufacturer prepared to supply us for 2001.”

If Della Penna is unable to secure a supply of engines, there is a chance he would cross back to the Indy Racing Northern Light Series, where he ran in 1996 with Richie Hearn before crossing to CART. Engine supply is the appealing factor for a move to the all-oval IRL series where teams own their engines as opposed to CART’S system where manufacturers supply their preferred teams on a lease basis. moiorsport news

NEWS

Ganassi goes international F3000 stars Junqueira and Minassian confirmed at Target/Ganassi in 2001

by PHIL MORRIS THE winner and runner-up in this year’s Formula 3000 championship will he replacing Juan Montoya and Jimmy Vasser at Target/Chip Ganassi Racing for 2001.

Bruno Junqueira and Nicolas Minassian were, as expected, confirmed as the team’s drivers at Fontana.

“It will be a different culture for our team next year not to have a defending champion but at the same time I couldn’t be happier to have these two gentlemen on our team,” said Ganassi.

“There will be two new faces piloting our cars next year, but I think these two gentlemen are a perfect fit for what this team is looking for and for what this series is looking for.”

Junqueira said that the move to Champ Cars was the better opportunty, rather than racing in a bottom-running Formula 1 car.

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JIMMY Vasser will be re-united with his 1996 Championship winning engineer Mo Nunn for 2001.

The American, who had his contract bought out by Chip Ganassi some months ago, will line-up in a second Reynard-Honda for the Mo Nunn Racing team with backing from Pioneer and MCI WorldCom and as team mate to Tony Kanaan.

Vasser's signing is also boosted by the news that the team will use Honda engines, following Mercedes-Benz' withdrawl from the Champ Car series.

The 34-year-old tested for Ganassi's NASCAR team but said all along that he wished to stay in open wheelers.

Adrian goes on his own

ADRIAN Fernandez confirmed one of the worst-kept secrets in the CART paddock at Fontana - the formation of Fernandez Racing between he and managing director of Target/Ganassi Racing,Tom Anderson.

The team will field two Reynard/Hondas in next year’s FedEx series, driven by Fernandez and Shinji Nakano.

“I have a lot of respect for all the teams I’ve been running with,” said Fernandez.

“And especially Patrick Racing, which has given me the opportunity to run at the front these last three years.

A shop is nearing completion in Indianapolis and the team expects to take delivery of its first Reynard chassis in mid-November for pre-season testing.

The move leaves a seat open alongside Roberto Moreno at Patrick Racing and Derrick Walker’s CART team vfithout both its driver, backer and engine supply.

- PHIL MORRIS 10 November 2000

Forsythe/ Zakspeed link

GERRY Forsythe’s, right, dormant third Champ Car team will be seen more regularly next year, with the announcement of a 50-50 partnership with the German Zakspeed team.

At California last week, Peter Zakowski (Zakspeed) and Ron Dickson (Forsythe) said that they intended to run two cars with chassis and engines to be

confirmed and that backing was ”90 percent sure and will be announced in January.”

Dickson confirmed that Bryan Herta will drive one car, while a number of names have been floated for the second.

Drivers linked to the second seat include Johnny Herbert, Marcel Tiemann, Michael Krumm and ALMS racer Jorg Muller.

“The possibility to join Target/Chip Ganassi Racing was the better opportunity and I am very happy to he here,” he said.

“I came to Laguna Seca at the end of 1996 to try to get a ride in Indy Lights. Five years later I’m driving with one of the best teams in Champ Cars.It wiU be a challenge but I think it’s the perfect team to help me learn about Champ Cai’s.” ’ Minassian will become the only French driver in the series and the first since Stephan Gregoire(now in the IRL)to run in CART since the early 1990s.

“I’ve never been a maniac about Formula One,” he said.

“I think the racing is much better in CART. “I like to race to win and there’s no sense to be in Formula 1 if you are racing to be 15th or 20th.”

Vasser, who had tested one of Ganassi’s NASCARs,has now found a seat with Mo Nunn’s team alongside Tony Kanaan (see separate story).

Tora, Tora^ lora TORA Takagi will be a runner in next year’s Champ Car Series, the question though is for who?

“I’m going to drive a car equipped with Toyota’s engine in the series,” he said.

“I hope i will be able to make some good results and hopefully I can return to the Formula One Grand Prix in the near future.”

The former Grand Prix driver could find a spot with Derrick Walker’s team, who has lost driver Shinji Nakano and engine supplier Honda to Adrian Fernandez’s team.

California 500

de Ferran’s M Brazilian domination at Fontana as Fittipaldi takes California 5 r

by PHIL MORRIS IT was the title no-one seemed to want to win, but in the season-ending Champ Car race at California Speedway it was Roger Penske and Gil de Ferran who took away the Vanderbilt Cup. Despite the rain which stopped the race on lap 33 and forced it to be re-started the following day, as well as an attrition rate we have come to expect from the tough and brutal 500-mile races, de Ferran stood strong to take third place behind countrymen Christian Fittitpaldi and Roberto Moreno.

“Obviously, it’s a very, very emotional day for me today,” said de Ferran.

“1 was trying to keep myself calm, but when I crossed the line, I didn’t think I was going to make it back. I’ve dreamed all my life about winning a title like this. I’ve been racing since 1982, and there are a lot of people that cross your life and help you, and you try to find a way to pay them back.

When I crossed the line, all the emotions just flowed out.”

Team owner Penske, who changed virtually all facets of his team except the colours of the cars in a bid to re-claim the title of CAET champion, spoke of the turn-around from California 1999 to California 2000.

“I think the main thing in this championship is when you think about how things turned around from last year with Greg (Moore)’s death and the other tragedies,” he said.

“This wasn’t just a Gil win, or my win, this was a team win. It was a great day. The biggest move for me was to look outside the team. Neither Greg Moore or Gil said, T’ll come to Team Penske if I have this tire or this engine.’ They wanted to come to Team Penske.

With Gonzalo (Rodriguez), we were tr3dng to give a young guy a break.

We knew he didn’t have a ride, and we wanted to give him an opportunity.

“Of course, as close as I got to Greg Moore, and to see that accident that happened here last year was really tough. Today’s championship is really, really great, but it doesn’t replace these two very special people.”

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You’ve got to drink the champagne from the top.

Gil: de Ferran explored the Vanderbilt Cup, but just couldn’t find the tap ...

(Photo by Sutton-lmages)

Fittipaldi had driven a strong race to take his second Champ Car win and also picked up a big US$1 million bonus for winning the race, de Ferran picking up a ‘cool mill’ for the title win.

“Above all, I am very happy for the day today,” said Fittipaldi.

“The team worked very well. These 500-mile races are all about finishing. A lot of people are

learning to run these 500-mile races, and it’s starting to get tough. I knew it was going to come down to the last 10 to 15 laps.”

Fittipalid’s win and Moreno’s second-place sealed the Manufacturer’s Title for Ford, defeating Honda by 22 points while the Brazilians clinched the Nation’s Cup for their country as well. Fittipaldi also became the

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l l l Red, white and green: A third-place was enough for the Brazilian, above, to take the first non-Target/Ganassi title since 1995. Paul Tracy below, must have been green with envy. Sorry, couldn’t help it...

{Photos by Sutton-images)

11th different winner from 20 races during the season, a sign that things are competitive and healthy in Champ Car racing, despite losing Montoya, Rahal and the like to FI. The race finished under yellow flags when Alex Tagliani (Player’s Ford/Reynard) crashed with two laps to go, handing Fittipaldi a certain win and de Ferran a certain title.

All of de Ferran’s championship challengers simply could not live with the Penske driver. The nearest was Adrian Fernandez, who finished the race fifth, but that wasn’t enough to wrestle the title from the Brazilian.

Paul Tracy, complete with green hair and a special ‘money-man’ helmet was forced out of Sunday’s leg of the race, his Honda engine blowing up, taking the engine cowling of the car with it.

A following Cristiano da Matta was hit by debris which rained his steering and sent him straight into the outside wall.

Moreno was eliminated from championship contention once de Ferran had set a new closed circuit world record pole speed; the bonus point the Penske driver earnt put Moreno out of contention.

Kenny Brack retired with a turbocharger problem, while his team-mate for the weekend, Casey Mears, stayed out of all the trouble and motored to a fourth place finish on Champ Car debut in a third Rahal machine.

Juan Montoya’s reign as champion came to an unfortunate 10 November 2000

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CHALLEIMQER end when the Toyota let go again, while Helio Castro Neves was taken to hospital for observation after making heavy contact with the wall.

Only six cars were classified as finishers of the 500-miler, and of them,five were Ford engines, the other being the lone Honda of de Ferran.

The race saw 59 official lead changes, only three short of the Champ Car record set at Michigan in 1998.

So the closest motor racing title in living memory had been won at a place where sadness had cast a cloud a year earlier. The red and white results certainly would have made Greg Moore smile ...

Final Points: de Ferran 1G8,Fernandez 158, Moreno 147, Brack 135,Tracy 134, Vasser 131, Castroneves 129,Andretti 127, Montoya 126, da Matta 112.

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NEWS THE battle for the outright positions in the Bathurst GTProduction Three Hour will be a race between a variety of manufacturers and machines.

HSV’s 300-kilowatt VT,Mazda’s rotaiy-turbo RX7, and the fourwheel-drive offerings from Suharu and Mitsubishi wiU battle for the outrights, the pick of the Holden bunch being Ed Aitken/John Faulkner and Tony Scott with Ross Dillon.

GTP champ Mark King will be joined by Pirelli man Rod Wilson, while two new machines will join the fray.

Two brand new Nissan 200SX Spec-Rs will debut in the hands of Chris Kousparis/Mark Brame and Don Pulver/Terry Shiel, while a Honda S2000 will be steered by Darren Palmer and Greg Crick.

The fleet of Honda Integra TypeRs will be the cars to beat in the Sports Touring cars, while John Bowe will link with Daryl Coon in the six-cylinder class in a Falcon XR6. The V8 touring car class will be a straight Holden versus Ford fight, while Holden’s Astra will make its debut in the four-cylinder class, the driving hne-up yet to be announced.

-AARON NOONAN

Wide open Bathurst GTP

ee-San!: Look for two,of thes.e Nissan 200SX cars at the Bathurst 3-Hour GTR race next week.

Bentley back to Le Mans Chan at IViC

TWO of the most famous marques in British motor racing, Bentley and MG,are to return to Le Mans.

Last week Volkswagen AG, which owns the Bentley brand, confirmed that an enclosed racer will compete in the 24 Hour classic in 2001.

The car, which will be run by Richard Lloyd Racing, will feature a revised version of the engine used by Audi in its historic 1-2-3 result at the event this year.

Drivers are uncertain, but one name which appears likely to be on the

car is that of Dirk Muller.

The chassis of the car will be all new and the 2002 version of the car will utilise an entirely new, Bentley-developed engine. It will not be a version of Audi's 1999 GT below.

Bentley first entered the race in

1923,finishing in fourth place, and won five times in the next eight years; 1924,'27, '28,'29 and 1930.

The car is expected to be extensively tested, but not raced, early next season prior to PreQualifying on May 6.

The race will take place on June 16/17.

Photo by Sutton-lmages

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24

THERE are signs that the racing car manufacturer Lola is involved in a bid to split the MG name away from the troubled Rover Group.

Last week two members of the board of Rover quit the company but said that they would continue to work to build MG cars. Financier Brian Parker and Terry Whitmore of the Mayflower Group, which builds a lot of MG sub-assemblies, want to try to make MG a going concern independently of Rover, Lola and Mayflower have close links and we believe that Lola is already designing a new MG sportscar and preparing for a future in competition with the MG brand.

Rover's future is in considerable doubt particularly now that Malaysian car manufacturer Proton (which is owned by FI sponsor Petronas) says it is not interested in buying the company. Proton is bidding for an engine and transmission business called Powertrain which BMW is currently selling.

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Biela/Pirro take Vegas

Aussie Brabham sixth after muiti-car shunt

THE regular Audi finishing order was reversed in the penultimate round of the Le Mans Series at Las Vegas, the #78 machine offrequent runners-up Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro leading home their team-mates Rinaldo CapeUo and Allan McNish.

“It was a fantastic day for us,” said Pirro. “All year we felt we were never given credit, and we wanted to win badly today. Every race we were struggling a little but here, thank God, we felt good. We were very comfortable at Las Vegas from early on.”

Jan Magnuessen had rocketed away in the Panoz on the combined banking/infield circuit, to lead McNish and the BMW of JJ Lehto.

McNish closed rapidly but was hit by the Dane in the rear corner as he went to make a pass. The Panoz got a stop-go penalty, the Audi a severe bout of oversteer thanks to a damaged rear diffuser.

A safety car period allowed Magnussen to close up and he re took the lead on lap 40 just before the first round of stops, holding it when McNish stalled twice while leaving the pits.

All hell broke loose after a later caution period. On a re-start following debris on the circuit, Jorg Muller (in Lehto’s BMW)was bottled up behind slower GT cars and ran into the second Panoz of Hiroki Katoh, A following David Brabham clipped Capello and was hit by Stefan Johansson’s Reynard/Judd.

The mess left Pirro sailing through the chaos into an easy lead, while Katoh was out, Brabham had lost his rear wing, Muller had broken suspension, Johansson had Brabham’s wing embeded in his nosecone, and Capello’s damaged rear diffuser was now broken.

Pirro cruised away to win by 44 seconds over Capello(which gave co-driver McNish the driver’s

Audi Doody Frank; Frank Biela, along with Emanuele Pirro, has —^ proved to be just as good Sportscar racer as he is touring car racer.

(Photo by Su«on-tmage«) }

% gi-ab fourth and first of the ‘privateers’, while the Johansson Reynard/Judd continues to improve, taking a delayed fifth.

Brabham and Magnussen re joined with a repaired rear wing to

Corvette crusher: The Vipers again were supreme in the GTS class in Las Vegas; Wendlinger/Beretta the winning combination. (Phoiobysunon-images)

take sixth, six laps behind the winners.

The momentum has swung back to the Vipers in the GTS class, the .Olivier Beretta/Karl Wendlinger example winning in Las Vegas ahead of team mates Tommy Archer/David Donohue.

Porsche continued its run in the GT category, this time it was Sascha Maassen and Bob Wollek sharing the winning car ahead of team mates Lucas Luhr and Dirk Muller.

The Le Mans Series now takes a break until it heads to Adelaide for the final round, the ‘Race of a Thousand Years’ and although the prototype and GTS classes have been decided, there’s a GT title up for grabs and the boasting rights as winner of the first international Sportscar race in Australia since 1988.

Getting better: After a horror start to 2000, the Reynard is on (Photo by Sutton-lmagos) the improve. title), with the second BMW V12 of Bill Auberlen and Jean-Marc Gounon staying out of trouble for once to take a well-deserved third.

The Rafanelli Lola/Judd of Mimmo Schiateralla and Didier de Radigues bounced back from a first lap run-in with American Johnny O’Connell(#2 Panoz)to

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OPINION

D

RIVING the Ford Falcon GTHO in which I won the Bathurst 500 30 years ago will certainly highlight the changes which have occurred in touring car racing.

When we park the car next to a current Falcon AU V8 Supercar, even the uninitiated racing fan won't have any trouble spotting the large discrepancy in safety between a 1970, state-of-the-art car and the 2000 version. The protection of the driver will be so obvious in the current car; my car only had a single roll hoop across the back of the driver's neck and that was it!

I recall during the Ford 75th anniversary celebrations in Geelong recently saying to myself, "boy, we had an absence of imagination as drivers in those days!"

Just to get into a totally standard car, virtually, and race from a standard drivers' seat...

We were always aware that the track could cause some real worries in those days. People like Bill Brown and Tony Roberts either didn't make it through a corner or, in Tony's case, went over the hill when I was right behind him. Not very pretty to see a colleague going over Skyline. There were no walls up there in those days. In that respect, Peter Brock and the rest of us who were involved must have been a little bit loose between the ears.

But you grew into it. Those were the rules. CAMS didn't permit any tubes to protrude through the drivers' habitat.

Nothing went from the inside of the car into the engine area, or into the rear to link up with the suspension area. Naturally, everybody was in the same boat.

But, by the standards of today, it was quite laughable. The term 'Model T' comes to mind. These were the Model T race cars of the era.

We have leap-frogged so dramatically with this V8 Supercar formula, even since its start in 1993. It's been perfected year after year to the point where I think that the engineering which is in the cars today is superb.

“The cars are not the only things to have changed. From memory, we went to Bathurst in 1970 on Friday. The modus operandi was that the first wheel turned at 10 o'clock on Saturday morning.

We had an hour and a half session, a lunch break, then another hour and a half, so we had three hours to prepare for 28

the annual event. It was too bad race cars up there, so we were if your car didn't start at 10 one notch ajtead of them! o'clock on Sunday morning.

But maybe they were running You had to have 100 percent of their engines in! your race package together It's a superb act that runs before you even left home. We there today. It's a great pat on were fortunate; we had the luxury the back for Australian ingenuity of having the Yanks' facilities that we have come on, in a available to us. We would also run mere 30 years, from that level to at Calder to do some brake something that is of true international.standard - with the checking before the race. drivers, the teams and It was really nice to be able to organisation to match. go to the You Yangs Proving Ground in total privacy to do whatever we needed and get “The Craig Lowndes/HRT story some fast miles under the cars. is interesting.

It was always nice to get the 30 years ago, you would not have ever heard a week before cars up to genuine speed before the race that a going to Bathurst. As a driver was factory team, it quitting his was not as bad team. For one as it sounded. thing, there From weren't so memory, the many drivers team was under contract; about six to Peter and Colin Bond at HDT, eight people, no more. There Fred Gibson, was one fellow Bruce McPhee on each tyre, and myself at one and Ford. Not many sometimes two drivers were hired to do the for the fuelling, II because you job.

All the talk of had five-gallon - Moffat on transport, 1970-styfe drums with one contracts and inch diameter who was plastic hose, so driving what you wouldn't need venting. didn't add up to a hill of beans, Even smaller teams these really. In those days, I had a days seem to have their own three year contract which catering. If we had a thermos in expired at the end of 1973 when the truck, we had catering ... the company retired from racing.

The cars came up on the back There was never any discussion of car carriers. They unloaded about,'What are you doing with onto the grass and that was it. me?' It just happened.

Wherever they dropped them is I was available for testing and where we worked on them. driving for a fixed number of races. If they changed the We travelled up by car, the first time, because we had to get schedule or the company there somehow. The Flolden decided to take on more races, I Dealer Team used to drive their just would have been there.

"The cars came up on the hack of car carriers.

We travelled up hy car the first time, because we had to get there somehow. The Holden Dealer Team used to tfr/Ve their race cars up there, so we were one notch ahead of them!

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Thirty years after his first win on the Mountain, Allan Moffat will be reunited with his 1970 race-winning Falcon GTHO next week in an anniversary event at Bathurst. We spoke to thefour-time Bathurst winner. 'm very pleased to be part of the preliminary activities for this year's race. From the reaction that Peter and I received when I drove the 1971 race-winning Falcon and he drove the Torana XU-1 at Albert Park in March, 1 think that the fans will be wanting to jump over the fence to look at the cars.

It will be very pleasant for all the GTHO owners to be able to lap the track before the race. It will be a terrific sight and one to which I look forward. See you there.

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Motor Mouth With Allan Moffat

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Old, bold racing drivers: Allan Moffat and Peter Brock turned it on for the fans at Albert Park in March.

(Photo by old. bold Dirk Klynsiniih)

molorsport news

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Formula 1, rai up lines

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The Nlili BoxioaSeat SMini

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his year's Formula 1 media packs have each featured amusing photographs which take the expressions used in Formula 1 and put a little spin on them, playing on the words to create an absurd image.

Earlier in the year we had Michael Schumacher riding a horse in full racing overalls (Yes, he really did do it) to create 'Horse Power'. Johnny Herbert and Eddie Irvine were pictured strangling one another for 'Throttle Control' and a large tank was somehow put into a pitlane (I think it was one of those blowup dummies used to mislead photo-reconnaissance planes) and surrounded by mechanics in overalls to create 'Refuelling Tank'.

The best was saved to last. It was a picture of Bernie Ecclestone in a white laboratory coat, standing in front of a blackboard covered with complicated scientific formulae.

Mr E was peering into a test tube, filled with a pink liquid: 'Formula 1'. In a few years one can be sure they will all be collectors' items...

When you stop and think about it, it is not such a strange idea. Formula 1 is a mixture of

The Can-Do Men ofFJ: Two of GP racing’s 2000 breakthroughs- the solarpowered pith helmet, and Dr Sid Watkins’carbon fibre cigar humidor below.

weird and wonderful things and people. Everything is inter-acting frantically, like the supposedly secret ingredients in Coca-Cola, and the result is a sport which somehow or other always manages to produce a bit of fizz.

B

ut all this is in danger...

Medical people have discovered the Formula 1 equivalent of Mad Cow Disease.

It is called Economy Class Syndrome and I stumbled upon it while sitting in a departure lounge, reading the paper. This affliction will not affect those sitting at the front of the plane, quaffing champagne and making improper suggestions to stewardesses, but it could have

a very nasty effect on the ranks of the people in FI who actually do the work. The people who travel in the back of the plane.

Economy Class Syndrome. causes airline passengers to drop dead as a result of spending too much time sitting in the same cramped position in an economy class seat. It struck the other day on a Sydney to London flight, when a perfectly healthy 28-year-old lady dropped dead when a fatal blood clot formed after she had been sitting for too long, motionless in her seat.

The medical types will tell you that this is actually something called DVT, which may sound like some advanced transmission system but is actually an ailment called Deep Vein Thrombosis. If you travel a lot, you probably do not want to know what it is, but basically a blood clot forms in the legs and then floats along in your veins until it arrives somewhere it can do real damage and then 'Siam!', out go the lights.

Trembling slightly, I concluded that from now on, whenever I go near an aeroplane, I will wriggle a lot afid I will not care whether I annoy those around me. And then I remembered some advice from Formula 1 's eminent doctor Professor Sidney Watkins MD, FRCS - otherwise known as Sid, who is a sage in most things but

particularly useful when it comes to medicine..Sid has an answer for all known ailments. The cure consists of a combination of a Ti large glass of whisky; half;ah. aspirin and a large cigar.

I have often wondered,how - : one cures a vvobbly turr]iTiy:with. them, but I guess it has . ; something to do with the cigar. - " Actually, I am not sure I want /.icknovy, because I know that i quite capable of‘telling, people^ '^0.' *.? where to stick it. n Half an'aspiriffa day is' highly l recommended for thDs.e; of a j’et- .j; set temperarrieitt, elfh.O'qgh'Sid, J.' says that rat.pO,ipqmis:just as'T.)':',:;’;<s good a cure for th'em;^.And,fif:y6(U^V think- 1 am joking, you s.hpuldf i perhaps go out and buy:.somefat'T| poison and have a look'atthe n -'' ingredients, because it is use^^Tn a lot of trauma su'rgery;,J^itefe.is. this stuff called warfahi|ivvHich ’ thins out the blood;to avoid clots*^ cj forming. : \ V But before'ydu'-starf vyriting; airlines asking fo^'th'e v‘t stewardesses to walk downif^d” ■f. plane saying 'Chicken, Beef“^--'„ Warfarin?', f should perhapar^T■ - 1 warn you that if you polisb.?o|fT' ' ' yoCir tray and then eat yoUp-!^' neighbour's lunch as w,ell„'the' only terminal you will be going to ,v1 will be a state of health. One has ■ to be a little careful with the doses... and I would avoid suggesting the idea to Niki Lauda's airline (known as 'Rat Air') because, if you kill 'The Rat', you may find a stewardess walking through the plane asking if there is a pilot onboard...

W

hich brings me, by a roundabout route, to the subject of stewardesses. This seemed to be a favourite subject among some of my pals at Sepang. Being near the airport, the hotels around the circuit were all filled with stewardesses who, folklore will tell you, are simply good-looking, healthy, single girls flying around the world testing out chaps to see if they are husband material.

My hotel was full of girls in motorsport news

FORMULA ONE

"Could I suggest that if you want to go on reading Box seat columns, you should all send m a tew dollars, pounds or yen so that the author can avoid this fearful fate and travel up the front with the beautiful people,sipping whisky. munching aspirins, smoking cigars and nibbling caviar from the naked bodies of KLM stewardesses..." (and out of) KLM uniforms. A Dutch colleague of mine thought that this was a fine idea and proceeded to turn his devastating FI charm on one of these lucky ladies. I listened to them gabbling away like a pair of geese for a while and then. having sensed something from the body language, concluded that the conversation was anything but dull. And so when Hostie Van Holland went sliding away across the room, with more wiggle that a jelly on springs, I asked for a translation of the conversation.

"Oh," he said. "Well. I said:'My room number is 752, and if you fancy some sex later on. Drop by and I'll sort you out 'And what did she say?" I asked.

"Well, she thought 1 was being a little direct.'

'So what did you say?"

'Well said that I was only being nice and, if I just walked off without asking her, she would not have felt like a really attractive woman.

During the week I kept an eye on how 'the romance' was developing. On Sunday morning.

I found a very crestfallen Dutchman. No, he said, she had not fallen for his killer charm.

She had gone off to a big Boeing 747 instead and sailed into the sunset- without so much as a "Coffee, Tea or Me?" "Oh well," I said. "Perhaps you should work on the opening line a bit...”

T

here is a wonderful confidence about Formula 1 people which I have always found to be completely fascinating. They think they can dance like Fred Astaire, sing like Bing Crosby, cook like Stefano di Pietri, write like Scott Fitzgerald, fly like Eddie Rickenbacker and walk the tightrope like Charles Blondin.

The frightening thing is that a 10 November 2000

lot of them do have remarkable talents. If you need an expert or any subject, there is someone in the paddock who is qualified to talk about the subject. And that ranges from brain surgeons to sculptors, stunt pilots to musicians, steeplechase jockeys to missile designers, accountants to chefs.

We did have some trouble the other day identifying aircraft. simply asked if anyone knew 4 what the noisy jets doing their display at lunchtime on Sunday had been. Half the press room insisted they were MIGs, the others reckoned they were FI4 Tomcats. And then there were those who thought they were probably FI-1 Is... FI5s, MIG 19s and so on.

It was the kind of argument you could only have in Formula 1.

All these crazy people came to the end of another FI season in Malaysia and, as usual, it was time for -farewells. Bernie Ecclestone's Flying Circus was going on leave.

Fhere were 118 days until the next race.

Hostess wars; Eddie Jordan’s answer to DVT is to make sure a'll Ins a’ew n .

When all is said and done the dress lightly before, during and after air travel. At Sepang, this airline hostess circus has done a good job this demonstrates how many FI journos propositioned her. tPhitak fn Surim-ttnaptsi year, There has been too much public back-biting and bitching m . but at the end of it all the sport is healthy. People are human and apart from that minor flaw, /H.SCHUMACHFR things have gone pretty well.

Everyone has had a good time.

Mind you, I am bit worried what will happen when they hear about Economy Class Syndrome.

However I have an idea.

Could I suggest that if you want to go on reading Box Seat columns, you should all send in a few dollars, pounds or yen so that the author can avoid this fearful fate and travel up the front with the beautiful people, sipping whisky, munching aspirins, smoking cigars and nibbling caviar from the naked bodies of KLM stewardesses...

I

David Coulthard

DC After the post-race press conference in Malaysia, David Coulthard was cornered by the British media in the paddock. Little did we know that he was going to give us a surprise - a ciose-up view of his biistered and very red right buttock. A spectacuiar sight indeed, but anyone expecting to see a tattoo of the cross ofSt Andrews was disappointed!

ADAM COOPERJoined the throng as DC gave the iowdown on the race in Maiaysia, the past season, and the future.

But first, what about that biistered bum...

David Coulthard: The problem has been there all season. It's the first time it's actually blistered. Normally I get out of the car and I've got two red marks on my arse.

Because it was getting so hot here in practice I almost put a heat retardant there, but I was worried because it's like jelly, and I thought It might slip up my buttocks and interfere with my ring piece during the race I MN: Do you think that's cost you the championship?

DC: I think it has! The skid plate was mounted further forward last year, and this year they put it right underneath. That's why Mika and I have been looking like a couple of overdone potatoes all year.

MN: Apart from that, it was quite a good race in many respects...

DC: I have to say all credit to the engineers. I didn't want to do two stops, because I felt from three on the grid the chances of Mika jumping the start and me passing Michael were slim, and I thought to go two stops would then guarantee I was going to be fourth. If Rubens was on a one32

stop, that's where I'd end up.

But they quite rightly said that if you go two stops, and you get the jump on Michael, then you have a real chance of winning this race. OK, the downside is you might be fourth, but surely the upside of trying to win... I have to say they were quite aggressive on it, and I think in hindsight they were absolutely spot-on. And I think maybe we've realised we need to be more aggressive like that more often.

MN: Strategy has let you down a few times, hasn't it?

DC: I think it has. Had I not filled the radiators... It's the old thing about if your aunt had balls she would be your uncle, but it's fact I ran off the track, fact I put grass in the radiators and the engine temperature went off and over the top.

So we had to stop at lap 18 to clean the radiators, and you know at that point that you're giving away considerable seconds, because it's just too early.

We could have run further than Michael's pit stop, so we can presume that we would have maintained the gap.

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A vision: Coulthard has had an up and down season in 2000.

(Pholox by Siilioii-hiwfics}

MN: Can a few blades of grass make that much difference?

DC: I'm amazed it did. I guess they've got the radiator blanking down to the exact size to cool the engine under normal circumstances. I didn't think I ran off the circuit that much, but maybe there was a lot of grass there.

MN: Could you see in the cockpit that there were high temperatures - is there a display?

DC: There is a display, but to be perfectly honest, you don't really look at it. You look at the rev lights, you look at the gears, and in the race you usually drive until the thing breaks, because it could be a faulty dashboard.

In practice an alarm will come on and tell you, and you either switch off or drive into the pits.

MN: So the engineers told you?

DC: Yes, they said you're going to have to stop this lap, we need to clean the radiators, and then I knew a 5-6s lead just wasn't enough, based on a normal two-stop strategy.

At that point I thought Michael was on a one-stop, because I was pulling away. Once it leveled out and I was still bringing my lap time down, I thought he was on an option to do both, so I was a bit more comfortable that we were doing okay. motorsporl news

INTERVIEW

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"Normally I get out ot the car and I've got two red marks on my arse" - Coulthard on his burning bum

MIM: What is your explanation as to why in the race McLaren was faster than Ferrari, whereas in practice it was the other way round?

DC; I just think they're making better use of the tyres in qualifying. I think that [because of] the fact that I put new fronts on for my first stop, the car was very difficult to drive.

continued on page 32 10 November 2000

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33

David Coulthard continued from page 31 I had a lot of oversteer, and I thought I had a gearbox problem, because I couldn't get my entries right. For the second stop I called to have old fronts again, because it gave the car a better balance as the tyres wore down.

I think it just shows when there's a lot of grip available they [Ferrari] are putting that grip on the road, where we're fighting that grip and struggling with rear end grip.

MN: Is it a confidence boost to have a result like this going into the off-season, knowing Mika made a mistake as well?

DC; You don't wish any of your competitors out of a race because you want to race and you want to beat them fair and square.

But obviously when I've had two startline mistakes this year, it deflects a little bit of pressure from me, the fact that Mika's done the same. I'm not sure if we've got different starting techniques that push us closer to the edge, but he certainly moved, a bit like I did in America, stopped and then went again.

We were never going to win the constructors' championship in reality. It was a long shot to expect them to only get three points, so that was already gone earlier in the year. So obviously it was just a question of trying to get the best result, which was trying to win the race.

MN: Ferrari seems to have progressed a lot this year. Is that slightly worrying for next year?

DC: I think we knew right at the beginning of the year that we n maybe hadn't taken as big a step forward as we would have liked, in a number of areas. We still had a competitive car, but [as for] the '98 advantage that we had, and then reducing advantage in '99, there's some point when you could argue that Ferrari has had a better package in some circumstances than we've had.

It makes it very interesting for next year. We've got to work hard, and obviously with Michelin coming in you never know what our other competitors can do. We're almost two seconds quicker than last year - that's not the car, that's not the engine, that's the tyre. If Michelin get it right, we could see some funny results next year.

34

"I wanted to speak to him before the weekend, but I didn't want to give him any edge for the weekend" - Coulthard on his discussion with Schumacher in Malaysia

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MN:The chat with Schumacher afterwards - was that an attempt to wipe the siate ciean?

DC: I wanted to speak to him before the weekend, but I didn't want to give him any edge for the weekend. But as the weekend was over I just wanted to...

It's not a retraction of some of the comments I had on his driving standards. All it is is an acceptance that if you have a problem you should talk to somebody face-to-face. When I first started in FI, I always tried to shy away from publicly, 'He said this, OK I say that.' It makes great copy but it doesn't really help, does it?

MN:So what are we going to do next year?

DC: I'l l come and tell you after I've spoken to him! I just need to speak to him first hand, and tell him he's a...

MN: So it's not you going soft or anything?

DC: Hey, I'm going to be the hard man of motor sport next year!

MN: Was it just clearing the decks before next season?

DC: Yes, offering a hand which he accepted - lull him into a false sense of security!

MN:So what do you do in the ciose season? Are you already thinking of next year?

DC: Absolutely. My preparation for next year started already, a month earlier than I started last year.

What can I do? You're going to hear the same thing, because I have to believe the same thing that I can be better next year, that I can be stronger.

I think my career is still on the up. I don't believe I've levelled out, I think I've improved in many areas this year. I've improved a lot in qualifying. I think I've shown that I can race wheel-to-wheel with the other hard men of motor sport.

MN; You finished third again, but will you put this down as your best season?

DC: Definitely, I think when you consider all the things that happened this year, I think it's been a helluva year, a most unusual year.

To be able to come though the things I've come through and still be able to perform at a high level shows that I've got the strength to want to go out there and fight and to want to improve. And I believe I can. I know there are still some weaknesses in my package, but I’m going to work on them, and I'm going to work hard.

I'm not prepared to take the easy option and take a pay day and take a walk down the pit lane and give it Billy Big Balls pretending I'm number one. I want to earn that by beating a World Champion in one of the best cars. And that's what I'm going to do. So I'm going to struggle by on the several million that they pay me, and see if I can win.

MN: Are there areas you think you can work on?

DC: Yes. I think that I can still improve further in qualifying.

And these little mistakes that aren't really happening in the heat of the battle, but happening at times... like before the race has started, like this thing on the grid in Canada and the start in America. I'm sure it's because you're not at boiling temperature, you're not at race speed, and that's why I’m slightly off guard and I make mistakes.

I have to work at myself mentally to make sure that I have a complete plan that doesn't allow me to get into those areas where I make mistakes.

MN: There's also an issue with strategy as well...

DC: Absolutely. From my side of the garage, we need to improve our strategy.

We were pretty poor in the second half of the season, and I'm part of that process. Spa, too late, Hockenheim too late, Hungary too early... You just can't afford to make those sort of calls if you're going to get those extra two points or extra four points that you need to win a championship.

Again, you learn so much each year. This might seem blatantly obvious to someone on the outside, but when you're so close to it you sometimes can't moiorspori newt

INTERVIEW

Out ofthe shadows; Even with allies like McLaren s Ron Dennis and Mercedes-Benz’s Norbert Haug right will Coulthard ever be world champion?

see the mistakes that you're making. We'll really review the year, we'll look at it properly, and I really think we'll be strong.

MN; Don't you think that there needs to be a change in philosophy, as you said at the beginning... more risky strategy, or more adventurous?

DC; Yes. There are going to be changes in the set-up next year. which I believe will really strengthen the way the team works.

So that will become obvious at the beginning of next year, what

changes are going to be made, but I really think it's going to increase McLaren's ability to make strong calls and not make mistakes in that area.

It's not that Ferrari don't make mistakes, I'm not just being critical of our team, but because we've been perceived as being the best up until this year every time Ferrari have beaten us they've got a lot of credit for that, and if they haven't beaten us people have had the attitude that we've got the best car and engine. Whereas in reality you can see it's been pretty close in performance this year.

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INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

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Length(mm) Width (mm) Height(mm) Wheelbase(mm) Front track(mm) Rear track(mm) Weight (kg) Date of first Homologation WRC debut WRC Wins (5)

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Big Kev Commodore VS Toll Falcon AU Challenge Commodore VS V8 Racing Commodore VS Oneworld Falcon AU Chiko Commodore VS Graphic Skills Commodore VS Ultra Tune TDK Commodore VS Power Falcon AU; CAT Falcon AU L .

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ES,there really are 10 entries - possibly one or two more-for this year's clash at the Mountain of which any one could logically take out the Big One. It's no real surprise - as the margins between the top professional teams get closer and closer, that's the way it will stay.

Now as never before, it will be the simplest little error or omission which will gradually take car by car out of the winning equation until late on the afternoon of Sunday November 19, just one will remain.

Once upon a time, sheer mechanical strength could win you this race. Larry Perkins has made a career out of it - firstly with Peter Brock in the HOT days and, more recently, with his own team. But in 2000, reliability is hardly a factor. Indeed, anything less than full reliability for, say, eight out of the top 10 cars will be a surprise.

Incidents and crashes can, of course, turn this race upside down. Recent history suggests that most of the crash damage will come further back in the field...

It also suggests that the ingredients for success are fairly straightforward; 1. Without assuming there will be a late Safety Car to bring the lead cars together, the contenders need to be somewhere near the lead with an hour to go, with a car in good shape and able to produce blistering pace as the final fuel

load goes down. If it's a dry, incident-free day at the pointy end, the real Bathurst 1000 contest starts at about lap 135...

2. Given ingredient number one, a winning team must also have a range of strategies to deal with the unforseen - rain or Safety Car periods in particular and the advantages and disadvantages of track position in the Safety Car queue versus full fuel/fresh tyres. The person making these calls can win or lose the race - it's that simple.

We'll look at our Ten Most Likely in this light to see if it helps you sort out your own favourites.

Of our 10, there are four which stand out as being absolute hot chances for the win and, in race number order, they are:

Craig Lowndes/M^ Sk^ HRT Commodore' There's little that hasn't been said about this team over the last few years and it remains, in general, the benchmark. The equipment, the drivers, the team, the tactics have all produced gold for Holden's high-profile squad.

Are there any weaknesses?

Well, Skaife's need to close out the championship compromises its approach to winning the race -that is until the point on race day, when (and if) Garth Tender cannot realistically finish first or second.

Before the race start it'll be all on as usual, with little by way of odds against qualifying specialist Skaife putting the car on the front row.

And this team can finish in the top five in cruise mode. It'll become interesting if and when Tender's bid falls away and this pair gets the Full Green.

The confirmation that negotiations with Lowndes for 2001 have broken down presents a possible negative for the team.

Everyone's very professional and all that, but it's still a niggling distraction. At this point there seems little likelihood of Lowndes' 2001 plans being finalised prior to Bathurst.

HRT simply hasn't been as dominant in recent weeks as it motorsport news

SPECIAL PREVIEW

on the Mountain \

There are at least 10 cars capable of winning V8 racing’s elite event, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. CHRIS LAMBDEN dissects our ‘Ten Most Likely’ list

was early/mid-season. That's a glimmer of hope for its rivals...

Steven Richanis/Greg Muiphy Kmart Commodore Last year's winners have done little to suggest that they won't be in the frame again this year. A reliable car and strong race pace have to some degree been disguised by an inability to qualify well.- which has made the shorter Shell series races something of a nightmare for both drivers on occasions.

But qualifying doesn't really matter at Bathurst (these two won from grid 12 last year, remember, and Jason Bright and Richo did it from 15th in '98) and

that really is about this pair's only weakness. Richo has won twice - once for Ford, once for Flolden - as has Murf. They know how to do it.

The team showed at Canberra that it has the ability to make quick and correct calls. Watch them as the day wears on.

Larry Perkins/Russell ingall Castrol Commodore Although he tries to get interested in the other stuff, this race is Perkins' obsession and, each year, he wheels out a little something extra. Stung by his continued on page 42

BOB ROMANO

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FAI 1000 continued from page 41 car's lack of outright pace last year, Perkins and Ingall have been pursuing different avenues of development thus far this year and the benefits of both will be seen merged for the first time this month in IP's all-new Bathurst Commodore. As Ingall illustrated at Surfers, the team is getting on the pace at the right time.

Weaknesses? Well, IP's starts have been a bit average - but Rusty can always take the first stint. While most of the attention could well be on HRT versus the Shell Falcons, watch this duo.

Paul Radisich/Jason Bright Shell Falcon You don't have to be a genius to see that this team is regaining the outright pace it had at last year's FAI 1000. While Radisich's wins have been obvious, it is the speed of the second car, in Steve Johnson's hands - particularly at Surfers where he passed car after car which suggests that DJR's team has evolved something with real tractability as well as horsepower. Out of Bathurst's five second-gear comers that will again be a huge plus.

Radisich and Bright (a former winner with invaluable international experience) make up a formidable pairing and team manager Dean 'Curl' Orr also knows how to win, having done it during his days with Perkins.

Weaknesses? Hard to think of any really...

T

he remaining six of our Ten Most Likely could all, on their day, do it - although in each case there would be an element of surprise if they did.

Again, in race number order:

Craig Baird Simon Wills Pirtek Falcon An all-kiwi pairing in the kiwi-led Stone Brothers team. The weakness this year has been qualifying although, as we have already said, that's not important at Bathurst.

Look then for a strong race pace.

Wills, the dual Gold Star champion, is talented - but with comparatively less touring car experience. His pace in testing, though, has been impressive.

A couple of race calls haven't gone this team's way either, but then again it was a series of good calls which helped Bright/Richards win for this team two years ago, starting well outside the top 10...

To be honest, Baird is actually overdue for a decent run of luck.

Could be a big surprise.

Glenn Seton/Neil Crompton FTR Falcon

Tony Longhurst/David Besnard Caltex Falcon

Even Glenn's getting tired of the Bathurst hoodoo. This year?

His third place in the Shell series, before the Phillip Island

The second Stone Brothers entry has also had a frustrating year, another with qualifying near misses.

Expect a strong race pace similar to the other Stone car.

Longhurst has the experience, Besnard the youthful exuberance, international grounding and pace - as illustrated by his brief but spectacular showing late in the Konica Lites series.

A clean run could provide a surprise result.

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testing crash, was due more to canny, intelligent race driving and points accumulation, rather than sheer speed. That won't be enough here, but the team does have its first new car for over a year, which may make a difference.

Bathurst is Crompton's last drive with the team, which could be a positive or a negative.

Certainly, he has unfinished business after a frustrating year and would like to go out on a high, but the situation has its tensions as well...

overcome.

Co-driver Menu is an interesting element. Menu has impeccable credentials, but Bathurst has often been unkind to even the most impeccably credentialled overseas stars. It's a hell of a place for your first V8 Supercar race (Alain didn't get in the car at the '98 race when Tomas Mezera's clutch went on lap one).

Steve Johrison/Ga^lIVlldiMiri Shell Falcofl: “ " ; I ..

WIN

Enter NOW on

Force of Nature: Ingall and Perkins haven’t won In three years - but look ready to add another trophy the their cabinet, (pimuibysuam-imisci)

Mark Larkham/Aiain Menu MHre 10 Falcon Last year's pole sitter has had a typically adventurous year from some scintillating bursts of pace, to the disastrous Oran Park crash, to a win next time out at Calder.

The past two Bathursts have revealed pace, but not reliability.

The latter looks to have been

The second Shell car could be one of the surprise packages.

Remember how strongly Junior was coming on late in last year's race? Remember how many cars he passed on the streets of Surfers just three weeks ago?

The current Shell Falcon is a bit of a weapon.

McLean has had a dreadful year with his own car, but backed up Radisich well in the Q500 and will relish his second run with the very pro Shell team.

Garth Tander/Jason Baigwanna Valvoline Commodore This pair is all that stands between Mark Skaife and the Shell series crown. As if it makes any difference, these two have no choice - they have to go for it.

Garth has a 3-0 record in top 10 shoot-outs contested this year, so can realistically be expected to start near the front. He and Bargs make a good pairing and can both press on a bit when necessary. motorsport news

SPECIAL PREVIEW Frankly, this duo could easily have slotted into our 'Super-Hot Contenders' at the head of this evaluation, just a couple of slowish pit stops and unlucky race calls in the longer races this year counting against them.

Could easily turn up and fly... utside our Ten Most Likely is a further handful of cars which - particularly if there is some carnage among the front-runners - could provide some of the top five finishers.

Heading them are John Bowe/Jim Richards in the CAT Falcon, unlucky not to make the Ten Most Likely.

By far the most experienced duo in the race, the pair is backed by a team which is still building, stil l developing. Still with its original, slightly heavy car, the CAT team duo's sheer experience could reap dividends if the going gets tough particularly if it were to rain.

The second (and third) HRT cars are always likely to be thereabouts, but the all-Euro crewed Jason PlatoA'van Muller car is definitely an unknown quantity. As we said earlier.

Green Day? Longhwst is in fine form and has some powerful allies in his cornet; like David Besnard and tech man Campbell Little above.

Bathurst has not been kind to even the highest quality imports over the years. If these two can get to Sunday morning without creasing their car, they'll be a threat. Todd Kelly/Nathan Pretty in the Young Lions car should also be handily placed at the end.

Steve Ellery/Paul Stokell make up a strong, youngish pairing. The often under-rated Ellery has hit form lately, his Sandown heat win a superb effort. Like Bowe, his team is smallish in size and budget and a good strong run into the top

five would be a great result.

John Faulkner too continues to show flashes of bri lliance and pace and will again line up with former Formula Ford champ Adam Macrow. If they can alight upon a good set-up and stay out of trouble a top five is also a possibility.

Brad Jones/Tomas Mezera brings together a wily pair of ex-HRT operatives, Jones with a strong team built up over several years of Super Touring success, while another exHRT, ex-his own teamster in

Wayne Gardner should press on with Neal Bates in the second FTR Falcon.

'■ The list does actually go on a bit - Paul Weel/ Greg Crick showed pace at the Q500, Crick's experience a good foil for Weel's occasional youthful excess; Paul Morris/Matt Neal wi ll be in the thick of the 'Those Who Could Surprise' battle; as will Cameron McConville/Geoff Brabham, Dugal McDougal/Andrew Miedecke, Ritter/Leahey, Youlden/Murchison.. .

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43

FAI 1000

It’s all in the Numbers

0

The number of times Glenn Seton has won the race-from 16 starts.

The amount of footage from the on-board camera of Dick Johnson's trip into the trees during the 1983 Hardies Heroes.

The number of times Garth Tander has finished Bathurst. Better not tell him that one ..,

0.1 Closest gap between first and second (Moffat/lckx and Bond/Hamilton,1977) in seconds. Closest 'racing'finish was 1.9975s (Richards/Rydell toRichards/Neal 1998).

1

Only one man has won the race in both a Holden and a Ford, and he did it in consecutive years - Steven Richards.

2

sixth and seventh. Perkins last failed to finish in 1991,

12 The number of cars which ran in the 'Top 10 Shootout' in 1988.

17 Remember the rock? It was car #17 on lap #17 of the 1980 classic.

20 The lowest ever grid position a winner has come from.(Brock/Parsons/McLeod, 1987).

21

The age of the youngest pole position holder Craig Lowndes (1995)

24

The number of slick tyres allowed per car for race weekend. Wets are unlimited.

56

The number made famous by none other than Peter Brock in 1988. FISA (as it then was) wouldn't allow his Class B BMW to have 05, having allocated the bigger numbers to the smaller cars.

107 The qualifying percentage all drivers must be within in order to get a start.

Also, the maximum amount of laps a single driver can drive.

120 Maximum fuel,tank size in each car, in litres.

240

Number of points the FAI 1000 winners will receive towards their Shell Championship Series pointscore.

The number of times Greg Murphy has finished the race - both times he has been victorious.

Number of times the race winner has been disqualified (1987 Soper/Dieudonne and 1997 Morris/Baird).

2:09.5145 Mark Larkham's V8 Supercar qualifying lap record (1999).

3 The minimum number of pit stops which must be undertaken by each car.

5(or 05)

The winningest number in 'Great Race' history.

It took five months for the Brock/Parsons/McLeod combo to be confirmed as the 1987 winners.

■-J

6

Laps. The largest winning margin in the race's history. (Brock/Richards to Janson/Perkins, 1979).

The best finishing position by what we formerly knew as Privateers - 6th (Scott/Cleland 1995).

6.213

The length of the Mount Panorama track in kilometres.

7

Years since Mark Skaife has won Bathurst, Number of times the pole position holder has gone on to win the race.

9

The holy number - number of Bathurst titles for Peter Brock.

The top nine positions were taken by Mini Cooper Ss in 1966.

10

It's Paul Radisich's 10th start on the Mountain in a 1000km race.

The race begins at 10.00 am on November 19.

#11

Larry Perkins, partnered by the late Gregg Hansford and Russell Ingall, has won three of the seven Supercar 1000s, and finished on the podium on two other occasions as well as a 44

I, 1991, 200,000: Skaife and Richards Sr hold the race record. There’s 200k up if anyone can break it.

(Photo by Coventry Studios)

39

302

42

450

The number of in-car cameras Network Ten will use in 11 different cars.

Number of cars exempt from pre-qualifying.

They include the top 32 from the Shell Series, the top eight from the Konica Series and two wildcards (Team Kiwi and Rose/D'Agostin)

43

The 2000 FAI 1000 will be the 43rd Bathurst 1000km race, including the two Super Touring 1000s of 1997 and 1998.

45

Number of drivers to claim outright victory in history of the race.

The length of each qualifying session in minutes, one for the top 50 percent of the field and one for the bottom 50 percent.

51

Oldest driver to win the race - Jim Richards, who shared the win with Volvo's Rickard Rydell (1998).

kmh - the top speed Glenn Seton hit during the 1996 Top 1 0 Shootout - with his helmet loose.

The price of a Bridgestone control tyre, in dollars.

1000.293

The exact race distance in kilometres.

1350

The class li mit weight.

1973

The first year of the 1000 kilometre, rather than 500 mile, races.

7500

The rev limit on all V8 Supercar engines.

200,000

Th e cash bonus up for grabs for the winning team from FAI if they can break the 1991 race record.

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FOR a while there, Larry Perkins was winning Bathurstevery second year. Last year broke the sequence, the Castrol Commodore simply unable to match the outright pace at the front of the pack. Since then.

LP's year has been dedicated to establishing why and bridging that gap - something he hopes to do with his all-new Bathurst car. Perkins recently outlined the changes - in particular his latest slant on V8 Supercar suspen^on -to MN’s TONY GLYNN...

SPECIAL PREVIEW

B

athxirst win number seven may well be on the cards for Larry Perkins if the late season form of the Castrol Perkins Commodores is any guide.

Corner speed and straight line terminals are clearly now in the ballpark for the Perkins Engineering-prepped VTs, as demonstrated by Larry’s pole at Calder Park and Russell Ingall’s pace at both Sandown and the Gold Coast- a significant final heat win at the latter event over a startlingly quick Dick Johnson Racing Falcon and the championship-winning Holden Racing Team Commodores by Ingall highlighting the perfoi’mance resurgence by the Moorabbin-based team.

Following an unexpected piston failure recently, a revised engine spec for the five-litre Chev powerplant proved its worth at Sandown, IngalFs prototype outpacing Perkins’ benchmark ‘oldspec’ unit by more than 5 kmh up both straights and carding very competitive times. The Castrol runners then moved north to the IndyCar event where Ingall showed the opposition a clean pair of heels in the third race.

Of particular significance to Perkins was HRTs Queensland performance and there was no denying his satisfaction when Ingall left the “best team out there” in his wake.

Building upon the performance gains flowing from the super-stiff 1999 Bathm-st car (chassis 036) which introduced the controversial “Larry Bar” diagonal windscreen brace to V8 Supercar racing, a development program to fully

realise the potential of the category’s control Bridgestone tyre was initiated and began to pay dividends in the second half of the current Shell Championship Series.

Strat development has paralleled the shock absorber/spring advances front and rear, Perkins’ newest 037 joining 036 in the chase for pace during testing and racing.

Leapfi’ogging data from one car to the other, times began to improve dramatically and consistently race after race, despite the odd bit of carnage during the heat of battle.

LP is now convinced that his team has finally come to terms with the Bridgestone rubber and that consistent, durable frontrunning pace at Bathurst is now possible: “We are clearly more competitive against the most dominant team out there, the Holden Racing Team,than we were at this time last year,” Perkins said.

“Lately, we’ve been consistently mixing it with HRT and have been on the front of the grid and recorded fastest laps, whereas this time last year we were clearly three quarters of a second slower.

“We’re delighted with our preparation for this year’s Bathurst and the speed of our car, but we don’t need any bad luck; it’s the same old story - we have to drive intelligently.

Since the introduction of the control tyre, the team has done an enormous amount of homework on its suspension and Perkins was disarmingly frank about his place in the pecking order, regarding his team “as initially quite

uncompetitive in the real sense against HRT, who obviously had the best package.

“There were some areas on our car that needed further development to get the best out of the new tyre and, with regards to the front suspension, the elimination of“stiction” in the MacPherson strut became a priority.”

A reduction in friction of the sliding componentry meant that the strut’s linear plain bearings came under scrutiny and Perkins ultimately came up with an inhouse solution that employs copious amounts of ball bearings.

An evolution of the team’s own strut, which has retained the original Holden forged knuckle since 1986, the latest version features a unique sliding ball bearing mechanism designed to eliminate stiction that occurs over bumps and thus allow the suspension to freely move up and down in every circumstance.

“We also worked on the rigidity of the front strut and it is now stronger than it used to be, with flex now a thing of the past,” Perkins added.

Strat geometry itself is an ongoing area of concern, particularly when roll centre changes occurs as the car goes into roll.

“We certainly ran softer springs than we used to run and we do have more roll, but something all Holden users have had to fight continued on page 48

"We are clearly more competitive against the most dominant team out there, the Holden Racing Team,than we were at this time iast year" -Larry Perkins

Chrome-moly viagra: LP’s latest chassis, 037, is the stiffest yet built by Perkins Engineering.

(Photo by Tony Glynn)

AS a matter of course these } days, the Castrol Perkins Commodores (along with most of the serious V8 Supercar contenders) use the Ohiins TT44 shock absorber.

The team has investigated a variety of makes since the Bridgestone control tyre's introduction - including Koni and Penske - before settling on the Ohiins units which, ironically, were first used on IP's cars eight years ago.

"We went for the Ohiins for the very good reason that component supply was reliable, but I should point out that we make about half the shocker we use ourselves and source the rest from around the world; as a consequence, we've finally Tech department: Ohlin’s technical manualfor the TT44 shock, as used by settled on a damper specification most leading V8 Supercars, shows its compression and rebound operation. that suits the tyre quite well," he n which is why we make about half complex piece of equipment." explained. of it ourselves, it's four-way The days of simple bump and "The TT44 shocker is a very adjustability making it a costly and rebound are now well gone; expensive item to purchase.

History repeats itself

"The T44 caters for high-speed bump, low-speed bump, rebound and canister pressure, so it keeps you amused when it comes time to decide which adjustment you'll make - some may say 'which guess'- but that's the way it is.

"1 believe that we now have a good chance of matching HRT in qualifying and so on," he continued, "but it's been a hard slog to develop both the spec and component reliability.

"We were lost for a year and a half in this area, as we were not using a sound testing methodology, but a change of personnel halfway through this year corrected the problem and we now have shock absorbers that have known and reliable values.

"The consistency now, as a result of that change, has done wonders for our speed, which has been quite evident."

- TONY GLYNN

FAI 1000

Perkins’ travels: Perkins runs Ohiin TT44s on both the front and rear, using as much travel on the rear as (Photo by Tony Glynn) possible for heavy fuel loads.

Tying it all together: The rear of the cage in 037 ties in the chassis rigidity with the rear suspension.

(Pholo by Tony Glynn)

continued from page 47 against - and which is exactly what we don’t want- is the roll centre going lower,” said Perkins.

“Veiy few teams would run less than five and a halfdegrees of negative camber on the front ofthe Commodore, but some extreme set-ups will approach seven degrees at times.

“The latter angle means teams are bordering on running the tyre in an area that may be great in a turn, but not so great in a straight line, the camber compromise yet another inherent problem of trying to use the strut for racing, “Usual caster settings on a MacPherson strut are between five and eight degrees, but the range can be altered with offset pins, or trail on the axle and king pin inclination, though we are lockedin on king pin inclination because we use the standard production knuckle in our strut.

“Some other teams run struts that are totally manufactured for racing purposes, which means they can enjoy some elements of better adjustability, but we haven’t yet chosen to go that way, although we will certainly have to eventually.

“What’s required for Bathurst is mechanical reliability of the front suspension and, bearing in mind the high speeds and the undulating track, big loads are going through the suspension, so you cannot afford to have a weak component,” Perkins stated.

“We’ve continually paid attention to that latter factor and, even though we’re looking for a lighter unsprnng weight, we’ve 48

never wanted to sacrifice reliability.

“As far as the springs themselves are concerned, we’ve basically locked in on our front spring rates, which are softer today than they used to be and they range from 450 pound/inch to up around 750, whereas a year ago we were almost double those figures.”

Another of evolution in the Perkinsarea Engineering suspension package is braking, the team having moved on from making its own super-wide caliper, which was successfully used from 1995 to 1997.

“I’ve been testing Brembo and AP six-spot calipers and the reason I’ve used them instead of my own product is that I would have to have made calipers from scratch to enjoy the use of the bigger discs we can now legally run,” said Perkins.

“Bnt I thought that it was too big a task at this stage of the game, considering all our other priorities.

“Once the rules were changed after 1995 and it was compulsory to have a brake pad change, the sole purpose of having our own caliper to take us through the entire Bathurst race without a pad change was negated and it became more straightforward to use readily available aftermarket calipers instead.

“I must say that the APs and Brembos, both of which we run, are excellent calipers and, at this point in time, we’ve yet to decide which brand we’ll run at Bathurst.”

Under the regulations, the calipers are six-spot maximum and the disc diameter is set at a maximum of 475mm, with a maximum thickness of 1.4 inches, uniformity of specs and cost containment the over-riding concerns,“as brake costs are one of the biggest areas of expenditure

Customer brakes: With rule changes, Perkins believes the Brembo or AP front calipers are better options for the moment.

(Photo by Tony Glynn)

with our cars.

“We still run the Endless brake pad, which is an excellent product and we might use a pad on one track that differs from that used in a short race on a hard track - at the IndyCar race, for example, we used the hardest pad we could get, as the Gold Coast street circuit is the most demanding track for brakes we see each year.

“Getting a pad that will accomodate the over 800 degrees Celsius heat and still have sufficient bite is the problem we all face,” he added.

“But there are other good pad manufacturers, such as Performance Friction - whose product is relatively cheap - and Pagid, the German pad that is certainly capable of handling the task, so there are plenty of options to keep the price down.”

At the rear ofregulation the car is the traditional, beam axle - common to all cars in the Ford versus Holden V8 Supercar category - located by four parallel links and a watts linkage; there is also a regulation minimum unsprung weight so that teams won’t be tempted to travel down the path to lightweight, higherdollar componentry.

Considered to be trouble-fi-ee, all cars run a Harrop-style cambered rear-end and at Bathurst some cars will run as little as one degree of negative camber, while others might rmi up to two and a half degrees.

Again, Perkins runs Ohlins TT44s at the rear and as much suspension travel as he can muster.

“We don’t want to be too stiff and affect traction and we want the roll centre in the right spot to balance the combination of spring rate and load we’re carrying,” he said.

“We obviously carry a full load of fuel at Bathurst and, bouncing across the top and through McPhillamy at 180 kmh and peaking at Skyline at 220, you have to have a spring man enough to do the job - but not too stiff, as you don’t want to promote oversteer.

“Rear spring rates vary from car to car,” he added,“but we’ve never gone under 200 pounds and rarely go over 550 pounds - the driver has to sort out for himself what he thinks he wants to get the handling at the optimum.” the final countdown to athurst begins, Perkins remains focused and pragmatic: “I’d have to say that last year we weren’t as well-tuned in the suspension area as HRT - and there’s no doubt about that, as they’d done their homework and arrived at the answers better and quicker than us - but we reckon we’ve narrowed that gap down a lot.

Having said that, we still have to work our way through it to get the right set-up at some tracks, instead ofjust going ‘bang’and you’re there.

“Most teams suffer from a lack of fi'ont-wheel bite - you’ve got to have instantaneous tum-in and each time you have a bit of understeer, you simply lose time and when you do achieve it, you’ve got to match it with traction; well, all our efforts have seemingly borne fruit and our car is now pretty close to the mark in its ability to stop, turn and get the power dovm.

“On present form, we believe that we’re now quite comfortable with om- suspension and braking package and, as we’ve demonstrated of late that we’re now able to fight for the lead, this could be our year at Bathurst...”

"Whafs required tor Bathurst is mechanicai reiiabiiity of the front suspension... you cannot afford to have a weak componenr - Larry Perkins molorsport news

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Place your bets for the FAi 1000 at any TAB, PubTAB, ClubTAB, PhoneTAB on 136 337, or on the Net. Place a bet at the full-service betting facility on the course and you could WIN A HOT LAP AROUND THE MT. PANORAMA CIRCUIT.

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FAI 1000

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The title contenders go head-toMOTORSPORT NEWS: Simply, for Garth Tander the pressure is on...

GARTH TANDER: There's no extra pressure to win the race as we're trying to do that anyway. Everyone goes to Bathurst to win it.

Since Bathurst has been a part of the championship there's been a lot of talk whether drivers are going there to win the race or the championship.

Now I'm in the fortunate situation where to achieve both, I have to go there to win.

MN:Second could still win you the title if Mark fails to finish.

GT: Realistically, if Skaifey dnf's and I finish second I win the championship. But second is not what we are heading to Bathurst to do. We are going there to win the race and try and put as much pressure on HRT as we can. If we can be at the front all day and apply the pressure, you never know what might happen. Bathurst is a funny place and, regardless of what anyone else is doing, it can claim you with the smallest of things.

MN: Bathurst hasn't been kind for you before.

GT: Yeah I Last year I ran into someone else's accident and the previous year I got caught up with Larry in the first 20 laps. I made a mistake and was trying too hard too early, which was me not really understanding the race properly.

I really haven't got a great record up there at the moment, but we're going there having done a lot more racing ... to have a consistent run and a fast run. If you have a fast, consistent run, there's a fair chance you can be on the podium at the end of the day.

MN: Qualifying is so important at the sprint rounds- you miss the lap and you're in trouble.

Bathurst has its top 10 shootout and you haven't been beaten in one of those this year. Is qualifying on the mountain doubly as important?

GT: No, not really. Last year we had a problem in the shootout and we had to start ninth. By the end of Bargs' stint we were in fourth. With Safety Cars and pit strategies you can start anywhere in the top 15

and be in the top five at the end of the first stint if things go your way.

It is nice to qualify at the front and, if you do, you don't really have to worry too much about traffic.

MN: How ruthless can you guys be? Any chances the second GRM car could go out to'help out'?

GT; We're a race team, not the Mafia I We want to win the race on its merits and the championship on its merits and whereever HRT finishes is out of our control. If HRT finish and finish well, then Mark's won the championship. If they don't finish and we finish where we want, then we will win.

I think the situation is great because it's been Mark and myself and our two teams at the front all year and it's fitting that it's us fighting it out at the final.

MN: Preparation is important for any race,for Bathurst even more so. HRT also has considerable resources available to it, so how does GRM prepare for Bathurst?

GT: We're running the car that I've run all year, which is also the car I crashed at Indy. Thankfully, everything's straight and fine.

If you're not ready for Bathurst in April, you will never be ready.

We've been ready for quite some time and we've prepared everything to the best of our abilities. The boys have done a good job, put everything into it, crossed the 'T's and dotted the 'I's.

As far as Bargs and myself go, we're more than ready. We are hungrier to win the race than ever, especially after being taken out last year by someone else's accident.

Everything is focussed upon winning the race and if we do, we win the championship.

MN: Let the best man win...

GT: That will be it. The way the championship is structured at the moment is that the one who wins the championship has obviously done the best job. The series has so many different races and formats that the driver and team who win it deserve it. Bring it on and let's go... motorsporl news

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SPECIAL PREX^^M ■'-'9i

lead with MN's Gerald McDornan MOTORSPORT NEWS: Bathurst Mark Skaife and HRT are in the box seat, while all the pressure is on Garth Tander...

MARK SKAIFE: No doubt about that. It would be a head-to-head battle if only 20 points separated us, but reality is our approach to the race can be quite different.

Garth has to win the race while we have to get more than 31 points. As it stands, we will do our best to make sure we finish and see what pans out. Bathurst is a strange race, so we will have to wait and see what happens.

MN: Last year Craig's strategy was to finish fourth and win the title. Is that the same strategy this year or are you prepared to try for the win from the start?

MS: We don't really know until we get there and get into it.

We have put a year's work into winning the championship. What we have to do is finish. We might be in the position to win it...

I don't want to go there, and I'm sure Craig doesn't, so conservative that we're not in a position to win it. Nor do we want to change the way we've approached our racing all year.

Until we get up there and see what the speed of our car is relative to the other guys and we also see how the race pans out, who knows what will happen. It's such a weird race and so many things can beat you, that that's the great thing about Bathurst.

MN: In Queensland your strategy changed virtually every lap. Will you run Bathurst the same?

MS: Everything depends on where Garth is. If he's half a lap in front, we then know we just have to finish in the top 16 to beat him.

We know we can afford to be a little conservative and look after the car. It's a nice position to be in in terms of the championship, but it's not a nice position to be in while trying to win Australia's biggest race.

This is a classic example for the debate of whether the race should be a part of the championship or not. If the fans want to see a dead-set, knock 'em down, beat 'em up, get into it, red-hot race, with us having our arms on the 10 Hovember 2000

window trying to finish 16th, this is probably not it.

We don't want to drive with our arms on the window either. We want to do wel l at Bathurst, but at the same time - and no one can argue about this - we've worked all year to win the championship and this is one day's race.

MN: Next year Bathurst isn't the last race of the season.

Does that then help the argument to keep it as part of the championship?

MS: I think it does, if you don't bring it in as the 'Grand Final' then everyone has more of a go at winning it.

But still, anytime you have a race where the points are weighted, the reality is that if you're running for the championship you must finish.

You've got to finish in the top five-six.

Bathurst next year will be under the same scenario. With 240 points for the win, you don't want to leave with nothing. At the same time, the conservative approach is less likely to happen.

MN: Preparation. If you haven't thought about it well in advance, there's no point in going to Bathurst...

MS: Anyone that's a racer thinks about Bathurst every day. It's not just me, but also all of the guys within the team. We've had discussions ad nauseum about how we approach the event.

Sometimes you can think about it a little too much, when you should just go out and do the job.

I'm not saying we're looking at the race any differently than how we've looked at it before. We're going to do the best job we can and that means being prepared no different to what I've been preparing for Bathurst over the last 10 years.

MN: Let the best man win...

MS: Absolutely. Garth and I shared a quiet beer together the other day with a few of the other Flolden drivers. We shook hands and said the same thing. We're big boys about it all.

Again, Garth's still got to win and it's not an easy race to win.

There are a lot of other guys who will be tough. But, let the best man win.

FA/ 1000

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HE difference between men and boys,so tbe saying goes,is tbe cost of their toys.

The difference between big and small racing teams is much more than the amount of hardware they take to a race such as the 2000 FAI 1000.

With the advent of better cars in the mid and rear-field in V8 Supercar racing, the main difference between the ‘Haves’and the ‘Have nets’is not so much the race cars themselves as the amount of resources that they take to the race.

There is not a great deal of difference in perfoirnance between a later-model Commodore VS and a new VT, or a similar Falcon EL or a Y2K-specAU. But the amount of gear, people and money that a two-car. Level 1 team takes to the biggest race ofthe year dwarfs that of a one-car Privateer or Lights team.

Tb illustrate the point Motorsport News looked inside the workings of

The Member for New Zealand: Greg Murphy took his first win of the season in Canberra and will be out for his third Bathurst win.

(Photo by Noel Papelera)

two teams; the ‘defending Champions, Kmart Racing(who won the event last season as Wynns Racing) and the ‘privateer’ Challenge Recniitment squad, which comes tpo the race with a VS Commodore for Matthew White and Steve Owen.

Kmai-t Racing is taking an army of notjust people, but hardwai'e to the race. Apart from the regular two Kmart cars(and the Wynns Racing VT for Rodney Forbes/John Cleland), they will take two GT Production Holden Astra Coupes for the 3-Hom- endui'o on Saturday afternoon.

That will mean that two pantechs will cany five cars to Bathm’st, which is a large logistical job for team manager Marty Brant.

“The tnicks arrive at the track on Monday, November 13, and eveiything will be unloaded and ready by Tuesday morning,” Brant said fi-om the team’s factory.

‘We usually take 15 people to a round ofthe Shell Championship Series and we have 21 full-time staff here, but for the Bathurst race, we will have 38 people.”

That number includes the drivers, Steven Richards, Greg Murphy,“Tnickie’Parsons, Darren Hossack, Rodney Forbes and 7^

Radisich/Bright are the^

PAUL Radisich and Jason Bright head to Mount Panorama as favourites, according to a Motorsport News poll conducted last week.

The Shell Helix pairing topped the voting from a panel of ten experts assembled to seed our Ten Most Likely picks for the big race.

But the Holden challenge is alive and well. The Craig Lowndes/Mark Skaife HRT Commodore finished second in the poll,just clear of title challenger Garth Tander and Jason Bargwanna, while Bathurst evergreens Larry Perkins and Russell Ingall were fourth among the voters.

Motorsport News’panel of experts consisted of Bathurst legends Peter Brock, Jim Richards and Allan Moffat, CAMS Driving Standards Observer and former race winner Colin Bond,AVESCO boss Tony Cochrane, Ten Sport commentator Greg Rust, Revolution Racegear’s Dale Rodgers, News Limited’s National Motoring Editor Paul Gover, MN Editor Phil Branagan and Assistant Editor Gerald McDornan.

A list of 16 teams was whittled down to make up our Ten Most Likely, but even some of those final six deletions have major claims on the chequered flag on November 19...

52

Panelists were asked to rate the ten in their order of favouritism for winning the FAI 1000, with 10 points avalable for their top choice, then 9, and so on.

Recent form has bounced the Radisich/Bright Shell Falcon to the head of the seedings according to the panel, by a 93:84 voting point margin.‘The Rat’ was top pick with five of the panel, second pick with three and third with the remaining two.

The HRT duo, winning chances perhaps compromised by the need to finish and ensure Shell Series victory for Skaife, took three top picks, one second,four thirds, a fourth and a fifth.

The Valvoline pair scored consistently, while the remaining two ten-point votes were taken by six-time winner Larry Perkins.

SPECIAL PREVIEW

@1 w

To get in the top 25 would be a bonus but, below 30, we would be a little - Matthew White

Cleland, as well as the drivers for the two Astras.

Brant describes extra people as “ring-ins; people who we have helping out here, but not full-time people. There are also roles which change;for instance, the machinist from here is the fire extinguisher man for the stops, and the tjre guy looks after the fuel.”

But the extra people have to be clothed and the team will supply fresh uniforms for each person each day. That adds up to almost 160 shirts, along with jackets and caps.

Each Commodore will head to the race with a fresh engine, gearbox and diff. The team wiU pack four extra Chevrolet engines,four spare Holinger gearboxes and three diffs and spares of every description, as weU as the usual‘consumables’like brake pads,rotors and calipers, bearings, driveshafts and so on.

For the assault on the race, the army will be bunkered in fom’

Imrites

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i

Poor Man: Matthew White will be looking for a repeat of his Queensland 500 performance. houses, which the team has booked for race week in the Bathm'st suburb of Kelso. To feed the troops, Kmart Racing relies on their usual two caterers, who will source food locally before the team amves.

How much does all this cost? Like any race team, Kmart Racing is reluctant to reveal detailed figm-es for the race.

A VT racecar is worth about $300,000, an engine $80,000, a gearbox about $18,000, a diff assembly with ancillaries about $12,000.

If you assume the ‘cost’ of racing at Bathurst as the cost of returning aU this equipment to ‘new* spec afterwards plus the cost of consumables(tyres,fuel etc)and persoime.L Kmart Racing’s bill for the week could well be in the $300400,000 range.

And that doesn’t even include any damage ...

At the other end of pitlane sits the Challenge Recruitment Commodore of Matthew White and Steve Owen.

lll

The car, which is the last Perkins Engineering-built VS, has been at the pointy end ofthe Konica V8 Lights Championship throughout the 2000 season,taking the ‘Commodore Class’.

It went even better at the Queensland 500, White and Ten-y Wyhoon qualifying 20th and finishing 11th outright.

White will be relying on a lot of goodwill dming raceweek, with his crew of 10.

“We don’t have any full-timers on the car,” said the hard-working Melbourne driver.

“We win have 10 people and, while ever-yone will have a role, they win do whatever is required during the pitstops.”

The White VS heads to the momitain with one fresh engine, already installed, which will have to last the week. Once White and Owen sort the car and qualify,they will park to save mileage for the race.

Spares include the usual brake pads and rotors, with a spare gearbox and tailshafl(which goes in for the race).

(Photo by Dirk Klynsmith)

The dozen troops will stay in a local house, with a caravan (supplied by sponsor Jayco)to house the troops, who wiU be catered for with bmhecues.

How much does all this cost?

A VS is much cheaper than a new VT, with solid cars around for about $120-$130K, and much of White’s track equipment was bought second-hand.

White estimates that the team will spend around $80,000 on its assault.

“That’s the least we can spend without hurting reliability. The engine mileage will be marginal; a spare engine would be the first thing we would spend more money on if we had it.”

And, after the strong showing at Queensland, predictions?

“In qualifying, between 20 and 30. To get in the top 25 would be a bonus but, below 30, we would be a httle disappointed.

For the race, stay out oftrouble, drive sensibly and get as high as we can. Another Queensland 500 result would be terrific.”

and, among the Beasts

ONE of the more fun jobs associated with the race is that of Sharon Phipps.

The Melbourne-based modelling and promotions agent will lead a bevy of up to 28 long-legged, brightly-dressed promotional models to the race, representing clients like Shell, Kmart, Mitre 10, Big Kev Racing and Karcher.

Sharon's week at the Mountain starts after the teams', arriving on Friday: 'We started on the race a month ago, booking accommodation, interviewing models and arranging itineraries for the teams," she says.

"There are plenty of on-track promotions to do for the clients, each one slightly different, and we have to make sure that the models are able to do what each client needs."

Most of Phipps' girls will come from Sydney and Canberra, and will be at the race for two days, Saturday and Sunday.

Straight after her eighth Bathurst race, Phipps' agency will be flat-out doing the same job for the Uncle Tobys' Iron Man series through the summer.

For Bathurst, she and the models will be staying locally in rented houses.

And no, we aren't going to let you know where the houses are ...

2disich

10 November 2000

53

Phillip Island

Max

attac Italy went 1-2-3 in the final round ofthe MotoGP season, Max Biaggi taking a thriller from Loris Capirossi and Valentino Rossi. DARRYL FLACK reports.

THE 500cc stars staged one of the all-time battles in the Qantas Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island on October 29, with the nod finally going to a gallant Max Biaggi(Marlboro Yamaha).

The four-time world 250cc champion had to dig deep to withstand a late-race onslaught from Loris Capirossi(Emerson Honda Pons), who had led for most of the 27-lap race. Valentino Rossi (Nastro Azzurro Honda) made it an all-Italian podium, while Garry McCoy (Red Bull Yamaha WCM) recovered from an earlier near highside to bring home fifth behind Alex Barros(Emerson Honda Pons).

Cause and effect; Max Biaggi ended the 2000 season in style (Pi-.otiis RdCrtAccow) by taking a thriller at Phillip Island.

motorcycl ND 201

500 Qualifying

McCoy and 1999 World Champion Alex Criville (Repsol Honda YPF) both survived scary high-speed spills in Friday's opening qualifying that was held in cool but very windy conditions. McCoy has just set the fastest lap of the session when he was taken out by a heavy gust of wind in turn one.

“Whenever you are hard on the gas here and making the front light you're in trouble,” said McCoy, who was looking forward to a month-long holiday after the GP. “The wind just picks up the front wheel and you're never too sure 54

m where it is going to come down.

The bike was only damaged on one side, but it was completely stuffed up with grass, so I had to take the other bike out. The problem was that it had different cylinders on it, which weren't really suited to the circuit.”

Barros led the way with a

moiorsport news

AUSTRALIAN 500 GP lm35.141, 2.8s off Kenny Roberts’ ’99 pole time thanks to the wind squall, with newly-crowned World Champ Roberts, Rossi and Norrick Abe (Antenna 3 Yamaha-d'Antin) completing the provisional front row.

By Saturday, the wind had dropped and the times plummeted.

Jeremy McWilliams(Blu Aprilia Racing)led the charts half-way through the session, and was able to maintain pole position with a sizzling lm32.552 on lap 19 of 26 laps, a fine achievement in the Aprilia 500 twin's last ever GR Barros was just 0.26s behind. with Regis Laconi(Red Bull Yamaha WCM)the only other rider in the 32s. Roberts completed the first row, with Capirossi, McCoy, Carlos Checa (Marlboro Yamaha)and Rossi filling row two.

After finishing sixth in the opening qualifier, Biaggi slipped to a lowly 12th position following a

small spill late in the session. He quickly made his way back to the pits to jump on his number two bike, but the session was all but over.

Tve never crashed like that before - I wasn't braking or accelerating. I was just about to do some fast laps, and the bike felt okay, more stable than Friday. We still have to make our final tyre choice, and of course, the race won't be easy starting from the third row.’

500 Race Needing to make a jack-rabbit start to have any real chance.

McWilliams was totally swamped off the line, and by the time they crossed the stripe for the first time, the Ulsterman was a lowly and distant 13th.

Before that, Carlos Checa had led the field over Lukey Heights,

but lost the front-end into MG. He managed to keep the engine running and remounted in a bid to claim third in the championship, but crashed out at Turn One four laps later.

Up front, Capirossi led from NoiTickAbe Laconi, Roberts Ban-os, McCoy Rossi and Biaggi.

By lap two, the race mirrored an Olympic marathon, as a massive lead group of 12 riders drew away from the rest of the field.

With his tyres warmed, Laconi nipped into the lead on lap three but was quickly displaced by Capirossi, who held station for three circuits before Barros levered into the top spot. Behind them, Rossi, Abe, McCoy and Biaggi were swapping places just as quickly, as McWilliams made ^is way forward.

continued on page 56

!

Phillip Island continued from page 55 It was apparent that the eventual winner would come from any number of riders, as the crowd became riveted by the marauding 10-man freight train which stretched just 1.82s. McCoy started to make his move on lap 10, working his way past Laconi then Capirossi to claim third to the cheers of the partisan crowd. Just as he was about to launch an assault on second-placed Barros, the Aussie survived a nasty nearhighside out of Honda Corner, dropping him to sixth.

Emerging from back in the pack, Biaggi leap-frogged from sixth to fourth and then into second behind leader Barros in consecutive laps, and was soon followed by Rossi, who hitherto had been stalking the top four. And,just like a marathon, the challengers dropped off and the likely winners became clearer.

McCoy put in a brave effort to catch the top three, sliding spectacularly through the 250kmh Bass Strait sweeper, but buttoned off as he struggled to maintain a safe level of adhesion.

“I didn't want to risk everything with a desperate move and go down and not score any points at all,” McCoy said.

“I nearly high-sided early in the race tr3ring to pass Regis and that Ride the bucking Buil: slapped me around a bit, my legs Garry McCoy looked smooth in were flapping around and that’s qualiying on the Red Bull Ya.maha what broke the fairing on the but had a big moment in the race. bike. Towards the end the front the YZR500 doing its best to unseat the Camden rider at guys were just out reach and it would have needed some Southern loop. McCoy made it desperate stuff to win and I was back into the saddle and lost only really struggling with my rear one spot to Alex Barros.

(Photos by Slipstream Photographis and Red Bull Yamaha) tyre.”

Any chance Laconi had of striding the podium in his last Red Bull Yamaha ride evaporated draft at the when he made start of the last contact with lap: Capirossi into ‘Max and Honda Corner.

Capirossi were “Capirossi switched lines fighting so hard, and I had so my plan was to attack on the nowhere to go,” Laconi claimed last lap,” said the former 250 after the race. champ, who won “It's very hard to swallow, this year's 500 rookie of the because I - Garry McCoy on his wild ride year crown after sincerely believe that if it wasn't claiming third in the race. for that, I could have won the race.”

“But I didn't see the last lap board! The race was so close and I With five laps to run, Biaggi led was alongside Barros as we but still had Capirossi, Rossi and started the final lap, so my view Barros breathing down his neck. was obscured.”

Loris got the lead back with two Despite his dynamic form in the to go, but Max returned the race, Capirossi was unable to favour, as Rossi passed McCoy in a bid to secure his third win of the attack Biaggi, who held on to a deserved 0.182 victory, his second year. To do that, he had to work for the year and his first 500 GP by third-placed Barros, and had triumph in Australia after just pulled out of the Brazilian's

"I nearly high-sided early in the race trying to pass Regis and that slapped me around a hit, my legs were flapping around and that's what broke the fairing on the hike"

56

moiorsport news

AUSTRALIAN 125 GP snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in 1999.

“That was a real race, win or lose,” said Biaggi, whose 12th gi-id spot was one spot behind Garry McCoy's South African burn from the stern earlier in the year.

“I got a not-so-bad start and everyone was fighting from the first turn. One lap you could cross the line in the lead, then next time fourth or fifth; the fast straight here means that it's easy to use the slipstream, so there was a lot of passing. There was also a lot of touching - I touched Barros and Capirossi, and many times with McCoy. Near the finish it was just the three of us - me, Capirossi and Rossi. Capirossi was very strong but it was my day.”

For Capirossi, it was a great result after he again resisted offers to move to the Superbike World Championship after agreeing to another one-year deal with Honda Pons.

“I tried very hard all the way and my bike and tyres were good to the end but the Yamaha was faster than my bike,” he said of Biaggi's YZR500 that topped the speed chart with 305.1kmh.

“Anyway,it was a fun race and I've enjoyed my return to 500s this year, though I got too many injuries and that broke my championship.”

Barros finished fourth, with McCoy,Abe, a disappointing Roberts and McWilliams filling out the top eight. Blaming a lack of speed and a few “small mistakes” after finishing 3.8secs behind in seventh, it was Roberts' worst finishing result of the season.

“My biggest problem came with three laps to go, when I tried to outbrake Garry McCoy and I got into the hairpin too hot,” said Roberts. “Until that point I was in the leading group, still in touch, and aiming for the podium - but that lost me too much time.”

Tora, Tora, Tora

NEW World Champion Roberto Locatelli (Diesel Vasco Rossi Aprilia) crashed out of the 23lap 125 GP six laps from home, after earlier challenging for the lead with Lucio CecchineUo (Givi Honda LCR) and Locatelli's team-mate Simone Sanna.

Masao Azuma (Benetton Playlife Honda)broke through for his win of the year after CecchineUo crashed out, forcing Sanna off the track, while 2000 runner-up Youichi Ui(Derbi , Racing)finished just 0.62s behind in second. Nobby Ueda (Givi Honda LCR)claimed the final podium position after a race-long battle with '99 champ Emilio Alzamora (Telefonica Movistar Honda).

- DARRYL FLACK

125CC 1 Azuma 2 Ui 3 Ueda 4 Alzamora Alt-Japan: ^ Azuma, Ui and Ueda dukeit out ^

at Lukey Heights and party on tha (Photos by Slipaream Photographic and vtinn

Honda Derbi Honda Honda Derbi

39m09.128 39m09.750 39m13.216 39ml3.298 39m14.825

5 Poggiali 6 DeAngelis Honda 39m24.724 7 Jenkner Honda 39m24.725 Honda 39m32.530 8 Goi 9 Borsoi Aprilia 39m41.332 10 Sanna Aprilia 39m43.089 Final Points: Locatelli 230, Ui 217, Alzamora 203, Azuma 174, Ueda 132.

RESUUS Australian CR October 29 2000 500cc 1 Biaggi 2 Capirossi 3 Rossi 4 Barros 5 McCoy 6 Abe 7 Roberts

Yamaha 42m29.792 Honda 42m29.974 Honda 42m30.080 Honda 42m30.218 Yamaha 42m31.677 Yamaha 42m33.610 Suzuki 42m33.638

8 McWilliams Aprilia 42m33.670 9 Okada Honda 42m34.100 10 Aoki Suzuki 42m36.077 Final Points; Roberts 258, Rossi 209, Biaggi 170, Barros 163, McCoy 161.

10 November 2000

Dumper: Reggie Laconi gets it all wrong as Capirossi fires by.

Would you trust this man? Ace commentator and 2-seater rider Randy Mamola gets serious ...

Photo b> Cnn»'

57

Phillip Island IN a real nail-biter, the 250cc world championship was decided at Phillip Island with Olivier Jacque (Chesterfield Tech 3 Yamaha) claiming France's first two-wheel world crown since Christian Barren's 1984 250cc championship after pipping team-mate title nemesis Shinya Nakano, who led 111.18km of the 111.20km race.

Masao Azuma (Benetton Playlife Honda)repeated his 1998 Phillip Island win with a narrow victory over Youichi Ui(Derbi Racing)in the 125 GP, with veteran Nobby Ueda (Givi Honda LCR)completing a Japanese trifecta.

Just like a goal-for-goal basketball game, the crowd knew that the battle between Olivier

Jacque and Chesterfield Yamaha Tech 3 team-mate Shinya Nakano would be decided in the last seconds of the race, and so it proved to be.

Starting from pole position, Nakano needed to beat Jacque who went into Phillip Island with a two-point lead. The Japanese rider took it out hard from the start in a bid to perhaps _ force Jacque * into the type of t* mistakes he \ made two 1 rounds m previously in n Brazil, where n he crashed M

twice.

n

Frenchman,

n

The

Olivier Jacque and Shinya Nakano turned on a classic 250cc battle, the Japanese leading all but the last 20 metres of the race. Jacque won the title on the line, as DARRYL FLACK reports.

however, managed to keep Nakano in his sigl|ts, and by lap eight, appeared to have him well and truly covered. He showed his wheel to Nakano many times, either into Turn One, or MG corner but never looked like passing him. That would come later.

With one lap to go, it was do-or-

die for both men but there was a greater amount of pressure on Jacque to make the ultimate move and make it stick. He could've stuffed it in at several corners, but excruciatingly for his team, OJ opted to wait until the run to the line, successfully drafting his team-mate to win by a bare 0.014s, recording a faster race

n

First in class: Daijiro Katoh won the 'Honda class’, taking third in the race and the title.

(Photos by RaceAccoss) Final corner: Jacque peers out of the tow on the run to the fiag.

AUSTRALIAN 250 GP average than 500 winner Biaggi, 169.641kmh to 169.561kmh, along the way.

“It has been so difficult to beat each other,” said a jubilant Jacque. “Even when I crossed the line, I wasn't certain who was World Champion, and it wasn't until a team member handed me the flag that I knew for sure. I know how hard this is for Shinya.”

“Five or 10 metres before the finish, I was world champion,” joked Nakano through his disappointment.

“The last lap scared me the most,” revealed team manager Herve Poncharal.

“I have to thank OJ for being a true gentleman rider. Second place was the most difficult place to be in. Shinya had a lot of bad luck this year. I knew he would be disappointed with this result but he put on a brave face.”

Almost as an afterthought, Daijiro Katoh (Axo Honda Gresini) claimed third in the championship after claiming third in the race, a whooping 14.53s behind Jacque, with Ralf Waldmann (Aprilia Germany)fifth, Marco Melandri (Blu Aprilia Team), Tohru Ukawa (Shell Advance Honda)and team-

1

RESULTS Australian GP. October 29 2000 250cc Jacque Yamaha 39m19.795 Nakano Yamaha 39m19.809 Katoh Honda 39m34.320 Waldmann Aprilia 39m34.351 Melandri Aprilia 39m50.740 Ukawa Honda 40m09.737 West Honda 40m18.911 8 Vincent Aprilia 40m18.965 9 Nieto Yamaha 40m19.358 10 Rolfo Aprilia 40m19.383

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Final Points: Jacque 279, Nakano 272, Katoh 259, Ukawa 239, Melandri 159, West 146.

Where is everyone? Waldmann almost chased Katoh down for third

mate Anthony West rounding out !the top seven.

Ex-250 champions Biaggi and Capirossi both congratulated Jacque and said there wasn't a lot Nakano could've done, but 1999 250 champ Valentino Rossi slammed the Japanese rider.

“He had no strategy,” Rossi declared. “When you are riding for a world championship, you must have a plan. If I was him, I'd cut off my head.”

position at the flag. (Pholo by RaceAccess)

Go Westy young man Photo by John fJorn&'Mpix

10 November 2000

ANTHONY West fought bravely to finish seventh after undergoing emergency surgery at Dandenong Hospital after being flung to the ground during Friday's windy qualifying session.

The 19-year-old Queenslander underwent a skin graft after he badly damaged his middle knuckle on his left hand that had been jammed under his handlebar in the crash.

Deciding not have a pain-killing injection before the race. West battled hard on the last lap to tie up sixth in the championship.

"That was the hardest race of my life," said West. "My biggest problem was the hand. It was pretty sore throughout the race. The other thing was the bike - it wasn't 100 percent.

"I was going to have a painkilling injection before the race, then I thought my finger might be alright so I didn't. I think that was a mistake because it would have helped me. I had the clutch lever shortened so I could operate it with my first two fingers, and just hold on to my bars with the injured little finger.

"I had no idea I had such a big pack on my tail. I didn't get the chance to look around. When I did I had to take my left hand off the handlebar, and it was painful to do that. When one rider passed me mid-race, 1 thought he was the only one there. Then somebody else got by, but I still didn't know there were any more there.

"At the start of the last lap, I was fourth in the group. I knew where I was faster than the others, especially coming out of the last corner and onto the straight, and I knew where I was slower, I passed one rider under brakes at the hairpin, and another crashed.

"There was just one more, Jason Vincent, and I waited until we came onto the straight and I passed him in the run to the line. I'm not satisfied. I wanted a much better result than that."

- DARRYL FLACK 59

THE usual time delay between the end of a career and the consideration of a person for entry into any Hall of Fame is five years.

In five years enough time has normally lapsed for those judging in which light one’s career can be held to put everything in perspective.

Mick Doohan’s career was considered a little different. The five-time 500cc Grand Prix Motorcycle World Champion, n who dominated GP racing for much ofhis 10 year career. winning'^limes, was earlier this year admitted to the FIM's newly opened Hall ofFame.

Wth theJust-retired charripion's abilities and accomplishments being so strong in the minds of the jB^gfrg panel. Doohan was the ^ flifrinTtr ffrst-up selection.

With commitments to Honda

Racing Corporation, having been appointed as its General Manager, Doohan has again found it hard to return home to Australia during the year, Europe and Japan seeing more ofone of our favourite sons.

Understandably, when he does return home to Australia for his home Grand Prix, )han has very iittle time to 'elf, let alone any time to tty relax. The demand on hi^ time is unrelenting with everyone wanting their little piece of the five-time champion.

Every precious minute ofthe day is accounted for and having the opportunity to sit down and chat for five minutes is almost impossible. Thankfully, at Phillip Island last week Doohan did have time to chafwith GERALD McDORNAN about the past. present and future... moiorspon nevus

INTERVIEW MOTORSPORT NEWS: The riding career is over, the pressure of riding is off and you're a looking extremely lllg-, relaxed and happy...

H^CK DOOHAN: I've got ^^BKthing to be unhappy about, ^^B»t's for sure, riding career is over now, ^Ebut there is still a lot of work to done with Honda and around paddock at the races.

1

;^ve got nothing to be ^nhappy about,that's Bor sure II

- Doohan on life MN: Last year you came to Phillip Island still undecided about your future, hopeful of still riding. Now you're back here having made the decision over 'winter' to retire from riding. Have you taken the time to sit back and reflect on your career and your achievements and enjoy what you did?

MD: I enjoyed my riding career when I was doing it, so I really don't need to sit back and reflect on it. I guess I'm not even doing that now. I made the decision not to ride and I've moved on. I enjoyed what I did with racing and definitely had a better career than what I ever thought possible, so I'm more than happy. Now I'm happy to be on this side of the fence in the paddock.

n

”

yesterday happened yesterday.

It's ajl over. You have to keep going. Most of the people .in the paddock here work that way and it's the only way to keep competitive.

MN: Tell us a little about your role as General Manager at HRC...

MD: I'm working with the team and, basically, looking over the whole operation. I'm talking with the manufacturer and the Japanese engineers to see where the bikes can be improved and give some inside information as to what [the team's] doing. I'm also trying to help the riders understand what the engineers are doing and vice-versa. It's quite interesting and totally different to what 1 used to do.

MN: Looking at your new position now, and also remembering that you did very little riding last year, either racing or development, has that taken its toll on Honda's results this year?

They haven't been as strong as in the past.

MD: The year has been quite successful, really. We've won more races than any other manufacturer and we're runnerup in the championship with Valentino Rossi.

You cannot win all the time, so I think to be the most successful on the racetrack, other than winning the championship, isn't a bad year.

MN: At the beginning of last season you were named as one of the top 85 sports people of the 20th century.; Surely that must be something to be proud of and something to reflect upon...

MD: To actually be chosen out of numerous sporting people in different fields around the world, definitely, it is something to be proud of. To represent motorcycling with Agostini was an incredible achievement and to be considered along with names tike Alain Prost and Muhumad Ali...

But life is about current day situations and what is happening out on the racetrack and at the workshop, that's what counts.

MN: You seem to have sprung a bit of a surprise this weekend by bringing out the 2001 NSR for Rossi. Was that something, as GM of HRC that you decided to do?

MD: I don't think we looked at it as springing a surprise on anyone. The opportunity arose to have the bike here, we are

MN: Not reflecting too much on what has happened, is that the difference in making a true champion?

MD: Exactly. You have to just look ahead. What happened

testing for two day^ following the race, so it seemed right to get some more track time and try and make some head-tohead comparisons. The weather hasn't helped, but every bit of track time is valuable.

10 Nouember 2000

The year has been quite successful, really. We've won more races and we're runner-up in the championship

MINI: You are working closely with Rossi. Not only is he a great character, an extremely colourful and exuberant one at that, but he also seems to be an exceptional talent.

MD; I'm not only working closely with Valentino, but also with the other HRC riders...

Valentino has a lot of talent; there's no doubt about that. He was exceptionally good in the 125 and 250 classes, as his world titles prove and, hopefully, he'll continue to be the same in the 500 class. It's only early days, but everything is looking towards Valentino having a great future in the 500s.

\\

It'S only early days, but everything is looking towards Valentino having a great future in the 500s II

- Doohan on his protege

MN: Kenny Roberts won the title for Suzuki two races before the end of the year.

Suzuki showed last year they were on to something with the bike and, obviously, it has all come together this year.

MD: Kenny and Suzuki did a great job all year - they were the most consistent out of the rest of the field. They have everything working

well. The bike is working well, they have a good team around it and they don't lack in any department. Kenny put it together and deservedly won.

If he[McCoy]has a good off-season testing and puts his head down, I really believe he is going to be a championship contendern

U

-Doohan on his Garry McCoy

MN: Garry McCoy has surprised many with his riding and his results. He is looking strong for 2001...

MD: Definitely. This year Garry's surprised a lot of people and probably surprised himself at the start of the year. It [the success] only helped build his confidence.

Every week Garry seems to have a little more understanding of the bike. It's only his first full year on a V4 500, so I think next year is going to be a good year for Garry.

If he has a good off-season testing and puts his head down, I really believe he is going to be a championship contender, no doubt.

W

II

- Doohan on perceptions that Honda didn’t have a great 2DDD

Eyes on tomorrow: While recognising his achievements, Doohan prefers looking ahead rather than to the past.

t

(Photos by Robert Citinfloiie ct Jack Ailey/ALLSPORT)

81

Wakefield Park

The track was different, and the toilets worked, but the racing at Wakefield Park was the...

1

ame ne

^^VbyyPHlLBRA^GAN

IF there is anyone reading this who thinks they can beat Paul Morris in a Super Touring race this season - you know, Volvo, Audi,etc - please report to Mallala for the next round of the series.

Morris continued his dominance of the BOC Gases Championship, adding two more poles and wins to take his 2000 tally to nine of each in convincing fashion at Wakefields Park.

The BMW driver scored a break in qualifying when his closest challenger, John Henderson, was relegated to the rear of the grid for the first race. Hendo missed a lot of early race carnage to get up to second, aided by a Safety Car. The two drivers ran 1-2 in the final race, while Peter Hills took two thirds after eventful runs in his Ford Mondeo.

David Auger and Jamie Miller split the Independents' wins, while the Future Tourers went to Jason Domaschenz after Race 1 winner Tim Shaw was blackflagged twice in Race 2.

Qualifying

There's been a lot going on in the hills just outside the pleasant NSW city of Goulburn.

In the five months since Garry Holt took control of Wakefield 62

The Old 1-2: Morris took two wins, taking his season tally to nine. Henderson took two second places, taking his total to six for the season. The first win for the Vectra driver is getting closer...

(Pholos by Lynley Reid)

Park, track manager Garry Willmington has overseen a lot of changes to the track in preparation to the arrival of the Super Tourers.

Corners have been reprofiled; straights have been widened. The double left-hand 'Gurgler' has been redone altogether, making a much faster corner which subtracts between two and five seconds from lap times, depending on the class.

Super Tourers haven't been here before, of course, so there was a

blank track for all. Morris was determined to keep his pole streak intact and managed it in the first session, but only after a heavy challenge from Henderson.

The BMW had a ratio change between sessions as Morris thought that the Vectra would be quicker in the afternoon. He was right, but The Dude was 0.2s quicker himself There were no problems and the streak was reset to nine.

But Henderson had bothers. Not with the car; the Vectra was in

"Runaway independents leader Auger had a nightmare on Friday. He had a wheel bearing fail in the first session before a driveshaft went in the second,so he carried only four laps experience into qualifying. rr

motorsport news

SUPER TOURING sponsorship, the Camry looked in fine form, running a 63.37s in the

failed to provide any spark before being replaced by an older, more reliable unit.

first sessjon for third and backing it up with a 64.09s in Q2.

Runaway Independents leader Auger had a nightmare on Friday.

He had a wheel bearing fail in the first session before a driveshaft

Encouragingly, his other car was going well. The Mondeo had been sold to Plight Lieutenant Sam Dale and the RAN helicopter pilot was going smoothly in his first meeting after racing a Ford Anglia in Club Cars. He described the move to Super Touring as “a bit of a step up” (!).

Shaw's record in Future Tourers is a bit like Morris' and the exBruce Williams Commodore had to come from behind in both sessions

went in the second, so he carried only four laps experience (and a lot in a rental car the week before the race)into qualifying.

His plan was to score points and stay out of trouble, and that's what he did, qualifying sixth and eighth. He was bumped by Aaron McGill in the second session, the Trinovin Nissan having been sentenced to 18th in the first

to snare pole, running 65.23s in

continued on page 64

session after a new power pack

iSf--

fine fettle, the only car other than the BMW into the 62s, but Henderson was relegated to the rear of the grid for the first race when he missed a weighbridge call. He'd also had a tap in the rear from Hills when the Mondeo driver was baulked himself by a Future Tourer on an ‘in’ lap.

His woes elevated Alan Gurr onto the front row for the first

race. The 18-year-old was on something of a level playing field for the first time, with everyone else joining him in learning a track for the first time. He was faster than Hills in both sessions, the team boss having “little things” wrong with the car. He would line up fifth on both grids.

The man getting among the Fords was Miller. Despite a lack of

DRIVER Paul Morris Alan Gurr Jamie Miller Tony Newman Peter Hills David Auger Sam Dale Tim Shaw Jason Domaschenz Kerry Wade James Brock Christian D'Agostin PaulLeabeater Ray Sidebottom Andrew Gillespie Matthew Fox Aaron McGill Amin Chahda Troy Searle

, V'

MiMint gjottn”*

DUAL 2 QUALl CAR Mount Cotton BMW 320i 62.5750 [1] 62.3964 62.2134 [2] 63.3065 Signature Security Ford Mondeo 63.3742 [3] 64.0927 Phoenix Motorsport Toyota Camry 63.4376 [4] 63.7590 TC Motorsport Peugeot 406 63.7077 [5] 63.9781 Signature Security Ford Mondeo Leatherman Alfa Romeo 155TS 64.5642 64.5678 [61 Ford Mondeo 64.9261 [7] 65.7175 Holden Commodore 65.2321 [8] 65.5740 APS Holden Commodore 65.3866 [9] 65.7518 Falcon EL 65.5930 [10] 66.1126 Biante Models Holden Commodore 65.6404 [11] 65.8695 Nikon Holden Commodore 66.3680 [12] 67.0081 66.3846 [13] No time Hyundai Lantra APS Holden Commodore 66.4305 [14] 66.7655 B&A Automotive Ford Falcon 67.4096 [15] 68.4410 Nissan Primera 74.7147 [17] lm46.6858 Trinovin Nissan Primera lm40.6964 [18] 64.5168 No time No time Holden Commodore No time No time SAE/RoadchillBMW318i

[1] [3] [6] [4] [5] [8] [10] [9] [11] [13] [12] [15] [14] [16] [17] [7]

Super Tourers Round 4 Waltjbfijiifll

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10 November 2000

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I

Wakefield Park continued from page 63

I

Q1 and 65.57s in the afternoon.

The V8 closest to him in both sessions was Jason Domaschenz.

The former barter swapped pole with Shaw, ending up 0.02s short in the second session. Right behind was Kerry Wade (Falcon) and Jamie Brock, ensming that the battle for class honours would be pretty tight.

Ofthe rest, Paul Leabeater, who had tested the Hyundai at the track prior to the race, ran an engine bearing in Q1 and was out for the weekend, as was Jim Cornish, whose newly-rebuilt engine blew on Friday.

Race 1(30 laps)

If the Nemo Racing lads were even a little complacent before the first race, they had a surprise in the warm-up; Henderson was fastest, his 61.99s faster than anyone had gone in qualifying.

And they had another problem after the formation laps; up went the bonnet when the car drove onto pole position. The car's electronics had been set to 'warm up' mode and they needed to reset and refire the engine.

But, no big deal. Morris rocketed away at the green while, behind, there was chaos. Gurr, with first gear playing up, had stalled and took some time to get the car moving in second.

Everyone took avoiding action and Newman,in particular, was stuck behind for some time.

It was Miller who emerged in second place from Hills, while Shaw squeezed past Domaschenz up the hill to take fourth and set up a race-long battle between the

Commodore Cup: Tim Shaw and Jason Domaschenz staged a great battle to sort out the Future Tourer class.

(Photo by James Smith)

two Commodores.

Brock was close to them until a spin, followed immediately by a second.

Henderson had cannoned through the chaos and, when Miller spun at the Gurgler, he was up to ninth after a lap, sixth after three and third a lap later.

But his progi-ess, and Morris' long lead, came to nought when Dale spun,exiting the Gurgler on

lap 4. The Mondeo was stuck in the middle of the road and the Safety Car was issued to clear up the mess. It was Henderson's chance; now he was within Is of the lead.

After two laps it went green and Morris, who had stacked the field up, shot away. Henderson was quickly into second (after an accidental tap on Hills' rear) and set sail after the BMW which, as

"Gupp made it all the way to sixth, making spots intelligently without fpying his puhhep in anothep good peptopmance"

the race unfolded, was starting to struggle with front-end grip.

Over the final three laps the Vectra closed right onto Morris' tail and, on the final lap, was close enough to challenge at the Gurgler. Henderson, who later said he was not trying to pass Morris, locked the brakes on the marbles and slid off, losing 7s but keeping hold of second place.

Hills had a lonely run to third, while Gurr's recovery was smart, picking off cars one at a time to get all the way to fourth at the flag. Auger took fifth and Indy honours (after an early tussle with Miller) and Ti-oy Searle, up again from the rear of the grid.

The FT battle was intense. After having Super Tourers come through the battle, Shaw and Domaschenz were at it all race but, try as he might, Jason could not find a gap and, after an off on the final corner, had to follow the white Commodore across the line.

Ray Sidebottom's immaculate new VT(which had run third for much of the race until a spin) and Andrew Gillespie's Falcon followed from Fox and Dale.

McGill, after losing sixth early in the race, had his gearbox fail completely(which put him out of Race 2), while Newman was in all sorts of problems, pitting with a flat tyre after a couple of spins.

Race 2(28 laps)

Independent struggle: David Auger came home with more points after a tough weekend.

(Photo by James Smith)

64

This was much more straightforward; no Safety Cars, no lead changes(as usual) and another win by Morris. He cruised it home by 12.5s; forgive us if we moiorsport news

SUPER TOURING refer to something else for a next

little bit.

Henderson was second from Hills and Newman, who stayed out of trouble to record fourth. The moves came from behind the Pug; Miller followed Auger around until, with the Alfa visually in tyre bothers, he slid by to record a well-deserved Independents win.

That was the good news. The bad news for the Sydney driver is that funds are tight and Round 5 at Mallala is looking a big ask.

After his best result of the season, the sport is looking harder than ever.

Gurr's gearbox dramas were worse. With no hope of getting the Ford moving from the grid, the crew decided to push-start the car from pit road and, after lurching away, he made it all the way to sixth, making spots intelligently

without frying his rubber in another good performance from the teenager.

Behind came Searle, the gripless Auger and Dale, who ran his quickest laps of the weekend in race trim in what was a pretty good first-up appeai-ance.

Then came the Future Tourers, and this was where the fun was.

This time it was Domaschenz who held sway, with Shaw having a turn at chasing. But that all came to nothing when the Taswegian ran off, then was black-flagged for exceeding the noise limit.

Then,to compound the problems, he was pinged again for speeding in pit lane. After the race, Shaw bounded off to Race Control and bailed up Driving Standards Observer Colin Bond, explaining that he had been waved through by an official.

He was right; he had been, but he had still had exceeding the

eOkmh limit by 26 kays. He

resumed sixth in class, where he finished, but he was still third overall for the day, if not especially impressed...

So the APS VS took the win, Domaschenz taking the day from Kerry Wade's neat Falcon EL and D'Agostin, still driving with the wrist broken in a late-season snowboarding incident.

- It was that sort of race, and it's turning into that sort of season.

There's a few Super Touring cars sitting around the world at the moment, without much to do in 2001. Maybe,like the Olympians and Paralympians, they'll head south soon, and Morris will have something to chase. Unless that happens, nine wins will soon become 11, then 13 ...

IfOC Gases Super Tourers RU G CD

e/»

Race 1 - 30 laps Race lime Fastest lap Pos Driver 62.6131 33:53.3106 1 Morris 63.1109 34:00.9969 2 Henderson 34:18.4453 63.8029 M 3 Hills 34:39.0708 4 Gurr 63.7821 ^ 64.9003 34:43.4254 5 Auger 64.1991 34:51.1820 6 Miller 64.3363 34:56.6366 7 Searle 66.8536 8 Shaw 29 laps 66.5589 9 Domaschenz 29 laps 67.1610 29 laps 10 D'Agostin 66.8500 11 Sidebottom 29 laps 68.4574 28 laps 12 Gillespie 69.0648 13 Fox 27 laps 65.6878 14 Dale 25 laps 65.5373 dnf McGill 28 laps 65.3149 dnf Newman 24 laps 66.8162 dnf Brock 9 laps 66.5872 dnf Wade Slaps 72.4015 dnf Chahda 7 laps Race 2-28 laps 62.1715 29:29.6744 1 Morris 62.7973 29:42.1881 2 Henderson 63.4060 30:05.2399 .3 Hills 63.9897 30:17.5767 4 Newman 64.1787 30:38.2244 5 Miller 63.3401 6 Gurr 27 laps 64.3444 7 Searle 27 laps 65.1141 27 laps 8 Auger 64.9654 9 Dale 27 laps 65.7825 10 Domaschenz 27 laps 65.6638 11 Wade 27 laps 66.2837 27 laps 12 D'Agostin 66.4053 13 Sidebottom 27 laps 65.8210 14 Brock 26 laps 65.9649 15 Shaw 26 laps 67.9767 26 laps 16 Gillespie 68.5309 17 Fox 26 laps 71.5807 dnf Chahda 6 laps dns McGill Drivers Points: Morris 142, Henderson 76, Gurr 73, Auger 67, Hills 53, Searle 32, Letcher 31, Miller 22, McGill 18, Downard 14, Bewley 10, Cornish 10, Leabeater 8, Newman 8, Robson 6, Stratton 5, Fox 4, Dale 4, Rolfo 3, Fitzgerald 2.

Independents: Auger 126, Searle 69, Letcher 66, Miller 52, Downard 33, Leabeater 24, Cornish 20, Robson 20, Fox 14, Dale 14, Stratton 8, Rolfo 6, Rtzgerald 6.

Future Tourers (after 3 rounds): Shaw 95, D'Agostin 67, Domaschenz 52, Webb 30, Wade 28, Sidebottom 24, Brock 24, Holt 12, Gillespie 6.

''’'iirmmicnllonVS BOCGA

m'- 2«a* n-

The air up there: Wakefield Park made a good impression on the BOC Gases drivers. There has been a lot of work on the track; note reprofiled ‘Gurgler’(dark track) and relaid final corner (bottom right).

[Smith photo

»

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65

Short people quit Ralliart THE resignation of Phil Short from the Mitsubishi Ralliart team has opened the way for former Toyota Team Europe team manager George Donaldson to take over the reins at the Rugby based team.

Ironically, Donaldson took over from Phil Short when he left TTE to join Ralliart back in the early 1990s.

Short is leaving to spend more time with his wife and family and live the quiet life in the English countryside after a long and successful career in rallying, including enormous success as a co-driver, most particularly with David Llwel lyn.

Donaldson made his name in rallying on the other side of the car as a driver, including winning Group N on the 1987 RAC Rally.

The former mechanic, who rose through the ranks and used to work with Short at TTE, has been performing an administrative role within

Toyota's new FI team since the rally team was wound up at the end of 1999.

"It's fantastic. I 'm highly delighted. I can't wait to get my teeth into it," Donaldson said.

There have been clashes between Toyota and Mitsubishi in the past, notably when Tommi Makinen jumped the start on a stage of the Rally Australia and was thrown out of the 1999 Safari for accepting outside assistance, but Ral liart Europe Director Andrew Cowan insisted that he had no qualms about employing Donaldson.

“If you can't beat them, join them!" he quipped.

"I 've had a great six years with Phil and I 'm looking forward to George joining. Fie has the experience and he's done well for Toyota. Fie was an understudy to Phil and if that's anything to go by, he'll be very good."

-JOIM THOMSON

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Short odds: Tommi Makinen will be joining forces with George Donaldson iPliolo hy RaceAcccsx) in Ralliart’s WRCprogram in 2001.

WRCar on way

THE other big change on the horizon for Mitsubishi's rally program will be the debut of its long-awaited Lancer WRC car.

European reports suggest that the Ralliart factory team is about to start building a WRC-spec 'hybrid', combining a number of components from the current Group A Lancer with new parts being developed for the World Rally Car, which is said to be scheduled for its first appearance next October.

While the project is yet to be ticked by the FIA Manufacturers' Commission, it is believed that the rival WRC teams have approved Mitsubishi's move. In the development of Ford's WRC Focus and Peugeot's 206, the approval of their rivals was a vital step in ensuring that the programs were viable.

Running a 'mule' will ensure that Mitsubishi will be able to maintain a presence in the championship next season while developing the new car. A new engine and revised rear suspension is expected to be seen on a Lancer/Carisma at Monte Carlo in January.

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N ow what: Simon Evans is one of the drivers committed to the Asian-Pacific rally

Goodbye

by JON THOMSON

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AUSTRALIA'S round of the Asia Pacific RaUy, The Rally of Canberra, is in turmoil and could potentially be called off following what appears to be a bureaucratic bungle.

The possible demise of the Canberra rally could pave the way for Melbourne to host the A-PAC round next year as a trial ahead of being granted the right to stage Rally Australia in 2002.

However, a late reprieve was granted to the CanbeiTa rally last Friday with the ACT government agi-eeing to commit some funding so long as extra sponsorship funds can be raised.

Canberra's strong rally fraternity and arniy of volunteer officials who have helped make the rally possible have responded with anger and indignation at what they saw as attempts to shut down the international rally.

The ACT Government is in the second year of a five year contract with CAMS to stage Australia's round of the A-PAC Rally Championship an event lured to the National Capital by former Chief Minister Kate Camell who was forced to resign a fortnight ago over the bungled refurbishment of Bmce Stadium for the Olympics Canberra.

Last week under pressure fi'om public opinion and in an attempt to quell growing disquiet over the way the issue had been handled, the tomism body's board granted the rally a one week stay of execution.

A meeting with former chief minister and now minister for sport in the ACT Kate Camell last Friday with members of the local rally fraternity saw some hope for saving the rally As a result of the late lobbying effort, Mrs Camell did agree to find another $50,000 from Government funds to support the event providing the friends of the Rally can raise $100,000 in sponsorship within 1 month and with that $150,000 the Rally can proceed albeit with a trimmed sail.

Canberra's tourism authority, Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation (CTEC), had earlier made the decision to direct $17 million in funding over the next five years into the GMC 400 V8 Supercar street race, despite the fact that the rally's operating loss over the past two years has only been $100,000.

CTEC has been heavily criticised for not approaching event sponsor FAI to continue sponsorship of the rally, despite the insurance giant's marketing manager stating that it wanted to continue backing the Rally When the matter first came to moiorspon news

RALLY

Ford looks at Toni V

e M i

championship, but the future of the Canberra round is now up in the air.

Canberra?

"My assumption was that we would receive a proposal from CTEC to consider continuing our sponsorship of the rally, but we never received a rr proposal to consider

- FA!Insurance’s Brendan Brake

hght in the last week of October, FAI's group marketing manager Brendan Drake said he was surprised that his organisation had not received a new proposal by the Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation(CTEC).

“Our contract finished earlier this year. I thought we had quite a successful rally program, and FAI Insurance is quite involved in motorsport; we've got the FAI 1000 coming up, we've just been through Indy and we're involved in the GMC400 Canberra street race,” Mr Drake said.

“My assumption was that we would receive a proposal from CTEC to consider continuing our sponsorship ofthe rally, but we never received a proposal to consider.”

After making that statement, Mr Drake refused to comment further to the media,the company's public affairs manager instead teUing

10 November 2000

Motorsport News late last week the company was no longer involved with the rally.

According to CTEC's Katie Reardon,in the week since this story broke, CTEC has foinvarded FAI a proposal.

Ms Reardon told Motorsport News that discussions with FAI had been taking place since the old contract expired in May. However this doesn't explain Mr Drake's surprise at not having received proposals, and the apparent knee jerk reaction by CTEC in forwarding a proposal only after the possible demise of the rally was flagged.

The Rally supporters group has estabhshed a fighting fund to attack this huge task. Donations are being directed to Canberra rallyist and accounting professional, David Stephens, at Stephens, Hayes and Associates, 25 Geils Court, Deakin West ACT 2600.

Canberra's three-times national rally champion, Neal Bates, said it would be a huge shame to relinquish an international event which the ACT rally community had fought so hard and so long to secure.

“I think the V8 race is good for Canberra, but I would have thought if we could spend millions of dollars on that, then surely we could find a little bit extra to keep the rally,” Bates said.

n

Alpine Rally back AUSTRALIA'S most famous rally, the Alpine, is back on the Victorian rally calendar for next year and is already attracting plenty of interest by competitors.

To be directed by former Alpine Rally organiser Stuart Lister, the 2001 Alpine will be open only to twowheel drive cars and will be a twoday event in November next year.

It is planned that the rally will start in Melbourne, before heading to the north east township of Bright where the majority of the stages will take place.

Already there has been interest from a number of high profile competitors, including former Australian Champions Ed Ordynski and Geoff Portman.

- PETER WHITTEiM

VRC title goes down to the wire

ry m

Photo by Sutton-lmages'

COULD Toni Gardemeister above end up as the third driver in Ford's works Focus operation next year?

That is the question doing the rounds this week, with the young Finn about to be nnade redundant by SEAT'S departure next season.

However, if he does join the blue oval Gardemeister,won't get a full WRC program in 2001.

Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson is keen to run a third car next year but fears that running the extra car on all 14 events will spread his resources too thinly.

But Wilson hinted that a deal could be done in the near future.

"We are stil l talking. It's not done yet. It's just putting a package together," he said.

Meanwhile, Seat is determined to leave with a bang not a whimper when it contests its final WRC event in Britain later this month.

The Spanish team has entered four Cordoba World Rally Cars on the Rally of Great Britain, recalling Hard Rovanpera and Welshman Gwyndaf Evans to drive alongside regulars Didier Auriol and Gardemeister.

-JON THOMSON

THE Victorian Rally Championship goes down to the wire with the running of the Cooper Memorial Rally on Wovember 18th, with 1999 Champion Scott Redder holding a narrow series lead over Brett Thompson.

Pedder's Lancer Evo 3 won the previous round, the North Eastern Rally, but Thompson's consistency this year in his Galant VR4 has kept him in with a show.

The Cooper Memorial will be based around the Goldfields township of Avoca.

- PETER WHITTEN

Skoda wins in Austria (really)

SKODA has scored a breakthrough win, with the Octavia WRC of Armin Schwarz taking a win in the all-asphalt Semperit Rally in Austria.

The German driver took the Czech marque's first win in the event, which was a round of both the Austrian and European Championship, Schwarz took the lead on the second stage of the event and drove away from the field, setting fastest time on 14 of the final 17 stages to win by almost two minutes.

"It's a fantastic result for everyone involved," Schwarz grinned on the podium.

And the win was not because there wasn't any other decent cars in the event. Second was the Toyota Corolla WRC of local Franz Witman, from Armin Kremer (Subaru Impreza), Achim Morti (Peugeot 206 WRC)and Czech Tomas Hrdinka in another Impreza, - HERMAN MUSTER 67

Quarter mile newrs

Epler slams WWF

'Mr 300'jumps camp to Etchells Racing for 2001

by DAVID OSTASZEWSKI JIM Epler has body-slammed his current Jerry Toliverowned World Wrestling Federation team by announcing he will join Chuck Etchells’camp in 2001.

Epler will run a second Camaro Z28 Funny Car for Etchells on the NHRA tour, having landed backing from collectable model car maker Racing Champions and Mateo Tools - Etchells also fielding a Kendall Oils/Matco Tools-backed Camaro for Tommy Johnson Jr. “We’ve been looking to add a second car for a long time,” explained Etchells. “But we were only going to do it if everything was right. When the opportunity arose to combine a driver of Jim Epler’s caliber with the support of companies like Racing Champions and Mateo Tools, I jumped at it.”

The move by Epler surprised Toliver who believed he had a

Points decision: Jim Epler right is currently fifth in the NHRA points, but believes a shift in teams will do his career no harm.

(Photos by David Ostaszewski)

commitment from the fuel coupe classes first 300 mph driver.

It’s taken me and the team a little by surprise, but there’s no shortage of potential replacements out there,” Toliver said.

‘The phone has been ringing off

VALE: Steve Evans BEST known for his good-time 'bottom end' interviews with the colourful and often excited John Force, legendary American drag racing commentator Steve Evans has passed away.

Evans was found dead in his hotel room in Las Vegas on November 1. He was in Las Vegas to cover a World of Outlaws event; Evans working on that series as well as the NHRA series for a number of years.

Evans worked on the NHRA's TV programs for more than two decades and for 18 years covered the series with the TNN, ABC and NBC networks, for much of it in partnership with Dave McClelland. With McClelland, he also was the host of the 500-plus NHRA Today programs aired between 1990-98.

Prior to that, Evans worked at some of the most well-known drag strips, including Lions, Irwindale and Fontana as an announcer and track manager, along with also working as editor of the NHRA's National Dragster and public relations director of the body.

"Steve Evans was one of 68

us," said NHRA founder Wally Parks. "That Steve will be sorely missed is an understatement. He was a link that connected us all, in our enthusiasm for what we do.

"Steve seived and active and impressive career as one of drag racing's most prominent and highly popular goodwill ambassadors.

"He was a positive and colorful presence that will long be remembered."

McClelland was naturally saddened at the passing of his long-time on-screen partner and friend.

"Steve and I worked together on the NHRA Series alone for over 20 years. We each watched the others children grow up and constantly compared notes on not only the racing world and working climate but family and friends as well," he said.

"To call us best friends is probably the understatement of the century. Steve had the depth of knowledge and skills in the racing world to relate to everyone who watched and listened. There was no one like him."

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

the hook. I mean, who wouldn’t want to get in that car?”

The driver most speculated as Epler’s replacement is former NHRA alcohol Funny Car champion Tony Bartone, the New

r. 7J \

r

AS predicted in MN issue #183 (July 7), Chevrolet and Pontiac will direct their Pro Stock drag racing marketing strategies to the Cavalier and Grand Am brands respectively next season.

Both racing arms of the General Motors companies last week announced their programs for 2001 and beyond, with the Cavaher and Grand Ams confiraied as the on-track replacement models for the current Camaro and Trans Ams. As also predicted in November 1999, the 2001 models will be the first all-composite bodied cars, developed by the factories to comply with the new ‘no tolerance’

Yorker announcing an aborted attempt to move to the professional class three seasons ago.

Adding to the speculation was the presence of Bartone on the startline when Toliver ran in Houston last week, while further adding to that was Toliver’s presence on the startline while Bartone was running.

Bartone also has close links to Chevrolet, who backed Epler’s campaign in the WWF camp.

One problem for Toliver could come with the rumours most of the crew from Epler’s car would also cross to Etchells camp; crew chief John Stewart’s departure confirmed, albeit due to being ‘grabbed’ by Dean Skuza’s Dodge team.

The Epler move is just another in a long series of changes in the 2001 NHRA Funny Car line-up.

Etchells’ current driver, Whit Bazemore recently announced he would be joining Don Schumacher’s gi'owing team, with Bazemore set to debut a Mateo Tools-sponsored Camaro for the cmTent two-car Top Fuel team nex season.

Bazemore’s place was quickly filled by Johnson, who will depart his current ride with Helen Hofmann’s Pontiac-backed operation following the season ending AAA Finals at Pomona next weekend.

Funny Cars they might be, but the business of drivers is anything but funny...

r PA NHRA body rules.

Both the Cavalier and Grand Ams have been extensively developed in the GM wind tunnels, with leading Pro Stock chassis builder Don Ness one who has had considerable influence on their final shape.

Both Kurt Johnson and father, five-time NHRA champion Warren will switch to the new cars immediately, KJ to the Cavalier and WJ to the Grand Am, while the two-car deg’s Mail Order team of new NHRA champion Jeg and brother Troy will jump from Oldsmobile to Chevrolet.

“We’ve been working on this for over a year and, while I’m not going to divulge any secrets, the motorsport news

DRAG RACING racing’s Scelzi’s flopper future Drag big pay out Winston Top Fuel Champ looking to Funny Car drive next year

by DAVID OSTASZEWSKI GARY Scelzi, who has just tiedi up his third Winston Top Fuel Championship in only four years of driving in the class, looks likely to move to a Funny Car next year.

Scelzi dropped the bombshell of his potential departure to the fuel coupe class in Houston last week, the Californian responding to much speculation over recent weeks.

“I’d like to clear up two rumours, one saying I won’t be racing next year and one saying I’ll be in a Funny Car,” Scelzi offered.

“One of the rumours is true; I’ll let you figure it out.”

Scelzi has long wanted to drive a nitro Funny Car and even took steps towards crossing over his licence earlier this year.

“I want to drive a nitro Funny Car. I always have. I guess the bug got in me when I was driving alcohol Funny Cars and it’s never left,” he said.

The 40-year-old stressed current sponsor Winston had not yet given its approval for the move, although there appears to be little doubt the company wouldn’t deny Scelzi and Johnson the chance to tackle 10time champion John Force head on.

Johnson already has a car in the Funny Car class, Bruce Sarver joining the team at the beginning of this season with substantial backing from internet company emoola.com. Having had a tough start to the season, which also saw the departure of original crew chief Rob Flynn, the e-moola.com team

has come on strong recently, even winning one race.

“To get anywhere in this sport it seems to me that you have to knock off John Force,” Scelzi said.

“He keeps saying he’s gonna switch to Tbp Fuel, but I don’t see it happening any time soon. Maybe I’m just gonna have to go over to Funny Car and start poimding on him.

Besides, I think he’d enjoy me more ifI was hanging around all the time.

“This could be the right move for me. I change might be good for Gary Scelzi and for the NHRA. It would certainly mix it up a little.” l‘uirsan

Funny guy: Will Gary Scelzi drive a flopper in 2001?

(Pholo by David Ostaszewski)

horsepower and it will take less horsepower to push these cars through the air at 200 mph. My AC Delco Cavalier should be a real rocketship.”

Mark Pawuk’s Summit-backed team will unveil the first Grand Am at next week’s SEMA show in

10 November 2000

Skuza’s liviaig his lifelong dream

Cory Mac and Johnson team up?

WITH Gary Scelzi expected to jump to the Funny Car class in 2001, it is believed Alan Johnson will continue to have a representation in Top Fuel, with rumours suggesting Cory McClenathan joining Johnson's team.

McClenathan's current ride will evaporate following next week's AAA Finals at Pomona, with team owner Joe Gibbs pulling the pin on his final drag racing operation.

But, while most thought Gibbs' departure would also mean the end of US financial institution MBNA's involvement in drag racing - Gibbs apparently upping MBNA's commitment to his Winston Cup operation - recent speculation has McClenathan and Johnson signing MBNA to a continuation.

If so, MBNA's on-going involvement would be a good morale booster for the sport, which has long suffered from companies electing to spend their marketing dollars in stock car racing.

McClenathan's recent win in Houston was also a great morale booster.for the Wes Cerny-led team, most of whom are expected to following the veteran over to the Johnson camp if it becomes reality.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

data from the GM Aerodynamics Laboratory indicates the cars will be very slick race cars,” Kurt Johnson said of the announcement.

“Pro Stock is all about

Las Vegas, while on-track testing for a number of the teams who have already taken delivery of their 2001 mounts will begin the week after Pomona.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

22-year-old professional bracket racer Stephan Hughes of Bryan, Texas, earned the largest single day prize in drag racing - a whopping US$235,000($443,000) - when he took out the fifth annual B&M Million Dollar Drag Race in Alabama a fortnight ago.

Hughes, driving for car owners Greg and Jan Tetreault, defeated five-time NHRA champion Scotty Richardson in the final, his perfect .500 reaction time and .005s over run (4.995 on 4.99 dial-in) too much for Richardson's .026s over run.

Hughes, who also won a US$10,000 race earlier this season, < was lucky in taking the win after having been defeated in the first round; a $500 'buy-back' rule for first round losers being used to its fullest advantage.

New rides: Artists impressions of both Kurt Johnson’s 2001 ACDelco Chev Cavalier and father Warren’s GM Goodwrench Pontiac Grand Am.

(Smopoi nFffAanuANCi

■/jTW:

DEAN Skuza has signed a five-year pact with Mopar Performance to back his nitro Funny Car. Skuza lost his current backer, Mateo Tools, when it was recently announced that Whit Bazemore would take the sponsorship to his new ride at Don Schumacher's growing 'superteam.'

Skuza plans on also adding a second car to his team next year, although the funding isn't quite in place at the moment.

Naturally, he was delighted at the announcement of his new deal with Mopar.

"The kids in my neighborhood grew up wanting to pitch for the New York Yankees, while I grew up wanting to drive for Chrysler. That is the best sponsorship a driver could have," he said.

Skuza is smitten with Funny Cars, understanding the rumoured move

by Gary Scelzi to the class.

"Funny Cars are sexy," he says of the plastic fantastics.

"Just looking at them gives you a queasy feeling in your stomach. The lines on them, the way they drive.

When I was a kid, I was bitten. Now they're my life."

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI 69

USA/Australia

Bray's

Brett Stevens creel

by GREG WARD

Champions decided

Sceizi, Force, Seeling and Panella tie up NHRA titles before Pomona

ATI. oftheNHRA’s professional categories'World Championships have been decided prior to going into next weekend’s AAA Finals at Pomona, with the past two weekends’events in Houston and Dallas, Texas, settling the scores.

Gary Scelzi stitched up his third Top Fuel Championship and Bob Panella clinched his second Pro Stock Truck title in Dallas last weekend, while the previous week’s racing in Houston saw John Force secure his 10th Funny Car title.

Angelle Seeling also joined the elite company of triple Top Fuel winner Shirley Muldowney as the only women to have ever won professional drag racing titles, Seeling securing the Pro Stock Motorcycle championship for the first time.

Dallas’event, which had already been postponed two weeks due to rain, was again beset with weather problems, the NHRA taking the historic step of setting the fields by the championship points standings.

Cory McClenathan won both the Houston and Dallas races in the new Murf McKinney-designed

Layin’the'smack down: Jerry Toliver was slam-dunked by John Force in Dallas, while Cory McClenathan fop was simply unbeatable. (Photos Dawdostaszewski) MBNA Top Fueller, the Dallas win coming over a tyre-smoking Melanie Troxel. McClenathan’s Joe Gibbs Racing-owned car is yet to be defeated since debuting in Houston.

Mike Dunn debuted Darrell Gwynn’s New York Yankeesbacked dragster in Houston, with Dunn qualifying number one first time out, before running the quickest ever 90 percent rule pass of 4.529s in Dallas.

Force almost duplicated McClenathan’s efforts, although

team-mate Tony Pedregon downed his boss in the Houston Funny Car final. Force’s Dallas win couldn’t have been any more emphatic, the colourful ex-tnick driver defeating season-long points rival Jerry Toliver in the final.

The Texas races were good for the Johnson family, with Warren taking out the Houston event, while Kurt Johnson notched up his fifth Pro Stock win of the season, defeating new NHRA champion Jeg Coughlin in the Dallas final.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

VICTOR Bray’s dominance of the world Top Doorslammer performance scene seems set to continue for some time still after the Castrol legend produced yet another record setting effort at Calder’s season-opening event last Saturday night.

Bray clocked a stunning 237.40 mph teiininal speed on his fu-st run ofthe new Ibp Doorslammer season, annihilating all existing marks for both alcohol and nitro-brnTiing doorslammers in the process.

The world record-setting run eclipsed not only his own 233.16 mph effort which he produced in March at Ravenswood, but it also demolished the all-time Doorslammer mark of 234.41 mph set by US Nitro Coupe racer Bill Kuhlmann earlier this season.

“It was by no means a perfect pass,” stated Bray’s car builder and crew chief Mmray Anderson afterwards.“It shook the tyres offthe line and then it turned them hard through the first half ofthe track.

Anderson remains confident that there is even more to come.

‘Tm buddhig these cai's to be capable of240-plus mph.It’s what we’re aiming at and it’s just a matter oftime before it happens.I wouldn’t have been surprised ifit had’ve happened here today,” he commented.

The face of Jack Daniels Motorsport, Brett Stevens also produced a piece ofAustralian drag racing history when he put both his nitro-burning Top Fuel Harley and Studebaker doorslammer into the winner’s circle, the first occasion in 25 years that an Australian racer has been able to win in two separate Group One brackets at the same event.

Since debuting his doorslammer at the beginning of last season, Stevens has performed the tough job of racing both his nitro bike and the blown sedan at the same

2000 WINSTON DRAG RACING SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AT NOVEMBER 4 Winston Top Fuel Championship 1776 1. Gary Scelzi, Winston 2, Larry Dixon, Miller Lite/MBNA., 1550 3. Tony Schumacher, Exide Batteries 1537 4, Joe Amato,Tenneco/Dynomax ... 1388 5. Doug Kalitta, MGM Grand Hotel . 1376 6. Kenny Bernstein, Bud King Racingl243 1239 7. Cory McClenathan, MBNA ., 983 8. Bob Vandergriff 892 9. Doug Herbert, Snap-On Tools, 828 10, Don Lampus JO

Winston Funny Car Championship l.Tohn Force, Castrol GTX Mustang... 1854 2. Jerry Toliver, WWF Racing Camara . 1481 3. Ron Capps, US Tobacco Camaro.... 1477 4. Tony Pedregon, Castrol Syntec M/tangl389 5, Jim Epler, WWF Racing Camaro 1232 1061 6. Scotty Cannon, Oakley Camaro 7. Whit Bazemorc, Kendall GT-1 Camara 1057 8. Del Worsham, CSK Pontiac 1000 .941 9. Bruce Sarver 10. Dean Skuza, Mateo Tools Avenger..938

Winston Pro Stock Championship i.Jeg Coughlin, leg's OidsCutiass i956 2.Kuit Johnson, ACDeicoCamaro 1490 3. Wanen John.son, GM Pontiac 1410 4, Ron Krisher, Eagle One Pontiac 1369 5. Mark Pawuk,Summit Racing Pontiac 1180 6. Troy Coughlin,leg's Olds Cutlass 1135 7. Richie Stevens, Valspar Pontiac 1086 8. Jim Yates, Splitfire/Peak Pontiac 993 895 9. Darrell Aldemian 810 10. Bruce Allen .

motorsport news

new world record

tes his own history, wins Top Doorsiammer and Top Bike

Record setters: Victor Bray above and Brett Stevens had big weekends at Calder Park last weekend. Bray set a new world speed record with the Castrol Chev, while Stevens won both Top Doorsiammer and Top Bike (Pholos by Chris Carter)

meeting admirably, putting both into the final of the recent 'Winternationals and scoring a win in Top Doorsiammer.

“My crew deserve a lot ofthe credit for our success here today,” said a happy Stevens afterwards.

“At the start of racing I didn’t think that we’d even get past the first round with either the bike or the car, but my guys put in 110

percent and their efforts got us through a couple of very hard patches today.”

The doorsiammer bracket was simply stunning, with the top seven cars in qualifying separated by a little over a tenth, with six cars ultimately running in the 6.3s, while Peter Kapiris set low ET with a first round 6.28s charge in his winged Studebaker.

Former Nationals and Winternationals winner Andrew Seai'le faced Stevens in the final, but a slowing 6.70/192 was no match for the Jack Daniels Studebaker’s 6.35/221.

Steve Kitchen’s Budweiser tm-boed Funny Bike was Stevens’ opposition in the final of Tbp Bike, the Jack Daniels Hailey laying down the low ET ofthe event-7.12/192to deal with Kitchens’8.50/140.

Pro Stock Motorcycle also had its opening round for the season and, after some tremendous qualifying and close racing, the final filtered down to two racers most would have guessed to have featured in the final - the South Australian pair of Sam Scerri and Jason Lee. Lee left the line first in the final and he stepped up to a 7.79 on Dale Gilbert’s Suzuki GSXE,but it was Scerri, using his Trevor Birrell horsepower, who came on by for a 7.69/169 win to rack up the maximum points in the first episode of his title defence.

One of the low points of the race meeting was the unfortunate incident which Bruno Cavallo’s Pontiac gasser was involved in during the last qualifying session.

The Super Stocker went left towards the centreline after the launch and Cavallo hauled it back, only to have it drive head-long into the concrete retaining wall.

The front clip was destroyed and the front end damaged, but at least some good was to come out of the event with Bruno’s brother, Nino, managing to overcome his A/MS Charger’s previous camshaft problems to work his way through to the final where he downed an out-of-shape Peter Sammut and his DD/G Nissan.

DRAG RACING AIR Season Opener goes West WINTERNATIONALS Comp Eliminator winner Grant O’Rourke slayed the South Aussies in the annual SA v WA Wild Bunch Shootout - the event the series opener for Adelaide Internationai Raceway on October 28.

Running on the 'Chicago Shootout' format, the West Aussies trailed early, but ran out eventual \winners thanks to some outstanding passes from O'Rourke.

Four races and four wins, along with a series of stunning mid-six second passes was the result for ^ O'Rourke, with his potent yellow GTR Torana running a career-best 6.50s at over 216 mph.

South Australia put together its strongest field to date, with the likes of team captain Danny Baines, Paul Greghini, Lui Raschella and Dave Koop. However, no on was able to get past O'Rourke all night.

It wasn't for lack of trying though, with Koop recording a stunning 228 mph speed in the 'Koop De Ville' Chevrolet during qualifying.

Baines showed he and father, David were slowly getting the Tectaloy Camaro back on top, running a 7.02 best, while Raschella and Greghini both ran stout 6.7s elapsed times. But, it wasn't enough, the best coming from the west.

Greghini ended his night on a sour note, the KB hemi letting go in a big way during the burnout prior to round three; holes now in the block where they shouldn't be!

It was quite a start to the season, with a modest crowd of around 5,000. But, the opener was just the calm before the storm, with AIR hosting the 2000 Springnationals on November 18. The event is the first round of the Australian Top Fuel Championships and the Australian Drag Racing Series.

-STEVEN WHITE

PiPERCROSS Jj

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II

#

John Force /ydrag racing. The colourful ex-truck driver has just stitched up his 10th NHRA Funny Car Championship, hut there's no signs he'll he slowing down.Force receigy took some time out to talk wilhM's JON ASHER, with dtjs mouth moving taster than his Mustang nitro Funny Car nnn

PHOTOS BY RANDY ANDERSON

MOTORSPORT NEWS: What does winning your 10th championship mean to you?

JOHN FORCE; Well, the number 10 has a nice ring to it.

I'm excited about it and, naturally. I'm gonna go after number 11.

I thought It was drifting away from me (earlier in 2000), but I never lost my motivation, A lot of guys were hot for a while but then got out of contention.

[Jerry] Toliver was really hot for a while and we had to stay focused. When they made a mistake, we had to move on 'em...

MN: Were you concerned when Toliver had the early points lead?

JF: No, not in the beginning because we were in test mode.

They [the WWF team] beat us at the Finals last year and then they opened up this year by beating Tony [Pedregon], so It looked to the media like 'Toliver Keeps Beating Force,' right?

Epier then won and we got stung when we put the new Mustang bodies on. From Columbus on, we couldn't hit our butts and they kept movin ...

MN: The new bodies were obviously a problem. Did you change them to solve the problems? molorsport news

INTERVIEW me "You know Force, I just hated your guts for years, but after listening to Toliver I like you again!"

Interview do Force JF: No, the new Mustang bodies were a good design by [Force aerodynamicist Tim] Gibson. The problem that we had was that the body was heavy and, becaiuse of the wider front end, we had to build a wider steering system, so there was flexibility in the steering.

On opening day at Columbus, I almost hit the \/vall on every run and I was lucky I got in the show with a five-flat.

1 told [Austin]: Coil, "I can't steer this car" and nobody could figure out what was wrong. We finally realised tbe steering wheel was flexing. Fleck, we thought it was cylinders going 'out' that was trying to drive me into the wall...

We fixed it ancd came out

10 November 2000

swinging at St. Louis.

MN: Why do you think Toliver's early run fell apart like it did?

JF: I think they adopted the "We'll beat Force in the head" strategy - the mental game.

Well, that's John Force's game!

I've been playing that my whole life ... I just don't say it.

I've had drivers tell me, "Even when I beat you, you laugh. It's like you don't give a shit." I just never let them realise I'm in pain.

Toliver did me a favour. The other drivers were saying, "We almost want John Force to win again" because of all his yellin' and screamin'.

Even [Whit] Bazemore said to

\\

I think they adopted the 'We'll heat Force in the head' strategy - the mental game. Well, that's John Force's game. I've been playing that my whole life - Force on Toliver and the WWF

MN: Instead of resenting, your competitors mostly like you. Why? JF: It's 'cause I've been on both sides. I've been the guy without money AND the guy with money. I spend more time drinking beer in Gary Densham's pit than I do in my own 'cause I can unwind there.

I try and make friends with the guys who have been mad at me. I don't think they've hated me personally, although over any 10-year span you've got a lot of chances to beat them.

Bazemore, Flofmann, Cruz Pedregon - they all took me out, but they got my mind right and focussed for the following years.

Then a guy like Toliver comes along and I believe Jerry thought in his head that he was on a roll that wouldn't stop.

Well, I've been there and I've seen those rolls and I've seen so many years that things do come around...

Toliver's even asked me why I've helped them and I tell him that if he does beat me, I want it to be because he could, not 'cause I told them shit.

Jerry had a chance when I got beat at Maple Grove in the first round. I got back to the start line and said to him "It's your chance to make a move on me. It's definitely not over." Fie got all excited and let [Tony] Pedregon beat him. Fie couldn't make a move when he needed to.

MN: Flow important do you think a two-car team is?

JF: It's the wave of the future...

Let me tell you something though. If Ron Capps stays the way he is - and I like that guy with Ed McCulloch, who's becoming a veteran in Funny Car tuning, they'll be dangerous.

Remember it was McCulloch and Bernie Fedderly that tried to knock me out of the championship a long time ago, so they're dangerous. They've got Prudhomme who'll fund 'em. Snake's got respect for McCulloch and he'll let him stay with his groove no matter how the car is running.

MN: Capps has to be one of your biggest threats to your title...

JF: I've got to be honest. Tony continued on page 74 73

John Force [Pedregon] has been running interference for me to make sure I'd win the championship. He'd be up in the points if he weren't looking out for me.

They've been times when my car needed something and I got all the good stuff and Tony's been left with leftovers.

If it weren't for me, Tony would be a real threat for the title.

Capps is a threat. He's got McCulloch, Prudhomme and all the good stuff. If Armstrong [former crew chief Dale] had've stayed, they'd have been a threat.

They were struggling and you've got to let your crew chief struggle, let him find yourself.

When I go tell Austin, "Hey, those guys are running a new air clutch" or something, he'd say "Great, but how's that fit in?"

You can't overrule your crew chief. I've had Fedderly tell me, "Force, stop right now. You're screwin' this deal up. Go the fuck away!"

The minute they turn on me, I turn away.

Our agreement is I yell and scream, but they run the car.

Coil told me "Get used to losing 'cause we're getting ready for next year" when we were trying the new bodies with the five-disc clutch, which was getting chewed up and spat out of the car.

They're running the car...

You can't overrule your crew chief. I've had Fedderly tell me, 'Force,stop right now. You're screwin'this deal up. Go the fuck away" -Force on his army of tuning talent MN: What's the Castrol plan for the future?

JF: We're just finishing up the details of a five-year contract with Castrol and [new owners] BP. I'm set up for a third car. I've got the funding for it, and everything's set. But, I'm going to run Funny Car in 2000 along with Tony. If I can win that eleventh championship, I think I've done my time in Funny Car, and it'll be time to make the change (to Top Fuel). I spoke to Kenny Bernstein about it the other day, and he suggested that I try for the all-time record of 11 titles, and if I do get it. I'm definitely going to Top Fuel.

MN: Are you going to field a Top Fuel car in 2001?

JF: I would have a third Funny Car right now except the fans and media don't like it.

We're thinking of getting a Top Fuel car ready for my daughter Ashley to drive.

She's been to Frank Hawley's driving School. She's 17 and In college and we're looking five years down the road.

But, if she doesn't want to when she's finished school, we'll scrap the whole idea.

74

I've had [Top Fuel driver] Melanie Troxel help her and I was gonna put her on the payroll, but her Schumacher deal ( makes it too hard.

MN: So are you going to run a Funny Car or Top Fuel car in 2001?

JF: The Top Fuel car will probably be ordered In the next couple of weeks, but I'll guarantee you that I'll be In the Funny Car for next year.

'UK Top Fuel car vui probably be ordered bi the next coivie of weeks,but n guarantee you that ri be hi the Fimy Car for next year" - Force on racing Top Fuel MN: So who will drive the Top Fuel car before your daughter takes over?

JF: It would be an R&D program, 'cause Coil doesn't want it to interfere with the Funny Cars.

It's a lot more expensive to run the Funny Cars 'cause of the breakage. Hell, I'm on body Number 28 for this year alone because of breakage! But, with all of the collector cars, I build about five times as many cars as anyone else out there.

I had a game plan [for the fueller], but it got screwed up. I had a crew chief all lined up.[Don] Schumacher fucked up my plan. I would not go out and put together a program with anyone that might screw up their current team, nor would I guarantee anything until I had everything set. But, during the process of trying to do all of this, the deal got screwed up back at Indy when Schumacher hired Jimmy Prock. I was so furious, because I'd told Joe Amato I wouldn't screw with his guy ]Prock] until their deal was completely over. I did tell Amato if Prock walked, then I'd take a run at him, though.

You know who the two guys are who spend more time in my trailer than anyone else does? Prock and [Tony Schumacher crew chief] Dan Olson!

They're very close to Coll, Fedderly and John Medlen. They all think alike...

At the beginning of the year before Jerry Toliver hired Armstrong, I talked to him because I thought he'd be the ideal guy to put the [Top Fuel] team together.

I told him I was interested in building a car in-house for a year, so Armstrong wouldn't even be going on the road. I figured he could put the car together and we could go out and make some laps while I learned.

Armstrong told me he was talking to Toliver, so I told him I didn't want to screw that up. I told him that he should do whatever he thought was best for him.

The problem with Armstrong though, is that he runs a low compression motor, while Coil, Bernie and Medlen are high compression guys. In other words, their

T

INTERVIEW think tanks are different.

Coil even said he didn't see how our guys would work with Armstrong because their approach to things was so different. Completely different.

Now, if NHRA changed the rules and made us go to low compression, Armstrong would be hired immediately 'cause of the technology he has.

There's a lot of stuff we play with that nobody knows about, so we have to be careful with what we say. I know some people might say I'm full of shit, but I'm tellin' ya' this is the truth.

MIM: If the Top Fuel car does come out next year, who will be the driver?

JF: I've got two that I've looked at, although one has taken a job - Tommy Johnson. He's real dedicated and willing to do anything to get a ride.

My number one priority is Gary Ormsby Jr [son of 1989 Top Fuel Champion, the late Gary Ormsby Sr].

I talk to him on a regular basis and he's proven himself in the alcohol classes.

Now Coil and Bernie have said, "If you're gonna go out and race, why would you take a kid that's a trainee?" but I'd take Gary 'cause I'm not building to win today. I invested in Tony [Pedregon] because he was young enough learn and because he had a name - Pedregon that was really worth something.

There again, Ormsby could come out and be the biggest dick around, ya' know what I mean?

Prudhomme said,'Yeah, ya' thought you were Tom Cruise, didn't ya? Weii you're notl"

11

-Force on Don Prudhomme MN: If you win your 11th championship next year, will you put all the resources behind Tony to win a title.

JF: I have an agreement with Tony, who's dedicated his life to me, that we would do that. The point is that you've got to give the fans and media something to focus on.

What are ya' gonna do, go out after a twelfth, thirteenth of fourteenth championship? No, I've gotta give this kid a chance, but I also can't take that revenue stream (of winning) away from my crew chiefs.

Basically, this is the real, God's truth plan. 1 didn't know if I was gonna win my 10th this year. I didn't know until a couple of races back. My agreement was that I'd tie the record with the 10th..The bone for the media was me going for that eleventh. The day that I have that locked up I will step out of the Funny Car seat, even if it's in the middle of the season and I will step into the dragster.

MN: So, if you've won the title by mid year, you're out of the Funny Car? JF: I will 'cause I'll be prepared by then to do just that. My game plan is to lock up

the championship and move on. I'm tellin' ya' the truth here...

I'm sittin' right in front of Steve Plueger's shop right now. He's built every car I've raced my whole life and I'm gonna give him the first chance to build my dragster. If he doesn't want to do it, then I'll go somewhere else, but he's gonna get the first shot at it.

Ya know, Toliver, came up to me at Memphis and says, "Force, I guess it's all over, and I'll have to settle for Number 2, but that's not a bad way to start next year."

As he walked away, I thought, "Hey, man, have you looked at the points?" 'cause Capps is now the guy in second!"

Later on Toliver goes ridin' by me and Capps and just shook his head. Well, the guy's getting' educated about how tough it is out here...

MIM: Why is it that you still seem to be having so much fun interacting with the fans while some other drivers obviously don't care to do anything more than drive their cars?

JF: Well, I can only say that when I'm down and out and I lose and I'm depressed, I go out and talk to the fans and they heal me.

It's a fact that you see people that are down to earth and they love ya' no matter what.

Every once in a while someone'll yell something like "I'm glad Toliver kicked your ass," and ya' know what? The crowd'll turn on 'em! They give ya that feeling that you can't find anywhere else.

I'm 51, and I'm fightin' every day just to get out of bed. I've got two guys that help me out of my firesuit these days, just like Prudhomme said I would.

Ya' know what Prudhomme said?

"Force, ya' think you're cool. Well, go take off your firesuit and stand naked in front of the mirror!"

I did that and I went back to Prudhomme and said, "You motherfucker! Why'd'ya do that to me?"

He says, "Yeah, ya' thought you were Tom Cruise, didn't ya?"

Well, he taught me something - again!

But, the fans don't care if you have two chins, or if you're too tired to even stand up. They'll hold you up just to get that autograph!

1 get a lot of energy from the people.

That's what keeps me goin'. Let me say just one more thing. If I can win an 11th championship, I owe it to this team to keep them going, so we'll put everything we've got behind Tony so he can start winning 'em, too! That's my game plan. I may actually stay in the Funny Car to run interference for him, or I may put the dragster out. Who knows what I'll do?

Hell, even I don't know!

"I may actually stay in the Funny Car, OP I may put the dragster out. Who knows what i'll do? Hell, even I don't know! ti

- Force on the future 75

Hughes Ifs just a(

by GEOFF ROUNDS

WORLD Series Sprintcars boss John Hughes has erased any doubts about the immediate future of the lucrative championship and dismissed suggestions that the fastapproaching 2001 series was in jeopardy.

Hughes remained adamant that all rounds of WSS “would definitely go ahead” as scheduled for the approaching racing season.

He is confident that it was “just a cycle” occurring in national Sprintcar racing since the recent cancellation of three Western Australian WSS fixtures.

The traditional 17-round championship has been cut back to 14 rounds since the demise of the West Australian legs, due to the venues not being completed and the rising costs of travelling across the Nullarbor.

“Lots of things go in their particular cycles. At the moment, Sprintcar racing in Australia is going through theirs,” said Hughes from his Adelaide office.

“It’s unfortunate that this is happening, but at the end of the day we have to realise that it is.”

Hughes said rising fuel and travel costs and the value of the Australian dollar were all reasons that have contributed to a decline

in WSS.

“I don’t think that there’s any doubt that running and racing a car is hurting competitors.”

The uncertainty over the Queensland rounds of the series has been settled between series organisers and Brisbane International Speedway. The scheduled rounds will run on January 10,12, and 13.

Six of the contracted drivers that will greet Australian speedway followers this season include Max Dumesny, Skip Jackson, Brooke Tatnell, Andrew Scheurle, Phil March, and Nathan MacDonald. American Danny Smith was announced this week as another who will join the field.

Hughes is hoping to finalise more competitors prior to the commencement of the first round scheduled for Newcastle Speedway on November 11.

Hughes said that the future of WSS was a year-to-year proposition and believed that the sport must continue to foster a national series.

“If a series is to continue in the future whether it be World Series or whatever, it depends strongly on the support for it and the need for it.”

“In the end, this sport will never survive without a national series,” Hughes said.

1

L

One of the contractors: Skip Jackson will be returning to Australia this weekend for the first round of the World Series Sprintcars - however, it will be in Shane Krikke's #2. Skip and the rest of the WSS trail won’t be (Photo by Tony Loxley) heading to Western Australia.

Stewart goes WoO WHEN there’s a gap in the NASCAR Winston Cup caiendar, it’s iikeiy you’ii find Tony Stewart at a Worid of Outiaws race.

In 2001 he’ll be spending more time at WoO events, announcing last week the formation of Tony Stewart Motorsports, fielding a full-time Outlaws team with driver Danny Lasoski behind the wheel of the #20 J.D. Byrider/Hamm American machine.

'This is one of the most exciting projects I have undertaken in racing,” said Stewart.

“In my opinion, Danny Lasoski is a great Sprintcar driver with the talent and experience necessary to lead us to the World of Outlaws championship.

“We share a passion for Sprint car

76

racing and for winning.”

Lasoski, who won the 1998 Knoxville Nationals, is looking fonward to 2001.

“This team is the opportunity of a lifetime for me,” said Lasoski.

“When Tony and I met several years ago, little did either of us know our paths would lead us to building a team together.

“I have always been blessed throughout my racing career to have the support of great people and have enjoyed great success as a result, but Tony is giving me the ability to go to the head of the class.”

Jimmy Carr will be the team’s crew chief and the team will be based in a new shop in Missouri for the 2001 racing season. moiorsport news

r

SPEEDWAY

ycle Winners are grinners: Ian Thomsen, Jeff Judd and Francis Ramsdale smile the smiles and hold the trophies.

(Photos by Ian Robinson) Ramsdale, below, ran a great third.

Judd takes Nyot

mi-

Marsh off BACCHUS Marsh Speedway promotor Butch Morley has announced that the November 18 opening night for season 2000/2001 has been postponed due to inclement weather.

"The pit gates and pit area are still well short of being completed," he said.

"I do not want to run a near completed speedway, I want to run a 100 percent perfect speedway."

JEFF Judd put his championship charge right on track in the opening round of the Autopro Super Sprint Series last weekend, winning the feature race at Nyora Raceway in his newly-acquired Autopro/R&G Total Car Care Avenger.

“That’s a pretty good start. It couldn’t get much better!” said Judd.

“I think this car really suits my style of driving. It was fantastic.

“The stoppages made it really hard to get into a rhythm. The track really slickened off after the long period without a stoppage.

For the last few laps I just tried to protect the pole line.”

Judd made his intentions clear in the feature. He blasted away to lead from Colin Bulmer and Francis Ramsdale.

Mike Van Bremen was another to spin, leaving Judd to lead the re-start from Rod Matthews,

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Ramsdale, Thomsen and Jeremy Warren.

The leaders carved their way through the lapped traffic and, just when it seemed the race would be run without any further caution periods, rookie Tony Hough and Paul Bastow came together with eight laps to go.

Warren looped two laps later, setting up a sprint to the chequer for the leaders, which was again stopped by another Van Bremen spin, this time after contact with Bastow.

By the time the track was cleared the drivers had a clear run to the finish, Judd victorious over Thomsen and Ramsdale.

“We were down on horsepower

last season and the new Kendrick engine is unbelievable,” said Thomsen.

“I think this engine will make all the difference. Having Matthew Eastham from Victory Lane on board as crew chief has also been a huge bonus for me as well.”

Round two of the series is this weekend at Avalon International Raceway on November 11.

Points: Judd 353, Ramsdale 333, Thomsen 327, Van Bremen 296, Warren 284.

2000 WORLD OF OUTLAWS SERIES POINTS SCORE Point Standings to 2 November, 2000 I. Steve Kinser....

2. Sammy Swindell.

3. Mark Kinser ....

4. Danny Lasoski ..

5. Stevie Smith....

6. Joey Saldana.....

7. Dale Blaney ....

8. Andy Hillenburg.

9. Johnny Herrera . iO.Jac Haudenschild

9574 9420 9384 9289 9159 8878 8816 8791 8604 8534

8449 ....8225 8089 13. Oaryn Pittman 7885 14. Danny Wood 7559 IS. Greg Hodnett ....

6453 16. Dean Jacobs .... 6388 17. Brian Paulus 5741 18. Brooke Tatnell 4593 19. Randy Hannagan....

4523 20. Paul McMahan 1 1. Oonny Schatz l2..Tim Shaffer

Las Vegas Speedway,3 November 2000 I. Sammy Swindell 2.Andy Hillenburg 3. Greg Hodnett 4. Craig Dollansky 5. Dean Jacobs 6.Jac Haudenschild 7. Ronnie Day 8. Paul McMahan

1 1. Johnny Herrera 12. Dale Btaney 13. Daryn Pittman M.Jerrod Hull 15. Ryan Flynn 16.Shane Stewart 17. Stevie Smith 18. Steve Kinser

9. Kenny Jacobs 10. Donny Schatz

19.joey Saldana 20. Brooke Tatnell

77

The Super Sedan The fight between the Newcastle Super Sedan Club and Newcastle Speedway promoter David Lander continues after an intense dispute over race rulesdi Ml Ml Iling on who you talk to.

AARON NOONAN talked to the two parties.

SOME of New South Wales’top Super Sedan drivers haven’t set a wheel in racing motion this season following a dispute between the NSSC and Newcastle Speedway promoter David Lander.

The NSSC feels that the NASR mles(under which Lander’s circuit operates),jeopardises safety.

Alan Baker, Club President, said that Lander had reneged on his offer, made in a fax to club advisor, (former Liberal MP for Mosman) Phillip Smiles on October 25, which stated that “safety specifications and race regulations remain unchanged.”

"Mr. Lander is apparently relying on his belief that he had reached an agreement with the Club Executive to use the ASCF rule for a four week trial period.

“Unfortunately, this ‘agreement’ never existed because Mr. Lander ‘sacked’the club from its role as host club for Super Sedan racing at the Newcastle Speedway," said Baker.

\\

There's nothing to negotiate... the reai truth was they were fired because they couldn't suppiy race cars, U

- David Lander

"Mr. Lander has been invited by the Club to come back to the table to work towards a compromise for the betterment of the sport, but has so far declined the offer."

However, Lander told Motorsport News late last week that the issue was closed as far as he was concerned.

"There’s nothing to negotiate.

78

They didn’t fulfil their arrangements. When they told me they had seven cars (before the opening meeting on October 7) they weren’t fulfilling their obligations.

“They were selling me something they didn’t have.The real truth was they were fired because they couldn’t supply race cars - the issue’s closed as far as I am concerned.

“They’re welcome to come and race, but you run by the rules.

They were given a month for input into the rules (once the ASCF had joined NASR)and were given three extensions.

“These club constitutions are the biggest problem. Look at NASCAR and how successful it’s been under a dictatorship - the same with Ecclestone and FI and CART and now TEGA(V8 Supercars).

“I’m sick of them (the club). I’m running a business and they’ve hurt me financially and personally.”

The rules the club have questioned are that all drivers involved in an accident on the circuit and those who stop or slide to avoid the incident be sent to the rear and there be no right of appeal for drivers.

The NSCC feels that the former encourages drivers to "drive dangerously right through the accident" and the latter "encourages stewards to have another agenda and unsafe practices by drivers."

Lander, though, scoffed at the suggestions, saying that a recent 25-lap feature had been run without any caution periods and that drivers who are innocent parties in accidents "with a concrete wall on one side and a wrecked car on the other" take up their re-start position as normal without penalty, the decision in

The racing goes on: Forgetting all of the politics, the Super Sedan racing has continued at Newcastle, round one of the Gough and Gilmour series producing some close racing between Keith Sims and Greg Hodges, above. Scott McPherson, David Robertson and Sims picked up (Photos by David Lomont) the trophies from the round.

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the hands of the Chief Steward.

He also addressed the point of appeals, comparing the NSSC’s take on the situation to a football umpire’s decision which may be wrong.

"In football, if the referee says it’s a forward pass, you can’t appeal on Tuesday and have the

scores changed," said Lander.

The NSSC’s club executive will bring the matter before the NSW Minister for Sport and Recreation John Watkins as well as the Minister for Police Paul 'Whelan who they say in a press release have the "ultimate responsibility for the supervision of track safety."

motorsport news

SPEEDWAY

The Brash One: Garry Brazier made his first QSSS start of the season and despite the rain, was the one to beat.

Lismore Speedway promoter Greg Coombes had planned to run the ASCF NSW Title on December 2 under the full NASR rules, although a backlash from drivers has prompted him to waive the two disputed rules for the meeting.

"Our club members welcome the support of all drivers, Australia wide, and we hope that Mr. Coombes’ decision will be adopted permanently for this track," said NSSC secretary Denise Garratt in a club release.

"We also hope Mr. Lander will realise the safety dangers involved if he persists in imposing these unpopular and unsafe rules at the Newcastle Speedway."

The NSSC are keen to continue the matter, a matter Lander says is over.

Brazier takes QSSS FOUR times national champion Garry Brazier took the feature race win at round three of the Titan Garages Queensland Sprintcar Summer Shootout as he pleased in a rain-delayed race last weekend.

Brazier ran conservatively in the heats with a pair of sixths, driving a car for John Kelly. The ABC Auto Gear Stealth launched very well at the start of the feature and motored away from the battle between Drew Kruck and Todd Wanless for second.

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10 November 2000

“It wasn’t too bad - we were ironing the bugs out of the car in the heat races and fortunately enough for me,I got to start from the pole,” he said.

The Hard Charger Award though was to go to Peter Thorley.

In heats two and four, Thorley (Queensland Diesel Spares/ Lindberg Enterprises J&J)took the lead at turn one from the front row and was chased hard by Dean McComb.

However, he was out of the feature with suspension damage after running into George Galea.

“The night went really well,” he said.

“To have two heat wins was absolutely magic. We couldn’t believe it.

“We didn’t have any real good luck in the last round of the 3x3 but we got there in the end. Th run fifth in the feature was super.”

Kruck claimed second in the feature after a race-long battle with Todd Wanless.

Wanless tried hard all night, but the combination of a yellow flag and deflating tyre kept him from pushing harder for second spot.

Kruck had ill luck in the heats after a clash with Cairns-based racer Scott Davis(Cairns Mufflers and Wreckers Gambler)in heat three saw both cars spear into the turn two wall.

In heat two, Kruck was holding down third on the final lap when he spun across the finish line backwards after putting a wheel wrong.

“I was giving it all I could, he’s (Brazier)Australia number one, so he’s a good man to chase and I couldn’t chase him so here I was in second place,” said Kruck. “I’m pretty stoked.”

For team mate McComb it was another night of steady points accumulation, finishing second and third in his heats.

McComb did pick up the impressive consolation of winning the 3x3 Shootout.

Competing for hard luck stories of the night were Stephen Bell (Speedfiow Maxim)and Davis.

Bell had finished a competitive third in the first heat, but a failed driveshaft and internal coupler put him out while chasing Davis for the lead in heat three.

The temporary fix, utilising a rubber part, melted over the course of the full distance feature and caused Bell to grind to a halt while chasing Wanless for third.

Davis was leading heat three after a yellow flag, but wheelstood at the green, causing the field to bunch up and Kruck clipped him, sending both hard into the wall.

Davis, who was already on a leased motor after an engine blow up from the North Queensland titles, was now nursing a broken differential and tank and is left to ponder if his season is over.

2000/2001 SPRINTCAR RACING ASSOCIATION OF VIC CALENDER CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS Nov 11 . Avalon ....Rd 2 Nov 18.

B/Marsh Rd 3 Nov 2S ... Mt Gambier Rd 4 Dec 16 . Bacchus Marsh ....Rd 5 Dec 26 . Avalon ....Rd 6 . Avalon ....Rd 7 Jan 13 Jan 20 .

Simpson ....Rd 8 Mar 11 . Avalon ....Rd 9 Mar 24 . Wagga ...Rd 10 Mar 24 . Wagga ...Rd 11

NON CHANIPIONSHIP EVENTS Dec 2

Bacchus Marsh ...360 ser

Jan 3

Warrnambool ..VicTitle

Jan 28.

. Warrnambool ...Classic

Feb 24,

Bacchus Marsh ...Fireball

Apr 7. ,

Bacchus Marsh ...360ser

Apr 13

Avalon ..EasterT

Apr 14

Mt Gambier ..EasterT

Apr 15

Warrnambool ..EasterT

Apr 21

Bacchus Marsh ..EasterT

QSSS 2000/2001 CALENDER .Rd 4 .Rd 5 .Rd 6 Nov 25 Bundaberg .Rd 7 Brisbane Dec 2 . .Rd 8 Dec 16 Brisbane .Rd 9 Dec 26 Brisbane Rd 10 Feb 24 Lismore Brisbane Rd I I Mar 3 . .Rd 12 Brisbane Mar 17 .Rd 13 Mar 24 ... Toowoomba Nov II ... Toowoomba Brisbane Nov 18

79

Max's Masters Outlaws_s MAX Dumesny carried his winning form to South Austraiia over the weekend, the Valvoiine driver taking out victory in the 15th annuai Sprintcar Masters at Speedway City in Adeiaide.

It was Dumesny's third A-Main win of the season, having already picked up two on the clay at Parramatta.

The race, which also constituted round one of the North Terrace Tyres Sprintcar Action Series, was all over by the first turn when Dumesny jumped past pole-sitter Mark Reuter and went on to cruise to a new 25-lap track record of 5m37.80s, nearly 10 seconds better than the previous mark set by Trevor Green.

The battle for the rest of the podium positions wasn’t decided until late in the race. Toowoomba hard charger Cameron Gessner moved from fourth to second in the last four laps by passing Reuter as well as Victorian Daryn Maggs.

Maggs dropped off the podium when the top wing on his Eagle collapsed, dropping him back the order to fifth.

Fourth place was Andrew Scheuerle (Lucas Oils Maxim), who had a slow start to the night

Maximum attack: Dumesny was really in a class of his own at Speedway (Photo by Frank Midgley) City. with his team chasing electrical problems.

In sixth was Wayne Bunker, who was returning to Sprintcar racing after a season on the sidelines, while local Tony Bartlett was seventh.

Bartlett will now head to Newcastle this weekend for the opening round of the Worid Series Sprintcars trail. He will take on the entire series in the Daytona Signs Gambler.

Local rookie Darren Disbury was eighth.

It was a good comeback, considering he had started the night by rolling in hot laps and then gently turning over in a heat race to avoid hitting Bartlett. Time to buy a lotto ticket Darren ...

Round two of the Action Series will be run on November 25 in conjunction with the second round of the Speedway City Summer Shoot-out series.

THE World of Outlaws seasonender at Las Vegas - the Silver State Shootout - had to he cancelled, as the dirt surface on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway was deemed not safe enough for the drivers and was not able to be fixed in time.

'This is the only decision to be made," said series president Ted Johnson.

Drivers complained about the circuit last season over the surface tearing up, but rain that forced the postponement of the preliminary event in the lead-up to this year’s event completely ruined any chance of running.

The cancellation means that Mark Kinser won’t have a chance to challenge Sammy Swindell for second in the championship heading into the final round.

“We've attempted to do everything we can to make the racing safe for the competitors and exciting for the fans,” said Chris Powell, LVMS executive vice president and general manager.

“But the racing surface has not responded to the work we've done. We've got some areas in the track that will take time to fix.”

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by WADE AUNGER

Rolley policy: Adrian Maher didn’t have the same success as Robbie Farr. Darren Saiiiard (#9) just managed to get through.

(Photo by John Morris/Mpix)

80

ROBBIE Farr’s bid for the new Proton Satria GTi on offer for the PCR Track Championship has taken on a more serious tone. Last Saturday night he powered to victory in the O’Brien Aluminium Shootout at PCR,along the way extending his lead in the Proton Series to 230 points over Bob Jackson.

Stand-out performers on the night included Warren Ferguson in the #19 Trylow Eagle and Lynton Jeffrey in the B(i Motorsports #81, both impressing judges in the weekly ‘PCR Medal’count and running second and third respectively to Fare.

Kerry Madsen’s return from the USA was not as successful as he would have liked, unfortunately up-ending the #29 Craft Differentials Grizzly early in the AMain, despite looking to be clearly one of the fastest cars there. motorsport news

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Channellocked on: The cancellation of the Las Vegas World of Outlaws events means that Sammy Swindell, above, can’t be beaten by Mark KInser for second in the championship.

(Photo by Martin D Clark)

arr side Adrian Maher was a victim of circumstance and was unfortunately in the right place at exactly the wrong time, when he caught the spinning John Walsh’s right rear wheel and rolled the #92 Bevelite Glass Gambler.

A WEEK earlier, Max Dumesny blasted to a comfortable win in the 25 lap Linde Materials Handling main event, though fourth-placed Farr perhaps managed a more satisfying result, clinching the lead in the Proton Satria GTi Series for his trouble.

Dumesny, who has looked hot in each of his four PCR appearances to date, blasted from the third row of the grid to claim his second win in the Valvoline #5 Maxim.

If not for a motor blow and a wreck on nights one and thi’ee respectively, Dumesny would have been a fair chance to wrap up four main event wins from as many starts.

10 November 2000

T appears that all of the hard work and in-house changes that we implemented at Dumesny Motor Sport are starting to bear fruit for us I've won three Sprintcar features in the past five weeks - last season I was lucky to win an eventi During winter we extended the length of our transporter by seven feet to allow us to load the Valvoline/No Fear Maxim with the wing attached, plus we can carry our trackside service bike.

In addition, we constructed a purpose-built raceshop for my race engineer Darryl 'The Mouse' Green to perform his magic on the race cars, plus we are now the official distributors for Maxim Chassis and we have moved quite a few new chassis out the door to a wide range of racers.

At the same time we negotiated a deal where the control tyre for this season's World Series Sprintcars trail is a HoosieT - so we look like having a busy summer.

Bob Jackson placed second, though he was perhaps lucky to get that far when a crash in hot laps and then a loose torsion stop in qualifying nearly ended his evening prematurely.

Jackson took the #12 Sydney Express Couriers machine on a whirlwind trip through the field from his original starting position some five rows from the front of the grid, to eventually claim the runner-up spot.

Garry Rush Jr rounded out the top three in his best result to date behind the wheel of the 2UE/Pick and Payless Maxim, with Farr finishing fourth and garnering enough points to claim the lead in the Proton Series from West Aussie Pino Priolo.

Points: Farr 1530, Jackson 1300, SaiUard 1190, Priolo, Loadsman 1170, Ferguson 1090, Dumesny 1000, Tunks 980, Linigen 930, Attard 910, Little 870, MineefSlO.

n the hacing scene, I've managed to rack up several Sprintcar 'A' Main wins at Parramatta as well as two DNFs. On the opening night, I was leading the feature until a conrod broke, then several weeks later I got into an incident with Garry Rush Jnr that broke a torsion-bar heim ●joint, which spun the car and I got hit.

The week prior to that meet we scored our first win of the season after doing wel l in the time trials earlier in the night.

We were kind of lucky to win our second race at PCR as Robbie Farr and I had a coming together at the first corner of 'The Dash'. The car fell over, so we got it back on its wheels and progressed through to win the 'A' Main. ast Saturday night we won —the Sprintcar Masters in Adelaide. We didn't win our heats, but I managed to win 'The Dash' plus 'The Feature' in a new record time - it is not often these days that you can race 25-laps non-stop.

There has been a fair bit of negative talk about this year's World Series Sprintcars, but I believe that a number of the cars wi ll come out of the sheds once the racing commences, plus we are getting television coverage on the Optus and Austar networks. There's four hours of live action being broadcast from Newcastle this Saturday night from 7 pm.

Until next time, I hope to see you all at the Sprintcar races.

USAC trio for Indycar tests KASEY Kahne, Tracy Hines and Derek Davidson have ali been selected by Pennzoil Racing to complete Indy Racing tests due to their success in USAC open-wheel competition.

The trio will test the Pennzoil team's Dallara-Oldsmobiie at Kentucky Speedway this week as part of the IRL team's commitment to providing a stepping stone to dirttrack drivers.

Kahne, 20, leads the USAC Midget Car Series with just two races to go, while Hines clinched the USAC Silver Bullet Series at Memphis on October 29.

Davidson, 28, finished fifth in the USAC Sprintcar Series points standings for the season.

Yank for Walsh CALIFORNIAN-based Tommy Tarlton will campaign the Walsh Motorsport Maxim this season.

The deal, organised by current driver Darren Walsh, will see the NARC hotshoe bring his 372ci aluminium Gaerte out for shows starting from the Horsham December 28 WSS round through to the CAT 50,000 at Parramatta in February.

Tarlton ran second in the Golden State Hoosler Series and recently came away with victory in the Seventh Annual Trophy Cup, defeating Peter Murphy.

"He runs hard from the green to the checker" says Walsh of the driving style of the likeable Californian.

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81

Winston Cup Nevs^s

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DODGE’S Winston Cup program is stepping up in readiness for the manufacturer’s return to Winston Cup racing in 2001, with 29-yearold Chad Knaus having been hired as chief wrench for MeUing Racing’s Stacy Compton-driven Dodge Intrepid.

Knaus’ employment at Melling is a part of Dodge’s strategy, with Knaus having worked at Ray Evernham’s Dodge operation for the past year helping with development of the manufactm'er’s stock car return - Evernham now ‘placing’ staff at different Dodge teams.

Knaus had worked with

Evernham since 1993, working under Evernham’s win at Hendrick Motorsports before joining the new Dodge operation.

Kevin Cram, current with Bill Elliott, whose team Evernham recently purchased looks next hkely to be ‘placed,’ with Cram expected to head to Chip Ganassi’s operation as one of its crew chiefs.

- MARTIN D CLARK

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Wood Bros unveil 2001 racer Having made the decision to become an ‘in-house’ customer of Jack Roush, the legendary Wood Brothers have unveiled their 2001 racer. Long-time sponsor CITGO have been replaced by Ford’s Motorcraft brand as major backer, giving the team a whole new look for next year as driver Elliott Sadler attempts to return the famous team to the winner’s circle

Skinner Jr's drugs arrest

Jamie Skinner arrested on cocaine trafficking and possession charges

FORMER Busch Series and Craftsman Truck racer Jamie Skinner has been arrested on multiple drug charges.

Skinner, the 22-year-old son of Winston Cup star Mike Skinner, was charged last week with trafficking in cocaine, possession and possession with intent to sell or deliver cocaine.

The local narcotics unit raided Skinner's home, which is owned by his father, along with members of the US Crime Task Force and local emergency response unit members. Quantities of various substances and cash were seized. It is believed around 90 grams of cocaine was found in a race car on

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the premises.

Skinner competed briefly in Craftsman Trucks and in the Busch Series in 1998 and 1999.

His father released a brief statement at Pheonix last weekend.

"I'm devastated by the news as any parent would be," he said, "but right now I don't have all the information, and there's not a lot I can say.

"Jamie and I talked on the telephone, but it was a conversation between me and my son that will be kept private.

"I own the house and the shop where Jamie lives and rented them to him. I spend a small amount of time there during the year, but I've lived full-time near Daytona Beach for about a year now. // I will make a further statement after I know all of the details. Until then, there's not a lot more I can say."

- MARTIN D CLARK motorsport news

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HISTORICS

Sandown Simms who brought home his Brabham Repco V8 in sixth place.

Simms was also a popular recipient of a Best Presented Car award. Carter's March 73B was clearly the dominant cai- in the Group Q class, Peter Simms was the Group 0 wirmer, while Michael Lane took out the Group M category in his beautiful Brabham BTll. After a weekend of mixed fortunes, Cameron brought home his New Zealand-based Lola T430 to score in the final event for Groups P, Q & R Sports and Racing, with Stuart Lush the next best of the FSOOOs. In third place, after a troublesome weekend, was Aaron Lewis in the big Elfin MS7 sports car ahead ofthe magnificent McLaren M12(all 7626cc ofit), driven by New Zealander Tony Roberts.

What a thrill it was to see this rare thoroughbred in action at Sandown.

Hn tops, sporties and oldies

A FULL support program saw some fabulous 'tintop' racing and capacity fields, with honours going to Tino Leo (Holden Monaro HQ) on the weekend.

He scored two wins and came home second behind Drew Marget's Ford Mustang in the final race. John Mann was never far behind, and with a new Mustang being prepared for the 2001 season, he's sure to be the man to beat again.

The race program was interrupted late in the day when Laurie Nelson clipped a curb entering the main straight and rolled his Ford Capri V6 in spectacular fashion. Fortunately, the driver escaped uninjured, but his car looked rather forlorn back in the pits.

Another car set for some time in the panel shop was Darryl Duff's Datsun 240Z after

Lion-ish Pride; Bill Hemming’s Jag XK150 leads Spud Spruyt’s 1964 MGB. (Photo by Peter Bury)

(Sambo returned later in the day to dominate the Formula Ford event ahead of John Goddard's Royale RP24 and John Benson's Elfin Aero).

The veteran Melbourne driver, as keen as ever, had to beat off a detei-mined chaUenge from New Zealand's Shayne Windelbum (Lola T400), with Llynden Riethmuller's Elfin MRS next. The best ofthe earher Tasman cars was Peter

More yellow: Before there were high noses and sidepods, there were front-mounted radiators and big, ugly (Photo by Neil Hammond) wings. This is New Zealander Paul Christie’s ex-Mike Hailwood Lola T190.

10 November 2000

inverting itself in the Marque Sports Car handicap. The restart saw a great finish with George Vidovic's Python S/R 302 just getting home from the potent Jaguar XH5 of Mike Roddy, In a later event Roddy turned the tables in a well controlled display of power driving.

Although he claims his 'big banger' Elfin Traco Chev sports car is much harder to drive than his former F5000, Peter Brennan turned on a masterly display to win the Groups M & 0 Sports and Racing 8-lapper and collect a new lap record on the way with a 1- 20.74s, almost two seconds under Max Warwick's time set in 1996, Peter Simms (Brabham BT23A) was second, while Max Brunninghausen brought home his Chevron B8 sports car in third place.

The other sports car races were equally well supported and provided plenty of entertainment for the big crowd. The all-MG races were thrillers, and Andrew McDowell(MG B GTV8) had a titanic battle with Paul Trevethan's similar car in the Sunday event.

Trevethan made a brave passing move under brakes into XR-6 corner, but McDowell regained the lead. Unfortunately their clash ended when Trevethan rolled slowly back to the pits only two laps from the end.

It was a huge field of all sorts of MGs including some fabulous 'specials' from an earlier era.

Peter Gostelow's TC Special was a notable example, and it was good to see the latest MG F doing battle driven by Stewart Baker. Adrian Brooks won the MG Handicap in his TC, while the MG TC Special of Peter Statton was first home in the Groups J, K and Lb Sports & Racing handicap. Interstate driver Peter Landan went home a happy man with a win and a second place in his Group Lb Cooper Climax T51, Melbourne's Bill Hemming had an eventful weekend in his brutish Jaguar XK150, After splitting a sump over a curb on Friday which triggered a spectacular fire, he repaired the car in time to finish second behind the impressive Is Grifo of Peter Strauss.

Hemming's Austin Healey Sprite was driven to two third placings by Liza Reed in the Group Sa Handicap races, and Liza also took part in the Regularity driving the latest Elfin Clubman Type 3 while Hemming also competed in his recentlyacquired Elfin Streamliner.

85

Classic Adelaide Report and photos by DAVID TWOMEY IN the tightest finish in its foui’ years,former Queensland Rally Champion,John Spencer, and co-driver Alan Bates have grabbed outright victory in the Classic Adelaide Rally 2000.

Spencer/Bates won from 1998 Classic Adelaide winner Andi’ew Cavalli and Mike Dale in their fl3dng Ford Escort RS1600, while third went to Porsche 911 pairing Jeff Beaumont and Jim Caudle.

Spencer said at the champagne had been sprayed at the ceremonial finish in Adelaide’s Bundle Street that the victory was one ofthe sweetest he had ever scored and one of the hardest fought.

“That guy(Cavalli)just doesn’t give up and he made us work for it all the way,” Spencer said.

Spencer’s Datsun 510 SSS was built from a $300junkyard wreck but proved blindingly fast on almost all stages, fighting constantly with Cavalli and eai’ly contender Peter Kyriakidis in another Escort RS1600. Kyriakidis suffered a series of mechanical problems,including a blown clutch and a broken rear axle, which eventually put him out of contention.

Richard Anderson and Martin Darch,in an Alfa Romeo Montreal which has finished third the past ». two years, were off the pace early in the rally, but finished a creditable fom-th after putting in a solid performance during the four days.

Spencer/Bates had started the fourth and final day of the all-tarmac Rally, which nms out ofAdelaide on a different route each day and covers a total of almost 1000km and 33 Special Stages totally 233km,in second place behind Cavalli/Dale but by the third special stage ofthe morning they had caught the flying Escort and on SS30,the fast and challenging Paris Creek, took 10 seconds out of Cavalli’s time to stamp their claim on the event.

Cavalli was gracious in defeat acknowledging that the quicker driver won and said “it was a good race, and I’m happy with second , after all, it was only 13 seconds over four days, and you can’t get much closer than that.”

The rally, for cars built before 1970, proved a war of attrition at the front, with a number offancied car and driver combinations falling by the wayside, or failing to perform. The most spectacular retirement came on Day Three when the Porsche 911 of Rick Bates and Jenny Brittan stopped

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Ratto, not Datto: The Vi/inners.

Point Percy at the Peninsula: Win Percy was having a bali until it all went wrong on what is now ‘Sir Jack and Winnie's tree”.

Forza: Even in the non-Italian backdrop of Adelaide’s hilism a Ferrari is still a Ferrari.

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86

mechanical failui’e. Bates said later that, when he fired up the car for the first Special Stage of the day, Hilton Bridges, a tight car park test held under a series offreeway bridges, the left-hand bank of Weber carburettors wasn’t working properly.

“We tried to fix the problem over the next two stages, but it only got worse and as we’d used up all our late time I decided to pull the pin and become a spectator,” Bates said.

He added that the engine on the Porsche had just been rebuilt and continuing to ran the car would obviously have destroyed the engine.

Day Four also provided the most embarrassing incident of the rally when former British Touring Car Champion and 1990 Bathurst winner. Win Percy, laughed too hard at a sign warning of the infamous ‘Sir Jack Brabham Tree’ on the Paris Creek stage and pi’omptly speared off the road into

the very same tree.

Percy, driving a Robnell Cobra replica with considerable gusto, said “it was all a bit of a laugh” although car owner, Stephen Coffey, the man sitting in the navigator seat when the car slammed into the tree tearing off most of the nose and part ofthe right hand guard, didn’t seem to be laughing all that much.

Mechanics worked on the car during the morning lunch break to get it back in the rally for the final stages.

Fifteen cars failed to make it to the finish, including the Mini Cooper S of South Australian winemaker Tim Knappstein, which became the first victim of the rally when the driver missed a comer on the first day of the Rally and destroyed the front of the car on an earth bank.

Probably the luckiest escape of

the event came on Day Two on the early morning Norton Summit stage when Adelaide Golf entrepreneur Peter Ormsby spun his Porsche 911 into the trees, tearing the roof off and extensively damaging the car. Orsmby and his son Jordan, who was navigating, walked away from the wreck.

The most expensive “off” of the event went to British classic Ferrari owner and restorer Paul Osbourne in a $1 million dollar Fen-ari 250 GT ‘Lusso’ who crashed the car into trees on the early morning Montacute stage causing considerable damage to the car and

his pride.

Organisers were more than pleased with the outcome of the event and said that spectator numbers were up about 10,000 on last year with an estimated 50,000 people said to have turned out to watch the fom’ day event.

moiorsport news

natioii8l

scene

Noonan

D’Agostin's Double COMMODORE CUP

by MICHAEL SHAW

IT was a busy weekend for Christian D’Agostin at Wakefield Park in the ROH Wheels Commodore Cup. To back up his result in the Future Tourers, he dominated the Commodore Cup races. From qualifying to both races, he was unstoppable.

An ‘easy drive’ by the young Victorian in the first race was backed up by another win, fastest lap in each race and a move up the points table to second.

The remainder of the field battled for second place, which was taken by series leader, Greg Waters. Waters held off Geoff Emery in race one by a comfortable margin, while David Gittus dropped from second to fourth after a good start to move in behind his team-mate.

Waters did not have it quite so simple in the second race, when Emery and Gittus fought throughout the race.

Waters was able to make a break from them and moved up to within a few car lengths of D’Agostin, but could not find an opportunity to attempt a pass the Strathfield Commodore.

First race retiree Brett Holdsworth worked his way up to third place from the rear of the grid after mechanical problems put him out of race one, but was unable to move past and ended the race in fifth place.

Late in the race, Gittus broke away to secure a third place finish.

D’Agostin cruised to a pair of comfortable wins, easily outpacing the small but competitive field.

However, Waters still leads the series after the fourth round at the halfway mark of the series, 22 clear of D’Agostin.

Commodore Cup Points Waters 368, D'Agostin 346, Emery 326, Gittus 302, Pearce 275, Parker 270, Holdsworth 265, Papendell 247, Marshall 201, Walker 195.

10 November 2000

King Christian: Christian D’Agostin took two wins in the Commodore Cup at Wakefieid Park, putting himseif info second in the series points behind Greg Waters.

(Photo by James Smith))

Title on the Mirage horizon

WARREN Luff once again showed he was the class of the Mitsubishi Mirage Cup field with two wins from two races in the latest round at Wakefield Park.

Luff did not have everything go his way, as team-mate Dean Evans took pole position and made the most of it to lead Luff into turn one and hold him off until engine problems ended his event midway through the race.

Two guest drives were taken by one of Wakefield Park’s owners, Garry Holt, and CAMS CEO Peter Hansen.

Holt took advantage of extensive circuit knowledge to complete both races in second place. Hansen did not have the best of weekends, with transmission problems throughout qualifying and both races.

The second race was a Luff benefit, as he finished 10 seconds clear of the field.

“I enjoyed racing Dean (Evans) and it is a shame we couldn’t

SRHAM4

have raced in the second race,” said Luff.

“As good as it is to win, it’s always better to race for the win.”

Evans worked his way up through the field and despite a minor off, managed to finish in fourth place and also keep pace with Luff on lap times once clear of some of the other competitors.

- MICHAEL SHAW

Getting in and having a go: CA.MS CEO Peter Han.sen had a guest drive in the Mirage Cup at Wakef ield Park.

(Photo by Lynlcy Rdd)

Mirage Cup Points Luff 232, Evans 143, Young 95, Nesbitt 86, Harvey 84, Eddy 65.

87

Vee Nationals

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uRIng his way to the front: Jason Cults was the man of the moment at Oran Park.

(Pholo by Noci Papalera)

PARK - FORMULA VEE NATIONALS /by^jBRllGE MOXON JASON Cutts was simply too good at the Karisma Foimula Vee Nationals at Oran Park on October 29.

Having breezed through his qualifying heats, Cutts started alongside defending Vee Nationals Champion Frank Haire.

Cutts-built Jacers had won all but one of the six heat races ...

New South Wales front-runner Phil Moyes had qualified well, but was still in pitlane as the field went under the starter’s control and would have to start from the pit lane. Moyes’chase through the field was just one highlight of the 17-lap final race.

Haire and Cutts both made good starts and were about level into the first corner. Haire exited first and led the traditional Formula Vee slipstream. Cutts used the tow to good effect and slingshot past Haire at the bottom of the straight.

Third early on was Hart Mason, from Stephen Butcher, David (brother of Jason) Cutts, Gary Ogden, Shaun Atherton, Douglass, Andy Nethercote and Ben Porter.

Almost all changes of the lead happened on the main straight, as the leaders made sure they left no gaps anywhere else and amazingly Moyes was up to 24th from his 45th starting position.

Haire regained the lead on lap seven,losing it again to Butcher next time. Mason dropped to fifth at one point as the lead bunch shuffled about. He’d copped a hit in the back, pushing him into the car ahead and knocking off his nose cone. The resulting loss of 88

aerodynamics would cost him straight-line speed.

“Everytime I pulled out from behind someone,the car would stop,” he said. “I had to stay in the tow just to keep up.”

The four leaders(Haire, Cutts, Butcher and Mason) moved away slightly from the next bunch, which included David Cutts.

Cutts moved back to the lead on lap 13 and thereafter led across the line each lap, although the lap chart can be deceiving.

Both Haire and Butcher launched raids on the Sydney driver, though Haire deliberately didn’t take the lead going into the penultimate lap to avoid having Cutts tow past him on the last lap.

Haire moved past Cutts on the last run down the straight but Cutts was close enough to put pressure on the new leader. Haire locked a wheel, ran wide and Cutts was into the gap.

Cutts was able to maintain his lead to the line, from Haire, Mason and Butcher. Fourth at the finish was Butcher, from David Cutts, Douglass, and Nethercote.

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Follow the leader up and over the hill: The Vees were swarming at (Pholo by Noel Papalera) Oran Park, but they couldn’t quite catch Jason Cutts.

Formula Vee: No 1600s FORMULA Vee will not be switching to 1600CC engines, as reported in the last ' issue of Motorsport News.

Needless to say, the phones, fax and email has been running hot

since Issue 191 hit the streets from concerned Formula Vee drivers, owners and associations regarding the matter.

MN's office received a press release, upon which the news story

was based and printed it in good faith.

It appears that the ‘official’ press release was in fact an unauthorised release and was distributed somewhat mischieviously.

The category will not be making the change to the larger engines.

The current specification cars will not be relegated to historic classes as the release and subsequent story indicated. motorsport news

NATIONAL

Three champs crowned QUEENSLAND STATE RACING CHAMPIONSHIPS

THE Queensland Racing Drivers Association held a state championship meeting at Lakeside on October 28/29.

Eight categories were running and three state Champions were crowned.

Jake Camilleri was crowned the new Queensland HQ Champion with a round to go after finishing fourth in the state championship race behind Craig Yates, Ron Lovi and Gary Bonwick.

Tom Horton(Mazda RX3) continued a near perfect debut season in racing, securing the Queensland Improved Production Championship, wining the Championship race ahead of Simon O’Dell-Fontana(Mazda RX7).

Nick Leontsinis (Elfin) drove a strong race in the wet to take the Formula Vee round ahead of Muthana Mapangapa and Joe Tate (Venom). Shane Hart(Jabiru), who’d already wrapped up the Championship, won the other three races.

In the Group N races, Kevin Heffernan(XUl)won the first of the Queensland Cup races from John English (Charger E49)and Geoff McCrystal’s XY GT, while the Sports 1300 and Marques Sports Championship race was won by Matt Lowe(JMW)after trouble struck Rachel Smeaton’s Infiniti.

Russell Kempnich (Porsche 911) took second ahead of Grant Watson’s Prosport.

The Lowe family’s cup flowed over when Ash Lowe (Swift) won his first Formula Ford race after a fantastic dice with Will Power (Spectrum), Marcus Marshall (Spectrum) and Ian Moncrief(Van Diemen).

Trent Young’s Dual Induction Toyota Levin won the Sports Sedan championship race fi’om Wayne Parmenter (Toyota Supra-Chev), and Simon Thompson (Mazda RX3), while a cloud hangs over the Gemini results, pending inspections of several front running cars and a hearing over an off-track incident after a multi-car accident in the wet first race.

Cameron Wilson won the championship round from Chris Walton and Scott Nicholas. Wilson and Rod Dawson won a race each with the red-flagged race was won

by Walton.

10 November 2000

- MARK JONES

Kings of their classes: Ash Lowe picked up his first Formula Ford win at Lakeside, above, while Trent Young’s dual-injection Toyota Levin (Photo by Marshall Cass) grabbed the Sports Sedan championship race.

-j

Gumley takes SA Hillclimb Title RECORDS tumbled in several classes among the 60 entries at the resurfaced and colourful Collingrove for the South Australian Hillclimb Championship on October 22.

Local gun and SA Champ, track record holder Kym Rohrlach, was ready for a strong challenge from number one plate holder Peter Gumley.

Rohrlach ran an exploratory time of 32,6s on Sunday, however this resulted in holes appearing in aluminium components of the highly enraged VW engine. The condition was terminal, forcing Rohrlach to withdraw.

Gumley answered with a 30.41s followed by a 30.14s and a 29.88s, just 0.07s away from Rohrlach's 13year record.

Gumley then nailed a 29.45s to take the record as well as the title.

- ROBIN LEWIS

Digby heads to Formula 3 FORMER Formula Holden driver Damen Digby is to join the Formula 3 ranks for the last race of the national series at Phillip Island on November 26.

Digby and the New Millenium Racing team have signed with Stephenson Racing for the 2001 national series.

"This is the first time in my career that I feel I have the correct ingredients to take out the title and it has motivated me to work as hard as I can to be successful," said Digby.

"Out first race will basically be a test session for us but you never know what can happen."

Racing Richard in RICHARD Peasey from West Brisbane must surely be the youngest CAMS C3 licensed competitor in Australia.

At just 15 years of age, he has now fulfilled his dream by competing in the Queensland Championship round for Marque Sports, Sports 1300 and Invited cars at Lakeside at the end of October. Finishing a creditable fourth, Peasey is not new to motorsport.

Father, Martyn, a former Formula Vee champ, encouraged his son and they were both rewarded with many titles over the six years of karting in which they competed.

At his first sprint round in his 1981 Vecta .

SI300 at Warwick's Morgan Park, Richard produced a second placing. In August, an outright win in the Leyburn Sprint ‘around the houses’ helped pave the path for more success. Better respect the elders: Richard Peasey is quickly becomming (Plurto by Mar>hal( Cas^l - MARSHALL CASS one of the fastest young ‘uns in Queensland.

89

News

Weber tests F3 TWENTY-year-old Andrew Weber recently tested the round-win ning Formula 3 Reynard of Mike Beeley at Oran Park. “ The car was superb,” said Weber. “I only completed a limited amount of laps due to a technical problem, but even so I think that my times proved that I would be very competitive if I was able to race it,” Weber, who has been strong in Formula Vee over the past few seasons, is looking to take the next step in Australian open-wheeler racing.

“Andrew did amazingly well in an unfamiliar car on his first visit to the circuit. Andrew would certainly be competitive in this category, and is a driver to watch,” said Beeley.

Weber is searching for further sponsorship to add to Citizen Watches Australia, Mobil and J&J Crash Repairs in order to step up to the F3 category.

Commodore Completion

THE Commodore Cup car which we featured in National Scene a few issues back has now been completed after parts shortages had delayed its completion.

In the hands of Jeff Watters and Geoff Parker, the car undertook its first laps at Winton recently, before the #96 makes its debut at the next round of the Commodore Cup seriesat Maliala on November 12.

The team is looking for a sponsor to continue the car’s development.

In a supporting role

WHILE the Formula Vees ran their Nationals at Oran Park, there was a familiar face in the Formula Ford support races. National Series front-runner Stewart McColl steered MichaelJones’(brother of IMG's Geoff) Spectrum 06B to a clean-sweep of all FF races.

(Photo by Noel Papalera)

V for variety

A mix and match: The Production and Invited Sports Cars charge towards Wakefield Park’s turn one.

(Photo by Michael Shaw) 90

SUPER TOURER SUPPORTS

by MICHAEL SHAW WHILE it was the first time that Super Tourers had ventured to Wakefield Park on October 29, it gave the opportunity to some of the state’s regular sup port categories to turn on a show in front of the TOCA circus.

Bill Pye (Lotus Elise) drove away from the Production and Invited Sports Cars field in race one, but succumbed to a mechanical problem on the opening lap of race two.

This paved the way for

Terry Ashwood (Nissan Skyline), who finished a distant second in race one, to win race two from David Stone (Datsun 2000).

Paul Murray (RX-7) finished third in both races. Murray raced away from a trio of Commodores to take two wins from two races for Street Sedans/ Invited GTP. There was a tight battle for second, Stephen Mantle claiming second in race one from Phil Timmins and Allan Marin, with the order reversed in race two. molorsport news

NATIONAL ARC & AKA settle

Mm \

»nda iH® Powepfial nomination: ,,QueenManCs-Will Power is one of six drivers to be nominated^ for the Marsh moo'ISih'. (Photo courtesy Formula Foni) CAMS has announced the nom inations for the 2000 Marsh Talented Drivers Camp which will be held on November 2729, which will see who gains the coverted Marsh Insurance sponsorship for the 2001 season.

Each ofthe CAMS State Councils have selected one driver from thenstate. The drivers selected are from a variety of classes.

The camp will be held at the Australian Institute of Sport, which will see their psychological and physiological abilities tested.

THE NOMINATIONS Bradley Chick(Tas)-Formula Vee Will Power(Qld)- Formula Ford Barton Mawer(NSW)-Formula Ford Tony Flicciardello(WA)-Sports Sedans Samual Brand(SA)- Flallying Richard Chamberlain (Vfe)= Formula Ford Its main objective is to support jrmior development in Australian racing.

Their results will be analysed by a selection panel from the AIS and two of the nominess will be

selected, each receiving $4500 for the 2001 season.

The recipients of the funding for 2000 were Stewart McColl (Formula Ford)and Adrian Bukmanis (Rallying).

“The Marsh Talented Drivers Camp has helped me focus on areas of my race preparation that have been overlooked to some degi'ee in the past,” said Bukmanis.

It must have worked too, as he went on to win the 2000 Australian Rally Championship in his category.

Lack of Euros for Oceanlas THE entry lists for this year’s Pettaras Press FIA/CIK Oceania Karting Championships at Raleigh International Raceway this weekend have been released.

While there are no major surprises, there is a disturbing lack of Europeans. In fact the only Euro is last year’s winner Toni Vilander, the Finn returning to defend his Formula A title with PCR. There is, however, a number of drivers from the Asia-Pacific regions competing in senior and junior Intercontinental A. Entries from Malaysia (three), Thailand (two), Hong Kong and Japan (one each), plus five New Zealanders add to the Aussie contingent.

Two Australians in with a red hot chance of beating Vilander in FA are Ben Horstman (Biesse/Fox/ Bridgestone) and Troy Hunt(Top

10 November 2000

THE ARC engine company and the Australian Karting Association have come to a number of agreements regarding the use of ARC engines over the next five years (Jan 2001 - Jan 2006). The decisions were made during a mediation meeting and have therefore saved the AKA potentially huge legal costs.

A statement from the AKA detailed a number of changes that overrule those made at the National Conference in September.

Senior Clubman is to eventuaily have no ARC engines, however the ARC SpeclOOA may be used up to the end of next year. Junior Clubman will be open to karts powered by the Yamaha KT100S or ARC Sped 00, air dr water cooled.

The statement further detailed changes to the Formula Australia class. The only engines allowed are ARC SpeclOOA, SpeclOOW and Yamaha hybrid incorporating an ARC water cooling system. ARC crankshaft specifications are to be as in the current AKA rule book.

Formula Australia wiil have Light, Heavy and Super Heavy divisions, there will be no Junior class and there are no restrictions on chassis for at least three years (Formula Australia was originally to have been for 'Australian Made' chassis).

ARC originally made moves to sue the AKA earlier this year immediately after the AKA decided to re-introduce the Formula Yamaha class at the National Championships.

Karting Briefs n Moves are afoot to resurrect the once popular ACT Kart Prix. It is anticipated the meeting, which sees karts racing through an undulating car park complex rather than public roads, will be held in March to coincide with the Canberra Festival.

fdmirigi back to iOz: lien Horstman, left, will be tieading back to Australia along with Troy Hunt to tackle Toni Vilander.

Kart/ Comer/Vega). Both have just returned from a tough season in Europe and hope to strut their stuff on home soil.

A number of ICA regulars from this year’s APS Racing series have moved to FA for this meeting to gain experience for next year, including Bart Price

(Arrow/Rotax/Bridgestone) and newly crowned APS ICA Champion Brendan May(Mike Wilson/ Italsistem/Dunlop).

A number of Juniors have also moved on, Colin Corkery, Ryal Harris and Geoffrey Grant making their senior IGA debuts.

- MARK WICKS

n The AKA State Championship calendar for 2001: -Victoria (Todd Rd) March 9-11, - Queensland (Willowbank) TBA, - New South Wales Senior (Dubbo) TBA August, - New South Wales Junior (Taree) TBA September -Western Australia (Esperance) 57 October - Northern Territory (Hidden Valley) 12-14 October - South Australia (Bolivar) TBA October -Tasmania (Archerville) 4-6 November.

The AKA Nationals will be held at Newcastle over the Easter weekend, 13-15 April, The Dirt Track Nationals are at Charters Towers (Qld) in September.

- MARK WICKS 91

INDUSTRY

Atom in Oz

The Ariel Atom 2 seater sportscar is now available in Australia through distributors Hyper Road & Race.

The Ariel Atom is designed for performance on the road and the track and is the first vehicle to bear the Ariel name for 27 years.

Weighing only 525 kilos in road trimdess than half of a Ford Laser) and featuring a 1.8 Rover K series engine the open cockpit design is set to give the driver the performance of a motorcycle with the safety of a car.

Priced from $59,990 the distributors claim the Atom will outperform all other vehicles in its field.

Founded in 1898 Ariel is one of the oldest

Hyper Bload & Race, an Australian company already wrell established in the simulator market vwith. its Hyper Stimulator product, has been appcDinted the Australian and New Zealand (distributors af Ariel motor cars. names in British motoring history producing The first Atom 100 and Atom 125 are due to early Grand Prix cars and is best known for , amive in !5^ovember 2000. their motorcycles such as the Square 4.

For mo3-e information on the Ariel cars The Atom is produced by the new Ariel Motor contact thie distributors on 03 9739 6323, Company who wish to build on the tradition of fax 0397S39 7966 or via their web site on the past while using the technology of the virww.liyperroadandrace.com future.

10% off 10 Tenths

Penrite Oils has released a complete range of 10 Tenths range of racing products to products and are offering a 10% suit most performance discount to Motorsport News readers. So call Chris or Glen on applications.

03 9469 2914 or visit Centreline The new 10 Tenths High Performance range includes at 72 Lipton Drive, Thomastown synthetic engine oils, coolants, and mention Motorsport News differential oils, gearbox oils and to receive your discount. automatic transmission fluid.

The 10 Tenths synthetic engine oils are compatible with leaded and unleaded petrol, LP Gas, methanol, nitro and avgas. SAE 15w/40 is suitable for competition type vehicles involved in sprint work or short distance events.

SAE 25w/60 is suitable for high temperature or long oil interval applications and meets the requirements of Porsche. It is recomended for motor racing espicial ly long distance events and rallying.

The Competition Automatic Transmission HMMirML Oil is especial ly designed for Drag racing and is also suited for use in Turbo 350 and 400 torque convertors.

Centreline Suspension 10 TE NTHS from Penrite have in stock the 92

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From November Repco, national supplier of automoti.vfe parts and accessories, will Ibe online. As a first for Repco, customers will be able to pmchase Repco parts and accessories via the website.

As well as the online ordering facility the site offers handy hints for the DIY car enthusiast, new product information, tips, .advice and a store location guide. A DIY Club has been formed where customers can share details of their latest projects.

Daryl Minter, Retail Development Manager, expects the new online ordering system to be very popular with customers in remote regions.

Daryl says “Customers ■will be

able to click their way through over 800 images and choose between over 2,500 products. They will have them delivered within three days, irrespective of where they live.”

“For added customer peace of mind, Repco will not store credit card details from online transactions. Instead we have partnered with ANZ who will process all transactions through their secure eGate product” he added.

Repco has nearly 80 years experience behind them. The new website now offers customers a convienent alternative to traditional purchasing methods.

Visit the site at www.repcoshop.com.au motorsport news

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molorspori news

Marketplace

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HQ Holden, #1 as raced by Tim Rowse in 1999 season. Winner of 1999 HQRA pointscore, Victorian State race Series champion 1999, winner of final HQ Nationals at Bathurst 1999. Just resrayed and ready to race, comes with complete spares package, also setup and driver assistance if required. $10,000. Ph 03 5626 1319. 192

/SSlUllJIg Mazda RX3, 12A large extend port, 4sp, 13x7 Hotwires, 6 point cage, seam welded shell, Koni . shocks, modified brakes, race seat & harness, 'spares, 13B PP, 121 5 sp, panels, lots more. $5500.

Ph 03 5358 2526 or 0428 519 311. 193

Mazda RX7, 12Awith 13B hi-flowed turbo, 3" exhaust, 5 speed. Microtech fuel injection, 300+ hp, 12 sec car, 16" wheels, lowered, new Konis, big brakes, too much to list. $13,750. Ph Greg 07 3269 2521 ah or 0418 731 219. 193 RX7 Group C, ex-Moffat, collector car, complete or separate, open to any reasonable offer. Ph 02 9531 1670 or 02 9524 6897. 193

Saloon Car, Commodore, professionally built by Road and Track Services. Best of everything, no expense spared, 3rd Adelaide, 2nd Oran Park, 3rd championship. $25,000. Ph 0412 823 442. 193 Fiat 124 Sports Sedan, 13B PP motor, Mazda fac tory C/R G/B, both rebuilt (1 meeting old), most winning Sports Sedan in Tassie. 12 wheels and tyres (wets and dry), urgent sale. $10,500 + trailer (enclosed) $1500. Ph 03 6247 8561 or 03 6278 1097 ah or 0418 125 306. 193

Celica Coupe 79, white, 5 speeid manual, as new condition, genuine 23,000kms, reg and RWC. $6500. Ph 03 9799 1683. 193

VT Commodore, body shell, new and complete with doors, bonnet and boot. White, sale due to change in project. $5000. Ph 0412 398 870. 193 Gemini Improved Production (Club Car), 2 Litre ex Bussani motor, adjustable Koni's, locked diff, SAAS seat & steering wheel, 4 point harness, shock absorber opening tools and many spares. $7500 ono. Ph 02 9274 2201 bh or 02 9181 3071 ah. 193

Gemini Series Coupe, fresh engine and gearbox, excellent steel cage, new exhaust, Sparco seat, pedals, comes with late model tandem axle trailer. $6200. Ph 07 3372 3609 or e-mail: sk@ozlinx.com.au 192 mf

Toyota Celica GT4 4WD Turbo, 1991 white, full whiteline loweres suspension kit with adjustable Koni shocks, 17 inch wheels, 235/45/17 Falken tyres, 11 months rego, ABS, power steering, win dows, mirrors, tinted windows, sports steering wheel, excellent condition $19,000 ono. Must

10 November 2000

Porsche 944, full weld-in cage, Bilstein coil overs, ready to race in Porsche Cup. $27,000. Ph 03 5988 6286. 192

Gemini Series Sedan, good top HP engine, excel lent steel cage, fresh paint, new front bushes, good tyres, many spare parts. $4000. Ph 07 3888 3203. 192 Capri V6, Club Car or Group N, highly developed, lots of spares. $9500 ono. Ph John 03 9801 9907 or Neil 0418 517 257. 192

HQ Holden, 1997 NSW Div 2 championship winning car. Professionally built & maintained, new engine, tyres and brakes and heaps of spares. $7800 ono. Inspect competing at Oran Park 27-29 October. Ph 02 6554 7369 or 0412 135 439. 192

V

I

17

MG Midget. Gp 2B Marque sportscar 1979, total rebuild 1999/2000, current regs rollbar, new 1320

Lancer Sedan, '99 model, BOOOkms, incomplete project in parts. Rare factory CE turbo engine.

Enough parts for two cars. $16,990 ono. Ph 03 9898 2223 or 0403 224 501. 193 Gp A F2 Peugeot 306 S16, built 1996 by Peugeot Sport UK, custom cage, aero equipped, Bilsteins with adj platforms, mild 2 litre, chipped manage ment, P/Sport CR 6 speed box, kevlar seats, Terratrip, onboard extinguisher, Momo wheel, light pod with 6 Hellas. Fully compluant with FIA Grp A regulations. Ready for 2001 F2 champs!

NZ$35,000 (freight neg). Ph Justin Julian 0011 64 3 379 7304. 192

Future Tourer, built for Bathurst, fresh mechani cals, all Harrop gear including cambered rear. 3 sets of wheels & tyres, Motec etc. $60,000. Also, com plete VS Auscar, easily converted to 2nd Tourer, and all spares are included. Ph Tim D'Ombrain 03 5346 1495. 192

engine, dyno and 1 race. Quaife diff, factory C/R gearbox, 0/H shockers & wishbone, new uprated hubs, discs, stub axle assys and calipers. 2 sets slicks (1 new), 3rd set rims, various diffs and swaybars. Nothing to spend. $13,500 ono. Ph 03 9787 3050 or fax 03 9787 1776 or email: 1990 Lotus Sport 190,1st one of 50 in the world, 0-100 km/h in 4.4 secs, suit road or race, potential 2001 GTP winner, perfect condition. $120,000 ono. Ph 0418 207 600. 192

jrrjrobertson@optusnet.com.au. 192 VS Commodore race shell, suit V8 Lites, tubs, four link boxes, muffler, panels, air jack mounts, moly cage, 90% complete. Inc doors, bonnet, guards. All new, $10,500. Ph Ian 0409 762 053. 192

95 ■

Coil springs, 2 1/2x8 inch, 225lb/in, brand new. $50. Ph 03 9546 8342 or 0417 239 641. 193

Formula Vee Spectre, engine freshly rebuilt, comes with trailer and heaps of spares, car is ready to race and has won this year. $11,500. Ph Karen 0409 133 141. 193

Lotus Cortina 5PV racing clutch, and special balanced steel flywheel, new ring gear. $700 ono complete. Ph 03 5244 1339. .93 BBS wheels, 16" x 9", one new, four excellent condition with worn 240/45ZR/415 Michelins, fit 5/6/7 series BMW, Commodore? $2000. Ph Adrian 02 9748 6011 or 02 9997 2418 ah .93

Terrapin hillclimb/race car, BMC 1275 engine, wings and slicks, new coil over shocks, new wheels, dismantled. $4000. Ph 02 9679 8390. 193

Nissan 'Godzilla' GTRV Spec, 1996, stunning condition throughout, 42,000 genuine kilometres, fastidiously maintained. Fully optioned, complianced, consider turbocharged car as part trade.

Private sale. A true rocket. $62,500 ono. Ph 0403 377 189. 192

Porsche 930 Turbo look-a-like, white, 2.7ltr

Go Kart Arrow K2000, rolling chassis, 5 meetings old, used in Ford Max Challenge with spares. $2300 ono. Ph Bob Prortor 0418 461 494. 193 Formula Holden 1992 Reynard, (ex-Chas Jacobsen), unused since purchased last December, engine rebuilt, large and extensive spare package, including gear ratios and body parts to long to list. Two way adjustable Penske shocks. Stack programmable dash. This car is in excellent con dition, and is available delivered to Sydney or Melbourne. AUS$63,000. A great opportunity to race a competitive car at a realistic price. Ph Paul NZOOll 61 3 389 4672. 193 250 National Superkart, 1996 Centreline, Yamaha Y2250, full Kelgate running gear, in excel lent condition, new seat for new owner and spares package. $9000 ono. Ph 02 9838 7068. 193

Carrera engine with Weber carbys, 220hp, elec tronic ignition, 5 spd 915 gearbox, SC brakes with twin master cylinder. Simmons wheels, 8x16 front and 9x16 rear. Interior upholstered in black, 10 stacker CD player, central locking & immobiliser.

22,000kms in last 6 years. $27,500. Ph Gordon 0418 325 745 bh or 03 5964 2909 ah. 192

adjustable brake bias, some spares and registered trailer. $5850. Ph Matt Davis Ph 0417 240 255 or 02 96765154. 193

Parts Yokohama A032R tyres, 205/60/13 x 4, used once for sprint, suit Club Car or Group N etc. $750 ono. Ph 03 5777 8220. 193 Escort RS1600, works Atlas full floating axle assembly, alloy hubs, 2 piece large spline axles, 53" tubes, 2F LSD centre set up for coil overs, very rare. $3150. Ph 08 8278 5988. 193 Hilbourne fuel injection, to suit 289/302 Windsor, just been flowed and pump rebuilt by MRC, cam driven, timing cover, lines, shut off, by pass valve, tank, electric water pump. $3500 ono.

Ph 03 5250 2345 or 0412 181 136. 193 Ford CIO auto,full manual, reverse pattern, trans brake, transhield, dominator 6200 convertor, BM cooler, just been reco. $2000 ono. Ph 03 5250 2345 ot 0412 181 136. 193 RS2000 GPI exhaust, manifold with RS logo, twin secondary pipes plus 2 inch system to suit Escort. $300. Ph 03 9546 8342 or 0417 239 641. 193

Open Wheelefs

Formula Vee Rennmax Mk2, motor just top ended, new floor, new trailing arms, 2 pac paint,

Formula 3, urgent sale, currently 2nd in national series, state winner, loads of spares. $33,000. Ph 02 9743 5357. 192

Autometers, AU - 3347, 3391, 3327, 4332, 5421, 5432, 5441, 5433, 5201,3900 tacho,4621, 4641, 461.1, 4497. Ph 0419 188 010. 193 Kestrel Formula Vee, immaculately presented, car only competed in 7 race meetings. New tyres, Willans belts, Momo steering wheel, SPAX adjustable shocks, slimline mirrors. Complete with traiier and some spares. $7800 ono. Ph /kshleigh Rusby 08 8206 2517 bh, 08 8344 5374 ah or 0418 847 414. 193 Formula 2 Reynard 893, Golf engine, many spares, 1994 Vic F2 championship winner. $20,000. Ph 03 5988 6266. 192 Historic Formula Ford, 1972 Bowin, complete recent rebuild, engine 3 meetings old. Additional gear sets, spare wheels and tyres. $25,000. Ph 0413 051 454. 192

ARP stud kit, 2345602 4 bolt $155, BG 4 port reg 170023 $400, Gilmer pulley kit SB Chev $220, Romal balancer to suit 351 w $200, Eagle 5.7 rods with ARP 8740 bolts $650, Esky roller springs P/N 9365-plus $400, Manley 221043-10 springs $400, Holley 660cfm centre squirter, comp cams 7970-16 pushrods, Mallory dual point 2363001, MSD 7AL2 box, dizzy, coil to suit 351/460 $1100. Ph 0419 188 010. 193 Escort Twin Cam, complete dash cut (ie the dash panel itself not the instrument cluster). $200. Ph 07 5594 9905 ah or 0409 279 929. 193 Cylinder heads, Chev Brodix 10, just re-cond. $2250 ono. Ph 08 9355 4000 or 0419 995 505. .93 Tecalemit Jackson, Mk 2 Fuel Injection kit suit 1600 Ford crossflow or Twin Cam..This brand

Galloway-developed, race-winning Spectrum 07, Speedtech engine, MoTec, spares package, with assistance given to new owner. $37,000. Trailer also available. Ph Owen Kelly 0419 896 382. 193 Formula Vee parts, 6 D type heads (2 ported), crank, flywheel, K&N air filter, exhaust system, new Wade cam, new piston and loose kit, new oii pump, pushrods and rockers(30 of), carby bits and more. $620 the lot. Ph Matt 0412 527 869. 193

new kit is the original 1970 Ford kit and is com plete right down to the "TJ Injection" badge for the bootlid. Includes angled TJ intake manifold, throttle bodies, engine driven pulse pump with Gilmer drive, constant pressure pump, all bleed valves, regulators, fuel lines, linkages etc. Comes with original installation and tuning manual plus faaory instructions for conversion to race use. $2,000 ono Ph 07 5594 9905 ah or 0409 279 929. 193 Hay Honda, hillclimb car, supercharged 6 cyl Honda motorbike motor, very good car. $10,500 ono trailer and spares also available. Ph Neville 02 6862 4155 bh or 02 6862 3422 ah. 192

Kent Ford, X-Flow wide stem cam followers $25.

1275CC ASeries Double Valve springs $25. All new Ford 2Lt SOHC Starter motor recond. $10. Ph Keith 02 4340 2373. 193

Lancer Evolution 5, genuine front bumper and fittings. $1500. Rear wing including genuine bootlid and reflectors $2000. Ph 03 9898 2223, or 0403 224 501. 193 Wanted, Hewland 7:31, crown wheel & pinion, suit Mk 8/9. Ford Escort Mkl/ll quick rack steering, 36 row 250mm oil cooler. Ph 0418 582 882 or 0408 522 175. 193 Mallory rod fuel pump, $120, long aero on/off switch & battery cables $80, aluminium race seat, Butler built $200, safety net and fitting $50, new oil cooler $50, UN radiator and ther mo fan fitted $150. Ph 03 9432 3310 or 0418 500 287. 193 UM master cylinder, new $40, UN tail lights $10, ducting for brakes $15, high intensity rear light $15, fuel chum $100, fuel cell 80 litre $100, Larry Perkins front spoiler from 1994 Bathurst car signed

by Larry, $1000. Ph 03 9432 9482 or 0418 500 287. 193 Ford

Cleveland

3.310" stroke,

nitrided

crankshaft, 5.950" Ridgecrest alloy rods, 4" std Glidden design Venolia pistons, internally bal anced set up, as new. $1700. Ph 03 5472 4116, fax 03 5470 6966 or email: farrell@iaccess.com.au 192 Fuel pump belt drive, A.F.C.O brand, suit drag or dirt modified, brand new $600. Methanol Holley carb, fully rebuilt $500. Ph 07 3888 3232. 192 Sprintcar parts, huge range of parts, new and used. Eagle hoods with air intake scoop. Eagle hoods. Eagle panels, fuel tank coolers, hood blanets etc. Feel free to call for a parts price list. Ph 0419 787 530. 192 Chev, AP Racing 7 1/4" triple plate clutch, near new, and explosion-proof flywheel. $800 ono. Ph 08 8270 5921. 192 Chev SB, 5.7 Childs & Albert alloy rods, L/J brand new, $780. Ph 07 3888 5934. 192 Chev SB, AFR 23 degree alloy heads, brand new, 590hp (flow report), complete with valves and springs. $3000. Ph 07 3888 5934. 192 Chev SB, 5/8 cola crank, just reground & crank tested, $1450, Ph 07 3888 5934. 192 Chev, Edelbrock super victor manifold, suite SB Chev, new. $400. Ph 08 8270 5921. 192 » Air jacks, new/used, large range, most applica tions, quick release handles available, top quality.

C.C.I. Ph 0418 925 767. l Clutches, 7.25, 5.5, 5,0 single, twin, triple plate, sintered or carbon, AP-Tilton-QM, new/used. Spare covers, rings, plates also avail able. C.C.I. Ph 0418 925 767. l Pedals, brake/clutch, floor mount/hanging, new/sued. Also available, bias valves, bias cables, master cylinders, reservoirs etc. C.C.I. Ph 0418 925 767.

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motorsport news

eifO

mniMn fuel & LUBRICANTS

l ELF racing brake fluid, dot 5.1 + full range of synthetic race lubricants, 2 stroke, 4 stroke and octane booster. Ph BMR 03 9793 5555. 1 l Brake calipers, discs, pads. Mega range, new/used, exc condition - AP, Alcon, Brembo, Outlaw, Willwood. Overnight delivery. C.C.I. Ph 0418 925 767. l Hewland, D6B, 5 speed transaxle, top condi tion, new 9:31 CWP, ratio choices and spares avail able, $14K ratios, over 300 in stock to suit DGB, GFGB, TPT, FT200. C.C.I. Ph 0418 925 767. l Oil coolers - heat exchangers, Earls, Setrab, Serck, 6-70 row, new/used, also used water to oil heat exchangers, over 100 in stock. C.C.I. Ph 0418 925 767. l Racecar parts, brake parts, chassis stands, diff oil pumps, exhaust collectors, fuel cell accessories, oil filters, quicklift jacks, ratio boxes, radiator caps, springs, spoilers, wings etc. C.C.I. Ph 0418 925 767. l Uprights, fabricated/cast, fronts/rears, various sizes, new/used, also CVs, driveshafts, wishbones, rockers, pushrods, all top quality, exc condition.

C.C.I. Ph 0418 925 767.

'97 Maxim, tail boy, roller, complete less engine.

All the best running gear, bolt kit & other compo nents. Titanium direct mount front end, Nieids steering box. Winters diff, Sanders driveline & wheels etc. Only done 15 race meetings. $16,000.

Ph 0419 787 530. .92 '99 Eagle, roller, complete new car less engine.

All the best new gear from US, titanium bolts and other components. Direct mount front end, KSE pro-life steering box. Winters diff, Sanders driveline & wheels etc. $22,000. Ph 0419 787 530. 192

'99 Eagle, roller, complete less engine. All the best running gear, bolt kit & other components.

Titanium direct mount front end, Nieids steering box. Winters diff, Sander driveline & wheels etc.

STRAIGHT

5934. 192

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1

Fully enclosed tandem trailer, 22ft x 8ft x 8ft, side and ramp door, workbenches, cupboards, 240v power, electric brakes, set up for Sprintcars with shock, wheel, wing, radius rods, torsion bar, racks, professionally built. $7000. Ph 0419 787 530. 192

Drags

Transponers/Trailers

ultimate hauling unit, Chevrolet Silverado 1994, extra cab, dually, 4WD, Detroit Diesel motor, 6.5lt turbo, 195 horsepower, A7C, P/S, C/C, many extras, set to tow, superb condition. $57,500 ono. Ph 02 6887 2730. 193

Tandem race car trailer, 9 months old, full che quer plate floor, tyre rack, sliding ramps under trail er, mag wheels etc. $2500. Ph 03 5275 5988 or 0419 949 747. 193

Purpose built go kart trailer, carries two karts, storage, lockers, wheel racks, mag wheels, disc brakes, 10 mths rego. $2500 ono. Ph Bob Proctor 0418 461 494. 193 Race car trailer, 8m x 2.4m x 2.2m, gross 3500kg, bench, winch. $7500. Also, pit buggy with engine, tool box, cupboards, trailer, tyre rack, gas bottle rack, the lot (2.4m x 1.3m buggy). $5000. Ph Ross Palmer Motorsport 07 3369 5500. 193 Trailer, fully enclosed, 6.5 x 2.3 x 2.4, tri-axle, electric brakes, side access door, back ramp, 240v power, workbench, tyre racks etc. $4000. Ph Shane 07 3224 8730 bh or 07 3263 4510 ah. 192

Victor Jr, intake manifold for 351 Windsor.

New/used. Ph 0402 021 362. 193 Drivers wanted, QLD Formula Ford team, now testing drivers for 2001 season. $1000 per day. ExWebber and Bright VD RF95s. Ph Greg 07 5446 7611 or 0411 052 944. 193

Auscar front end, and rear axle assembly, ex-VR/VS Commodore, would consider complete roller, also Auscar Falcon rear axle assembly. Group A 10x17 VITVN 5 stud wheels. Ph Rod 02 6562 7762. 192 VMS tapes, of Bathurst V8Supercar race for 1999.

Must include Saturday's telecast. Ph Ken 08 8649 2951 or 0402 167 056. 192 TD Cortina, full chassis, strut front end, 4 link, MSD 7AL with 2 step. Centrelines, M&H slicks, fibreglass front, perplex windows, sell as roller, engine plate and pipes. $8000 ono. Ph 03 5250 2345 or 0412 181 136. 193

Videos, ATCC Amscar/Better Brakes races from 1980 to 1990 from Amaroo or Oran Park. Ph Bill 02 9626 1830 or 0414 499 066. 192

Engines

The Great Race books, volumes 14-17 covering the years 1994-1997. Offers. Ph Aaron 0438 316148.193

Other

Go Kart engines, Yamaha KTIOOJ (blueprinted) $850. PCR-ReSa c/w 2 pipes, 2 carbs. $1100. PCR PV95 piston-port c/w carb, pipe $900. Engines and fresh and run-in. Ph Andrew 03 9435 3240 or 0419 382 017. m

I-.

Escort RS2000, twin IDF downdraught manifold $275, Kent HTI x-drilled camshaft (new) $395, Crane H322 x-drilied cam $425, Cosworth steel Sierra crank $525. Ph 08 8278 5988. .93 Nissan FJ20 turbo, fully race prepaired, competi tion clutch, T04 turbo, Cosworth pistons, fresh g/box, HKS cams, big injectors, 460 to 530 hp. Was $6850, now $5500 ono. Ph Phil Howe 0418 131 428 or 03 9449 8221. 193

-.I*:

'HOUOEN

H© :/

Ford SOHC 2L, alloy sump, EB block & BV ported head, polished and tuftrided crank & rods, 520X cam vernier wheel, electronic ignition, Mahle pis tons, oil cooler etc. $2200. Ph 03 9546 8342 or 0417 239 641. 193

Mitsubishi 4G63 cyclone turbo engine, and 5 speed, front cut, complete, computer, intercooler etc, low kms, have test run. $3250. Ph 02 6292 Car trailer, built for Super Sedan, 83 1/2 across floor, electric brakes, used once. 11 1/2 months rego. $2900. Ph 02 4572 5949. 19

Wanted Flolden V8, lightweight steel or alloy flywheel, 'x' type conrods, V8 sump into Torana/Holden, 'cub racer' type, windage tray, one way flaps etc. Ph Jim 03 9795 1112 or 0416 281 054. 193

42 DCOE Webers, 1,2 or 3. Ph 03 9787 3050 or fax 03 9787 1776. 192

XD, turbo XF engine, 4 speed, power steering, rally tyres, 2 seater, full Nascar cage, spares. $3000. Will separate. Ph 03 9706 9633. 192

2759. 193

Chev 366 Super Sedan, Super Sedan engine, 600hp, ex-Blair Granger Brisbane #5, built by Jack Bros (all new parts, no junk). Track 1 heads, Ross pistons, L/A rods, BAG crank, C&S aerosol carb, good torque, complete. $15,000. Ph 07 3888

530. 192

192

136. 193

Super Sedan Pontiac Trans Am, 327 Chev, 4 spot calipers, wide 5 hubs, quickchange diff, new alum seat, tell-tail tacho, Chalin p/steer rack, spares. $11,500 ono. Ph 08 9355 4000 or 0419 995 505. 193

Single axle trailer, open, suit Formula Vee, builtin ramps, mech brakes, new tyres & lights. $450 ono. Ph 03 9435 7082 192

Compact Speedcar, complete car. Suzuki engine, Schroeder steering box, chain drive, coil front & torsion rear, direct mount Sander front end, weld wheels and spares. Motor needs attention. $6000.

Ph 0419 787 530. 192

Trailer, 5.5m x 2.5m x 2m. Fully enclosed with 5m X 4m annex, benches, 240v power points and lights, cupboards, plenty of storage room. 12 mths rego. $4500 ono. Ph 03 5250 2345 or 0412 181

QLD Super Sedan, new Dodge Avenger body and chassis, quick change diff. Coyote clutch.

350 just refreshed, alloy seat, new springs, Carrera shocks. Much loved car. Must sell due to medical condition. $10,000 ono. Ph 07 3807

18 degree Sprintcar motor, lightweight Donovan block, Ross pistons, Jessell rocker gear, Barnes oil pump, Kinsler 2 1/2 injection, Mallory Sprint II Mag Grower Max-lite rods, LA Kryponite ultra lite crank etc. 680hp. $30,000. Ph 0419 787

Done 10 meetings. $19,500. Ph 0419 787 530.

l Radiators, aluminium, new/used, single/dual pass, top quality, large range, various sizes, suit all applications, from $300. C.C.I. Ph 0418 925 767.

Speeilwav

Chev Blazer '81, ks, rebuilt, 350 turbo auto, bull bar, side steps, big wheels, tidy inside and out, great for towing with Hayman Reese and vac/air trailer brakes. No further use. $11,500. Ph 07 3888 5934. .92

H© /

ar.

m-

t

r

I3.

Hackett Gold, official HSV press release, details Hackett's HSV bonus upon winning gold at Sydney 2000 and colour photo and Holden M/sport folder, $23 Inc post. Ph 07 4639 3308. 193

2045 ah. 193

Ducati 916, Thrust LSR support trucks, 1:55 scale Lledo diecast Volvos. Al, boxed and posted. $100.

Ph 03 6261 3408. 193

Ford 429/460 parts, sheet metal intake manifold with twin 600 Hoiley carbys. Intake manifold single carby TFS. Parts to suit TRS, SVO alloy heads. Ph 08 9490 5312. 193

FIRT1,custom NSW number plates. Signed by Craig Lowndes & Mark Skaife. Available for Bathurst if right offer is made. All serious offers considered. Ph: 02 9831 6649. 193

Formula Ford engine, very fast, top national quality, complete, recent rebuild. $3750. Ph 0419 895 692. 192

Drivers apparel, 2 top of the line Simpson nomex driving suits, 1 small $150, 1 large $350, Simpson size 9 driving boots $45. Ph Matt 0412 527 869. 193

Dash 12 Sprintcar motor, Rodec block, Ross pis tons, Jessell rocker gear, Barnes oil pump, Hilborn 2 7/16 injection. Vertex external coil mag, Carillo rods etc. 680 horsepower. $28,000. Ph 0419 787 530. 192

Digatron DT-32, RPM & exhaust temp monitor, suit go kart. $200. Ph Luke 0418 582 882. 193

●●A-

Race gear, race suit RPM $280, Bell helmer with open face with radi ogear $300, Simpson gloves $40, RPM boots $60, RPM 3" harness 6 point $120, incar fire bomb $500. Ph 03 9432 9082. 193 Executive, 2 story, 4 bedroom home with 3 lounge romms, 3 bathrooms, billiard room, avail able for Bathurst races. Ph 0419 267 375. 193

B<-Y

Exhaust tube bender,3 phase binnie, computer controlled, as new condition, $9000. Can inspect in Castlemaine, Victoria. Ph 03 5472 4116 or tax 03 5470 6966 or email: farrell@iaccess.com.au 192

Litre Sprintcar, 94 mod hi-bar, Nissan AIA motor, slied carbys, Kirky seat, quickchange, regoed trailer & spares. Will trade $5500. Ph Chris 02 4627 8531 or 0402 293 380. 193

Mobil 1/43 scale, diecast Craig Lowndes Mobil HRTVT Commodore. Mobil NZ release only, ex cond, still in boxes, AU5$150 each, includes P&H from NZ. Ph Steve 0011 64 9 571 0393. 192

Modified Production TE Cortina, 250 X flow methanol engine, 4 speed, power and reductioon steering, Koni adk shockers, adj suspension com plete, ready to race with plenty of spares. Urgent sale, no reasonable offer refused. Ph 03 5983 6393 or 0419 388 192. 192

10 November 2000

30ft tri axle trailer, side and rear access doors, work bench, air conditioned, insulated roof, exter nal canopy, hand winch, engine removal gantry, electric brakes, access ramps etc. 12/240 volt light ing. $8500. Ph David Rean 02 4680 9310. 193

Bolts and fasteners, huge range, GR-8, GR-5, 8.8, M/steel, rivets, unbreko, washers, comes in Mazda 20B, triple rotor, Harrop flywheel, twin plate Macleod clutch, 6 speed Mazda dog box. Ph 03 9469 2914. 192

20x8 shipping container that is shelved and has carpet and lighting. $8000 ono, can inspect in Castlemaine, Victoria. Ph 03 5472 4116 or fax 03 5470 6966 or email: farrell@iaccess.com.au 192

97

OPINION

motorsport EDITORIU S1KFF Editor: Phil Branagan Assistant Editor: Gerald McDornan Staff Journalist: Aaron Noonan PRODUGTION Adv & Graphics Co-ordinator: Viv Brumby RDVERTISING Advertising Manager: Brendon Sheridan RDMIHISTRRTION Managing Direaor: Chris Lambden G0N1RCTS 89 Orrong Crescent North Caulfield Vic 3161 (PO Box 1010 North Caulfield Vic 3161) Ph: 03 9527 7744 Fax: 03 9527 7766 Email: msnews@ozemail.com.au eONTRIRUTORS General: Grant Nicholas, Darryl Flack,Tony Glynn, Mark Jones, Jon Thomson FI: Joe Saward, Adam Cooper Europe: Quentin Spurring, Gary Watkins US: Phil Morris Speedway: Brett Swanson, Julie Pearce, Geoff Rounds, Wade Aunger, Tony Millard (UK) Rally: Peter Whitten, Jon Thomson Histories: Brian Reed Drag Racing: Greg Ward, Jon Asher (USA), Dave Ostaszewski (USA), Nick Nicholas, Steven White, Ken Ferguson Super Speedway: Martin Clark (USA) National: Mark Wicks, Sean Henshelwood, Michael Shaw Photographers: Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Bothwell Photographic, Marshall Cass, Nigel Snowdon & Diana Burnett, Tony Glynn, AFl Images, Neil Hammond, Slipstream Photographic, ThunderPics, Phil Williams, Allsport, John Morris/Mpix, Frank Midgley, John Bosher, Lynley Reid, Mike Patrick (UK), Daniel Wilkins, Wayne Nugent, Peter French, Chris Carter, James Smith Artist: Bernie Walsh Cartoonist:Allan Schofield Motorsport News is published by Australasian Motorsport News - ABN 55 125 120 702 Publisher: C Lambden Printed by: PMP Print 37-49 Browns Road Clayton 3168.

Distributed by: NDD Ltd Material 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, and while all care will be taken, Australasian Motorsport News does not accept responsibility for damage or loss of material submitted.

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

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Foxy stuff I fail to understand why you congratulated Channel Nine for off-loading the Malaysian GP to Fox. The penetration of Fox Sports is less than 10 percent of the population. What happens to the other 90 percent?

Regarding the Japanese GP, no other solution other than showing it live was acceptable, as evidenced by the ‘carve up’ they've been receiving.

Channel Nine has so much money it buys the rights to more sports than it can show (I think it's called hoarding).

My congi'atulations to Channel 10. They’re not perfect(no one is), but they still manage to do a great job with all their motorsport.

EfMisoyannis Email:circad@zeta.org.au

Go deeper on the Sportscars I think that you should put some more in-depth coverage of the American Le Mans series in the magazine, mainly because Channel 10 tries to put a four-hour long race into a 30 minute highlight package, which just doesn't work.

To make room for the American Le Mans series, you should dump the BTCC, which obviously does not race in Australia, but doesn't even have any Aussie drivers...

Other than that, I think that Motorsport News is the Australian Autosport, and I doubt that you can receive any higher accolades than that!

Gus Cyrillo Email:cyrillo@ozemail.com.au

‘E’ equals V8 squared The aerodynamic figures you published in edition 191 bring to light some very important facts: 1. The major complaint of the Ford camp - being lack of aerodynamic grip - may be true but it also proves that aerodynamic grip means very little in the overall performance of a V8 Supercar!

How many tracks in this country have corners where the cars are

converter and they ruled that the 100mm will be returned for Bathurst, which effectively means the Holden would not be slowed by the change.

3. Project ‘Blueprint’ will be a failure! Giving Ford the Commodore's undertray has not improved the aerodynamic grip of the car, infact it has made it worse.

It has, however,improved the pitch sensitivity of the package, but the front is not the only culprit in that department.

The solution? AVESCO should give up Project Blueprint and not give Holden the double A-Arm suspension.

On top of this, they should start awarding ‘lead trophies’ to constant winners. It is HRT that is head-and-shoulders above the rest, NOT Holden!

Tim Noske Email: noske@powerup.com.au

Images, innuendo and Joe Dictators eventually lose their perspective - they refute any criticism against their ideas of how the show should be run. Bollocks to image. Max and Bernie assume they're right.

So when McLai-en boss Ron

his last published article and suggested that". . the most important thing of all is a good image."

How can there be a good image if'things' are dodgy?

Image is tarnished with any innuendo. As much as I respect Joe, I think he has missed the point.

Good commercialisation alone does not bring credibility.

And image is all about credibility.

If Max and Bernie really think they are right with the Causo appointment, they are not only fooling Joe Public, but themselves as well.

And don't start me on the importance of the Channel 9 news going to air on time ...

Leigh Edwards Emaih leighmob@optusnef.com.au

Anybody got Jeff Grech’s phone number?

At Bathurst this year I think eveiyone should be aware of a new team that could be the dark horse of the field.

The team is the “Very Young Lions’ Commodore team. The drivers are Mikey ‘Lowndesy’ Pilcher and his brother Sean ‘Skaifey’ Pilcher, and they are confident of a good race and think that a podium finish is not out of the question at their first attempt.

Peddling up the Mountain 161 times will be a bit tiring ...

Mikey, Sean and Peter Pilcher Woodrising, NSW

travelling over lOOkm/h through them? Eastern Creek, Phillip Island and Bathurst.

The reason the Ford has been quick lately is because the Ford has always had better straight line speed, which is useful on tracks with long straights such as Sandown and Gold Coast.

2. When they trimmed 100mm off the front of the Holden, they did it after the rounds at two of these ‘aerodynamically sensitive’ tracks

98

Dennis criticised Max Mosley for the appointment of an Italian steward, Robert Cause,to the Japanese Grand Prix, it created ill feehng.

Joe Saward criticised Ron in

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Sign ‘eni up now! With Craig Lownde.s leaving the Holden Racing Team, does that mean that young Lowndesy will have to step out of the pedal car, handing it to his brother as a spare, just in case?

motorsport news

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