Motorsport News Issue 193 - November 24-December 7, 2000 by V8 Sleuth

BATHURST; THE FULL STORY

Australia $5.50 NZ $6.95 inci GST

inimrsport No. 193

24 November - 7 December 2000

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news

/A Issue 193 24 November - 7 December 2000

INSIDE News and Opinion

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Where to for Lowndes? We're taking bets... Cochrane dirty on mud Tony wants an upgrade, again Ingall cops 10 CAMS lightens Russell's wallet Motor Mouth Leigh Diffey's life in Europe The Box Seat Howto be a GP reporter Talk Converter Our pages are waiting!

Features 28 76 81

Bobby Rahal Ready for a Jag challenge Darren OiFilippo A chat with the Top Fuel tyro Brooke Tatnell We talk with the Outlaw Aussie

Race Coverage

58 62 66 75 BAmURST:THE FULfl.STORY

FAI 1000 - Bathurst The tall and the short. We review one of the most competitive races in history. Bathurst Supports GTP Three Hour, Nations Cup and Formula Ford. Mallala BOC Super Tourers More florri Morri Rally Australia Gronholm nearly the champ Adelaide Sprint Nationals Spring is sprung in Adelaide World Series Sprintcars Farr's first at Newcastle

Regular Departments

GREATEST RACE How Bvos and Garth tamed the Mountain

20 66 72 78 84 86 88 92

Motorcycles Rallying Drag Racing Speedway NASCAR Histories National Scene Marketplace

Photos; Cover: Graeme Neander/Coventry Studios Contents: Dirk Klynsmith, Mpix, Lynley Reid. David Lament and Marshall Cass.

Musical Chairs Lowndes' HRT swansong kick starts silly season by CHRIS LAMBDEN CRAIG Lowndes'immediate future could be settled in 2-3 weeks, with two serious options doing the rounds over Bathurst weekend - although Craig's management says it is looking at up to four. A potential link with Fred Gibson in a reborn Gibson Motorsport team,first floated in the last issue of Motorsport News,remains perhaps the strongest rumoured option, although not necessarily confined to Holden. While Craig has expressed the desire to stay with Holden, a Gibson alliance does present the albeit less likely option of also talking to Ford. Craig has an obvious history with Holden(as does Fred Gibson), but Gibson and Ford Racing Manager Howard Mai'sden do also go back a long, long way... The second option and one which, despite constant denials, won't go away,is the Shell team. Suggestions vary from a third car, to a Ford-negotiated situation which would see Steven Johnson 'on loan' to Ford Tickford Racing to fill the vacancy there, to Paul Radisich departing for a German DTM drive... Nobody is giving anything away, but there is no doubt that Lowndes, reheved to get Bathurst,- his final race commitment to HRT- over, is keen to finalise matters as soon as possible: “It's great that we were able to wrap the title up for Mark,” he said on Sunday. “Now we can sit down and work out what is the best option for the future.” A further possible complication is

Mission accompiished: Craig Lowndes was perfect at Bathurst, sealing Mark Skaife’s title, the degree to which Craig remains bound by the management contract signed with TWR five years ago. It is stUl the subject oflegal challenge, but ifit went TWR's way there remains the bizarre possibility that Craig could be forced to sit on the sidehnes for a year. The possibility of a Ford/ Lowndes/Gibson team would mean that the contract would have to be sorted out quickly. Should Lowndes sign for a Holden team,it seems improbable that Holden would allow TWR (with which it is partners in HSV/HRT)to stop Craig driving a Holden next season, even ifit was for another team.

So, who's at WITH Bathurst over, HRT's search for a replacement for Craig Lowndes begins. Pit chat at the weekend had the team seeking an option on Jason Bright, should his 2001 US plans not come to fruition. “I heard that on Sunday night,” Bright responded this week. “I've thought about a

he almost stayed

IIM the meantinnie, some details are emerging as to just how close Lowndes did get to reaching final agreement with HRT. Motorsport News understands that four weeks ago, a letter of intent from Craig existed and had fundamentally been okayed by both Holden and Holden Motorsport, only to be held up once it hit the desk of HRT boss John Crennan.

(Photo by Lynley Reid)

Our sources suggest that Lowndes and his advisors simply ran out of patience with what were perceived as delaying tactics, and wanted to move on with negotiations elsewhere before there was simply no alternative. It now appears that there is no way back into the HRT fold, a fact which Lowndes confirmed at Bathurst last week.

couple of things here, but my absolute priority is continuing my career in the US. “If I couldn't organise a full deal in the US,it might he that I try for some races here,some over there,” he concluded. Bright's major hopes are pinned on a potential test with the Dale Coyne CART team, early in December. Should things not pan out for the former Bathurst winner overseas, though, he remains an obvious target for a team such as HRT. Given a logical progression, Todd Kelly ought to be in the frame. The youngster has performed strongly in the Young Lions HRT car on a number of occasions. There was also a suggestion at Bathurst that either of the Euro-based drivers flown out motorsport news

NEWS

loves

JJJb Courtney flies in Jaguar Fornnula 3test

Fuel for thought There was a bit of a kerfuffle in pre race scrutineering, when competitors were warned to ensure that their fuel capacity conformed to the 120 litre maximum. No-one failed examination, but there had been comments during the season that people may have a fudge. Good to see them laid to rest. n Footstep follower: We hear that Formula Fordster Robert Jones may be stepping up next year. The talk is that Jones Junior will be following in his father's footsteps and running a V8 Supercar in the Konica series next year. n The constant rain and muddy conditions had a decent effect on the crowd at this year's FA1 1000. Sunday's race day crowd was a claimed 41,776, over 10,000 down on 1999. The three-day crowd of 130,329 was some 24,000 down aswell.

With aface like this: He must be really, really fast. Courtney went like a missile in hisfirst Jag F3 test. (Piwu,hys,mo„) JAIVIES Courtney is expected to announce a deal to drive with the Jaguar (nee Stewart) Formula Three team in 2001 within a fortnight. Although both he and manager Alan Gow were non-committal during a brief visit to Melbourne for the AGP launch, our UK sources tell us a deal is in place following a strong two-day test with the team at Budapest. Jaguar F3 took two cars to the test, one for Courtney and one for Jaguar FI driver Luciano Burti. The team is initiating a series of tests for Burti in an F3 car in order to learn circuits he has not

for the race,Yvan Muller or Jason Plato, might well be candidates - although remuneration in Australia isn't in the same league as in the UK/Euro touring car fraternities... Sources in the UK have told Motorsport News that Vauxhall’s BTCC program was in doubt for 2001, but a large factor in making the decision to continue with it was the fact that Plato and Muller’s contracts would have to be paid out if it was cancelled. There is no pressure on HRT to make a hasty decision. The 2001 season doesn't kick off until March, giving plenty of time to make a choice and clock up what limited testing time is available under AVESCO's tight testing restrictions. - CHRIS LAMBDEN 24 November 2000

driven on prior to the start of the FI season. Told by the team that anything within a couple of seconds of Burti would be a good first-up performance, Courtney responded by being just three-tenths off the FI star's times at the end of the test. "They told me the feedback and car set-up we arrived at was similar too, so they were quite happy," Courtney told Motorsport News. Although Jaguar has tested a number of hopefuls, Courtney is said to be at the top of the list and, subject to final negotiations, likely to get the seat.

n James Brock was certainly a busy man before Bathurst. After racing his Future Tourer at Mallala he towed it home to Melbourne, where he slept the night before driving up to Bathurst on the Tuesday before the race. n Revenge thy name is... Flow happy was Terry Finnigan to qualify Alan Fleath's Falcon 24th, three spots ahead of the second Kmart Commodore,from which he was unceremoniously dumped just a couple of weeks before the race in favour of 'Truckie' Parsons? Very. n Rising Son 1: Wayne Gardner, having raced for much of the year in the Japanese GT Championship, was listed in the entries as (JAP) because of his Japanese licence. Fie even had a Japanese nickname;'Gar-chan', which is a short version of 'Gardnersan'. n Rising Son 2- Funny, ha, ha: Gardner proved to be well at home in the second FTR Falcon in the wet sessions at Bathurst. Apparently in Japan, Wayne is also known as the "Wayne-meister".., n New Zealand's television station TV1's response to a phone-in competition run during last weekend's FA1 1000 at Bathurst was the highest ever recorded, with over 20,000 kiwis calling in. The lucky winner received a brand new AU Falcon in full DJR Shell Flelix livery.

Going, staying, Toddling: Will Todd Kelly fill Lowndes’ FiRT seat? (Photo by Lynley Reid)

n AJ Foyt has released former motocross star Jeff Ward, and is expected to run a single car in next year's IRL series for Chilean Eliseo Salazar. Ward is yet to win a race in the series.

Benetton: it's official Mark Webber signs multi-year deal MARK Webber's role with Benetton was finally formalised, as expected, at last week's official launch for the 2001 Qantas Australian Grand Prix. The 24 year-old emerged from a Benetton 200 show-car, flown in for the occasion, as Victorian Premier Steve Bracks confirmed the news to a crowded GP launch audience at Melbourne's new Vodafone Arena, Webber has committed to a multi year agreement with the team, which will see him take on the testing and first reserve role in 2001, with a race drive very much on the cards for 2002. 'Basically, my entry into Formula 1 is now secure,' a delighted Webber told Motorsport News. While his chances of a race debut with Benetton in 2001 for the moment rest on any injury or illness

rendering Giancarlo Fisichella or Jenson Button unfit to drive, Webber goes into the December FI testing frenzy determined to maintain the speed and feedback which impressed the team at his original Estoril test. "It's FI - I suppose anything could happen. But realistically, I need to test well, do well in the F3000 season and look to 2002...’ At that point a drive with Benetton or, as is current fashion, a loan-out drive with another team becomes an option. Webber faces a busy December. Starting at Jerez on December 5, the team has a huge testing programme in place to evaluate both Renualt's new 120 degree VI0 engine and its own new car, as well as Micheiin's allnew rubber, which the teant is committed to in 2001. ●a

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Bathurst "a Cochrane calls for government help: u It’s like a third world country V

AVESCO Chief Tony Cochrane has again threatened to take the V8 Supercar show away from Bathurst. While resisting the urge to use the “there's no sacred sites” catchcry from 1996, when the V8s first threatened to leave Bathurst, Cochrane has bluntly called the Bathurst race's future into question following a miserable week for teams and spectators in Bathurst's Big Wet. “Nothing's changed in 30 years,” Cochrane said on Sunday. “You can't expect 40-50,000 people to come here to experience conditions you wouldn't get in a third world country. “I spent a couple of hours up on the Mountain yesterday - it's a disgrace. “We can't have a repeat performance like this. People aren't going to come.” He also highlighted the appalling conditions some teams were working in; “These teams have invested $2.5 to 3m to run a team and then you make them work in conditions like this.” Cochrane used the moment to

renew calls for Federal and State government support for a complete refurbishment of the Mount Panorama facility. Federal Sports Minister Jacky Kelly was at the race on Sunday and was briefed by Bathurst City Councillors on a $16m Federal funding request being put to Canberra. Ms Kelly said she would be taking the request to Cabinet before Christmas, and was “hopeful.” The Minister also spent 10 minutes with Cochrane, who later increased the pressure: “I'm sick of Federal, State and local politicians doing a lot of talk but no walk,” he said. “We've got to see some action. We've got to see some serious State and Federal money tipped in here. “We'll give a long term commitment to the place, no problem, but some money has to be spent to make it an icon place again. “We've dumped other tracks in Australia that have facilities as bad as this. Let's all stop talking...”

Longhurst was inspired; Stone

"WE'VE been around long enough to know it's not over until you take the flag." Thus SBR team boss Ross Stone summed up his team's feelings after Tony Longhurst's late demise, when victory in last Sunday's FAI 1000 looked odds-on. The win would have capped off a remarkable recovery from an early spin, which saw the Caltex Falcon drop to the tail of the field - 52nd to be exact. , A couple of really good calls, "especially when we went to wets mid-race" got the Caltex car back in the contest. Then, when Longhurst was leading and facing a late fuel stop, the circuit dried, forcing everyone to stop for slicks and the team was able to refuel and go for the chequer: "We had the speed when it mattered," Stone told us on Monday, "and Tony could hold the gap back to the others, by responding with a quick lap when necessary. "He was inspired. We were either going to win it or ^ crash, I guess..." Stone doesn't blame Longhurst for the incident which broke the Falcon's right-front wishbone and steering rack: "I don't even know who was in Faulkner's car at the time, but we do have two marshal l 's reports which support Tony's view that the gap was there but the car just came across and drove into the side of him. Not that it matters now, anyway..." -CHRIS LAMBDEIM 6

So Long: In his final full-time race, Longhurst went from 52nd to first in II pitstops!

(Photo by Dirk Klynsmilh)

motorsport news

NEWS

disgrace

Big changes in 2001 supports BIG changes are in store for the support categories in 2001. Nations Cup and GT-P manager PROCAE has created a multi layered progi-am to allow its events to be run at a number of different meetings. It will also run its own meetings, combinings its classes with Formula Three. Venues and dates are yet to be announced. PROCAR will run fotn- categories next season; Nations Cup, GTP A& B (with high performance cars like Holden’s HSV and Subaru’s WRX), GTP C (with six and four-cylinder family cars) and the new Ute Muster class for 5-litre Ford and Holden utilities.

n Elio, where's the tellie? There were some disgruntled support race 'crews at the Mountain over the weekend. Television coverage of Thursday activities and the early and late support races was non-existent, frustrated teams and media ieft to the timing monitors. Formula Fords were shunted to late Friday afternoon and early Saturday morning and therefore no television time, and that was AFTER they pulled themselves out of the bog in the paddock to get onto the track! n Popular Target Department: John Cleland felt the wrath of the locals when the cars rolled onto the hallowed track on Thursday morning. Flours earlier, Australia's Socceroos scored their first win over Scotland at Glasgow's Flamden Park, burying the Scots 2-0. Appropriate signage was taken out on the Wynn's Commodore ...

“In 1999 we had just one series, for GT Production cars,” said PROCAR Chaii-man Ross Palmer. “Nations Cup was added this year and has been a huge success. “Creating two series from GT Production next year means that growth will be able to continue unhindered, while we also have high hopes for our fourth series, the Ute Muster.”

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At the same time, CAMS and AVESCO has unveiled its support event calendar for 2001.

Mud and Thunder: Tony Cochrane wants to see big changes at Bathurst. (Photo by Nigel Snowden)

FI versus BIVIW versus Larry A Williams-BMW FI car, Larry Perkins in the Castrol Commodore and a BMW road car - those are the three contenders in an unlikely race at next March's Australian GP. The three will take part each day in a one-lap handicap race around the GP circuit- the road car likely to get a 30 second start over LP, with a further 30 back to the FI car. By Sunday,the handicappers expect to have all three crossing the finish line three abreast... The stunt is the only real change to the GP support progi’amme announced at last week’s official launch for the 2001 race, which includes all the regulars such as V8 Supercars, Formula Fords, the Celebrity race and, returning for the second time, the Lamborghinis. NASCARs, which have run in the last two years, have been dropped from the programme.

24 November 2000

As in 2000, Formula Holden, Ford Ford and Porsche Cup will foi-m the basis of the series, with categories rotating on both the Shell Championship Series and Konica V8 Championship.

2001 SUPPORTS CALENDAR Nations Cup

March 4 AGP(Non-championship) Adelaide (SCSI April 8 TBA(PROCAR) May 6 June 10 Canberra (SCS) TBA(PROCAR) July 22 TBA(PROCAR) August 19 TBA(PROCAR) September 16 October? Bathurst(SCS) October 28 Indy (Gold Coast) November 18 TBA(PROCAR) December 2 Adelaide(ALMS)-date TBC. Nations'Cup and GTP(A & B|combined race subject to final agreement with promoter for Bathurst

GTP(A & B)

April 8 May 6 June 10 July 22 August 19 September 16 October? October 28 November 18 December 2

GTP(C, D, E)

February 25 March 18 May 6 May 2? July 22 August 19 September 9 September 16

Adelaide(SCS) TBA(PROCAR) Canberra (SCS) TBA(PROCAR) TBA(PROCAR) TBA(PROCAR) Bathurst(SCS) Indy(Gold Coast) TBA(PROCAR) Adelaide(ALMS) Wakefield Park(KVSSS) Oran Park (KV8SS) TBAIPROCARI Phillip Island (KV8SS) TBAIPROCARI TBAIPROCARI Winton (KV8SS) TBAIPROCARI

Ute Muster Series

Adelaide |SCS-demo| TBAIPROCARI TBA(PROCAR) TBAIPROCARI TBA(PROCAR) Indy (Gold Coast) Sandown (SCS)

April 8 May 6 July 22 August 19 September 16 October 28 December 2

Formula Holden

March 25 April 8 May 13 June 10 July 15 July 29 August 12 Septembers

Formula Ford

March 4 March 25 April 29 June 24 July 15 July 29 August 12 August 26 December 2

Porsche Cup

February 25 March 18 April 29 May 6 May 2? June 24 July 8 August 26

Phillip Island (SCSI Adelaide (SCSI Hidden Valley(SCSI Canberra (SCSI Calder(SCS) Oran Park (SCS) Mallala (KV8SS) Winton (SCSI

AGP (Non-championship Phillip Island (SCS Eastern Creek(SCS Barbagallo (SCS Calder(SCS Oran ParkjSCS Mallala (KV8SS Queensland Raceway(SCS Sandown (SCS Wa kefield Park(KV8SS) Oran Park(KV8SS| Eastern Creek (SCS) Winton (KV8SS) Phillip Island (KV8SSI Barbagallo (SCSI Lakeside(KV8SS) Queensland Raceway(SCS)

n Spotted floating around the pits #1: Marcos Ambrose was in the Stone Brothers Racing pits over the race weekend. The Tasmanian is in the process of relocating to Queensland for 2001 as he joins SBR for a 2001 assault in the Pirtek Ford. B Spotted floating around the pits #2: Sprintcar ace Brooke Tatnell was in the pits at Bathurst on Sunday after Saturday night's World Series Sprintcar round was cancelled and also floating was Andre] Pavicevic, Pavicevic is keen to return overseas but a lack of budget may see Andre]looking for a drive in Oz. n Very mean Dean: Wrestling a V8 Supercar around Bathurst is a hard enough task in itself, but one without power steering is a nightmare. Dean Canto had that very experience in the '1000, losing the power assistance after just seven laps."He did a bloody good job of it," said team manager Terry Steer. The V8 Lites Champion will not be defending his title next year, instead running in the majority of the Shell Series rounds. n It was not only drivers bidding adieu to V8 Supercar racing at Mount Panorama. Kmart Racing PR man Chris Ord finished his racing commitments at Bathurst and will now pursue a career in documentary film making. 7

Traction control Is Mil Teams vote to end the seven year controversies of who doesn't and who does have traction controi...

THE FIA Formula 1 Technical Working Group met last week and agreed to propose that electronic systems be allowed in Formula 1 once again,seven seasons after they were banned by the governing body of the sport. Ever since then there has been controversy about illegal systems which teams were running and, in recent months,it has become increasingly clear that the FIA is unable to control the software simply because of the scale of the job. Some engineers argue that this will not have any great effect on the FI field as the major teams all have their own versions of the systems. The Ifechnical Working Group, which is made up of representatives of all the teams, voted unanimously to support a proposal which will allow them to do what they like with engines,transmissions and differentials. The only limitation seems to be that torque-steer systems will be banned. The recommendations will be discussed by the FI Commission when it meets in Monaco on December 7 and, if that body agi-ees, the proposal will then be voted through by the World Motor Sport Council. The FIA seems to be supporting the proposal as it can be presented as a useful step in improving road safety, strengthening the links between the sport and the automobile industry. The change in the rules will mean that the controversy that has dogged FI since 1994 will disappear. The FIA may still propose to adopt standard electronic control units for the FI cars, but it is unlikely that these will be accepted by the Commission. The other problem which could result is that circuits wdl probably have to invest yet more money in safety as the use ofelectronic systems will increase cornering speeds. The FIA will be hoping that the development of the systems will mean that there will be more technical differences between the cai’s and this should help to increase overtaking. However, there is a fear that as soon as the systems are perfected, the racing will become more processional than ever before because overtaking will be harder. This is debatable. - JOE SAWARD 8

by QUENTIN SPURRING

GIANCARLO Minardi has vigorously denied reports suggesting that his Formula 1 team is about to shut down, by declaring that the team's drivers, engine and sponsors will he revealed next week. Meanwhile, the Faenza team is critically poised. It seems that major shareholder Gabriele Rumi has this week returned as CEO because of the breakdown of the anticipated buy-in by PanAmerican Sports Network. Rumi underwrote the team's Cosworth Zetec-R VIO deal and the engines were badged as Fondmetal in deference to his company. Since Cosworth notified that it . could not continue its customer engine service into 2001, Minardi has been trying, without success, to locate a fresh source of supply. The PSN deal would have gone a long way to creating funds for the replacement engine and work on its new cars cannot progi'ess until the specifications of the engine are known. But Minardi says he is confident of securing engines, either Mugen-Honda or, perhaps, continuing with the Ford Cosworth units.

Mazza-AnrowB

IT seems highly unlikely that rising Finnish star Kimi Raikkonen, who Peter Sauber is intent on signing to replace Mika Salo, will qualify for the much needed superlicence. Raikkonen has just one season of racing in Formula Renault to his credit and would need to put forward a strong case if they FIA was to grant him a licence to race in FI. The FIA has done so in the past, in the cases of Esteban Tuero, Jenson Button and Gastone Mazzacane, although all completed over 1250 miles in testing. As part of the arrangement, the drivers had to also complete a full race distance at race speed to show they wouldn't be a danger to others. The FIA has denied a number of applications over the years, the most notable being Grand

Prix winner Sandro Nannini, who was judged not to have sufficient experience at the time he wished to drive for Minardi. Raikkonen is most unusual (although not quite unique) in that he has not even had Formula 3 experience, and it may be that the FIA decides that it has to make a gesture because the trend is now such that it can only be a matter of time before a kart driver tries to jump straight into Grand Prix racing. Raikkonen is 21 years of age but he has completed only 23 races in his life. Raikkonen has twice tested for Sauber and has recorded some impressive lap times. According to our sources at the FIA, Raikkonen is going to struggle to qualify for a superlicence. - JOE SAWARD

WILL Minardi's bad week get any worse, with driver Gaston Mazzacane expected to move to Arrows next year and take with him his backing from the Panamerican Sports Network? Mazzacane has done little to impress in the last 12 months with Minardi, but this has not dissuaded PSN, which wants to promote its TV coverage with a local Spanish-speaking driver. Arrows boss Tom Walkinshaw and Jos Verstappen have not been able to agree a deal to date and if Mazzacane appears with a large sponsorship deal, Verstappen is going to have to watch out as the Dutchman was overshadowed on occasion in 2000. Mazzacane may not be a match for Verstappen on the race track, but he will be a much cheaper option for Walkinshaw and this is something which Tom will take into consideration... - JOE SAWARD molorsport news

lapdi finished? And Bernie battles to save Italian team

This is the plan... Giancario Minardi and Gabrielle Rumi in better times. (Photo by Sutton-lmages)

Options unravel for Minardi

ONE option for Minardi Team could rest with the former Ferrari designer Mauro Forghieri. The accomplished Forghieri is a partner in the Milan-based Oral Engineering which undertakes various assignments in Formula 1, in addition to a range of motorsports projects in various other categories. It is understood that Oral has evaluated the possibility of servicing an FI engine program, although it has not been in contact with Minardi Team. Interestingly, after leaving Ferrari, Forghieri went on to develop the Lamborghini VI2 Formula 1 engine, which was raced in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was used by Minardi Team in the 1992 season. - QUENTIN SPURRING

FI boss Bernie Ecclestone has stepped into the Minardi drama by asking Cosworth to reverse its decision not to supply any further customer FI engines and to continue supplying the beleaguered Minardi team with Zetec-R VlOs next year. Jaguar Racing boss Neil Ressler is also believed to have encouraged the Ford-owned Cosworth operation to do the same, Ressler asking Cosworth managing director Trevor Crisp to take a more sympathetic view of the Minardi situation. Both Ecclestone and Ressler’s pleas to Cosworth are quite obvious in their intent, with both needing strong competition in the series to further push their causes. It is also believed Flavio Briatore has offered a supply of Supertec engines to Minardi, although this offer is said to come with the request that the team sign over Fernando Alonso’s five-year contract to Briatore.

But Minardi has its Leaseplan □ ■ ■

Spanish star Fernando Alonso could bring valuable cash to stricken team

WE hear that Minardi is likely to sign up the rising Spanish star Fernando Alonso, with hacking from the Belgian finance company Leaseplan, which is hoping to use Formula 1 to expand its business in Spain. It will not be the first time Leaseplan has been involved in Formula 1 having enjoyed a close relationship with Belgian driver Eric Van de Poele in 1991 with the

Modena team and in 1992 with Brabham. Alonso has impressed this year in Formula 3000 with the Astromega team and won the race at Spa. He has also been testing for Minardi and was quickly on the pace of regular drivers Gaston Mazzacane and Marc Gene. Alonso, who is managed by former Grand Prix driver Adrian Campos, is still only 19 years old but seems to be

Last chance to win! 24 November 2000

NEWS n There's no rest for the wicked, , or even for the Bathurst winners, with Jason Bargwanna and Garth Tander ready to tackie the final round of the No Fear Postie Bike Chailenge during the final of the Supercross Masters Series at Homebush, Sydney this Saturday night. The GRM duo will be pitted against fellow'No Fear drivers Russell Ingall and Steven Richards. Greg Murphy will miss the final, instead taking the soft option of heading to the US to test a Panoz. n The 'big bad boy' of last weekend's FAI 1000, Matt Neal, is working on staying in the British Touring Car Championship. The lanky Pom told us at Bathurst that a potential deal for 2001 recently fell through, but he's working on something to stay in the series. n With news of Korean car manufacturer Daewoo being declared bankrupt, it was interesting to see a number of representatives from a fellow Korean car manufacturer get a giggle out of their embattled colleages while in Perth for Telstra Rally Australia. It seems the location of Daewoo's Western Australian head office, at 1 Dollar Place, was enough to get a laugh out of even the most serious car company exec! n Roger Penske has given the strongest hint yet that he may return to the infamous Brickyard with his team next year, by again testing at the track last week. Penske driver Flelio Castroneves undertook the team's second test session at Indy, with many expecting the 10-time Indy 500-winning team owner to soon announce a campaign similar to fellow CART team owner Chip Ganassi's victorious one this year.

to he an influx of very young talent this year with Sauber attempting to name Kimi Raikkonen as its second

■ Is Stockcar racing in Australia dead? It would appear so as, after months of protests over no season at the Thunderdome by disgruntled competitors, a planned 'club day' on December 3 had to be cancelled due to ... a lack of competitors. Around 60 cars were needed for the event to succeed financially, but only 23 entries were received by deadline.

driver (subject to granting of a superlicence) and Giorgio Pantano expected to be signed up as a test driver by British American Racing. - JOE SAWARD

■ Al Unser Jr's 2001 campaign in the IRL will be backed by Starz Super Pak, the company a combination of pay TV premium movie channels in the United States. TV Guide will be the secondary sponsor.

ready for Formula 1. In the wake of Jenson Button's success there seems

One of 12 special ly signed and framed versions of the Fiolden Gladiators lift-out poster featured in our last issue. Flow? 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.

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home of

n |mol©rs|>orl] FIA World Rally Championship* ,Rd 14 Nov 26 .,.Great Britian

S10K fine for Ingall Rusty suggests consultatiori^

American Le Mans Series* .Rd 12

Dec 31 .. .Adelaide

Shell Championship Series VS Supercars 2001* Mar4

.Albert Park . . .(Non Championship) .Rd 1

Mar25 ... .Philip Island

,Rd2

.Adelaide

Aprs

Apr 29 ... .Eastern Creek

.Rd3

May 12 ...Hidden Valley

.Rd4

Jun 7

,Rd5

.Canberra Konica

vs Supercar Series 2001* .Rd 1 Feb 25 ...Wakefield Park ,Rd2

Mar 18 .. .Oran Park .... May 6 ... .Winton

,Rd3

May 27 .. .Philip Island ..

.R d4

FIA Formula One World

Having a word: Perkins and Ingall will appeal their fine. (Photo by Marshall Cass)

Championship 2001 Mar 4 ... .Australia

.Rd 1

Mar 18 .. .Malaysia

Rd2 .Rd3

.Brazil

Apr 1

Apr 15 .. .San Marino

.Rd4

Apr 29 . . . .Spain

.Rd 5

SOOcc World Grand Prix Motorcycle Championship 2001 * .Rd 1 Apr 8 Japan .... Apr 22 . . . .South Africa

.Rd2

May 6 ... .Spain ....

.Rd3

May 20 .. .France ...

.Rd4

June 3 ... .Italy

.Rd5

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

.Rd 1

Mar 11 ... .Monterrey

.Rd2

Aprs

.Rd3

●Long Beac h

Apr 29 ... .Texas ..

.Rd4

May 6 ... .Nazareth

,Rd5 .Rd6

May 19 ...Mofegi . .Milwaukee

.Rd7

Jun 3

FedEx CART Championship Series 2001* Feb 14 . . .Pomona .

.Rd 1

Feb 18 . . .Phoenix .

.Rd2

Maris . . .Gainesville

.Rd3

Mar 25 . . .Houston .

,Rd4

.Las Vegas

.Rd5

Aprs

Apr 29 . . . .Bristol

.Rd6

May 6

.Rd7

Atlanta

rten1

home of

[motorsport_ I I

All event dates in this caiendar were correct at the time of printing. Please consult any individual tracks and/or associations for date changes. B

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

PERKINS Engineering has been fined $10,000 after Russell Ingall's press conference outburst about back-markers. The Enforcer, responding to a jom-nalist's question, let it be known that he wasn't happy with the licensing procedure which allowed some of the lessexperienced drivers to take part in the FAI Classic. Privateer Richard Mork formally protested Ingall's statement to the Stewards and a hearing was held. CAMS'formal statement on the weekend's Stewards hearings reported the matter thus: “After investigation of the protest lodged by Richard Mork on Russell Ingall, the stewards found that the Perkins Engineering entry had breached the rules. “The findings suggest that comments made by Ingall in a public media conference were likely to bring motor sport into disrepute in the following ways: “By the reasonable inference that can be drawn suggesting that the sport tolerates incompetent drivers; “The reasonable inference that the sport is exclusive and not open for people of reasonable competence from all backgrounds and; “That the reasonable inference that the category can not regulate itself by the establishment and maintenance of a proper licensing system in the interests of safety of all competitors and the public. “As a result of this, the Perkins Engineering team was fined $10,000. Perkins Engineering have lodged an appeal against this finding, which will be heard on the

evening of Wednesday November

22.' Apart from a number of fines for passing under yellow or red flag conditions, the one minute Stop-Go imposed on Matt Neal after the Crompton/Skaife incident was noted, and also that a hearing is continuing into a subsequent pit lane incident involving FTR team members and the Morris/Neal car. It is alleged that a team member threw something at the Big Kev Commodore in pit lane after the earlier incident, hitting the winscreen and damaging the wiper... And, oh yes, believe this if you will: both Garth Tander and Steve Johnson copped $200 fines for speeding in pit lane - during the Top Ten Shootout...

RUSSELL Ingall has suggested that some of the leading V8 Supercar drivers be more involved in raising driving standards. At the Friday Top 10 media conference, Ingall said that their were too many "wankers" and "dickheads" in the race and referred to CAMS's "Kelloggs licencing system" On Tuesday, Ingall was a little more subdued, but still called for higher driving standards. "Motor racing is different to other sports: you would hardly expect to see a first-time jockey appear at the Melbourne Cup," said Ingall. "But Bathurst is our Melbourne Cup and it is of some concern that new faces appear for the biggest event on the calendar." Ingall suggested that the leading drivers could be consulted more in the lead-up to the race. "At these sort of major events, where there are drivers that are inexperienced or unfamiliar with the driving code Level 1 drivers follow, in respect to being lapped or overtaken in general, there should be discussion before the practice sessions, not after, when the damage is done. "Drivers briefings are normally held after practice, not prior to it. Maybe it should be the other way around."

BMW, Honda Futures?

IF variety is the spice of life. Future Touring racing could get pretty spicy in 2001. TOCA Australia, which administers the class, is considering having the regulations opened up to provide a larger variety of cars into the category in the future. BMW, Honda and even Volvo FTs, powered by Holden's 5-litre V8, are under consideration for the next season, Ray Sidebottom, who campaigns two Commodores for APS Racing, was considering running a 5-series BMW this season and is awaiting developments. "The 5-series is about the same size as the Commodore and I

think that people would like to see something different," he said at Mallala two weeks ago. TOGA Chief Executive Kelvin O'Reilly said that he would take the matter up of restricting the series to only locally produced car with CAMS in the near future. "What's the point of that?" he asked. "One of CAMS's points early in the piece was to make it as different as possible to the other V8 series." O'Reilly confirmed that he had already had approaches from competitors regarding Hondas and Volvos. Currently, Ford's EL and AU Falcons, Holden's VS and VT Commodores, Toyota's Camry and Mitsubishi's Magna are approved for the championship. motorsDori news

NEWS

ell, another Bathurst has been run and won in some of the most varying conditions imaginable. No-one would have thought that it could rain in one place for so many days, but in Bathurst it certainly did and it was almost as difficult getting around the back of the pit area as it was on the track. The mud and slush around some of the camp sites was unbelievable and I take my hat off to the dedication and passion of the motorsport fans that were camped in amongst it all. I also feel sorry for all the competitors in the support paddock that had to endure much of the same and were having to tow their race cars out of the tents to make the race. After witnessing all this, I should imagine it's about time that good old Bathurst has a bit of a make-over and a few dollars spent on upgrading these areas. The place has remained the same for many years and even though it has much historical appeal, the motorsport categories have grown too much for the facilities available at the present time. i the won't goas onthe tooprofessionally much about race written report in this issue will fill you in (I use the word 'professionally' loosely-only joking guys!). This is one that got away from the Castrol Perkins team, but as Larry always says, “it's an easy race to win, but even easier to lose. A very rare mechanical problem struck us during the race while leading. Many

Enforced Views ■lU

Rossell ingall

people were surprised because of the usual bulletproof car that the Perkins team prepares and typically, a mere $2 part cost us a potential win. With that in mind, we can't be too disappointed as we clearly showed during the rest of the race that the car was one of the quickest out there. One thing about it though; there is always next year.

ow 1 seem to have stirred up a bit of controversy (surprise, surprise!) about some comments made at a certain press conference. It never ceases to amaze me how an opinion of one person on a subject can be turned around and blown out of all proportions. As the saying goes, 'never let the truth get in the way of a good story.’ My opinion was that basically there was (and is) a problem with some of the driving standards and I had experienced problems in that particular qualifying session

which cost a potential fastest lap. I also expressed.concern about the safety issue of not only themselves but others. The unfortunate part was the way this was expressed by myself, thanks to the choice of two colourful words which are quite conh'mon in the Australian English language, and in fact one of which is even a name of a box of matches marketed by Dick Smith. I have to apologise to anyone who took offence to my delivery of this opinion, which looking back, could have been more tactful, which has not been one of my strong points. ■The funny thing is, if not for these two words, the comment would have received absolutely no publicity whatsoever - the media were only interested in the delivery not the content. Remember, Bathurst is one of the most daunting and dangerous circuits on the calendar and with conditions that we experienced on the weekend, will it take a major accident for people to realise? My opinion is echoed by many other respected drivers in the category but it seems, as per usual, I am the only one that makes a noise about it and also cops the fall-out over it. Maybe from now on I will keep my opinions to myself and probably will after this, as will the other drivers so that you, the motorsport public, won't receive any information or opinions from the drivers and will just get the standard, “my race car feels very good and I am hoping to win on Sunday.” Is that what you really want?

Let’s go to Tunisia IPETBONASl

Send maps: The FI circus goes to Malaysia, so why (Photo by Sutton-lmages) not Tunisia (wherever that is).

THERE could be a GP in Africa yet - in Tunisia. Karim Azuz, the president of the Tunisian Automobile Club, announced last Thursday that he has a project for a street race to be held in the Berge du Lac district. This is between Tunis and the port of La Goulette. It is close to the international airport and alongside a large lake. ■The intention is to increase tourism in the city to add to the existing tourist industry further south at Monastir and Djerba. FIA officials have already visited the city for initial inspections. The idea makes sense but the major problem apart from finding a free slot on the FI calendar will be to find the funding for the event although if it is to be a successful bid it is virtually certain that the government will have to be involved. -JOESAWARD

n While the Schnitzer BMW VI2 l LMR prototypes won't be coming to the Race of a Thousand Years, one of its drivers will be. American Bill Auberlen will drive one of PTG Racing's BMW M3s in the GT class of the race. n Expect an announcement after we go to press that Canadian Patrick Carpentier will stay with the Player's/Forsythe ChampCar team for 2001 alongside AlexTagliani. n Reports coming from the US indicate that Rick Welts is the man in line for the job of CART President. Welts formerly was president of Fox Sports Enterprises and before that was president of NBA Properties, having begun as a ballboy for the Seattle Supersonics! Long Beach promoter Chris Pook has declared himself out of the race. ■ With its CART program taking a battering following more teams switching engine makes, llmor will be preparing engines in the IRL for Kelley Racing next year. If Roger Penske runs the Indy 500, expect his cars to have llmor-prepped powerplants as well. The company will prepare the Oldsmobile Aurora V8, which has won every IRL since 1997 bar one. B The families of Greg Moore and Gonzalo Rodriguez have filed wrongful death law suits in San Bernadino County Superior Court against both CART and ISC. The suits cite negligence by both in putting up suitable barriers, or in Moore's crash's case, infield paving. ■ IRL-championship-winning team owner Ron Flemelgarn will run two cars next year. In addition to his 2000 Champion Buddy Lazier, Hemelgarn will run a car for veteran Stan Wattles, 39. Wattles' Metro Racing Systems team will move its currently dormant facilities to Hemelgarn's shop in Indianapolis. ■ Formula 3000 driver Andre Couto won the annual Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix last weekend as he tries to rebuild his single-seater racing career after an unconvincing period with the Gauloises Junior Team. Although officially Portuguese, Couto has lived in the former Portuguese colony of Macau since he was four years old and, so, the victory was a popular one for the locals, although it was rather lacking in spectacle as most of the race took place as a procession behind a Safety Car after a large accident resulted in the track being partially blocked. India's rising racing star Narain Karthikeyan set a new lap record in qualifying and started the race on pole. -JOESAWARD 11

Tasman Cup teams ready THE driver line-ups for the upcoming Tasman Cup in New Zealand are becoming a lot clearer. NEC Racing will field cars for Matthew Halliday and Andy Booth, while Emerson NewtonJohn, nephew of singer Olivia,, will make his Formula Holden debut in the two round series at Manfeild this weekend and at Pukekohe the weekend after. “The team ai-e really happy with the way Emerson performed at Calder (in his first test a few months ago) and he certainly displayed the right talent to drive competitively in a Formula Holden,” said Murphy Motorsport boss Kevin Murphy. “These cars are always a big learning curve for any driver not familiar with them but Emerson showed that he is up to the challenge.” Newton-John will drive the 92D Reynard driven by Tim Leahey in the 2000 series. At NEC Racing the line-up is all new, Halliday having run with Graham Watson’s team and Booth largely with Chris Hocking. The team has sent three Reynard 95D chassis across the Tasman and will debut a brand new lively as well. -AARON NOONAN

Eddie puts Putt up, so shut up JORDAN Grand Prix has announced a change its in management structure after a string of poor results dropped the team from third to sixth place in the Constructors' Championship. The team has appointed a new chief operating officer to run the organisation of the team on a dayto-day basis. Eddie Jordan's role remains the same as team principal with responsibility for marketing and sponsorship but for joint managing director Trevor Foster it looks very like a demotion as he is now left running only the racing activities. The new chief operating officer of the team is John Putt, a long time friend of Jordan, above, and was involved in the team as a consultant between 1996 and 1998 when he helped the team 12

T SPANIARD Marc Gene is the new test driver for the BMW.WilliamsFl team. The former Minardi driver replaces Bruno Junqueira, who will race for Chip Ganassi in Champ Cars this season. The 26-year old has contested 33 Grands Prix for the Minardi team, with a best result of sixth in the 1999 European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. Gene will be hoping to follow the example of experienced drivers who resurrected their careers by taking testing roles.

reorganise as it grew. It was Putt who suggested that Foster take on the role ofjoint managing director alongside Jordan. Putt will take up his new position in February when his cuiTent contract with management consultancy company McKinsey and Company expires. Putt has been involved in the automotive supply industry for over 20 years. - JOE SAWARD

Former Monaco GP winner di-iver Olivier Panis tested for McLaren last year, and will race for BAR-Honda this season. Former Benetton driver Alexander Wurz is now headed from Benetton to McLaren to take Panis’ place, while Ricardo Zonto, who lost his spot to Panis, is now Jordan’s test driver. AU three test drivers, and Benetton’s Mark Webber, are expected to start their testing programs next week, at the end of the FIA’s month-long November testing ban. - PHIL MORRIS

Gum aiming for Euro F3 THE son of American motorsport legend Dan Gurney is heading to Europe to further his career. The Formula Atlantic graduate is aiming to race in Formula 3 next season and has lined up a test with the crack Stewart team in

Britain. Gurney Sr said: “Alex has always felt that his final target is Formula 1 and that’s where he is going to focus his efforts in the future.” Gurney Jr, who was not available for comment,is expected to test for Stewart before Christmas, but is also believed to be pursuing options in the German F3 Championship. - GARY WATKINS

HRT spes THE Holden Racing Team has responded to the suggestions that they prevented Craig Lowndes from competing in the Race of 1000 Years at Adelaide. The team posted the following bulletin on its website last week. Motorsport News has not edited the text; "The Holden Racing Team today said that they were , extremely disappointed at press statements to the effect that they had prevented Craig Lowndes from competing in the Panoz sports car in Adelaide on New Years Eve. "HRT advised that when ! Craig Lowndes first raised this with the Team three months ago, he was informed that there were certain protocols that needed to be observed before consent could be given. Craig was very aware of these contractual procedures, as they motorsport news

NEWS n As we suggested last Autumn, Jacques Villeneuve and his business manager Craig Pollock are to be partners in a restaurant in Montreal. This is due to be opened around the time of the Canadian Grand Prix but, at the moment, the new venue-does not have a name. Villeneuve says that he likes Montreal and has been looking for an excuse to spend more time there. n The Irish police are investigating the possible link between street violence involving young men and their consumption of high energy drinks, notably Red Bull. The Austrian company is expected to sell 14 million cans of Red Bull in Ireland this year. There is currently no evidence to suggest that there is a link, but many believe that mixing vodka with Red Bull increases the effects of the drink.

GREG Mvirphy and Mark Noske will head to Florida next week to test the Panoz roadster they will drive in the Race of a Thousand Years at Adelaide. The duo wiU have a two day test at Sebring. “It is going to be great to get over there to try the car for the first time,” Murphy said. “I certainly have a very exciting couple of weeks coming up. There will be a lot of learn about the

Panoz because it is radically different from a V8 Supercar. It will be great to talk to David Brabham about it because he has driven both t3rpes of cars.” Meanwhile, Noske, who finished third in the Nations Cup series this year, has already driven on the circuit - albeit the shortened version. “I have waiting all year to finally get aboard the car and I can't wait to get to Florida,” Noske said.

“I raced a Formula Ford 2000 at Sebring at the end of 1995, but that was only on the short circuit. At least I will know half the circuit. “We arrive Monday night in the U.S. and will have a seat fitting on Tuesday morning before getting to drive the car for the first time that afternoon.” Murphy and Noske will share the track with regular Panoz drivers David Brabham,Jan Magnussen, Johnny O’Connell and Hiroki Kiatoh.

ks out on Panoz/Lowndes had been meticulously followed in late 1999 when HRT approved Craig Lowndes driving in an open wheeler series in New Zealand. "So that there should be no doubt about it, HRT caused a letter to be forwarded to Prancing Horse Racing (the manager of the Panoz car) on 31 August, 2000 pointing out that the permission of HRT was necessary before Craig could drive in the Adelaide event and that consent had not been given to that date. "No reply was received from Prancing Horse Racing and on 14 September, 2000 HRT caused a further letter to be forwarded to Prancing Horse reiterating what had been said on 31 August, 2000 - that is, that the consent of HRT must be obtained for Craig to race in the event and to that time, no consent had been provided. No reply was ever received from Prancing Horse Racing to either of the two letters written on behalf of HRT. 24 November 2000

"Most recently, HRT caused a further letter to be written to Prancing Horse Racing on 6 November, 2000 outlining the terms upon which HRT would release Craig Lowndes to drive in the Adelaide event and like each of the previous two letters, no reply whatsoever has been received. "The Holden Racing Team has done everything to attempt to facilitate a discussion whereby terms upon which Craig could compete in the Adelaide race could be agreed and despite three letters, no reply has been forthcoming. It is staggering therefore to now hear claims that HRT has refused to let Craig drive in Adelaide. "HRT is supportive of important opportunities for its drivers as evidenced by the Team underwriting a $1 million plus overseas F3000 racing program for Craig in 1997, HRT simply asks that it be given the courtesy of an

approach with specific terms in order for it to consider what is in the best interests of HRT, the driver and the particular promoter concerned. "The simple fact is that the reason why Craig is not available to race in Adelaide on New Years Eve is the failure of Prancing Horse Racing (or other parties to that agreement), to seek the consent of HRT within an established protocol and on reasonable commercial terms. That reflects poorly on the professionalism of Prancing Horse Racing and the other parties concerned, and in no way can it be said that HRT has been obstructive or unreasonable in anyway whatsoever in relation to this issue. "HRT will not accept being the convenient scapegoat when responsible parties don't exercise due care in signing drivers and then find themselves in embarrassing predicaments."

n There are increasing signs that Penske Racing will be returning to Indianapolis next year. The CART team was testing at the Speedway last week for the second time in a month. Helio Castro Neves conducted the testing, the previous test having been done by Gil de Ferran. n As if EM.TV was not having enough trouble on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange at the moment, the company has been named.as merchandising one of the 10 most dangerous toys in the world. The World Against Toys Causing Flarm organisation says that Sesame Street's medical checkup Ernie kit comes with a tongue depressor that could become lodged in a child's throat. n Loic Bigois, the head of aerodynamics at Prost Grand Prix, is still out of action as the result of a motorcycling accident a month ago which resulted in the Frenchman suffering a broken leg. Bigois's development work for the 2001 Prost has been taken over by his assistants and the program has not been badly affected. The team has just acquired a new technical director in the person of Flenri Durand, who was formerly head of aerodynamics at McLaren, and so Bigois's future with the team remains to be seen. n Minardi's chief mechanic Gabriele Pagliarini is expected to leave the team to join Prost Grand Prix. Pagliarini worked with Prost when the Frenchman was driving for Ferrari but he moved to Ferrari some years ago because of a clash of personality with members of the management at Maranello, Pagliarini is a highly-rated operator and his appointment adds to the trend away from French staff members at Prost. Before becoming Ferrari chief mechanic he worked with Joan Viiladelprat, who has recently been appointed Managing Director of Prost Grand Prix. 13

Britain’s biggest earner BRITAIN’S fascination for the rich has resulted in the highly popular Sunday Times Rich List, which features the people that the newspaper estimate to be the richest in Britain, based on their earnings and assets. In recent years, Bernie Ecclestone has been climbing quietly up the list and last March was named (with his wife) as the sixth richest people in Britain, with a fortune estimated to be worth around US$3.5bn. So popular is the Rich List that the newspaper has now decided to cash in, and has produced a list of the biggest annual earners. In 2000, Ecclestone comes out on top, having made US$878m by selling his 50 percent shareholding in the Formula 1 group of companies. This is based on the money he received from American finance company Heilman Friedman and does not include the money he made when he sold an early shareholding to Morgan Grenfell Private Equity. According to the newspaper, Ecclestone’s earnings are equivalent to 80,000 people earning the minimum national wage, and he earned nearly twice as much as the second person on the list, discount clothing magnate John Hargreaves. Ecclestone is expected to be close to the top of the Rich List when The Sunday Times pubhshes the next Rich List in the Spring of 2001, although much will depend on the valuation of the Formula One group of companies by then, based on what happens to Thomas Haifa’s shareholding in the business. Queen Elizabeth II was only 70th on the list of biggest annual earners, with an annual income of US$18.5m. - JOE SAWARD

Texaco files lawsuit i

.^eoYs

Can’t see your name... “Look Tom,see where my name is (Photo bySutton-lmages) on the list... where’s yours?’

Wilson takes first Champ Car ride BRAZILIAN Max Wilson,has taken his first ride in a Champ Cai-, with the 28-year-old last week undertaking the shakedown runs for new team Sigma. Wilson shook down Sigma’s new 2001 Lola-Ford at a test day at the Dale Coyne-owned Route 66 Raceway near Chicago, the Sigma team’s operation based in ‘Chitown.’ “I’m pleased to have finally got the chance at getting behind the wheel of a Champ Car,” Wilson said after the test. “I really couldn’t tell you what the car was like, but the engine was far stronger than anything that I’ve ever driven before,” he said, Wilson having actually undertaken a number of tests for Williams in the past. - GABY WATKINS

Spon

German Marcel Tiemann favourite to land Forsythe-Zakspeed CART seat

MERCEDES sports and touring car driver Marcel Tiemann is favourite to land the remaining seat at the Forsythe-Zakspeed Champ Car squad for 2001. The former race winner in the FIA GT Championship should land the drive alongside Bryan Herta if he impresses in a try-out test with the German team later this month. Zakspeed boss Peter Zakowski has admitted that he wants a German driver, partly to satisfy his sponsors. "We hope to have one German," he said."We will test Marcel jut too." but there are other drivers we will GARY WATKINS:

No Vassal' Mo Nunn deal yet DID we all the jump the gun a little? That's been the question on most motor racing scribes in the US for the last two weeks

as, despite it being widely reported that Jimmy Vasser had signed for Mo Nunn, no official confirmation has yet been given of a deal. However, with Vasser's options of remaining in the FedEx series in 2001 slowly running out, an announcement of a deal between the two is expected this week. Vasser has been offered a ride with his former CART team owner Chip Ganassi's Winston Cup NASCAR outfit, but resisted the option of moving to stock cars, preferring to run single-seater open-wheelers. While there might be seats available at Player's Forsythe Racing, Pac West and Patrick Racing, it is believed the 1996 CART champion's only real option is with Nunn. - PHIL MORRIS moiorsRori news

sor sues team

against Newman-Haas after Andretti leaves/da Matta hired

Crash and burn: Andretti’s departure and da Matta’s arrival at Newman-Haas has angered sponsor Texaco.

(Photo by Sutton-lmages)

NEWMAN-HAAS has found itself in hot water over the announcement that Cristiano da Matta would be replacing Michael Andretti in its team next season, with long-time primary sponsor Texaco filing a lawsuit against the team. Texaco’s lawsuit claims that its involvement in the team was dependent on Andretti staying for the duration of their five-year agreement, with the legal action’s outcome aimed at now ending their US$19.5 million per annum agi-eement early. “Newman-Haas’s actions clearly violated the sponsorship agreement,” the lawsuit alleges, while also claiming Andretti had all intentions of staying with the team. It alleges Andretti and Newman-Haas then failed to come to terms after the team failed to pay a retaining fee that Andretti already had in his contract. While not wanting to comment, NewmanHaas team sources have said they believed their contract with Texaco allowed for the naming of a replacement driver and they believed they would not be liable. The action, filed in a Manhattan court last week, overshadowed the team’s announcement of da Malta’s signing, as well as the recent announcement of a move to the potent Toyota powerplants - the Toyota deal ending Newman-Haas’nine year relationship with Ford. It also comes on the heels of Kmart’s announcement that it might be withdrawing their primary backing of Christian Fittipaldi’s car following huge financial losses this past year. -PHIL MORRIS

Patrick has the feeling

PAT Patrick’s Patrick Racing outfit has jumped on the increasingly bigger Toyota bandwagon, with the Missouribased team announcing on November 16 that it would switch from Ford to Toyota powerplants next season. The move ends a six-year relationship between the team and Ford, with Patrick joining Newman-Haas in switching camps for next season. While maldng a move in the engine department,team has retained the once Ford-owned Visteon as major backer and veteran Brazilian driver Roberto Moreno. “Throughout my career I have spent the off-season looking for sponsors, equipment and teams, so it is very gratifying to have everything in place and just have to worry about preparing for next 24 November 2000

season,” Moreno said of the news. “With a third place finish in the championship, our team had a great year last season. Hopefully, with the support of Visteon and Toyota, we can do two places better in 2001.” So organised were the team in their move that they tested a new

Reynard Oil chassis with Toyota engine, having received the two on November 11, at Sebring last weekend. The new chassis/engine combination pleased the team engineers, with Moreno completing 200 trouble-free miles during two days at the track.

NEWS Volkswagen’s Piech retiring eariy? THERE have been reports in recent days suggesting that Ferdinand Piech, the boss of the Volkswagen Group, is to retire early and will not be staying on as long as he could with Europe's biggest car maker. Piech has been the architect of much of Volkswagen's growth in recent years, but has always been against a direct involvement in Formula 1 despite a trend amongst other car manufacturers to buy teams. Piech is a great believer in racing improving the product in the industry, but has argued in recent years that there is no need for a Grand Prix programme, despite the fact that Audi has won in all the other categories it has contented, including a dramatic 1-2-3 victory in this year's Le Mans 24 Hours. The important question now is who will replace Piech as head of the Volkswagen group, with two obvious candidates for the job: FranzJosef Paefgen, the chairman of Audi, and Bernd Pischetsrieder, who is in charge of the Spanish compant SEAT. Pischetsrieder was formerly head of BMW and was the motive force behind the company's FI plans before he was ousted in a boardroom battle with Wolfgang Reitzle (who now heads Jaguar). Pischetsrieder has made no secret of his belief that VW should be in FI and has visited at least two races this year. He recently withdrew SEAT from the World Rally Championship. If Pischetsrieder is named as Piech's successor, it is highly likely that one of the Volkswagen brands will be used in Formula 1. The company is planning to enter Bentleys at Le Mans and may decide that SEAT aim to build up an image to attract a young and sporty audience is best suited to an FI programme. - JOE SAWARD 15

Wallace in at Bentley by GARY WATKINS

SPORTSCAR great Andy Wallace is in the frame for a drive in Bentley’s new EXP Speed in next year’s Le Mans 24 Hours. The 39-year-old Briton, who has yet to ink a deal to remain with Cadillac, has admitted that he is talking to the team assigned to run the British coupes in June next year. Apex Motorsport. “I have talked to them. It would be really special to drive for Bentley and it looks a good car,” says Wallace, who drove an Audi R8C for Apex’s predecessor, Audi Sport UK, at Le Mans in 1999. “We got the short end of the stick with that car, so it would be good to go back and do it properly.” Apex boss Richard Lloyd confirmed that Wallace was a contender for what is likely to be an all-British crew in one of the two cars entered. “A British superteam in one of the cars would be the ideal. We have had approaches from nearly all prominent British drivers. It seems that the Bentley name has got their juices flowing.” Another possible appears to be Champ Car refugee Mark Blundell. The former Le Mans winner has expressed an interest in returning to sportscars and it is rumoured that he has already been in contact -with Lloyd. Two more former British Le Mans winners appear not to be in the frame at Bentley. Martin Brundle has ruled himself out of a drive, while Alan McNish is unlikely to be able to fit in a Le Mans drive around his Formula 1 testing deal with Toyota. Veteran James Weaver looks certain to convert his role as Bentley’s primary test driver into a race seat. Aready the Bentley has been spotted testing, with the company keen to return to Le Mans in an already-competitive mode; trying to avoid the problems which plaqued Cadillac in its return to the 24hr race this year. 18

EKe radicalftontpast ^ngiiaed chassis was tested i a race^CTEGHit fbr^tKe first !?§M§?MWiêeken'& ' - The sportscar star reckoned l^the 'Brati|pbuj_lb:ear nr l n i- « I enormous potentiai” after :' t, a dri-ving jtin anger for theifest pihi%afc|ii:v;erstonebnsSatur%%-‘ jXv^verything about;it;is an>v:/^ ^njiproyementfromdast ye^.f n. paid theÂuskîaniiWho^wiilii ^ ^debuiMM eariiS next ;AmericanrLe Mans Seriesfinale'’ ^bnitbe streets ofAdetaide.i p “'ile drivîi|i% ofthe;new_ V. .. 'FanbzVS engine,isigreafeifs'i?', /yery progressiye- onitbetbrpkl^'. andfm sure that, by the tiffie we \' getlo> race-the- caS, thênplb swllsurpriseafew peDpl'e.;n;._ iêtrack was-raêl^da^^-. jand'cQid and we-weren't abi'e^*- êt any heat.injoithe tyresso^n^

Captured in oils, caught on film: While Bentley were quite keen for everyone to see an artist’s impression of what their new prototype EXP Speed 8 2001 Le Mans racer will look like, they won't be overly happy that you’re seeing these pics of a secret test session... (Photo by Sulton-lmages)

uii

BOSCH

Around the clock: Dyson Racing could run the Le Man 24hr next year.

-.3

NEWS

IMO BMWs for 24hr Adelaide

Thumbs up: David Brabham has. given the new Panoz roadster and its new V8 engine the thumbs-up after its first, brief test in the UK. The car will test at Road Atlanta this week.

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ig heads to Le Mans New cars and new direction for top US sportscar team

DYSON Racing, North America's most successful-sportscar team, could mount its first Le Mans 24 Hours attack in 2001. The winner of four major titles in three years, is eyeing up a campaign on the French enduro with the chassis it chooses to replace its ageing Riley & Scott Mkllls. "If whatever we purchase looks competitive we'll probably try to get an entry for Le Mans," says team manager Pat Smith. "Le Mans is a race Rob [Dyson, the team owner] is talking more 24 November 2000

about these days." The squad is evaluating whether to buy the latest evolution of the Mklll, the substantially reworked Series C, or the new chassis designed by sometime Dyson engineer Max Crawford. The Le Mans campaign would be part of a major expansion of Dyson's programme. The team will return to the American Le Mans Series, a championship it won with Elliott ForbesRobinson in 1999, at the same time as defending its Grand-Am

title with an eight-race programme. "Rob wants to face tougher opposition. We also fancy racing at some of the better circuits the ALMS visits," said Smith, who explained that six ALMS races are planned. Dyson's association with the original incarnation of the R&S Mklll will continue into a seventh season. The team will run an up-rated car at Daytona in February and could use it for the rest of the Grand-Am series. - GARY WATKINS

JUST a week after news of Craig Lowndes’ withdrawal from his Panoz drive at the ‘Race of a Thousand Year’s American Le Mans Series finale in Adelaide on December 31, another blow has been delivered to the race organisers with confirmation that BMW will not take part in the race with its Le Mans-winning VI2 LMRs. With rival manufacturer Audi claiming the title at the penultimate round in Las Vegas last month,the German marque now sees little reason why it should compete in the final race - it’s lead driver, Jorg Muller, also without a chance of winning the driver’s title. “Our decision takes effect immediately,” said BMW motorsport director Dr Mario Theissen in a release confirming their withdrawal. The 2000 ALMS season has been difficult for BMW, with much of the company’s motor racing resources directed towards its Formula 1 efforts with Williams. The VI2 LMRs were designed for the 1999 season and, although they took a number of victories during the season and proved to be incredibly reliable, speed and set-up deficiencies proved to be extremely difficult. The company confirmed they would continue with development of their GT division E46-based M3 entry, campaigned by Tom Milner’s PTG concern, with the likelyhood of Schnitzer racing two of the E46 M3s in the series next year.

Jag on the build

New Ford Motor Sport Campus receives building permits. New wind tunnel to be running mid-2002 by JOE SAWARD

JAGUAR Racing has secured planning permission to start building its new headquarters at Silverstone. The Ford Motor Sport Campus wiU be built on a 50acre site which extends from Silverstone’s main entrance down to the outskirts of Silverstone village. If everything goes to plan the work will be finished by 2003. The priority for Ford will be the Jaguar windtunnel and the Cosworth Racing engine facility, both of which coidd be operational by the middle of 2002. When the centre is finished, it is expected to house 1200 people. As part of the restructuring process under new Managing Director Bobby Rahal, we expect an announcement shortly about the appointment of Nigel Stepney as the team’s new director of racing. Stepney has been employed for the last seven years as team coordinator at Ferrari, but now that the Italian operation has won the World Championship, Stepney is expected to return to England. The team expects the new centre to help develop their racing programme to the point of being able to challenge McLaren and Ferrari. - JOE SAWARD

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We’ve found a new home: The entire Jaguar Racing, sans Johnny Herbert, will move into a new technical centre mid-2002. (Photoby suiton-images)

Phoenix rises for Searle VS LOOK for a new - a brand new - Commodore VS to be raced in the Konica V8 Championship next season. Ron Searle is having a car built around a new bodyshell in Mike Quinn's workshop in Sydney. Searle acquired the ex-Don Pulver Commodore some time ago and expects to have a car built in time for testing in the new year. "I can't see why a VS should not be as fast as a VT under the regulations," Searle said at Bathurst, where he drove in the GTP 3-Hour race. Searle has a long history with Quinn, having raced Formula Fords, Super Tourers and Production cars prepared by the Phoenix Motorsport boss.

MANME FOLD: THE ULTIMATE TRACKSIDE FAN-BOY KAcgtHAT WAS-SeVgJ A VtAbf vjotSRs OF VoV&Y WeAThlEi? A4' '/

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OUR spies in the US are suggesting that Jaguar could be on the verge of giving FI a big surprise by naming 48year-old Californian engineer Gordon Kimball as its new technical director. Rumoui's in recent weeks have current TD Gaiy Anderson on the way out as part of the revamping of management under new CEO Bobby Rahal Rahal has already hired US-based aerodynamicist Mark Handford to run the wind tunnel programme. Kimball has not been on the FI scene since 1991, but he is no stranger to Grand Prix racing. Having begun in racing in 1973, Kimball has worked with a multitude of teams and people, including John Barnard, McLaren and Benetton. Not a fan of FI politics, Kimball has turned down a number of opportunities since 1991 because the jobs on offer were not right and has kept himself busy running his own design consultancy business for a variety of different clients, including Dan Gurney’s Eagle Racing. The Jaguar deal would probably be the kind of challenge that Kimball would consider to be worth returning to Europe for. The team is expected to announce a number of changes within the next fortnight, probably after December 1 when existing contracts run out. The changes are expected to include the appointment of Ferrari’s Nigel Stepney as Jaguar’s racing director. - JOE SAWARD

By Allan Schofield

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molorspori news

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Waldmann to join Corser in Aprilia WSB? GERMAN Half Waldmann appears to be heading to the WSB, with Aprilia looking towards the former 250cc GP championship contender to join Australian Troy Corser in their improving Superbike squad. While not wanting to comment on the anticipated move this week, Waldmann was quoted as saying the chance of a WSB ride was on offer, although so too were a number of other options. "I would like to think that it would be a good move for me at this time of my career, but it is not the only option open, so I must make sure that what I do next is absolutely correct for my riding," said Ralf Waldmann. It is believed Aprilia is keen to add another bike to the WSB squad to help Corser speed up development. Despite running just a one-bike team, Corser and Aprilia surprised many with their competitiveness.

Ducati tests 996 Factory 2001 DUCATI has concluded its first two-day test session for the brand new 996 Factory 2001 at Valencia, with the speed and handling of the bike surprising the factory riders. Three factory riders, Aussie Troy Bayliss, Ben Bostrom and Ruben Xaus, tested the new 'narrow-head' bikes, with Bostrom labelling the bike the "fastest I've ever ridden." "This is the fastest bike I've ever ridden," said a satisfied Bostrom. "I immediately got a good feeling witfTthe bike," Bostrom said. “We've got some excellent reference data on this track and 1 was able to appreciate the quality and the power of the new engine." “We did an excellent job of getting to know the 2001 bike in these two days," explained Bayliss. "Especially on a track where we had a lot of reference data from this year's race and I was able to appreciate the qualities of the new bike.” 20

Kwaka tests 4 stroke GP bike WHILE the introduction of prototype four-stroke, 990cc Grand Prix machines will not happen until the 2002 season, Kawasaki are believed to be already well-advanced with their program, with rumours suggesting the company is already testing a bike in secret. The sources of the rumours are saying that the 'Green Machine’ factory's new-generation GP racer is already producing around 240hp at the back wheel, with testing revealing a major tyre-wear problem - a handful of laps at best being able to be run before testing is stopped. Kawasaki will join Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda in running the newgeneration machines, while a large number of European manufacturers, including Ducati and Aprilia, are expected to be rking towards four-strokg^^ijjT§phines

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Controversial, < Japanese rider / pack in Sepang to win first 200

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Four-stroke: Chris Walker stepped from Kawasaki to Suzuki last year. (Photo by AUSroRTi Next year he heads to the WSB.

Walker goes WSB

BRITISH Superbike rider Chris Walker has elected to skip on an offer to run in the 500cc MotoGP series next year and instead ride for Suzuki in the World Superbike Championship. Walker was thought to be headed to Aussie Jeff Hardwick's reborn 500cc Shell Advance Honda team, although a lack of funding there meant the Brit would have had to bring US$0.5m in sponsorship to the team - the ride never a reality despite Dorna's push for an Englishman in the series. Walker's WSB deal, which will see him riding identical Suzukis to lead factory riders Pierfrancesco Chili and Stephane Chambron, was brokered by British Superbike team boss Paul Denning.

Roberto'S deal a lock? ITALIAN Roberto Locatelli, who recently secured the MotoGP 125cc World Championship despite crashing out of the season ending Qantas Australian Grand Prix, looks set to stay in the 125 category next year. But Locatelli’s defence of his title in the 125s hardly pleases the long-haired Italian... “I am not happy about the situation because I was looking forward to racing in the 250cc class next year,” Locatelli said last week. It is believed Aprilia

management, who desperately want their rider to wear the number one plate in the class next year after facing a season of stiff opposition from Derbi, is behind Locatelli not being able to secure a ride aboard one of their factory 250cc bikes next year. Making matters worse is the fact that a number of Locatelli’s arch-rivals in the 125cc class are making the move up, including 1999 world champion, Spaniard Emilio Alzamora.

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moiorsport news

lies in tests

BIKES

HELMETS with a lightweight ADVAIVrTAGE

GARRY McCoy’s new teammate, controversial Japanese rider Noriyuki Haga, has made an impressive debut with the Red Bull Yamaha team and says he is aiming to win the first Grand Prix next season. Haga was the quickest rider on the Sepang track in Malaysia on only his second day aboard the Red Bull machine. Runner-up in this year’s Superbike world championship after the controversy of failing a doping test at the South African round, Haga improved 1.4 seconds on his first-day lap time at Sepang. “The bike was great and I expected to get such good lap times,” Haga said. McCoy, winner of three 500cc GPs this year in his first full season with Red Bull Yamaha and fifth in the world championship, is on holiday and did not test at Sepang. While Haga was quickest after two days and Red Bull Yamaha then packed up, Italian Valentino Rossi on a 2001-model Honda bettered the Japanese rider’s time on the third day. Rossi said the new Honda was already better than that on which he finished

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24 November 2000

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England: 3for 2001 THE British Touring Car Championship is taking a leaf out of the Aussie V8 Supercars Series by running three races at each round. Details of the new format, to be announced on Friday, are sketchy, but there will be a sprint race for each of the new-look championship's two classes, BTC Touring and: BTC Production, followed by a longer, feature

race for the best cars from each divison. Both the sprints and the feature event will be points counters, although the grid for the latter will be deterrnined by qualifying time rather than the results of the short races. The move has been designed to ensure that the teams running in the lesser category, for Super Production, cars, aren't forced: ouili^f Jhe

championship as grids of bespoke BTC Touring cars expand. John Heynes of the HTML team, whose team was involved in brokering the deal, said: "It's a way of guaranteeing a future for the Production cars through next seaosn and beyond next season if the Touring car class grows." - GARY WATKINS

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Brad; new AU in January BIG things are coming for Brad Jones Racing, with a renewed sponsorship deal from Ozemail and a new Falcon AU. Team Manager Kim Jones said at Bathurst that the Albury team would start testing its new car in early January. "We've learned a lot with the car we have and the new car should be on the track in about seven weeks," he said. The team was encouraged by the

performance of their current ex-Tony Longhurst Ford at Bathurst, Brad Jones and co-driver Tomas Mezera both saying that the team had made major improvements to the car. "We found something fairly fundamental in the car, which has been causing problems all season," Kim Jones said. “Brad and Tomas are both much happier with the car, so we have a better point to start from now." - PHIL BRANAGAN

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we congratulate Jason Bargwanna and Garth Tander on a fantastic win at Bathurst 2000! Well done to Garry Rogers and all his team at Garry Rogers Motorsport for their efforts in getting the car across the line. We would also like to thank our co-sponsor Cummins, Holden and Repco for their support. We salute you ail! We look forward to next year’s season where we hope to build on this year's outstanding success!

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OPINION people don't have much contact with the crew, while at Channel 10 you do, which is taboo at other networks. At the same time, I have been made to feel very welcome at the BBC and look forward to working with them in the future.

Motor Mouth wittlelgl DIffay

After a season chasing the World Superbikes all over the world, BBC andformer Channel 10 commentator Leigh Diffey returned to Bathurst last week to catch up with his mates in the V8 Supercar series.

I keep feeling that I must be doing something odd to the competitors. My first year calling V8 Supercars was 1997, the year that Peter Brock retired. Then I started to 500cc GP stuff and Mick Doohan retired. Now, the first year I'm doing World Superbikes, Carl Fogarty retired! One of the highlights of the must have driven up Telstra's year was going to Monza. To shares with all the phonecalls I walk in there and see this made before I headed off to the famous track in the middle of a UK a year ago. huge, natural park; that could only I started happen in Italy. about half way The old, banked through 1999, track, absorbing when I realised all the history, how much I the prestige of the year w as going to wanted to do it. being there... Monza. To walk in there I didn't do it and going to all because I of theSBK »id see this(amous wasn't enjoying rounds, track in the middle of a myself in travelling the Australia -1 had huge, natural park; that world, getting a fantastic job into the inner couM only happen hi with Network sanctum of the rr 10-butfelt I ltal)L.. teams, is a was young highlight all by enough and my itself. wife wanted to go to further her I hope to be able to stay on and own career, and figured I had do as well as I can and enjoy enough contacts to get me going whatever I can. over there. Everyone says that Formula I didn't find out about the BBC One is the ultimate and that that thing until two weeks after we is the pinnacle. I guess it is, but got to England. Barry Sheene there is a lot of other good helped me enormously there. motorsport out there as well. Motorbikes are my first love, but I have been very much t was terrific to get back to Bathurst. converted to four wheels, starting with Super Touring in I only really came out to do 1996, then the V8 Supercars. I Rally Australia, but then the love all motorsport, so long that opportunity to come to the it is good entertainment and it's Mountain presented itself. Ten's exciting to call. Head of Sport, Mike Audcent,

told me to turn up and he would find something for me to do. My role was to do the digital television coverage Ten ran concurrently with its main broadcast. Fortunately, that left me with a bit of time before the race, so it gave me the opportunity to catch up with all my mates and walk up and down pit lane and see everyone. After being the new boy on the block in Europe, to come back here and see my mates was like pulling on an old pair of boots. The V8 Supercar show is big. I saw a few new names on the entry list and it's great to see that they are still encouraging young drivers. I'm excited that Marcos Ambrose is getting a shot next year; Todd Kelly is getting a good go after pounding on the door; Nathan Pretty has got a great chance with FIRT. I really believe that Australia is getting it right. However, 1 think that at Bathurst, they need to work hard on the infrastructure. The place looked a bit prehistoric and the weather made it look even worse.

T'S been a fantastic experience working with the BBC on the Digital is the future of television. coverage of the World Channel 10 is miles ahead Superbike Championship. about 18 months - of everyone. One of the biggest things has With what they call 'multi been to go to tracks and see and channelling', you get to choose meet people you would only whether you watch in-car, the top ever see on TV, or read about. I of the mountain, or the originally thought that I might get mainstream channel, with to work for 'anyone and commentary. I think that people everyone,' but I never thought who love motor racing - people that I would ever get to work for who buy Motorsport News, who the BBC. To land that as my really want to look behind the first job overseas was great. scenes and look at the I've discussed it with a lot technical side of the racing of friends and colleagues and I will be really well can't say that the BBC is any accommodated by digital TV. better or worse than any other television experience that I 'm not quite sure what I will have had. be doing in the long-term. The biggest difference with Melanie, my wife, and I are the BBC is, while I have struck going to see how the up a very good friendship with European thing goes. my co-commentator Steve We have been in Europe Parrish, there is not the level about a year, and it has just of camaraderie that we had flown. We said just the other with Channel 10. day,"we feel like we have Mark Oastler talks about the hardly seen or done anything." differences between Channel The European thing was at least 7 and Channel 10; there's no a five-year plan - and one of ego, no rubbish, no crap with those years has already gone. the people in the Channel 10 Ultimately, we want to organisation. Greg, Mark, come home to Australia, and I Barry, young Gra.pt, everyone feel sure that the motorsport gets on famously, with scene in Australia will be as management, crew, everyone. strong as it is at the moment. I The BBC is a little different. hope it is and I hope that I can It's not bad, or anything like be a part of it. that, but there just is not the In the meantime. I'll keep family feeling. There's a Party like it’s 1999: Leigh Diffey discusses the vertical weather with 1999 Bathurst reading the news in the same different structure; the on-air winner Steven Richards. (Photo by MNews Digital) place you do... 24 November 2000 25

How to become a ot so many years ago a wonderful American writer called P J O'Rourke (and before you write in and complain about his political views, 1 mean that he writes in an easilyreadable and amusing fashion) published a book called "Holidays in Heir about some of the less charming places he had visited as a reporter. Life is not all Bora Bora and dancing girls with nice coconuts. Sometimes one has to deal with Sao Paulo. This is all part of the job, so one does not complain. You just accept it. This is the time of year when Formula 1 goes on holiday. Most of the world does the logical thing and goes on holiday when the sun is shining on western Europe, but the easy route is never one used by the FI fraternity. Why go by the low road while you can struggle on the high road? Holidays in November are a pretty silly idea, unless you go a very long way away and, after nine months of aeroplanes, FI folk would prefer to stay at home. But, here we are, it is November and there are tornados ripping at the heart of Bognor Regis and Harrods is in danger of flooding. If one was in the Seychelles or Mauritius, it would be nicer, but the idea of another departure lounge and another hotel is really not that appealing...

hich is probably not why I found myself sitting in a departure lounge just 12 days after I returned from Malaysia. Formula 1 really never stops. If there are no races, there are

awards ceremonies, and then launches, and testing. November is the only available time to do deals and, so, I was off to London to talk magazines. So there I was in the airport in the south of France, watching the rain teeming down the windows and ranting about British Airways being unable to fly me to London (where it was raining twice as hard). If I was a sane fellow, I would have gone to Toulouse and stood in a windtunnel and asked the people to throw water over me once in awhile... But no, I had to go to London and BA could not get the plane to start and all the airline people were running around looking like foxes with hounds not far behind, and pretending to be Serbo-Croat so they did not have to answer questions. They gave us all a sandwich (in fact, they were quite generous and gave us one each) and told us that they would find another plane. I muttered that I would be more likely to find the Holy Grail. To give them credit, they did find an empty jet and a crew to fly it and, once this had arrived, broken down and been repaired, it was off to London. We even arrived on the same day as they had promised to get me there. The British are a cold nation, but they are very good in a crisis. After the second plane broke down, people were laughing and

joking. There were some silly folk who were complaining, but everyone else was deriving some amusement from the absurdity of the situation. What was the point of doing othenwise? Yes, I had a meeting which was important but... ...anyway I got talking to a guy who asked me why I was typing when everyone else was picking their noses and smacking their children. Oh, I said, absentmindedly, I am journalist. I write about Formula 1. This is a bit like saying that you are the body make-up artist for the Miss World Competition and it usually begins a conversation along the following lines; “What a great job! How do you get a job like that?" I have always meant to have a glib response ready (I must ask a racing driver. They always seem to have a lot of glib responses to spare) but 1 tend to smile and say:"Yes. It is a great job. But it can be a bit tiring. It would be nice to go home more often". But one is not allowed to admit to this in print because, otherwise, people from dull suburbs of Sydney write in and rant and rave about how FI reporters should not complain. They are right. When they ask me about how to get a job like that, I always mumble something about taking risks, making sacrifices and working hard and the

"Most ot the world does the logical thing and goes en holiday when the sun is shining on western Birope, hut the easy route is never one used hy the FI fraternity

conversation moves on.

couple of years ago I was . _jsked the same question on a more serious basis. I had gone back to my old school in order to tell a bunch of 16-year-olds how to become a sports journalists. It was a fascinating experience. They were all young but you could tell the ones who would go places. They had a glint in their eyes. I told them that there were fewer jobs in the whole sports journalism business every year than there were people in the room and that everyone would tell that they should do something sensible like becoming a solicitor. And then I told them the opposite. Do it, I said. You'll never get anywhere if you do not try. When 1 was trying to decide what to do in my life, 1 had to fill' in a strange questionnaire which asked me to answer one hundred questions using a scale of one to five. Do you like killing people? Strongly agree, agree, not bothered, disagree, strongly disagree. That sort of thing. Once these things had been fed into a computer, out would pop a piece of paper which would 1ell you what you should become in life. Apparently, the multiple combinations of answers were able to identify who would be a fire-eater and who would be the Pope. Binary careers advice was obviously an inexact science and my results were rather alarming. The computer reckoned I was best suited to a career in adult education. As a kid who felt very much like a kid does at that age.

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this seeweiifaither stearage. M;©w can you:teach adults things when you don't know much about life? I said to myself - but only secretly. The Goniputer's aecOmd! choice was even imore amaziraf:: pninist6r(®f'religion'. This was amusingi but there was ene small probiem'. The test had npt included;the question of whether or not il had!any strong'religious beliefs. Snd while if had never actually'been a: d:evil-worshipper. :|; wonderediif it -was.:rea'% possible to(become an agnostic bishop Teaching :Eng|iste as a foreigni language was next on the list and, for about f© minutes,I thought of the pleasures of.living: 'in a batin co'iapitry tellng;sultry Tf-year^td:girls that the only way to properly learn a foreign language was with pillow talk, and then i: concluded that I would end up being chased out of every town by irate fathers. with sh'otgu'ns and'.pitch'forks.. and decided'that if liikedi the nojct twO'ideas much:better: diplomacy and journalism The first, Ithought at the time. consisted!of drinking: gin- and tonics and''beingi nice to people and'the secondiof and tonics,andibeing.' nasty topeople. "IThe rest of the list was much. as before. 'I would be a good' careers advisor it said:. :B'ut wihat future did:that hold if.a eomp'uie'r could'do it all! lof'me?'I was weJIf suited to teaching;and! researching in higher edueationto teaching in further education and'to teaching in secondary schools. It was all too much,|f

tea# always subseteteeeii'tc) the belief that those that eanj, and'those who cannot, teach. My list was rather short. The final insult was when this ewif device suggested thatil' would'be good!alipiab'tie 'relations Claspi ngi irny-computer'printout I! went to see the eareeps advisor "I think 'I mightibe a'journalist or a diplomat," I said blithely. Twas told in nS uncertain terms that'both'careers were far too competitive and difficult. Had. 111 thought about the Army-?No, thank you, l! said'. I thinkIf! like to be a- motor racing ijournalist. The Careers''Advisor Shook ill' bead.. 'If peopl'erdid'what they were told to db by parents and teachers, Man would never have climbed' Mount Everest or gone to the Moon. We would all have proper jobs and ordered lives and ho'spark in our eyes. I expect Mrs Armstrong once told young. Neil: "Oh no honey. don't go to the moon. It's made of cheese". If you chat with people in the Formula T paddock, you discover some wonderful stories about how they ended up there. If you want to know more, you should try to find a copy of Gerald Donaldson's book 'Grand Prix People' which wasipublishedin T990"by iMoter'-Raoing Publicatr@ns',. Wyf^'urite story is of a coll'eagu&who was ensconced in life as an academic when he discovered that he had cancer. His logic was simple: I: - am mortal. What do I want in ||'ife'?if.yyant to be .ai Grand Pfix

reporter.'-,Nk-dLel it. «e-VithaGle.>it andithe cancer went away.' l So, if you want to knowhow to do it, it is simple: you don't get anywhere if youido inot try; 5 hope that one'day somgoif <c0!iiii.es.riiiffp4pe:iiB:. coiufnoffladealNhe differenee,$willi be veryhappy. But it will: annoy-'ike: thatJhe'idannned! machine will haveiblen'iright again.^

ImpoMaKtfacts: To-be a'&aM Bilk repott&h you need a'le^en eye, shSifp’l' mind andsomewhere quiet to catch up-withdtl the news. Ttulso helps if-ypu have a tape recorder and know who,this blbke is below. (Plioifis.by SiiNoihlmages)

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Bobby Rahal

Bobby Rahal’s appointment as the boss ofJaguar Raoing surprised many not including himself. But Rahal, given his second ‘chance’ in Europe, is keen to tackle Formula 1 head-on. JOE SAWARD spoke with Rahal about his chances... to

Ready to pounce; Bobby Rahal wants results for Jaguar Racing in FI, and (Photo hy Siilloii-Iinages) he wants results pretty much straight away...

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BOBBY Rahal becomes chief executive and team principal of the Jaguar Racing Formula 1 team at the beginning of December. It will mean packing up his belongings and moving his family from Columbus, Ohio to rainy England, but he is making the move with enthusiasm. To Bobby Rahal, Formula 1 is unfinished business. He raced briefly in Formula 1 in the late 1970s but the opportunity to win passed him by. Now he faces the challenge of making it as a Formula 1 team boss, representing the Ford Motor Company. "It is going to be a very public effort," he says. "Similar to maybe a Ferrari kind of deal. I don't think it is at all like the Benetton situation, for example, although that may change when it is all Renault. "With Jaguar, the image of one of the major automobile companies in the world is on the line and that cannot be overstated. It is extremely important and you cannot hide when you are in that situation. "My biggest objective is to get the right people. No one man can be good at everything and if you

have to be good at one thing it is identifying talent and putting it in place and then getting out of the way and letting that person do the job. If things do not go according to plan one has to step in." Rahal says that he no preconceptions about where he will find that talent. He has already signed up aerodynamicist Mark Handford, who has been working in CART for the last 10 years and there are rumours that other Americanbased engineers will follow. Rahal is also looking in Formula 1 and rumour has it that he will soon announce the signing of Ferrari's Nigel Stepney as Jaguar's new director of racing. "I don't know of any series in the world that has a monopoly on intelligence," says Rahal. "I don't think that anyone has all the answers and consequently you have to look around. In any series there is great talent, good talent and mediocre talent and usually, when you are trying to build a team, the great talent Is ensconced somewhere else and so you have to look somewhere else." Rahal was a surprising choice . for the job - at least in Formula 1 circles. Bobby says that he was surprised himself when he first

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I’m Just going outfor some milk... Rahal.says hisfamily and Champ Car team, including Kenny Brack, are all behind his move to Europe.dSwtohyFmiMedi,,) moiorsport news

\amp%i heard the rumours because, at that point, Ford hadn't even approached him. "The first mention of it was when Derek Bell said it on a telecast from one of the FI races," laughs Bobby. "No-one had said 'Bool' to me. "Then people started calling up and asking me if it was true and I said 'Well, if it is, no-one has told me'. Shortly after that someone from Cosworth came up and said 'You know, you really ought to consider it'. "Obviously when Neil Ressler called me I had to entertain it seriously. There were a lot of decisions: especially for me

The first mention of it [Rahal taking over Jag] was when Derek Bell said it on TV. l\lo one had said 'Boo' to me...r#

I t

- Bobby Rahal because it is not like I am moving down the street. I have a family. "But they are looking forward to it. I think it will be a wonderful experience for them. My wife lived in England for several years in the late 1970s and we enjoy visiting England, so I really don't think it is going to be that difficult. "I have a very close relationship with Ford through the CART team and that relationship is very important to me. The team is running very well by itself. There is great management in there and they are doing better every year. "I spoke with them about [the move]and then I thought 'Well, I always enjoyed living in Europe and my goal when I started racing was Formula 1.' "I got there, but not for any length of time and I always thought that perhaps twas not quite ready to get into FI at the time. "But, anyway, I don't think that there is any doubt that when you are offered the chance to run an FI team, and especially one with continued on page 30 24 November 2000

ACUW

1 '29

Bobby Rahal hung out a lot at the time. We go way back. "1 knew Ron Dennis when I was in F2. He was a struggling team owner then... "I know Craig Pollock from CART and so on so I don't expect to have any problems with that side of things." Sources at Ford say that one of the reasons that Rahal was picked was because his CART team has worked very closely with Ford in recent years on technical development, notably with the Ford Advanced Engineering Center in Dearborn, Michigan. "I was told by all the Ford fellows that I was using that facility more than anyone else, even the Formula 1 team," says Rahal. "Racing loves to hang its hat on the fact that it is all about advanced technology, but people are people. I do not care where you are, there is always 'not invented here' syndrome and a lot of 'well, that's not the way we do it.' "The reality is that nobody has all the answers, but, as this sport becomes more and more technically-based, if you do not have these kinds of tools working

The view from up here: Rahal and Ford’s Nell Ressler let Bernie know the view from FI is better than anything else they know... (Photobysuiion-images)

continued from page 29 the potential of this one, how many times is that going to happen? "And if you have any ambition or competitive spirit you have to say 'Yeah, I think I can help. Let's go do it'. And so something that started out as a bit of a lark soon became very serious and was quickly agreed upon."

Rahal will look after all aspects of the team, except the highest level of negotiations with what he calls "big picture issues," but he will represent the team in all the meetings with other team bosses. "I probably know more of them than I do not know," he says. "When I was racing for Chevron in Formula 2 in Europe in 1979, Eddie Jordan was driving a Chevron Eormula 3 car and we

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for you, you are not going to be competitive. "Maybe the thing that I have to do is to protect the team from some of the projects. It is very easy for projects to become scientific exercises and for people to forget that we have to go racing next weekend. "I think that was the biggest task I had with the CART team. I had to ensure that what \X^e were doing with the Advanced Engineering people was something that would create results in the short term while at the same time understanding that some things do take time and you have to get them started. You cannot wish it to happen. "I think the FI team has to embrace those activities much more." Rahal is in at Jaguar for three years, but in his mind it is going to be a longer relationship. "It really all depends on my success. I think that if I do a good job, I wil l be here at Jaguar for a long time. My inclination is to be here for a long time, but, with the image and reputation of Jaguar on the line, patience is not a virtue any more. "It is time to create some results."

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Balhurst - Thursday

All work and \

Who’ll stop their rain? Defending race winners Greg Murphy and Steven Richards did a iot of waiting on Thursday, while those who braved the conditions, below, did so at their own risk... (Photos by Nick Wilson & Mark HorsburglVALLSPORT)

IT was fine in New South Wales - the week before practice started for the 2000 FAI1000... But, when it came time to hre the engines and go to work, the old Mountain was Just about flooded. Thursday was not as bad as it had been earlier in the week, when the pit lane was,in parts, under 40cm of water, b(l it was still notgreat. The track was useable, mostiy, but there was going to be only one practice session. There were going to be two, but after delaying the session, only 16 cars completed a single lap before a combination ofa radio breakdown between the officials, lousy visibility, unwanted puddles and a nasty looking crash on Mountain Strai^t brought proceedings to an early halt. niDtorsport news

^SHELL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

from Larry Perkins/Russell Ingall - by 0.0003s. The younger of the drivers in each pairing set the times, Skaife and Lowndes making fine adjustments through much of the session and feeding the information they gained to the #2 Europe car of Muller and Plato. Neither had much to report in the way of problems, dramas, whatever, with Skaife only 1.17s behind Lowndes in fifth overall. It’s not as like they were busting their boilers for the last millionth, though. That was all HRT had to report; the Young Lions car stayed put for the whole session. Best of the Fords was the FTR Falcon, but not the Glenn Seton/Neil Crompton car. Wayne Gardner spent some of the session on top of the sheets and, while the going was at its worst, was among the quickest cars on the track. Gardner-san was one of the first out on the track for P2 and, while he felt that the puddles were the worst they had been all day, said that the visibility was better than

Report by PHIL BRANAQAN IT was raining when the cars went out; not sheeting down, but steady, sticky rain as the pre-qualifying started, but only after some talk of halting the session in favour of allowing the once-a-year drivers to get the best of conditions. In the end, despite controversy (see “Even numbers or odd”), the session went ahead. Anthony Tratt and Alan Jones topped the sheets by, oh,just 5.2 seconds from Gary Baxter and Rod Nash. The 56th car, the #57 Commodore of kiwis Chris Butler and Miles Pope,failed to complete a lap and was out for the week. But, there was still plenty to watch when the big boys came out. Lap times varied from the 45s to the 30s with, when the chequered flag flew and the spray settled, the Craig Lowndes/Mark Skaife HRT Commodore on top of the sheets Practice makes perfect: Plato, Muller and the other Euros got vi ●re little practice

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ONE of the big downsides' of the cancelled practice session was the amount of track time that the visiting drivers would get on the : mountain. "The learning curve for us now is almost vertical'," lamentedi .’ Nlif's Jason Plaito. "This puts us, at a maj,or disadvantage for qualifying, which we , will have to use now as a learning session. ■ 'Ji'd rather limp around and get quicker bit by bit, but now, with the loss of time, that's b big ask. "If P managed tf get into the Top 14 after this, Til be chuffed." Mark Larkham was a. little worried about the affect the cancelled session would have on Alain Menu. " It makes it hard now," said' the 199& pole sitter. "Alain is a professionaJ and understands that the problem no.w is goingi to be ■ £ track time. With this, it may not be until the race that he will be |2 doing what he is capable of, but Tm sure that he will be on the '3 S' pace on Sunday.'' - PHIL BRANAtAfSl Q. 24 November 2000

I If

Wayne’s world: Wayne Gardner produced a little surprise by recording the quickest Ford lap during Thursday's first practice session (Dirk Klynsmith)

Best of the Fords was the FTR Falcon, but not the Glenn Seton/Aleil n Crompton car...

it had been in the morning. Jason Bargwanna was next. The Valvoline cars spent the first half of the session in the garage as the usually conservative Garry Rogers waited out the weather before a string of mid-35s as a semi-dry line appeared jolted the team into action. Tander went first; Bargwanna set the time, neither having any problems to speak of. Longhurst did most of the steering in the Caltex car in what was his final full-time run for the team. Co-driver David Besnard played himself in gently, having not driven on the mountain since 1996 and, then, in a Formula Ford. “The Formula Fords felt faster

around the Mountain because they’re so much lower to the p-ound,” he said. “I’ve been taking it pretty easy over the top of the mountain,just getting used to the blind spots up there.” Craig Baird was barely a second back in the other Stone car, while Simon Wills was about 4s back and comfortable. The team was a little finistrated, Ross Stone saying that he felt that his car would be the quickest “off the trailer”. Steven Ellery and Paul Radisich followed. The two 1999 co-drivers, again, had little to report; the Super Cheap driver saying he was pleased, especially with the fonn of co-driver Paul Stokell. Radisich and team-mate Steven Johnson spent the first half of the session watching, before ‘the Rat’ set his time in the #18 and handed straight over to Jason Bright who, continued on page 38

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Bathurst - Thursday continued from page 37

The Super Cheap seats: It didn’t matter where you were in pit iane on Thursday, water was absoiutely everywhere... End of an era: Lowndes began his iast weekend for HRT on a positive

note, the three-time champion quickest during Thursday’s one session.

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understandably, wanted to get some wheel time after his USA racing season. Johnson was 10th, 3s quicker than Cameron McLean. Right behind was Mai-k Larkham, who spent the first part of the session making changes and, once he was happy,Alain Menu was installed for the rest ofthe session (see “A long way from Europe”). Behind Radisich came another Ford. It was Jones - no, not Brad’s Ozemail car, but Alan,flying through the murk in the Toll AU aided, no doubt, by the fact that he had been forced to run some extra track time in the earlier session. What a brilliant driver the former world champion is, even if we rarely get to see him in action these days. But, when we think of the performance of AJ in the Stone car in the wet in 1996, maybe having him fly around Bathurst in a Falcon should not be much of a surprise. The Paul Weel and Greg Crick car was ninth,just ahead of the #17 Shell car. Crick running in the top six when the track was at its worst, while Weel set a faster time at the end of the session. Paul Morris and Matt Neal were 12th in the Big Kev VT, the big Pom getting the worst of the conditions. Closest pairing was the Brad Jones and Tomas Mezera duo, Bi-adley 0.2s faster than the former HRT driver, while the list of

drivers who failed to meet the 107 percent qualifying cut-off(at this stage)included Team Kiwi’s Jason Richards and the aptly-named Angus Fogg, Rodney Forbes and dual BTCC winner John Cleland, who got the worst of the weather in the W}mns Commodore. Also on the list was defending race winner Steve Richards. Greg Murphy lined up to take the car out for P2 after lunch, only to be stopped at the pit exit when the track closed. He drove it back to

the pits... “It was raining so hard, the car was filling with water,” he said. The shunt that ended the session was a nasty one. Melinda Price had just grabbed fourth gear on Mountain Straight when the Ultra Tune Commodore aquaplaned onto the grass. “I’m just pissed off,” said the shaken Price later. “There’s a bit there where the cars aquaplane on the first lap and then I got a bit further and it aquaplaned again. “We’ve got a couple of show cars in town, but they won’t be there tomorrow. “I’m on a first name basis with the TAPE guys...”[remember 1998]. The car looked bad, but was fixable. There was a lot to do on the driving front for Friday, with 50 drivers yet to crack a time that would let them into the race. Early days, sure, but the lack of track time would be felt as the week unfolded...

Even numbers or odd Ml?

for this situation and so the 32 ing with the Stewards. It really 'fyyidtN prerquaiifying started r would become 29 direct pre-qu was rather tedious. Surely ; therp w@s atweys going,tq,be qualifiers (from the Shelf everyone had better things to do... one car sent henne, and'so,it Butthat|isrpf 32|ipGfa^.^i " So cars SS-36 on the Shell list Series): That meant that a three ears ys/hichwere never ' proved when the Chris *' petition to make a change which were ,|he Gatorade, Butler/Miles Pope Commedgire,' going t© appear ih the race; the Nash and Toll entries - had to hampered by electrioal " -John Deere car^^bvy tR^' require .the unanipiouB endure'pre-quaiifying. problems, failed to complete a ,Kev VT), the Mezera car (Tomas T support of the other teams, As it turned out, therg was np. lap and headed for the truok. was sharing Brad Jones' Ford) Whiciididin't happon. But there was controversy as and CHil’ls Smerdon's VS, hgyy'., har.rin done,mo,#*Tiage,*h'o fgfil: Apparently, there was one abstention and one Vote that we'll. Forty-two cars were n n sOlfto Rose. b.iilf the decision did look a jllttle Ghanged frorh positive to ,,.0'dd, especially when - haying' seeded’straight iinto, the race (32 _ So, the ne:«t three ears On the frohii the Shell series, 8 fr®%i Shell resuHs list wauld move'up negative late in the pie.ce. p:re-qua'lified -former world kites and two wildcards team in the rec(conlng, right? vyrorig. It got quite nasty, with angry champ Alan Jones topped some words at AVESCO Boardklfwel.and . oT tpp first ipractipe session ip '.Kiyyi<and Mai Rose'I? as per the AVESCO spoke; the regs for the Ml Fale'oiii,.. , l^ofetiggljy leaving the meeting made no allowance some Vbry strange to-lnpaildfromoiorsRon news 36

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Bathurst - Friday

r^ A

The Zen Master: Mark Skaife left made the most of Friday’s opportunities to record the quickest qualifier, giving him last shot at pole during Saturday’s shootout. It’s a start: Tony Longhurst below put the Caltex Havoline SBR Falcon into the top 10, although was as low as 15th at one point during qualifying. (Photos by Dirk Klynsmith)

Live it.

Repoft by PHIL BRANftGAN

T doesn’t take much to get Mark Skaife to perform what mere mortals would consider to be miracles at Mount Panorama. When it came time to go for it in qualifying, the HRT qualifying maestro waited for a break in the weather and pounded the field, running a lap time which, at the time, was 2.2s faster than the rest of the field. While others copped traffic, Skaife found a gap, a clear run and made it pay. There was only one chance - the next lap he too got baulked... Paul Radisich and Glenn 38

Seton gave chase, narrowing the gap as the minutes ticked off, but some red flag work and a return to murky weather conspired to keep dry running to a minimum,ensuring Skaife rode into the Saturday Shoot out in prime position. The Top 10 looked, pretty much, as you would expect, after the surprises came in the morning practice session, held on a drying track. Greg Crick continued his top fonn fi-om the Queensland 500 by leading the morning times, while Alan Jones again reminded us that he has blazing speed by bouncing a number of potentially faster cars in the Toll Falcon.

The practice session wasmorning one of those wet-dry classics with a bit of eveiything, except carnage. There were even red flags,for off-track excursions from Paul Morris, Steve Ellei^ and Christian Murchison, and a diy line appeared just as the last halfhour started. In the wet, Skaife set the early pace, Tony Longhurst was the first driver to beat Thm’sday’s best time and the conditions started to put slicks in the minds of the team managers. “It’s ALMOST there,” said Jason Bargwanna after 45 minutes. “It’s still damp on the top, but down here, it’s slicks.” So, we waited for the times to tumble.

They did; John Bowe was the first into the 2m20s,just as the second red was about to fly. But Alan Jones, early onto slicks as he usually is, bounced him at once.

With drizfe starting down the bottom, the field lined up for the final 10 minutes of the session. Remarkably,it was Crick who topped the times, the Tasmanian soaring around in 2ml8.2251s to take fastest time. It was no fluke, either. The former Sports Sedan champion had been as high as third on wets and described the PWR Falcon as “beautiful.” “I don’t mind slippery conditions,” he said. “This is the first time I’ve been on top of the sheets at Bathurst - if the conditions are the same later, I

motorsport news

^SHEll CHAMPIONSHtP StBtES reckon we can repeat it...” But fortune changes fast. When Crick went out to qualify in the afternoon, he found a backmarker turning across his path and tagged a wall. The Falcon limped in with a flat and didn’t get a clear run for the rest of the session, qualifying 15th. One of the odd features of the results were that, even with all three cars on the track, there were no HRT Commodores in the top 10 in practice. The Lowndes/Skaife car ’Ere, who’s this then?: Having surprised in Queensland with a top 10 qualifying spot, Greg Crick actually topped the sheets in Friday’s practice left. Not being able to get a clear run in quaiifying, Crick and Paul Weel eventually started 15th. Air of confidence: Paul Radisich and the DJR Shell Helix team be/oivcame to Bathurst expecting to win. Second in qualifying didn't hurt their chances either... (Pholos by fwlark Horsburgh & Nick Wilson/ALLSPORT)

stopped with a reported split oil line (which turned out to be a great deal more major than that; an engine change happened), while the Muller/Plato #2 car and the Young Lions concentrated on longer runs to make up for lost time from Thursday. The news wasthe that there wasgood no rain when qualifier (which was combined, sending all 55 cars on the track at the same time) started. After about 15 minutes, during which a drying line started to appear, Skaife(who did a single,‘installation’lap first up)bolted on fresh rubber and went out. At this stage of proceedings Bargwanna had the fastest time of the session, but Skaife killed his time stone dead; it was a 2mll.8882s effort, about 2.2s quicker than anybody else was. The Game,such as it was, looked over. “I was on fresh tyres a bit earlier (that the opposition),” he said later. ‘You basically had to put rubber on and keep doing qualifying laps, in case it rained again.” But the chasers were coming. Radisich got onto his green tyres a little after the #1 car and came closest after being bumped out of the 10 temporarily by Steven Johnson (!), the Kiwi responding straight away and getting within 0.13s of provisional ‘pole’. And he didn’t seem to care a bit. The whole team had the air of an outfit which was here to win the race. The big improver was Seton. After spending much of the session behind the second FTR car on the timesheets(Wayne Gardner looking constantly impressive), he finally bagged a clearish lap to leap continued on page 41

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After you, no you... A range of names headed the timesheets as a wet track amazingly quickly became a dry track 20 minutes into qualifying. The timing screens dissolved into a constantly moving mosaic of rapidly changing times as a 2m23s best became a 2m14s in a period of not much more than a minute as the first cars to switch from wets to slicks got some heat into their rubber. Bowe (2m23s) and Kelly had a turn at the top, followed seconds later by Michael Donaher - a huge, but brief moment in the sun (2m22s)- then Steve Reed (2m21s). Hardly had that registered than Steve Johnson sliced in with a 2m18s, Radisich a 2m16s seconds later, before Skaife brought the show to a halt with a blistering 2m14s, which remained the mark for a whole seven minutes until Bargwanna sliced a tenth off it. Ingall went a hundredth or two better to take over top spot and then Skaife nailed it with his 2m11.88 just five minutes later. At that point, no one else was within 2.2 seconds of the #1 red car... - CHRIS LAMBDEIM

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continued from previous page to third, which was good news considering that the set-up was a bit of a guess. “It’s really hard to know when you run around in the wet what the car’s going to be like in the dry,” Seton said later. Any chance of reloading and taking another shot was ended by a couple ofred flags and then Huey. With about 20 minutes left in the session, the rain came again. Much of the field went out to trail around, but the fight for pole was finished. Fourth was Ingall. Rusty hogged the car for most ofthe session, with Perkins only getting in some wet laps at the end ofthe session (during which he was actually

:do-.

On the second day God said “Let it shine on the mountain...” Mount Panorama did see some sunshine, albeit for a few brief moments above. Shining light: Alan Jones showed he’s not finished yet, surprising with his speed in Anthony Tratfs Toll AU Falcon left. (Photos by Mark Horsburgh & Nick Wilson/ALLSPORT)

mnning first until Greg Ritter set the time); and the Castrol youngsters were 40th, the drivers talcing it sensibly and steadily. There were several drivers, and cars, at the mercy of the discretion of the organisers. Notably, Cameron McConville missed the

slower than he had been on Thursday). Ingall’s big complaint was traffic. The combined 55-car session was too much and he had problems getting clear laps. Later, he verbally rifled the tailenders and the ‘Kelloggs licensing system,’Skaife backing him up by asking what the final 10 cars brought to the race in terms of spectator interest... Larkham’s set-up work paid off for fifth, the Mitre 10 man running all of the diy laps except for one, which was all Alain Menu got before red flags, weather of(again) tailenders. Garth Tander was next, Bargwanna having done the hard yalcka in the damp,two tenths clear of Longhurst, who had the Caltex AU all to himself until David Besnard went out at the end of the session, ■rhe SBRs spent some time adjusting the rear suspension as thS'conditions changed, Longhurst jumping up the order after being as low as 15th. Gardner (“I’m starting to understand this car a bit now”) made it two FTR Falcons in the Top 10, just ahead of Todd Kelly (a trouble-fi-ee session) and Johnson, who sat on the ‘bump spot’ while the drizzle fell. Just missing the 10 was Greg Murphy. The Kmart car was on the 24 Houember 2000

money, but the defending race winner was on the rev limiter after strildng (almost literally, in some cases) traffic on almost all of his fast laps. 'Two of the laps downloaded by the team had The Murf 1.8s or better quicker to the Elbow, but both were ruined by traffic - one by a red car with a ‘1’ on it (no, not Skaife) on the line and on the way into the pits... “All I had to do was drive through the Chase,” Murf said afterwards. “We coifid have been fourth.” Still, he was one position up on where he started in 1999... Also outside the Top 10 were some major names; the HRT Euros were 19th, Jason Plato besting Yvan Muller, while the Bowe/Richo CAT Falcon was 13th after a strong morning. “We needed to give Richo some laps in the cai-,” a CAT team spokesman said. “Unfortunately, that was when the track was at its best...” Sandown race winner Steve Ellery was a reasonably content 12th; Faulkner 16th in the Asia OnLine Commodore; Craig Baird was 21st, having nm all the session in the Pirtek car and having a good fast lap wasted when Ross Halliday zoomed off at the Chase and hauled mud back onto the track; the second Valvoline car was 30th (Tim Leahey

cut, having a con-rod break in the DelphiAVynns Commodore after only four laps, while co-driver Geoff Brabham had no official time in the car at all. Both looked safe; after all, McConville had finished second in 1999 and Brabham was a Le Mans winner...

THE arrival in 'the West Island' of Teann Kiwi caused many ripples at Mount Panorama. Jason Richards and Angus Fogg had never been to Bathurst in a V8 Supercar (and Fogg never in anything) and found their arrival in the race a real eye-opener. "You're pretty wel l committed and it's still hard work," said Richards, who had mountain experience in BMWs before. The team looked sensational, with team uniforms and posters and an immaculate, ex-Perkins VT (mind you, pitting next to Richard Mork's team didn't hurt) and was well received by the locals, even when Richards banged the car in qualifying. "The car (the Gazzard/Crick Commodore) spun in front of me. I was trying to slow down and give it some space before I started my lap, and I caught the

car at the start of the lap at Murrays. "I saw him go. I went inside and he rolled back onto the track. I went hard right, then left and caught its front right, which is still better than T-boning it, which is what I was going to

db'...

"Wrong place, wrong time." Richards reported to his team, changed into his civvies had a brief chat with his crew before heading off to TAPE to see his car. "It was already on the chassis jig. It's pretty impressive." Richards and Fogg will be a regular fixture in the 2001 Shell Championship Series. Welcome to The Show, lads. We won't dare mention who holds the World Cup for rugby, or cricket, or.. . - PHIL BRANAGAN 41

Baihursl - Ton 10

Remember

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Top 10

Gardner Johnson Skaife Larkham Radisich Seton

Longhurst Kelly Ingall Tander

2:28.3844 2:29.6150 2:30.6720 2:31.6161 2:32.0009 2:32.8572 2:33.3617 2:37.3280 2:43.5516 2:55.7286

Reign, Gardner: Gardner continued his stunning form in the Shoot-Out, taking pole amid all the chaos. He was unhappy when the lap ended - but not when Skaife qualified third, right. (Photos by oirk Kiynsmith and Marshall cass) THE traditional Top 10 Shoot out for pole position usually provides a great deal of entertainment, but there was little to compare with the 2000 version which saw some things which we are not used to at Mount Panorama. In reasonable succession, Todd Kelly, Tony Longhurst, Garth Tander and Russell Ingall all went off at the Chase in the drizzly conditions, ruining any chance they had of getting on the front of the grid. At least Longhurst managed the trick on his out lap and had a chance to recover. When the mud cleared, Wayne Gardner emerged fi'om the pack to take pole position from Steven Johnson, both dtivers feeling that mistakes would leave them stranded, but their mistakes turned out to be the smallest ofthe group.

THERE was talk ofthe rain easing for Saturday but, as the cars rolled out for the warai-up, that was all it was; talk. It was raining, not hard, but steady, as nine cars rolled out for the warm-up, Mark Skaife joining in late after the reds attended to a sticky thi’ottle in the HRT Commodore. Ingall topped the times at the end of the session, fi-om Gardner, Larkham and Radisich. By the time that the cars were ready for the off, any chance of having even a semidiy line was washed away. Johnson was out first, and started badly. “I missed the apex at Mun'ays by, oh, 20 feet,” he said afterwards, but the rest ofthe circuit was smooth for him and he parked without any further chaos. Kelly looked neat, if a little twitchy, throughout the lap, but

I went into the Chase too hard, went wide and/osf kept it on the road hy a hee's dick"

- Wayne Gardner then he got to the Chase. The brakes locked and off surfed the Lions car, Toddler ploughing across the grass and losing about 8s before he regained ten-a firma. That seemingly sentenced him to 10th, but more was to come... Gardner surged up the hill, threatened the wall at the Cutting, and earned plenty of speed up the hill. The FTR car was not perfect, and neither was the lap, Gardner

running wide at the di-eaded Chase. “I went into the Chase too hard, went wide and just kept it on the road by a bee’s dick,” said the straightfomard Gar-chan later. He was not happy with the lap. The team was delighted that the car' was notjust in one piece, but clean, even. Happier news followed. Evidence ofjust how diabolical the Chase was came next. Longhurst skated off on his wannup lap, the Caltex AU spuming its rears for a while before he regained

Swamp Things: Longhurst, Tander and Ingall were among the Chase Aces who tried the mud during the Top 10. (Pboior.byjohnMo,nsJMpix) 42

niotorsport news

QUICK MICK

While the Pros were battling it out, Mick Donaher and Tyler Mecklem had 30 seconds ofglory on top of the time sheets.

THERE was no doubt which team was the revelation of Qualifying - the Ultra Tune/TDK/Valvoline squad, Mick Donaher and Tyler Mecklem at the wheel, nabbing a superb 14th. The tightly budgetted privateer team has undergone a number of significant changes over recent months - and you'd have to say that the change was for the better. Apart from the acquisition of Larry Perkins' 1999 Queensland 500-winning VT (brought out of mothballs by LP at Calder this year), experienced spannerman Bob Tindal has also joined the squad and was revelling in the team's performance: "It's so great to work with what is a current car," he beamed. "We got the car complete from Larry, including the latest shock stuff, and it’s been great. He's been a great help. "Mick and Tyler were within a tenth or so of each other in the wet, so I reckon we're looking quite strong..." Donaher had piloted the car for Qualifying and at one stage headed the times: "We took a photo of the screen - we led for at least 30 seconds!" As the pro teams warmed to the task the green Commodore dropped down out of the Top Ten, but 14th was a big effort: "We're surrounded by million dollar teams..." quipped Tindal as the team fitted a fresh Perkins engine and gearbox for race day. - CHRIS LAMBDEN

Amazing Things: Donaher dazzled in cjualifying. innabyOirkKiymmm

^SHHi CHAMPIONSHIP SiBliS the track. For a moment, he looked like a mug. But he kept going and drove a clean if, understandably, sensible lap. It was a 2m33.3617s lap, which would be good enough for seventh. The mug looked like a hero. Tander took out the Valvoline car and was quick, neat and fast - until he got to the Chase. “There was a river lamning across the Chase,” explained Garth. “I just... locked

up.

In a trice, he was history. It took a long time for the car to get back to the pits, Tander looking slumped as he headed for the garage. By now, the rest ofthe drivers must have been having kittens. Larkham wanted to make it two in a row but wasn’t going to tiy anything silly. The drizzle was getting heavier and, under the circumstances, it was no surprise to see the 1999 pole man prioritise getting the car home in one piece. Russell Ingall was still Russell Ingall. The Castrol VT hammered up the hill and twitched over the top, making the

Rusty, there went pole. The Perkins computer told all; the speed ofthe car to Forrest’s Elbow showed that the lap would have been a 2m26.5, almost 2s faster than Gardner. Instead, he was ninth. Seton missed a gear as the lap started, but the FTR car ran clean and fast, with a 2m32.8572s to go sixth. With one Shell car at worst third, Radisich went out. The lap was not perfect but the result was okay, with fifth in the bag. What were,in the minds of many,the two‘number 2’Falcons, Gardner’s and Johnson’s, were ahead of their number Is. Skaife bunny-hopped the car up pit lane to try to get the rears a little warmer, and his lap was one to watch for its efficiency. He also gave the Cutting wall a close examination but the rest of the track was too wet. The result, third, was terrific under the circumstances. But that was that; after a whole day’s testing at Phillip Island, Wayne Gardner was on pole.

Practice and’Qualifying Results POSNO DRIVERS CAR THURS PRE-QUAL THURS PRAC 1 1 Skaife/Lowndes HRT Commodore VT 2:30.7609 2 18 Radisich/Bright Shell Helix Falcon AU 2:33.1043 3 5 Seton/Crompton FTR Falcon AU 2:35.6124 4 11 Perkins/lngall Castrol Commodore VT 2:30.7612 5 10 Larkham/Menu Mitre 10 Falcon AU 2:33.4706 6 34 Tander/Bargwanna Valvoline Commodore VT 2:31.9381 7 9 Longhurst/Besnard Caltex Falcon AU 2:32.6446 6 Gardner/Bates FTR Falcon AU 2:31.2966 9 15 Kelly/Pretty MyCar Commodore VT 10 17 Johnson/McLean Shell Helix Falcon AU 2:33.4629 11 7 Murptiy/Richards Kmart Commodore VT 2:34.6240 12 31 Ellery/Stokell 2:32.6877 Super Cheap Falcon AU 13 600 Bowe/Richards CAT Falcon AU 2:33.9274 14 50 Donaher/Mecklem Ultra Tune Commodore VT 2:37.1511 15 43 Weel/Crick K&J Thermal Falcon AU 2:33.4572 16 46 Faulkner/Macrow Asia Online Commodore VT 2:37.1043 17 75 Tratt/Jones Toll Falcon AU 2:43.7459 2:33.3946 18 29 Morrls/Neal 2:33.7469 Big Kev Commodore VT 19 2 Muller/Plato HRT Commodore VT 2:35.5664 20 21 Jones/Mezera OzEmail Falcon AU 2:34.6555 21 4 Baird/Wills Pirtek Falcon AU 2:34.4966 22 28 Forbes/Cleland 2:41.9037 Wynn's Commodore VT 23 777 Richards/Fogg Team Kiwi Commodore VT 2:41.9005 24 500 Heath/Finnigan Fasta Pasta Falcon AU 2:52.1290 25 16 McDougall/Miedecke Pepsi Commodore VT 2:37.5906 26 22 Peters/Bates Colourscan Falcon AU 2:58.5930 27 12 Parsons/Hossack Kmart Commodore VT 28 76 White/Owen 2:39.5265 Challenge Commodore VS 29 3 Reed/Ashby Lansvale Commodore VS 2:35.3861 30 35 Ritter/Leahey Valvoline Commodore VT 2:42.4081 31 45 Canto/Moncrieff BMC Software Falcon AU 2:45.0776 32 96 McLeod/Wakefield Chiko Commodore VS 33 24 Romano/Parsons 2:44.5587 Forsyth 8t Romano Commodcre VS 2:51.1278 34 14 Crick/Gazzard 2:55.6008 2:42.3824 Carplan Commodore VT 35 20 HoltWillmington Eastern Creek Karts Falcon EL 2:42.5054 36 44 Rose/D'Agostin Logical Commodore VS 2i37.5626 37 26 Cotter/Doulman Gatorade Commodore VT 2:56.9635 2:42.1931 38 23 Full/Scifleet Lansvale Commodore VS 2:38.4828 39 59 Crambrook/Baxter Team South Australia Falcon EL 2:48.9927 2:39.8552 40 Youlden/Murchison Castrol Commodore VT 2:44.1815 41 87 SalmonAA/hite Oneworld Falcon AU 2:53.8950 2:42.7327 42 30 HarrisA'oight carsales.com.au Falcon AU 2:47.3291 43 25 Wyhoon/Brock Biante Commodore VS 2:50.6572 2:39.6164 44 55 Nash/Oumbrell 2:50.3167 2:38.6813 Autopro Commodore VT 45 97 Sipp/Beikoff Ultimate Ratios Commodore VS 2:42.9490 46 36 Schembri/Quartly 2:56,2165 2:48.0999 Bettergrow Falcon EL 47 42 B.Sieders/LSieders All-Trans Trucks Falcon EL 2:51.2832 2:40.5370 48 77 Mork/Williams 2:46.3651 V8 Racing Commodore VS 49 61 Halliday/Wallis 3M Falcon EL 2:50.4253 2:41.4681 50 37 Attard/Hurd 2:53.5905 2:40.4712 Xerox Shop Commodore VS 51 67 Kelly/McGill 2:55.7187 2:43.3502 Big Kev Commodore VS 52 54 McConville/Brabham Delphi/Wynn's Commodore VT 2:36.2254 53 56 Russell/Coulter All-Trans Trucks Falcon EL 3:01.1603 2:42,3261 54 150 L:ind Strom/Price Ultra Tune Commodore VS 2:40.4623 2:52.3340 DSQ 38 Field/Howison Robbos Commodore VS 2:52.3176 2:46.5667 DNQ 57 Butler/Pope Crittenden Commodore VS No Time

# SCS Round 13 FAR 1 24 November 2000

track look drier than it could possibly be. The Chase claimed him. Off went

FRIPRAC 2:26.4362 2:21.1025 2:21.3038 2:20.6834 2:19.6482 2:22.1157 2:23.5689 2:24.5506 2:25.8349 2:20.2730 2:23.1100 2:22.6295 2:20.6556 2:21.8906 2:18.2251 2:24.4972 2:19.5359 2:20.7576 2:24.5007 2:21.4842 2:24.8449 2:25.6365 2:25.1118 2:24.9853 2:22.1996 2:30.3512 2:27.2932 3:35.6640 2:21.4924 2:26.2871 2:30.7051 2:30.1594 2:30.0402 2:26.8099 2:30.3962 2:28.7735 2:29.1510 2:23.2256 2:35.2772 2:26.3849 2:25.6411 2:30.4426 2:36.5787 2:25.9854 2:29.5513 2:31.6720 2:26.4420 2:30.6076 2:30.3581 2:31.0101 2:33.1563 2:24.0336 2:37.3059

FRI DUAL 2:12.0199 2:12.3622 2:12.4849 2:12.7625 2:13.1178 2:13.3641 2:13.4912 2:13.6966 2:13.6996 2:13.7709 2:14.1244 2:14.5771 2:14.7435 2:14.8718 2:15.1435 2:15.2048 2:15.4033 2:15.4351 2:15.4489 2:15.5720 2:15.5884 2:15.6158 2:15.8337 2:16.0424 2:16.4073 2:16.4255 2:16.8056 2:17.1166 2:17.2494 2:17.6959 2:18.2597 2:18.3525 2:19.5258 2:19.6253 2:19.6271 2:19.6562 2:19.8347 2:19.8408 2:19.9278 2:20.4178 2:20.6861 2:21.4219 2:21.4277 2:21.4616 2:21.7017 2:21.7933 2:22.1072 2:23.1511 2:24.0178 2:24.4421 2:26.7724 2:31.3477

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Report by AARON NOONAN ATHURST tends to produce stories that are looked back on for years and the 2000 version was simply one of those. Garth Tander and Jason Bargwanna piloted their Valvoline Cummins Commodore through the numerous Safety Cars, pit stops and associated dramas to score a popular victory in the FAI 1000. “Bahy, Bathurst and marriage the perfect year,” exclaimed 'Bargs', having conquered the Mountain where he has wanted to win since he was a kid. "While Mark Skaife finished safely in sixth to secure the Shell Championship Series (his third title), Tander steered the #34 to the chequer ahead of a charging Paul Radisich/Jason Bright Shell Helix Falcon, which had run at the front all day but been left at the end of the queue in the final Safety Car-induced stops. Defending Champions Greg Murphy and Steven Richards were solid in an indestructible Kmart Holden, not even soaring engine temperatures stopping Murphy from holding out the charging Steven Johnson Falcon. And then there were the hard luck stories. Tony Longhurst, in his final full time drive for the Stone Brothers team, held the lead with just 10 laps to go, but a clash with Adam Macrow in the Asia Online car at the top of the Mount put him out, handing Tander the lead. Larry Perkins and Russell Ingall broke a rockei- while in a strong position, while pole-sitter Wayne Gardner's run came to an end when co-driver Neal Bates was

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Red, white, blue, and brown: It was a day to remember in more ways than one at Mt Panorama. Jason Bargwanna and Garth Tander scored a classic win, the Valvoline team reading the race perfectly to take a narrow win.

punted into the sand at McPhillamy. The clutch on the Ford Tickford Racing car was fading anyway and it was doubtful that the car would have gone much further. It was a tough hard day, nearly seven and a half hours of Mountain warfare with the closest race finish in the V8 era.

16-19 November 2000

mradi the Sunday J. morning warm-up isn't much chop, but the 2000 version was a little different. Unbelievably, it was at Castrol Racing where the action was. Perkins broke a pushi-od and the Castrol team swung into action to change the motor at 7.50am. The actual motor change took 35 minutes and the whole thing was ship-shape in just over an hour. There were troubles for JFR too. Macrow had a rivet in the oil tank and shut it down in the Chase. They put a new pump in and hoped there were no more rivets in there - and crossed theii’ fi ngers.

The rain had continued as it had for the previous nine days with visibility at a low. Driving Standards Obseiver Colin Bond did some sighting laps to determine whether it would be safe for the race to have its traditional standing start. It was deemed to be safe and they lined up. At 10 o'clock the engines fired and six minutes later the 54 car field was off and racing, Johnson getting the better start over a bogged-down Gardner, and the battle was on. In fact that was 53 - Owen Kelly pitted the Big Kev VS with a vibration on the warm-up lap. It couldn't be fixed and the team parked it after a handful oflaps.

Shell Championship Series

Prepared for anything; If this weather keeps up, waterproof will be as important asv; fireproof in the future ... (Photos by Nick Wilson/Allsport. Dirk Klynsmith. Matt Turner/Allsport and MNews Digital)

Owen wasn’t very ‘excited’, but took it all in his stride. The spray wasn't too exciting, Johnson and Gardner leaving the rest behind, with the order behind them after a lap Lowndes, Radisich, Larkham, Bargwanna, Seton, Ingall, Kelly, Ellery, Richards, Longhurst, Weel, Donaher, Bowe, Morris, Faulkner, Forbes, Ti'att, Baird, Brad Jones, McDougall, Reed, Ti'uckie Parsons, Mullei', Rick Bates, 'White, Ritter, Jason Richards, Rose, Romano, Canto, Youlden (a great start from gi-id 40), Full, Rodney Click, McLeod, Doulman, McConville, (another on the charge), motorsport news

SHELL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

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Willmington, Crambrook, Harris, Salmon, Nash, Wyhoon, Sipp, Mork, Lindstrom, L. Sieders, Schembri, Attard, Halliday, Russell, Howison and the doomed Kelly. continued on page 46 24 Hovemtier 2000

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-.**** hands pondering the meaning of it all as the tow crews hoisted him off the kerb on which he had beached and we were back racing two laps later. The ‘Wayne-meister’ was flying, setting fastest lap after fastest lap as he skipped away, Johnson letting the faster Radisich through at the Chase for second. Ford 1-2-3 at Bathurst? Early days ... Longhurst was in trouble though on lap 10. He looped it coming out of the Chase, pitted and re-joined in 52nd - last bar Ellery. While it looked bad, it was time for a bit of strategy to come into play and they brought Tony in on lap 15 to put him out of sequence 46

start and, by now, Gardner was in the 25s, the window to changing to slicks rapidly approaching, as too were the first fuel stops. With the cars rolling around under Safety Car conditions so often, fuel mileage and the subsequent strategy would be the key - as well as some luck of com’se. The dry line shone through and that left Gardner to build a buffer over Radisich, Lowndes (who passed Johnson easily), Johnson, and Bargwanna. Both DJR Fords had pitted together on lap 27 for a full change and another set of wets when the Safety Car came out for Doulman and Ritter, who were stuck in tlie bog at the Clrase.

Leahey later had it overheat and ‘pass out’. The car was retired. Brad Jones pitted with the DJR duo, but with the OzEmail pit bay just next to the DJR one, it was too tight and Mezera left with half a tank of juice. Then Kim Jones and the team rolled the dice, bringing Tomas in the next lap - this time for slicks. It was a good move, the ’88 race winner up the front when the race sorted itself back out. Fast brains win races like this, just as much as fast cars ...

n the re-start Gardner and Lowndes drove away, wets now borderline as the track dried, though the HRT machine had been anned with a dry set-up and it was

showing as Lowndes and Wayne pulled well clear before Lowndes handed over to Skaife on lap 34 for slicks. At the same time, Bargs gave the #34 to Tander, with both DJR cars in again for slicks and a top up to put them back in fuel synchronisation. Next time around, Gardner handed the lead car to Bates. The alarm bells sounded when Bates stalled the car, then lurched out to join the track. The clutch was on the way out and, just to add insult to injui-y, he whacked Greg Crick at McPhillamy on lap 43 and beached it. Bates justifiably claimed it was not a case of mea culpa: “There's not much you can do to motorsport news

SHELL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES a clutch in one of these,” said Neal, race over after such a good lead-up. To be honest, Gardner's speed in all sessions was perhaps the biggest surprise of the weekend, the pressure of being team owner, driver and chief worrier now gone allowing the Whizz to concentrate solely on driving the car. The lead passed through Ingall and Kelly's hands before the re-start, but this was where the race for the title was going to start; Skaife assumed command and stretched the lead over Tander. Ross Halliday nosed into the wall at the Elbow and, again, the SC boards were on display, leaving things to settle and for us to analyze the order of Skaife, Tander, Perkins, Murphy, Mezera (!), Menu, Crompton, the doomed Bates, Bright and Greg Crick. The Safety Car appeared only a matter of laps later, though. Alan Jones was caught out by Wayne Wakefield in the Chiko Commodore and ploughed into the back of it as the Queenslander was backing off for the SC and tacking on the conga line. Lap 47 and the boards were pulled in and this time it was Ellei-y on the run, tr3dng

desperately to pull back his lap in much the same fashion as Perkins and Ingall did with the Winfield car in 1995. The Supercheap car had some serious car speed, Ellery just as quick as those running in the top 10. Murphy pitted on lap 53. It was an unscheduled stop to check the air intake. The Chevy V8 was running far hotter than normal and it would be a problem which would worsen for the rest of the day. There were some worried faces as time wore on and the temperature soared, but Murf only dropped a few spots in the queue. Three cars brought out the next SC, Scifleet off at the Chase, the Gatorade car at Reid Park and Crick bogged at Hell Corner. So they queued, and waited, and re-started. It was all getting a bit too familiar. The greens flew again on lap 59 and Skaife pulled away from Tander and Crompton (showing strong car speed to pass Perkins at Speedstick Corner up the Mount). Plato beached the #2 HRT car in the bunker at Murrays and we went through the procedure

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Bathurst - Race continued from page 47 again. Did the Safety Car have its fuel window right was the next question! “Not having done much in the dry, I didn't appreciate how the balance would change and I locked the rears,” said Plato. “In the stint I got it up to seventh but then tossed the thing into the beach! I feel like I've let the side down.” The DJR cars headed in for their compulsory pad stops, while Besnard jumped aboard #9 a lap later, the trio rejoining back in the early 20s, position-wise. Bargs was in when the SC was out again when one of the AllTrans Fords bit the concrete on Mountain Straight, and the Valvoline car was now pretty much on schedule. They had two stops left, and only one before lap 120. A race winning move? Skaife was in for some new stoppers and now Crompton held PI, with HRT pulling him in as soon as the yellows were being unfurled, GRM right behind. Running a double stint (just like he did in 1996) Ellery was so nearly back on the lead lap, but his ‘time in the car’limit of three and a half hours was looming rapidly and he was forced in to give #31 to Stokell. The

Tasmanian only went as far as lap 82 when the engine temp sky rocketed and he was out after the cooling intake was blocked. And so we tried getting going again. Bargwanna had a scary moment at the Elbow while trying to lap Crick/Gazzard. He ran down the inside and there was contact, the latter bomicing off the outside concrete wall. Smoke billowed from Menu's Falcon with - of all things - a broken oil filler, which cost the team five laps to fix. They soldiered on, Mark driving fast and Alain hammering between the odd spin, for 18th. Steve Owen bunkered Matthew White's Challenge Commodore at the Chase on lap 71 and the SC boards again were out. It was ah’eady a long day, and that 1974 record for the longest race in history(7hr51mms)was looking unbeatable. FAI’s $200,000 cash for the fastest race was safe ... Crompton and Perkins changed drivers and pads on lap 73, leaving Murf in the lead from Radisich and Lowndes, who had a close call moving through on Pretty at Murray's. It looked like one of those career moments, but everyone survived ... Lowndes then again went like a rocket in the dry, quickly claiming

Nursing it fast: Murphy and Richards nursed an overheating engine aii day, deiighting the iarge kiwi contingent, (pnoios by oirk Kiynsmiih and Mick nshbum) beamed co-driver John Cleland.

Radisich,(the Ford running a set up more suitable for the wet, which consequently was cooking the rear tyres), and then setting off after his old team-mate.

“I had so much coming through the traffic, it was so easy to drive.' Then Ingall went to the pits. It was unscheduled, and not a tactical ploy. A rocker was broken and took the team a while to fix, dumping too much time for them to be a threat. They reeled off the laps to be only two behind by the end,in 11th.

Craig pulled whole seconds off Greg before the SC made another appearance on lap 78 when Forbes shunted coming out of the Chase, the Wynn's car stuffed. “The thing was a rocketship,”

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SHEIL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES - ij_»

Lowndes nabbed Murphy on lap 87 and the latter headed for the pits to change with Richo and do a pad change, leaving Lowndes to scoot clear of#18 and #17. ‘All the time he was making up was on the straights and going up the hill,” said Murphy, admitting that he was probably over-driving a bit. The Gatorade car hit the wall in the same place when the leaders were on lap 92 and this time finished things, prompting SC period number 10. It was almost time to ring home and tell mum not to worry about cooking tea ... The situation left everybody in no-man's land. With some 70-odd laps to run,it was touch and go whether it would be a two-stop or one-stop run to the flag. Whatever the case, it was going to have to be tight continued on page 52

Safety first: Good thing that they have two Safety Cars ... Not quite perfect: The Ritter/Leahey car dropped back early, Ritter (Photos by Marshall Cass and Noel Papelera) having an off at the Chase.

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continued from page 49 Johnson was in on lap 92 for McLean (from third), leaving Lowndes ahead of Radisich on the re-start, with Bargs in third from Seton, McLean, S. Richards, Alan Jones (the Toll car running really well after a strong opening stint by Tratt), McDougall (quietly picking up spots in stealth mode)and Bowe. Simon Wills pitted the Pirtek car at the same SC period. The FHolden champ wasn't feeling the best and, when he made it into the pit bunker, promptly threw up all of the fumes he'd been taking in (rather than liquid) during his double stint. Longhurst stayed aboard the Caltex SBR version, which was now just hovering outside the top 10 after some strong driving and great pit calls. Radisich and Bargwanna were in on lap 98 as the drizzle returned at the top of the hill, leaving them with one fuel stop to go until the end. Brightjumped into #18, Tander into #.34 for what turned out to be a double stint. Lowndes continued the charge out in front, with a stop rapidly approaching, while Richards, McLean and Seton ran behind. 'The Kid' was in to give the car to Skaife on lap 103. It was 3.00|nn. He headed to wife Nat, gave her a hug and kiss and 5Z

Never give up; Longhurst and Besnard were almost last, but surged through the field Into the lead. (Pholos by Oirk Klynsmim)

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^SHIU CHAMPIONSHIP SEBItS headed to the HRT garage for a breather. And,just like that, Craig Lowndes had stepped out of an HRT car for the final time, significantly in position one - as it had been for Peter Brock back in ‘97... Team Kiwi's strong run hit a spot of bother when Jason Richards speared off at the Chase before being removed on lap 108. It went green on lap 111 and there were some furious calculations going on up and down pitlane as to what would happen. The next piece of action on lap 116 ruined the race for Seton/Crompton and gave Skaife the biggest scare of his title chase. The dicing duo were lapping Matt Neal in the Big Kev VT at Hell Corner. Crompton went through down pit straight, but Neal dived back up the inside to go back by, only for a chain reaction to be set off between all three. Crompton turned in to switch back, but Skaife was there and they touched, the Falcon bouncing Neal off on the outside. The front spoiler went west on the FTR Falcon, while Skaife had a rubbing tyre. continued on page 54

A three-lap period mid-race came very close to destroying Mark Skaife's Shell Championship. It began with the controversial Crompton/Neal clash, in which both Skaife and Tander became unwillingly involved. Skaife takes up the story: I have no idea what Matt Neal thought he was doing. I don't know whether he'd seen me, or was just being a lunatic by himself. "Crompo had made a clean pass on him and I thought it was done and followed Neil. Then he [Neal] has come from the clouds and thought he could outbrake the world. “We could so easily have been out. It was very close, "the tyre was

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Three lap horror Skaife dodged several bullets on his way to the title, (norobyamcamr) dragging on the guard, but I told the guys I thought it would be okay. Then a lap and a half later the throttle jammed at turn one and continued to do so for the next lap and a half. "It makes the eyes widen when you go into the Cutting and it doesn't want to turn.

All you can do is dip the clutch and get through with the engine bouncing off the rev limiter... Then, somehow, it cleared. "I'd decided by then to be a bit conservative - and then the tyre burst, on Conrod... "I can give you the tip, it wasn't the nicest deal. I didn't know

whether it was going to turn around or what. Luckily, it stayed straight, so I came in, put some tyres on. "In wet and drying and dry conditions, the car had been great, but you've got to have a bit of luck with you here. In the end it turned into a bit of a horror day..."

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Bathurst - Race CAR-BY-CAR in grid order Steven Johnson Cameron McLean Shell Ford Settled behind sister car early on and ran almost faultlessly throughout. Chased Murphy over final stages, but unable to get on podium. 4th

Wayne Gardner Neal Bates FTR Ford Pole sitter ran a strong first stint, but clutch was on the way out at first stop (when leading). Ran off at McPhillamy, then retired (clutch). DNF

Mark Skaife Craig Lowndes HRT Holden Fastest in qualifying, third in Top 10. In or close to lead all race, until Neal/ Crompton/Skaife fracas, and flat tyre. Recovered, giving Skaife title. 6th

Mark Larkham Alain Menu Mitre 10 Ford Started fifth and ran in lead bunch. Broken oil filler dropped them back before Menu bogged at Chase. 18th

Paul Radisich Jason Bright Shell Ford Race favourite showed speed all race, aided by good strategy. Wet set up compromised car speed and tyre wear at finish. 2nd

Glenn Seton Neil Crompton FTR Ford Out-sped by Gardner in practice and qualifying. Led race but tangle with Neal and Skaife cost three laps. 13th

Tony Longhurst David Besnard Caltex Ford A spin, 11 pitstops and a pit fire - but clever strategy and great driving recovered to lead with 10 laps left. Longhurst hit wall in Esses. DN.

Larry Perkins Russell Ingall Castrol Holden Ingall off at Chase in Top 10. Ingall started and ran hard and looked like contenders until rocker broke. Finished 2 laps down in 11th

Garth Tander Jason Bargwanna Valvoline Holden started 10th. Both drivers charged, ran 23rd on lap 66 but charged up order. Took lead when Longhurst crashed, Garth winning GRM’s first Bathurst. 1st

Greg Murphy Steven Richards Kmart Holden Just missed Top 10. Car began to overheat early on but drivers were still fast enough to threaten all day. Pressed on and finished. 3rd

John Bowe Jim Richards CAT Ford Both veterans kept their heads in the rain and went strongly in the dry until wheels fell off in separate incidents. Out after 147 laps. DNF

600

Todd Keily Nathan Pretty HRTYL Holden Kelly off in Top 10. Started 8th, but stayed out of trouble. Great driving and tactics to come home. 5th

Steven Ellery Paul Stokell Super Cheap Ford Early spin cost Ellery a lap but charged through double stint to almost get it back. Stopped on lap 82 with overheating engine. DNF Tyler Mecklem MMIck Donaher Ultra Tune Holden Great showing in qualify ing. Clashed with McConville when power steering failed on lap 21. Dropped a valve later after 105 laps. DNF

Paul Weel Greg Crick PWR Ford Crick topped Friday prac tice, touch with Bates over Mountain (not Crick's fault) in race plus an off at Hell leaving them delayed, 14th.

Anthony Tratt Alan Jones Toll Ford Car strong on pracllce and ran as tilgb as fourth (on two soparale occa sions) before rough sounding car was retired attar ISO laps. DNF

John Faulkner Adam Macrow Asia Online Holden Oil pressure problem in warm-up. Macrow was 11th on lap 154 when he and Longhurst tangled and crashed in Esses. DNF Paul Morris Matt Neal Big Kev Holden Ran strong early, setting consistent pace. Neal involved in incident vrith Crompton/Skaife. 3 laps down. 12th

continued from page 53 Naturally, both parties laid the blame on one another. “I felt sorry for Skaife, he was the innocent party in the thing, but Crompton's an idiot,” said Neal afterwards. “I gave him plenty of room at Murray's, he punts me in the door/wheel on the way through, and while I was a bit miffed by that, he braked early for Hell Corner.” The Stewards saw it differently and Neal copped a 60 second stop-go for the incident after the next S/C period, while Skaife had the rubbing right-rear pop on ConRod a few laps later. He resumed in 14th, still needing one more stop to make it home. Car #1 was in 'championship' mode now and it was back in the pits on lap 118 for wets as the track got worse

and went down a lap. Longhurst was in a lap later and the Caltex team had a

McLean kept Skaife a lap down, handing the lead to Tander, ahead of Longhurst (who didn't take on a full load

flash fire after vapour ignited. Nobody was hurt, but the car had to rejoin with just 50 litres of fuel on board, rather than 120.

offuel because of the re-fuelling dramas), Kelly, Murphy and Murchison (!) who still had to make two more stops. The jiuiior Castrol car would retire later with engine dramas after a terrific run by both youngsters. Menu found the bunker at the Chase soon after the re

Richards pitted for Murphy and wets, while the DJR cars waited until the last lap of the SC period on lap 122 to make their stops,just inside the fuel window for a clear run to the flag - they hoped! What they lost in track position, they could possibly make up in getting to the chequer without another stop. With 38 laps to go and another SC period a reasonable bet, they could Just about get there, as long as the weather didn't change. It did a short while later, but enough of that now... By not pitting until late.

start, and leaders Tander, Longhurst and Kelly surged up Mountain Straight. Tander lost his exit speed at Hell, Kelly spotted this and Longhurst, wary of the Lions car, took the lead into Speedstick and charged away until lap 138, when the Rose/D'Agostin Commodore was stranded coming out of the Cutting. By now the Stone Brothers di’eam had come true - it was drying out. Evei-yone would have

SOME of the best memories surrounding Bathurst over the years are of visiting overseas drivers. The sheer class of Jacky Ickx; Derek Bell hurtling through The Dipper in an Alfa Romeo; John Fitzpatrick’s emotional win; the massive assaults from Jaguar, Eggenberger and TWR; Rickard Rydell’s pole lap; the immensely likeable Tommy Kendall and John Cleland; and even the old, semi-annual Paul Newman rumours, which never came true. So, it is with some disappointment, on the evidence of Bathurst 2000, that we say; thanks tor the memories, chaps, but, in the future, stay home - we don’t need you any more. This time out, the visiting drivers were, almost to a man, overshadowed by the local drivers in what was one of the most difficult, but most enthralling, races ever seen on Mount Panorama. Highlights? Tony Longhurst, of course, aided by brilliant rookie David Besnard (even if there wasn’t a rookie award); the rarely-seen talent of Greg Crick and Andrew Miedecke; the manful

n I

driving of Todd Kelly and Nathan Pretty; the maturity of debutants Christian Murchison and Luke Youlden; Steve Johnson and Cameron McLean; the list could go on and on. The list of drivers above are hardly on the ‘must-have’ list of international touring car outfits. But compare their performances to those of Alain Menu, Jason Plato, Yvan Muller and Matt Neal, all of whom had their own problems in the race. The Aussies we mention completely overshadowed most of the Euro talent in the trying conditions. Bluntly, the teams which imported drivers (at, no doubt, some expense) were walloped by the teams which recruited local experienced, ‘irregular’ drivers, or young guns with potential. There were a number of drivers, both local and imported, who looked a little underdone going into the race; in the wash-out. the Aussies

T /Vf.yt.fM rWAi

out-performed the imported talent. The future for the local drivers looks bright. The team’s floodgates are starting to open for the up-and-comers. That’s a good thing for the sport. Aussie-philes, like Dick Smith, would be proud. Of course, there will be teams which will announce that some high-priced Euro hot shot will drive for them next year, and that will give them the winning edge going into the big race. History says otherwise. On the evidence of this year, do yourself a favour; buy Australian ... - PHIL BRANAGAN ntolorsport news

^SHEU CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES to stop for slicks and they could get some fuel into Longhurst’s car without tossmg the race. Both Shell cars pitted for slicks straight away, Skaife and Longhurst in next time around for the same. Besnard was

ready to get in but Tony stayed aboard. As he exited, the tally was amazing; he had run as low as 52nd after his early spin, had a pit fire and, eventually, 11 pitstops. And he was in the lead!. 1

Tander and Murphy,in that order, were in next but a blistering stop by the Kmart team got them out in front of 'GT'. The cheers were loud in

11 1

Craig Baird Simon Wilis Pirtek Ford Speed hurt by full wet set-up. Wills fell III during double stint when water bottle failed. Baird pressed on to finish in final SBR race. 7th

27s/28s, but that quickly tumbled once the slicks warmed

Waiting for action: radisich keeps an eye on Bright’s progress (Photo by Dirk Klynsmith) before setting off on his late-race charge,

up. Longhurst was the quickest on the track, setting a mid-2:19 on lap 143, significantly faster than Murphy and Tander behind him.

behind Tander and Radisich

Ford lost its second rear wheel

5.8s behind his countryman. Hossaclr/Parsons were fifth

for the day, Tander was starting to make progress in his chase of the lead. He needn’t have

as they hadn't stopped but they pitted for slicks under green and lost position, while Tander set about bridging the gap. Then it was a case of deja vu for Radisich. At the same place where he tapped a slower car last year(which eventually ended his race), the Richards/Fogg Team Kiwi Commodore just didn't see him and they touched. #18 was OK this time and he pushed on. While the Bowe/Richards

worried; on lap 151, Longhm'st's race was over after a collision with Macrow at the run to the Elbow. The right-front wishbone and steering rack were broken and the game was over. Twice he and Besnard had come from the back of the field, but there was to be no third time lucky.

continued on page 56

Dugal McDougall Andrew Miedecke Pepsi Holden Steady early in rain, but jumped as high as fourth (!) after lap 100. Only did five pit stops despite vari able conditions Flawless performance to finish. 8th

Truckle Parsons Darren Hossack Kmart Holden Another quiet build-up, had minor overheating dramas, not quite as bad as #7. Smooth run, last car on lead lap. 9th

Matthew White Steve Owen Challenge Holden White off at Chase. High engine temps forced radiator change. Fell to back of field to finish 24th

Steve Reed Greg Ritter Trevor Ashby 35 Tim Leahey Valvoline Holden Optus Holden Another DNF for longest Quiet buildup before partnership in race’s steady start. Ritter over history. Overheated after shot Chase and Leahey water pump belt broke on had the engine overheat lap 39. DNF on him on lap 41, blew headgasket. DNF

Dean Canto Ian Moncrieff DCR Ford Lost power steering after 7 laps, soldiered on though. Canto man-han dling oar, but Moncrieff hit wall at Hell Corner, broke upright. DNF

Paul Romano David Parsons Romano Holden Stopped at Cutting under early Safety Car period and towed back vrith car stuck in gear. DNF

20 Three-legged CAT: Bowe and Richards looked strong, but lost a wheel - twice. (Photoby oirkKiynsmiih)

Brett Peters Rick Bates Colourscan Ford Another consistent run as in Queensland 500. Bates drove first stint and car finished four laps down. 15th

24 Houember 2000

Rodney Forbes John Cleland Wynn’s Holden Forbes charged early, passing seven cars and twice got into top 10. Spin at Chase on lap 79 damaged car too badly to continue. DNF

_ _ _ Alan Heath Angus Fogg Jason Richards KniJ Terry Finnigan TKR Holden Power Ford Richards crashed in Finnigan out-qualified practice but Kiwis stayed #12 Kmart Holden (!) but out of trouble until Rat car was a non-starter due to broken camshaft nudged them at Elbow. Richards off at Chase but sprocket in warm-up and recovered. 16th didn't find in time. DNS

intake of both cars, trying to cool things off... The times were still in the

his car was really strong on cold tyres) got past Murphy at Murrays on lap 144 and set about chasing Longhurst. The gap was 6s, with Murphy 0.6s

Brad Jones Tomas Mezera OzEmail Ford Brilliant early pit call gained a dozen places and ran in Top 10 until near finish, when wheel bearing failed while eighth. DNF

777

At every stop, team manager Marty Brant was pouring buckets of water into the front

Tander(who said later that

Yvan Muller Jason Plato HRT Holden Euros hurt by loss of track time and weather. Ran into Top 10 but set back by spin by Plato. Recovered, but 2 laps down. 10th

the Kmart pit, but #7 was slowly cooking itself to death and there were whispers that it wouldn't make it home.

But the guy in fourth, Radisich, was on a charge. He was in the 16s, and catching quickly, traffic a deciding factor in who went fast and who didn't.

Garry Holt Garry Willmington Eastern Creek Ford Litany of dramas changed master cylinder, clutch plate, tailshalt and CV joint. Lost second gear with 10 laps left and non-classified. NC

Ryan McLeod Wayne Wakefield Chiko Roll Holden McLeod started and stayed out until he was in the top 10. Hit by Alan Jones' Falcon when Safety Car appeared and hit wall. DNF Rodney Crick Peter Gazzard Carplan Holden Crick started and did 3 hour stint, staying out on wets longest. Gazzard tangled with Bargwanna. spent 50 minutes fixing car. 27th _ _ Mai Rose Christian O’AgostIn Logical Holden Got to 9th, Rose crashed at Elbow, broke panhard bar, replaced tailshaft, had jammed throttle, Hat spotted tyre, ran out of fuel in Cuning. 25th 55

Bathurst - Raee John CoUer Peter Doulman Gatorade Holden Had off into Chase when tagged by Ritter early, prompted SC period after spin at Reid Park but then repeated feat, but this time hit wall. DNF

Geoff Full Philip Scifleef Opfus Holden Scifleef got car bogged at Chase in his first stint on iap 56. Another car to be hit by overheating after an 'off. DNF

Motorsport News: From the outside, it looked like a relatively smooth race in very difficult conditions... Garth Tanden The whole weekend went to plan - apart from me falling off in the shoot-out. In the race, it all came together really well we got the fuel economy we wanted, we pulled the right decisions with wets and slicks, when to leave 'Jabba' (Bargwanna) in, when to leave me in. The guys were just on fire with their calls. When I was following Skaifey around, I wasn't interested in passing him you don't win the race at that stage. It was a very smooth week, topped off with a really great race.

Luke Youlden Layton Crambrook Chrisfian Murchison Gary Baxter Castrol Holden Team SA Falcon Crambrook one of may to Youlden started and charged through traffic in go off at Chase, punc tured radiator. Repaired it 1 St stint. Murchison 4th in lap 123, car expired then repaired failed soon after. DNF brake master cylinder. 28th

Rod Salmon Damien While Oneworld Falcon Lost rear bumper early. White taken to medical centre suffering from fumes, missed 2 spinning cars at top of Mountain. Top Lites runner. 17th

Craig Harris Steven Volghf carsales Falcon Strong run to be at front of Lites runners, in 17th after 141 laps only to have conrod failure which split engine. DNF

Rod Nash Paul Oumbrell

Terry Wyhoon James Brock Biante Holden Ancient car started by Wyhoon, rose as high as 10th during pit stops but Brock understeered into wall at Cutting, damaging steering. DNF

Tim Sipp Shane BeikofI Graphic Holden strong run from Saloon Car drivers. Problems with fuel tank pressuris ing when full spraying fuel In boot. 19th

NeilSchembri GaryQuartly Bettergrow Falcon Quartly suffering stom ach bug in lead-up, Schembri spun in second wet period, beached at Skyline. Continued on to finish. 22nd Richard Mark Steve Williams V8 Holden Two major problems were a broken rocker and then axle. Both fixed and last classified finish er. 29th

Autopro Holden Nash started but had an off at Chase on lap 13. Didn't pit, car stopped at Cutting short time later out of drive, DNF

continued from page 55

Luke Sieders Bill Sieders All-Trans Falcon Nudged into wall on Mountain Straight by Matt Neal. Fixed car and continued. Lost two air dams during race, fin ished without one. 26th

Ross Halliday Adam Wallis 3M Falcon Car repaired from wild ride at Chase pre-race, was busy flicking to reserve fuel pumps when tapped by Longhurst into wall at the Elbow. DNF

Bill Attard Roger Hurd Xerox Holden Second DNF in two years for Xerox team. Completed 81 laps. DNF

CameionMcConville Geoff Brabham Delphi Holden Cameron charged early, had hit with Donaher exiling Chase on lap 21, rose as high as 10th, engine started to over heat for Brabham. DNF

Owen Kelly Aaron McGill Big Kev Holden Headed for pits on warm up lap as planned to check a bad vibration in rear of car. Did 2 slow laps and parked it. DNF

“That is one of the most tragic results I have had in my motorsport career,” a despondent Longhurst muttered. “I went to pass the JFR car. The car turned in and drove me into the wall as I was going into the Esses.” Macrow was vei7 mature about the situation, the '98 Formula Ford champ running just outside the top 10. “I didn't see him coming and he was ti-ying to pass in a spot where you can't anyway (at the blind right before the Elbow),” he said. Car owner Faulkner was displeased; “The guy in the lead of the race should have a bit more control about passing cars,” he

said.

Roh Russell Melinda Price Steve Coulter Dean Llndstrom All-Trans Falcon Ultra Tune Holden Car hit wall on Mountain . Repaired after practice shunt with show car bits. Straight in Saturday PM session wilh Bill Sieders Carved through carefully to finish. 20th driving. Repaired and stroked around to finish. Also - #38 Field/Howison 23rd ran reliably to 21st

Big, Bad? Matt Neal made headlines when he tangled with Crompton and Skaife in the Big Kev VT. (Photoby oirk xiynsmith)

150

Tander was 5s clear of Radisich and it was nail-biting time in the VCRT pit. Bargwanna clutched fiancee Deb who,in turn, stood with Tander's girlfriend Leanne Fenier as Tander wound down the laps to beat Radisich by 2.4s and Murphy held off 'Junior' Johnson for third, despite the engine temperature hitting 140 degi-ees for the last 15 laps! “I can’t even sit down!” said Tander at the post-race press conference, his backside sore after a tough double stint.

lyiN: Was it a case of having a whole pile of strategies at the start, then crossing them off as they became obsolete? GT: To be honest with you, we didn't really have a strategy. We just decided that we were going to put Jason in at the start and see how the weather affected things. In those conditions you can't have a strategy; you've just got to call it when you've got a gut feeling. And the guys were right On it... 1 didn't really want to do a double stint at the end. B'args and I do the same times - but the team called it and I said 'okay', and We got on with it.

“The whole weekend went to plan, obviously apart from going off in the Shootout. “It was pretty tough in those conditions. The guys were just on fire with their calls.” For team owner Garry Rogers, his youth policy had reaped dividends. “It was a top team effort,” he said. “When you see the enjoyment on the faces of the it’s people you work with always nice to beat HRT,too.” The Young Lions were a strong fifth ahead of new Champ Skaife and BairdAVills (ha-ving an unspectacular run for seventh). The top 10 was rounded out by the smooth McDougall/Miedecke, Parsons/Hossack and Plato/Muller. And that was that - the long-time myth of shying away fi-om youth because of the expected damage bills has been completely destroyed hopefully, forever, "rhe Valvoline duo, granted, were aided by the misfortune of Longhiu'st, and others however they made the calls and had the speed when it counted. And Bathurst is 161 laps ... Worthy winners, but the final word goes to Bargwanna. “Baby, Bathurst and getting married - the perfect year,” he beamed...

MN; Bathursit win> Ghainpionship close... GT: It would have been nice to win the championship, but Canberra cost us dearly, obviously,f this is any consolation, 'I'll take it, no problems at all. MN: Aiinidst all the exGiitainant ^ vvets, dnies, rain* shine ^ were there any draniias? GT: I had on.e moment, on slicks, when it was getting wetter. I was just saying to the boys 'we need to think about wets' and had a big moment at McPhillamy. For a moment I saw the wall moiorsDori news

Who win use

^SHEU CHAMPIONSHIP SIRIIS

Straight after the post-race media conference,the champagne-soaked Jason Bargwanna and Garth Tander spoke to AARON NOONAN.

coming and thought 'aaagh - but was able to pull it back and keep going. There were a few smaller moments where I ran wide, but they were under control. I pushed on when it was safe, but was pretty conservative across the top most of the time. MN: Do you talk much on the radio? GT: No. The guys just kept me updated - that we were pulling a gap on Radisich through the traffic, to keep smooth, consistent and stay away from the traffic. They gave me a count down with five to go. It took forever for five laps to go... MN:Sum it up? GT: How good's this! Motorsport News: What was the hardest part of the weekend? Jason Bargwanna: Standing in pit lane thinking you're about to win Bathurst. There's nothing you can do 24 NDuemhsr 2000

MN:Sum it up. JB: Perfect year. It's been a massive learning curve for us. We've had dramas with the car, with traffic, getting pushed off - things not going my way. Won at Winton, struggled at others. But Bathurst makes up for it all. I remember ds a kid, ff sitting here, on the - Jason Bargwanna straight, watching the Moffat/Bond 1-2. Since then, that's what I've wanted to do - win -just stand in pit lane! The Bathurst. The tension among the team championship is the next and others in the garage is goal. amazing. MN: Good result for what MN: Makes up for '97 is still a smallish team, [Bargs shunted the Young personnel-wise. Lions car in the warm-up JB: Garry's got a belief in the after topping Friday people we have, we all qualifying]? believe in each other, we all JB: Sure. That was part of get on really well. It's a credit my learning process, wasn't to Garry that he's put this it? team together and achieved This time, we had the this goal - especially in this speed. Garth and I have era, the most competitive won Bathurst and the racing you've ever seen at team's won Bathurst... Bathurst.

1 remember as a kid, sitting here, on the straight, watching the MoHat/Bond 1-2. Since then, that's what i've wanted to do - win Bathurst. The championship is the next goai.

SCS Round 13 FAR -lOOO Bathurst Race (161 laps) Pos Drivers Race time 1 G.Tander/J. Bargwanna 7:23:30.2348 2 7:23:32.6462 P. Radisich/J. Bright 3 7:23:35.3390 S. Richards/G. Murphy 4 7:23:36.0072 S. Johnson/C. McLean 5 7:23:55.9086 N. PrettyTT, Kelly 6 7:24:29.7124 C. Lowndes/M, Skaife 7 7:24:46.0178 C. Baird/S. Wills 8 D. McDougall/A. Miedecke 7:25:36.4566 7:25:46.6063 9 D. Parsons/D. Hossack 10 J. Plato/Y. Muller 159 laps 11 L Perkins/R. Ingall 159 laps 12 P. Morris/M. Neal 158 laps 158 laps 13 G. Seton/N. Crompton 14 P. Weel/G. Crick 157 laps 15 R. Bates/B. Peters 157 laps 157 laps 16 J. Richards/A. Fogg 17 R. Salmon/D. White 155 laps 18 M. Larkham/A. Menu 154 laps 19 T. Sipp/S. Beikoff 153 laps 20 D. Lindstrom/M. Price 150 laps 21 P. Reld/S. Howison 149 laps 22 N. Schembri/G. Quartly 147 laps 23 R. Russell/S. Coulter 144 laps 24 M. White/S. Owen 143 laps 25 M. Rose/C. D'Agostin 141 laps 26 B. Sieders/L. Sieders 137 laps 27 R. Crick/P. Gazzard 137 laps 28 L Crambrook/G. Baxter 133 laps 29 R.Mork/S. Williams 127 laps 116 laps NC G. Flolt/G. Willmington DNF B. Jones/T. Mezera 159 laps DNF J. Faulkner/A. Macrow 154 laps DNF T. Longhurst/D. Besnard 151 laps DNF A. Tratt/A. Jones 150 laps DNF J. Bowe/J. Richards 147 laps DNF C. Harris/S. Voight 141 laps DNF LYoulden/C. Murchison 128 laps DNF C. McConville/G. Brabham 105 laps DNF M. Donaher/T. Mecklem 105 laps DNF G. Full/P. Scifleet 89 laps DNF J. Cotter/P. Doulman 87 laps DNF S. Ellery/P. Stokell 82 laps DNF B. Attard/R. Hurd 81 laps DNF R. Forbes/J. Cleland 78 laps DNF T. Wyhoon/J. Brock 72 laps DNF D. Canto/I. Monciett 56 laps DNF W. Gardner/N. Bates 45 laps DNF R. McLeod/W. Wakefield 42 laps DNF G. Ritter/T. Leahey 40 laps DNF S. ReedTT. Ashby 39 laps DNF Ross Halliday 38 laps DNF Paul Romano 23 laps DNF Rod Nash 13 laps DNF Owen Kelly DNS Chris Butler DNS Alan Heath

e/3

Fast lap On 2:15.5897 83 2:15.1621 80 2:14.9144 83 2:15.3735 158 2:16.1084 153 2:14.2602 83 2:16.7327 107 2:16.8340 156 2:17.8607 87 2:15.9444 85 2:15.2309 70 2:16.4888 78 2:14.3016 72 2:16.4738 85 2:17.4557 85 2:16.8597 89 2:19.3513 68 2:16.1144 81 2:21.6730 82 2:22.8607 95 2:25.8386 76 2:24.3420 67 2:25.7241 82 2:18.2217 95 2:22.1157 131 2:21.8896 66 2:22.4880 68 2:22.1575 86 2:23.8337 74 2:24.0812 61 2:16.2704 80 2:16.9221 82 2:16.6884 107 2:16.5658 72 2:16.8150 86 2:21.2974 69 2:19.1654 78 2:17.9936 79 2:17.6326 95 2:19.5578 76 2:18.2789 83 2:14.3815 68 2:25.5300 78 2:17.7919 71 2:22.9451 69 2:24.9357 29 2:21.0359 38 2:28.1782 36 2:26.7384 34 2:25.5133 31 2:33.7436 33 2:28.9076 21 2:34.5982 12 2:44.3702 2

Photo by Jplin Moins Mpix Final Points: Skaife 1570, Tander 1433, Lowndes 1310, Radisich 1260, Seton 1133, Murphy 1108, Bargwanna 1054, S. Richards 991, Ingall 935, Longhurst 866, Johnson 831, Crompton 829, Perkins 752, Larkham 718, Baird 702, Bowe 679, Kelly 575, Faulkner 460, Morris 453, McLean 426, Ellery 406, Weel 403, McDougall 349, B. Jones 297, Wills 236, McConville 186, Forbes 183, Pretty 180, Miedecke 144, Parsons/Hossack 132, Jim Richards/Plato/Muller 120, Ashby 119, Reed 114, Poole 103, R. Bates 100, Besnard/Neal 96, Ritter/Leahey 88, Peters 81, Donaher 77, WhiteAtVyhoon/G. Crick 72, Macrow 64, Stokell 56, Cleland/Jason Richards/Fogg 48, Mezera 46, Nash 40, Salmon/White 36, Scifleet/Full 32, Doulman 28, Cottor/Menu 24, Tratt 22, Sipp/Beikoff 12, Holt/Willmington 8, Lindstrom/Price 6, Smordon/Robson/Millor 4, Romano 2, Heath 1

Nations Cup/GTP 3hr

Taking the next step by AARON NOONAN

Strathftd

Can’t see through the hair, oops, tyre spray: Ed Aitken and John Faulkner used a one-stop strategy to win the 3-hour Showdown.(Mcass)

HAVING been on the podium in the previous three GTP enduros at Bathurst,Ed Aitken finally broke through for a well deserved victory alongside John Faulkner in the Supercheap GTP Showroom Showdown. A smart one-stop strategy coupled with quick driving from Faulkner in the latter stages helped the heavy HSV to the victory, the fate of the opposition sealed when the majority pitted under an early Safety Car, throwing themselves out of sequence and requiring another stop for fuel. “The weather played into our hands in regards to the reliability,” said Aitken. “The cooler temperatures suited us with the brakes etc.” The Subaru of Scott Jacob and Grant Kenny had snatched pole on

Race 1(7 laps)

□

StokeirB Lambo $twm lt$ crowne

While the rain and fog had suspended and later cancelled official practice sessions, the Nations Cup cars were on the track late on Friday. Stokell charged off into .the distance and the Diablo »i[nply couldn't be stopped fn what were dry conditions.

P He led home Peter |[ itzgerald and a swag of ^crsches, with Peter Ipiadbury, Mark Williamson fid Jim Richards following. Mark Noske was still hasing second in the pampionship, but the hances were somewhat anted when he spun /hiie trying to pass 'Fitzy' t the end of lap four. Stokell though was nstoppable - it may have ad something to do with 276 kph the VI2 was (rging at down Con-Rod...

iace 2

Black beauty: Paul Stokell 58

two of thme t

he reverse grid second ace was in even worse onditions, and the front Bw the format threw up ^8s interesting to say the Sasi. ' John Teulan (Skyline HR) and Rusty French '/iper) shared the front

wet tjrres when the track was a mixture of wet and dry with a 2m50.15s, a full second clear of another of the HSVs in Ross Dillon/Tony Scott. Another four-wheel-drive followed, Dwayne Bewley/Trevor Sheumack (Subai'u STi) ahead of Boh Pearson and Allan McCarthy in the ex-Ric Shaw Mazda RX7. Aitken/Faulkner were back in 15th. As was expected, Jacob quickly launched from the line in the damp conditions, which would get worse as the three hours ticked by. Dillon headed the pursuers of Rick Bates (in Bob Hughes’ Lancer), Bewley, Kevin Bell, McCarthy and GTP champ Mark

King. The chasing HSV soon was headed to the pits with a lack of drive. The crew thought it may have pulled the centre out of the clutch, though Ross thought it was more gearbox related. Jacob pushed his way through

row, but it was the Viper of Geoff Morgan who moved away to snatch the lead. Noske was carving his way through from the back, but became stuck behind Tony Quinn (GTS). The Porsche driver held on for a while until he had quite a decent lose through Speedstick Corner at the top of Mountain Straight on lap three. Noske was into third as the Safety Car headed out. When it disappeared, Stokell blasted his way through the traffic with consumate ease to take the win from Morgan, Noske, Richards and Coleman.

Sunday saw more of the same - rain. . . This time though there was a spirited dice to lift the spirits. While Richards cleared off with Bradbury at the front, Coleman grabbed third and faught off the advances of the Noske Faz. The power-down of the Porsche helped it slingshot both up and down the Mountain, but the 360 simply gobbled up the GT3 across the top of

the Mountain (particularly Skyline) Stokell wouldn't make it three from three though, the Lambo starting from pitlane due to a misfire and having a spin at Murray's to drop him back down the queue. After a few half-hearted attempts to get by at the Chase, Noske gritted his teeth and stayed up the inside of Coleman to make it by on lap six. It was a damn good dice to be honest. The Viper duo of French and D'arcy Russell were involved in another dice with Teulan, which ended when the GTR speared off at the Chase, making heavy contact with the wall. Richards and Bradbury led Noske home, with Fitzgerald moving to fourth, passing Coleman at the death. Now we're not accusing anybody of anything, but Fitzy did need the points to hold second in the title and Matt's car is propped by Fitzy. Co incidence really... Williamson headed home Stokell, Morgan, French and Russell, the Viper trio looking lots stronger than all season. rooiorsDort news

BATHURST SUPPORTS the spray until the Safety Car appeared at the 43-minute mark, nulifying his handy buffer even further by pitting to hand over to Kenny with both Bates and King in to hand over to Hughes and Rod Wilson respectively. Aitken was piecing his way through the traffic, McCarthy in the RX7 following. They were the two cars which had the speed and the strategy to win. The Safety Car made another appearance when the Guy Gibbons/Barry Tanton Falcon aquaplaned into the wall at Hell Corner and the mice had started to eat into the machinery. Graham Alexander’s Lancer was beached at the Chase, while Bewley pulled up on Mountain Straight with a cooked turbo. Considering his heroic efforts to push a dead Pug over the line in 1997, it was asking a bit too much for the Kiwi to push it back to the pits this time... The class battles were just as interesting as the outright dice for the lead. Steven Richards (debuting the,new Holden Astra) and Warren Luff(Peugeot 306) ran bumper to bumper in the four-cylinder class, while the Falcon XR8s of John Mcllroy/Brett Youlden and class champion James Philip/Kent Youlden were the class of the ‘big bangers’. The time ticked past halfway and still Aitken had not pitted. While McCarthy went screaming by, the RX7 slowed soon afterwards out of fuel and the Safety Car was soon out afterwards when John Roechken had a huge moment in the Chase and rolled the second of Colin Osborne’s MR2 Toyotas. Aitken finally handed over to

Faulkner and up to the two-anda-quarter hour mark, JF spent his time working his way back up the queue on-track which he had dropped back in during the stop under SC conditions. The Lancer of Scott Anderson/Eoss Almond had quietly worked its way up the charts and found itself in the lead but Faulkner closing as the rain got heavier. The four-wheel-drive and turbo wasn’t enough to combat the 5.7-litres of HSV’s finest and the My Accessory car went by, having been closing at two-three seconds per lap. Faulkner simply was on fire in the wet at the end, setting the fastest lap on the second last of the 53-lapper to take the flag clear of Almond/Anderson and Phil Kirkham and Ric Shaw. The Nissan 200 SX Spec-R of Chris Kousparis/Mark Brame was a gi-eat fourth on debut while Barry Morcom and Mark Stinson were fifth. Kenny/Jacob were back in seventh. The V8 battle went to the last corner, Philip/K.Youlden outpointing McIlroy/B.Youlden by all of 0.17s in what was a close battle all day, while the Sports Touring class went the way of the John Cowley/Wayne Park Integra, 2.3s clear of Peter McKay and Neal Bates (Celica). “It was a credit to the class, I was pretty impressed with the standard (of driving) in these conditions,” said Kent ‘The Bear’, with son Luke due to make his Bathurst V8 debut the next day. Cowley had a simple approach to driving in the conditions, “close your eyes and put your foot down!” Daryl Coon and John Bowe were again the class of the six-

Known masters in the wet: John Bowe joined with Daryl Coon to win Class D with Coon's AU XR6. Better get me some of that Motor Up ... and some Car Up too: John Roechken turned the second of Colin Osborne’s Motor Up MR2s over ... and out! (Photos by Marshall Cass and Dirk Klynsmithn)

cylinders, Coon saying at the post-race media conference that Bowe’s choice of Dunlops was a major part in the result. The Richards/Murphy team made it two class wins in a row with a win in the Vectra over the Luff/Dean Evans 306 in the fourcylinder class. Perhaps the only downside was the lack of CD player (which had been guttered)

Falken Tyres perform on the open road

for the long run down Con-Rod... It wasn’t quite the same without the exotic Ferraris, Porsches and the like, but nevertheless it was a classic production car race won by the best team on the day. Almost like the ‘good ‘ol days’, it was good hard proddie racing, albeit in trying conditions. Good stuff.

in wet and dry conditions

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Bathurst Formula Fords The 18-year-old Victorian outdragged Agland to the final corner and took the win, the latter in fact having quite a sideways sort of lose as he tried to make the ‘switch-back’ manoevure. Kelly was light years behind in third, while Marcus Marshall and Jamie Whincup were next.

Race 2

by AARON NOONAN RICK Kelly may have missed out on the Australian Formula Ford Championship in 2000, hut he rounded out the season in fine style at a soggy Bathurst with a third and a win to take the overall weekend in the Formula Ford support races. Will Davison and Nick Agland led him home in the first race on Friday, however the duo collided in race two on Saturday morning, leaving Kelly free to win easily.

the spray in the Spectrum,the Orange-based driver (also doubling up for the weekend, manning a fire extinguisher in the FTR pits) quickly skipping to what may have been deemed a dead race. Not so.

Davison, driving the RF98 which Stewart McColl ran during this year’s national Formula Ford series, went out after Agland and had him at the last possible moment- the last corner - after drawing level at the Chase.

Going, going ... Marcus Marshall despite this moment at Hell Comer, (Photo by Dirk Klynsmith) picked up a fourth and a second for the weekend.

? 109

Race 1 Friday afternoon’s first race was run in miserable conditions, a dry line starting to peek through the bitumen. Agland was quick to lead through

There were some tired people in the Formula Ford paddock, the final race of the weekend beginning a bit too early for many people’s liking on Saturday, l^incup was in trouble even before the start. The Van Diemen RF94 went nowhere with the car’s kill switch accidently off and he was forced to start at the rear. Agland and Davison re-started their race one duel, but it ended at the Chase on lap one, both spearing off separately. Agland pulled it back onto the bitumen after he thought he was squeezed by Kelly, only to be t-boned by Davison, who was still surfing through the situation. That left ‘The Infant’in the lead and he simply cruised around out in front in the rain until the red flags came out for an incident between Peter Babington and Andrew Smithson at the Chase to end the race. “The track was wet and dry in different sections, so I had to drive conservatively just to keep the car on the track,” said Kelly. Marshall and Robert Jones filled the other two podium positions, while Whincup was a storming fourth and the fastest on the track. “I just kept passing cars and kept looking for a big group that I needed to pass ... but I never found it, before I knew it I was in fourth,” said Whincup.

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Report by PHIL BRANAGAN TBOE Streak is now 11. Paul Morris took two poles and two wins in Round 5 of the BOC Gases Super Touring Championship to take his tally of each into double figures at MaUala. Morris took the first race by a mammoth 40s after John Henderson had tyre problems, but was under threat from the Vectra driver in Race 2 until a brake lockup sent Henderson off the road and down the order, before he recovered to third. Peter Hills was the best of the rest with a third and a second, while David Auger continued his dominance of the Independents’ category with two wins. Jason Doniaschenz topped a competitive Future Tourer field, splitting wins with Kerry Wade’s Falcon, while Tim Shaw overcame diff problems and a lost wheel to salvage enough points to keep the series lead.

Morris has got this qualifying bizzo down to a fine art; set the car up before it leaves the Gold Coast, roll it off the trailer and put it on pole. It isn’t quite as easy as that, mind. Rolling a BMW 320i off the trailer is fi'aught with peril, and you have to be careful not to 62

All by myself: Morris had a combined winning margin of 67s in the two races in another dominant dispiay. Formula Ford: The battle of Race 2 was between the Ford Mondeos of Alan Gurr and Peter Hills, who got (Photos by Phil Williams) second on the last lap.

° kucmmiT Bata

scratch the paintwork as you push it into the garage. That, and that only, was the biggest threat to Morris’s qualifying progi-am. He reeled off a total of seven laps in the two sessions and extended his pole streak to nine. Nope, the dramas were restricted to Henderson. The Vectra was out of sorts in Ql, when he suffered a broken roll bar, turning the usually efficient car into an absolute pig. He spun in the first timed session, where he was thii’d (and that only after a

big, late try) before the bar was righted and he leapt onto the front row for the second race. While Henderson was having bothers, Hills was having a relatively trouble-free run. He took second in the first session and fifth in the second, explaining that he hadn’t really returned to form; “nothing broke,” he grinned. “We’re doing the best we can. Paul and Hendo have good gadgets and they’i-e driving well.” Still, second was second, even if he was 1.5s shy of the white Bimmer.

Gurr continued his good run with two second row performances, which is about where we are expecting the teenager to end up these days. He had some problems with the power steering, which was fixed overnight. But the surprise - not the right word, but close-ish - was Cornish. After a whirlwind trip to England to test his 1000 Years ride, the flying vet flew back with enough bits to rebuild his Honda’s shagged-from-Wakefield Pai'k engine and the purple thing was going like a shell, getting within

niQlorsport news

SUPER TOURING weekend, while Luke Searle

Nothing broke. We're doing the best we can. Paul and Hendo have good gadgets and they're driving well.

-Peter Hills after qualifying

Nissan in action: Matthew Fox had contact with James Brock and headed in for a pit stop. Jason in action; Domaschenz split the Future Touring wins with Kerry Wade. (Photos by Paris Charles and Phil Williams)

brought up the rear, after ha\dng set Friday times which would have put him on the third row in the SAE/Roadchill BMW. The war raged in the Future Tourer ranks. Doniaschenz took pole in both sessions but only after a pretty fierce battle with team mate Ray Sidebottom, Janies Brock and Ken-y Wade, with Tim Shaw sidelined from Q2 with a broken diff, which would keep him out of the Sunday warm-up. A number of the V8s, including Doniaschenz, were reporting that the cars were running a little hot. Considering that the weather was actually pretty mild (especially for November)it seemed a little unusual, but they made the best of it.

Race 1(24 laps)

It was warmer on raceday - much warmer. The eyes of the team went to the heavens first, and their tyres second. It was going to be a struggle. Morris got away well, leading into the first corner. And that was that. He set his fastest lap of the race on lap eight and nursed his tyres home well enough to get very close to the time again on lap 20. He won by 42s. “They’re stuffed,” he reported as he looked at his rears after the race. “It was a battle.” Henderson had a battle, too. His new roll bar made the car unbalanced, as the rear was now too hard. After zooming past Hills, he chased for a while before the oversteer got so bad that the car continued on page 64

0.12s of Row 2 in Q1 and ending up fourth in Q2. “It feels much better,” he reported. “But it’s a big change from driving the sportscar. You can throw this (the Accord) around a lot more; the Pilbeam is so

recent bout of pneumonia. The chunky ACT driver looked at home in the newer car(he has experience in Newman’s older 405), despite being restricted to running on older rubber. Behind came the Matthew Fox

precise. He had been second fastest on

Nissan, the newer car of Aaron

Friday and went a little slower in qualifying than he had in practice. His 13.16s practice time would have put him on the front row for race one. Indy points leader Auger was next, running around in the Alfa and determined to rack up as many points as he could for the championship, but he was put back a spot in the first session by Mark Zonneveld, having a rare outing in Tony Newman’s Peugeot 406.

McGill (which was having ignition problems) and newcomer John Saunders. The Perth-based driver had acquired the former FaberCastell BMW 318i (itself a mid-90s Diet Coke car) and repainted it orange, as per his recruitment agency’s colours. It looked good, though when was the last time you saw a bright orange 3-series on the road?

The call had come on the

The former Porsche racer played himself in sensibly and was consistently in the 17s and 18s. Paul Leabeater had a problem in the first session when the Lantra

Tuesday before tbe race, after Newman had a relapse of his

stopped mid-track with an engine problem, which put him out for the

24 Novembor 2000

Paul Morris Peter Hills' n John Henderson Alan Gurr Jim Cornish Mark Zonneveld

Mount Cotton Estates BMW 320i Signature Security Ford Mondeo Sydney Crane & Transport Vectra Signature Security Ford Mondeo Visit Your Vet Honda Accord

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Super Tourers Round 5 M9ilaIa 63

Mallala continued from page 63 was snaking all over the track. Still, he was second from the lonely Hills. The battles were behind, and they were good. Cornish, who’d made a bad start, surged through the faster V8s and the slower Supers and took over the point for the Independents until the Honda ran off the track at the Northern Hairpin on lap 17. That let the ever-consistent Auger through to pick up the points, again, to consolidate his category lead. But the battles that raged were between McGill, Gurr (recovering after a bad start and an off) and Searle, who had the Wade versus Domaschenz struggle for FT honours right behind. The only time they were much more than two cars’ lengths behind was when Jason took time to let the faster cars lap him before getting back into it. In the end, Wade got home by 2s, a margin which did little to flatter what had been an intense dice. Behind came Shaw, driving intelligently on what was still a delicate diff, from Brock. The Biante car was turned around at the Northern Hairpin on lap eight and pressed on with a biff in the door. It looked like Fox had been involved; the Nissan pitted with a rubbing tyre the next lap, only to be pinged for speeding in pit lane a few laps later. That, really, settled the battles. Searle’s race finished when his gearbox selector spring broke, stranding him in sixth, Cornish stopped when his sump cracked and started to leak oil (putting him out of Race 2) and Zonneveld, who found Brock in front of him after his own incident, lost his display on lap 12, his power steering a few laps later and then had an alternator belt break. That was that. Morris, Daylight, Henderson, Hills, etc.

But wait, there’s less: Tim Shaw finished Race 2 on three wheels after his right-front departed on the last lap. Still looking: Henderson was encouragingly close to the back of the BMW for much of Race 2, until he locked up and speared off the track. (Photos by Phil Williams)

Race 2(24 laps) This was closer, but more straightforward. Morris leapt away and Henderson chased hard until surfing off the road and down to fourth place after locking up at the Shell Esses. After that, it was a struggle; “I had plenty of grip before the off but, afterwards, there was none,” lamented Henderson afterwards. The off had put him behind the two Mondeos, which had had a close tussle for much of the race, Gurr ahead of Hills. But, despite a tap from the boss, Gurr refused to yield until he went too deep under brakes on the last lap and allowed Hills and Henderson through. “I could have sat back and let him have it (second),” grinned Hills later, “but that’s not racing, is it?” “We’ve got no team orders; we came here to race.”

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PEmmANCEPi

Auger completed the double, despite a strong charge from Searle, who was challenging until traffic separated the pair, while Zonneveld held out Domaschenz, who took the FT win and overall honours. The APS VS was much better after some adjustments between races and he was well clear of the dice between Wade(who was out of grip, basically, having spent his tyres in Race 1) and Shaw. The always entertaining Tasmanian

three-wheeled it across the line after a wheel went west with two corners to go, the errant item careering through the infield unchecked. Saunders, Brock, Fox and McGill completed the finishers. So, the hunt for a Morris beater continues. Symmons Plains beckons; history shows that Tasmania has thrown up some odd results before. Maybe, Summer on the Holiday Isle will provide another one ...

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SUPER TOURING IOC Gases Super Tourers Rd 5 CD V»

Race 1 - 24 laps Pos Driver Race UmeFasiest lap 1 Morris 29:17.9716 1:12.3314 2 Henderson 30:00.1610 1:13.7617 3 Hills 30:14.2442 1:13.9353 4 Auger 30:34.4802 1:15.0900 5 Gurr 29:39.0222 1:15.4233 6 McGill 29:43.6381 1:16.0403 Wade 7 29:44.5131 1:16.6686 Domaschenz 29:47.2319 1:16.6204 9 Shaw 30:11.3322 1:17.1214 10 Brock 30:13.3565 1:16.7935 11 Saunders 30:14.7351 1:17.1106 12 Gillespie 29:26.6174 1:19.0376 13 Fox 29:35.3822 1:18.1773 26:21.9216 1:17.3786 dnf Sidebottom dnf Cornish 20:06.1179 1:13.8762 dnf Zonneveld 18:26.0980 1:15.5342 dnf Searle 13:22.8815 1:15.5806

Race 2-24 laps 1 Morris 29:43.1005 1:13.1283

Photos by Paris Charles

Son, can I take the cap for a spin? BUT the big news on the Future Touring front came on the Friday. James Brock's dad had a gallop in the Biante car; yep, after three years out of the saddle, Peter Brock returned to the racetrack in a V8 Commodore and the world and his wife showed up to watch the event (well, the local TV stations did). Brock Sr completed six laps without trouble, passed the car back to James with some tips on set-up and watched the youngster go faster than he had. Okay, it was only a halfserious go, and he is not going to make a comeback any time soon (though he looks fit enough to be able to, damn him). But it was Peter Brock, in a Commodore, on a race track, and that makes news.

We know that Mark Taylor is not going to make it back into the test cricket team, but if Tubby ever padded up and headed into the nets for a whack, it would be on every damn news service in the country. Not to mention every Fujitsu airconditioner advert...

You're invited to be part of Australia's fastest growing motor sport Why not see what it's all about for yourself? Attend a race meeting at your local club and talk to the drivers and crew. There are classes to suit almost everyone from 7 years to 77 +. Midgets 7-11 years Rookies 10-12 years Juniors* 12- 16 years in TWO weight divisions Seniors*Over 10 classes of varying power & driver weights to choose from. * Other more powerful classes available for experienced racers.

24 November 2000

Hills Henderson Gurr Auger Searle Zonneveld Domaschenz Wade Shaw Saunders Brock Fox McGill

dnf Gillespie dns Downard dns Cornish

30:03.3484 30:10.8684 30:12.2594 30:20.4923 30:21.3541 30:55.3095 31:01.5120 29:55.0943 29:57.3366 30:05.3148 30:09.7574 30:31.6018 30:44.3758 20:07.1827

1:13.9824 1:13.4559 1:14.0240 1:15.2343 1:14.9535 1:15.7785 1:16.2642 1:16.9966 1:16.8846 1:17.4430 1:17.0653 1:17.3012 1:15.8573 1:18.4480

Drivers Points: Morris 174, Henderson 98, Gurr 87, Auger 81, Hills 75, Searle 37, Letcher 31, McGill 24, Miller 22, Downard 14, Bewley 10, Cornish 10, Fox 9, Leabeater 8, Newman 8, Saunders 7, Robson 6, Stratton 5, Dale 4, Zonneveld 4, Rolfo 3, Fitzgerald 2. Independents: Auger 156, Searle 81, Letcher 66, Miller 52, Downard 33, Fox 32, Leabeater 24, Cornish 22, Saunders 22, Robson 20, Dale 14, Stratton 8, Rolfo 6, Fitzgerald 6. Future Tourers (after round 4): Shaw 114, Domaschenz 80, D'Agostin 67, Wade 55, Brock 40, Webb 30, Sidebottom 24, Gillespie 16, Holt 12.

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Controversial Telstra Rally Australia sees winner Tonnnni Makinen disqualified, Marcos Gronholm handed the win and Peugeot securing the Manufacturer title. Now with a nine point lead over Richard Burns, Gronholm waits for next week’s title decider... by GERALD MgDORNAN

in Perth

FIVE drivers came into this year’s Telstra Rally Australia, all with a mathematical chance of winning the Drivers Championship, but only Peugeot Marcus Gronholm and Subaru’s Richard Burns, albeit on one leg, remained standing after thfCife gruelling, tactical and most controversial days. Four-time Drivers Champion Tommi Makinen was hailed as the rally winner, his third win in the dusty red pine forests of Perth, although the Finn was later controversially disqualified for turbocharger irregularities found in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI; Makinen learning of his plight after landing in England, 66

Makinen’s disqualification, for which the decision makers were quick to point out that no advantage had been gained with the irregularities found, was a bonus for Gronholm and moved Peugeot’s lead driver into first, Gronholm’s victory and its subsequent two extra points over a second place finish (and Burns’ subsequent additional points) now gives Gronholm an almost insurmountable nine point lead heading into the season-ending Rally of Britain next week. It’s fair to say that this event, for most parts, was one which would not have inspired many first-time I'ally obsei'vers, with the tactics displayed by all of the leading teams in the forest over the first two days more off-putting than entertaining, although to those who had the privilege of being ‘in

the know,’it was enthralling. Western Australia’s infamous slippery combination pebble gi-avel/dust roads was the reason behind the controversies, with drivers deliberately stalling for time in different stages in an effort to change the following day’s starting order around - the advantage of running on ‘swept’ rather than the raw, pebble and dust-covered roads quite obvious. All the leading teams were at fault - Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Subaru and Ford - and it eventually bit two of those hard on the backside with serious consequences... Ford was first, with Carlos Sainz’s disqualification after day two for slowing while m a wellcovered time control area (the raling also ruling ‘King Carlos’out of his slim chance of winning the title),

followed by Subaru with Bmms’ efforts the same day adding 25-odd seconds to his overall event time. For Burns, with Gronholm subsequently winning the rally by 2.7s over the early-season pacesetter, the loss of the world championship might prove to be the ultimate penalty... It should also be noted that despite starting first, Gronholm attacked the last day’s stages like no other and lost little, if any time; his end result earning the praise of his championship rival afterwards. Hindsight provides wonderful, clear vision... Sainz and the Ford Martini Racing team were a little miffed at the Spaniard’s exclusion following the end of Friday’s opening leg Sainz no more guilty than any of this rivals of slow'ing tactics,just more blatant - although they ruled motorspori news

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“This proved to be the case and Luis [Moya - Sainz’s co-driver] and myself made an error of judgement. “This is a terrible disappointment for the whole team and you can imagine how I feel because I had a good opportunity of winning the drivers championship. “I feel embarrassed as well as disappointed.” The slowing tactics also went to new highs (or lows) with Makinen jumping the start at the 16th stage to receive a lOsec penalty, to his delight losing two places for Sunday, while Burns also took the opportunity to ‘discover’ a flat tyi'e in the time control area of one of Sunday’s stages, the tactic allowing Burns’ crew to change the tyr-e while his starting order was readjusted two spots! The interesting part about the slowing tactics was the fact that the teams all wanted to run with

situation much earlier in the year, presenting the FIA with a revised proposal of last year’s operation to the Rally Commission, only to have it rejected as the system was not acceptable to the manufacturers! In fact, Peugeot boss Corrado Provera led things off in a pre-rally press conference, stating just that, even though it might affect his team’s hopes of both the Drivers and Constructors World titles. “These are the rales we have had all year and, even though the consequences might not be good for Peugeot, this is how we want to finish the season,” he said. Little did we know what they all had up their sleeves for later... Still, for Peugeot, the event couldn’t have been much better. Francois Delecour’s on-road fourth and subsequent third place finish delighted the Frenchmen and his team, with the bonus points also enabling Peugeot to secure the Manufacturers’ title.

Seat, who will abandon their WRC program following next week’s Rally of GB, had a solid event with both Toni Gardemeister and Didier Auriol finishing in the top 10 - sixth and eighth respectively. For Aui-iol, France’s most successful rally driver, the form couldn’t have been on time any better, with the news leaking he would join Peugeot next year in its four car ‘super team.’ Like many, this year’s Telstra Rally Australia was also one of attrition, with a number of world championship hopefuls and event leaders or front runners bowing out due to various problems. While Makinen and Sainz’s disqualifications ended any hopes they had of adding to their world championship totals, Scot Colin McRae’s championship sadly ended on day one. ’lA'hile running in fifth, McRae’s Focus ground to a halt with oil

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Time is on our side, no it’s not! Time delaying tactics cost Richard Burns Telstra Rally Oz, and perhaps the World Championship... (Photo by Sutton-lmages)

Yep, no dramas I’ll check the turbo later... TommI Makinen’s hardearned victory was taken with the discovery of a turbocharger irregularity. (Photo John Morris/Mpix)

out any appeal against the decision. “I said before the start of the rally the organizer’s decision to abandon last year’s practice of allowing the leading drivers to choose their starting position for the following day was always likely to lead to a farce,” Sainz said. 24 November 2000

the rules the way they have been all year, preferring not to run Rally Australia the way it was in 1999, when the lead drivers didn’t necessarily lead off the ‘bunch,’ having the choice of startingpositions. The rally organizers themselves had attempted to divert a possible

Provera said the inherited points wouldn’t reduce the satisfaction of the French carmaker’s first World Rally Championship since 1986. “If we are really the champions, we must in some way have deserved it. I think we showed it by taking the lead after the Sanremo Rally without external help,” Provera said. “Under the circumstances, I am feeling strange because I was,> making a movie in my head: the suspense was beautifiil, because I didn’t Icnow which one - drivers or manufacturers title - we would win. “Now the second title will be easier and we will be able to help Marcus achieve that,” he said. For the ‘other’ manufacturers in the Group A class, it was mixed results, with Hyrmdai bringinghome Kenneth Eriksson in fourth (equaling their season’s best), w'hile Alister McRae retired with steering problems late on day two.

pressure problems - his and Sainz’s results frustrating the Ford team which had to rely on Finn Tapio Laukkanen to ultimately bring home a result. Laukkanen and co-driver Kaj Lindsti'om, although never really a threat to the leading six cars, were ultimately classified as fifth place finishers, a strong result considering the Finnish pair were driving a Focus for just the second time. “We’re delighted to finishing in the points, but at the same time a little disappointed not to have caught Kenneth Eriksson,” Lauldianen said of his event, his run to catch Eriksson ending on the penultimate stage with a spin that cost considerable time. Finn Juha Kankkunen, who was amongst the fi-ont running bunch and looking good for what could have been his fifth win in the west, continued on page 68 6J

Telstra Rally Australia

iSr Possum chasing: Bates and Taylor tried chasing down Bourne, but couldn’t. Ninth was a reward for their efforts. Possum chasing: Bourne and Vincent finished seventh, their spot securing Subaru the ARC Manufacturers crown.

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(Photos by John Morris/Mpix) tv,

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Eriksson mobile: Eriksson an6 Parmantjer equalled Hyundai’s best finish for the season,fourth with the Accent WRCar. continued from page 67 pulled out late Saturday afternoon after he encountered steering problems with his works Subaru WKC car and left the road. The Panizzi Brothers, who had created their own slice of controversy in Sanremo,impressed with their efforts in the third Peugeot. But despite the tarmac specialists proving their worth on the tough gravel roads, a transmission problem prevented them from travelling the 10m to Parc fennme after the last stage, a DNF the result after running in the top 10 for much of the weekend. For the Australian, or should we say Australasian representatives, the results were a mixed bag. Michael Guest, making his last appearance in the WRC with the Winfield-backed third works Hyundai WRC car, again suffered the indignity of a DNF. Having started the weekend off poorly, damaging the car while on a recce. Guest’s event finished within sight of the finish, the Hyundai failing to start following the post-19th stage service. “I’m gutted,” a dejected Guest, who has lost Winfield’s financial support following this event, said. “The car felt great this morning and we got to seiwice without any problems, but it just refused to start following the service. It would turn-over, but not fire.” Guest’s bad luck had no bearing on what happened with Possum Bourne and Neil Bates, the ARC arch-rivals both earning solid top 10 results - Bourne and co-driver Craig Vincent seventh in their Subaru Impreza WRC, while Bates and Coral Taylor finished ninth, the Caltex Corolla WRC pairing moving into the top 10 with the 68

Panizzi Brothers’ unfortunate DNF following the last special stage at Sotico. Bourne was naturally delighted with his result, the finish also earning Subaru the Manufacturers Championship in the AEG. “Although we knew we had the Drivers title in the bag, it was equally important for us to bring home the Manufacturers,” Bourne said. “This puts beyond doubt that Team Subaru is unequalled in every area of the Australian Rally Championship.” Bates too was happy, although quick to respond when asked how he ran compared with his rival. “No good,” he said of what ultimately proved to be a 4m33.3s gap between he and Bourne. Ed Ordynski brought his and co driver Iain Stewart’s Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VI home in 15th, the veteran Aussie pair fourth in Group N, behind new world champions Gustavo Ti'elles and Jorge Del Buono (Lancer EVO VI), Japan’s Toshihiro Aral and his co driver Roger Freeman (Impreza 555) and experienced Austrians Manfred Stohl and Peter Muller. Local Dean Herridge looked to have the first Australian home in Group N spot stitched up with co driver Glenn MacNeall until the last stage when a drive shaft broke in the Maximum Motorsport Impreza 555. All in all, five Australasian teams finished in the top 20 with Spencer Lowndes and Chris Randell keeping clean before inheriting 20th in their Lancer with Makinen’s disqualification. Former FI driver Erik Comas also mixed it up in the Group N category, although Comas’run came to an end when his Loctite I<ancer rolled in the last stage

prior to Langley Park’s Saturday night special stage finale. While the drivers championship now heads to Great Britain next weekend, their would appear to be little doubt that this year’s Telstra Rally Australia has played an instrumental part in shaping the 2000 World Rally Championships in all categories. And, vrith doubts over whether the season-ending Rally of GB actually even being run, the controversies of the forest may have just played out their most significant influences over the WRC title in the event’s 12 year histoiy It will be interesting to see whether the west will have much influence over the future, or whether the East Coast will play more significant parts in the WRC...

Resuiis

1 GronhoInVHautiainen Peugeot 206 WRC... 2 Bums/Reid Subaru Impreza WRC 2000 3 Delecour/Grataloup Peugeot 206 WRC 4 Eriksson/Parmandor Hyundai Accent WRC 5 Laukkanen/Lindstrom Ford Focus WRC 6 Gardemeister/Lukander SEAT Cordoba WRC E3 7 BourneA/incent Subaru Impreza WRC 8 Auriot/Giraudet SEAT Cordoba WRC E3 9 Bates/Tayior Toyota Corolla WRC 10 Taguchi/Willis Mitsubishi Lancer EVO V! 13 Trelles/Del Buono {Leading Group N) Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VI

.3:43:57.2 .+0:02.7 .+1:30.2 ....+0:47.7 .+0:10.3 .+0:18.4 .+1:44.2 .+3:21.1 .+1:12.2 .+4:39.8 .4K11.36.1

World Orivors Championship Gronhofm 59, Burns 50, McRae,Sainz 43. Makincn 32. Dclecour 23 Manufacturers Championship Peugooi 102, Ford 89. Subaru 76, Micubishi 39. Scat 10. Skoda 8

WRC M 13 Telstra BatiM Australia motorsport news

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Treat your car the same way they do.

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Okay, so you might not be able to drive quite like Possum Bourne or Neal Bates, but you can pick up the same Caltex Havoline Engine Oil that they use from your local Caltex or Ampo! service stations.

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Rally NSW dropped

Adelaide takes spot on 2001 Super Series calendar by JON THOMSON

IN a month of drama for Australian rallying, which has seen Rally Australia rocked by controversy and Rally of Canberra brought to near extinction,ARCom has removed the popular Rally NSW from the 2001 ARC. Coffs Harbour, which has successfully hosted the New South Wales roimd of the Australian Rally Championship for 10 years, has been told by ARCom that it is no longer wanted as a part of the ARC Super Series. Instead, the South Australian government has stumped up for the running of the Rally of Adelaide, which will fill the place left by the NSW Rally in the five round Super Series. Rally NSW was told of the decision by ARCom early last week, prompting widespread indignation from NSW rallyists. Bob Halpin, the Clerk of Course of Rally NSW,and the man who has steered the successful Coffs-based rally since it was a round of the NSW State title, said he was told that the decision had been a financial one. “ARCom told us that the South Australian bid had been heavily financed by the South Australian Government and as such was an attractive proposal,” said Halpin. “We haven’t been able to attract corporate sponsorship or a State Government financial support since the withdrawal of Bridgestone two years ago, and proposals to local government have also failed,” he added. Coffs Harbour has proved a popular event with competitors, attracting large fields in recent years and an income to the North coast centre of over $2.2 million each year during the three day period of the rally. “It doesn't seem to make any sense at all and there appears to be no way to retrieve the situation,” Halpin said. “NSW is home to more rally competitors than any other state, and the replacement round is now a 14 hour drive from Sydney, and much more for those living in Newcastle and the North Coast,” he added. ARCom Chairman Garry Connelly said the ARC Super Series would not cope with six 70

rounds, but it is hoped the NSW round can be returned in 2002, with a rally based around Sydney. Connelly had signalled that a Sydney-based event was on the cards when he posted a message on the NSW group bulletin board several weeks ago, proposing a National Clubman Championship Rally based in the NSW capital. The ARCom supremo and Rally Australia boss told Motorsport News that NSW would still have the benefit of a round of the manufacturers’Championship in the form of Rally of Canberra. However, when asked about the large question mark hanging over the Canberra event, he refused to acknowledge that the National Capital event was under threat. “There is only a small question mark over Canberra,” said Connelly. “We had to make the decision, ARCom has to seek Government support for Australian Championship rallies and the SA Government has done just that,” said Connelly.

The Rally of Adelaide was announced hy the SA Minister for Tourism Joan Hall at the Wayville Showgrounds last Wednesday, with the rally to be run on the weekend of July 6, 7 and 8 next year. Organisers claimed the result was the fulfilment of the SA Rally Strategic Plan developed since 1997. The Adelaide event will include a Super Special Stage in the suburbs of Adelaide, with the rally being run within 100 kms of the city. The rally will have veteran competitor and oi'ganiser Jeremy Browne as Clerk of Course and will be managed by the SA Motor Sport Board, with Andrew Daniels as the General Manager. The South Australian event was dropped from the ARC Super Series in 1997 following a lack of interest and a lack of willing organisers. In past years, the SA event failed to be a magnet for East Coast crews, reljdng on locals and a small influx of interstaters.

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Tommi Illegal Mitsubishi

molorspon news

RALLY ijT

Photo by John Morris/Mpix

out in Perth turbo gives Makes'title to Peugeot WHILE Tommi Makinen didn't find out about his disqualification until he landed back in Europe, Peugeot driver Marcus Gronholm and his Peugeot team were surprised to find that they had won the World Championship for Manufacturers as a result of Makinen's exclusion from the Rally Australia. "Every morning it seems to be some surprises. I am not 100 per cent happy. The feeling is good, but not so fantastic," said Gronholm. Peugeot Sport's Director Corrado Provera said that the inherited victory, a day after the finish, would not reduce the satisfaction of the French car

make its first World Rally Championship since 1986. "If we are really the champions, we must in some way have deserved it. I think we showed it by taking the lead after the Sanremo Rally," said Provera. "Now we have secured the Manufacturers' crown, the Driver's will be easier and we have to help Marcus to do it," he said. The Makinen exclusion has helped Gronholm's cause, with Richard Burns now needing to win the final round and the Finn to finish lower than sixth and score no points if the Englishman is to take the crown. -JON THOMSON

9AC dramas

THE final round of the 2000 WRC is under threat, following severe storms in the UK, which have resulted in flooding and transport chaos. The British dilemma has been made worse by the threat of truck blockades to protest the escalating price of fuel in Britain. The common thought at Rally Australia was that the chances of the rally being called off were high, a result which would rob Richard Burns, right, of his last chance to take the 2000 title. The lack of emergency personnel, most of whom are fully engaged in mopping up and sorting out the weather-induced chaos, has also caused the organisers more than a few headaches. By the time you read this, a decision would have been made about the rally's fate and, as a result, the fate of Burns, who desperately wants to be the first Englishman to win the World

Juha, Juha, meet Rex

I’ve still got the Bluesfor Siibe: Former World Rally champion Juha Kankkimen and co-driver Juha Repo with the new Subaru Inipreza WRX WRC, on show for the first time at the 2000 Sydnev Motorshow last week.

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24 Noveroher 2000

Rally Drivers' Championship. RAC MSA officials were also keeping a close eye on the condition of the stages following the severe Atlantic storms which have swept the West coast and Central parts of the UK over the past few weeks. ' -JON THOMSON

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Perth’s Kwinana almost ready ‘Super’drag strip/speedway complex opens December15/16

Corporate takeover: The corporate boxes are impressive...

The viewfrom behind: Kwinana’s drag strip is laid and ready to race on.

Best seats in the house: The ‘gold’seats have a great view of the startline.

Gretzky’s flopper?

COULD Canadian ice hockey great Wayne Gretzky be heading into big time drag racing? Fellow countr3TTien Todd Paton’s refrigerator white Pontiac Funny Car appeared at last week’s AAA Finals in Pomona with a large silver #99 adorning its flanks, with virtually no other signage on the car at all. Insiders close to the operation Report that team owner Barry Jft’aton,'Ibdd’s father, is going to r somehow try and entice Gretzky into backing the operation. Why or how “The Great One” might benefit from such an affiliation appears murky at best, paiticularly since he’s never indicated an interest in motorsports in the past and seems to be enjoying retirement in Los Angeles with his wife and four children. Fui'ther, Gretzky was recently appointed to a position with the Canadian national hockey team in which he’ll help select players for future international competition. As one Paton insider put it, “They just don’t seem to know what it takes to compete in fuel Funny Cai’ racing, and this Gretzky thing seems like dream stuff to me.” -JONASHEE

PERTH’S spectacular Kwinana Motorplex complex is almost ready for competition, with the finishing touches being put on the venue in readiness for its December 15/16 opening. The drag strip's asphalt, beginning at the end of the 330ft concrete launch pads, was laid a fortnight ago, with the 'one-piece' lay-up of the track said to provide Australian drag racers with the smoothest racing surface ever. The corporate and media boxes are also receiving their final touches, while the 'gold' areas of both the drag strip and speedway have had their seats installed. Reaction to the $18.5 million venue, despite few being allowed to actually tour it as yet, has been excellent, with both opening nights for the speedway and drag strip expected to sell out in advance. Having had the opportunity to have a 'sneak peek' first hand, I recommend any true motor racing fan not to miss the Kwinana Motorplex’s opening events. - GERALD McDORNAN

jroHiv

»K

He’s a Superhero: John Force /SSuperman...

(Photo by Jon Ferrey/ALLSPORT)

Force re-ups for five years NOT content with this season having set the record for the most ever wins in NHRA history, or having taken his 10th Winston Championship in 11 years, John Force has re signed with long-time sponsor Castrol for the next five years. Force and Castrol, who were recently taken over by British Petroleum, announced the new agreement last week following the NHRA end of season banquet. The partnership between the oil company and drag racing’s winningest ever driver began in 1987, the same year Force won his first ever NHRA national event,

the Le Molson Grandnationals at St. Pie, Quebec. It was ironic that, for someone who has made his name by giving great‘bottom end’ interviews. Force’s first victory came at a race that, at that time, wasn’t televised! “Castrol North America is thrilled about renewing its partnership for the next five years with John Force,” said John Howell, motorsports manager for Castrol. “John has been a symbol of hard work, determination and success. We are looking forward to watching him ride to many more victories.” -JON ASHER motofspart news

DRAG RACING Romine’s great ‘fly-in’ deal... IHRA Top Fuel Champion Paul Romine has sold his entire operation to Doug Herbert, with Herbert retaining both Romine and his sponsor Carquest for a 14-race campaign in 2001. With a booming business, Romine sold the car to concentrate on making money, while also becoming just a 'fly in’ driver. D Will Don 'the Snake’ Prudhomme field a second Funny Car in 2001 ? They just might, as crew chief Ed 'the Ace' McCulloch has indicated a second car could be in the plans, while the first car, driven by Ron Capps, might possibly return with the Skoal moniker next year.

Hanging up the helmet: Five-time NHRA Top Fuel Champion Joe Amato has retired from driving. (Photo by Gerald McDoman)

TOP Fuel’s winningest driver,five-time NHRA Champion Joe Amato has retired. Amato, 52, made the shock announcement at Pomona,saying his decision, which he made on the first day of the event, had come due to increasing concerns about the potential for further serious eye damage(Amato has had two recent operations for detached/split retenas) and his driving. Amato reports that instead of going for both parachute at the finish line, he’s been using the brakes first before deploying one parachute at a time. “When you do it that way, you’re a long way down

Coiy Mac buys Coiy McClenathan and Brad Anderson have purchased the entire inventoiy of Joe Gitobs’ MBNA Top Fuel team. McClenathan stressed at the AAA Finals that Anderson wouldn’t be partnering Mm in any racing operation, merely helping j Cory Mac fund the purchase in the hope of finding full backing to run next year. McClenathan is believed to have retained MINA, although the funding is not enough to noin a full canaipaign. ' . . - JONASiCERi

the shutoff area and that could be dangerous,” he said. “In the interests of my family, the safety of my competitors and my own health, I think it’s better to walk away now, healthy and happy with what I’ve been able to achieve in my driving career.” Amato said he expects to continue in the sport, hoping to field a Top Fuel car next year, with backers and potential drivers currently being spoken to. One driver on the list of candidates to fill Amato’s shoes is the now-unemployed €017 McClenathan, Amato admitting as much. “We’re talking about it,” he admitted to MN. -JON ASHER

Super Shoe's Super Team

FOUR professional NHRA teams and a Winston Cup NASCAR team is the goal of team owner Don Schumacher, the former Funny Car driver and father of 1999 Winston Top Fuel Champion Tony announcing his intentions at Pomona last week. Schumacher confirmed he is looking to add a second Funny Car team during next season, joining son Tony and Melanie Troxel's Top Fuel cars, along with Whit Bazemore's already

annuounced Mateo Tools-backed Funny Car, with a Winston Cup team in the near future. "We'll try to add a second Funny Car team at some point during the year," Schumacher said in Pomona, "but that'll be it. Four teams are more than enough in drag racing. "But after we get that settled I'm going to expand into NASCAR. I'm going to take a serious look at what's going on over there." -JON ASHER

n Two members of Scotty Cannon's Oakley Funny Car team got 'into it' in the pits, with the upshot being that Cannon promptly fired both men, including crew chief Jimbo Ermalovich. NHRA apparently won't be taking ' any action, although they will with a former Funny Car driver who allegedly attacked an alcohol Funny Car team owner; criminal charges also having been laid by the victim... n John Spar, a two-time winner in Super Comp (with a blown 200 mph bracket racerl), is trying to move to Top Fuel next year. Spar reportedly has a couple of opportunities pending, including one with the Carrier family in Tennessee, the former owners of IHRA. n Pro Stock racer Mark Pawuk scored his first-ever Top Speed of the Meet in Pomona when his Summit Racing Firebird carded a 200.68 mph run during qualifying. Pawuk's engine shop delivered a fresh engine just in time for the Finals, one reportedly 19 horsepower better than previous powerplants. n Cory Lee looks to be out of a ride next year, with team owners Pro Motorsports reportedly bailing out of his Funny Car operation... n And finally, the PRO has re-hired Mike Lewis as its executive director for another tour of duty. - JON ASHER

2000 WINSTON DRAG RACING SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL POINTS \ \ a

24 Nauember 2000

VViiLston Top Fuel Championsliip l.Gaiy Scebd, Winston 1890 ,1624 2. Lany Dixon, Miller Litc/MBNA 3. Tony Schumacher, Exidc Batteries .1603 4. Joe Amato, Tenneco/Dymomax .1422 5. Doug Kalitta, MGM Grand Hotel 1413 6. Kenny Bernstein, Bud King Racing 1243 1249 7. Coiy McClenaaian, MBNA 100! S. Bob Vandergrifl' .963 9. Doug HertKil,SiuipOn Tools 10. David Grubnic 861

Winston I-'ranj' Car Qiampionship 1. Jolin Force, Gistrol GTX Mustang .. 1992 1551 2. Ron Capps. US Tobacco Camaro 3. Jeny Toliver, WWF Racing Camara 1513 4.Tony Pedrcgon, Castrol Syntcc M/tang 1444 1242 5. Jim Epier, WWF Racing Camara 6. Scotty Cannon. Oakley Camara 1114 7. Whit Ba/emorc, Kendall CTT-l Gunaro 1088 8. Del Woishain, CSK Pontiac 1056 9. Bnicc SaiA’cr 10.35 10. DeiuiSkuza, Mateo Tools Avenger

995

Winston I^)Stock Championsliip .2054 1 Jeg Coughlin. Jeg's Olds CuUnss 2.Kurt Jolmson, ACDelco Camara 1604 3. Warrcn Johnson. GM Pontiac .1481 .1392 4. Ron Krishcr, Eigle One Pontiac .1214 5. Mark Pawuk,Summit Racing PontiK 1166 6.Tray Coughlin,leg's Olds C^llass 7. Richie Stevens, VaLsixir Pontiac .1143 ,1028 8..lim Yates. Splilfirc/Paak Pontiac . 927 9. ftirrcllAidemum .887 10. BmceAlien

I love the smell of nitro... Andrew and Graeme Cowin warm up the K&N Filters/Auto Meter fueller in Pomona.

Champions’ Pomona Sceizi and Force cap off Winston Championship winning 2000 seasons with AAA Finals victories

t' :

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GARY Sceizi and John Force capped off their 2000 championship seasons with victories at the season-ending Automobile Club of Southern California Finals at Pomona. Sceizi closed his third championship season in four years with a record-setting ninth victory, downing ‘99 season champion Tony Schumacher in the final round 4.54s/319mph to 4.67/310 - the win giving Sceizi a 6-0 advantage over his rival dm-ing the season. “We knew that team over there were stout, so we went for it,” said Sceizi. Sceizi said he admired Schumacher for his effort, who was returning for the first time since his Memphis accident. “Tb come back from the wreck he had and race is great. I Imow he was hm-ting and I know how he felt because I’ve been on my head before.” Still, Sceizi was forthright in his opinion of who deserved the 2000 championship... “There are stories that outchampionship is tainted because Tony was out for a few races, but I want to put an end to that. They weren’t as good as us this year, plain and simple, and we proved that again'today.” Aussie Andrew Cowin had a solid ending to his limited 2000 season campaign, the 20-year-old qualifying seventh with the K&N Filters/Auto Meter dragster. Cowin then downed three-time champion Shirley Muldowney in a wild, tyre-smoking fii-st round duel before falling to Schumacher in a

Won the war, not the battle: Jeg Coughlin lost to Kurt Johnson In Pro Stock, close, fast, second round match-up. “We’ve had a good year, some good results and some which show we’re in the hunt anytime we get to the track,” Cowin said. “We have some exciting plans for next year and I’m looking forward to getting back in the cockpit real soon.” Force scored his 92nd career win, capping off his 10th Winston Championship by defeating Bruce Sai-ver in a close final round, 4.85/316 to 4.89/308. “The real key was to stay in the left lane all day,” said Force. “We tried to do that, but lost lane choice to Sarver before the finals. “Coil(crew chief Austin) said we should be okay if it was dark and a little cooler when we ran and he was right... again! “This is a great way to cap off our 10th championship.” Peter Russo didn’t qualify for the 16 car Funny Car field, the Melbourne racer stmck with clutch problems on his first two qualifying attempts. Rain ruined the Russo’s last shot at making the field, the four-time Australian

champion out-qualifying foursecond mnners Tim Wilkerson, Gary Densham, Cristen Powell and Cory Lee. IVenty-nine Funny Cars were at Pomona. Kmi;Johnson capped off a good year by winning his sixth event ofthe season and taking out new champion Jeg Coughlin in the final round. Johnson’s AC Delco Camaro used a 6.85/200 to stop the champ’s close 6.88/199. “We’ve finished this year just like Jeg finished off 1999, so, hopefully, that’s a good sign for us,” KJ said of his last race in the Camaro before switching to a new, more aerodynamic Cavalier in 2001. Tony Mullen recorded his first Pro Stock Motorcycle win for the season, defeating a quicker Matt Hines, who redlighted. Mullins posted a 7.28/179 for the win. Four-time Winston Super Stock Champion Greg Stanfield captured his first professional victory when his drove liis DBP Enterprises Chevy SIO to victory over Mike Coughlin in the Pro Stock linck final. - DAVID OSTASZEWSm

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DRAG RACING

Spring is sprung

Top Fuel fails to draw enough competitops for field, but support racing at Adelaide enough to satisfy anyone. by STEVEN WHITE

IN stark contrast to Bathurst’s week of rain and mud, Adelaide’s annual Springnationals event on November 18 was hot.And that was hot in more fonns than just the weather... The mercury rose to 31 degrees by 9am and peaked at 39 in the mid-afternoon. The excessive heat on the day and preceding days, combined with the sheer volume of cars on the track, did little to help the race surface for the Australian Drag Racing Series’ opening event. And although being scraped several weeks ago, the track blistered and became a real handful in the afternoon heat. Nick Xerakis felt the full extent of the track ‘going off,’ his Northern Dynamics Ford Probe all over the shop in the opening round of Super Stock - a fantastic driving effort from Xerakis ensured his car stayed out of the panel shop after looking as though it would take a tumble. That Super Stock round ended there, and was completed later in the afternoon in the safety and interest of all competitors... Off the 206 entrants who contested the nine eliminators, 78 of those were from interstate. Six ANDRA nationals records fell and many personal best were recorded in the difficult conditions. As well as being the opening round of the ADR Series, the Springnationals was also to be the opening round of the Top Fuel Championship. However, with only three Fuel cars fronting that wasn’t possible - perhaps a worrying sign for ANDRA while the sport struggles with stability thanks to no track in Sydney. All three drivers present, Jim Read, Steve Reed and Robin Kirby put on a show worthy of a championship Top Fuel round. There were 11 passes in all and to their credit not a drop of oil was spilt. Sure, they weren’t set on kill, the nitro didn’t fill the air with it’s usual potency, but then there was nothing to race for, pride the only thing on the line. On the last run of the night you could have been forgiven if you thought this was the final of a Top Fuel round with both Jim and Steve Reed not holding back. 24 November 2000

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Car count: Although it didn’t eventuate to be a round of the Top Fuel Series, due to a lack of numbers, Jim Read’s performances would have been hard to top. Number cruncher: Perth’s Grant O’Rourke was again too good in Comp, his blown Torana resetting the national record. {Photos by Steven White)

OCTANE BOOSTER ftsdno Formui3

Veteran Jim didn’t seem worried about AIR shorter breaking area as he drove the Gregory’s Publications fueller all the way, recording a 5.02/289.76. Racing in the suppoi-ting nine eliminators was as tough as you could get. Both Competition and Super Stock were full 16 car fields while Comp Bike, an eliminator which has struggled for numbers in the past, fielded 10 riders. Super Sedan and Super Street were huge, with six rounds contested in each - a win in either eliminator a fantastic effort. How tough and tight was SuperStock? Well, ask Graeme Walker, Peter Ridgeway, Nick Xerakis, Jason Grima, Joe Polito and Rob Demaniel, as fi-om this group you’d expect to find a winner, but could only find first round losers! Daylight separated Tom Dimitropoulos and his Camaro from the A/MS Index. Having top qualified,

Dimitropoulos used his poweradvantage to keep everyone undercontrol before unleashing an amazing 9.249/147.83(9.58 index) to defeat Ray Caruana in the final. Comp belonged to Perth’s Grant O’Rom-ke, the wild blown Torana downing a redlighting Jeff During in the final round. O’Rourke had earlier run a 6.61/215 against Mick Utting in the semi-finals, the run the fastest ever recorded for the class. Sam Scerr-i had an ‘O'Rourke effect’ on the Comp Bike field, top qualifying and running as quick and fast as 7.64/175 in the final. Other Spr-ingnationals champions were Rachael Clancy in Modified and Robert Cassar in Modified Bike; Lee Bektash made it two win fi-om two starts this season with his win in Super Gas; Daniel Tomasi took out the tough Super- Sedan title, Philip Early did the same in Super Street; Adam Tassone won Junior- Dragster.

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MOTORSPORT NEWS; To start at the obvious point, congratulations upon your first Top Fuel Championship win. DARREN DiFILIPPO: Thank you. Yes, it was great to have earned the championship, especially considering the amount of time and effort we put into running our car. MN: It must have been very gratifying for you after missing out by such a narrow margin - just 30 points - in the previous season? DD: Yes it was, but, strangely, we've never really chased the Championship - we have never had the sponsorship dollars to chase it.

Last year we decided not to go to one of the early rounds as we were snowed under with work back home and, in the end, it cost us the Championship by not turning up at that race. Those things happen, apparently... Personally, I'm much more of an elapsed time/mile per hour person than a series chaser. I'm after the big numbers... I don't really like championship points chases very much - I'm more into putting down the heavy numbers and giving the crowd a show for their money. Dad's tuning the car and he's got a bit of a different perspective, but I'm in the driver's seat and what I want is a fast ridel

Personally, I'm much more ol an ET and MPH person. I'm aner ttie big numbers...rr -Darren DiFilippo

Putting the handbrake on: Without consistent laps in the car, DiFilippo left believes it is a lot harder to ‘rescue’ a run if the tyres turn. However, he did rescue this wild one at Calder last year... (Photos by Marshall Cass)

All fired up Darren DiFilippo won file 2DDD Australian Top Fuel Clianipionsliip, Put, due to a iaek of funding, lie won't defend ills title tills season. DREG WRD spoke to Darren and liis failier, Gliarlio, aUout last season and itow tougli it is to run a Gompetitive Top Fuol car in Australia... JB

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INTERVIEW MINI: How would you compare the two seasons? What was the main difference for you between 1999 and 2000? DD: To be honest, it was that the tracks weren't as good this past season as they were before -we had quite a few problems with the racing surfaces during this year. At the Winternationals rerun, before we went out for the first round I asked Dad what to do on the run and he said "Just drive it as far as you can..." It went 100 feet out and turned the tyres. And we had everything backed right down! It was like "What do we do now?" It's a hard situation because you want to do well in front of the crowd and put on a good show for them. MN: What are the Redback Performance Exhaust team's plans for the new season? DD: We will be sitting out the season until we can secure some more financing to continue or racing program. CHARLIE DiFILLlPO: Our sponsorship deal with Redback has been reduced for this coming season, as we knew it was going to be, but they will be continuing with us. We've been on the search for some more backing, but, as of yet, nothing firm has been decided and so we will reluctantly be parking the car until some sponsorship money comes up. We are basically going to be taking it one meeting at a time

and, at this stage, we are aiming at being at Calderforthe December 9 round. MIM: If the sponsorship situation changes and a backer does eventuate, are you ready to roll straight away? DD: Absolutely, everything is ready to go. If a deal came through right now we'd be out there for Calder, that's for sure. CD: The car's ready to run right now. All we need is some funding as you can't do this with your own funds forever. MN: Are there any potential sponsors on the horizon? It would seem a shame if the defending Australian Top Fuel Champions can't run during the season... CD: There are a few different companies we are talking to at the moment... DD: We have some discussions coming up the Tuesday after the Springnationals in Adelaide which we hope will bear fruit. MN: The costs of running a Top Fuel car in Australia are known to be high. No doubt, with the Australian dollar plunging against the US dollar, you would be in a far worse position than before? Has it dropped at the worst possible time for you? CD: Oh yes, it's definitely done that. It's one of the major reasons that our costs have risen over 25 percent in the last 12 months our dollar has just lost it's value but the parts we need still need to be bought if we are to go racing. MN: How difficult has it been for you having a season of just five meetings spread over such a wide time span? DD; They are a bit too far apart and that has been a problem in several areas, I suppose. It's hard from the point that you can't really get the ball rolling, get some momentum up and going from one race to the next. And even within the team - I mean, like, the guys pulling the engine down. If you are doing it five times in a short period (such as would be done on one average weekend on the NHRA circuit) you naturally get into a 'flow' and can keep it going. However, when you have a

big gap between races like we currently have, then the guys sort of drop off a bit and lose the rhythm. It doesn't matter who you are, it's just a human thing. If you don't ride a bike for five years and then you hop on one then you're bound to be a bit wobbly, if we could get the meetings placed a bit closer together then perhaps the whole team would be able to work a lot better together.

the States - Dad really does it all himself. We don't actually have a tune-up or pay for a tune-up from the USA - we've put our own deal in this thing, so whether it's 90 percent or not it's irrelevant to us. Actually, 90 percent isn't far off what we are running now, so we haven't got all that much to change. It's just a matter of putting it in and trying to make it more aggressive - 5.20s don't really cut it after running 4.80s!

MN: In this past year both the IMHRA and the IHRA decided to employ a 90 percent nitro rule, some of the reasons for this decision being stated as decreasing the level of parts usage and therefore cost to the racer, as well as less down-time for the spectators. What are your feelings on the same rules being incorporated into ANDRA racing? DD: 1 think that the sooner we move to something like the 90 percent rule the better. In fact, I think I'd like to make it an 80 percent rule in Australia to slow the cars down and that would help take the 'track element' out of it. It would drag that much power out of the cars that no-one would be able to turn the tyres with just 80 percent in the tank. To run a meeting here in Australia on nitromethane it's going to cost you a lot of money, even if nothing goes wrong . The way the Aussie dollar seems to be going that cost may only get worse. In my opinion the 90 percent rule would definitely make it more affordable to go fuel racing in Australia.

MN: How happy were you with the performance of the car last season? On several occasions you appeared to have the car to beat, yet beat yourselves. DD: The only car problem we had was trying to run quicker than 4.70. Instead of taking the safe approach and running for a 4.9, we were trying to run big numbers out there and, at the end of the day, I think we sort of shot ourselves in the foot because the track's couldn't handle it. We seem to be too aggressive with the car, but it's human nature.that when you're playing with that sort of horsepower you just want more! When the car does hook up it has gone real hard, it's just a matter of trying to keep it hooked up and that has been our biggest problem. As a driver I can't grab the brake quick enough like US drivers can with all those laps under their belts.

MN: There have been reports of people running 90 percent tune-ups here in Australia in preparation of an impending move in that particular direction by ANDRA. DD:I don't know whether anyone's actually running it out here yet. I mean, everyone's said that they were, but you talk to them at other times and they deny it. We only ran 90 percent once at the Nationals and it dropped .to a 5.20 after running a 5.1 right before that. The car just becomes real lazy... MN: Has the advent of the 90 percent rule in the US disrupted the flow of tuning information, etc, to racers in Australia like yourselves? DD: We don't really get any information on the tune-up from

MN: Were the team seriously chasing the SOOmph mark last season? DD: Yes. There were quite a few occasions, definitely. MN: The Nationals? DD: Yeah, the Nationals was one of them. There was just no air there to make the power that we needed but we were definitely trying a lot of things out there to make it happen, that’s for sure. MN: We hope to here some good news from you on the sponsor front in the near future guys and see you at the next four rounds of the Championship. DD: Thanks, we hope to be there too.

"5.20s don't really cut it after running 4.80sl t!

-Bansfi BiFilippo

Farr breaks the ice New South Welshman

finally takes that elusive lA/SS A-Feature win WHILE it may have come at the misfortune of others, Robbie Farr finally broke through for his first A-Feature win in World Series Sprintcars at Newcastle on November 11. Farr took the lead after the race leaders - Kerry Madsen, Max Dumesny and Brooke Tatnell were unable to avoid an incident between backmarkers at one-third distance of the race. “1 just had nowhere to go," said Madsen. "The track was blocked and it was either hit Grant Tunks or the fence - his car was the softer option. The impact tore the shock absorber tower from the frame and we couldn't fix it." Dumesny, too, was out of the race in the incident. "1 needed Inspector Gadget wheels to drive over the top of that crash to avoid it!" he exclaimed. "Even Brooke came into the accident after me; there was no way I could get out of it. It's a shame, as Kerry's car was getting loose and my Valvoline Maxim was a missile." Farr though was understandably happy with the breakthrough win. "I had a big bicycle and then a wheelstand at the start of the Unlucky: Kerry Madsen tripped up in the lapped traffic. His speed had been strong but didn't translate into a win. (Rwio by Waifon BikIuoI

feature and dropped from third starting position to sixth," explained Farr. "Maybe it was meant to be my night, as that incident at the start meant I just missed the accident up ahead - as it was I only just squeezed between Brooke and the wall. There was just a car-width in it and I just made it through. "I'd hoped to have won a WSS feature before this but life has been good to me this year. I'll have to enjoy it while I can." Indiana’s Danny Smith slotted into Trevor Shields’car well, taking second after flying into the country a day earlier, while Tatnell was the only one out of the lead three in the accident who was able to re-start. The Shell Helix driver had the damage to his Avenger chassis repaired and he lined up at the tail of the depleted field for the re start. "I've been down on confidence a little bit but coming from the back to finish third did me the world of good," said Tatnell.

Nothing like the winning feeling: Robbie Farr, above, broke the ice to win his first World Series Sprintcar A-Feature at Newcastle, (Photo by Warren Bridge) Robert Jackson took fourth, while brother Skip debuted in Shane Krikke’s Bunbury Toyota/Pennzoil Maxim with a ninth-place finish having been forced to the rear of the field with a flat rear tyre. Toowoomba’s Cameron Gessner, Warren Ferguson, Brett Loadsman and Adrian Maher separated the brothers in the A-Feature. Points after round one: Farr 1133, Smith 960, Tatnell 803, R. Jackson 674, Gessner 562, Ferguson 489, Loadsman 437, Maher 399, S. Jackson 372, Scheuerle 332.

World Series Sprintcars Round 1 - Newcastle, Nov 11 Time Trials 1. Dumesny 12.244, 2. Tatnell 12.384, 3. Jeffrey 12,459, 4. Madsen 12.584, 5. S. Jackson 12.644, 6. B, Jackson 12.794, 7. Farr 12.914, 8, Ferguson 12.988, 9. Scheuerle 13.004, 10. Shore 13.041, 11. Bartlett 13,067, 12. Maher 13.158, 13. Loadsman 13.165, 14. Gessner 13.303, 15. Smith 13.323, 16. Burton 13.352, 17. S. Knight 13.398, 18. Tunks 13.510, 19. Constable 14.944, 20. Walsh 15.786. Heat Races (10 laps) Heat 1 - Constable, Madsen, Loadsman, Farr, Dumesny, Burton. Heat 2 - Knight, Gessner, Tatnell, Bartlett, S. Jackson, Ferguson. Heat 3- Smith, Tunks, Maher, Scheurele, R. Jackson, Jeffrey. Heat 4- Farr, Dumesny, Knight, S. Jackson, Loadsman, Constable, Bartlett. Heat 5 - Madsen, Tunks, R. Jackson, Shore, Maher, Burton. Heat 6 - Smith, Gessner, Tatnell, Scheuerle, Ferguson, Jeffrey, Walsh. Trophy Dash (6 laps) Madsen, Dumesny, Farr, Smith, Tatnell, R.Jackson. B-Feature (10 laps) Loadsman, Constable, Bartlett, Burton, Shore. A-Feature (30 laps) Farr, Smith, Tatnell, R.Jackson, Gessner, Ferguson, Loadsman, Maher, S. Jackson, Scheuerle, Constable, Tunks, Madsen, Dumesny, Knight, Jeffrey.

moiorsport newt

SPEEDWAY

lac attack! Haudenschild takes over Beef Packers ride

Don’t worry about any of the muddy parts: Max Dumesny and the rest of the WSS show missed out on Parramatta. (Photo by David Lmaont)

WSS waslHHit THE second round of the 2000/2001 World Series Sprintcars championship was cancelled over the weekend, after heavy rain made the Parramatta City Raceway surface simply unable to be prepared for racing. There are no plans to reschedule the round which has been

cancelled from the schedule, a shame considering the live television coverage the PCR round was to receive. The next round of the series will be held at Murray Bridge’s Riverview Speedway in South Australia on December 2, while the next planned live coverage is for PCR on January 22.

VALE - DOUG WRIGHT 1934-2000 VICTORIAN speedway lost another of jts living links to its early history with the sudden passing of Douglas Forsyth Wright on Melbourne Cup Day. Doug was well known to the Sprintcar fraternity and was instrumental in assisting the careers of many of Victoria’s Sprintcar competitors such as his own son Roy, as well as the likes of Fred Edwards and Matthew Reed. Doug’s speedway roots go back to the halcyon days of Tracey’s Speedway and the famed Beasley family. Doug was also a great supporter of the Sprintcar Racing Association of Victoria and its forebears. The weekend prior to his death, Doug had seen his last Sprintcar race at Nyora before celebrating hiS 66th birthday on the Sunday. “It was unexpected, he hadn’t been ill,’’ said son Cameron. “At least he’d been hawing a good time enjoying himself." Doug is survived' by his wife Margaret, his children Roy, Cameron,Wendy and Julie and his grandchildren, Christy, Mitchell, Matthew, James, Rebecca and Emma. Motorsport News extends its sympathies to all his family and friends. He’ll be missed. - BRETT SWANSON

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24 Noyembor 2000

Packing beef: The Wild Child’ takes over from The Dude’ in 2001. (Photo by Martin D Clark)

THE silly season in the World of Outlaws has well and truly begun, with Jac Haudenschild taking over the #83 Beef Packers Eagle vacated by Danny Lasoski, who will drive for Tony Stewart's new team. Haudenschild, whose racing style prompted fans to nickname him The Wild Card', drove Jack Elden's car for nine years before leaving the #22 team. "Mr. Elden doesn't know what he's going to do next year," Haudenschild said. “He told me to find another ride. We left on good terms and I got hooked up with Dennis Roth. "It was great racing for Mr. Elden. He and I got along good. We still get along good. Hopefully, he'll stay in racing and

get a good driver and do well." The duo have been through tough times without sponsorship, but have only ever failed to finish in the top 10 points standings once out of the nine years, when Haudenschild was injured. "My relationship with Danny was very good," said Roth, owner of the #83 team. "I hated to see him leave. Personally, I think he made a mistake. He had probably the best deal on the tour, except for guys who have major sponsors and have owned their own teams for a couple of years. "He just got in the car and didn't have to worry about anything. Jac's a totally different driver than Danny. Our team has to get used to that."

2000 WORLD OF OUTLAWS SERIES POINTS SCORE Las Vegas Speedway,3 November 2000

Final Point Standings Series 2000 1. 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.

9665 9534 9468 9354 9251 8968 8913 8898 8702 8637

1 1. Donny Schatz ... 12..Tim Shaffer 13. Daryn Pittman .. 14. Danny Wood IS. Greg Hodnett... 16. Dean Jacobs 17. Brian Paulus .... 18. Brooke Tatnell... 19. Randy Hannagan. 20. Paul McMahan...

8548 8313 8185 7970 7665 6557 6453 5830 4658 4624

I. Sammy Swindell 2.Andy Hillenburg 3. Greg Hodnett 4. Craig Dollansicy 5. Dean Jacobs 6.Jac Haudenschild 7. Ronnie Day 8. Paul McMahan

11.Johnny Herrera 12. Dale Blaney 13. Daryn Pittman l4.Jcrrod Hull IS. Ryan Flynn 16.Shane Stewart 17. Stevie Smith 18. Steve Kinser

9. Kenny Jacobs iO. Donny Schatz

19.Joey Saldana 20. Brooke Tatnell

Swayne's Wbpld by BRETT SWANSON AVALON International Raceway kicked off its 25th season of racing with round two of the Autopro Super Sprint Series as its headline event on November 11. Joining the fray were David Anderson and Ian Lewis(in the ex-McCallum/Rankin title-winning J&J)and, while it looked like these two would feature prominently in the results, it was the young brigade of David Swayn, Colin Bulmer and Rod Matthews who took the top three placings after a bruising 25-lap feature. “It’s a new car, a new team, and a fantastic result to win,” said Swayn. “Boy, it feels real good! I had a look up on the board and saw there was still 15 laps left. I’m just over the moon, I could go out and do another 25 laps right now!” Bulmer was rapt with his runner-up position after hardly having raced during the past three seasons. The result was even more pleasing after a scare when the steering wheel had come olT during a heat. “We’re real happy - it’s a brand new car for us,” he said. “(It’s a) brand new frame, near gear, new engine. We now have got the gear behind us. We’ve just go to get ourselves up to speed. I was still a little bit tentative coming into the corners, but once I get that sorted out we should be OK.” Matthews had driven a steady race and was challenging for second late in the race, but couldn’t quite make the pass. A subdued Matthews lamented misjudging the racetrack. ‘We were too tight all night, the track was tackier than we expected,” he said. ‘We kept winding a bit of weight into the right rear but we were still too tight. We felt we deserved better last week, but didn’t expect to do this much this week with the better cars here, so we are happy!” The feature had begun with a bang, Jeff Judd flipping backwards after a spin and after the complete 80

Pondering his next conquest: David Swayn, right, wonders how he can make it two in a row in the next round at Mount Gambier on November 25. (Pholo by Ian Robinson]

Silver and black attack: Tim McCubbin made his first appearance of the 2000/2001 season in the PPG #13 machine. (Photo by Brett Swanson]

re-start, Tim McCubbin pulled in with damaged steering. Lewis retired with brake problems, while Daryn Maggs had contact with Anderson, the result being the former in the wall. Mike Van Bremen threw away the win with a spin in turn four, allowing Swayn, Bulmer and Matthews to tear past and not be stopped. Points: Judd 659, M. Van Bremen 579, Ramsdale 570, Warren 564, Thomsen 560, Swayn 558, Matthews 552, Bulmer 538, Chippendall 511, Smith 407.

LjU IN an effort to fulfill his All cars must utilize a vow to make Sprintcars 4130.058 minimum wail racing with the Pennzoil thickness drag link and tie World of Outlaws Series rod and steel helm ends. "look like Sprint cars 'Ci>. A magnet must stick at again," Ted Johnson any time and no swedging of announced last week the tubing will be permitted that the series will under the rules. Drilling of amend its rules. any bolts, fasteners or helm When the series opens ends will be outlawed. the 2001 season at Kings Johnson also said the Speedway in Hanford, Pennzoil World of Outlaws California on February 23 Hooded Outlaw.s: They're in for 200!. Series races will run more next year, each car must ipi».obyMan.Dctoki |aps |n its feature races next have a full hood. season. The hood must extend to the cars. While the hood may be a Therefore, the series front of the torsion tubes or a multiple-piece design, it must recommends teams utilise 33similar location on coil-over sprint appear to be one continuous panel. gallon tanks.

motorsDort news

SPEEDWAY

Brooke's back

JUL/E PEARCE talks to Brooke Tatnell on his return to Australia. Back on home soil: Tatnell made his first appearance for the 2000/2001 season of racing at Newcastle for the first round of the World Series. He picked up a third having started at the back. (Photo by David Lamont)

life! I'll miss the local racing though. It's unfortunate but I'm getting to a point now where I don't know how many more years I'm going to be able to keep doing this (racing here and racing in America). It's taking its toll.

Motorsport News; Firstly, welcome back to Australia. Brooke Tatnell: I've only been home since the morning before the World Series opener so I haven't had time to appreciate being back home yet, but it's always good to get back home and sleep in your own bed. IVIN: After your accident and the injuries you sustained in America, how physically fit are you for the racing season here? BT: Physically I'm probably about 60 to 70 percent (fit). When I got to the track before the first WSS race I was probably about 80 percent, but when you get in a racecar and (the) adrenalin starts pumping. I'm probably about 90 percent. MN: Are you still fatigued from the racing season in America or are you ready to face a full season here? BT: No, I'm still fatigued physically I'm fatigued and mentally I'm fatigued, but I've come home for the simple reason that it's good to rebuild some pride and ego and rebuild a bit of confidence. 10 November 2000

MIM; Do you feel that your confidence was shaken badly by America? BT: It's definitely shaken. It isn't what it was last year, but you know I can turn this around - I mean. I've just spent nine months getting beat up and three months laying on my back, so I'm nowhere near as confident as I'd like to be but it's something that time just has to take its toll and I'l l see where I can get. IVIN: Your plans for the Australian season are you running ail the rounds of the World Series Sprintcar titles? BT: Weil my plans right now are that I'll be here until the fifth round at Avalon and

I'l l get on a plane on the 11 th of December and fly back to America for three weeks. I'll get back home on Boxing Day and I'll run the rest of the Championship from there on and run the Australian title and the $50,000 (to win) race at Parramatta and then head back to America again to start the World of Outlaws season. WIN: So you won't really be here for a full season of Australian racing then? BT No, I haven't been here for a full year since 1991, but really I'm not going to miss that much (Photo by Tony Loxley) there's the Classic and the Easter Trail. rr I've only ever done -Brooke Tatnell one Easter Trail in my

'Tve just spent nine months getting beat up and three months lying on my hack

MN; Do you feel that you can successfully defend your title in World Series? BT: 1 wouldn't be here if I didn't think that I could. With this team here I think I've got the best team in the country and if I could take this whole team to America with the right size budget, I know I can win races in America, 1 know 1 can win a World of Outlaws show. 1 know within the next five years 1 honestly believe that given the right opportunity, I could be put in a position to run top five in an Outlaws championship, so I'm confident that I can win this championship here. Certain nights you have bad nights and if you're looking at winning championships - I'm not going to go here and race for points - I'm here to race for wins and to pick up my confidence and v./ins are the orjly things that do that, so I'm just going to race to win. MN; So if it came to a choice between going for the win or taking a third place and taking the championship ... BT: I'm going for the win. MN: You're going for the win, all the way this season? BT; Yes. I've never been a points racer a day in my life and it's probably hurt me, but it's also why I've won a lot of races doing that. 81

Kruc

I DREW Kruck took his first win of the Titan Garages Titan of the sport: ' ● / Queensland Sununer Shootout Series this year and Drew |ruck picked only his second A-Feature win with an emphatic i up his first QSSS display at round five on the weekend at Brisbane feature race win of International Raceway. the Season. "That was a good win," said Kruck. (Photo by Brett Swanson] "The car was fast and the track was like I wanted it. There was a big cushion and it was slick, so you have to use your brains and your foot and the car. I was on half throttle most of the time to match the track." Darren Jensen led the chase of Kruck in the feature. "I dropped back at the start and made a few wrong moves,(but)I was real happy to pass guys like Todd ' \ (Wanless) and Scheuerle," he said. "They're good runners - if you pass those guys you know I you're going well." Hr V.Series leader Darrell Hodges didn’t finish the feature, but won the $1000 prizemoney which goes along with the 3x3 Shootouts. He was involved in a close dice with Stephen Bell in the feature before a driveshaft failed. Third and fourth in the feature were the two Metalcorp/ABC Autogear cars of Garry Brazier and Todd Wanless, the former clouting the wall on the last corner of the race, an indication of just how hard he was tr3dng. Bell was fifth and the hardcharger of the night, while Dean McComb didn’t have the same success as his team mate, whacking WHILE Darrell Hodges took the wall and breaking a Jacob’s into the distance, while Kruck Ladder without damaging the wheel. the win in the feature race to (Titan Garages Eagle) started take round four of the Titan 10th For others, there were all sorts of woes. Garages Queenslapd Sununer On the increasingly slick Nathan Macdonald was out after Sprintcar Shootout, it was surface, Kruck came through a only the first heat when his fuel heavy dogfight to a brilliant Drew Kruck who put in the second place finish. tank fairing split, while Andrew drive of the night. Scheuerle returned to the series for For series leader Hodges, it was In the feature, Hodges what he was treating as an extended (Valvoline/Recochem Maxim) a frustrating night. started from third and after He finished second in heat one test session after running in the World Series at Newcastle. He had a disposing of front row occupants behind Dean McComb and was Brock Dean and a lacklustre coil break in Hot Laps, before threatening to reproduce the form that saw him decimate this race Todd Wanless, he disappeared running sixth in the feature.

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Kendrick 1-2

SPEEDWAY

WA’s glamour team hits back over the Nullabor

THE contrast between the opening two rounds of the Car Craft Wild West Sprintcar Series for the Kendrick Racing team couldn’t have been any greater. A fortnight earlier both cars were packed up early when they blew motors in the heat races, but last weekend it was a different story, Ryan Farrell and Trevor Green running one-two in the 25lap Sprintcar Pursuit. The opening corner of the main race saw instant action, Luch Monte clipping the rough stuff with his inside front wheel and inverted. The crew raced out with some replacement bits and he lined up at the back. Two more runs at the start were needed before racing could get underway and it was Ken Satori who was quick to get away and running at the front of the pack. Farrell raced past Wayne Russell, who later retired in a cloud of smoke, with Green moving into the runner-up place ahead of Satori. Rookie Satori was cruising in third place until he drifted high and tagged the main straight

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Like dad, like son

Dynamic duo: Ryan Farrell and Trevor Green ran close to one another (Photo by Peter French) but nobody else could touch them. fence, deflating the right rear tyre and then breaking the driveline. He aiso had suffered a roii-over in heat one. Farreli kept in front during the finai stanza, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 23 to take victory over his Kendrick team partner. Grant Sevan, rookie Daryi Clayden and Alian Nash rounded

out the top five runners. The third round of the series wiil be run at Bunbury on November 25. Ciayden now leads the series on 130 points, with Maiolo and Farreii equai second on 100 points. Monte and Green are tied on 90 and round out the top five in the pointscore.

LIKE his father Wayne in the bigger full-blown Sprintcars, Brett Milburn’s Mini Sprinter also carries the number two on its tail, a right he earned when he ran second in the State Title last season. For this season, the 22-yearold auto machinist shapes up with new colours and sponsors on the car and a refreshed determination to go one better. Milburn runs a Butler chassis powered by a Honda engine, coupled to a self-built twospeed gearbox. This is a very effective combination as Milburn is one of the class' leading competitors, having started his career only five years ago at Nyora in a Minisprint. During that time and with the support of Signforce, W&G Mowers, D&A Roller Doors, Speed Pro Engine Centre and now B&R Boring, Milburn has won the Mini Sprint Club Championship, been the Nyora track champion and won a Zone title. - BRETT SWANSON

Graham returns in style

FOR someone who hadn’t raced a Speedcar in nearly eight months,there wasn’t a cobweb to be found on Steven Graham’s (Fox Sports #41 Stealth) drive to win the Metalcorp main event at Parramatta Speedway on November 11. If not for a second place finish to Mark Brown (Rondalee #42 Stealth) in the second heat, Graham’s copybook was unmarked as he cleaned up his first heat, the Stars Dash (from the rear) and the 20-lap feature. Second placed Darren Jenkins (Metalcorp

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10 November 2000

#0 Ellis) was fiithy. He’d taken the iead from Chris Gallagher (C&R Engineering #64 Stealth) early in the piece and iooked aii set to score a main event win for his supporter Metalcorp on their sponsored night. That was, until ‘Cyclone Fox Sport’ blew in with three laps left. Craig Brady (Thompson Mower Centre #7 TCR)claimed third with Brett Morris (Mini Pickers #17 Stealth) fourth and Dave Lambert (WBG Trailer Repairs #4 Stealth) rounding out the top five.

Brown appeared to be the oniy man with the power to match Graham, but his Stealth smashed into the lapped Matthew Vella (RT Signs #75 Alach) and was outed at mid-race distance while running second. Newcastle hero Adam Clarke (Clarke Food Service #13 Jackson) returned from the States driving the Bob Woods Fontana and won his first heat before placing sixth in the main, just ahead of stable-mate Nathan Smee in the Cenovis #11. -WADE AUNGER

2000/2001 SPRINTCAR RACING ASSOCIATION OF VIC. CALENDER CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS Nov 25 ... 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 I I . Avalon ....Rd 9 Mar 24 - Wagga ...Rd iO Mar 24 . Wagga ...Rd H Mar 31 . Bacchus Marsh ...Rd 12

NON CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS Dec 2

Bacchus Marsh .. .360 ser

Jan 3.

Warrnambool ..Vic Title

jan 28

Warrnambool ...Classic

Feb 24,

Bacchus Marsh ...Fireball

Apr 7. ,

Bacchus Marsh ...360ser

QSSS 2000/2001 CALENDER Nov 25 .... Bundaberg

Rd 6

Dec 2 . Dec 16 Dec 26 Feb 24 Mar 3 . Mar 17

Brisbane Brisbane

Rd 7 Rd 8

Brisbane Lismore Brisbane Brisbane

Rd 9 Rd 10 .Rd 1 I ,Rd 12

Apr 13

Avalon ..Easter T

Apr 14

l . Mt Gambier ..Easter T

Apr 15

.Warrnambool ..EastorT

Mar 24 ... Toowoomba

Rd 13

Apr 21

Bacchus Marsh ..EastcrT

Mar 24 ... Toowoomba

.Rd 14

Nadeau's Atlanta Atlanta 500 Results

by MARTIN D CLARK JERE.Y Nadeau captured his first career Winston Cup win in the season finale held on Monday at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. “Wooo,those last four laps were the most emotional of my career...I didn’t know whether to bust out crying or what, because I knew I had eight or nine car lengths lead there at the end,” an excited Nadeau said in victory lane. “I can’t believe it,I’m so excited. We’ve had a tough year, but what a way to end the season. That car was flawless.I want to dedicate the win to Kenny Irtvin.” Nadeau, who started second, dominated the rain-delayed event,leading eight times for 155 of the 325 laps in his Hendrick Chevrolet; his 103rd start in the series to become the fourth first time winner in 2000. There were seven cautions before halfway before things settled down and the race shaped into a fuel mileage event. But Scott Pruett spim on the backstretch on lap 319, airing the eighth and final yeUow flag, Pruett’s spin setting up a sevenlap shootout. Bobby Labonte, who had already sewed up the championship,led just foiu’ laps,but held on to a fifth place in the race after looking sti’ong in the fomrth quarter. Dale Earnhardt finished bridesmaid to Nadeau and in so doing clinched second in the standings fi-om Jeff Burton, who was the runner-up enteiing the event. Burton ended his day 12th after tyre trouble. Wai'd Burton finished in third after leading 96 circuits; he had a handsome seven-plus second lead until the final caution. “We were a sitting duck,” said Burton.“We gave this one away with the caution coming out.” Several front runners and two leaders exited early; Mark Martin and Jeremy Mayfield both suffered with engine woes, while Tony Stewarts’Gibbs crew made a rare mistake and got the front tyres mixed up. This left the softer compound left side tyre on the right side and Stewart slammed the wall in a big way on lap 111 when the right side tyie let go. 84

Results: Nadeau (Chevy) 141.295 mph, Earnhardt(Chevy), W Burton (Pontiac), J Gordon (Chevy), B Labonte (Pontiac), Sl<inner (Chevy), R Wallace (Ford), Marlin (Chevy), Kenseth (Chevy)324 laps, Benson (Pontiac). Final Winston Cup Points

Second best: Dale Earnhardt.

Final points; B Labonte 5130, Earnhardt 4865, J Burton 4836, Jarrett 4684, Rudd 4575, Stewart 4570, R Wallace 4544, Martin 4410, Gordon 4361, W Burton 4152.

Jarrett delivers

L_TL.aiji Special delivery: 1999 Winston Cup Champion Dale Jarrett’s new sponsorship for 2001 with UPS was confirmed in Atlanta. (Photobyallsport)

ffwinsi

The Big K-iss goodbye: the Haas-Carte

Kmart

VARIETY retail store chain Kmart is expected to step out of its agreement with the Haas-Carter Motorsports team following the announcement of a staggering US$67 million third-quarter loss last week. Insiders have suggested the company has notified both the Haas-Carter team and the Newman-Haas Champ Car team that it intends to exit its agreements before the beginning of next season - the agreement still with two years to run before its completion. One concern which may present itself to Kmart is that if a buyer for the sponsorship

Bobby'] LAST year’s inaugural Winston Cup race at Homestead in Miami, Florida can be remembered for two things; Tony Stewart’s domination and what had to be the least competitive race of the year. This year’s event, held on November 12, was not much different... Stewart dominated again and the race was a snoozer. Just one thing though, Stewart’s Joe Gibbs Racing team-mate, Bobby Labonte clinched the Winston Cup championship with a fourth placing in the event. The Gibbs pairing

NASCAK

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performed a side-by-side victory lap following the race after Stewart led 166 of 267 laps for a record sixth win of the year. Stewart was the class of the field, even after a bout of claustrophobia brought on by the extreme Miami heat- his team needing to throw a bucket of ice on Stewart during a pit stop to ease his problem. Labonte who had lead the points since April 30th, was his usual calm self during the victory celebrations. “Tears?” Labonte asked. “None yet, you don’t tear up, you jump for joy when you win the Winston Cup Championship. I’m not crying ... did you see the

molorsporl news

NASCAR

Wiiist@n € woman arivei m

teams now need to find sponsors.

out?

is not found,Kmart will have to pay out the Haas-Carter contract. It is believed Kmart spends up to US$4Qm per annum on its motorsports sponsorship,the company now preferring to divert those funds towards huilding its business.Ironically, Kmart plans to continue selling NASCAR merchandise,as well as develop in-store promotions due to the strong customer interest in NASCAR-hranded products. Kmart has sponsored teams in Winston Cup for five years, the last three with HaasCarter Motorsports. - MARTIN D CLARK

WOMAN stock car racer Shawna Robinson is believed to be ready to make her Winston Cup debut, making Robinson the first female driver since 1989 to attempt to race in the world's toughest motor racing series. Robinson, who finished seventh in the final ARCA stock car series points score, is reported to have been contracted by former Ford Motorsports boss Michael Kranefuss to wheel a car for his MK Motorsports operation in seven Winston Cup races next year. Robinson raced for the MK Motorsports team in the ARCA series this season. Kranefuss is said to be also again running a similar ARCA stock car for Robinson in that series the rest of the year. While not wanting to comment extensively on the plan, Robinson did confirm she was looking at Winston Cup in 2001, "We have a plan to make seven races next year and we are working hard on achieving that," Robinson said last week. The last woman driver to race in Winston Cup was Patty Moise, who ran both the July Daytona and Talladega races in 1989. Moise finished a best of 36th at Talladega in her Amway-backed Buick. - MARTIN D CLARK

5 Supepbowl

24 November 2000

THE announcers for Fox and NBC have now been named with familiar faces filling the major rolls. Mike Joy will anchor the Fox network with back-up in the booth from Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds, while the very talented Alan Bestwick from NASCAR's Motor Racing Network heads up the NBC coverage with help from Benny Parsons and ex-ESPNer's Bill Weber and Matt Yocum. Veteran's Bob Jenkins, Dr Jerry Punch and John Kernan will stay with ABC and it's sister ESPN, while Ned Jarrett has plans to retire from full time broadcasting. The NBC Miami event was a 'taste of things to come' and I have to admit they did a fair job with such an un-interesting race, including the continued race coverage shown at the bottom of the screen during commercial breaks. But one has to say without ESPN, NASCAR racing probably wouldn't be where it's at today»globally and I'd probably still be in not so sunny old Englandl Thanks for the memories ESPN I n Morgan-McClure Motorsports' new crew chief David Ifft' has been fined US$10,000 by NASCAR for an improperly attached weight found following the Phoenix race. Cal Wells' PPI driver Scott Pruett was also fined the same amount due to some bumping which occurred on the cool down lap with Robert Pressley at Phoenix.

The biggest motor racing show on earth ... might soon place host to woman stock car driver Shawna Robinson. iPlitilo credit right align)

size of the cheque?” Indeed Labonte’s championship cheque was made out for a cool US$3 million (AUS$5.76m), but the brother of two-time Winston Cup Champion Teny’s total prizemoney will rise considerably above that come the annual awards ceremony, which will be held in New York on December 8. The Labonte Brothers are now the first brothers to have ever won the Winston Cup title, with Bobby also the first to win for Pontiac since Rusty Wallace in 1989. After being wiped out by an errant car while leading during the final laps at Phoenix the previous week, Ricky Rudd was again troubled by lady luck. He tangled with a lapped Dale Earnhardt early, was later involved in a fracas with Mark

NASCAR’s new TV talking heads

Martin and, with just a handful of laps remaining, his Yates Taurus developed a misfire, Rudd ultimately finishing sixth, the last car on the lead lap. “I don’t know what Earnhardt was doing,” remarked Rudd. “If Fm a lap down,I give the guy’s courtesy to race, but he was a factor and changed the outcome of my race.” The pair made contact, allowing Stewart to pass Rudd for the lead. Rudd was later hit by Martin, with Ricky returning the compliment a few corners on. “If you asked Ricky, I asked for it,” said Martin. “Ricky has a little bit shorter fuse than I do, he’s had a history of retaliation.” Rookie Dave Blaney managed his second top 10 finish in succession while Casey Attwood, Ray Evernham’s rookie Dodge

pilot in 2001, managed a top 10 result in a Bill Elliott-owned, Evernham-prepared Taurus. Pole sitter Steve Park also had a solid run in eighth, his ninth top 10 in 13 events. Earnhardt, who placed 20th, was also the subject of controversy when he spun Ward Burton out entering the backstretch early in the going, taking out another fouicars in the fracas. Burton who retired form the event diplomatically blamed Earnhardt. “ I guess it’s just one of them racin’ deals,” he said.

Results; Stewart (Pontiac) 127.480 mph, Mayfield (Ford), Martin (Ford), B Labonte (Pontiac), Spencer (Ford), Rudd (Ford), J Gordon (Chevy), Park (Chevy), Blaney (Pontiac), Attwood (Ford).

- MARTIN D CLARK

n Motorcraft made a financial arrangement with Citgo for the final Atlanta race and put their name on the Wood Brothers Elliott Sadlerdriven Taurus in readiness for 2001. Citgo moved their primary sponsorship to Jeff Burton's Roush Ford in October at Charlotte. n Bruton Smith's Speedway Motorsports Inc saw a decline in its third quarter losses to US$2.7 million, down from US$4.8m a year ago. Sellout stands at Bristol helped ease the pain of sagging ticket sales af Charlotte, Texas and Atlanta. These low sales will possibly hurt fourth quarter earnings, but shares rose slightly upon the 'good' news. Any tracks with financial difficulties will be boosted in 2001 by the new six-year US$2.4 billion NASCAR TV contracts with Fox Sports and NBC. n African-American driver Willy T Ribbs tested a Bobby Hamiltonowned Dodge Truck at Darlington November 14. Ribbs hopes to run the entire Truck series next year with Hamiliton's Petty Enterprises and Dodge-supported truck. - MARTIN D CLARK 85

Munich meets England by PHIL BRANAGAN

WHEN you think of classic sports racing cars, there are many names which come to mind; Porsche,Ferrari, McLaren.And there’s also Chevron. The British marque has produced some of the most competitive, and prettiest, sports cars ever to grace the racetracks, and one of them appeared last month at Sandown in the form of Murray Sinclair’s B21. The Hong Kong-based kiwi brought the 1972 car to Melbourne for its first race in Australia and, in authentic BMW Motorsport colours, looked a treat as it sped around the 3.1km circuit. Sinclair bought the car this year and, even then, it was almost by accident. “I was tracking down another car, a McLaren, to buy,” Sinclair explained. “The guy who had restored the McLaren I was chasing had this. When 1 finally got to speak to him, he said, “You don’t want the McLaren, you want this’. I thought the Chevron would be cheaper to run.” The car has an interesting history, which started 28 years ago when it hit the tracks with a BMW 2-litre engine. Until ’72, BMW Motorsport had been reluctant to release any of the productionbased M12 engines outside the March works Formula 2 team, but the Chevron team received a kind of royal assent fi-om Munich. Most other B21s were equipped with Hart F2 motors. Its first race was at the Nurburgring in September that year and it was uprated to B23 specs for the ’73 season, when it was acquired by a German privateer team. Then the car was converted to a 3-litre Porsche flat6 engine and became a hillclimb special until its owner, a Herr Moritz, was killed in a road accident in 1986. In 1993 the Supersport Cup for historic CanAm and sportscars beckoned, and the car was restored to BMW 2-litre spec. It’s been raced ever since. Sinclair clearly loves the car, , describing it as “lovely to drive”, while spares for both the chassis" and BMW engine are plentiful, and not particularly expensive by historic standards. Let’s hope it’s not long before we see the colours of Chevron and BMW return to these shores ... 86

The colours of Munich: Murray Sinclair glides his Chevron B21/23-BMW through ‘Peters’ corner at Sandow/n. (Photo by Slipstream Photographic)

Record Camperdown ALREADY well established as a hillclimb venue,the attractive town of Camperdown in the Western District is now becoming known as host of the Shannons Vintage Motorsport Weekend. The third annual event held on November 4-7 as part of Camperdown's Heritage Festival, attracted a record 46 entries and catered for cars built between 1 st January 1918 and 31st December 1930. Following registration and scrutineering on Saturday 4 a motorkhana was held at Mockridge Park, and this was won by Doug Sterry driving a 1928 Ford A Model Racer. A Woolshed Welcome was hosted on Saturday night, and next morning all competitors successfully passed the breath test before setting off on a parade along the main street prior to the quarter-mile sprint along Manifold Street. The ready made crowd already on hand for the Heritage Festival was treated to some keen

competition which eventually say Tony Osborne's massive 18.5 litre Hispano Suiza powered Delage victorious with a time of 16.41 secs. Osborne won narrowly from the 1930 Speed Six Bentley of Barry Batagol. A new addition to the program this year was a Special Stage around the town, and in spite of their streets being closed for the afternoon, the locals embraced the event enthusiastically. One mishap involved the 1926 Amilcar of Len Jenkins when he lost control and overturned at the sharp left hand corner of Church and Thornton Streets. An ambulance officer and nursing sister from the local hospital who live nearby were quickly on the scene as officials lifted the car back onto its wheels. When the ambulance officer asked Jenkins if he knew where he was, the dazed driver answered "Yes, but I don't know the name of the street!" Barry Batagol's Speed Six Bentley was the winner of the special stage ahead of the hard-

charging 1922 Essex of John Davis and Jim Watson's 1928 Oakland Roadster. No motor sports visit to Camperdown would be complete without a scarp up the Mt. Leura hillclimb, and Monday's program saw Doug Sterry's A Model Racer the quickest ahead of Bill Eldridge (1928 Chevrolet) and Jim Watson third. Outright Champion for the meeting was Jim Watson who won from Bill Eldridge and John Davis. The motorcycle competition was dominated by Bianca Bonner aboard her 1928 750cc ■Indian twin cylinder. This was the bike that played a major r61e in the film “Phar Lap" and the TV series "The Paper Boy." Spokesman for the vintage motorsport weekend, Wes Wilkinson, said the event was an important tourist attraction for the region and predicted Camperdown could become the centre of Australian vintage motor sport in the years to come. - BRIAN REED motorsport news

HISTORICS LCCA memories live on T 7* -1

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1 '/'V' Pony car in the Shakey Isles: Craig Dean and Shane Beaumont won the 2000 Targa outright.

by BRIAN REED THERE may have been only 10 Australian crews in the event, but the Dunlop Tyres Targa 2000 in New Zealand was a great event on which to be an Aussie. Not only was the event won outright by Melbourne's Craig Dean, there were a number of strong performances from the invaders during the five day event, which catered for 15 classes of cars, ranging for anciens to Subaru WRXs to pukka rally cars. Things started badly for Ross Dunkerton, the five-time Australian Rally Champion having the Datsun 240Z he was sharing with Alan Steam delivered to Tauranga instead of Auckland (!) There were a number of accidents early in the event, which saw SS6 downgraded to a touring stage when the Morris Cooper S of Rob and Bev Simpson go off, leaving Rob with

a broken shoulder. Also having an adventure was the crew of Graeme Warner and Nigel Chilton, who demolished a local garage wall in the Porsche 914 (Ed: That's no way to treat such a great car). Day 2 kicked off with another incident, to the Flynn/Firth E-type Jaguar, while it was the smal ler, agile cars leading the way from the behemoths, with Bill Williams (Ford Laser Sport) holding off Bil l Leckie's Toyota MR2. Both struck trouble on Day 3, losing position within minutes on SS29. That allowed Dean to rocket into the lead, the Ford Mustang Saleen clocked at 235kmh on some of the faster stages, aided by great work from his local crew. By now, the toll of wounded cars was starting to mount, with the David Johnson/lain Mollison BMW 635 crashing, Adrian Blackburn and Rob Lawrence flipping their 1957 Jaguar D-tyre replica, while local Mustang Cobra R ended its run with diff failure.

Ford Uglier: The Don Rubie/Charlie Maefarquhar Anglia saves some lyre.

24 Novemiier 2000

(Photos by Positive Images)

With 93 ca rs making it to the final day. Dean had the unofficial race for fastest time within his grasp and held on to win. After 1300kms of touring sections and almost 600kms of closed tarmac stages over magnificent rally roads taking in spectacular scenery, the Dunlop Tyres Targa New Zealand was over for another year. And before competitors have had time to catch their breath, entries are already rolling in for the preliminary Targa Bambina on March 25 next year, and the big one in the last week of October, 2001. For further enquires and entry forms contact Mike and Sue John, PO Box 72502, Papakura, Auckland, New Zealand. Phone +64 9 298 8322, fax +64 9 298 8266. Email: info@targa.co.nz

The Light Car Club of Australia may sadly be no longer, but the memory lingers on. Three former presidents Arnold Terdich, Charles Weir and Fritz Suenderman are responsible for bringing together former members at the "Olds and Bolds Out-ofControl Rally Point"- a Christmas gathering which this year will be held on December 4. Venue is the Elsternwick Flotel, and the occasion is a sellout. ■ PIARC has extended an invitation to Group P and Q sports and racing cars and selected M and 0 cars with Flistoric log books to compete at the Island this weekend (November 25-26) in the club's last meeting for the year. Maybe if you speak nicely to Geoff Bull other Flistoric categories can be included in future. ■ The VFIRR Annual Christmas Party will be held at the Grand Ballroom at the Manningham in Bulleen on Saturday December 9, where, it is reported "a very special guest star" will be in attendance. Now that's got you thinking! Contact Flelen McDonald on (03) 9589 1217 for bookings and further details. ■ Meanwhile the VFIRR is looking for a volunteer to head the team to run the Mangalore Sprints meeting in 2001. Flere is a great opportunity for someone to see motor sport from the other side of the fence - and to ensure the continuation of this very popular annual event. Ken Innes irons is the man to talk to after hours on (03) 9888 9448. - BRIAN REED

Results; Dunlop Tyres Targa New Zealand 2000

New Zealand Cla ssic Car Magazine Historic Competition Don Rubie/Charlie McFarquhar IFord Anglia) Dunlop Tyres Classic Competition Greg Kirkham/Mal Clark (Triumph TR7 VS) Dunlop Tyres Modern Competition Lou Vandermeer/Nico Vandermeer (Ford Laser TX31) Dunlop Tyres Contemporary Competition Craig Dean/Shane Beaumont (Ford kdustang Saleen) Narva Contemporary Rally Competition Cameron Bates/Richard Secular (Subaru Impreza) Dunlop Tyres Challenge Craig Dean/Shane Beaumont (Ford Mustang Saleen) Performance Wheels Index of Performance Trophy Barry Kirk-Burnnand/Dave 0 'Carroll (Lotus Cordna) Peter Hanna Memorial Trophy - Rrst V8 Craig Dean/Shane Beaumont (Ford Mustang Saleen) Ross Jensen ‘Jealous Pride' Trophy Don Rubie/Charlie McFarquhar (Ford Anglia)

Appeo Auto Parts Achiever's Trophy for Overcoming Adversity & Finishing Chris Paoker/Kevin Mills (Jaguar Mkl) Hotei du Vin Matrimonial Trophy - Highest Placed Married Couple Anton and Ann Tallott (Mazda RX-7) Dunlop Tyres Coupes des Dames - First allWomanTeam Emma and Monica Gilmour (Citroen Saxo) Dunlop Tyres Digger Trophy - Highest Placed Australian in Class Brian Learoyd/CoHn Palmer (Chevrolet Corvette) Narva Generation Gap Trophy - First Parent & Offspring Warren and Lisa Good (BMW Alpine) NZ Classic Car Magazine Enterprise Trophy Highest Placed, Least Expensive Car Allan Brown/Jim Cameron (Fiat 128) Appeo Auto Parts Service Crew Trophy Glon and Janet Archer Crew (Leyland Mini) Dunlop Tyres Outstanding Lunch Trophy Mangatangi School Dunlop Tyres Outstanding Evening Function Manor Inn Whakatano

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LOGICAL MIRAGE SERIES MALLALA by PHIL BRANAGAN IT took two Super Touring drivers to do it, but Warren Luff had his colours lowered at Mallala when Paul Morris and John Henderson became the second and third drivers of the year to unseat the Penrith Mitsubishi driver. Luff qualified on pole but it all went wrong on the first lap of race one, getting shuffled back to sixth. But, by lap three, he was third and catching Morris and Evans (who emerged from the chaos with a handy break) in clean air. Meanwhile, the other guest driver, Henderson (who qualified second) got caught up with Barrie Nesbitt at turn one and fell back to sixth, but surged back, passing' Evans on lap five and setting off after Moms. The guest driver and Mirage rookie dipped under his qualifying times but the gap was too big, Morris getting home by 1.84s from Henderson, who snuck through on Evans on lap nine. The second race was another cracker. Luff leapt away from 88

They came, they saw, they beat Luffy: Super Touring front-runners Paul Morris, above, and John Henderson drove the guest cars at Maiiala and tinaily beat Warren Luff, the iatter having sewn up the titie long ago. (Photos by Phi! Williams and Paris Charles) Still, it was good, ciose racing.

Morris and Henderson and opened a small gap, which Morris closed in four laps. He stalked the Sydney driver until lap 10, when Morris tapped him through turn one. Not only did Luff save the car, the necessary short cut he took gained him 50m! While Nesbitt consolidated fourth place, Morris chased with Henderson closing fast. Luff ran wide on the last corner of the penultimate lap but did a great job to hold his gi-ound, until Morris and Henderson lunged at him into the Northern Hairpin for the last time. Henderson emerged with the lead and held on until the line to take the win from Luff and Morris, fi-om Nesbitt. Michael Brock and Gary Young.

Mirage @iip Points W. Luff 272, Evans 162, Nesbitt 117, Young 113, Harvey 88, Eddy 71, Jouy 57, R. Luff 41, Fulton 41, Jinadasa 35.

motorsport news

NATIONAL

The title tightener COMMODORE CUP - MALLALA -

Never say never: Geoff Emery had a busy time at Mallala, fighting off the advances of the rest of the pack, while Christian D’Agostin’s two victories have put him right within striking distance of championship leader (Photos by Paris Chartes) Greg Waters. by PHIL WILLIAMS FIFTEEN of the General’s most popular make made the journey to Mallala for the Commodore Cup series and were gi’aced by reasonable weather conditions on the weekend of November 11/12 in support to the Super Touring Championship. After two 15 minute sessions of qualifying on Saturday,(both in slightly overcast conditions) it was the pair of blue Strathfield cars of David Gittus and ●I -u

Small but effective: Phil Ward’s Aussie Legends were out in force at the Oran Park truck races. (Photo by Bob Pons)

Legendary Aussies

MAKING an appearance on the short Oran Park circuit at the Trans-Tasman Truck Challenge a fortnight ago was the Aussie Legends class. The cars, more technologically advanced that the Legends cars whch have raced previously at the Calder Park Thunderdome, were lapping the short track in a series of demonstration runs. Category guru Phil Ward was the quickest of the motorcycleengined Holden and Ford-bodied mobiles, lapping the 1.1 kilometre venue in the low 50 second bracket. By way of comparison, the top Super Trucks were lapping in the 54 second bracket during their races. There were 13 cars on track with more reportedly to come. 24 Nouembar 2000

Christian D’Agostin heading the field for the two 17-lap races on Sunday. Race one saw Gittus get the jump on his team-mate and lead a fairly close battle at the front through turn one for the first time. He held the lead until the last corner of the final lap when he was pushed wide onto the grass by Greg Waters, who snuck through to take the flag by just one second, ahead of D’Agostin, with Gittus shuffled back to third. The two Geoffs, Emery and Parker, filled the top five. After sighting the marshal’s reports on the incident, the stewards saw fit to reverse the results and award the win to

D’Agostin. Alex Shearn’s two-year-old lap record fell by 0.19s to Marcus Zukanovic(who ran eighth) with a new low of lml9.67s on lap seven. Race two was a torrid affair with plenty of panel banging in the early laps culminating in a red flag when Gittus was tapped by Emery on the run into turn one on lap five. The blue Commodore turned hard left and crunched the concrete wall, leaving it stranded across the entry to pit lane with the front left corner shoved back to the windscreen. A 13-lap restart saw D’Agostin take the win ahead of Waters and Zukanovic(who again set fastest lap), while Brett Holdsworth and Parker made up the minor places. The result brings D’Agostin within 12 points of series points leader Waters with three rounds of the series left, at Symmons Plains on December 10, Wakefield Park on January 7 and Oran Park on February 11. Commodore Gup Points Waters 458, O'Agostin 446, Emery 393, Gittus 372, Pearce 344, Parker 342, Holdsworth 338, Papendell 311, Marshall 201, Walker 195. 89

Hunt's Oceania Championship

SYDNEY'S Troy Hunt, a factory driver in 2000 for the Italian Top Kart team in the European and World Championships, took a dominant victory in the Pettaras Press Oceania Championships held at Raleigh International Raceway on November 10 over fellow Australian Michael Caruso and 1999 Oceania Champion Toni Vilander from Finland. The Raleigh circuit last played host to the Oceania Titles in 1995, that weekend the event was won by Jarno Trulli (Tony Kart - Formula Super A) who now pilots something just a little faster in the Jordan Formula 1 car . . . However, in 2000 things were a little different, an unfortunate lack of promotion by the ruling body and a global downturn in chassis sales saw very few overseas competitors enter. In a weekend of dramatic crashes which saw the returning Ben Horstman all but destroy his

by SEAN HENSHELWOOD

Biesse chassis in Saturday afternoon's final heat, it was Hunt who claimed first blood with a scintillating pole time of 44.299s clear of Caruso (44.368s), Vilander, Bradley Brown, Chris Cox, Simon Richardson, Andrew Tomlinson, Bart Price, Richard McLeod and Ryan Wlodzinski. Hunt held his advantage through every heat with Vilander leading Caruso home for second. Behind them, Horstman was stunning coming from 12th in each heat to fourth, a last second move on Tomlinson in the third heat putting the Italianbased Aussie on his head for the first time in his career, ending the run of both drivers and destroying Horstman's primary kart. The pre-final saw drama in the opening laps with Adam Graham and McLeod upside down and trapped under their karts after an

altercation in close company with Cox. Short of minor burns on his back from the hot exhaust, Graham was unhurt. However, McLeod was a much different story. With close attention from Peter Tomlinson (Andrew's father and a surgeon away from the track) McLeod was taken to Coffs Harbour Hospital for further inspection of his fractured ribs, ruling him out of the final. Hunt though had the final in the bag from opening practice and allowed Caruso to lead the majority of the 29 lap final, eventual ly taking the lead himself only eight laps from home for his first major win of 2000. Caruso came home a close second with Vilander a distant third. Brown grabbed fourth mid race from Horstman who was stil l suffering from the previous days battering, whilst Price came home a consistent sixth.

Hunting out in front of the pack: Troy Hunt was on a blitz at the Oceania Championships at Raleigh on (Pholo by Sean Henshelwood) November 11. Here he leads runner-up Michael Caruso.

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ONE of the main Super Truck races of the year - the Trans Tasman Challenge at Oran Park - left the Australian fans present with a smile on their face, with Rob Russell taking out the 15-lap Super Prix. Driving the GMC for Rod Neven, Russell crossed the line 2.8s clear of the top Kiwi driver (and 2000 Australian Champion) Inky Tulloch in the CAT-backed CAT Aero. Completing the top three podium positions was Glenn Dobson in the Continental 'Tyi'es MAN L2000. New South Welshman Daniel Bajema gi-abbed fourth (Kenworth W900), while South Australian John Bomberle (Kenworth T900) was back in fifth. The tight Oran Park layout really suits the Light Trucks, Mark Morton (Isuzu SBR) the best of the class with sixth outright, ahead of some of the ‘big" boys. Fellow Lights drivers Graham Spencer and Ken Bedggood followed him home, Malcolm Little the next best of the Kiwis in ninth. Stan Seton rounded out the top 10. He was followed by Brian Haigh (Diamond Reo), Michael Seton (Isuzu SBR), Non-finishers included Frank Amoroso (Kenworth W900) and Kiwi Ron Salter (Kenworth 925) Aussie hero Rodney Crick failed to start, while Steve Coulter’s Isuzu SBR was a casualty of the weekend’s racing. tnoiorsport news

NATIONAL

World Karting calendar out THE CIK/FIA World Karting Championship calendar has been released. As a result of this inaugural five round series there will, for the first time for many years, be only one “World Karting Champion’ driver in 2001. Formula Super A is the only category that will carry World Championship status. A World Champion Team will also be determined but with a maximum of two entries per team many of the manufacturers will also have satellite teams to represent their product,just in case the factoi7 squad gets it wrong. - MARK WICKS

2001 CIK/HA World Karting Championship calendar Rd 1 June 17

Montreal, Canada Rd2 July 29 Salbris, France Rd 3 August 26 Sarno, Italy Rd4 Sep 23 Mariembourg, Belgium Rd S November 25 Suzuka, Japan

lott and Simmons at Raleigh : i

Nands up if you’re a winner: Daniel Elliott was the man with the victory salute at Raleigh (I’iiotn hy Scan Ilciisla'IwtHali WITH reigning APS Champion Brendan May missing, the ICA race at the Oceania

That one’s gotta hurt: The #3 Isuzu SBR of Steve Coulter, above, was looking a little bit second-hand at Oran Park, The crowd favourite Rodney Crick, top, had a tough sort of a weekend, failing to finish the final 15-lap Trans Tasman Challenge ‘Super Prix’. {Photos by Bob Potts and Mick Rshbum) 24 November 2000

Championships at Raleigh looked likely to be a battle between Series runner-up Barclay Holden (Azzurro/FOx/ Bridgestone), Daniel Elliott (Tony Kart/PariIla/Bridgestone) and Jonathon Reid (Kosmic/ Vortex/ Bridgestone), but it was recently graduated JICA driver Josh Hunt(lEnergy/ Parilla/Vcga) who stole the spotlight. With assistance ftom new team Energy and former Australian based International Jon fargett(who was also responsible for the success of

the Italian Energy team whilst based in Europe), Hunt grabbed a stunning pole (44.395s) and proceeded to win all but heat two. In the final though, Elliott took the win after passing Holden who lost a reed petal, with Wade Cunningham behind in third. JUNIOR Intercontinental A saw Nick Simmons (Tcjj Kart/Comer/Vega)take the final having earlier set the pole time. Andrew Thompson fell back early in the final and was forced into second while Japanese junior Kouhei Hirate was third. - SEAN HENSHELWOOD 91

INDUSTRY

Why upgrade your brakes? APART from the obvious reasons to own a car, more often than not, we buy a particular car because it’s fun to drive. We enjoy the enhancements we make to our cars because things like suspension systems, exhaust systems and other performance items give our cars superior handling and power increases. There is a very important part of our cars often forgotten when enhancements are being considered - the brakes! Work carried out by Cebco Brakes will conform to an Australian Standard with regards to braking performance, in some instances alas, the car owner will lack confidence in the vehicle’s ability to stop within their expectations. Braking perception is very personal and we all have slightly

Bigger is better: Cebco Brakes can tailor a packe to your needs, different needs when it comes to brakes and what we want from them. Installing a brake upgrade could one day mean the difference between damage or simply an adrenaline rush when you realise you’ve pulled up in time ! As with a brake upgi'ade, a big beautiful wheel can really be enhanced with a good looking caliper and disc rotor behind it. Replacing standard old calipers and rotors with new huge rotors and lightweight multi-piston aluminum calipers could really add a little more style. For a tailored brake package, contact Cebco Brakes on 03 9568 0422. 92

HOLDEN unveiled its first all-new Ute in a decade at the Sydney Motor Show. Due for release early next year, the 2001 VU Ute is available in S and SS models adding a sports/recreational feel to the new design. One of the many new innovations in this package is the inclusion of independent rear suspension (IRS), claimed as a world first and formerly the exclusive domain of passenger cars. For more information contact your local Holden dealer.

Forget the Olympic torch

AN innovative new welding torch that incorporates break through gas mix technology is meeting with success in the motor racing industry due to its ability to easily weld all thin-wall metals with extremely low distortion. Called the Henrob 2000, it is an Australian-invented and U.S.made device that uses a finetuned oxy/acetylene mix for TIG-strength welds of normally difficult materials such as aluminium, stainless, chrome moly, as well as steel. This can be achieved on-site without the need for an inert gas shield or an external power source. The maker says the torch's ability is comparable to a TIG welder due to its narrow concentration of heat with low

velocity in an oxygen-free enviroment. This enables excellent control without the weld puddle blowing out.

The welds are claimed to be more pliable than electric welding especially when exposed to excessive vibration and metal fatigue. The welding range is quoted from 12.5 mm down to very thinwall alloys and the cutting ability is up to 25 mm steel. The torch fits standard oxy hoses and regulators but, due to its very low gas usage, only small bottles are required which makes the outfit very portable. Since its release in the US, the area which has proven a runaway success has been in motor racing where it can be used both in the workshop and at race tracks due to its ability to handle a range of materials from thick to very thin. Contact American Welding Distributors on 03 5426 4434.

G Force's Chrissy bonus G FORCE,the company which has become famous for its Formula Ford drive days has recently purchased a V8 Supercar and will be offering hot laps in

the 2001 season. You can book your place in the hot seat now or purchase a gift certificate which is ideal as a Christmas gift for any member of the family.

In a special deal, G Force are offering Motorsport News customers a 10 percent discount if the gift certificate is purchased prior to Christmas 2000.

For further details about purchasing your hot laps and the special Motorsport News customer discount, contact G Force on 03 9217 8933.

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moiorsnort news

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‘Motorsport News Classifieds are FREE for private sales. Classifieds from motor sport traders are

Sedans/Sports Cars

accepted (marked with a ●) and must be prepaid at the following per issue rates; $5 per 10 words (min SIO per ad), photo SIO, Further enquiries to our advertising department on 03 9527 7744. Classifieds can be mailed, faxed or emailed. Classifieds are not accepted over the telephone. Forward to Motorsport News Free Classifieds, PO BOX 1010 North Caulfield 3161. Fax: 03 9527 7766. Email: msnews@ozemail.com.au. Make sure to list your category.

VC Brock Commodore, 1980, build number 004, excellent condition, with SLE & Brock options, white with red valour interior, original condition, 4th Brock ever made, suit collector. 165,000 kms. $17,500 ono. Ph 02 4946 9554 or 0407 905 039. w

Holden EH, show car, 179hp engine, 4 speed box, call for full description, must sell, 6 month rego, trophy winning car. $17,000 obo. Ph Troy 0410 430 534. 193

Commodore VL, rebuilt high performance 308, Aussie 4 speed, 9" locker diff. Simmons wheels, professionally prepared shell and cage, excellent condition, suit Sports Sedan or Club Car. $9500 ono. Ph 02 4946 9554 or 0407 905 039. w Peugeot 405 Super Tourers, ex-BTCC cars, com plete with heaps of spares including body shell. Everything you need to go racing. Will sell separate with spares package. $45,000 per car ono. Ph 02 4577 2779 or 0407 272 165. 194 HQ #20 NSW, new engine, excellent condition, only done 15 meetings, comes with spare panels, wheels, brakes etc. $5500. Top HP spare also avail able. $2000. Ph Mark 0408 985 182. w Peugeot 405 Super Tourer, fresh engine, plus spares, suit 2 It Sports Sedan, offers considered. Ph 0418 731 115. 194

Torana Sports Sedan, 3 NSW 6 cyl titles, mid mount 202, Duggan head, semi space frame, ind rear, R200 diff,5 speed box, spares Inc: diff, g/box, diff ratios, wheels, moulds, plus heaps more. Also, duel axle trailer with enclosed front. $18,000 the lot. Ph Rick 02 4267 4882 bh. 194 RX7 Series 5, Sports Sedan chassis & body kit, rims 16x10 with tyres. Dick Ward fibreglass body. $4500 ono. Ph 0416 086 649. 194 Mazda RX7 Club Car, fresh, just run-in auto style, race engine 300-1- hp, full Bilstein susp, all alloy brakes, C/R box, log book, this is a very sorted car. $15,900. Ph Andrew 03 9432 3259. 194

Holden ASX Torana sedan, very rare, ultra blue/chamois ASX on offer. Vehicle still in new condition, never registered & has only done 200kms, In storage for 23yrs, in original condition, would suit very astute investor or collector of rare motor vehicles. $60,000. Ph 0411 354 941 . 19.1

Porsche Cup Class B, 3.6ltr engine on Motec, 12" wheels, gear ratios, Motec dash, dual axle open trailer, wets, slicks, intermediates, ready for 2001 season. $69,500. Ph 0416 071 911 . 194

Lotus Europa S2 1969, much mechanical work recently completed and is ready for road or track. Ideal entry into Historic racing or regularity. A nice affordable Lotus, will negotiate around $18,000. Ph 02 4871 3940 ah or 02 9604 7680 bh or 0408 1 12 652. 194

MGB, SB historic/MG racer, fast, reliable, easy to drive, 155hp 1860 motor, just rebuilt, close ratio gearbox. LSD, winner MGCC championship 98&99 outright. Laps PI in lm58, Winton ImlO, Sandown 1m32, Eastern Creek 1m56, Calder ImlO. $20,000. Ph Paul 03 9553 2670. 193 NASCAR Pontiac Grand Prix, 23 degree engine with spares, ready to race. $16,000. Ph 02 9605 7013 or 0418 631 566. 193

Sports Sedan, McPherson Racing 1700cc BDE Cosworth, Hewland 5 spd. Ford Escort Mkll, fuel in], MoTec, rebuilt for 2001 year (noexpense spared) 4 pole positions (year 2000), lap records, winning car, many spares/assistance. $33,000. Ph Luke 0418 582 882. 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

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Datsun 1600 Club Car, L20, twin 45 Webers, 76 cam, 240K close ratio 5spd, button clutch, R180 4.6 & 5.1 locked diffs, 4 wheel discs, 12 alloy wheels, numerous spares. $5000 lot. Ph 02 9810 8534. 193 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 sell. Ph 0408 998 795 or 02 6023 3162. 193

Mazda RX3, 12A large extend port, 4sp, 13x7 Hotwires, 6 point cage, seam welded shell, Koni shocks, modified brakes, race seat & harness, spares. Now in Melbourne to inspect, can be road registered, $5000. Ph 03 5358 2526 or 0428 519 311. 193

24 November 2000

Celica Coupe '79, white, 5 speed manual, as new condition, genuine 23,000kms, reg and RWC. $6500. Ph 03 9799 1683. 193

VH Commodore, 6 cyl, 5 spd, unfinished project, straight, primed, body kit, 15" mags, comes with 2-pack metallic everglade green paint, suit road/race. Urgent sale. $1500. Ph Nick 02 6226 1404 or 0407 280 431. 194

VN Club Car, fresh 5 It, EFi, steel cage, T-5, 3.9 locked diff, VT brakes, log book, heaps of potential. $13,700 ono. Ph 0417 061 990 or 02 9624 8640. 19.1

HQ Holden, professionally built and maintained, complete spare parts, top 10 QLD, everything included, race at the HQ Nationals. $4700. Must sell urgent. Ph 07 5520 4855 bh or 07 5593 6368 ah. m

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

HQ Holden race car, no expense spared, including top HP Swift racing engine. Ready to race compet itively, nothing to spend. $5000. Ph 0417 399 162 or 07 3824 2818 ah. 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

Open Wheelers

Austin Big 7 Monoposto racing car 1939, total concourse rebuild just completed. Famous historic car, CAMS log book. May accept interesting trade. $18,995. Ph/fax 07 5525 2341 for more details, tw Go kart, CRG kali Indy SL. lOOJblue printed motor, wet tyres, tacho, sprockets, kart starter and stand, 2 suits, helmet, gloves and rib protector. Raced a few times only. $2900 ono. Ph 02 4938 7560. 194 Formula Vee, '98 Bee Cee Jabiru, QLD State Champ 2000, current leader Sup,qr Series, huge spares pack age (engines, gearboxes)! '$22,000. Ph Shane Hart 07 3269 4134 bh or 07 3886 7798 ah

RX7 Group C, ex-Moffat, collector car, complete or separate, open to any reasonable offer. Ph 02 9531 1670 or 02 9524 6897. 193 Lancer Sedan, '99 model, SOOOkms, incomplete project in parts. Rare faaory CE turbo engine. Enough parts for two cars. $16,990 ono. Ph 03 9898 2223 or 0403 224 501 193 VT Commodore, body shell, new and complete with doors, bonnet and boot. White, sale due to change in project. $5000. Ph 0412 398 870. 103

Reynard 92D, competetive car, good HP engine, Sandown 500 winner, good spares package & enclosed trailer included. $48,000 ono. Ph Owen Osborne 0417 320 866 or 03 9798 3680. 191

Formula Vee, QLD Div 2 champion, new engine cases and crank, prepared by Tom Cameron. Ready to race with trailer, spare fully prep g/box, body panels. $9500. Ph Muthanna 07 35717152 or 0415 329 315. .99

Go Kart Arrow K2000, rolling chassis, 5 meetings old, used in Ford Max Challenge with spares. $2300 ono. Ph Bob Proctor 0418 461 494. 193

Black Goldtrac diff, center, as new,fit any QC diff $1500, hydraulic pull bar/torque link adjust from cabin $850. Ph 0412 146 555 or 0412 399 020. i«

Formula Holder) 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

Commodore VL Sports Sedan parts, Inc Harrop Grp A fully adjustable rose-jointed front end, com plete, Harrop front brake rotors with four spot Volvo calipers, Simmons V5 type racing mags 16x8 3/4, VL body with cage, 6 link rear end boxes and centre mount for Watts linkage & hang ons, motor 304. Too much to mention, can sell with carby approx 420hp or with 8 throttle body, injection approx 490hp and much more. Ph 03 9874 0081 or 0409 952 732. w

250 National Superkart, 1996 Centreline, Yamaha YZ250, full Kelgate running gear, in excel lent condition, new seat for new owner and spares package. $9000 ono. Ph 02 9838 7068. 193

Holden 308 bell housing, flywheel, clutch, fork, bearing and cable EC suit T5 gearbox. $350 ono. Ph 03 9852 4520 or 0419 554 019. 194

Km *

Edelbrock performer series, 750 cfm carburettor with jet/rod/spring kit. Cost $580, sell $225. Ph 03 9852 4520 or 0419 554 019. m Ford 302W bell housing, flywheel and fork, suit T5 gearbox, EC. $300 ono. Ph 03 9852 4520 or 0419 554 409. iiw

Walkinshaw Group A, rear bumper, unpainted. $250. Ph Ken 02 9622 0699. 194

Lotus 61MX Historic Formula Ford, outstanding history in Europe, Australia & USA. Stephen Brook restoration. Very competitive. Excellent investment. $25,000. Ph 0416 222 112. m 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 trailer and some spares. $7800 ono. Ph Ashleigh Rusby 08 8206 2517 bh, 08 8344 5374 ah or 0418 847 414. 193

Parts

Formula Vee Rennmax Mk2, motor just top ended, new floor, new trailing arms, 2 pac paint, adjustable brake bias, some spares and registered trailer. $5850. Ph Matt Davis Ph 0417 240 255 or 02 96765154. 193

Sparco Pro, driver racing seat, black with mounts, alloy. Ph 03 9530 5838 or 0409 997 911. 194 2 3/16 Hilborne fuel injection, to suit 23 degree heads, complete air filters, fuel injection pump, excellent cond. $2000. Ph 0408 911 269 or 08 9452 2808 bh. m Formula Ford Reynard 90F, complete bodywork, 1 spare nose, 2 radiators and brackets. $500 ono. Ph 02 4774 2267. 194 48mm IDF Webers, ex-HDT Group C, fuel lines,m linkages to suit spreadbore manifold. $900 ono. Ph 0402 212 562. 194

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 oil pump, pushrods and rockers(30 of), carby bits and more. $620 the lot. Ph Matt 0412 527 869. 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 Terrapin hillclimb/race car, BMC 1275 engine, wings and slicks, new coil over shocks, new wheels, dismantled. $4000. Ph 02 9679 8390. 193

Super and Late Model Sedan parts, Rayburn and Rocket rollers, plenty of new and used parts and tyres, QC diffs/gearsets, shocks, WS hubs, WS wheels, suspension parts. Ph 0419 953 800. 194 Dry sump pump, SCP 4 stage with manifold $1500. Dry sump tank Coleman $400, C&V prod ucts billett oil filter adaptor $50. Ph 0412 146 555 or 0412 399 020. w Weiand S/B, tunnel ram with ?x BG 7282010 gold claw carbies with BG four port regulator & braided lines, $3800 ono. Ph 0419 188 010. 194 Off Road Racing, 2x Kombi g^ox, best of every thing $2000 each. Beard ultra seat $450. 2L Golf engine including everything to bolt into buggy. $750. 194

Chev Bowtie, 4 bolt block, 5 steel caps 0.060" bore, follower tunnels bushed $2500, methanol carby C&S, like new $1500, Vertex Magneto, recoed. Cap & leads inc, $850. Ph 0412 146 555 or 0412 399 020. 194

Nissan SR20, engine and 5 speed gearbox. Complete, $900 ono. Ph 0416 086 649. 194 Renault V6, alloy 2.8 It ported and polished cam, complete rebuild. $1600 ono. Ph 0416 086 649. 194 Reynard Formula Ford 90F bodywork, com plete, 2 noses, 2 radiators and brackets/air ducts. $450. Ph 02 4774 2267. 194 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

Ford C10 auto, full manual, reverse pattern, transbrake, transhleld, dominator 6200 convertor, BM cooler, just been reco. $2000 ono. Ph 03 5250 2345 or 0412 181 136. .93 Autometers, AU - 3347, 3391, 3327, 4332, 5421, 5432, 5441, 5433, 5201,3900 tacho, 4621, 4641, 4611, 4497. Ph 0419 188 010. 193 Escort Twin Cam, complete dash cut (ie the dash panel itself not the Instrument duster). $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. 193

Kent Ford, X-Flow wide stem cam followers $25. 1275CC ASerles Double Valve springs $25. All new Ford 2Lt SOHC Starter motor recond. $10. Ph Keith 02 4340 2373. 193 Lotus Cortina SPV racing clutch, and special balanced steel flywheel, new ring gear. $700 ono complete. Ph 03 5244 1339. 193 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 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 8. 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

Escort RSI600, 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

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

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

UN master cylinder, new $40, UN tail lights $10, ducting for brakes $15, high intensity rear light $15, fuel churn $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

RS2000 GPl 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

287. 193 '

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 Coil springs, 2 1/2x8 inch, 225lb/in, brand new. $50. Ph 03 9546 8342 or 0417 239 641. 193 Tecalemit Jackson, Mk 2 Fuel Injection kit suit 1600 Ford crossflow or Twin Cam. This brand 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

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 email: or 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 blar,ets 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

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NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS Please use the form provided and print clearly. Please note we are unable to return photographs used in classified ads. Ads will appear as soon as possible after receipt. ‘FREE Classifieds are for the safe of private goods and vehicles only, not business advertising (Trade advertisers see Classifieds header for rates). Photos marked "proof" will not be used.

inotorsport news

MARKET PLACE Chev, Edelbrock super viaor manifold, suite SB Chev, new. $400. Ph 08 8270 5921. 192

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

l Air jacks, new/used, large range, most applica tions, quick release handles available, top quality. C.C.I. Ph 0418 925 767.

ah. 192

eiFO

ftAniNB FUEL & LUBRICANTS

38 foot transporter,2 car, ex-Super Touring team, ready to go, 240V power, winch, heaps of storage, excellent condition. $15,000. Ph 02 4577 2779 or 0407 272 165. 192 FI00, ex-ambulance 1984, new tyres, 12 mths rego, bed, stove, 2400kg tow pack, heaps of stor age, great tow vehicle, ideal for race team. $9900 ono. Ph Mark 0408 965 182. 194

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

Single axle trailer, open, suit Formula Vee, builtin ramps, mech brakes, new tyres & lights. $450 ono. Ph 03 9435 7082 i92Fully enclosed tandem trailer, 22ft x 8ft x 8ft, side and ramp door, work benches, 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

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.

Speedway

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

Isuzu FVR Transporter, 28' x 9'6“ x 8' Drop deck Pan, workbenches, cupboards, belly lockers. Huge canopy. Very economical. Double decked to carry four Formula Fords. First class mechanicals. Inspect at Bathurst. $32,000. Ph 0416 222 112. tw

Capri 3/4 chassis, less engine and trans. otherwise complete, excellent condition, has run 9.38s @ 136 mph. Phone for more detail. $13,000. Ph 03 9308 1454. 194

24 November 2000

Jim Beam Harley Davidson picture, laminated and mounted, 147x97cm, excellent condition, pro motional item. $150. Ph Chris 0418 103 955 or 03 9552 7230 bh. .92 Automobile Yearbooks, Nos 22-34, good condi tion. $1000. Ph 02 9987 0330. 192 Kart race suit, blue Arrow type, size large $120, helmet Shoei size small, excellent $100. Driving boots size 9 and 45. Ph 02 9872 1660. 192

Workshop to let(or sell), Sydney, spacious facto ry unit over 300 sq mtrs in Hornsby Industrial area, approx 20kms from BCD, close to Ml Freeway north. Office, large mezzanine floor, shower/2xWC, built-in wall benches, engine room/machine area, commercial compressor and fully plumbed. 3 phase power, 5 car spaces and/or transporter parking. Rent $575 pw. Lease direct from owners. Ph 023 4566 4554 or 0408 162 762 or fax 02 9879 5224. m

148. 193

Ultimate hauling unit, Chevrolet Silverado 1994, extra cab, dually, 4WD, Detroit Diesel motor, 6.5!t turbo, 195 horsepower, A/C, P/5, C/C, many extras, set to tow, superb condition. $57,500 ono. Ph 02 6887 2730. 133 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

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 Purpose built go kart trailer, carries two karts, storage, lockers, wheel racks, mag wheels, disc brakes, 10 mths rego. $2500 ono. Ph Bob Proctor 0418461 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

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. 193 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 Escort RS2000, twin IDF downdraught mani fold $275, Kent HTI x-driiled camshaft (new) $395, Crane H322 x-drilled cam $425, Cosworth steel Sierra crank $525. Ph 08 8278 5988. 193

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 Mitsubishi 4G63 cyclone turbo engine, and 5 speed, front cut, complete, computer, intercooler etc, low kms, have test run. $3250. Ph 02 6292 2045 ah. 193

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 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

Holden 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 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

HOL.OEN NV^nrspoit

kO V

Engines

Wanteil

Transnoriers/Trailers

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

Chev small block, bowtie block 4 bolt suitable for boring to 4.030". Ph Mick 08 8532 4510 or 0403 090 394. 194

Chev Banana Back, 350 4 spd, duel fuel, bullbar, new tray, ramps, lights, winch, chains, wiring, tyres, engineered, 6 mths rego, $13,000 ono. Ph 03 9785 1263 or 0412 396 427. in

The Great Race books, volumes 14-17 covering thu years 1994-1997. Offers. Ph Aaron 0438 316

Ford 429/460 parts, sheet metai intake manifold with twin 600 Holley carbys. Intake manifold single carby TFS. Parts to suit TR5, SVO alloy heads. Ph 08 9490 5312. 193

Litre Sprintcar, 94 mod hi-bar, Nissan AIA motor, slied carbys, Kirky seat, quickchange, regoed trailer 8. spares. Will trade $5500. Ph Chris 02 4627 8531 or 0402 293 380, 193

l 1.U

319 170. 192

136. 193

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 2759. 193

Large collection of books, magazines, video tapes on motorsport and cars in general, memora bilia etc. All in excellent condition. PDA. Ph 0415

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.

WA t

Books, Australian Motor Racing Yearbook 1(9 and 18, Grand Prix 1989, The Greta Race 1997, $200 the lot. Ph 0414 961 027 or 02 9890 9815. 194

l Brake calipers, discs, pads. Mega range, new/used, exc condition - AP, Alcon, Brembo, Outlaw, WIilwood. Overnight delivery. C.C.I. Ph 0418 925 767. l Hewland, DGB, 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 slock. C.C.I. Ph 0418 925 767.

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. $1 1,500. Ph 07 3888 5934. 192

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.

Other

r-:-'

HO y 7

■A y. I

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 Kart suit, ram ultra, large, blue with white chest. Never used, bought $280, sell $200. Ph Nick 02 6226 1404 0407 280 431. i9j Motoring books and magazines, large run of Autosport 1988-1998. Full set Sports Car World 1957 onwards. Set of Modern Motor. Ph 08 9279 7003 or fax 08 9377 3939. m Motoring and racing magazines, Motorsport, Motor, Autocar, Autosport, Sports Car World, Car and Car Conversions, Car. Huge collection. Ph 0409 997 911 or 03 9530 5838. 191 Ducati 916, Thrust L5R support trucks, 1:55 scale Uedo diecast Volvos. A1, boxed and posted. $100. Ph 03 6261 3408. 193.3. , HRT 1, custom NSW number plates. Signed by Craig Lowndes & Mark Skaife. Available for Bathurst if right offer is made. Al! serious offers considered. Ph: 02 9831 6649. 193 Drivers apparel, 2 lop 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 Digatron DT-32, RPM & exhaust temp monitor, suit go kart. $200. Ph Luke 0418 582 882. 193 Race gear, race suit RPM $280, Bell helmer with open face with radi 0 gear $300, Simpson gloves $40, RPM boots $60, RPM 3" harness 6 point $120, incar fire bomb $500. Ph 03 9432 9082. 193

OPINION

motorsport

news

EDITORIAL STAFF Editor: Phil Branagan Assistant Editor: Gerald McDornan Staff Journaiist: Aaron Noonan PRODUCTION Adv & Graphics Co-ordinator: Viv Brumby ADVERTISING Advertising Manager: Brendon Sheridan ADMINISTRATION Managing Director: Chris Lambden CONTACTS 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 CONTRIOUTORS General: Grant Nichoias, Darryl Flack, Tony Glynn, Mark Jones, Jon Thomson FI: Joe Saward, Adam Cooper Europe: Quentin Spurring, Gary Watkins US: Phii Morris Speedway: Brett Swanson, Juiie 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 Flenshelwood, Michael Shaw Photographers: Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Kiynsmith, Bothwell Photographic, Marshaii 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 Waish 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 Ciayton 3168. Distributed by: NDD Ltd Materiai pubiished by MOTORSPORT NEWS is copyright and may not be reproduced in lull 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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Yellow turkeys

and HRT loses. I used to be a HRT fan - but

Looks like the Christmas

my HRT T-shirt will now be used to polish my Commodore and I will be lining up to buy a new Craig Lowndes t-shirt next year with whatever team he represents. I was really looking forward to seeing Craig do battle with the international stars. While

turkeys were out early at Bathurst! I know (and agree with Moff’s comments on TV)that the backmarkers have every right to be there, however I always thought there was a protocol that if you were about to be lapped, to signal the driver behind. Then he knows he has been seen. Surely in future, there has to be some sort of driver qualification. The problem is not that cars are 10 seconds

converter

Greg Murphy and Mark Noske will do a good job, Craig is the guy I wanted to see. South Australians and Holden fans should begin a petition to convince HRT to

n II-.

j:y-r4

slower per lap, it’s that the drivers do not have the

4IT/

-Am

motorsport. He has the chance to become one of the

experience to get out of the way. Prize Turkey Award to that

change their mind. Craig is the biggest name in Australian

biggest names in world motorsport, but is being held back because some administrator has

yellow Commodore who stuffed Glenn and

sour grapes over the fact he is

Skaifey in one move. Worst thing is he knew he was being lapped! Commiserations to other lead contenders who

It was a big day on the Mount:Reader Mcarthur has given the Prize Turkey Award to Matt Neal, above, while the mud was a nightmare for the support paddock, the duo below making Tony Greig’s pitch report look pretty unadventurous!

Graeme Mcarthur E-mail: gmcarthurl@optusnet.com.au ED:Not bad points, Mac, but some of the Superstars made dills of themselves as well and the socalled ‘mobile chicanes’...

HRT minus a fan So, HRT have blocked Craig Lowndes' Panoz drive at Adelaide for the sake of a few hours remaining on contract. Those same people who squeezed his contractual onions last year when he was Stateside looking for an Indy Lights drive, hindering what may have been his last shot at an international career.

Glenn Potts, Norwood, SA

(Photos by Lynley Reid and Dirk Kiynsmith)

ED: We got quite a lot ofHRT hate mail this week, but not much (okay, none) supporting them. Seems like the fans have spoken on this one...

were taken out by tailenders. Oh, Murph, with two laps to go coming into the braking area at the end of Mountain Straight, what was the switch you were flicking on the dash? Tail lights perhaps? Mr Johnson following too closely? Channel 10, too many ads in the last hour(a few bills to pay?) and missed a few passing moves and other dramas.

leaving for another team.

IMG - International muddy ground? I

Craig made HRT what it is today. All Skaifey did was slide into a ready-made situation and capitalise on Craig’s work. All the best for tbe future Craig, even if you don't join us at Ford. A question for Glenn Seton. How about signing Dean Canto for the second FTR car if Craig's out of the frame? Craig Barron E-mail: craiglebear@ozemail.com.au

HRT minus another fan Well done HRT - you have managed to lose yet another fan. Your decision to block Craig Lowndes racing in Adelaide is one of the most childish things I have ever seen. Who gains fi'om this? Craig loses, Panoz loses, the crowd loses

I am writing to pubhely thank IMG for another wonderful‘Great Race’and

a few tips for next year. Firstly, a stricter dress code must be enforced on the Mountain - paisley ties indeed! Secondly, in the champagne only section, I saw one heathen with cask wine! How distasteful! My third suggestion involves a doubling of the entry fee. It appears the working class can still afford tickets, which is most disappointing as their dress sense is appalling. Otherwise, an excellent week. By the way, can I plqase have back my ‘IMG says, STOP THAT FUN’banner? If the photographer that snapped my cohorts with said banner could contact me,I would be most grateful J. Smith E-mail: bodgetek@yahoo.com.au motorsport news

PVItliH

lltll

nil

The majority will settle for second. GARTH TANDER

Ph: 03 5261 007$ / www.hofear.Gdm