Motorsport News Issue 235 - July 10-23, 2002

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Issue 235

10 - 23 July 2002

28 5 minutes with Jamie Whincup FF wins are cheaper when you buy in bulk 30 5 minutes with Greg Murphy Even Murfthinks Skaifey was dudded 32 Racing Penalties Shouid V8 Supercar racing bring in the tippety-run rule?

34 A Decade Later Godzilla was knobbled. Should FIRT be as well?

36 Bradley Speaks Out OzEmaii Racing is going places at Broadband speed

race coverage 38 Bri^t times in Perth Skaifey misses out while Jason takes a round 48 British FI GP Grey clouds, red cars, silverware and 60 wins for Schumacher

i ^ Seton ; denies n t 'quir I rumours E Sutton-lmages, Dirk Klynsmith. James Smith and John Morris/Mpix

regulars 3

Calls for less grip

A

N action-packed race meeting,full of action, on Perth's low-grip Barbagallo Raceway has renewed calls for reduced aerodynamic downforce on the soon-to-be-introduced AY Falcon and VY Commodore V8 Supercars.

"It's quite obvious when you look at it," former champion John Bowe told MN last week.

"Perth is a low-grip surface.

The cars are harder to drive consistently, drivers make mistakes and so passing opportunities are created. That's racing. What we have to figure out is how to carry that across to our grippy tracks over here and that's just as obvious - get rid of the downforce."

Bowe, not for the first time and with a considerable degree of support from among fellow drivers - is advocating that the front underwings be disposed of and the rear wing replaced by something far less efficient in downforce terms: "All you need is to ensure there is no lift at high speed," Bowe said.

"That'll reduce grip levels and we will get the sort of racing we had in Perth far more often. And if they want to retain more of a wing,for looks more than anything, then why not, as an alternative, achieve the same thing via grooved tyres, as in FI ?"

V8 front-runners support less grip to promote better racing

Close in the lyest; A surface noted his its lack ofgrip made the racinga lot more spectator-friendly at Barbagallo. fPhoto by Dirk Klynsmilh) Calls to get the same type ofaction via aerodynamic and>or tyre changes are gaining momentum.

Bowe has considerable support for the move among his peers, including runaway championship leader Mark Skaife: "It's not new news," Skaife told MN,"and it's been discussed before.

"I've always used the last corner at Phillip Island as the discussion point.

"With the current cars as they are, you can't get close enough to the car in front to get a realistic chance of passing on the start/finish straight.

"With reduced reliance on aero downforce at the front, you could run close to the car in

front and it would make a :big difference.

"My only concern is that any change would have to be cdone well. There's a point beyond which reducing the aero at the front will create lift.

"We don't want that, but there's no doubt that Perth's surface creates the sort of conditions we would have .all the time with less grip."

V8 group TEGA is about to conduct testing to re-affirm the levels of downforce on both current Ford Falcon and hi olden Commodore V8 Supercars, with a view to simply requesting both manufacturers

to replicate those levels on their new cars.

What better time to implement a change? And both manufacturers, it seems, have no fundamental objection to doing so (see separate stories).

Coincidentally, TEGA has a Board meeting this Friday.

While reduced downforce is not specifically on the agenda, that 'P' word, parity, is.

Project Blueprint or not, it seems Ford's teams are now showing genuine concern at the seemingly unbreakable string of Flolden, or should that be HBT, wins in 2002.

- CHRIS LAMBDEN

What they say

Ford's Howard Marsden Holden's John Stevenson "THERE'S no doubt that Perth provided a good show for our 'customers', as I believe we should refer to them.

"I've always felt that our efforts should be aimed at improving the show for our customers.

"Flowever, TEGA is the group which runs the show and makes the decisions about parity. They have to tell us what they want and we will comply. If, and it's an if, I was in charge, yes. I'd be looking at ways to reduce grip levels to improve the show, be it via reduced aerodynamics or tyres."

4

"WE would have no problem in making such a change - and I wouldn't think there would be too many drivers who would disagree.

"The initiative has to come from TEGA, though, through their new Technical Committee, suppose "And they |ust have to be sure that the process is carried out correctly and that anv reduction is done as a re suit of proper testing.

"In principle, though, w/e'd have no problem with it. "

NEWS GRM to test more drivers GARRY Rogers Motorsport was scheduled to test a brace of potential long distance drivers at Winton on Tuesday of this week.

Among those likely to get a run at the wheel of a GRM Commodore were Sprintcar star Max Dumesny, Porsche Cup racer Matthew Coleman, ex-Formula Holden, now Konica V8 racer Dale Brede and impressive Konica series newcomer Grant Elliott.

Pressing on by f>HIL BRANAGAN

GLENN Seton is pressing ahead with plans to continue with Ford Credit Racing for next season - but he has options.

Seton, who has endured the toughest season of his almost-20 year touring car career, said this week that he was planning to run two cars from his own team this year. .“That’s my plan,” he said.

“The Ford Credit hacking run until the end of the 2003 and my first preference is to run two cars next season.”

Seton’s name had been linked to several alternative plans for next season and the Ford driver - the last non-Holden Racing Team driver to win a championship (in 1997)- admitted that there were other possibilities in the works.

“No ideas, not yet,” he said.

“There are options, I have options every year.”

One of the things which may be delaying any firm decisions about what may happen with Glenn Seton Racing is TEGA’s forthcoming decision regarding the status of Level 1 franchises.

The Touring Car Entrants’ Group is looking at allowing ‘split’ franchises (see separate story) which could mean that there are 32 ‘single-car’franchises in V8 Supercar racing next season.

Were TEGA to take that course, Seton and other two-car franchise team owners(Mark Larkham,for instance) may have an option to either sell their franchise in total, or sell or lease a ‘single’franchise 10 luly 2002

n With Australian GP Corp CEO John Hamden this week moving on to take on the CEO role at the head of the Commonwealth Games Organising group in Melbourne, the search is on for a replacement.

Former deputy Steven Wright is occupying the position on an acting basis and is a likely contender to win the permanent gig. n Dick Johnson will be the Grand Marshall of the VIP Petfoods Queensland 500 on September 15.

The motor racing icon will also wave the chequered flag for the event, which was the last he competed in during his career, in 2000 with son Steven. n The career of John Harvey will be honoured at Melbourne's Crown Palladium Ballroom on Thursday 1 August. Present to toast 'Slug' will be former team-mates and rivals Peter Brock and Allan Moffat, as well as V8SCS leader Mark Skaife. For a top night out, book tickets (at $95) from HSV's Penny Swan or Emma Wallace on (03) 9265 9500,

The new Silvercarman: Seton and FOR are pressing on for 2002, with 2003 in mind, (Photos by Slipstream Photographic) while retaining one for their own team.

Another possible delay in Seton’s decision-making process is what Ford may do. Motorsport News has been told that there is currently in progress an internal review of the Blue Oval’s V8 Supercar program, with a report expected in the near future of which direction the program will take in the future.

This may or may not include having single-car teams ‘merge’in the future, as well as whether Ford will separate its engineering and administration of the category.

Rumours in th^ industry had suggested that Seton was a

possibility to quit as a team owner and race next season as a driver, including a rumour that he would race alongside Mark Skaife at HRT in 2003.

An HRT spokesman denied the rumour in Perth, saying that it was more likely that the team would retain Skaife and team mate Jason Bright next year.

In the meantime, Seton, who is in 20th position in the V8 Supercar Championship Series, continues to work on improving his FCR Falcon for the remaining rounds of the series. He will share the silver AU in the Queensland 500 and at Bathurst with Owen Kelly.

n A man has been killed during preparations for the upcoming Kenya WRC round. Last Sunday, a Mitsubishi test car struck a cyclist on the road near Nakuru and, despite the attention of paramedics, he died shortly afterwards.

"This is a deeply regrettable incident and naturally we offer our deepest condolences to the family of the victim," said Ralliart Europe Chairman Andrew Cowan. n Todd Kelly's Kmart Racing engineer Barry Ryan had to make a pit-stop of a different kind just prior to the Barbagallo round of the V8 Supercars.

Wife Loretta went into labour and Ryan was forced to make an emergency stop on the Frankston Freeway in Melbourne, calling the ambulance service with his mobile phone in one hand and helping to deliver the baby with the other. Baby isabell, weighing 3,35kg, and family are doing fine.

And the car Isabell was born in? A Holden Commodore, no less ...

5

Jones not hampered by WorldCom debacle BRAD Jones will keep racing under the OzEmail Racing banner, despite problems that the internet company's parent, WorldCom, has suffered in the USA. The communications giant is in severe financial difficulties after revelations that it had overstated its TEGA is considering a radical change to the V8 Supercar structure/franchise system.

Thp change would see a 'franchise' allocated per car, with 32 franchises in existence - and no other way of entering the V8 Supercar circus than obtaining one of those 32 franchises.

The proposal is one of three being considered by a TEGA working group.

The second virtually retains the status quo, with two-car franchises and Level 1/2 teams, with numbers capped to avoid prequalifying, while the third retains mixed franchises, but with the sporting element of 'anyone can attempt to prequalify' at race

meetings, uncapped car numbers competing for starting spots in a Friday prequalifying session.

According to TEGA CEO Wayne Cattach, the v\'orking group is set to report by October, with any major decision likely to have to go to the full membership of TEGA at its AGM in December.

The new 'single-car franchise' proposal would have the advantage of allowing single car teams and currently stressed two-car teams to offload a single car franchise, although its 'closed shop' implications will provide major barriers for new entrants into the category.

- CHRIS LAMBDEIM

earnings for the last five quarters by approximately US$3.8 billion (86.67 billion).

As a result,the firm's Chief Financial Officer, Mr Scott Sullivan, has been fired and the USA's Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the matter.

"It has the possibility to effect us," Jones said,"but OzEmail has a sound business and is still behind us.

"They have taken great pains to explain to us what is going on and,for them and for us, it continues to be business as usual."

- PHIL BRANAGAIM

2003: Melbourne gets Mar 6-9

The FIA World Motor Sport Council has issued a provisional calendar for 2003 and although the dates are much the same as normal, with no new races,there is no longer a mid-season holiday week in August.

The World Championship will begin a week later than was the case this year but will end on the same weekend in Japan.

Bernie Ecclestone says that, although there were no changes in the dates for next year, there will be two new races in 2004. Current speculation suggests that these will be Bahrain and China but there is no indication as to which races which will be dropped to make way for them.

The dates are as follows: March 9, Australian GP (Melbourne); March 23, Malaysian GP (Sepang); April 6, Brazilian GP (Interlagos); April 20, San Marino GP (Imola); May 4, Spanish GP (Barcelona);May 18, Austrian GP (A1 Ring); June 1, Monaco GP; June 15, Canadian GP (Montreal); June 29, European GP (Nurburgring); July 6, French GP (Magny-Cours); July 20, British GP; August 3, German GP (Hockenheim); August 17, Hungarian GP (Budapest); August 31, Belgian GP (Spa); September 14, Italian GP (Monza); September 28, United States GP (indianapolis); October 12, Japanese GP (Suzuka).

-JOE SAWARD

Walkinshaw denies Ju

by JOE SAWARD THE Arrows team is in deep trouble following a court case that went wrong last week in the High Court in London.

Arrows had applied to the court to lift a block on the sale of the team to Red Bull GmbH and Red Bull North America Inc. Arrows boss Tom Walkinshaw had negotiated a deal worth around $84m over a five year period, which included a $35m fund to pay off the team’s creditors.

Unfortunately Walkinshaw’s partner in the team, Morgan Grenfell, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank, was not happy with the plans and in May this year gained an injunction to block the sale going ahead.

Unable to do anything. Arrows decided to go to the High Court to try to get the injunction listed.

That application was rejected by Justice Sir Gavin Lightman and his 17-page judgement against Arrows was a damning indictment of the way in which the company has been run in recent years.

The judge said that the court “cannot and should not allow itself to be dragooned into making the orders sought” and described the parties involved in the most critical terms, saying that they “can only be described as underhand and improper, indeed downright dishonest”. He went on to say that “the only inference I can draw from this state of affairs is that AGPI is prepared to say or do anything which it thinks best suits its interests”.

The judge concluded that Arrows Grand Prix International “is and has long been insolvent” and that “I think that if the management of Arrows is placed in competent and honest hands something of real value may be salvaged for Morgan Grenfell Private Equity and other creditors”.

The judge added that “I am concerned for all the creditors of Arrows. The management of Arrows however are responsible for the prolonged insolvent trading and if Arrows goes into liquidation, administration or receivership (as appears practically inevitable) creditors may have to seek relief against the directors in proceedings for wrongful and fraudulent trading”. noiorsport ntws

NEWS

WS

n It took as a little while, but Motorsport News Assistant Editor Aaron Noonan finally got a chance to catch up with Will Davison during a recent visit to the UK, below. In his iuggage was Davo's Motorsport Young Achiever of the Year Award which we thought we'd better give to the lad. Congrats!

ige's claim ofinsolvency; cars make British GP after late payment pr’ i

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Late but npt tprabStatv: Itleinz-Hara Frentzen and Eadgyeileii^tdi made th grid at Silverstane byj pnly^after sonr iiast-^rnitTuteipreblems —(Piwi^ Sutton-lmag{ The case is damning not only for the Arrows team but also for its fellow defendants: Tom Walkinshaw, company secretary Alister Mitchell, team lawyer Kate Beavan, Broadstone Estates Ltd, TWR Group and Motorsport Holdings Ltd. Walkinshaw refused to give up and spent Friday negotiating a deal with Cosworth, which was refusing to supply any engines to the team because of impaid bills.

On Saturday morning Walkinshaw announced that he had paid the bill himself and the team was given the electronic control units for the engines.

He said that Arrows had never been insolvent and that the judge did not have access to all the information necessary.

"The company’s never been insolvent,” he said. “There has never been any fraudulent trading or any irregularities that I’m aware of.”

The cars did not qualify very well but ran well in the British GP 10 iBly 2002

TWR: Nothing changes here ANY problem that TWR may have with its Arrows FI team will not affect the TWR Racing in Australia, according to the team.

"It is never nice to see a race team strike difficulties," said TWR Racing spokesman Paul Weissel. "That goes for whether it is in Formula One, V8 Supercars or any other category.

"But we are not affected // by this matter and it is business as usual for everyone here. until both retired with mechanical troubles.

What happens next is the big issue. It is in the interest of everyone (and Formula 1 in general) that Arrows continues to operate as a team but that can only happen if money can be found.

Morgan Grenfell has been looking around for someone else to run the team on its behalf. There is an obvious candidate in the person of Craig Pollock and our sources say that Morgan Grenfell and Pollock have been working flat out to find a deal to save the team.

Pollock refuses to comment of the rumours but we believe that an

offer has been made to Walkinshaw.

There is no doubt that the next few days will be crucial for the team. Red Bull wants to have a vehicle to use for the promotion of the company in North America and it is possible that we could see “Red Bull Team USA” taking over from Arrows in the days ahead.

How this will happen remains to be seen but it is important that things are done quickly to stem the flow of adverse publicity.

The possibility of further legal action should not be excluded although it will not help the sport if such things drag on.

n It's nice to know that sportsmanship still exists. At Winton's Konica V8 round on the weekend, the Gulf Western team saved rival Halliday Motor Sport driver Greg Crick from a black flag by alerting officials that the tap that Crick spun Dale Brede with was due to Brede's car cutting out and not the Tasmanian's aggression. No penalty was applied, and a quantity of beer and wine the Gulf Western pit as a gesture of thanks from HMS. n There will only be one of the Harris Racing-run Fords in this year's endurance races. Craig Harris's Castrol Falcon won't take part in either the Queensland 500 or Bathurst 1000. n The Top 8 Eliminator qualifying format for Nations Cup racing has , been dropped for this weekend's: round at Queensland Raceway. Race one's grid will be determined by traditional qualifying, while the second race will feature a reverse of the top eight spots from race one. n In other PROCAR news, the V8 Brute Muster has been officially re named the V8 Brute Series. Jim Cornish will re-join the series after his spectacular Adelaide crash. Mick Donaher had broken his collarbone in a motocross fall following the last round at Winton, so Rod Nilsson is down to drive the Falcon Donaher usually occupies. n Kiwi Matt Halliday had a rough start to his 2002 campaign cn the new IRL infiniti Pro Series at Kansas Speedway on the weekend. Driving a Dallara/Infiniti for the Bowes Seals team, Halliday crashed on lap three and suffered a broken wrist and concussion. He was transported to Kansas University Hospital and was awake and alert.

7

by CHRIS LAMBDEN

In the shadow of Ferrari: Max Mosley reportedly wanted a stiffer penalty (Photo by Sutum-Ima^es) for Ferrari, but the World Council could notjustify it

Frustrated FIA lets Ferrari off the hook THE FIA World Council has ruled that Ferrari, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello should share a US$500,000(AUS$880,000)fine for what happened on the podium at the Austrian Grand Prix.

A further US$500,000 fine was suspended, which enabled the FIA to issue a statement that Ferrari had been fined 'a million dollars’, which sounded rather better than the reality.

There was much criticism of the decision, but FIA President Max Mosley argued that It was better that the FIA be seen to be fair than to be seen to be strong.

FIA sources say that Mosley wanted a bigger punishment because of the scale of the public outcry against Ferrari, but that the World Council felt it could not impose a worse sanction for the breach of podium protocol.

After a lengthy discussion, the World Council decided that there was little it could do. It admitted in its press release that it “deplored the manner in which team orders were given and executed at the Austrian GP”, but found “with some reluctance” that it was “impossible to sanction the two drivers because they were both contractually bound to execute orders given by the team”.

The Council also recognised The long-standing and traditional right of a team to decree the finishing order of its drivers in what it believes to be the best interest of its attempt to win both World Championships”.

There was no argument about the podium ceremony, which was a clear breach of the Sporting

Regulations, \«hich clearly state the podium procedures must be adhered to. But the World Council did not feel it could take away points from a driver for a non racing offence.

The overall effect of the result was that the FIA once again looked to be weak and, during the post-decision Press Conference, the FIA was accused of being too close to Ferrari.

In an effort to appease the public, Mosley said that the FIA has established a four-man working group to look into the issue of team orders and that it will be instituting a section on its website (www.fia.com) where members of the public can make suggestions.

The FIA, he said, has not been able to think of a way around the problem and hopes that someone else might have a solution, “it is easy to see what is wrong," he said. “It is easy to vote through a regulation to say that team orders are prohibited, but how do we enforce it? Maybe there is a solution. Maybe there is someone who can tell us what to do.”

Mosley said that everyone in the sport had been surprised by the reaction from the general public. “I was amazed and I think others were, too,” he said.

Jean Todt, Schumacher and Barrichello chose to duck out of the FIA rather than face the press after the hearing.

The trio scurried away through the cellars of the FIA building in Paris and emerged from the famous Maxim’s restaurant around the corner.

- JOE SAWARD

MARK Webber emerged from his test with Jaguar “satisfied” with the day’s events, having matched regular driver Pedro de la Rosa’s best time.

The Minardi team leader was invited to take part in the second day ofrunning at Barcelona as the team evaluated the new aerodynamic package it expected to debut at the British GP last weekend.

Webber and de la Rosa shared a pair of differing spec Jaguars and worked through a varying program of aerod3mamic changes, with varying fuel loads.

The two ended the day at the bottom ofthe time sheets,indicating that the team still has some work to do.

The Jaguar pair ended up with virtually identical best times(de la Rosa lml9.689, Webber lml9.724), but these were set early in the day, during Barcelona’s infamous optimum conditions.

“I think that was my second run in the car,” Webber reported,“so it doesn’t mean a lot.

‘We got through a fair bit of other work later in the day- differing aero set-ups; with and without power steering and so on.

“You can’t really get your teeth into a different car and team in one day, hut it was good to see how they operate and for them to see how 1 go about it.'That’s what it was all about.

‘T had a good discussion at the end ofthe day with Niki Lauda about a few ofthe issues and that was that.”

Webber was reluctant to detail comparative differences between the Jaguar and his regular Minardi:

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“It’s the third FI car Tve driven recently,” he said,“and they all have their pluses and minuses.'The Minardi stacks up well in some' areas; the Jaguar has its pluses, too.

The engine isn’t bad...”

With at least one seat at Jaguar seemingly open for 2003, Webber must now be considered an option for the team.

'The UK media is also reporting Jenson Button as a Jaguar option if,

No FI tyre changes

THE Formula 1 tyre regulations are not expected to change in 2003 because the racing authorities and the tyre manufacturers have failed to agree on changes.

The tyre manufacturers were asked by the FIA to come up with solutions to the worries about the increase in cornering speeds because of the tyre war.

We believe that it was proposed that there should be harder rubber so that the teams would have to run entire races on the same set of tyres.

However, the tyre companies realised that there was a need for pit stops and suggested that these be maintained, but for fuel only, unless a team ran into trouble with a puncture.

If that occurred, no tyres could be changed at a refuelling stop.

The idea was rejected by the FIA and another proposal was put forward by some of the teams that tyre manufacturers should supply only a single compound per weekend.

This idea seems to have been rejected by the tyre makers. molorsport newt

NEWS n A recent track inspection of Queensland Raceway by Motorcycling Australia's Safety Committee has confirmed that airfence is not required at the venue.

The inspection has found that adequate run off is provided at all corners. This is the case for ail motorcycling activity at Queensland Raceway, including Round 5 of the Shell Advance Australian Superbike Championship next month. n Next year's IRL schedule will feature 16 races, it was announced at Kansas on the weekend. The series will add a race at Motegi, as we have previously reported, which will be the curtain raiser to the Indy 500, though over a month separates the two, n Indy Racing veteran Raul Boesel is back in drive. The Brazilian, who lost his seat at Team Menard to Mark Dismore, has taken over the Bradley Motorsports Dallara/Infiniti from Shigeaki Hattori.

It’s not easy being green: Webber might look out of place in the Jaguar now, but it could be a regular sight next year...

(Photos by Sutton-images)

MEANWHILE,James Courtney has cancelled a scheduled twoweek trip back home in order to get another session in the FI Jaguar later this week.

TV money saves Minardi

10 July 2002

n 1998 Indy 500 pole-winner Billy Boat has switched from Chevrolet to Nissan engines due to the Infiniti V8's stronger performance on the longer 1,5-mile ovals, of which five of the remaining seven IRL events will be run. n You could win T-shirts for the whole clan in Garry Rogers Motorsport's competition for a suitable shirt slogan. Come up with a witty (and clean) slogan and check out vwvw.grmotorsport.com.au for details on how to enter.

as rumours suggest, Flavio Bnatore promotes cmrent test driver Fernando Alonso to the race team at Renault.

Alsonso also tested for Jaguar some weeks back.

MINARDI appears to have which has been grinding on for been saved, at least for the rest several months, came to a conclusion vvhen FIA boss Max of this season, thanks to the FIA. Mosley told Ecclestone to pay the The first payments have been money and challenged the other teams to contest the decision at the made to Minardi by Formula One International Chamber of Management following the recent decision to give the team the $21 Commerce in Lausanne, Switzerland. million of TV money that was to have gone to the failed Frost That case could take anything Grand Prix team. up to 18 months to be heard. It The pa3mients have been may never be heard because it is confirmed by both Bernie becoming increasingly clear that Ecclestone and Minardi team boss there needs to be a new Concorde Paul Stoddart. ^ Agi-eement.

The dispute over the money, Minardi is now hopeful that it

n Sarah Fisher is back in a ride as well. The 21-year-old will drive for the Dreyer & Reinbold team for the rest of the season as team-mate to Robbie Buhl.

will be able to get to the end of the current season and is looking at how to come up with the money needed for 2003.

We umderstand that, as Asiatech seems to want to be paid for its engines next year, the team is looking at a deal from Cosworth Racing for a supply of the VlOs that are currently being used by Jaguar and Arrows. This means that Minardi would need to find US$15m more than this season, but it can expect better performance.

-JOE SAWARD

n New investment in British motorsport businesses is to be actively encouraged by Patricia Hewitt, the Secretary of State for Trade & Industn/, who has announced that she will lead a UK government 'task force' to protect jobs in the industry.

She said it was: "A new strategy to develop the UK's position as *ne l world leader in motorsport technolo gy." The DTI says that UK motorsport businesses turn over $13bn a year and employ more than 40,000 people. n us racecar manufacturer FunTech (Fundamental Technologies) and Britain's Quaife Engineering have had Daytona Prototype chassis designs approved by the Grand American Road Racing Association.

The Daytona Prototype class will be the premier division of GARRA's Rolex Sports Car Series in 2003, and seven constructors are now approved. FABCAR, Doran, Crawford, Carbir and Italy's Picchio are also building cars for the new class.

- QUENTIN SPURRING/STAFF

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.Rd 10

Sep 19-22 .San RemO

.Rd 11

Australian Rally Championship* .Rd4 Jul 13-14 . .Adelaide .

Aug 10-11 .Tasmania Sep 7-8 . . .Melbourne

,Rd5 ,Rd6

r

1 ten L home of

motorsport I \

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

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

Green sees red

Castponeves keeps Indy 500 win

HELIO Castroneves has kept his Indianapolis 500 victory.

The Indy Racing League confirmed last week that the appeal from Team Green over the results of the race had been turned down and the Brazilian has won his second straight 500 for Team Penske.

IRL President Tony George released an 11-page document last Wednesday, detailing the League's decision and backing up the official who deemed on raceday that Team Green's driver Paul Tracy, above, did not pass Castroneves under green flag conditions. Tracy therefore maintains his second placing in the May 26 race.

"The fact that the race ended under yellow was not the fault of anyone involved in this proceeding," George said, "How it is handled, however, does reflect directly on the participants.

"In my opinion, this proceeding has highlighted the quality and integrity of the work done by (IRL VP of Operations) Brian Barnhart and his staff, both during and after the race, and has also shown the quality and integrity of the personnel employed by Team Green and Penske Racing."

Team Green had contended that Tracy passed Castroneves before the track light turned from green to yellow. It was the finding of George that the track light was one of several systems in place and that there was clear evidence that other caution notices had been given before any pass was made.

Penske Racing contended that Castroneves was ahead when the caution was called and that Castroneves,

It’s still mine! Castroneves will keep his Indy 500 win - and get his head on the Borg-Warner Trophy for the second time in a row.

(Photo by Siilion-lmatiex)

immediately slowed. The decision noted that Castroneves had more than a gallon of fuel remaining after having cohnpleted the 200 laps of the race plus a victory lap.

In a statement. Team Green Principal Barry Green said that he was "extremely disappointed" in the IRL's ruling.

"No-one has proved to me that we finished second and frankly if, as Tony says, everything comes down to a judgment call and that call is not subject to appeal, then what's the use in even having a rule book?"

Tracy also expressed his dismay at the decision; "What can I say? I'm disappointed but, honestly, not terribly surprised," said Tracy.

"My bank account may not show it, and my face may not be on the Borg-Warner Trophy - yet - but in my heart I know I won the race."

- PHIL MORRIS

Shock Lc

by AARON NOONAN TEAM Lamborghini Australia has dropped a bombshell on the eve of this weekend’s PROCAR Champ Series round at Queensland Raceway by withdrawing their Diablo.

A reduction in engine rev limit from 6800rpm to 6550rpm as well as success ballast of 30 kilograms for winning the last round at Winton on top of the existing extra 50kg has led the team to make the decision, who say that the parity of the cars has now moved to slowing drivers down for closing racing.

“Nations Cup has become very competitive of late and we run a small team of full-time guys to keep this car running,” said driver Paul Stokell.

“Each team has had to raise its professionalism; it’s a shame the same can’t be said for the organisers.

“I’m obviously not happy that we’re not racing as any chance I had of catching the leaders has gone. Why on earth they would penalise me further after Winton motorsport news

NEWS Three teams to get Cossie FIs

ly joins

n Cosworth Racing is planning to supply only three teams next year: Jaguar and two customers. The engines are currently being provided to Arrows but both Jordan and Minardi have been named as possible customers for the engines in 2003. It remains to be seen whether all three teams will still be in action next year but the lack of available engines is not going to help matters.

T3

o

by AARON NOONAN

i THE final piece of the OzEmail I driver puzzle is filled with the I news that Tim Leahey, right, ^ will join John Cleland in the second of the team’s Falcons for the Queensland 500 and Bob Jane T-Marts 1000.

While Brad Jones and John Bowe will team up in one car, the 26-year-old from Orange has been plucked from the wilderness after a season spent on the sidelines due to Volkswagen pulling out of the GT-Performance series before it even began.

“I’ve been doing a few miles here and there in V8 Supercars doing tests so I don’t think I’ll be too rusty,” said Leahey this week.

“JB and I had an association for a while so I’ve always wanted to work with him and the same with Brad. John’s obviously got a wealth of experience but I’ll just have to get that Scottish phrase book to be able to understand it all!”

Leahey has previous V8 experience with Valvoline/GRM and Paul Weeks team, with a best result of seventh at last year’s

Queensland 500.

Last year he spent as a Volksw:ageii factory didver in GTP and prior to that was a race winner in Formula Holden and Formula Ford.

Clelaad won’t venture to Australia to test before the Queensland 500, though Leahey will tesit with the team when they have their next scheduled tests.

imbo withdrawl Jones Jnr joins Brede No Lambo at QR: Paul Stokell and the Diablo team won’t be at Queensland Raceway, unhappy with PROCAR performance changes to their car.

(Photo by Dirk Klynsmith) when we’re not even the fastest car is beyond me.”

Whether the car appears at later rounds of the championship is currently up in the air.

Main rival and championship leader, John Bowe,is disappointed that one of his main rivals won’t be at Queensland but hinted that the team should cop their penalties and work to overcome them.

10 July 2002

“I know their team has not been happy about the success penalties handed out after their runaway wins at the last round at Winton,” said Bowe.

“We have all had to cop penalties this year and no-one more than me. The Nations Cup category deserves to fully succeed and have the full Support of its teams in the good times and the bad.”

ANDIREW Jones will join Dale Bredie in the Gulf Western Falcotii for the Queensland 500 amd the Bob Jane TMartatOOO at Bathurst.

The 22-year-old Formula Fordsiierhas already sampled the Hatrris Racing-prepared car as weill as the OzEmail machiines and will add the 30lap Kemica support race at the Moufitiiain to his schedule in the spares OzEmail car.

“I thiiTka lot of people thougjliti 1 was going to take up the fourth seat at OzEmail but for m<e this is a much better option,'” said Jones.

-AARON NOONAN

n The new 34 percent shareholder of Ferrari, Mediobanca, has sold a third of these shares to its German ally Commerzbank for US$225m.

This will help Mediobanca to offset the US$768m it paid Fiat for the Ferrari stake. The two banks say they intend to float their entire shareholdings next year when the financial markets have improved.

Despite rumours to the cbntrary the giant German bank Deutsche Bank has not agreed to join the deal. The company has lost a considerable amount of money through its investments in the Arrows FI team and in the Formula One group and seems to have learned a lesson. n Among the visitors to the British GP was the Duke of York, who made a low profile visit in the course of Saturday afternoon. On Sunday the Formula 1 circus played host to three different government ministers.

There were also a succession of local British celebrities and sports men. In the next week, Mark Webber will be turning the tables and heading off to France where he is to be a guest of one of the teams on the Tour de France bicycle race for a few days before the French GP. Webber is a big fan of cycling and is hoping to meet the amazing Lance Armstrong, who has won the Tour for the last couple of years. n There has been speculation in recent days that Wolfgang Reitzle, the former Jaguar Racing boss who is now in charge of the Gernran " engineering firm Linde AG, may be looking at a Formula 1 sponsorship deal for one of Linde's brandnames for the 2003 season. Reitzle is a big fan of Grand Prix racing and was one of architects of the current BMW engine program before he was ousted from the Munich company.

Fie moved on to Jaguar where he was a prime mover in the rather less successful FI operation. Reitzle is thought to be biding his time with Linde with the long term aim being to return to the automobile industry to head one of the big German par firms. In order to stay in the limelight - and promote Linde goods - Reitzle may be pushing for an FI sponsorship deal.

- JOE SAWARD 11

Walking back up Hills Who's

Damon to return to cockpit in Minardi two-seater

I

But where’s my guitar? Damon Hill will step into the Minardi two-seater driven in Australian by Paul Stoddart, above. He caught up with formerfellow Williams man Adrian Newey at last (Pliolos by Sutlon-Imagcs) weekend's British GP, left.

FORMER World Champion Damon Hill will be out in a Minardi two-seater at Donington Park on the weekend of August 10-11 when he team hosts its weekend for the fans, entitled Thunder in the Park The event, which was a big success last year, will feature a two-seater 'race'. Last year this featured Nigel Mansell but his outing ended in a shunt and it looks like Damon has been drafted in in his place.

Hill has not driven a Grand Prix car since he retired in 1999.

Eight of the Minardi two-seater cars will stage a 12lap 'race' and passenger rides will be auctioned off for charity.

Others in the frame to be behind the wheel for the event include Alonso, Minardi's (and Australia's) own Mark Webber, Britons Mark Blundell and Martin Brundle and Dutchman Jos Verstappen.

ike champ passes away FOUR-time world champion Walter Villa has died at his home in Modena,Italy.

Villa, 58, died of a heart attack.

He was the last man to win more than one title in the same year, adding the 1976 250cc and 350cc championships to 250 titles won in '74 and '75. He won all of his titles on Aermecchi machines run under the Harley Davidson banner and took out 24 GPs wins in his career.

Villa's ultra-smooth style was a model to many Italian riders who followed him,including three-time 250 champ Luca Cadalora. He started racing in the early 1960s, and won nine titles in Italian racing as well as his four world crowns.

"The Villa brothers were brilliant engineers, as well as riders, and were a massive part of racing through the 60s and 70s,” said friend and contemporary, Barry Sheene.

12

PT cancellations THE 2002 Power Tour schedule has been slashed with the cancellation of the next round of the multi-class series at Calder Park, which was due to run on July 20/21.

Sources suggest that the Barbagallo round on August

24/25 is also heading the same way though MNews was unable to contact officials before going to press to make comment.

The touring show features Super Trucks, Super and Future Tourers as well as Commodore Cup and V8 Stock Cars. ,

Stuck ii

at Renault in '03?

i

«

/■

But what about next year?

We know Trulli and Button drive Renaults in 2002, but will Jenson go somewhere else in 2003?

(P(10!0 ty MarshB09<wf5)

^IN-TO^and Sportscar ^gendHans Stuck has admitted .that his days as a lull-^lime racing driver are

tehind 5>ni.

rTh'e^o-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours has been on

uthe sidelines this season * following BMW's withdrawal :■ from the American Le Mans ; Series and the 51-year-old "believes he is unlikely to ; contest a full season in the future. c"5|mpion in 1990, said: "I'm not sure if I will ever do a BShaolete championship again.

I am In a transition period in career." ( myStuck, DTM touring car ^ f

Stuck's BMW contract has preluded him following up on offers of drives in V8-STAR

[ ● L

and ASCAR this year.

An ambassadorial role with the Munich marque in the

I

future would likely prevent him pursuing similar drives, "I'm not ready to retire. '

mewill to race." f for There still be opportunities - GARY WATKINS 26 lune 2002

R&S: Building more than just race cars.

(Photo by .-famn .\’oonaii)

Vlfinged THE Safety Anti-LiftOff (SALO) wing is a potentially significant new development from US constructor Riley & Scott.

The rear wing is suitable for racing cars of all types, and limits or prevents ‘lift-off’ when the car spins at speed. In May, an FIA Foundation programme identified a serious aerodynamic problem with current Sportscars. The research indicated that such a car can flip over if its yaw angle (the angle of the airflow relative to the direction of travel) exceeds 30 deg.

R&S will use the SALO safety concept, designed by Bob Riley and developed In America’s Langley Full Size Tunnel, for the all-new TRAC racecars It Is building for Team Sports Entertainment.

- QUENTIN SPURRING

THERE has been a lot of speculation in recent weeks about who will drive for the Renault FI team next year.

Team boss Flavio Briatore says that: “Honestly, we haven’t decided yet. We don’t know,” but the suggestion is that Jenson Button could be thrown out of Renault and his place could be taken by Fernando Alonso.

For much of this year, it has seemed that Button was likely to stay next year and with Jamo Trulli having a deal in 2003 there looked likely to be no change.

This would make a lot of sense as building up a strong team involves continuity of drivers.

Chopping and changing tends to set any team back as new drivers have to learn to work with engineers and so on. However when the likely replacement for a driver is the team's test driver it is possible that a switch could be made.

In the longer-term it makes no real sense for Renault to continue developing Button as he will one day return to BMW and become a rival again.

All the current talk may be a ploy by the team to negotiate a deal with Button at a lower salary but at the same time there is no doubt that Fernando Alonso has impressed a lot of those within the team. But is it enough to get rid of Button?

And why would team boss Flavio Briatore place two drivers who are contracted to his own management company together in the same team as it will inevitably mean that one is going to lose some of his value?

Alonso and Trulli are both Briatore drivers. The only way in which such a deal makes sense is if one of the two is coming to the end of his contract and so does not have a long-term value.

Trulli has been managed by Briatore since the end of 1994 and, when the deal was first done, Trulli told reporters that it was for 10 years. Thus the de.al may be coming to an end at the end of 2004.

Trulli signed a multi-year contract with Renault in August 2001 and it is possible that the agreement was for three years and so the end of his Renault contract will coincide with the end of his Briatore deal.

- JOE SAWARD

NEWS n Australian David Clark has split with British F3 squad Team Park. The situation remains unclear but it is hoped that Clark, who has been impressive this season, will find a berth with another team.

There are currently a number of seats available in the Scholarship Class. n The British-based FIA Sportscar Championship is in uncertain territory at present with confusion over its calendar. Planned races at Imoia and Rockingham have both been scrapped, one to be replaced with a race at Dijon, and teams are far from happy about life. n British Touring Car Championship driver James Thompson has hit out at the series' new four-engine rule. In a bid to keep costs down, a driver is allowed only four engines once the season starts and Tommo has already used that many in his works Vauxhall Astra Coupe.

That means that he has been hit with a five-point penalty, dropping him to second in the championship, one point behind Matt Neal, "It needs looking at," said Thompson. "It is too late for this year but I don't thinks it is fair to penalise a driver for something that is outside his control. Hopefully it can be changed for next year."

■ The promising, Anglo-German oval race series, ASCAR, has been further boosted by Vic Lee Racing's plans to run one of the V8-powered stock cars through the second half of the 2002 season, and two in 2003.

VLR, which won the 1991-92 British Touring Car titles with BMWs, operated Peugeot's works team in last year's BTCC. ■ Europe's new-for-2002 ASCAR oval racing series completed a successful wet-weather test on the UK's Rockingham track yesterday, when grooved tyres, specially prepared for the ASCAR stock cars

by Goodyear, were tried on the facility's combined oval/roar) layout.

"The conventional wisdom in America was that this wouldn't work," said Bob Berridge, the CEO of Oval Racing Management.

"But our surface gives us an advantage over US ovals because of the type of asphalt we use. Now we can race whatever the weather."

■ Korea's fast-emerging tyre manufacturer, Kumho has landed the deal to supply the control tyre for next month's big Formula 3 Marlboro Masters event at Zandvoort, Holland.

Kumho has been the exclusive supplier for the past two Korean Formula 3 Super Prix races.

- DAVID ADDISON/ QUENTIN SPURRING 13

MotoGP riders in call for unity THERE could soon be a union to represent riders in the MotoGP series.

World Champion Valentino Rossi has called on racers to follow the lead of Formula One drivers, who are represented by the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, to set up a body to protect their interests in the sport.

"I think the time has come to set up an organisation to look after the riders," Rossi told the Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I am ready to do it and to take on certain responsibilities.

"We riders must, however, find time to sit around a table to make ourselVes heard and our arguments count."

There has been talk .of a riders' association for some years, but Rossi's most recent comments came after winning his sixth MotoGP of the season at Assen.

Rainy weather circulated the Dutch track and organisers took the decision to start the race without consultation with the riders, despite

the implementation of a new regulation which allows officials to stop the race in the event of rain, and restart it, regardless of how much of the scheduled distance has been completed.

When the new rule was announced,former world champion Kenny Roberts wanted "to know who made the rule and why they made the rule. We need to have somebody up there that has raced and has a little bit of experience in that area, I think, to make the calls and the right decision."

Yamaha's Max Biaggi responded, "Well, it's been changed only a few hours ago. And we didn't know that."

Likewise, Team Pons Honda's Loris Capirossi said, "I think everybody's waiting to understand what happened."

The new rule applies only to the MotoGP class. In 250cc and 125cc GPs, the current rules will continue to be applied, and full points will be awarded if the race is stopped past the two-thirds race distance.

Walker h

by PHIL MORRIS CART team owner Derrick Walker is the new ‘owner’of Reynard.

The Briton, who runs the Toyotapowered Reynard oflbra Takagi in the FedEx Championship Series, has acquired the property of and intellectual rights to Reynard North America, and has become the exclusive supplier of Reynard parts in the CART series.

The move will ensure that Reynard customers will continue to get parts, and that development will continue, for their cars.

“We completed the sale two weeks ago and started trading and selling the parts to the teams that are running Reynards,” Walker said.‘The first major parts that have been developed were on some ofthe cars last weekend at Chicago. The basic platform ofthe Reynard is a good one and we realise that CART needs another strong manufacturer in the series.

We feel that we can fill that need.”

While there is a chassis technology freeze in effect for the cars for the next two seasons.

Walker hopes will be a brand-new car for the new CART rules of 2005.

“Adrian Reynard was a big help in getting through, what for him was a difficult situation. I’m sure,” Walker said. “This could not have happened(without him), so I owe him and thank him for his support.”

A Hero’s return F1 bosse ONE of the best sights at the Toronto round of the FedEx Championship Series was the reappearance of Alex Zanardi.

I

Zanardi returned to the series he once dominated for the first

I time since losing both legs and I nearly his life in an horrific race I crash in Germany last September, j He walked around the pits, aided } by two canes and his artificial legs, accompanied by his wife, Daniela.

But the trans-Atlantic trip to Canada from his Monaco home took a lot of out him.

‘Testerday was by far the longest day I”ve had since the accident,” Zanardi said. “I had to change planes in London Heathrow (Airport) and, ofcourse, I came in at a gate at one end and had to walk to the other end to catch a bus to go to the next terminal, ‘^en I got here and went to a party last night, where I saw some of my best friends,” he added, referring to the affair at which he received the Greg Moore Achievement Award,for special achievement. “It was a wonderful feeling.”

Zanardi, who now drives a ' BMW road car fitted with hand controls, said that he is looking for 14

Welcome home: Alex Zanardi shares a laugh with former Mo Nunn Racing team-mate Tony Kanaan at Toronto last week. (Photo by sutton-images) a role in racing, perhaps with CART,and spent time with Dr. Teny Trammell, a key member of the CART safety team whose quick action in the moments after the crash saved his life.

‘Tt sounded easy to me,” he said about his recovery.“Just get on the legs and walk. It was obviously hard at the very beginning, but I

had a lot of motivation.

“There was a middle part in which I was a little depressed because there was a lot of pain.

Every step was a nightmare. I stiU have some moments where I”m not as much fun to be ai-ound as I used to be. I can be a little grumpy.”

-PHILBRANAGAN

THE Formula 1 team principals met with the Grand Prix World Championship"s leading players on Friday afternoon at Silverstone, and although noone would say much on the record, a number of team bosses said that they were impressed with the structure being put in place by the organisation which is threatening to start its own World Championship if no deal can be found that is acceptable to all parties.

The latest word in the financial markets is that German banks are on the verge of announcing a deal to swap US$1.6bn of debts with the Kirch Group for the 75 percent share in the Formula One holding company SLEC. The banks involved are the state-controlled Bayerische Landesbank, JP Morgan and Lehman Brothers. We hear that a new board for SLEC has been proposed and all the shares involved will be consolidated with the 58.3 percent stake in SLEC which is owned by Kirch being reunited with the 16.7 percent stake still owned by EM.TV, which is promised to Kirch.

The banks must now go through all the details and then decide what they wish to do with the stake, motorsporl news

NEWS

luys Reynard

n Bonhams is offering 10 Formula 1 Tyrrells for sale at this weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed Sale.

The cars are believed to be part of Minardi boss Paul Stoddart's fleet of around 70 Formula 1 cars which he acquired over the years. Stoddart bought most of the Tyrrell stock when the team closed down in 1998.

It is understood that Stoddart is selling the cars to help boost the Minardi budget. The collection coming to auction includes two Tyrrell 019s, two 023s, a 008, a 010, a 011, a 022 and a 024. n Emilio Gnutti, one of the partners of Scuderia Italia who went on to hold shares in Minardi until the company was acquired last year by Paul Stoddart, has been found guilty of insider trading and jailed for eight months and banned from being a director. Gnutti, one of the first Italian businessmen to have been convicted under laws passed in 1991, is appealing the decision.

Have a Good Weekend Mr Walker: Derrick Walker, who runs Tora Takagi, above, in the FedEx Ch ampionsinip (Photos by Sutton-tmages) Series and pictured with Indy 500 driver Oriol Servia, left, is the new owner of Reynard.

s impressed with GPWC This is likely to take some time and this is the commodity which Formula 1 does not have at the moment, as everyone wants a settlement so that new long-term marketing deals can be struck with sponsors which want to make a long-term commitment. FI marketing staff are saying that long-term deals are almost impossible to sign at the moment.

If the situation remained

blocked, the strength of the GPWC will inevitably grow stronger. On Friday, the teams were all shown what is called an Organisation Agreement which would give the teams a much bigger share of the revenues generated by the sport.

The GPWC issued a statement saying that the revenues would include "TV rights, promotion of races, trackside advertising, hospitality, and merchandising."

The FIA is remaining above the current wheeling and dealing and is siding with neither SLEC nor the: manufacturers.

"The danger is that if they go on talking about it for much longer iit will start to interfere with the sponsors," FIA President Max Mosley said at the weekend.

"What we are saying is that thin.gs must be done quickly."

- JOE SAWARD

MANNIE FOLD: THE ULTIMATE TRACKSIDE FAN-BOY 4

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n Tomas Scheckter says that he wants to get back into Formula 1.

After being booted out of his test drive with Jaguar Racing because of an unfortunate (and badly-handled) conviction for kerb-crawling, Scheckter decided to try his luck in America and has been the sensation of the Indy Racing League this year at the wheel of a Red Bull Team Cheever entry. Scheckter told IRL pressmen the other day that he hopes to use success in America as a springboard back into FI. n It is more than three years since fire killed 39 people in the Mont Blanc tunnel between France and Italy, and ever since the Formula 1 truck drivers have had to do considerably more travelling than used to be the case to overcome the closure of the sevenmile tunnel which goes beneath the Alps. The tunnel reopened to smaller vehicles in May but yesterday the first trucks were allowed through again.

-JOESAWARD

By Allan Schofield

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10 July 2002

15

PHR Maseratis? Lola Nations Cup leaders linked to Aussie-based one-make series

COULD a one-make Maserati series be headed to Australia?

News from Europe that Maserati is to back a one-make series based upon its 4.2 litre V8 Tropheo GT car, replacing the existing Ferrari 360 Challenge series in Europe, has been followed by the possibility of a series here in Australia.

PHR Scuderia, which runs a brace of Ferraris in Procar's Nations Cup category, has been approached with the concept of implementing such a series.

Team manager and driver John Bowe confirmed the possibility to MN this week.

"Yes, it's something they want us to investigate," he said.

"They would like to put something together in the Asia-Pacific area and Australia is a good place to start.

"They are looking at a factory-supported one make series, rather than having Maseratis competing against Ferraris, which is what would be the case if the car simply joined the Nations Cup series.

"Early suggestions are that it won't cost too much to run a car.

They've already tested a prototype at Fiorano with Luca Badoer doing the driving, so the project is quite well advanced.

"It's one of those things where you just turn up and drive the cars and they've asked us if we'll look at doing something here so we're looking at it."

- CHRIS LAMBDEN

by JOE SAWARD THE Lola company is one of many which has been having to face up to the problems of the recession.

The firm is protected somewhat from the fluctuations of the economic situation in the sport, because it is the sister company of a composite firm and of an aerodynamic business - and is not totally reliant on the sport.

Despite this, the cutback in demand for new cars has hurt the racing car manufacturers (notably Reynard, which has gone out of business) and Lola has been restructuring and looking around for new business.

The CART and Formula 3000 businesses have suffered as the grids in either series has dropped and in an effort to make up for lost income Lola has been examining a variety of innovative ideas.

One of these, according to sources in Japan, is the supply of chassis to Formula Nippon.

There is also talk of a deal with the Indy Racing League which could take the form of a Lola takeover of one of the companies which has been named as an IRL chassis builder.

However the most interesting scheme is a partnership with the Dome company to build a new generation of Formula 3 cars which it is aimed will challenge

%

i

www.kartstars.com.au

No wins, Courtney keeps the British F

VSSuperCar

Stars!

JAMES Courtney finished where he started in the non championship Formula 3 International Challenge race at Silverstone last weekend.

Courtney qualified the Carlin machine third for the British GP support race and crossed the finish line in the same position after a race-long pursuit of the Fortec-Renaults driven by Heikki Kovalainen and polesitter Fabio Carbone. The win marked Renault's first success in Formula 3 as a factory team.

Times were close throughout, with the top four cars covered by less than a second in qualifying. Kovaleinen got the better of his teammate on the entry to Copse on the first lap, and vrh'ie he was never able to shake Carbone, relentless pressure from Cc.,rtney prevented the Brazilian from attempting to regain his lead.

/Australia'sfottest karting talent battles it nut or a motorsport career!

NGK

VEGA

Qxwns motorsport news ■*

I

NEWS

Character building

Tough weekend for FSOOO’s Aussies

Photo by Sutton-lmage$

Dallaras domination of the world’s Formula 3 championships. Dome is very experienced in F3 having concentrated on the formula after its plans for FI flopped five years ago.

The intention is for Lola to build the Dome-Lola F3 designs at its factory in England and it is hoped that the firm can sell around 30 new cars.

m

I points ticking over

r

A WEEK earlier, Courtney had a mixed weekend in the latest round of the British F3 [ Championship at Brands Hatch.

Courtney got the weekend off n to a less-than-pefect start by qualifying sixth for the first race.

Stuggling with handling problems, he never looked a threat and eventually fell to seventh after being passed by Bruce Jouanny, Things brightened a little in race two. Starting from third on the grid, Courtney kept his head together as various misfortunes befell those around him to cross tlie line in second place, 'fiobbie Kerr clean-swept the weekend, claiming two poles, wins, and fastest laps, and vaulted himself from fourth to second in the championship standings. a I Points: Courtney 192, Kerr 152, Jouanny 144, Keohane 136, Taylor 105, I Austin 77. g!

4 10 July 2002

TOMAS Enge put himself right back into the Championship frame with a dominant performance in the Silverstone round pf the International F3000 series last weekend.

Starting from pole, Enge kept the Arden Team Russia car ahead of current points leader Sebastien Bourdais on the run to Copse at the start and cruised away, building up a 12.9s lead over the next 30 laps before greeting the chequered flag.

The win closes Enge's gap to Bourdais in the championship to just nine points.

Bourdais may have been out of contention for the win, but second place was never under threat, the French driver having no trouble ensuring that thirdplaced Richardo Sperafico (Petrobas JunoirTeam) was never more than a tiny dot in the Super Nova's mirrors.

It was a difficult weekend for the Aussie contingient.

Ryan Briscoe qualified the Nordic car 15th and hauled it up to finish 12th, while Rob Nguyen qualified 13th and was 15th to greet the chequered flag after rear tyre fade began to induce oversteer as the race progressed.

"This was a tough race," said Nguyen.

"The car was very hard to drive once my rear tyres were past their best and at times I was fighting just to stay on the circuit.

"It was frustrating, because I made a decent start and at first I was able to keep pace with the cars ahead of me.

"As the handling deteriorated, however, my lap times got slower and I could see a group of cars closing. I had to drive very defensively but tried to be as fair as possible.

"I touched a couple of cars during the fight, but the important thing was to finish and gain more valuable race experience, which I did."

Points: Bourdais 40, Enge 31, Pantano 20, Sperafico 16, Pizzonia 15, Haberfeld 13, Friesacher 13, Sperafico 12, Wirdheim 10, Mauricio 7, Toccadelo 3, Nguyen 2.

Spot the Aussie: There’s two ofthem there- but you’ll need to look towards (Phoin by Sutrinn-Images) the top of the photo to find them. n

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Overseas Nev^s Aiello gets another DTM win

Pressing on

Davison fifth in title; working on rest ofseason ’02

by AARON NOONAN

.I AUDI'S Laurent Aiello has continued his winning ways in the DTM series, puiling off a cracking last corner pass on Bernd Schneider to win the latest round at IMorisring.

The 1999 BTCC champ left it until the last possible moment to pass the Mercedes-Benz driver, sprinting to the line a tenth-of-a-second clear of the German.

Aiello's young Audi team-mate Mattias Ekstrom was third, clear of the impressive Jean Aiesi and early leader Uwe Alzen.

AUSSIE Will Davison has finished sixth in the latest round of the British Formula Renault Championship on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, though whether he can finish the season as planned is not so definite.

The Motaworld driver finished ahead of team-mate Robert Bell at Brands in a race won by title run away Danny Watts, the result placing him fifth (and best of the four Motaworld drivers)in the championship chase.

“All of the team struggled in qualifying,” said Davison.

“We changed the car a hit but it didn’t work, so we qualified seventh, got past Bell and then drove around for 28 laps. The race pace was good, as quick as anyone out there but Watts.”

A pay-back and stake in future earnings scheme for investors designed to create a solid infrastructure behind the 19-yearold hasn’t attracted as many backers as expected, though his on-track results have certainly impressed in the UK as his

Ringing the Beli: Davison leads team-mate Robert Bell at Brands Hatch.

(Photo by Sutlon-lmages) management team continue to work on the rest of the year and beyond.

“We have approached it in a way where we have put a management system in place from the outset that is looking at future fund-raising requirements m addition to ensuring Will’s name is progressively brought to the attention ofthe right people,” said father Richard.

“Although this has put additional strain on the finances, we strongly beheve this approach is essential to riin--, f-.

provide WiU the the best possible opportunity of making it through the system and avoiding ending up down a dead end Kke so many talented young Austrahans before us.

“When you are asking people to invest in Will’s future earnings potential like we are, they want to know that you have a proper structure in place that is going to optimise the available opportunities.”

Points: Watts 157, McLoughlin 125, Sharp 114, Hamilton 110, Davison 101.

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n BMW has broken the Alfa Romeo domination of the European Touring Car Championship, with Jorg Muller, above, stealing a victory at Anderstorp in Sweden.

Alfa driver Nicola Larini and team mate Fabrizio Giovanardi finished 1-2 in the first race ahead of Rickard Rydell's Volvo, though the BMW pilot took race two, ahead of the onhome-soil Swede Rydell and BMW team-mate Fredrik Ekblom.

■ UK-based International Race Management is planning to enter the Formula Nippon market in Japan, having acquired the rights to Reynard's part-finished chassis design, along with the services of the project's chief designer, James Bolton, IRM is owned by Japanese former FI driver Taki Inoue, Paul Shakespeare and former Reynard buyer John Jones.

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ALEX Davison has continued to rack up consistent results in both the Porsche Supercup and Carrera Cup over the past fortnight.

Driving for Manthey Racing in Sunday's Supercup event at Silverstone, he qualified eighth and finished seventh behind team mate Marcel Tiemann in a race won by Wolf Henzier.

The result now puts the Australian in 16th in the championship, while the outlook is brighter in the German-based Carrera Cup. In the latest round at Norisring, he drove his Team Phoenix GTS to ninth-place, holding down seventh in the championship.

- AARON NOONAN

Alfa back to BTCC? FACTORY-BUILT Alfa Romeos could be battling for outright British Touring Car Championship victories next year after seven seasons away.

The Fiat brand’s out-of-house competitions department, NTechnology, and sister company Nordauto Racing are in negotiations with GA Motorsport about running BTC Touring category contenders as early as next year.

It would be the first time since a two-season campaign in 1994-95 that a works Alfa has appeared in the BTCC. - GARY WATKINS motorspon news

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ALEX Barros rode the perfect race at Assen.

He negotiated the first lap safely in sixth place, zapped through into the lead and rode the wheels off his West Honda NSR 500, clearing out from the chasing pack ofYamahas,Suzukis, Proton and other Honda two-strokes.

But Valentino Rossi still won ... and The Doctor was impressed with the Brazilian’s form; “When Barros comes by me,I think he is too fast,” Rossi admitted. “Never have I seen a 500 so fast through the curves at Holland and my four stroke is heavy like a truck through the new section ...

“But I use the better acceleration of my bike to stay with him and then, finally, I find I can close a bit and that I have more power along the straight and can pass.”

That Rossi did. He sat under Barros for most ofthe race, shovnng him his front wheel on occasion, before basting past with five laps left. Three laps at virtually qualifying speed broke Barros’s challenge and that was that.

“It was a good race and I am happy,” smiled Barros later,“but what I wanted was to win and make it a perfect weekend.”

The battle for third was a classic, Carlos Checa emerging from a Yamaha versus Honda four-stroke war with Max Biaggi and Torhu Ukawa. Checa and Ukawa clashed at the final chicane, the Spaniard stayed on board to take the spot, Ukawa hauling the Honda hack onto its wheels to take fifth behind Biaggi.

Kenny Roberts, who led on the first lap, took sixth, holding out the improving John Hopkins and Shinya Nakano(Yamahas). But Hopkins lost the spot to Nakano after being formd to have passed the Japanese rider under yellow flags.

While Ban-os starred for the Pons/Honda team, Loris Capirossi had a bad weekend. The Italian flew off his bike and broke his wrist, which will cause him to miss the next two GPs in Britain and Germany.

Points: Rossi 170,Ukawa 108, Checa 72,Barros 71,Biaggi 69, Capirossi 65,Abe 61,Roberta 38,Hopkins 33.

Baylis

IT appears certain that Troy Bayliss will be in the MotoGP Championship next season but it may not be with Ducati.

Bayliss looks sure to be in the premier category in light of Ducati’s announcement last week that Briton Neil Hodgson would be their lead rider in their 2003 World Superbike program, replacing Bayliss in Ducati’s works team.

However, Ducati’s announcement is odd, given that there has been no official word on Bayliss’s future. It is believed that the Aussie’s contract with Ducati expires at the end of the season and, while Bayliss has not said he wants to leave the team, a two-time World Superbike Champion is a valuable property.

Furthermore, Motcrsport News has been told that both Suzuki and Yamaha have shown interest in securing Bayliss’s services to head their GP programs. While both Japanese factories have shown improved form compared to Honda’s unbeaten V5 four-stroke, Suzuki’s Kenny Roberts and Sete

Wild Child, Wildcard

An All-Honda battle: Barros leads Rossi mid-race before the V5 stormed past on the straight.

Oh! Danny (Pedrosa) Boy!

DANIEL Pedrosa became the third-youngest GP winner in history in the 125s when he took his first win in Holland.

Pedrosa, right, held out Manuel Poggiali’s Gilera and his own Honda team-mate Joan Olive, with Arnaud Vincent, Lucio "Cecchinello, Steve Jenkner and Pablo Nieto.

Points: Poggiali 131, Pedrosa 111, Vincent 103, Cecchinello 91, Jenkner 69.

MARCO Melandri continued at Assen, the Italian taking his third straight 250 GP. Melandri ran away from the 20

pack to lead home fellow Aprilia rider Toni Elias and Honda’s Roberto Rolfo, with Sebastien Porto(Yamaha) holding out Fonsi Nieto’s Aprilia for fourth.

Casey Stoner again showed promise, motoring to eighth after being 20th on the first lap. He was two spots down on Haruchika Aoki, aboard Honda’s RS250, which will replace

its NSR250 next season.

Points: Melandri 120, Nieto 112, Rolfo 96,Franco Battaini (Aprilia) 67, Randy de Puniet(ApriUa) 55.

THE next round of the World Superbike Championship at Laguna Seca this weekend will feature some local wildcards, with Aussies Anthony Gobert and Mat Mladin heading the list to take on the world's best.

The New South Welshmen will race for Yamaha and Suzuki respectively against the SBK regulars. They will be joined by runaway AMA series leader Nicky Hayden and Miguel DuHamel (Hondas), Aaron Yates (Suzuki) and Doug Chandler (Ducati).

But Gobert, who has missed the last four AMA rounds while recovering from a broken leg, will not race his usual American mount. 'The Wild Child', who took a run-away win at Laguna in 1999 before moving into the SBK with the Bimota team, will race a factory-built Yamaha at the event, flown in especially for the weekend from Japan.

Eric Bostrom will also race at Laguna. The Kawasaki rider has a season-long invitation to race in the SBK series and does not require a wildcard. noiorspori news

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set for MotoGP

But will It be Ducati, or will he turn Japanese?

Gibemau and Yamaha’s Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa have been inconsistent compared to Valentino Rossi. The Italian has lost only one race this season - and that to his team-mate Torhu Ukawa, on the final lap in South Africa.

Biaggi recently told the press in Italy that one of his options for 2003 was to ride Ducati’s V4 Desmosedici GP bike, which may or may not be a rase. But if Biaggi moves on, it would create a vacancy at Yamaha, the team that looks to most likely to challenge Honda and Valentino Rossi on current form.

Other possibles for the Ducati seat are thought to be Loris Capirossi, Ben Bostrom or Bayliss’s team-mate Ruben Xaus. But it is hard to see either Superbike rider (who do not have GP experience) racing the Ducati GP bike to the same level as Bayliss or Biaggi and Capirossi looks more likely to stay with Sito Pons team, which is rumoured to be switching to Yamahas next season.

SJUlllliJ® LnlcUliiisLIu THE Foggy Petronas FP1 Superbike will not race at Laguna this weekend, as planned. Delays in the preparations of the team's engines has forced the British-based team to shelve plans to test the bike at Almeria in Spain next week. Look for the Troy Corser-ridden bike, above, to appear at Brands Hatch next month.

Photo by John Morris/Mpix

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n Marty Craggiil has become the ■latest Aussie to win in the USA's Formula Xtreme series. The former Australian Superbike champion, who got the ride when Josh Hayes was injured, took his Suzuki to his first win at Brainerd, Minnisota, holding off Jake Zemke (Honda), Jason Pridmore (Suzuki) and fellow Aussie Damon Buckmaster (Yamaha). At the same race meeting, Kirk McCarthy continued his domination of the Buell Pro Thunder class, taking his Ducati to his fifth win in as many races.

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Looking elsewhere: Teams including Eddie Cheever’s will have to find another engine for 2003.

(Photo by Sutton-lmages)

Nissan confirms IRL pull-out NISSAN has confirmed that it won’t take part in the Indy Racing League in 2003,though it will continue an involvement with the IRL by supplying engines to its new Infiniti Pro Series supporting category.

The engine manufacturer entered the League in 1997 with its Infiniti Indy V8 and largely struggled before hooking up with driver/owner Eddie Cheever, who scored the first vrin for Nissan at Pikes Peak in 2000.

“I am only sorry that we came just shy of delivering an Indy 500 win to Infiniti, which would have made them the first Japemese automotive manufacturer to win the race,” said Cheever.

“But it’s not over yet. We have the best engine out there on the track right now, and we have until September to kick everybody’s butt.”

Nissan had been supplying stock ●engines used in its Q45 luxury sedan to TWR, which made the modifications for racing Current Nissan Infiniti-powered teams who will have to find another engine for 2003 include Team Cheever, Robbie Buhl’s Purex team, Bradley Motorsports and Conquest Racing, who run ^ Laurent Redon.

-PHIL MORRIS 22

Who Dares Wins

ANOTHER late pass decided an IRL race on the weekend, but this time it was a new face doing the passing.

Brazilian Airton Dare, above, swept past Sam Hornish Jr to take his first career win at Kansas Speedway and the first for the A.J. Foyt team since the Indy 500 in 1999. It completed a great day for the team, with Foyt’s grandson, A.J. Foyt rV winning the inaugural IRL Infiniti Pro Series round.

Dare only led eight laps, including the last three, after starting sixth. He passed Hornish

.t.

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with an outside move on the backstretch on Lap 198 after a restart and pulled away.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Fojd. “We’ve had some dry spells, but all in all we were ready for it and due for it.”

Hornish Jr finished second and closed the gap to title leader Heho Castroneves, who ran home third.

Tomas Scheckter had been in front with 10 laps to go, but the poleman spun and crashed after a tyre deflated.

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SAM Hornish Jr only led two laps of the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond a week earlier, but his pass on leader Gil de Ferran on the penultimate lap meant the Pennzoil driver grabbed his third win of the season, de Ferran led 168 laps of the 250, but had to settle for second, as he struggled with a lot of oversteer in the final 40 laps.

"The other guys pulled away from me a little bit at the beginning, but then they started wearing off their tyres a little bit and just overheated," said Hornish.

Felipe Giaffone finished third in the Hollywood

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Mo Nunn Racing G Force/Chevrolet after Hornish passed the Brazilian on lap 247, while rookie Tomas Scheckter finished a career-best fourth in his Dallara/Nissan for Red Bull Team Cheever ahead of Al Unser Jr. ' Helio Castroneves was the first of many drivers to find trouble on the tricky half-mile oval.

He did a half-spin exiting Turn 2 on Lap eight while chasing leader de Ferran, and the right side of his Marlboro Dallara/Chevrolet hit the inside retaining wall. Repairs were carried out and the Brazilian was classified 17th.

- PHIL MORRIS noiorspon naws

to in Toronto

CHAMP CARS Papis out of a ride at Sigma ►n

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by PHIL MORRIS

(la Man: Cristiano da Matta scored a win on we track where he had his first-ever win - Chicago.

The Chicago Bull

WHILE his Brazilian mates were busy belting the Germans in the World Cup final, Cristiano da Matta, complete with Ronaldostyle haircut, below, was busy belting the field at Chicago - for the third time in a row the : weekend previous to Toronto.

10 July 2002

The Lola/Toyota drver ran behind Dario Franchitti, Alex Tagliani and Tony Kanaan in the early stages but took command after the second round of pit stops and therefore extended his lead in the championship.

Bruno Junqueira and Franchitti followed him across the line, though the Ganassi driver faded in the final laps and was treated for dehydration after the race, while Tora Takagi and Shinji Nakano ran home fourth and fifth, their best-ever results respectively.

Scott Dixon overcame a stall and losing a wheel on his second stop to take sixth.

IT seems that if you’re leading any championship around the world, you’re not just winning, but belting the opposition.

Like Michael Schumacher in Formula 1, Troy Bayliss in Superbikes, Valentino Rossi in Moto GP and Mark Skaife in V8 Supercars, Cristiano da Matta is simply ‘da man’ in Champ Cars.

The pint-sized Brazilian took his fourth win in a row at Toronto on the weekend and six for the year, one that has put him in a tie for the record for most consecutive CART victories with Alex Zanardi, who was present at his first race since his accident last September.

“I think this is very special and it doesn’t happen all the time,” said da Matta. “Things are falling our way. It happens because we have a very good team behind us.

When you win one race or the other it can happen because sometimes you get lucky or a yellow goes your way.

“But when you win a lot of races it means the team is doing their work very well, the engine manufacturer is doing their work very well, the chassis manufacturers and the crew is preparing the car for each race week.”

He led from the pole and built an early lead, as his challengers faded.

Paul Tracy suffered brake failure' that led to a few spins and a DNF (as too did Bruno Junqueira, though it was Townsend Bell’s braking problems that bashed the Brazilian into the tyre wall), leaving Kenny Brack to chase home da Matta in second place.

To complete a good day for the Newman/Haas team, Christian Fittipaldi came home third ahead of another fine run by Shinji Nakano.

Scott Dixon grabbed sixth, while Jimmy Vasser, Alex Tagliani and Tora Takagi completed the eight on the lead lap.

The results leave da Matta with a 118 points, 38 better than the hapless Junqueira, while Franchitti (who was himself punted into the tire wall in 'Turn Three by Tagliani and later lost his rear wing after backing into the tire wall on his own) remains in third place with 64 points.

Points: da Matta 118, Junqueira 70, Franchitti 64, Jourdain Jr 58, Fittipaldi 57, Dixon 52, Brack 48.

J

THE field in the FedEx Championship Series has shrunk to 18 cars, with Sigma Autosport following PWR Championship Racing into the land of the inactive.

The small, one-car operation owned by Chicago businessman Tom Weiringa has had to put the plug, even with driver Max Papis sitting tied for sixth in the pointscore before the Portland round.

"Those guys did everything for me," said Papis.

"We had only one car, no spare, and they were borrowing things from other teams to keep us running. It was great fun, I enjoyed beating all those big teams with nothing."

Papis says he will continue to look for a ride in CART or the IRL, and has also expressed an interest in NASCAR. He was at the recent Sears Point Winston Cup round with his former CART car owner Cal Wells.

■ Expect Bridgestone to return to the CART series in 2003. While this year has been its first of Champ Car competition, the tyre giant plans to return, though is currently working out budgets for next season.

■ The calendar for next year's FedEx Series is likely to be released within the next fortnight, with 19 or 20 races expected to be scheduled.

With a receiver appointed to handle the bankruptcy of the Eurospeedway in Germany, that race is shaky, though CART CEO Chris Pook said an alternative site is ready and waiting, albeit a road course.

Pook also said that there would be races during the Indianapolis 500 'Month of May', though none would inhibit teams from running an indy 500 campaign.

■ Dan Wheidon, the Brit who finished second in indy Lights last season, is to make two IRL starts this season as team-mate to Sam Hornish Jr at Pennzoil Panther Racing, The 23-year-old will make his debut in the Delphi Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway in September and then race at Texas Motor Speedway.

23

A-

Sportscars Don and AGO do deal to 2008 THE American Le Mans Series will continue at least until the end of 2008 season, after founder Don Panoz signed a new five-year deal to run the championship.

Panoz has renewed his licensing agreement with the Automobile Club de rOuest to use the Le Mans name and the same rulebook as the French enduro. The new contract runs from the end of the existing five-year contract, which expires next year, Panoz also announced that the ALMS will return to Europe next season. It has been decided in conjunction with the ACO to run one European round in 2003 and two in 2004, with the Nurburgring favourite to host next year's event.

C Traction control will be allowed on prototypes at the Le Mans 24 Hours from next season. The race organisers have backed down on their opposition to the electronic driver aid, so long as only simple systems linked to the engine management are used.

B Many of Sportscar racing's leading drivers have hit out at a proposal to slash engine outputs for next year's Le Mans 24 Hours.

The plan has been rounded on by the majority of drivers who have learned of the move. They believe that the cars are already underpowered in the wake of the previous power reduction in the lead up to the 2000 season. l Bentley driver Andy Wallace said: "It's disappointing that they are going to cut power outputs again. It's bad for the drivers and it is bad for the spectators."

The plan is to cut horsepower by 10 percent in the prototype and GTS classes and possibly in the GT division at Le Mans. The result will be a fall in power for a prototype from 600bhp-plus to around 550bhp.

B Le Mans will have a two-tier rules structure in GTS next season.

Carbon chassis are being allowed in for the first time, but the standard road-going vehicle will be allowed a less degree of modification than existing cars, such as the Chrysler Viper and Chevrolet Corvette.

3

B Ways for diesel-powered cars to join the Le Mans grid are being investigated for 2004. The race organisers are examining at how to equate the performance of a diesel cars with conventional petrol-engined machinery. The investigation is taking place, following requests from more than one car maker looking to run an oil-burner.

-GARY WATKINS

24

In a locked garage? Is thatwinere the Audi R8 will end up at the end of 2002?

(Photo by Sutton-lmages)

Where to for Audi?

by AARON NOONAttl

WITH its third consecutiive win in the Le Mans 24 Hour,-, the big question is whether Aucdiwill return to shoot for four- titles in 2003.

Paddock talk at Le Mans suggested that sister company Bentley would be given a l>igpuish in 2003, with a multiple caj-sqtaad of British racing green repiiicing the four rings as the Volkswagen company’s Le Mans challenger.

Bentley’s 2002 assault was remarkably low key, with junst one car, leading to speculation that next year is the year it has heein slated to go all-out for a ^vin.

“I think what I think is notso important!” said Audi’s Motoi'Sport Manager, Dr. Wolfgang Ulliich.

“It would be great to come back but I’m just somebody who is responsible for motorsport. I have to live in the world of the group' which tries to make the hestfoc the group.

“What I know is that there are many working groups in tlie Volkswagen group that work on the future motorsport strategies each manufacturer makes their proposals on.

“Personally, I think there are’ six Audi R8s existing at the miaroent and it would not be good t» pot them in a garage and lock it.”

Added to the mix is the return of Porsche to outright Prototype racing. Out of outright Spcaitscar racing since 1998, the comjmnyhad a LMP 900 open-top car built and tested two years ago b;utit never raced, though sources suggest that a Le Mans prcijeck. is back in full-swing at Stuttgart, based on the never-raced (iesign.

With Joest’s run with Aucdis due to therefore end at the endi ofthis year, that could leave a retiuvn to Porsche a chance for the German, who used a WSC Porsche iki19-96 and 1997 to win the 24 Hour as well as using 956s throughwiit the 1980s and 1990s.

More ofthe same:Frank Biela leads the American Le Mans Seriesfield awav at Mid-Ohio.

(Photo hy Sutloii-images)

Two more wins AUDI has continued its domination of the American Le Mans Series, sweeping the latest two rounds at Mid-Ohio and Road America.

Tom Kristensen and Dindo Capello won the 500-kilometre event at Road America from, team-mates Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro, while the positions were reversed a week earlier.

Panoz have continued to struggle after a poor Le Mans 24

Hour campaign, both cars failing to finish at Road America. A drivetrain failure stopped the David Brabham/Jan Magnussen car at Road America,though the duo did manage to finish third at Mid-Ohio. The second car of Bryan Herta and Bill Auberlen took fourth, ahead of the Riley & Scott of James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger.

Unfortunately it’s all just becoming a little too silver though ...

KLAAS Zwart of Ascari Cars has axed his Sportscar racing team, prompting the resignation of team manager Ian Dawson.

Team Ascari had a disastrous Le Mans with one of its Juddpowered A410 machines, which have now been mothballed. It had two races left on its 2002 programme, the FIA Sportscar race at Donington, UK in September (which it won in 2001) and the ALMS Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, USA, in October.

The Banbury, UK company's road car project, the BMW V8powered KZ1, will continue.

- QUENTIN SPURRING moiorspon news

OPINION

A

s you may have heard, we"re not going to be racing the Lamborghini in the next PROCAR round at Queensland Raceway next week.

We"ve been copping these sort of (parity-based) penalties for a while now. This year, we seem to be the most handicapped car in Nations Cup, which I think makes it fairly difficult, but to come away from Winton where we weren"t in a dominant position ... OK, we won three races, but by no means did we dominate. And then to go to the next round and have a fairly heavy penalty slapped on us one week befoVe the race is fairly demotivating for everybody.

Puiling out wasn"t my decision but I totally back the^declsion and agree that lt"s not fair, I drove as hard as I could at Winton and managed to win three races because I got in front and blocked for the whole race. The Ferrari had a lap where It had a bit of a go and did a 1 m24.8s. We did a 1m25.2s, which was the fastest we went all weekend.

PROCAR have the data, so they can see how hard people are driving the cars, and I don"t think anyone doubts that r'm driving as hard as I possibly can.

So there was 0.4s difference

between us and the Ferrari at Winton even though we beat it. We copped 30kg of success ballast, (we had none in at Winton) to take to Queensland which we were prepared to cop, thaf's part of the series rules. According to Jim Richards, who has done his l calculations, that about 0,1 s a lap or 0.1s per km. Which mean in theory that we"re about 0.7s off the pace of the Ferrari, because that"s actually lost a little bit of weight going into Queensland.

Then they go and slug us with a 250 rev limit as well. So we would have been completely uncompetitive, I mean we"re only just "on the cam" of the car as it is.

Changing to those lower revs, the car just wouldn"t be developing any power, so we know how much it"s going to hurt us. 50 revs would have made a big difference, but 250 is a bit of a joke.

A

nd the other thing is, and l"ve had to do this twice before, is run with a rev light, which I don"t agree with. It"s very difficult for

CAMS not to charge me because it"s so easy to go over. And with a weeks notice, that doesn"t give the unit enough time to go to Italy and back (MN: Stokell"s team uses a factory engine management system). We copped a double-edged sword, I guess.

We dldn"t want to sit this round out. We"re in the business, we"ve got sponsors, we"ve got a crew, we"ve got full-time employees, and we"re all here to do a job, and that job is to go motor racing.

PROCAR are either going to completely walk over people, or somone"s got to make a stand. We don"t know whether it"s the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do, but Andrew (Smith, team owner) has taken that decision and we back him 100 percent. don"t know the full scenario, but I know that before Winton there was a PRQCAR parity review committee which consisted of two people from each manufacturer, and they had to have a majority vote to get a car changed, and that

Motor Mouth With Paul Stokall was a discussion that happened during the weekend or after the weekend of racing, and it was done almost straight away and you could make a decision.

But you"ve got completely different performances from the cars, and I guess in a lot of ways completely different performances from the drivers, all driving at the front of the field. So it"s a very difficult thing for PRQCAR to juggle, but l"d love to know how they"ve come to this decision because i"m no rocket scientist Uj I could see that we weren"t in t^osition.

¥

3

10 July 2002

25

Ayrton *s missing pizz^ the adventures of Mai T

RITING books for children is not an easy business. To be able to draw kids into a story and keep them there is a rare talent for one has few words to play with - and one must very rapidly create magic to captivate them.

It is a job which is getting more l clifficult for once there was no t^yision, no Gameboys and no Internet. One must marvel at JK Rowling's ability to invent the n world of Harry Potter and one must stand in awe of the talents like Lewis Carroll, Enid Blyton, AA Milne or Arthur Ransome.

The key to it all and the reason that so many of these tales started out as bedtime stories for the authors' children is that they must fire the imagination. The use of pictures is sometimes as big a handicap as it is a help. I remember being subjected to dull books when I was a kid and waiting for the reader to get to the bottom of the page so we could tprn over and look to see if there was a picture on the next page.

In modern times pictures have come to dominate. The words are strung around them. Gratification is easier and there is less need for

the imagination. And that means that there are few modern classics. , About 15 years ago, someone asked me to write a book for kids about the Paris-Dakar Rally. It was short and not very sweet. I wanted it to be Beau Geste meets Toyota but 1 do not think I achieved it. The book (thankfully) disappeared between two publishing houses when one was taken over by the other and so never escaped into the public domain.

The other day I was skipping through the darker recesses of my

computer and stumbled upon the story. About the only thing I liked about it were the names of the characters I had dreamt up: Jacques Racquet, Hard Nakkinen, Freddy Rottweiler and Gaston Gringo.

I read it through and found little . of value except that it reminded me of an old racing myth which has long been forgotten. There are, it said, very few green cars in motor sport.

Green is considered by racers to be an unlucky colour.

I thought I might drop by Jaguar Racing and mention that...

he reason for this burst of interest in children's books was because at Silverstone, Ron Dennis's wife Lisa launched a range of books about'Mac and Lauren'.

The concept was a simple one.

Lisa is trying to do for racing cars what Thomas the Tank Engine did for steam engines. She has a deal to write a series of books(17 in total) about two silver and grey racing cars called Mac and Lauren and the adventures they have with a bunch of other racing cars some of whom are more than vaguely recognisable; Franco and Marco,

Once Upon a Time: Mar anti Lauren I’d in formation on the cover of Lisa Dennis's new tome, reuii below by an int/aisilive Eiklie Irvine. Kinii Raikkonen, main pic. is almost yoiin!; enouiih to enjoy the books on their merit... \l'luiUn In SulhHi-hikiKrM

<

FORMULA ONE

I, Mad Dog and 'and Lauren

!

the red cars from Italy and Sid the Safety Car seemed somehow rooted in reality (or what we in the .paddock believe to be reality).

My favourite team in Lisa's paddock were the.secondary good guys Wills and Flarry, one a big advocate of stiff upper lip and the other impetuous and quick to ●' flare .Cip. . Frank arid Patrick have found 1 "their j^e in the literary world. _ .The British G'P is ertime when ..weiqumalists have lots to do, '- running from party to party and launch to launch. It is a good time of year tp launch books and we go along.to events, listen politely, eat the sandwiches and trot off home with our (signed) copies of . ● the book.

We all have hundreds of motor racing books, some inane, some obscure and some magnificent.

They are in different formats, in ■.different languages and on .^. different aspects of the sport. My

racing library includes biographies, team histories, cookbooks and I even have a book about motor racing and religion. The one thing that has always been missing is the children's section - which in a sport with so many infantile characters is a curious thing. his year's crop of new books included a wonderful publication called 'Flat Out. Flat Broke' by Perry McCarthy. If you do not know the name, you are probably new to the sport as Perry, known as 'Mad Dog' to his friends, is one of the great characters of modern FI, although his tenure 'of office in the Grand Prix world was, at best, tenuous.

Perry arrived in Formula 1 in the summer of 1992 as the driver of a ridiculous racing team which was known as Andrea Moda Formula, which was run by a man in winkle-picker boots and dark glasses who made little contribution to the sport except

to be the last FI team boss (up to now) to be arrested in the paddock.

Perry's talents as a storyteller are legendary and, having known him for far too long, I know that most of these ridiculous stories are true. In FI circles one does not get to be called 'Mad Dog' without good reason. It is a very funny book, which tracks the adventures of Perry from being a hideous child to life on the oil rigs to raise money to go racing. Perry never had a cent but talked his way into FI - sometimes quite literally.

My favourite story was from 1987 when Perry decided that he wanted to see if he could get into the Formula 1 paddock without the right passes and arrived at the paddock gate on a motorbike with two paper plates balanced on one hand, shouting "Pizza for AyrtortI Pizza for Ayrton I" Fie nearly got away with it but when apprehended and told that there was no pizza between the two plates. Perry soon had those standing at the paddock gate

The Box Seat looking around on the ground to find Ayrton's missing pizza I 'Silverstone is always busy and was made busier this year by the adventures of the Arrows team and so, it was not until some strange (almost bizarre) hour of the night that I found myself tucked up in bed, coffee-ed up and struggling to sleep but desperately needing to, and reading my way through the four published adventures of Mac and Lauren.

They were nice books, good harmless fun for kids.

The only problem was that each book ended in the same way with Mac and Lauren whizzing across the finishing line in first and second positions (no team orders here).

If only real life was so full of such happy endings...

Five Minutes With ...

jmm macm

Il1

The leadep of the Auswallan Fopnnha Ferd Chanwimsldp has set a new recerd with tear wins hwm Ow tipstfew rounds, AAROnl\HMUIAI\l cmight up with the Some Metepsimrt/Vatvetine drivw to taik dbmd the year so far MOTORSPORT NEWS:Taking the first four wins in succession has never heen done before in the Formula Ford Championship. Is it beyond even the greatest expectations you could have had at the start of the year?

JAMIE WHINCUP:For sure. The expectation for the season was, and still is, to win-the Formula Ford Championship.

To win the first four rounds and be the first driver to do that is unbelievable.

MN:Was it something you were even aware of?

JW: Well, no, I wasn’t even aware of it until after I won the round at Perth. It’s terrific, knowing the past champions who have gone through Formula Ford, and to be able to do it is really good.

It gives me a lot of confidence going into the second half of the championship.

MN: On paper it looks like you’ve dominated the championship with the four round wins, though in terms of race wins, it’s been a bit tighter.

JW:I’ve spoken to plenty of former champions of Formula Ford and the main advice they’ve given me is to stay consistent. All I can do is to keep trying 100 percent.

We’ve come up with a few wins but there’s been times the car hasn’t been the quickest or the conditions have changed and our car hasn’t been suited and we’ve run fourth a couple of times.

You get the good with the bad. I had a fourth at Perth which meant we had to work harder for race two and the conditions changed and we got the win and the round.

I definitely haven’t had it all my way. There’s a lot of competition this year, especially with two other drivers with exactly the same equipment(Marcus Marshall and Barton Mawer).

MN:The Sonic team run by Michael Ritter is a pretty professional outfit, but how much transfer of data and the 28

Grand Prix clash: Whincup started off the season With plenty of pace at the Grand Prix, though an overaggressive move put him out. He’s calmed things down a little for the title and the results are flowing.

(Photo by Dirk Klynsmith)

like is there between the three are different this year.

There’s different teams so there of you?

JW:As far as data transfer and the hasn’t been any pressure to live up to the Will Davison standard, but like, there’s very little. But all I have to do is worry about Michael gets information from the three drivers which filters back myself and not about anybody else.

All I have to do is give 100 and compiles it to come up with a direction in which we need to head. percent. If it’s good enough to win, fine, but if it’s good enough for So as far as us drivers working fourth, that’s OK together goes, IV too. As long as I for a qualifying know I’ve put in . lap or car set 100 percent. up, there’s absolutely MN:The year none, but the It started with a information the team has - Whincup on his car’s previous bit of a bang at gained over the success the Grand Prix after you last few years with Alex and collided with Will(Davison) and Stewart Marcus, your fellow Valvoline driver. Have you changed your McColl, it’s definitely benefiting us take-no-prisoners approach this year. with the consideration of the title?

MN: Considering you’re JW: My focus hasn’t changed. As I driving the car that dominated said about the Grand Prix, I was last year’s title, do you feel the probably a bit over-anxious there pressure of having to live up to the same standards? to make that passing move.

I definitely have backed off a JW: No, not at all. I don’t have little bit for the championship but pressure on me, all the conditions

There hasn't been any pressure to live up to the Will Davison standard

at the same time I’m still going to try and win races. I wanted to stamp a bit of authority at the Grand Prix to show that I’m not there to be making up the places.

MN:Is Marcus your main rival for the title? Even though he’s now 36 points - nearly a whole round win - behind.

JW: No, not at the moment. There are probably three or four drivers who are all ruiming really competitively.

Why I say that is that I know that Marcus has got the same equipment as me so I know. As long as I know no-one’s got better equipment that I have, then I’m confident I can do the job.

I’m confident going into Oran Park, Mallala and Winton. I’ve raced and gone well there in the past, so I think we can do a good job. I’m sure the other guys think the same thing because there’s a few of them now that have got nothing to lose. They’ll be out to knock me off that top step so I’ll just push on and see if I can stay in front. molorsport news

I

INTERVIEW

Five Minutes with

Greg Miwmiy

b V8 Sigiepcai'Picbg turmiw into a you cm bib bitiwt touch'cbss?

AAGUnulMN 'The B/hirph'about 'Giat teuib with tnmb Skbfe in Perth that hm mtoff the issue olovmivmthm hy lOHclMun MOTORSPORT NEWS:Put simply, was Mark (Skaife) harshly dealt with at Barbagallo over that little touch you and he had?

GREG MURPHY:Absolutely. He had^some very bad luck,(it’s) very unfortunate. I’d prefer his bad luck happened a different way.

Basically it was something out of his control and someone made the wrong decision.

He hardly touched the back of my car - he was going past anyway! I don’t know what they did, whether they upped the t3rre pressures or something so the car came on really quickly, because the thing was an absolute jet on that first lap.

He was coming past up the inside that lap, regardless whether he touched the back (of Murphy’s car) or not.

The touch didn’t push me wide, I was going in that direction anyway and he gave it a glance on the way

by It was absolutely nothing.

MN:So this also raises the issue of‘immediate justice’and the massive ramifications for a driver when a wrong decision has been made,in terms of destroying any chance of a good round result.

GM:I haven’t seen the footage yet but it can’t have looked bad. I mean, itjust can’t have. It was nothing.

Whereas,I saw the third race on Fox Sports the other night and Marcos Ambrose lifted the back of Russell IngalTs car off the ground.

He hit him so hard! And they did nothing. There was two shots of it.

There was an outside shot and two in-car shots, one in each car. And ic he got away with it!

There’s no consistency Again, what were they thinking? Ijust don’t know what they were thinking. I was perplexed. I rang Russell straight after I saw the television footage. He was angry. He got done twice that weekend. I haven’t seen the reasons why he was penahsed but he got done twice.

Ambrose lifted the back of his car off the ^ound, punts him out of the way purposely, and goes free. We’ve got a real problem.

30

of the Course.

MN:Any proposals on what can be done about the issue from a driver’s perspective?

GM: Well, in my mind there’s still no consistency whatsoever. There were a lot ofissues dealt with, but one of the most obvious ones, one of the most easiest ones to make a decision on, was the *Unbrose one and he goes scot free.

'There was another one I heard about with Paul Morris. He got absolutely turfed off by David Besnard and he got away with it.

From what I heard, David went to Paul and apologised, saying ‘geez.

I’m gunna go down for that one.’

I don’t know what the answer is.

I’m not the one sitting up there making decisions but I don’t understand. To us, a lot of things seem very clear.

f

Big Brother Skaife is watching: Murphy ploughs on as Skaife works (Photo by Dirk Kiynsmith) his way back through the field on-screen.

"He hardly touched the hack of my car - he was going past anyway!"

- Murphy on the ‘incident’ with Skaife at Barbagaiio MN:From Kmart Racing’s point of view,Todd Kelly copped the same penalty as Skaife, and in that incident, Craig Lowndes ended up off the road and in a sandpit losing any chance of a good round result. You only lost one place and yet the penalties are the same.

GM:I haven’t seen Todd’s one so I can’t really comment on it, but that’s exactly right. If Todd was to blame, which I’m not saying he is because I haven’t seen it, he got the same penalty.

I lost one spot and was going to lose that spot anyway, so it just

doesn’t make sense at all.

MN:Had the circumstances been different and you not commented that the tap hadn’t fazed you, and instead been outraged at the incident, would there be the same scrutiny of the issue anyway?

GM:I couldn’t have said that, but people would have looked at it and made their own minds up, probably.

If I’d said that,I think you’d still have some problems anyway. That was one of lots of incidents over the weekend that occurred the wrath of the Stewards or the Clerk

MN: What about the comparisons with the Skaife/Murphy tap in Perth and the Skaife/Johnson tap at Calder last year where Mark copped the same sentence for virtually the same ‘crime’?

GM;Exactly That was so minor as well. The guy lost one spot. When something like that happens, the guy loses one spot.

If I’d fired off the track and lost 15 positions, yeah, definitely give him a stop-go or a drive-through, but when the guy loses one spot, is it really worthy of a 30-second drive-through penalty or whatever it is and go to the back of the field.

It’s not a warranted penalty.

The teams are all trying to be as professional as possible and we’re doing our job, so we’d expect the same from others in other jobs.

This issue keeps coming up all the time.

The thing that was brought up a while ago, I think it was Tony Longhurst on the ‘Superstars’TV show, mentioning that maybe there needs to be current drivers, like a panel of current Level 1 drivers on a roster system, and they are brought in for any issue or penalty that’s going to be given.

But I don’t know what the answer is.

■otorsport news

INTERVIEW □

●<

7Z

3

10 July 2002

h

31

V8 Supercars

F-

;

Nax

- -

Is over-tough race stewarding taking the 'racing' out of motor racing in our premier category?

SUBIS LAMBDEN asks the question to those who know who might have WHILE there were those cheered when runaway championship leader Mark Skaife copped a drive-through penalty during last weekend’s Perth V8 round,there were as many gi’oaning.

1

Why?

Well it seems that the current interpretation of the rules of Motor Racing is actually hell-bent on nullifying that crucial word racing. And, on the face of it, the Skaife incident was a classic example.

The modern system of instant g!justice isn’t a bad thing - and it’s a tough thing to implement without controversy - but it just seems to have gone a bit too far.

In fields where half a second can split the top 20, a drive-through penalty pretty much finishes a driver’s day. Is a bit of panel rubbing worth that much of a penalty?

Sure, when Joe Talentless canons into Fred Innocent and turns him around, deliberately or not, then that’s a dead set drivethrough.

32

A little scrape here or there is part of racing

-Allan Moffat

But what Skaife did, as an example, didn’t deserve that degree of penalty, if anything at all. Even the nudgee, Greg Murphy, said it was a nothing incident(see Five Minutes with Greg Murphy, page 30).

Has it all gone'too far? Are the guidelines for modern Stewards too tough? Is it ruining the racing

for the paying audience?

Allan Moffat needs no introduction. He currently shares the record (with Jim Richards)for championship round wins in a season - seven - which could well be decimated by Skaife this year.

He was never a physically aggi-essive driver, but he agrees that the margin for error is getting

a bit tough: “There has to be a distinction between degrees of transgression,” he says.

“I watched Perth, and if what Skaifey did warranted a drivethrough penalty, then what Todd Kelly did to Lowndes should have seen him parked in pit lane for 10 minutes!

“A little scrape here or there is part of racing. If the driver behind n didn’t obviously hit the one in front, was going to pass anyway ... that’s racing.

“Having said that I think that a system of‘instant’justice is very wise. Compared with the old days, where you could (and I did)lose your race and points a month later at some tribimal, it’s much better.

“But I feel for Skaife - and others in that situation. As a driver there’s nothing more depressing than getting into a winning position only to lose it on the whim of officialdom. You start asking yourself why you’re trying so hard...”

Jim Richards holds another record, for most championship round wins in succession - six motorsport news

INSIGHT

Have we gone e

Stewards, start your black flags: Greg Murphy is just about to get a nudge from Mark Skaife during Race 2 in Perth. Was it fair to penalise him? Even Murf thinks it was a hard call.

(Photos by James Smith and Russell Marlin)

during his dominant 1985 season for BMW. Had Skaife won in Perth he would have equalled Richo’s tally. He too finds problems with the consistency ofjudgements: “I’m an armchair viewer and I sat there and watched WA. The problem is that there is no consistency. Some of the people involved in the decision-making are out of their depth. They’re nice people, but the/re not drivers!

“With Skaifey, there was a slight nudge as he tried to pull back across and get to the inside as Murph slid wide. That’s all. Really, nothing. He gets a drive-through.

Then, later in the broadcast, there are two other incidents, far more blatant, and nothing is done.

Enough said.

“Some things that happen are blatant, some aren’t, and you have to differentiate or there’s no racing.

“I reckon there are guys out there running for second or third who are scared to try for the lead!

The TV is on them and the penalty for the slightest contact is just too

high.

“Having said that, I wouldn’t 10 July 2002

like the job (of being a Steward)!

But some consistency is what is required.”

Garry Rogers, current team owner and TEGA Board member, believes over-zealous stewardiiag is affecting ‘The Show’: “After all, it’s called motor racing!’ he emphasises.

“Like footy, it requires some hard, forceful activity to retain the interest of its audience. Right mow, what used to be called a racing incident is often attracting stop-go

penalties. The system is only as good as the people, implementing it - they need to have a better understanding."

Interestingly,former champ, still racing, John Bowe, comes down on the side of non-contact stewarding: “You can’t allow drivers to simply push others out of the way.

There are two nr three out there who specialise ia pushing another car past the corner, then ducking under to pass. If you hit someone, you should expect a drive-through.

What is needed is something else, something more for the deliberate taking out of another car. If you ruin someone else’s race, then you should pay a higher price for it drive-through, plus a compulsory rear-of-grid start for the next race maybe.

“In Skaife’s case, he could have taken advantage of the new rule for this year, let Murph back past, ‘redressed’ the situation, and he wouldn’t have got the drivethrough. ' “I passed a lot of cars in WA, as did many others - including Craig Lowndes, who was behind me for ages - and none of us hit anybody.

You don’t have to hit people to pass.

“What I think is interesting is that there WAS so much passing over there and the reasons why.

Barbagallo is a very low grip surface. Low grip; drivers make mistakes; people pass each other.

That’s racing. We need to look at ways of duplicating that on our higher-grip circuits, don’t we?”

(See news story).

So, too tough or not?

Personally, I’ve seen the drivethrough ruin one too many a good race. It’s a suitable penalty for a serious thumping. But I think the audience out there likes a little bit of panel-rubbing; the odd nudge.

That’s racing.

Otherwise, it’s like cricket without the bouncer; footy without hip and shoulder ...

33

Nissan's GTR A decade ago, Nissan's GT-R was the dominant force in Australian Touring Car racing. The drivers were Mark Skaife and Jim Richards, who will drive together for Holden Racing Team this year. PHIL BRANAGAN looks back at 1991 and 1992 f n ^HOSE who do not learn I from history are doomed JL to repeat it”.

There is no actual proof that the Spanish-born philosopher Jorge Agustin Nicolas de Santayana (George to his mates) was specifically thinking of V8 Supercar racing when he wrote those words during the last millennium but, nowadays,the words seem more prophetic than ever.

Mark Skaife is leading the championship. The red cars are dominating the racing in a manner not seen for years. There is talk of individual handicapping for the teams and, whisper it, parity adjustments for the cars.

Turn back the clock a decade and you find a similar scenario.

Skaife and his team-mate, Jim Richards, splattered the opposition in their (iibson Motorsport Nissan GT-Rs to dominate the 1991 Shell Australian Touring Car Championship. As a result, during the year(and especially during the following off-season) there was plenty of talk about what the other teams were going to do to beat the red, white a blue cars(which became Winfield red for 1992).

More than that, there was even more chat about what the officials must do to return touring car racing to some kind of democracy.

As a result, the Nissans were heavily revised the following season.

But it has to be pointed out that the landscape of the Australian Touring Car scene was a lot different 10 years ago to what it is now. Group A was in full swing, the manufacturers’formula based around homologation of their latest and greatest road cars. In order, BMW,Ford and Nissan pummelled the rest with their M3,Sierra RS500 and Skyline GT-R respectively, three mega-dollar cars which rendered their opposition almost obsolete at a stroke of the pen.

And there also had to be a juggling act between the marques represented on the grids. Nissan’s car was a 2.6-litre, turbocharged.

34

4WD coupe; BMW’s M3 was a 2.5litre normally-aspirated four cylinder; Ford’s Sierra had only two-wheel drive to transmit its turbo four’s 600-horsepower; and Holden’s trusty Commodore VN had a 5-litre pushrod engine, four doors, RWD and a live rear end...

Letting the cars have their heads, obviously, would not work.

In 1991, Richards and Skaife was not quite unbeatable, but almost.

They ran 1-2 in the opening race at Sandown; at Symmons Plains, they did it again, despite Skaife starting from the rear of the grid.

Skaife took a turn to win from Richo at Wanneroo, while Jim led

When Godzilla pi the show at Lakeside and Winton, Skaife taking second despite a stop/go penalty for taking to the grass to pass at the start of the race!

At Amaroo Park, the tide turned; Tony Longhurst won for BMW, Skaife finishing behind Richards after Jim had started from the

back after missing qualifying with a blown engine. Next up, Skaife righted the ship, leading a Mallala 1-2, while the Nissans were beaten by both Longhurst and Alan Jones at Lakeside’s second round.

With Richards having his third title already in the bag, Skaife won the final at Oran Park, another 1-2.

Different look, same result; The dominance of Nissan’s GTR in 1991, above, led to changes for 1992. But the results were the same; Richards and Skaife dominated the series and won Bathurst, where Olofsson.and Crompton, below, were third.

(Photos by John Morris/Mpix)

motorsport news

RETROSPECTIVE

lamed the earth The Sandown 500 was considered to be less important in those days,the Gibson team skipping the race to leave it to the Mark Gibbs/Rohan Onslow GT-R to win, and Richards and Skaife took a dominant Bathurst win.

So,from 11 starts, the one team took nine wins and another race was won by a ‘satellite’ team.

Sound familiar?

There had to be action, and there was. Obviously, the long¬

term called for the end of Group A (which led to the V8 Supercar era) but in the short-term, the action took the form of engine and weight regulation changes.

The Nissans scored a double hit.

A reduction in turbo boost to 1.3bar, as well as a compression ratio cut to 9.5:1, were designed to cut power from around 470kW to around 340kW. Weight was increased by 40kg, meaning that a fully-fuelled GT-R would go to the

10 July 2002

mi

Contact your state's karting office for details

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 10-12years Juniors* 12-16 years in TWO weight divisions Seniors* Over 10 classes of varying powers driver weights to choose from. * Other more powerful classes available for experienced racers.

start line weighing almost 1.7 tonnes. The Fords, BMWs and Holdens were also hit with engine and weight changes, and CAMS reserved the right to make further adjustments if they were deemed to be necessary.

What followed in 1992 was that there were a lot more winners (in what was now a two-race format) and the Nissans were no longer dominant. They still won, Skaife taking the title, but there were a

lot of upset people and political manoeuvres going on behind the scenes, at one stage Fred Gibson taking legal action to have the weight penalty removed. That failed and, for a time, there was a real threat that the Nissans would not race at Bathurst.

Gihson was particularly vociferous of the opposition at Sandown which, again, his team S skipped; “They were pathetic,” Gibson noted in the 1992 edition of The Great Race hook. “Our car would have won that race by 50 laps.

They make mistakes at every meeting. They’ll let us win because of the way they run.”

The reasoning behind the comment was, clearly, that the team in red won races because it was not so much that their cars were so superior but that the opposition teams, and their drivers, were so inferior. Again, it sounds familiar ...

Of course, they did race at Bathurst, and won. Richards was one of many drivers to wall the car during a late-race deluge that was too much even his legendary wetroad abilities and the GT-R’s staggering grip. The second Nissan of Neil Crompton and Anders Olofsson finished third (behind the Dick Johnson/John Bowe Sierra) and that was the end of the Nissan era.

The following season, V8 Supercars (with help from the BMWs)were the headline act in the championship while, somewhere not far away, IMG’s Tony Cochrane wondered if there was some way of spending his time away from the entertainment industry.

One more thing; during the final year of Group A in 1992, there was another red Nissan GT-R going around. It was the Sandown-1 winning, GlO-sponsored car of Gibbs. And during the year, there were no reports of anyone confusing it for the similarly-red Winfield cars. Not one ...

The Australian Karting Association Inc For information about karting & how to gel started call

53 vr V

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NSW

02 9623 4351

VIC

03 9362 1144 www.vka.asn.au

QLD

07 3844 0507 www.dkaqkl.asn.au

TAS

03 6272 6048

SA

00 8242 3513

WA

08 9409 4441

Itirp.Av.vv.jfPch tm.iu'uKtv'ak.v.v.t'incJn limi

NT

08 8945 2244

35

Brad Jones

Ti

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iy/w MOTORSPORT NEWS: Has the Perth result amounted to your team having turned the corner?

BRAD JONES: That's a big call. It's hard to answer. I'would not be so bold as to make an announcement based on one event.

The racing is extremely close in V8 Supercar racing. I have no doubt that we are becoming more and more competitive: our results reflectthat. But turned the corner?

Not so sure, but we certainly are making inroads.

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MN: But in Perth, your cars showed real qualifying speed and that is a big part of what is going on at the moment.

BJ: Sure. I think that our team is doing a fantastic job, given the size of it compared to other teams like HRT, or even some of the other Ford teams. We are a small, TINY group and we are getting results. We ^ have gone from being the second-worst Fordbacked team last year, ( with the exception of one event, to being one of the top three teams this year. That is a huge ^ leap forward.

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MN: Has that been part of the team's ongoing progress, or due to changes that you made at the start of the season?

BJ: I would have to attribute it to the changes we made at the start of the season.

1 We went from one car to K two, we changed personnel, K and all that made a big W difference. That has all " contributed and that is what we are reaping the rewards from at the moment.

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MN: What sort of impact has the arrival in the team of John Bowe had on you as a driver?

BJ: It's quite a difficult question. It has had a positive effect on me, . .

36

4

We built one new car this year and, for a number of reasons, that is very different to our old car.

Because of that, the cars require different things to make them go fast. So that has meant that impact is not quite as big as I would have liked; if both cars were similar, we could work away at different things and cut our learning process. We can't do that with every single part of the car. We don't run the same springs, for example.

But now we have two cars when we go testing, we have two different opinions and John has fantastic feedback. I have found him to be a big help to the team and to me as a driver.

MN: And JB does seem to be very relaxed this year. He looks like he has fitted into the team very well.

BJ: We get along well. The team works well together. It's not perfect, but it works.

John is not trying to cut my throat and I am not trying to cut his. It all works really well. We are all working for the same goal, which is to win; to be the number one Ford tearn is the first goal, and then it is to win races.

MN: Do you think you have a chance of winning races, especially with the enduros coming up?

BJ: At the start of the year, I was hoping that we would be one of the top four Ford teams by the end of the year. I think that the Ford does have a definite front grip disadvantage (compared to the Holden) and, while you can cope with that over one lap, I don't think that you can compensate for It over a long race.

It is all very nice for people to say that you cannot judge the Holden by the results achieved by Holden Racing Team, because they are so good at their job, but the bottom line is that is that HRT is

getting the best out of that car and everyone should be capable of doing that at some point.

Considering that the Ford has a front grip problem, and that It is not quite in the same league as the Holden, to win regularly is a very difficult thing to do in a Ford. But I can see that in the future, we can be outright contenders. If we can get things working regularly as well as they worked at Barbagallo, we are going to be outright contenders, and I hope that will happen before the end of the year.

MN: Is a win in the endures achievable, considering what happened last year at Bathurst with you and John Cleland in the same car?

BJ: I think that we can do that. I believe that if you are strong in the sprint races, you can be strong in the enduro races.

I think that John (Bowe) and I will be a good driving combination and the cars have been very reliable, in the past as well as now.

I think that we are a legitimate threat to anyone jn those races. I cannot wait to get to Bathurst.

MN: In the second car, Cleland takes the role of lead driver this year, alongside Tim Leahey. I know that JB has been a fan of Tim for a while.

BJ: John didn't have that big a say in it, to tell you the truth. We wanted someone who had experience in these cars at Bathurst; that was the major factor in the decision. Tim fitted that role and I believe that he will do a good job for us.

I think that the depth of driving talent in V8 Supercars is second to only one other series; NASCAR. Any other category in the world, whether it is sedans or openwheelers, between the top guy and the bloke running 30th is nowhere like as close as it is here_ V’-

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INTERVIEW

in V8 Supercar racing. That is just a fact.

But that depth is partially disguised by the fact that the TWR cars are at the front of the pack at most of the races. There is no doubt that the TWR cars are setting the pace at the moment.

There are four of them and, if you get past two, there are still another two for you to beat.

MN: So you must be heading to the enduros with a view of featuring in at least one of them?

BJ: They will be very competitive.

But, given what we have just been talking about, I would be very disappointed if at least one of our cars were not competitive in at least one of those races. 1 am very much looking forward to them.

MN; Has it been a steeper learning curve than you thought it would be when it came into V8 Supercar racing full-time?

BJ: Good question. I think that we underestimated a few things.

I do not think that it was any more difficult than we thought it would be but I think that we were under-manned in a few areas.

What happens is, when you are successful,in the sport, which we

had been, you do not really look to your weaknesses. The game has been improving at such a rate that, when we thought we had caught up, that we were in control, the whole game had moved up a level.

When you look at how much it has ramped up in the last two years, and how much deeper the talent is, it has grown at an exfreme/y rapid rate. And we have struggled to catch up and, on top of that, improve. But I think that we have done that now.

So I think that, in some ways, it has been tougher than I expected, personally. But on the other side of the coin, I always thought that it has been tough to be competitive in the class but the level of difficulty is now twice what it was when we got into it. I cannot imagine anyone turning up with a V8 Supercar now and running in the top 20.

MN: Was it also a big shock to

go from, if you like, customer cars developed by Audi to developing your own hardware.

BJ: In the list of problems that we had, that was definitely a major part of it. It was hard to start doing a lot of that stuff ourselves.

MN;So,the future; how long do you want to keep driving?

BJ: I will probably only drive for another 15 or 16 years I No point in being selfish ... I didn't have a 'real' drive until I was 32.

I dunno ... I will stop when the time is right. The last two years have been very difficult for myself personally, not just as a driver, and not just for the team. It was a case of, after having run in the top three in almost everything we had ever done before, for the last 16 years, to having to start 'around the corner' at Barbagallo or Adelaide.

That has been very difficult.

I will stop when I don't think that I am doing the job properly any

more. At the moment, I think that I ® am getting the job done. I would be lying if I said to you that I have not thought about retirement, because everyone at my age does. I am not quite ready to stop yet...

MN: The motivation is still good?

BJ: lam motivated on two fronts: for the team to be successful: and for my car to do well. One thing that is not on the wane is my motivation. I am more motivated now than I was when I got into it. I was possibly a bit blase back then.: I just thought that it would all happen.

But it is tough. Even though there is only one owner/driver in the top 15 in the championship, ! think that I still have a lot to offer on both fronts. I am lucky that I have my brother here with me and I was driving OK last weekend, and I don't believe that it changes from week to week, I am still going okay ...

Barbaaalio

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HE King may not be dead, as such,but he took a hit to the body in Perth when Jason Bright took a deserved round win in the sixth round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Barbagallo Raceway at Wanneroo. ' A mixture of bad luck and a penalty removed Mark Skaife from the equation in the second race, allowing TWR cohorts Bright and Greg Murphy to take up the cudgels to take another 1-2 for the Clayton-based teams.

David Besnard continued his good recent form to take third overall for Caltex/SBR but,for other the other Sons ofthe Blue Oval, the weekend ranged from ‘tough’to ‘disastrous’, with a myriad of problems striking :. in the three races.

Mai'cos Ambrose copped a penalty after hitting Paul Radisich in pit lane, Craig Lowndes got tm-ned aroimd in the second race, Neil Crompton and John Bowe were on course for their best results ofthe year when they clashed in Race 3 and Glenn Seton just lacked speed.

And then there were the Shell Helix cars. Radisich and Steven Johnson suffered the ignominy of starting from the rear ofthe grid after career-worst qualifying performances of 30th and 32nd respectively, and both added dramas in the races to the teeun’s woes.

On the other hand, the OzEmail pair of Brad Jones and Bowe had better fortune and showed genuine pace and, as usual. Max Wilson' was magical in qualifying, team mate Tony Longhurst adding a strong Race 2 result to the Briggs Motorsport team’s ledger.

But, in at least one way, HRT is like the Ferrari FI team; if one driver trips over, the other beats you senseless. And, despite the closest grid in the history of the championship, that is the problem the other teams face right now.

Red won, red didn’t: While Bright had his first win of the season, Skaife, right, showed us the very rare sight of the Holden Racing Team car skating through the kitty litter in Race 2. The car was removed while the Safety Car was out but Skaife was out of the race and then spectated from the infield.

(Photos by Dirk Klynsmith and James Smith)

motorsport news

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V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

g, it's the other

Mark Skaife may have been toppled in the West but the Big Red Machine kept going, Jason Bright taking his first round win in 2002.

PHIL BRANAGAN was in Perth to watch the action and the controversy

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Jason,stop those highjinks and talk to Rusty: Bright had reasons to be cheerful in the west, the HRT man ending Mark Skaife's winning streak with some strong performances in the #2 HRT Commodore.

(Photos by Dirk Klynsmith)

Practice and Qualifying HE Waussies are a weird mob.

T?Sure,they are friendly enough to visiting Easterners, unless there was something really important on the line, like an AEL Premiership or a Sheffield Shield, in which case they would cheerfully slide a stiletto between your shoulder blades, smile, wish you a pleasant day and make off with the trophy.

They love their motor racing. though you would never much have realised that fact if you were travelling to Barbagallo Raceway.

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Anywhere m Perth -indeed. anywhere in Beautiful Downtown Wanneroo - the VB300 was pretty damned anonymous. There was the odd green-skinned beauty tottering around on moderately impractical heels but that was inside the track. And worse, there was no free beer for the media ...

Still, the V8 Supercar circus was greeted with enthusiasm. The hues to get into the track was fairly long,‘aided’ by the odd earlymorning locked gate.

But the highways of the west are wide and flow well and the locals love their cars. With few other distractions, MN’s trip from _ airport to hotel to track (about an hour’s driving time) was passed by counting red Holden Commodores.

The final tally was seven and not one, as far as could be told from a glance, was ‘pretending’to be an HRT machine ...

Anyway, the practice sessions proved only that the Barbagallo surface is low-grip, where it once was high grip. Car after car skated away. Turn 1 proving to be a popular spot. Even Skaife managed to bunker the #1 ^ Commodore, a rare sight indeed.

So, to qualifying. For some time during the faster session, it looked like a private party between the Claytons (TWR Racing) and the Alburys (OzEmail). For a time.

continued on page 40 39

Barnagallo t ‘ ’

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POS NO 2 1 1 2 3 888 02 4 9 5 34 15 7 16 65 9 10 21 11 12 51 10 13 14 600 15 29 4 16 17 66 18 00 19 31 20 27 21 3 22 40 23 43 24 7 25 46 26 5 27 35 28 021 29 75 30 18 54 31 32 17

DRK’ER Jason Bright Mark Skaife John Bowe Rick Kelly David Besnard Garth Tander Todd Kelly Steven Richards Max Wilson Russell Ingall Brad Jones Greg Murphy Mark Larkham Simon Wills Paul Morris Marcos Ambrose Tony Longhurst Craig Lowndes Steve Ellery Neil Crompton Cameron McConville Cameron McLean Paul Weel Rodney Forbes ; John Faulkner Glenn Seton Jason Bargwanna Jason Richards Anthony Tratt Paul Radisich Craig Baird Steven Johnson

Top 10 Shootout Pos Driver 1 Mark Skaife 2 Jason Bright 3 Max Wilson 4 Todd Kelly 5 David Besnard

Spilt 44.3852s 44.5032s 44.8283s 44.6837s 44.9075s

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< CAR Holden Racing Team Commodore Holden Racing Team Commodore OzEmail Racing Team Falcon Holden Young Lions Commodore Caltex Havoline Falcon Valvoline/Cummins Commodore K-Mart Racing Commodore Castrol Perkins Commodore Betta Electrical Falcon Castrol Perkins Commodore OzEmail Racing Falcon K-Mart Racing Commodore Orrcon Racing Falcon CAT Racing Falcon Sirromet Commodore Pirtek Racing Falcon Betta Electrical Falcon 00 Motorsport Falcon Super Cheap Auto Falcon 00 Motorsport Falcon Lansvale Smash Commodore VIP Pet Foods Falcon K8iJ Thermal/Dupont Falcon 00 Motorsport Falcon Dynapack Commodore Ford Credit Falcon Valvoline/Cummins Commodore Team Kiwi Racing Commodore Toll Racing Falcon Shell Helix Falcon Team Brock Commodore Shell Helix Falcon

Time 58.0349s 58.2295s 58.3329s 58.3728s 58.5029s

Pos Driver Split 45.0072s 6 John Bowe 44.9838s 7 Garth Tander 45.0399s 8 Rick Kelly 45.1236s 9 Russell Ingall 10 Steven Richards 44.7492s

TIME 57.9243s 57.9380s 58.0104s 58.0489s 58.0723s 58.0855s 58.1306s 58.1386s 58.1586s 58.1725s 58.1835s 58.2021s 58.2346s 58.2475s 58.2666s 58.2983s 58.3358s 58.3367s 58.3769s 58.3865s 58.4567s 58.4946s 58.5415s 58.5435s 58.5667s 58.5765s 58.5826s 58.6374s 58.6664s 58.6995s 58.9377s 59.2977s

Time 58.5421s 58.5926s 58.6866s 58.7942s 58.9084s

L

continued from page 39 HRT and Kmart Racing occupied positions 1-2-4-5-7 while Jones and Bowe were third and sixth.

The other 25 cars scrabbled over spots eight and below.

But it didn’t last. Overcoming a couple of red-flag stoppages, Steven Richards came all the way to sixth while Paul Morris (having topped a practice session on newish tyres) jumped to 10th, The

other cars in the top 10 were Simon Wills, while the order inside the TWR enclave was upset somewhat when Rick Kelly ousted brother Todd from fourth, and Bright took class honours in the Reds, ousting Skaife by a hundredth.

But, the ‘slower’ group awaited.

There were some likely-looking contenders among the 16, with Russell Ingall, Garth Tander and Wilson looking the drivers most

12 moni

A YEAR ago, the front row of the grid for the Barbagallo round of the Shell Championship Series looked a lot different to the corresponding fixture in 2002.

The leading line then was allFord; Paul Radisich took provisional pole and the Shoot-out on his way to taking a dominant Grand Slam, while Glenn Seton was second fastest, though a splitter-tangling off ruined his weekend.

This time around, it was slightly different. Seton, left, was 26th, suffering all manner of handling problems in the silver Ford Credit car. Maybe it's the paintjob ... it was way faster when it was blue and white. The problem, as usual, was mid-corner understeer, hurting the front tyres on the way in and the rears on the way out. During Race 1, we had the unusual sight of Seto being passed on the track

by Rodney Forbes.

But that was manna from heaven compared to the qualifier that Radisich and Steven Johnson endured. The Rat, right, took class 40

motorsport news

V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Larry’s Diary: Friday; today I met that nice Mister Murphy. He talks funny (Photo by Dirk Klynsmith) and he wouldn’t let me use his steering wheel ...

Having a blue-hot go: Ambrose was a rare absentee from the top 15 in qualifying, the Pirtek car lacking speed, not commitment. (Photoby oirkKiynsmiih) likely to crash the party.

And crash it they did. For Ingall, it looked like struggle, the Castrol car only 25th after his first run.

His first go on his second set was only good for 17th, then another got him to 14th. Right at the end of the session, he got into 10th, Enforcing Jones from the Top 10 Shootout. Whatever he gets paid.

Russell earned his money.

For Tander, it was another case of mind over matter. The local hero showed again that, while the Valvoline Commodores may not be much chop in qualifying trim, he certainly is, improvements to the car through the session letting him produce another impressivelooking lap to haul Garth into 10th

l|s later i ■'Yihonours In 30th, having all manner handling problems which were "caused by what Dick Johnson ■ described as "something stupid".

While he did not want to talk about it further (understandably), The Rat ● said that the outcome was that the car was absolutely no faster on newer rubber than it had been on used "Stuff, whereas it should have picked up getting on for a second on the icy track.

No better off was Steven Johnson. The #17 car popped and banged its way around the track.

Junior unable to extract any speed at all. And it was not just a high speed miss or, even, only under acceleration that it was happening.

A faulty sensor, either in the crankshaft or inlet departments, was diagnosed and replaced and the car was readied for the opening race.

But there were an awful lot of Falcons and Commodores in front of the red and yellows at the start of the race...

- PHIL BRANAGAN 10 July 2002

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(from where he himself was bumped)before a smoother effort gave him sixth in the final count.

But for Max the Mercurial, it was simply a matter of Business as Usual. On his first sighting of the track, his first qualifying lap was good only for 28th; his second zoomed him up the charts to seventh, bumping Besnard out of the 10. Any further attempt at improvement was interrupted by red flags which would, at least, conserve his tyi-es.

We have implied it before but now we will say it; if you ever actually think of paying your hard-

earned at the door to go and watch a qualifying session, do it.

Watching Max Wilson at work over a single lap in a V8 Supercar is worth whatever it costs these days. The man is a marvel in qualifying; he still might have problems and the luck of The Damned in races but, clearly, he has world-class, right-there, cannot-buy-it-in-the-shops speed.

Besnard coped well with the disappointment. He hauled the Caltex car back into the Shootout in fifth to give Stone Brothers Racing a single car in the 10, Ambrose having been stranded in 16th. It appeared to be the tmm of the Pirtek driver to suffer from the Q Blues, Bezzy starting to show consistent speed in the Caltex Stone car.

The other performance of was that of Kelly Jr. The Rickler is still pretty new at this V8 Supercar racing caper, let it not be forgotten.

A year ago, he had never raced one of the beasts and it is not as if Todd is any soft touch; in the 2001 enduros, the KRT management preferred him to Murphy in

qualifying.

Yes, Todd righted the ship by 0.3s in the Run-off but, for a bloke yet to see his 20s or any five o’clock ●shadow, Kelly II was in remarkable form.

The thatShootout those who proved saved two their things; tyres in qualifying (and thus had a fresh set for the Shootout) had an advantage; and that HRT is not the best team in the business for nothing.

For a while - quite a while Wilson held sway. Third out, his time stood up until The Reds ventured out, Skaife almost cracking a 57, which was almost continued on page 42 41

Barftagaiio

continued from page 41 two-tenths faster than Bright could manage. Another red front row.

That was almost the gap over the top 10 in qualifying itself Barbagallo produced the closestever V8 Supercar gild; the 10 was covered by 0.2482s; the 20 by 0.4622s; the 30 by 0.7477s; and the whole grid by 1.3734s(and it would have been 1.0134s if not for Johnson’s misfire).

For instance. Ingall was 10th;

Deciding factor: As Bright emerged from the pits during Race 1, Skaife (already on warm rubber) swept by to take the lead and the win.

(Photo by Dirk Klynsmith)

Crompton 20th; and Anthony Tratt 29th. Given a quarter, half of three-quarters of a second respectively, any of those three drivers would have been on pole position.

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42

Checking set-up: Ellery gels lusly willi the Super Cheap learn's Saeco coffee machine, righl. in Penh. Nale (lelerininecl expression - and choice ofhikkies. motorsport news

V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES That sealed it. Aided by a fast Race 1(42 laps) stop, he rejoined behind Skaife, Move to seealong. here. There is nothing On paper, that is the way that the race looked. The TWRmy ran 1-2-3-4. Skaife won from Bright.

Ho Hum. But the story of the race was what happened behind. Murphy may have been ‘worst in class’in qualifying but, come the race, the Kmart Kiwi was something else.

He made a great start to get to 10th at the end of the first lap and, when the pit window opened on lap 3, chose to stay out a little longer than some of the cars in front of him, pitting on lap 11.

I need a holiday: Race 2 seemed like a vacation for Murphy, slick pitwork getting him in position to take the win. But the final outing was tougher, a trip through the sand slowing the Kiwi.

He drove out and recovered to third by the end.

(Pholos by Dirk Klynsmith)

Bright and Kelly, another sub seven second stop allowing him to effectively pass three cars in the pits. On lap 22, The Toddler wandered off the track at the first corner, allowing Murf(and the following Richards) to get through.

From then on, it was a matter of chase the reds, but it proved to no avail, Murphy actually tapping Bright in the backside at Novus Corner a few laps before the end.

“Sorry about the bump,” said the apologetic Murphy later. “I am sure you could see it coming ...”

Bright could and did, and survived to finish second.

No blood, no foul.

The other great charge - and this is getting to be a habit this season - came from Lowndes.

Whether it is on cold tyres while leading or on stuffed tyres while chasing. The Kid (he’s 28 now, but still The Kid)is remarkable in lowgrip circumstances, the 00 Falcon continued on page 44

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PARITY, control tyres and driver penalties are all well and good, but none of those items are posing the most . vexing questions in V8 Supercar racing in 2002. (ilearly, while Holden is winning all the races, the thing that most team principals want to know is; who has the best coffee machine in the sport?

■With that in mind, Motorsport News is starting an exhaustive investigation into the matter, starting with the Super Cheap Autos team. Several drivers from opposition teams have been seen exiting the team's pantech in recent times with tell-tale cappuccino foam on their upper lips ...

Steve Ellery's team packs an Italian-designed SAECO Magic Deluxe in its kit, the unit featuring a two-cup capacity with separate cup heater (a nice touch). There are seven grind settings for the beans, with doses variable between six and nine grams for varying ' strengths of brew.

The Magic Deluxe has a pannarello arm for fast milk frothing, a 4-litre water tank (with on-demand hot water for tea or hot chocolate) and pumps the brew at an impressive 220psi. All this is in a compact chassis weighing in at a dry weight of under 14kg, Ellery scored extra points with his range of biscuits (including Anzacs) but MN deducted a half for his favoured Lavazza Italian-style beans (MN prefers a New Guinea or a spicy Colombian blend). Still, an 8.5 is a pretty good start.

The units are available from around $1.7K and details can ^ be found at www.saeco.com (itself an award winning website).

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43

Barnagaiio continued from page 43 coming on stronger and stronger as the race unfolded.

By the end, he was fifth - from 18th on the grid. And that all transpired despite a misfire fi'om about lap 36:.which the team put down to a dropped cylinder, Lowndes losing about a second a lap from then on. He was too stubborn to allow Besnard and Ingall a sniff at his spot, and it all became academic anyway when Ingall nerfed Bezzy off on the final lap, Besnard losing two spots as he regained the track.

“I got helped off the track,” said the sanguine Caltex driver afterwards. “I am not going to waste time being upset over it...”

He recovered to eighth, one spot behind Ambrose, who again stayed out of trouble to make ground in the race. For his efforts. Ingall received a 22s penalty from the stewards, the projected time he would have lost for a drive-through penalty. It put him back 10 grid spots for Race 2.

Tander’s efforts came to nought when he pitted for attention, a bolt haven fallen out of the Watts Linkage. GRM mechanic Greg ‘Ginger’ Corrie had to, for the second time during the day, run full-steam back to the team’s garage (several hundred metres away)to retrieve a spare. Garth resuming four laps down while Ginger caught his breath ...

Steve Richards lost some time, having his handling fade before he juggled with his roll bars inside the car and pressed on, while Jones had an oddity; a washer (not from the car) got stuck in his engine’s throttle body, leaving him to stagger around the track for a few laps before he got going properly.

And that was that. No Safety Cars(though the top three drivers later admitted to having a poll about how many laps they would complete under yellow) and only one retirement. Johnson’s engine woes continued, the DJR car parked for good before an overnight engine change.

Race 2(42 laps) As wetheir said racing. earlier, Wlien the locals love the dawn broke over Wanneroo on Sunday morning, it was coldish but clear and there were thousands -lots of thousands - of punters already at the track by Tam. If the season in general, and Race 1 in particular, lacked a certain zing. Race 2 certainly made up for it. Incidents aplenty, controversies, penalties, offs, ons, young blokes, old blokes and plenty of post=race chat.

44

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A bad place to be a Ford; Or to be in black or silver. Novus Corner saw plenty of action, with Besnard and Morris tangiing. leaving The Dude beached.

Adding to the toil were Neil Crompton and John Bowe, their Race 3 clash leaving JB at the back of the field and Cromley with a Drive-Thru penalty.

ondalupres

(Photos by James Smith and John Morris/Mpix)

[ Barhaj^alio lAGUAR

The drama started in the first corner. Steve Richards and Ambrose came together, the Castrol car pitting soon after and the Pirtek trailing smoke around for a few laps. During the round of pitstops, Ambrose was exiting just as Radisich was arriving and, with the teams separated by two pit boxes, blue hit red-and-yellow.

There was chat afterwards, SBR boss Ross Stone speaking to both Radisich and Dick Johnson.

“I had no problem with it (Ambrose’s subsequent drive-thru penalty),” Stone said later. “That says it all.”

But there was another penalty to be handed out first.

After Murphy had Cowined his way past both HRT cars at the start(Bright: “I thought I got a good start, went to take the line off Mark and then ‘Waaarrrgghh’”)

Skaife promptly redressed the balance. But he had tapped Murf on the way through ...

When the red and the white headed for the pitlane, we thought we were about to see and HRT vs ICRT wheelchange battle, but Skaife was, in fact, serving a penalty. He was going to be 28th by the time he made his proper stop and we were about to see him at his best.

Later, even Murphy bemoaned the penalty handed out to Skaife (“The officials got it wrong, again”) and confessed that the'KRT car had been unsettled before the tap anyway. If you let Skaife go, you get criticised; if you penalise him, you still get criticised. Tough caper, this stewarding...

But the race was still on. The early pitters were to take the ascendancy, especially when a

Safety Car was summoned.

Besnard and Lowndes came in together, Bezzy having just passed on the track, though the 00 car got out first.

But it all went pear-shaped for Lowndes three laps later when Todd Kelly nudged him at Novus and the black and silver machine looped into the gi'avel trap.

So out came the ‘SC’boards.

Lowndes lost a lap (almost two) and rejoined last. The unpitted Wilson, R. Kelly, Bargwanna and Craig Baird led, but Murphy, Bright, Bowe, Todd Kelly(who was soon to get a drive-through), Besnard and Morris were the ‘real’ leaders.

So, it was looking promising.

Skaife’s progi'ess had been

continued on page 46 moiorspon news

move the earth at ORAN PARK July 20/28 V8 Supercar Series - Reued 7

inler is racing season at Oran Park!

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Barbagallo V8SCS Round 6 Bsrbagalla Race 1 - 42 bit Pos Driver Race lime Flap on 42m41,1383s 59.0570s 3 1 Skaife 42m41.9048s 59.0690s 3 2 Bright 42m42.5371s 59.1465s 7 3 Murphy 42m51.2354s #58.7621 s 6 4 T. Kelly 5 Lowndes 42m54.3805s 59.3538s 6 6 Ambrose 42m58.4141s 59.4220s 6 7 Besnard 43m06.2237s 59.1327s 8 8 S. Richards 43m09.3126s 59.6143s 4 9 Bowe 43m09.5706s 59.1952s 5 43m 10.5402s 59.5420s 8 10 Longhurst 43ml0.8698s 59.8997s 6 11 Weel 43mll.2936s 59.1480s 6 12 Wilson 43ml7.0429s 59.7966s 6 13 Crompton 43ml8.2790s 59.8890s 7 14 Morris 15 ingall (pen. inc|43ml9.2520s 59.3546s 6 43ml9.3111s 59.4903s 7 16 Wills 43m20.2796s 69.7504s 5 17 R. Kelly 43m22.1062s 59.8643s 7 18 Bargwanna 43m29.7535s 59.7533s 7 19 Larkham 43m29.8171s 60.1345s 6 20 Ellery 21 McLean 43m31.1329s 59.6251s 7 22 Seton 43m32.2897s 59.8007s 5 43m33.0785s 59.5965s 11 23 McConville 24 Radisich 43m35.2449s 59.7643s 12 25 Baird 43m37.4822s 59.7982s 7 26 J. Richards 43m40.8237s 60.0123s 6 27 Tratt 41 laps 60.1557s 12 28 Faulkner 41 laps 59.9892s 10 29 Forbes 41 laps 59.6345s 6 30 Jones 38 laps 59.7783s 11 31 Tander 37 laps 59.1464s 7 DNFJohnson 24 laps 60.6080s.10 Race 2- 42 laps 1 Murphy 2 Bright 3 Bowe 4 Longhurst 5 McConville 6 Crompton 7 Besnard 8 Jones 9 McLean 10 Morris 11 Forbes 12 Faulkner 13 Bargwanna 14 J. Richards 15 Wilson 16 Radisich 17 S. Richards 18 Seton 19 Baird 20 R. Kelly 21 Weel 22 Wills .

23 Johnson 24 Ambrose 25 Tander 26 Ellery 27 Ingall 28 Lowndes 29 Tratt DNFT. Kelly DNFSkaife ONFLarkham

48m51.5977s 59.8779s 15 48m51.8180s 59.6633s 19 48m52.6691s 59.8246s 19 49m00.6472s 60.0180s 14 49m01.3148s 59.9852s 23 49m01.8051s 59.9774s 14 49m05.2953s 59.7938s 20 49m05.7950s 60.0131s 15 49m08,1494s 59.8765s 7 49ml5.5183s 60.0494s 6 49ml6.2636s 60.7244s 15 49ml6.5856s 60.5599s 6 49ml7.1588s 60.2041s 20 49m 17.2435s 60.6455s 7 49ml7.4154s 59.8100s 21 49m18.1999s 60.4537s 13 49ml9.8630s 59.8653s 17 49ml9.9250s 60.6191s 8 49m20.5857s 59.6245s 18 49m20.7436s 59.7542s 34 49m23.3361s 60.2987s 7 49m23.5679s 60.4343s 13 49m23.8B36s 60.1266s 15 49m25.9884s 60.3477s 16 49m31,7248s 59.7795s 6 49m50.1940s 60.6154s 15 49m51.0436s 60.2255s 15 41 laps 60.1700s 13 37 laps 60.4847s 10 34 laps 59.6106s 7 22 laps 59,5022s 3 21 laps 60.1595s 7

Race 3- 42 laps I Bright 2 Besnard 3 Murphy 4 Jones 5 T. Kelly 6 Tander 7 Skaife 8 Bargwanna 9 McConville 10 Ambrose 11 Morris 12 McLean 13 R. Kelly 14 Ingall 15 Bowe 16 Ellery 17 Lowndes 18 Crompton 19 Wilson 20 J. Richards 21 Seton 22 Wills 23 S. Richards 24 Faulkner 25 John.son 26 Forbes 27 Weel 28 Tratt 29 Longhurst DNFRadisich ONFLarkham DNFBaird

46

47m30.1526s 59.3563s 17 47m31.6426s 59.3526s 19 47m35.2314s 59.5994s 20 47m37.3304s 59.7191s 20 47m42.3663s 60.0971s 6 47m42.6378s 59.9949s 22 47m48.9712s 60.0531s 19 47m53.5808s 60.1800s 20 47m54.0269s 59.9970s 25 47m54.4433s 59.9008s 21 47m57.5104s 60.2771s 20 47m58.0062s 60.3632s 21 47m58.9552s 60.2655s 20 48m00.6875s 60,2680s 23 48m01.6879s 59.8057s 8 48m01.6912s 60.1326s 20 48m05.4146s 59.7720s 19 48m05.7823s 59.9145s 21 48m07.1749s 60.1513s 18 48m08.5904s 60.2978s 18 48m 10.4579s 60.5410s 24 48m11.1450s 60.3459s 19 48ml4.6339s 60.6264s 20 48ml5.4203s 60.5700s 21 48ml7.8974s 60.6005s 18 48m23.2027s 60.4910s 18 37 laps 59.8665s 15 36 laps 60.7941s 14 32 laps 60.3863s 2 34 laps 60.6655s 23 31 laps 60.4502s 9 3 laps 61.1286s 2

continued from page 44 impressive, picking off the cars neatly until he came up to Ingall.

He tried the outside at Novus on . lap 23, but the rears locked and the car skated off into the kitty litter.

Skaife explained that the throttle had stuck at 70 percent open; the car was pulled out and that was the end of the streak.

Besnard was the man to watch, picking off Morris(before The

Local bloke having a tough time: Garth Tander made the best of it, (Photo by James Smith) zooming from aimost the back to sixth in Race 3.

Dude came back at him) while Longhurst, McConville (another impressive Sunday effort) and Crompton (ditto) closed in.

Besnard lost some time behind the lapped Tratt but was close enough to look inside Morris on the final lap. Both cars skated off, Longhurst, McConville and Cromley moving by before the protagonists rejoined.

And the battle for the lead fizzled out. Tratt got between Murphy and Bright, who closed the gap later, but that is the way the finished from the closing Bowe.

Todd Kelly’s rugged run ended with an engine failure (forcing the team to perform a quick 50-minute installation), while Ingall received a drive-thru penalty over a clash with Johnson.

So Skaife had finally been vanquished - well, kind of.

Race 3(42 Baps) IT was acars tantalising prospect, having and drivers of the calibre of Skaife, Tbdd Kelly, Lowndes and Ingall at the rear of the grid. How far through the field could they come?

The answers were,for some time, clouded. During the race, the electronic sensor loop at the end of pit lane failed and, when cars which completed their stops failed the register, the order behind the Safety Car went into haywire more.

More later...

There were still incidents aplenty, though. Crompton (fourth) whacked Bowe (third) senseless at Novus, Neil earning a drive-thru and sending JB to the rear, while the early stoppers were welladvised, Longhurst and Larkham bunkering their cars at Kolb Comer.

They sat there for a while, Lowndes went off, so did Murphy (who drove through the Novus sandtrap as fast as he dared before rejoining and pitting at once)and the Safety Car headed into the fray once again.

So, who led? Well, the officials

And, back in the pack: The closest grid in V8 Supercar history meant that there was nothing to choose between the cars further back in the fieid.

(Photo by Dirk Klynsmith)

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V8 SUPERCAR GMAMPIOHSHIP SERIES Points after 6 rounds Skaife 1493, Murphy 884, T. Kelly 802, Bright 752, Ambrose 677, Lowndes 654, S. Richards 615, Besnard 507, Tander 501, Bowe 456, Longhurst 435, Johnson 429, Ingall 398, Bargwanna 349, Jones 343, J. Richards 295, Crompton 270, Larkham 267, Baird 261, Seton 249, Perkins 249, McConville 248, Radisich 241, Faulkner 222, Wills 205, Weel 188, McLean 168, R. Kelly 166, Ellery 162, Wilson 161, Tratt 154, Morris 133, Forbes 127, Wayne Gardner 62, Matthew White 43.

Greg Ritter 36, Wayne Wakefield 26, Dougall McDougai 24, Paul Romano -82.

thought it was Bright. Then Todd Kelly. Then Bright again. The Besnard. Then Bright again, again.

It was a mess (a mess not of their doing, but a mess nonetheless). Later, the drivers said that they had a pretty clear picture of who had been leading, but their vantage point was

somewhat different...

So, finally. Bright was put to the head of the queue, with a couple of lapped cars (including the dreaded Tratt) between himself and Besnard. When it went green.

Bright leaped away, established a 2.6s gap while Besnard dealt with the ToMpec car, played it up and down in traffic and cruised home to take :

his first round win of the year.

Besnard took second

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from Murphy, who got Crompton’s spot when he received the black fl ag, while Jones was fourth.

There was other great chargers. After starting from the rear, Todd Kelly (aided by -another swift stop) knifed through the pack to get within 12s of the winner, a fine drive in a strong season for The Toddler. And Bowe, who watched the world drive past after his clash with

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Crompton and spent around 10 laps bottled up behind Radisich (stuck behind a stubborn #18; a little

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ironic?) before tearing off after the pack. On the final lap, he pulled alongside Ellery to snatch 15th by a bee’s whatsit.

Tander was sixth. During the race, he had been passed by the charging Skaife (who had stopped early) but the Valvoline car got the spot back, Skaife having suffered a flat-spot in a brake lockup earlier on. In the end, the championship leader settled for seventh and fourth overall for the weekend. He had a bad weekend, and still finished fourth overall. Such are the fortunes of driving for HRT. So, The Streak ended, sort of Skaife didn’t win, but the Holden Racing Team did, in the process becoming the first team to ever take the first six rounds of the championship. Skaife is a bazillion points in front but the signs are there that the challengers are closing the gap.

The racing was close, the crowd was huge and most people went . home happy. Shell will loounce back, surely, OzEmail is looking genuinely fast and the second, serious end of the season is not far away.

It is three weeks until the circus assembles at Oran Park for the resumption of hostilities. Perth did it well this year; Sydney, over to you.

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FORMULA ONE

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Michael Schumacher gave it a bit of “Weliie" at Siiverstone to claim his 60th Grand Prix victory, as Joe Saward reports

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10 July 2002

ichael Schumacher has been known for years in the Media Centre as Mickey the Shoe, but at Siiverstone he earned another title as he made his sure-footed way to another victory in the wet and dry of an English summer.

His domination of the FI field at Siiverstone was helped by the fact that the Michelin wets and intermediates were so far off the pace of the Bridgestones that it was almost embarrassing. Juan Pablo Montoya was able to hold off Michael in the dry, but once the track was wet and the tyres had been changed he was losing out by as much as four seconds a lap.

The intermediates were better than they have been in the past, but the wets were dreadful and the result was that the two Ferraris ran home first and secgnd, despite the fact that Rubens Barrichello started from the back of the grid and drove through the entire field - and even had time for a spin on his way to glory.

Barrichello’s problems came as the gind set off for the final parade lap.

"I don’t know what happened," the , Brazilian said later. "1 selected first gear on the formation lap and the engine turned itself off. You have to be calm because you know that you have the car and you have every way of getting past people and at that moment you just wait."

Barrichello started at the back but was 14th at the end of the fi rst lap and then he picked off the men ahead one after another until he reached eighth place (on lap six). He then closed up on the men ahead of him, took advantage of a quick pit stop when the rains came and was then fifth. From there it was a hop and a jump to third place and on lap 19 he was second.

Later on, Rubens had a spin, but he did no damage to himself This occasioned a second stop because his intermediate tyres had worn

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out and he came into the pits for a second set of the same spec. The track then improved , -■iV: and so on lap 40i Rubens went back to the ' > pits for dry tyres and in doing so fell behind ' ^ Montoya again. For the next few laps he chased around trying to find a way to past the world’s widest Colombian.

"I really enjoyed the fight with Juan Pablo," he said. It did not last long and on lap 47 he went ahead again and that was the end of the story. There was no catching him.

1 Up at the front, Michael had had a fairly.' quiet race. In the early laps he was unable to -.: '■f pass Montoya but knew that he was quicker. , When the rains came he fell behind, but the ■ , ’ | ■A Bridgestone intermediates were so good that his rate of progi'ess after that was so fast that Montoya could do nothing at all and on lap 16 Michael breezed into the lead and that was the last that anyone saw of him.

The first seton oflap intermediates needed replacing 33, but he stayed ahead and then as the track dried it became clear that he needed to stop again for dry tyres. That was done on lap 43 and from then on it was a question of running fqr home to his 60th Grand Prix victory.

"Siiverstone hasn’t seen so many victories for me," he said afterwards, "and in terms of the championship it’s obviously ideal to finish like that."

Michael goes to France in a position to finish off the World Championship in July. If he felt the urge, he could disappear off for a beach holiday and still have time in hand to win the championship inside the existing record of mid-August.

After that, it will just be a question of how many points he can score in a year. At the moment he is on schedule for a mind-bending 148 points, but presumably at some point or continued on page 51 49

Qualifying

Another Juan for Michelin M

Keep punching: Montoya was rapt with snatching another unexpect ed pole, but was not getting carried away for the race... (Photo by sunon-

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ichael Schumacher has not been on pole position since the Spanish Grand Prix in April, but this has not stopped him winning races, allowing his teammate to win races, and dominating the World Championship. On the other harid, ever since Austria, Juan Pablo Montoya has been on pole position and he has yet to win a race. So after qualifying at Silverstone no one was putting much money on a Williams-BMW victory.

Montoya's pole was a good effort and caught his rivals by surprise in the final minutes of the session. It also caught Montoya a little by surprise as he had not had much time on the track.

"We did a lot of changes with the car," Montoya reported. “We didn't get much running with the car, so we were going backwards and forwards. Through qualifying, we were basically balancing the car.

Then, right at the end, we seemed to get it. We did a few changes; we were doing three changes at a time. The balance was good, but to be honest I don't know where the time came from."

Until Montoya's last-minute dash it had looked as though Rubens Barrichello would be the man on pole position, but it was not without excitement for the Brazilian, who gave himself a bit of a surprise when his seatbelts came undone in the course of his second run. This was followed by a third run which put him to the top of the timesheets.

In the finest traditions of the sport, everyone came out in the last minutes of the session, so getting a clear run was very difficult and Rubens had to make do with second on the grid, a few hundredths of a second behind Montoya. “I don't know if I could

have gone faster or not," he said.

"There was big traffic."

As in other recent events, Michael Schumacher was very quiet at the end of qualifying, saying only that he was confident that things would be fine in the race, although (perhaps to keep up interest) he said that he did not know what to expect from his rivals in the race. The paddock was not expecting much.

Down in the Williams pit, Ralf Schumacher - fourth on the grid, nearly four-tenths of a second slower than Montoya - made it very clear that he was not expecting Sunday to be a walk in the park, “It will be hard to challenge the Ferraris for the race," he admitted.

The question that men at Ferrari wanted tothe know was how much of the extra pace was from a new Williams aerodynamic package and whether this was a significant step forward or not.

The one thing that was quite clear is that there is still no challenger to the top two teams as Ralf was eight-tenths of a second faster than the two McLarenMercedes, with Kimi Raikkonen again a split-second ahead of David Coulthard, despite the fact that he had to go to the T-car after his own engine began to lose power. Kimi reckoned his own car would have been quicker, but it would have been naive to suggest that he would have got close to the big four at the front.

Coulthard made the point that this year the team has not been good in qualifying, but has done better in the races, so his plan was to make the most of Sunday rather than worrying too much about what happened on Saturday.

As one would expect, the

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Renault team should have been next in the hierarchy, but only Jarno Trulli was on the fourth row.

Jenson Button was hoping for a good showing in front of his home fans (and because it would be a good political move at a time when his future is under discussion), but a large and cloudy engine explosion put paid to his chances. He jogged rapidly back to the pits and went into the spare car, but this was not the same as his own chassis (which had new bodywork) and he paid for the problem with 12th on the grid.

The result this was that eighth otof the grid was available for someone else and on this occasion Mika Salo was the man to grab it in his Toyota. Mika did not have the best weekend because on Friday he was literally doubled up with a gastric problem that needs no details exposing.

Suffice to say he was in a bad way and missed the afternoon session.

Overnight, the team's health fiends got him back into shape and so 12th place was a very good effort. The problem, Mika admitted, was that preparations for the race had been affected by his sickness and he would pay for that on Sunday. Teammate Allan McNish was 15th, around half a second slower than the Finn.

Things were looking up at BARHonda, with development work on the chassis having finally begun to produce some decent results (at least in qualifying). With Jacques Villeneuve ninth and Olivier Panis 13th, the team was satisfied that progress is being made and Panis was particularly impressive because he achieved his time (just .a little slower than Villeneuve) despite an electrical problem and then an engine problem.

The Saubers were 10th and 11th on the grid and Nick Heidfeld in particular was not happy because he had been blocked by

Montoya. "I nearly hit him at Priory," said the irate German."He ruined my best lap. He's happy.

He's on pole, but that was not acceptable." Massa also had traffic trouble.

The Jordan-Hondas were deeply disappointing, with Takuma Sato 14th and Giancarlo Fisichella 17th. The former suffered the failure of a nose fixing point on his second run, which was very worrying, while Fisichella's efforts were spoiled with a blown engine and a T-car which did not give him confidence.

Arrows had a miserable ●weekend from the start and the cars were unable to run because of the economic and legal mud in which the team is currently wallowing. Sixteenth and eighteenth was ail that could be ● expected.

Jaguar ever because was in more the muchtrouble than vaunted new package was no good. The team has lots of explanations about needing to get everything working correctly, but the fact of the matter was that this is not the answer. De la Rosa's 21st place on the grid (Irvine was 19th) was a last-ditch do-or-die effort which began two seconds before the chequered flag came out after he had spent most of the session in the pits with a misfire.

Minardi had Mark Webber in 20th. The Minardi had looked quite respectable in the wet, but once it dried out the deficiencies of the car's aerodynamic package meant that it would be a struggle at a track where aero is critical. In the end Webber gave it a fair go, putting in a strong second run that was quick enough to put De la Rosa behind him on the grid.

Alex Yoong was not quick enough to make it. Some 2.5 seconds slower than Webber, he missed the cut by a couple of tenths.

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,Red, white and blue: Jenson Button had a home race he would (Photo by Sutton-lmages) rather forget. continued from page 49 other he will have a mechanical problem. At the moment he is averaging 8.6 points a race and, as he has finished in the points in each of the last 15 races, he has equalled Carlos Reutemann’s record of consecutive points finishes.

We are probably watching the most successful World Championship campaign ever. And when you look at statistics like these and how dull it might be, it is worth noting that the racing this year has not been that bad.

Montoya made no bones about the fact that the BMW Williams team was beaten again.

"The team has done a big step forward this weekend with the new aerodynamic package," he said. "To finish 15 seconds behind is not that bad now. We have made a big step forward. We have a really good engine, the chassis works well, but we need a little bit more downforce.

I think the biggest issue at the , moment... is the tyres."

Ralf Schumacher’s race was a t right old mess. He was third early continued on page 52

Driver Scott Fleming broke the Improved Production (under 20ltr) lap record THREE times over the weekend at Eastern Creek, EEC =■□ { leaving the opposition in disbelief! _

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Flash back: The Arrows team barely made it to the race due to financial trouble, but neither car made the finish.

A bit nippy for that...: Things are so tough in ,F1 these days that some teams can’t even afford shirts for their grid girls. The BAR team just used (Photos by Marsh/Bothwell and Sutton-lmages) paint to show off their new sponsor.

continued from page 53 on, but wasjumped by Kimi Raikkonen on lap three and then stayed fourth until the rain storm that dropped him down to seventh because he had to wait for Montoya to clear ahead of him. He then moved back up to fifth before being jumped for a second time by Raikkonen, but then managed to scramble his way past Trulli to get back to fifth and then moved to fourth when Raikkonen pitted for different tyres.

Things were looking good until his second stop, to switch from wets to dry tyres, but the refuelling process went wrong and he had to rejoin without enough fuel. That meant a second stop and by the time that was all over he was down in 10th place. Eighth was all he could salvage.’."I am very disappointed," he said.

The McLarenwere adventures Silverstone worthyat of a small novel- or perhaps a tragedy.

The team looked to be doing alright in the early laps when Raiklconen bundled Ralf back to fourth and David Coulthard hung in with the pair ofthem, but when the rains came things went wrong.

"At the first stop I went on the radio to say that I was coming in," David explained. "While the mechanics could hear me,the pitwall had some interference on their radios from the digital TV commentators and was not able to hear me. When the team then told me to come in I was already past the pitlane entry. The information we had suggested that it might stop raining and so I stayed out another

On edge; The hapless Sat^ makes a pit stoP*inilfig.Jerflah»i (Photo by Sutton-lmages)

1

lap, but then it started to rain even harder!"

This meant that DC dropped back into the midfield. The rains then seemed to ease off and the team decided that it was best to get David back on to dry tyres and try to win back some of the time that had been lost. It was a decent ■’ gamble given that the team’s weather reports were saying that the rain was going away, but British rainfall never does what one wants it to do.

As soon as David went out again, the rain got worse and David was slip-sliding away. By the time he had been out and back again he was so far behind the rest of the field that there was nothing he could do. And he was still on the wrong tyres as the track then started to dry, which meant that he had to return to the pits again.

"This is a British GPI would prefer to forget," he said as the Scottish fans began the trek north with their thistles wilting. What ■with Walkinshav/s troubles, it was not a classic weekend for those who come from north of Hadrian’s Wall.

Raikkonen’s race was not much better. The crew was not ready when he arrived in the pits when molorsport news

t:

FORMULA ONE Coulthard. When it was all over, he was 10th and there he stayed until his engine failed him on lap 45.

"Our weather forecasting was not as accurate as we would have liked," noted team boss Ron Dennis.

All these problems meant that BAR-Honda was able to grab fourth and fifth places.'There was much rejoicing down in the BAR motorhome because these points have been very long in coming and it is always nice to be able to stick a finger in the eye of the critics and watch them wince in pain.'Itjust goes to show that perseverance really pays off," said a very smiley David Richards.

But, while there was joy in one motorhome, there was pain in another. Sauber knew that it should have been a big day for the Swiss team to collect points. Nick Heidfeld picked up one for sixth place, but he had lost a lot of ground in the early laps for no apparent reason. Felipe Massa was spinning here, there and everywhere, notably on the run down to the first comer when he went onto the grass, but he made it through the afternoon and perhaps learned a few tricks along the way about how to preserve his tyres.

Others who might(or should have) benefited from the circumstances were Arrows, which retired two cars when they were on course for points. Frentzen started slowly but made the most of his early stop to be well on his way to points when his engine stopped.

Enrique Bemoldi made less of an impression, but was sixth at one point before a poor pitstop strategy dumped him back down the field and he then retired with a driveshaft failure.

The Renaults should have been

I V

the rains came and by the time he was on his way again he had fallen to eighth. He made a swift recovery and was back to fourth again, but then McLaren brought him in to try to pre-judge the weather and he found himselfin the same mess as

there, but bad weather-calling meant three pits stops apiece and then retirement with electrical trouble for Ti-ulli and a suspension problem for Button.

Jordan might have picked up some points, but Sato’s race was ruined when the team told him to stay out for an extra lap when the rains came, which meant he plummeted down the order a la Coulthard. He fought back and then his engine blew. Fisichella complained that his car was too nervous, but plugged away all afternoon and finished seventh.

Toyota lost McNish at the start with a terminal clutch problem and Sale’s hopes were thrown away when he spun early in the race. He was beginning a recovery drive when he went out with a transmission problem.

Jaguar had a miserable time, but de la Rosa made it to the finish in 11th place while Irvine’s race achieved little and ended on lap 24 with a spin into the gi-avel.

Minardi also had a disappointing day, despite Webber making a good start and mnning along in 17th place. He was 16th on lap 10 when something went wi'ong with the car and he spun off at Stowe Comer.

^$tone m

\ J«ly 62002

RACE RESULT 1 M Schumacher 2 Barrichello 3 Montoya 4 Villeneuve 5 Panis 6 Heidfeld 7 Fisichella 8 R Schumacher 9 Massa 10 Coulthard 11 De la Rosi 12 Button R R R R R R R R R

Sato Raikkonen Trulll Bernoldl Irvine Frentzen Salo Webber McNish

Ih31m45.015s Ih31m59.593s Ih32ml6.676s 59 laps 59 laps 59 laps 59 laps 59 laps 59 laps 58 laps 58 laps DNF-Wheel 50 laps 44 laps 29 laps 28 laps 23 laps 20 laps 15 laps 9 laps 0 laps

Engine Engine Electrical Half-shaft Spun off Engine Transmission Spun off Clutch

Fastest lap; Bamchello on lap 58, lm23.083 Drivers' points: M. Schumacher 86, Barrichello 32, Montoya 31, R. Schumacher 30, Coulthard 26, Raikkonen 11, Button 10, Heidfekl/Fisichella 6, TralR/Massa 4, Villeneuve/Irvine 3, Webber/SakvTrent2en/Panls 2 Constrvctofs' points: Fenari 118,WDriams^MW 61, McLaren/Mercedes 37, Renault 14', Sauber/Petrona; 10, Jordan/Honda 6, BAR/Honda 5, Jaguar/Coswoitti 3, Minardi/Asiatech, Toyota and Airows/Cosworth 2

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Tail piece: Montoya covered his tracks early,*but Schum'ahheheasily"^ (Photo by Sutton-lmages) had his'measure after the first pit stops

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What the drivers said

But the other Michejin drivers were struggling with their choice of tyres in the changing weather conditions. Did you get that impression?

JPM: If you look at the top six, the only guy on Michelins is myself.

The next Michelin is Half, and that is P8. It is not easy, you know. The team has done a big step forward this weekend with the new aero package and to finish 15 seconds behind it is not that bad now. We have made a big step forward, I think we still need to be there to get a bit more in every single way.

I think we have got a really good engine, the chassis works well but we need a little bit more downforce. I think the biggest issue at the moment is the tyres.

Comments from the post-race press conference Q: Michael, you seemed quite anxious at the start, why were you so worried?

MS: We were just discussing a couple of little issues I noticed during the outing and I checked with my engineers whether any fine-tuning was necessary and that's it. These discussions are obviously serious. I just dislike it when cameramen stay very close with their microphones and try to listen to what we say. It's not fair.

know. I probably should say that we were obviously faster than Juan, but I couldn't find a way by at the time. We sort of struggled whenever it got a bit wet because he seemed to have a little bit more of a problem whenever the circuit was dry. Whenever it started drizzling, with our dry tyres, I really got in trouble and he was able to puli away.

Q: Juan Pablo, I don't suppose you enjoyed going back to third.

JPM: I was really being realistic.

Look at the warm-up, look at the race times - they (Ferrari) are nearly two seconds quicker than me. So not a great deal you can do, you have got to try to defend yourself as hard as you can and in the dry we were doing quite well at the beginning but as soon as it rained we changed tyres and they just went.

Q: Your intermediates seemed to be fantastic in all kinds of conditions...

MS: Yeah, but that's something we have worked yery hard on. We saw that already on Friday. We were about a good second faster than many others, so it wasn't a surprise, honestly.

Q; You seemed so delighted at the end, almost as if this was one of the best wins ever.

MS: Yes, I am, because it is a very special race today for the circumstances, the conditions and so on.(Win) number 60 and Silverstone hasn't seen so many victories for me. And, in terms of the championship, it's obviously ideal to finish again like that.

Q: Were you expecting it to rain?

MS: No, none of us were expecting it to rain. It was pretty unpredictable here.

Q: You had a problem with the balance of the car yesterday.

Were you happier with it today?

MS: The car was handling well. In terms of real competition, I don't

competitors is great, so it was difficult to keep the temper and say hold on and do it at the right time.

Q: Were you on wets or intermediates?

JPM: Wets, I think.

Q: Rubens, what sort of frame of mind were you in when you were sitting at the back of the grid?

RB: Shit! Seriously, at that time, you have to be calm, be very calm, because you know that you have the car and you have every way of getting past people and at that moment you just wait and you want to get some points. I was lucky not to crash with people, because the difference in terms of speed with some of our

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Q; Ferrari made all the choices at the right time and so did you.

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Q: But it hasn't crossed your mind. You are not thinking about the championship...

JPM: He doesn't really have to think about it. He's got it in his pocket already.

MS: Thank you. Wait and see.

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Q; You are 54 ahead and if you win the next one you will be 64 ahead with six races to go.

MS: That's possible. If I am now.

54 ahead and I win...

Q; Do you think intermediates, in retrospect, would have been a better idea?

JPM: No, I don't think so. I think the tyre we picked was the best tyre we could put on the car. It is the best tyre we have found at the moment in any of the conditions and it is getting better, but it is not there yet.

British Grand FVix Gft4f«sillan/9rfr«r

Q; Michael, has it crossed your mind you can win the championship at the next round?

MS: Can I? I don't know. I haven't calculated my points yet.

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n early end to my British Grand Prix brought to an end a good series of finishes. The weekend had actually gone pretty well until that point and we'd made a bit of progress in the race.

Given the likelihood of mixed weather, we had opted for a twostop race strategy and my car was quite well balanced from the start.

I managed to beat Frentzen's Arrows off the line and found myself behind my former Renault colleague Giancarlo Fisichella in the Jordan.

I got inside him on lap five and could see that I was catching Sato in the other Jordan as we headed into the tenth lap.

Down Flangar Straight and into Stowe I just lost control of the car in the braking area. The car arced off into the sand and that was that.

When we got the car back to the pits and looked through the data, my initial thoughts were confirmed - that there had been some sort of malfunction on the car. I would be quite happy to put up my hand and admit that I was trying something different on that lap if it was the case, but the data showed exactly the same braking point and the same brake pedal pressure, in the end, the early conclusion from the engineers was that there had been a clutch malfunction on the downchange, which unsettled the rear of the car...

As the race panned out in the dry/wet/dry conditions, it was going to be Bridgestone's day, so I guess we'd have been struggling to maintain the early gains we'd made. Shame, though, to end what has been an incredibly good finishing record.

Friday andus, Saturday had gone well for although Silverstone, with its hi aero-sensitive corners going to be difficult. A better than P21 was a era Friday was wet and experimented with a new 'shallow' Michelin wet and ended up with quite a good balance using the new tyre on the front and the normal Michelin wet on the rear.

We managed a pretty reasonable time

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MARK WEBBER

FORMULA ONE been done before - lead the race the whole way.

I“he test day with Jaguar was quite interesting and satisfying.

While you can't get your teeth into a whole new car/team in a single day, the Jaguar was the third different FI car I've driven in recent times.

They've all got their strengths and weaknesses and it was interesting to see how the Jaguar team went about its business.

Pedro (de la Rosa) was also running and in the end we completed quite a bit of donkey at the annual Sutton Motorsport work for the team, running with Images Kart Race, staged by MN's and without power steering, lensmen. According to Sutton's differing aero set-ups, etc as press release, Webber “barged his „they worked through their new stuff. way through the field with notable Times weren't a big deal as the braking ability to take the race lead!" cars were fairly different - Pedro's It was a lot of fun. As I'd agreed with the newer spec Cosworth, etc - but I was happy with the to present the trophies, I had to step down as race winner and way the day went.

'Is there a future at Jaguar?' is hand the trophy over to FI photographer Russell Batchelor. the question everyone wants to The thought did cross my mind ask right now. The next few weeks should determine the that the last guy to muck around immediate future, but it's clearly a with the rostrum process copped a million-dollarfine ... possibility. Flavio (Briatore) and Bruno Michel are on the case for Everyone knows of my interest 2003 and for the first time I feel in bike racing and I'm going down to take in a couple of days relatively secure that I'll be of the Tour de France this week. gainfully employed next year!

Three-time winner, American Lance Armstrong, who I've been fortunate enough to meet, is a legend. His comeback from cancer to win the race three times is an amazing story.

As I write, he has just won the prologue and there are suggestions that he might be trying to do what has never

British GP Diary

in the damp conditions, with a fair .bit of fuel on board unfortunately, we didn't get to try our 'tweak' on Sunday!

Saturday morning was dry and we got a good balance in the car and went for the harder of the Michelin slicks - the track temperature was just too low for the softer option.

My second qualifying run was as good as it gets. A good, clear run, right on it all the way. Quite exhilarating. And we did at least move up one spot, ahead of Pedro in his Jaguar.

Unfortunately, teammate Alex Yoong struggled a bit in a couple of the quicker sections and just missed the 107% cut.

We'd made a few changes to the power steering set-up on the cars, but there were a couple of things which didn't quite pan out as I'd hoped, so we opted to revert to manual steering for the race.

And that, really, was that. ^ritish Prix weekGrand is always busy off-track and. for sure, it was the same for me.

It even nrovided an

Tm quite happy to put up my hand and admit that I was trying something different on that lap if it was the case, hut the data showed(a iikeiy) clutch malfunction.

'V

Winton

Dumbpell

seals 2002 Koniea title /t's over. PaulDumbreH's three wins at Winton, coupleil with the misfortune of main rival Dale Brede, means that the new King of Die Koniea Series has been crowned. AARON NOODIAni reports on the penultimate reund of the series

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n The Job’s Done: Dumbrell savours the moment on the podium at Winton. He’ii be aiming to add to his successive string of race wins {Photo by Dirk Klynsmith) (nine), round wins (three) and poies (four).

56

HILE he didn’t expect to wrap up the 2002 Koniea V8 Supercar Series at Winton Raceway on the weekend,that’s exactly what Paul Dumbrell did.

The 19-year-old dominator of the series broke records aplenty as he cruised to his first V8 title, taking his fourth successive pole position and third round in a row to set up an insurmountable lead in the title with one round left at Mallala in August.

“It’s going to be a decent night tonight!” beamed the new Champ.

“I didn’t really expect to do it all this weekend. The goal was to win three races and be conistent and go to Mallala with a lead so we could be smooth there. Unfortunately Dale(Brede) had a bad round.”

The understatement of the day.

The Gulf Western car only picked up 51 points as the Canberrian failed to finish the first race with an intermittent problem which cut the car out and a engine drama that stopped him in race three.

“It just let go,” he surmised.

“There was no warning, then there was no power. In both races where I had to come from 19th I had the pace to finish third but the weekend transpired against us.”

Steve Owen filled the second spot on the podium in the Imrie Motorsport Commodore, setting a new lap record in the process, while Craig Harris brightened the

day for Harris Racing, taldng the Castrol Ford to third overall for the weekend and now fourth in the championship.

Qualifying The dry for weather that was around the first practice session on Saturday didn’t hold up for the second practice and by the time qualifying rolled around, it was wet.

So while it made things all the more impractical for most that braved the elements at Winton, it did made for probably the most upin-the-air session of the season.

With the weather somewhat dodgy, officials again added together the sessions, making a 45minute free-for-all where the critical time to be out on the drying line was a 'window' period of three to four laps in between red flags and changing conditions.

But that’s about as dissimilar the session was to the three so far this year, with champicnship leader Dumbrell again on pole, clocking a lm35.7925s in the aforementioned ‘window’ period.

“The car is going really good,” reported PD.“We stayed out because it was a bit of an unknown

motorsport news

Monica V8 SERIES

a

Winton Action: While Dimbrell. main pie, continued on his meriy way witk apole and tlwee race victories, main title rival Bale Brede, left, had liis worst weekend ofthe season sofar.

The gap between the two means the title is resolved. Michael Turner had.a decent moment at (Phoun hy link Khnsmiiht the Start ofrace two, above.

fQualifying^

White cars still go well; Steve Owen took his first podium in the Konica Series in the Imrie-owned Holden.

(Photo by Dirk Klynsmith) I

TRyCKS> ^

'm with the rain, but I don’t think the time difference to everyone else is relative. We had heat in our tyres (from staying out from the start of the session) and took advantage of the window.”

What was discouraging for his rivals was the fact that secondplaced Matthew White was a full 1.1s behind the Wynn’s driver ...

StiU, the Victorian was happy, having done a rain dance before 10 July 2002

qualifying because the VIP machine was an unknown quantity in the dry.

“The car was probably good enough to get pole, but I wasn’t,” he reported.

Third was a strong result for Steve Owen in the Imrie Motorsport Commodore, twotenths behind White, but he

continued on page 58

PCS HO 1 64 2 76 3 13 4 89 5 20 6 98 7 161 9 78 10 74 11 25 12 110 13 93 14 90 15 16 95 17 56 18 79 19 140 20 94 72 21 22 68 23 26 24 61 25 77 26 38

DRIVER Paul Dumbrell Matthew White Steve Owen Dale Brede Andrew Jones Grant Elliott Craig Harris Greg Crick Mark Porter Leanne Perrier Terry Wyhoon GrantJohnson Michael Simpson Michael Turner Robert Jones RonSearle Kevin Mundy Paul Freestone Clyde Lawrence Mark Howard Robert Smith Phill Foster Bob McDonald Ross Halliday Richard Mork Matthew Hunt

CAR Wynn's/IRC Commodore VX VIP Pet Foods Commodore VT IMS Commodore VX Gulf Western Falcon AU OzEmail Falcon AU Sydney Star Commodore VS Castrol Falcon AU 3M/Sri Lanka Falcon AU Hydraulink Falcon AU Fleetcare Commodore VS Lubrimaxx Falcon EL Chance of Lifetime Falcon EL Pinnacle Falcon EL ADI Commodore VS Spies Hecker Commodore VX Transtar Commodore VS Actron Air Falcon AU Spies Hecker Commodore VS Karingal Commodore VS Pinnacle Falcon EL Smith's Trucks Commodore VT Diesel Tech Commodore VS Doulman Commodore VT 3M Falcon AU V8 Racing Commodore VS IMRP Commodore VS

TIME 1:35.7925 1:36.8490 1:37.0430 1:37.2440 1:37.8523 1:37.8963 1:38.1077 1:38.1808 1:38.2196 1:38.5827 1:39.2112 1:39.2793 1:39.3618 1:39.3904 1:39.9905 1:40.0648 1:41.4649 1:41.5221 1:41.6619 1:42.0527 1:42.3469 1:43.9323 1:44.0247 1:44.3059 No Time

Round4 Winton 57

Winton continued from page 57 missed the ‘window’ while in the pits making a change to shocks.

Behind him was another driver not able to take advantage of the dry time. Dale Brede’s chances of taking the title look lost, and that’s how the Gulf Western Ford looked in qualifying. An intermittent problem that cut the engine meant that he too didn’t get to lap at the desired time. Vast quantities of water in the car might have had something to do with it.

Fifth was debutante Andrew Jones. Driving the team’s eldest, ex-Longhurst, Falcon, the Formula Fordster was darn impressive in his first run, with a total of 50 laps experience at Winton in a V8.

“I’m pretty happy,” he reported.

“I’m struggling under brakes and I’m carrying too much speed into the corners, but I feel more comfortable in the wet.”

Just as Jones was impressive, so too was Grant Elliott. Again the Sydney Star driver was the best of the older model machines, staying toward the top of the timesheets throughout the session. Imagine what sort of things the ex-Group N Torana driver could do in a newer model car ...

Craig Hams, Greg Crick(who spent some time off the road), Mark Porter and Leanne Ferrier rounded out the top 10, while a noticable absentee was Michael Simpson.

His Falcon EL, repaired with the huge assistance of Stone Brothers Racing (“they’re our sponsor this weekend!”), ran off the road and ripped the spoiler off, meaning the time taken to replace and repair in the pits left him trying to set a time in conditions not as dry as the rest. In the end, 13th wasn’t bad.

Just what I need, more advice: Andy Jones had plenty of support, including John Bowe, during his V8 debut, right and below, while Craig Harris upheld Ford honour with a podium position, above.

(Photos by Dirk Klynsmith)

Race 1(18 laps) WHILE Dumbrell won race one, formay oncehave it wasn’t so clear-cut. He gunned it from the start and took to his customary 2002 leading position only to have a little off towards the end of lap one, dropping to fifth.

While he was off the road, Andy Jones bunkered the OzEmail Ford and that brought out the Safety Car at the end of lap two, with White having assumed the lead.

So at least DumbrelFs off made a race of it, but the sheer speed of the Marty Brant-prepped Holden carried him back through the field.

As he mounted his comeback charge, Owen blew straight by White on the restart at the Motorsport News Esses, with Brede sitting in behind, but the intermittent engine cut-out problem returned on lap nine.

It caught Crick unawares as the duo turned onto the ‘new’section of the track(OK,so it’s been there for five years).

Brede ended up in the wet grass and eventually made it back to the pits to replace the CDI unit and coil but wasn’t classified as a finisher. To be blunt, that’s where the championship chase ended for the Canberrian.

Harris took advantage of the clash to move through to third behind White and Dumbrell but the Safety Car got further use when Ferrier beached the Fleetcare car in the sand at the last corner.

Having been running fifth, it was a pure driving mistake that landed her there, unfortunately.

When the Safety Car again headed to the pits, Dumbrell was all over White and took advantage of the VIP car running wide entering the pit straight on lap 15.

Game over.

It was game over as well for

i

continued on page 60

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Winton

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^ Koilica V8s Rd 4

^ Winton

M Hsce 1 (18 laps) DRIVEn RPCETIME /UPS 09 POS 1 Dumbrell 30:25.9531 2 White 30:29.2486 3 Harris 30:32.4597 4 Johnson 30:34.4191 5 Elliott 30:36.9593 6 R.Jones 30:45.9934 7 Searle 30:47.3429 Turner 30:51.9816 30:54.6563 9 Halliday 30:55.4470 10 Crick 30:55.4846 11 Freestone 30:56.4415 12 Lawrence 30:58.8064 13 Work 31:03.3644 14 Owen 31:05,8341 15 Foster 17 laps 16 Mundy 17 A.Jones' 16 laps 18 Ferrier 16 laps DNF Brede 11 laps DNF Smith 8 laps DNF Howard 6 laps DNF Simpson 3 l aps DNF McDonald 0 l aps DNS Porter, Wyhoon, Hunt Race 2 (16 laps) 1 Dumbrell 2 Owen 3 Brede 4 White 5 Harris 6 Elliott 7 Johnson 8 Ferrier 9 A.Jones 10 Searle 11 Mundy 12 Halliday 13 Freestone 14 McDonald 15 Mork 16 Howard 17 Lawrence 18 R.Jones 19 Foster 20 Crick 21 Turner 22 Porter 23 Wyhoon DNF Simpson DNS Hunt Race 3 (2S laps) 1 Dumbrell 2 Owen 3 Crick 4 Elliott 5 Harris 6 Porter 7 A.Jones 8 R.Jones 9 Johnson 10 Turner 11 Mork 12 Howard 13 Mundy 14 White 15 Halliday 16 Searle 17 Freestone 18 Lawrence 19 Smith 20 Foster 21 Simpson DNF Wyhoon DNF Brede DNF McDonald DNF Ferrier

25:21 .2218 25:23.5607 25:24.2454 25:27.2844 25:31.4596 25:32,2256 25:32.6227 25:32.8555 25:33.3857 25:39.0427 25:39.7731 25:43.7419 25:44.2863 25:50,0011 25:50.4317 25:54.8541 25:56.2521 25:59.8632 26:48.2971 15 laps 15 laps 14 laps 10 laps 0 laps 39:10.8961 39:12.6214 39:25.3311 39:27.4265 39:28.0764 39:28.3659 39:28.9008 39:36.0219 39:42.0640 39:42.7231 39:53,1457 39:54.5326 39:56.6822 39:58.9137 40:04.2738 25 laps 25 laps 25 laps 25 laps 25 laps 23 laps 25 laps 23 laps 20 laps 10 laps

FASTEST 1:25.3381* 1:26.1637 1:26.5600 1:26.7313 1:27.1256 1:27.7666 1:28.3815 1:28.8243 1:29.2979 1:26.9798 1:29.1883 1:29.1083" 1:28.7754 1:26.5909 1:30.0873 1:27.0668 1:26.8571 1:26.9120 1:27.4279 1:30.2019 1:31.4717 1:38,8407

1:25.0311* 1:25.5614 1:25.4852 1:26.0926 1:26.7776 1:26.8580 1:26.7346 1:26.7186 1:26.0706 1:27.7163 1:27.0444 1:28.5259 1:28.8105 1:29.4536 1:29.1850 1:29.5228 1:29,6740 1:27,9122 1:30.0855 1:26.3963 1:27.2023 1:29.6354 1:27.7118

1:24.9663 1:24.6959* 1:26.3283 1:26.7137 1:26.9038 1:26.6165 1:26.6252 1:27.3323 1:26.7652 1:28.6027 1:28,7459 1:29,2460 1:26.6734 1:25.4532 1:28.5019 1:28.5858 1:29.1442 1:29.4307 1:29.5571 1:30.3755 1:26.5764 1:26.5202 1:25.7141 1:29.1593 1:26.8658

Points: Dumbrell 1058, Brede 655, Crick 614, Harris 466, Porter 457, White 434, Elliott 406, Owen 367, Searle 318, Johnson 305, Mundy 288, Halliday 276, Turner 242, Wyhoon 185, Howard 176, Youlden 148, Lawrence 146, Smith 139, Beikoff 132, Hunt 131, Simpson 127, Mork 120, Bastian 118, McDonald 102, Salmon 100, R.Jones 99, Foster 98, A.Jones 83, Evangelou 72, May 69, Freestone 66, Ferrier ; i,VanZelm48,Th Photo hy Dirk Klynamlili

mnn

60

That’S far more like it: Things finally have started to turn for the better for Leanne Ferrier and Fleetcare Motorsport.The highly impressive Grant Elliott follows.

(Photo by Dirk Mynsmith) continued from page 58 Crick in the 3M/Sri Lanka Falcon, adding to the victims of the final corner sand pit and, more importantly, the puddle on the inside of the corner.

The Tasmanian had been in a strong fourth, having moved up from eighth on the grid but all was not lost. He picked it back up and passed Paul Freestone at the line to grab 10th and pole for race two.

The IMS VX of Owen was in bother as well, progressively slipping back through the field to 14th with fuel pressure problems that meant he only had 40 percent throttle, as ‘PD’ flashed home to his seventh consecutive race win over White, Hams and then two very impressive performances.

The two Grants, Johnson and Elliott, drove strongly and kept it on the planet to take their best-ever results in fourth and fifth, while behind them was a strong debut by Robert Jones in the brand-spanking new Spies Hecker VX. Ron Searle was next ahead of Michael Turner and the Halliday Motor Sport duo of Ross Halliday and Crick, who would canvess the front row of the race two grid.

Porter’s shocking Sunday began with a DNS after a rocker broke on the warm-up lap, while Simpson dropped a cylinder at the same time.

Race 2 (16 laps) FTER all of the action in race _ _ ne, the second race was a little more tame. As expected.

Crick sprinted from the start while Halliday ran cover and delayed the chasers as long as possible.

Dumbrell was quick to cut his way through the pack, up to second by the end of lap three and 4.3s down the road from Crick.

As a measure of his speed, Dumbrell had erased the margin by lap five and got by on the run into the MN Esses on lap eight.

In the race for the scraps, Harris let the charging Brede go by on lap five, but he didn’t have time to fully close on third-placed Owen, while White also picked off the Castrol Ford.

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We have lift-off: Grant Johnson had this off at the Motorsport News Esses, above, while Owen wasn’t afraid to head up the inside of (Photos by Dirk Klynsmith and Chris Carter) Matthew White, below.

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Owen would soon become P2 as Crick again sampled the best sand that Winton has to offer, which brought out the Safety Cai", though things remained static from the re start to the chequered flag, Dumbrell by 2.3s over Owen, then Brede, White, Harris, Elliott, Johnson, Ferrier (a strong comeback drive), A. Jones and Searle.

Race 3 (26 laps)

A NOTHER copybook Dumbrell XA^tart saw him fire into the lead and never give it up.

Well, that’s not entirely true, for jMidy Jones and Ron Searle touched through the sweeper on lap one, leaving 2^dy to rejoin on the other side of the circuit in the lead of the race!

That was as close as anyone got to taking over, Dumbrell leading White until Owen fired through to take second. White was struggling with power steering failure later on in the race, allowing the charging Brede to pass, though Brede’s car suffered a major engine failure and that left White to jink to the grass, unable to use full strength to steer, to miss the

I T I

.„T- V-'

slowing carL A series of donuts followed and that was that.

Owen went about chasing Dumbrell, setting a lm24.6^ (the fastest lap of the weekend),''but it fried the tyres on #13 and he faded back.

Crick pulled through for third ahead of Elliott and Harris, with Porter and A. Jones mounting comebacks that landed them next.

Rob Jones, Johnson and Turner s rounded out the 10.

Perrier’s improved weekend came to an end after contact with Johnson that saw the Chance of a Lifetime winner getting the chance to face the wrong way. Then Ferrier had the brake pedal go to the floor and spin before retiring.

“The brake pedal went to the floor which was a wony because it wasn’t slowing down,” said Ferrier, the winner of the understatement award for the round ...

But they couldn’t touch Dumbrell and the Wynn’s/ Independent Race Cars Holden.

“Around here it’s important to keep the life in the rear tyres and I think we did that the best out of everyone,” said the new Champ.

moiorsDort news

FORMULA FORD

Whincup and the weather stop Jones in the West

by PHIL BRANAGAN FC'-V;jlAr'}fiy

JUST when it looked like Andy Jones would add to OzEmail Racing’s good weekend in the west, the weather and Jamie Whincup intervened and turned things around.

Jones qualified on pole position and took a strong Race 1 win but, in slippery conditions, Whincup redressed the situation in the second outing.

Jones played it smart in qualifying, running a minimum number of laps; “The car was fast straight away,” said Jones before the first race. “I did not want to wear out my tyres too much so I set the time (in the first session) and put it away.”

Jones missed the start in the opening 12-lapper, but squeezed inside Mark Winterhottom into the first corner.

The Sonic Racing/Valvoline Van Diemens of Marcus Marshall and Jamie Whincup, by their standards, had qualified badly in fourth and fifth but were soon on the move, Marshall taking Winterhottom for second on the final lap.

But Jones by then was out of reach, with Winterhottom, Whincup, Neil McFadyen (VD94), Dean Fiore(VD94)and Jordan Ormsby(VD93)following him home.

In the second race, it was already spitting when the race started and it got heavier from there. Jones was again forceful to take the lead into the first corner but, by Kolb, Marshall was past and, as it got wetter, Whincup blasted past both of them to take 10 July 2002

Iconic;

Close but not close enough: An electrical failure stopped Andy Jones, above left, from adding to his first race win at Barbagallo, leaving Jamie Whincup and company, above right, free to enjoy the champagne on the (Photos by Dirk Klynsmilh'and John Mbrris/Mpix) podium. Ash Lowe, below, joined him with the champers after running second.

SPIES

Paimeilin...HECKER the lead.

Jones’s run ended with an unexpected electrical failure, the sparkless 2002 Van Diemen grinding to a disappointing halt on lap six, but his opening win was still good for third overall on the weekend.

by..

The Marshall/Winterbottom battle for second ended in tears when both bunkered on lap eight.

Ash Lowe took second, his bestever Formula Ford result in a national round, but all of 11.5s behind the dominant Whincup, with McFadyen (second for the

round), strong local Fiore, Mark Douglas(Stealth) and Barton' Mawer - who had the ignominy of spinning twice on the formation lap of the first race - next.

Whincup’s overall round win means that he is the first driver in history to win the first four rounds of the Ausb’alian Formula Ford Championship.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to win this weekend - we really struggled with the car’s set-up during qualifying and race one, and made significant changes to it for race two which paid off,” a delighted Whincup said.

“Whilst I’m concentr,ating on winning the championship, it is amazing to have won the first four rounds, especially after finishing fourth in race one.”

Round five is at Oran Park in support to the V8 Supercar Series on July 27/28.

Points: Whincup 146, Marshall 110, Winterhottom 102, McFadyen 78, Mawer 60, Jones 46, Lowe 38.

61

Mitsubishi Deal of the c smoked out?

by JOE SAWARD

MITSUBISHI looks set to lose the familiar red and white Chevrons of long-time backer Phillip Morris, with Marlboro expected to switch to Citroen for next year.

Citroen will embark on its first full 14-rally program with the Xsara next year, and like Mitsubishi its livery is predominantly red, sitting well with Marlboro.

Mitsubishi’s results this year have fallen short of what the tobacco company expects and while Ralliart has put In a pitch for 2003, the betting is that the sponsor won’t tolerate another year of transition.

- JON THOMSON

ARCOM’s ARCOM’s eligibility rules for the ARC have claimed their first victim, with WA-based driver Stu Warren out of the 2002 ARC. Following a great start to the year, Warren, right, and the WAbased UltimB Motorsport team found themselves on the Priority drivers list and having to cope with a 32mm turbo restrictor.

“Due to the rules that were changed this year, with very little notice we have been put in a position where we can not be competitive in the Australian Rally Championship,” said team owner Ross Lockhart.

“We thought the main objective was to lose the WRC cars, not the Privateer teams. PRC was designed so that people who were not capable of catching the factory drivers had a chance to be competitive.”

Lockhart points out that there are other drivers currently driving PRC cars with 34mm restrictors.

But this changes if a driver gains a few top places during the year.

ARCOM replied to Lockhart in a press release: “The system was introduced to ensure that PRC Cars, with their more liberal freedoms in terms of 62

scalp

THE FIAhas reached an agreement in principle with David Richards’s International Sportsworld Communicators (ISC)to lease the commercial rights to the FIA World Rally Championship for a 100-year period for US$98m(ADD $193m).

The deal features a complicated . payment plan that will see ISC getting a better price ifthe lease fees are paid in the short-term.

There is also believed to be a considerable administration fee that ISC will pay to the FIA each year which will give the federation added value from the deal- and money towards keeping the federation running smoothly. The US$98m will, however, be transferred to the FIA Foundation to be used to ftmd research into automobile-related projects, which will include motorsport safety.

The FIAhas been criticised for using the sport to fund its non sporting programs, but responds by saying that there cannot be criticism before it unveils what it intends to do with the money. The federation is currently working hard on a solution to the question of wheel tethers to stop wheels flying off cars in accidents.

Our sources say that the use of

cables has been found to be insufficient, as the cables involved are too short to be able to absorb much of the energy from a crash, and that research is now centred on which are the best materials to use in the suspensions.

The FLA-ISC deal has been in negotiation for nearly a year and both parties are believed to have had close contact with the European Commission to ensure that there are no objections. There are questions about whether or not there should be bids by tender for the deal, but the agreement is believed to include so many different performance clauses

New-look WRC

Calendar shake-up likely for 2003

Dy Neil macKDOurn

modifications did not, in the hands of top drivers, outclass the Group N cars but rather compete on a system of parity in the championship,” stated ARCOM boss Garry Connelly.

However Connelly did concede that the subject of Priority drivers was on the agenda for discussion at the ARCom meeting in August.

Warren may have picked up a permanent APRC drive after successfully piloting the Indianbacked MRF Lancer Evo 7 to Group N victory on the recent Rally of Rotorua.

- JON THOMSON

WRC TV and commercial rights holder Dave Richards, right, has again hinted that new rallies will be introduced next year.

"I do believe the championship needs a bit of new blood in it. I think we're pretty close to solutions, actually," said Richards.

It is believed Turkey and Mexico are regarded as the most likely candidates for WRC status, but deciding the events to be included is only half the problem.

The works teams are anxious to cut costs by shipping equipment to every round without having to buy extra vans or spares for use outside Europe, and that alone would require significant changes to the calendar.

Meanwhile, Richards has released figures claiming.

substantially increased television audiences for the WRC since he took over the rights.

He claims the total TV audience for rallies rose by 12 percent in the first quarter of 2002, to 153 million, while the amount broadcast increased by 43 percent.

- JON THOMSON motorsport nows

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Home ground advantage

KIWI Bruce Herbert has won round three of the Asia Pacific Championship,the Rally of Rotorua, but Malaysian Proton driver Keramjit Singh has extended his lead in the title after taking third place.

Herbert guided his Subaru Impreza to a comfortable 2m28s victory in the three-day rally ahead offellow Kiwi Geoff Argyle in his Mitsubishi Evo VI. Singh finished a further lm38s behind but was first in the Asia Pacific Championship, helping him overtake Ital/s Nico Caldorola with three rounds remaining.

Singh’s rally was not without its troubles. On day one the Malaysian holed a turbo pipe on

Signed and sealediISC have reached an in-principle agreement to buy the WRC commercial rights for the next 100 years. (insisted on by the FIA) that it is not as cast-iron a deal as it might appear to be.

And while the US$98m may not seem like a lot of money for such a lengthy deal, we understand that the administration fees are rather generous so that the FIA will not be struggling in the long-term.

This is worth noting in relation to Formula 1 as well, as one must presume that there is a similar deal between the federation and SLEC.

the Motu stages, while an off-road in the Asia-Pacific section, closing to within 14 seconds of second excursion on day two resulted in the Proton arriving back at place after a strong performance service trailing two fence posts, in the final day’s six stages. metres of wire and a local Possum Bourne pulled out of the rally at the last minute, citing policeman. On the final day clutch a delay in obtaining the correct troubles meant Singh had to cruise to the finish but was still fuel injectors for his developmental Group A Impreza. able to claim maximum points.

Saladin Mazlan didn’t make the Perth’s Stu Warren, an ex-pat start of day two after spinning off Kiwi, was the leading Asia-Pacific the narrow Motu road following a Group N driver in his MRFrear brake fire which deflated the sponsored Mitsubishi Lancer Evo ‘ left rear tyre on his Hyundai VII, coming home seventh World Rally Car on the opening leg. outright and second in APRC. Nico Caldarola recovered to Warren took over the Indianfinish eighth APRC competitor backed Evo VII from regular and third in Group N after driver Aijim Balu, and may be a dropping a huge amount of time permanent replacement. on Day One with a turbo problem.

Kiwi Reece Jones claimed third The Italian still leads the APRC Group N title, but trails Singh by 12 points in the outright title.

The championship heads next to Japan and the Rally of Hokkaido on September 6th - 8th.

- JON THOMSON

■

Bruce parts the waters: Bruce Herbert gets some mud on his Subaru en route to his win in the third round of the APRC at Rotorua, New Zealand. {Pholo by Linear Photographic)

Rally of Rotorua Round 3 APRC 1. Bruce Herbert (Subaru Impreza WRX) 3:00:25.2 2. Geoff Argyle (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI) +2:27.9 3. Karamjit Singh (Proton Pert) +4:06.4 4. Lewis Scott (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V) +6:46.4 5. Glenn Smith (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V) +7:35.1 6. Chris West (Subaru Impreza WRX) +9:35.6 7. Stuart Warren (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VH) +10:41.2

FIA VS manufacturers Girl power m

THE FIA's decision to ban World Rally Cars and turbocharged four-wheel-drive Group A cars from regional championships (such as the Asia Pacific) has aroused enormous controversy with teams and manufacturers.

The ban comes into effect next year despite the World Rally Commission suggesting that it should not commence until 2005, and increases speculation that the Asia Pacific title will receive a dispensation to run a version of Australia's new prototype Group N category next year.

The FIA cited a fear of escalating costs for teams contesting regional titles, but the ban is understood to be as much about the politics of the World title as it is about money.

The move has serious implications for the many small teams and privateers who have investments in these cars contesting the European, Middle 10 July 2002

East and Asia Pacific series.

While the cars cost a lot, the expense of contesting the APRC across a far-flung region is massive. Only one World Rally Car is contesting the APRC this year, with one or two Group A cars contesting selected rounds.

The move restricts the ability of a number of the World Championship teams to earn income by building WRCs for well-heeled regional drivers.

"The first reaction is, it's devastation for us," said Malcolm Wilson, Director of Ford's World Championship team.

"Our budgets allow residual value to the cars. Overnight, we've just added $9 million to the World Championship budget.

"I could understand it if it had been discussed but it was out of the blue, I can't see any reason for it. The only positive thing is, it might encourage people to do World Rallies."

Peugeot is also opposed to

the ban and argues that WR Cars are within the reach of importers and the wealthier privateers once they are a year or two old.

Citroen is the only WRC manufacturer to have defended the plans.

Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe Director John Easton said he could see that the FIA was trying to get full World Championship fields.

"That's the only good thing about it," he said. "I dare say that Subaru and ourselves are in the best position because of our Group N cars, but we still have to do something with our old WR Cars."

A Hyundai spokeperson said the ban could lead them to cut back and run two cars rather than three in next year's World Championship.

MSD has sold 12 Accent WRCs so far and it already risks losing two further orders following the ruling.

- JON THOMSON

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CHERYL Muldoon, a leader in the growth of women's off road motorcycle racing, will contest the 2002 Australian Safari.

The 27-year-old from NSW will contest the Moto Division of the 4.312km Safari on a four-stroke Yamaha WR250F. "Up to now the longest race I've done is a four-day enduro in Perth, which was less than 1000km, so the Safari is going to be a big step up in terms of riding higher speeds and longer distances," she said.

63

not I Sign 'em up! There's 16 drivers contractedfor 2002/2003, with possibly more to come.

(Photo b}- Btrtt Swanson)

WSS signs drivers

No Tatnell on list ofcontracted drivers for2002/2003season THE list of contracted drivers for this season's World Series Sprintcar is now official, with some new names joining and familiar one missing.

The name missing is former champion Brooke Tatnell. The New South Welshman, currently racing in America, is struggling for a budget for this season and, as yet, isn't on the list of contracted drivers.

Defending Champion Max Dumesny is, naturally, at the top of the list, while Robbie Farr will replace Skip Jackson in the Pennzoil/Krikke machine as reported in our last issue.

Daryn Pittman will drive the Titan Garages machine for Reeve Kruck, while fellow American Brad Furr will return for his second season of WSS competit.on.

Cameron Gessner leads the Queensland contingent and will return with the backing of TriSteel after a top 10 result in last year's series, while another young gun, Daryn Maggs, will also return for another shot at the series, though switch from an Eagle to a Maxim chassis.

"I made the Pole Shootout a couple times last year and it's my ambition this summer to really give the podium a shake," he said. "I think we're far better prepared for it this time around."

Fellow Victorian Mike Van Bremen has bitten the bullet and will join the WSS for the first time, complete with a new Maxwill Racing motor for the title chase.

"If we're going to do this WSS deal properly, we're going to need a good motor to run with the big dogs," he said.

"I had to bite the bullet, that's 64

Some in, some out: Stephen Bell and Robbie Farr are both set for (TiSS action, though Brooke Tatnell, above, doesn't look quite as enthusiastic about it all. Farr will take over the PennzoU/Krikke Motorsport machine, below.

Skip an

by BRETT SWANSON

(Pluitiis hy liivll SWUII.WII/

all there is to it."

Armed with experience racing at Knoxville, David Murcott will link up with Frank Ramsdale in a new Cool chassis, and Luke Dillon will make the step up to Sprintcars in the ex-Brad Furr machine.

Trevor Green will again run the WSS trail with the backing of ADRAD,fresh from crewing

in the US for Furr. Jeremy Warren, Darren Jensen, Stephen Bell, Tony Bartlett, Ken Sartori and Andrew Scheuerle are the other drivers contracted for the 2002/2003 series, with a few extra teams and drivers still working on sponsorship deals before making a commitment to the series.

- AARON NOONAN

AUSTRALIANS have been hot to trot in the USA recently with Skip Jackson taking his maiden win for his new team at Knoxville,followed a week later by Kerry Madsen,right, scoring his second feature'of the season at the famous oval.

Jackson joined Madsen as the second Aussie to win a feature at Knoxville this season. After weeks of running strong, Skip and the new J.T.R. Team captured their first victory as a team.

The night started well, with Skip qualifying fifth and transferring to the feature by running third in his heat race. Jackson started the black #21 fourth in the feature quickly moving up to third and passing for second by lap three. Passing was nearly impossible because of a single racing line on the bottom.

However, Jackson pounced when Ricky Logan ran wide with five laps left and snatched the lead.

“This definitely was vei-y special for me and everyone involved,” stated Skip. “The crew, and all of our friends that are supporting us have worked hard allowing us to put a good race car together. My

motorsport news

much Schatz Limited 2002/2003 Australian schedule for Outlaws star

by AARON NOONAN

d Madsen fire brother Paul was also proud that our motor finally won a race.”

A week after Jackson’s win it was Madsen’s turn again, taking his fourth career Knoxville victory.

Madsen timed in seventh fastest and won his heat to start the feature from eighth. Race leader Jeff Mitrisin had a huge gap early on, and with the help of a yellow, Madsen was able to mount a serious challenge and his pressure led the leader to jump the cushion while negotiating lapped traffic and hit the wall and stall.

Jackson was in second place at this stage but points leader Terry McCarl was charging and Skip eventually faded to fourth. McCarl maintains his points lead in the championship from Jackson, with Madsen in fifth.

Max Dumesny Motorsport Australian Distributors for

Jfoosifr

=’hoto by Brett Swanson

KWIK CphANGE RELIEF ! VALVES

Sullivan slips to second in SGP -PhihifhvmrT^r.

AUSTRALIAN Ryan Sullivan has lost the lead in the World Speedway Championship after hometown hero Tony Rickardsson took victory in the Swedish Grand Prix in Stockholm on the weekend.

Sullivan led the Championship by 12 points heading into the fifth round of the Series but is now two points behind the Swedish World Champion after being eliminated in the semi-final.

"I was pretty disappointed but I am still second and there are five GPs to go," said Sullivan.

Sullivan scored 11 points on the night to stay in touch with Rickardsson in the title chase.

Fellow Australian Jason Crump made the final but had to be content' with fourth place on a difficult and very testing track which was lashed by persistent rain throughout the day.

Rickardsson leads the title on 96 points over Sullivan (94), Tomasz Goliob (71) and Crump (70). n Racing at Newcastle Speedway is to come to an end, following the sale of the track. Owner David Lander has reportedly sold the 11 ha property to a development group which will turn the 30-year-old track into an industrial complex. n The 'Wild Man' of V8 Stock Car racing, Tony Southwell, is heading to Sprintcar racing.The fireworks wholesaler wants to do as many . rounds of the World Series as possible and is weighing up whether to lease or buy a car. n Young Victorian racer Brett Milburn is about to make the step up to Sprintcar racing. The Victorian Mini Sprint Champion, who also spent some time behind the wheel of Keith and Di Smith's V8 Dirt Modified last season, will drive a 2000-model Viper sourced from Cameron Gessner, with a 360 Chev engine.

- BRETT SWANSON/STAFF

2002 WORLD OF OUTLAWS SPRINTCAR SERIES The Dakotas July 7

1. Donny Schatz 2. Craig Dollansky 3. Tim Shaffer ^^ RACING TIRE 4. Joey Saldana For more information on Hoosier Drag and SpeedwayTyres call: NSW:02 9679 1990 l Fax 02 9679 1187 5. Daryn Pittman 6. Danny Lasoski VIO03 9331 6477 l Fax 03 9331 7444 7. Sammy Swindell SA:08 8332 0800 l Fax 08 8364 0296 10 July 2002

L

AMERICAN star Donny Schatz and Western Australian-based team Monte Motorsport will only run a limited schedule of events during the 2002/2003 Sprintcar racing season.

A combination of Schatz’s increasing schedule in the USA and the ongoing cost of racing at the top level have contributed to the team’s decision to scale back to some World Series Sprintcar rounds and the big money shows post-Christmas.

“There are a number of factors conti-ibuting to our decision not to race the full schedule this year,” said team co-owner Jeff Grubisa, “hut basically we’ll be running some of the big money shows after Christmas and some selected rounds of World Series Sprintcars only.

“The numbers don’t add up and until they do, we can’t commit to any more than we have. This doesn’t rule out any future competition in other seasons, it’s just that right now we have to take a look at our investment and how we can best race with our resources.

Schatz finished second to Max Dumesny in last year’s World Series, though revenged the defeat by taking his second successive $50,000-to--win race at Parramatta as well as the Grand Annual Classic at Premier Speedway in Warrnamhool.

SPEEDWAY

15. Wayne Johnson 8. Tyler Walker 9. Jac Haudenschild 16. Danny Wood 17. Brian Paulus 10. Stevie Smith 11. Steve Kinser T8. Chad Meyer 12. Mark Kinser 19. Craig Keel 20. Jason Sides 13. Brad Furr 14. Shane Stewart

Stsndings to Jluiy 6

1.Steve Kinser ....

2.Danny Lasoski . .

3.Craig Dollansky . .

4.Joey Saldana .. .

5.Mark Kinser ....

6.Donny Schatz . . .

7.Tlm Shaffer 8.Stevie Smith ....

9.Brad Furr 10.Randy Hannagan

.5438 .5423 .5224 .5170 .5166 .5094 .5091 .5088 .4968 .4676

65

NASCAR's Young Guns

Depaptment of Y

by MARTIN D CLARK

THE NASCAR Winston Cup Series is experiencing a youth movement with a surge of hopeful 20-somethings entering the sport's top division and, although a handful of the veterans are not impressed,the big picture has to be good.

In a typical Cup field, there are usually 21 drivers in their 30s and 15 in their 40s, with a spattering of those in their 20s less than 10 years ago this would have been reversed.

The youngest on the tour is Casey Atwood, 21, the oldest Ken Schrader, 47, whose last ' win came 11 years ago at Dover.

Tme for him to hang it up and let some new blood In ...

"I don't think it really matters about your age," remarked Matt Kenseth, who has three wins this season.

"Everybody's starting in good cars so that's where the difference is. I think everybody in Cup is a good driver, I just think it's a lot more about the team and the equipment they're in."

Points leader Sterling Marlin is another of the veteran group.

"When I first started racing there were about six or seven good cars and everybody else was in a junker. Today these young guys are all with good teams in good equipment." .

Proof of that can be found in the fact that Jimmie Johnson's first wins at Fontana and Dover came in the same cars Jeff Gordon won with at the two tracks. Indeed, the majority of Johnson's cars are the chassis Gordon used in 2001, but with a different suspension package under the skin.

Both Gordon and Ryan Newman's superior. Rusty Wallace, have driven the younger driver's cars, but with a stiffer right rear spring and front sway bar. Both have difficulty getting the cars through the turns with the weight transfer being further forward than they are used to.

These youngsters are using set-ups they tried with success in the Busch Series and both 66

“He passes down Lowe”; Jimmie Johnson, above and below with Jeff Gordon, has proven to he the star rookie in the 2002 Winston Cap. Last year s star, Kevin Han’ick, right, hasfound things somewhat more difficult, while Kurt Busch, below right, is helping Jack Roush get his Fords back upfront.

(Photox by Martin D Clark and SuUon-lmascx)

"Experience comes with years, it's something that doesn't deveiop overnight" - Kurt Busch on closing the gap to the veterans have rookie crew chiefs without Cup notes to fall back on. The set-up works for them, but not for the veterans. The young crew chiefs also take tyre and fuel strategy risks that others may not and these have paid dividends all around.

"Chad Knaus (crew chief) has been pushing the envelope with his set-ups and technology with some of the engineers at Hendrick Motorsports and we've been finding a lot of speed in these cars," says Johnson, who started the season with pole for the Daytona 500.

"We won a championship

with the set-ups we had," says Johnson's team co-owner Jeff Gordon. "We don't want to get too far off those, but we've found ourselves pushing the edge closer to some of the things they've done."

And without a win this year, Gordon looks like he's being outrun by his protege, but in fact their average finishes are remarkably close for the year, both posting 10 top 10 results entering Daytona's Pepsi 400.

Roush Racing's young gun, Kurt Busch, 23, says the new tracks help the younger drivers.

"The older drivers have raced

on tracks like Darlington and Rockingham a hundred million times," the one-time winner says. "It's easier to gain when they're not that far ahead of you. Experience comes with years, it's something that doesn't develop overnight."

But what of the veterans?

Marlin, amazingly, has been in the top 10 in points since the 2001 Daytona 500, while Wallace, with new crew chief Bill Wilburn, has been running at the end of all races this year and completed all but six laps, Pre-Daytona, Gordon has no wins in 23 races, but look for that to change as the season enters a gruelling 20-race schedule with no break.

Or will the young-guns continue to shine through? motorsport news

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NASCAR

outh

Hornish and Tracy eye Cup drives 2003 could seen an influx of open wheel drivers in Winston Cup, with Sam Hornish Jr apparently having spoken with Dale Earnhardt Inc and Paul Tracy stating if Team KOOL Green switches from CART to the IRL, he may look at Winston Cup and has indeed spoken with a handful of teams.

The decision for Barry Green to switch to the IRL lays in the hands of the team's sponsor KOOL and the falling TV ratings. Hornish, meanwhile, has a contract with his current IRL team Panther Racing through the end of 2002 and he admits he would prefer to stay there, but is at the same time exploring other options.

140MUnOW-2

n It was announced at Daytona on July 4 that Ward Burton has signed with Bill Davis Racing for two more years. The team's sponsor Caterpillar already has extended their deal for a further five years.

merican^IhjuMon

by MARTIN D CLARK MICHAEL Waltrip scored his second career win at Daytona on Saturday night, the venue of his first win in the bittersweet Daytona 500 of 2001, where his car owner Dale Earnhardt lost his life.

“I knew the key to this victory was the way the car handled,” said Waltrip who led the final 42 laps of the 160 lapper.

“I could drive it and just look out the rear view mirror, the car was the same way when I won the Daytona 500.”

"Waltrip’s win looked like it was in the bag, but with three laps to run, his DEI team mate Dale Earnhardt Jr, running second, made a bid for the lead.

“My team told me if I didn’t try to win the race I wasn’t a racer,” said Junior. “I should have stayed behind him and I could have finished second.”

Earnhardt’s move shoved him back to sixth and allowed Rusty Wallace, who started 37th, to capitalise on the runner-up slot.

Sterling Marlin’s third place finish with bump-drafting help from Ganassi stablemate Jimmy Spencer netted him a third place and kept him on top of the points table over Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson, who dodged many on-track incidents to finish a deserving eighth.

The race featured a large amount of incidents. Tony Stewart was the first off-course when he was tapped by Elliott Sadler in an unavoidable move on lap two.

Stewart finished 39th after repairs.

Then Johnny Benson got 10 July 2002

snagged by wdnner Waltrip om lap 10, sending him to the hosjpital after hard contact with the wrall.

Mike Wallace was next to spin when he was tapped by Steve Park. Then the inevitable restrictor plate ‘big one’ hajppened when Dale Jarrett and Jeff Burton got together. 14 cars were involved in the fracas including Matt Kenseth, Ricky Rudd and lorothers Labonte.

The race ended under caiation when Ryan Newman cut a tjTe and spun with just ton laps to run.., Dave Blaney and Jeff Green also involved.

NASCAR elected not to wave the red flag and restart the event, as clean-up crews were on track and there just wasn’t enough time..

Fans on the backstretch rw6.xe not amused by the sanctioning 1104/8 actions and threw whatever they could find on the track,incluiiing seat cushions, which the cars hit at speed on the cool dovvn lap.

“I thought they were congratulating me,” said winmer Waltrip. n “I thought it was like a tickertape parade. You mean they w'ere mad? I’m so stupid sometimes..”

Jeff Gordon dropped two positions in points, a flat tyre dropped him a lap off the pace early and he never received the breaks to regain the loss.

Final result; Waltrip (Chevy), E Wallace (Ford),]V[arlin (Dodge),.

Spencer (Dodge),.Martin (Ford), Earnhardt Jr.(Chevy),T Bodimc (Ford), Johnson (Chevy), W Bmrt on (Dodge), G Bodine(Ford).

Points standings; Marlin 2368,JCartin 2291, Johnson 2254, R Wallace 22:24, J Gordon 2218, Rudd 2168, Stewant 2136, Kenseth 2093, ElUott 2084,Buscbi 2073.

n Jerry Nadeau is being courted

by Kyle Petty to drive a Petty Enterprises Dodge in more events during the year. "We'd like to have him run some more races for us, we've just got to figure out his plans and where he's going," said Petty. n Johnny Benson broke two ribs in the Daytona race. He also suffered broken ribs in May at Richmond and was sidelined due to this and other unpublicised internal Injuries. He can be expected to sit out some more upcoming events. n NASCAR has approved the 2003 Pontiac Grand Prix bodystyle for use in competition starting at February's .

Daytona 500. The car will appear in; showrooms later in 2003 along with the reintroduction of the 70s muscle car name-GTO. Much of the wind tunnel work for the racecar was carried out Joe Gibbs Racing, but it is apparently switching to Chev sheet metal next year. n Bobby Hamilton will not be staying to drive the Andy Petree Chevrolet in 2003 and will likely end up at Petty Enterprises again.

"Andy is a good car owner and he'll land on his feet, but I don't want to be in the middle of a change," said Hamilton of the team's possible switch to Ford over the winter and uncertain part-ownership by Jerry Jones, coowner of the Dallas Cowboys. n Testing starts July 9 and 10 at Indianapolis in preparation for the August 4 running of the Brickyard 400, with teams in odd positions currently in the points standings taking part and teams in even positions in the points testing July 15 and 16.

- MARTIN D CLARK 67

Cowin claws back his best outing of the Andrew Cowin season en routeenjoyed to a runner-up finish at the Sears Craftsman Nationals in Madison,Illinois on June 28-30.

The result moved Cowin back into the top 10 for the first time since Pomona.

Cowin's Gwynn Racing/N.Y. Yankees dragster spun the tyres a few hundred feet out, allowing Kenny Bernstein to take a tyre hazing 5.05/293 to 5.29/263 victory.

The season for Cowin thus far has been shaky after a stunning top qualifying effort at the seasonopener in Pomona, with the team racking up just one round win in 11 events. The addition of crew chief Mike Green appears to have turned the team around and they look to be regaining the winning form of the past several seasons.

Cowin top qualified for the second time in his career, posting a brilliant 4.63/319 on a slick track and in hot conditions on the Friday night. A first-round 4.76/307 stopped 73-year old legend, Chris ‘The Greek’Karamesines, and a pedaling job in round two, gave Cowin a 5.86/235 victory over Melanie Troxel.

In the semis. Cowin lined up against Japan’s Yuichi Oyama and was able to take a motor-breaking 5.07/251 win when Oyama lost traction. It was Cowin’s third trip to a final rmmd.

Bernstein’s Budweiser team was smooth during eliminations, not overpowering the tricky track which saw temperatures reach 63 degrees in the sweltering heat.

Bernstein drove to 4.86/302, 4.80/308, and 4.82/308 victories over Aussie David Grubnic, Doug Herbert, and Tony Schumacher.

Points leader Larry Dixon’s poor qualifying performance was the talk of the event going into final eliminations on Sunday after he surprised everybody by failing to get the Miller Lite dragster into the show following four tyre smoking attempts. It was the first time since the 1999 U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis that Dixon has failed to make a Top Fuel show.

“Fortunately, we still have the points lead,” said Dixon.

Force earned his 101st career win and third for the season, taking advantage of a Scotty Cannon red-light start. Force recorded a winning 8.83/87 while Cannon wasted a 5.05/295 on the foul start.

68

On the comeback trail: After a slow start to the season, Cowin, above, took a step in the right direction by making it to the final round.

Old blokes go fast: Bernstein, below left, and Force, below right, took home more silverware for their (Photos by David Ostaszewski) ever-expanding trophy rooms.

iAbXa TOOLS UCAS oLPRooucn

V “I saw the red light, but it happened so quick that I wasn't sure if it was me or him,” said Force. “I’m old and my mind couldn’t process it all that quick.”

Force qualified his Castrol Mustang sixth at 4.99/289 and used consistent laps of 5.07/278, 5.06/296, and 5.04/290 to trailer Tony Pedregon, Del "Worsham, and Ron Capps.

Cannon looked poised to take the first Funny Car win of his career, top qualifying at 4.96/302.

In eliminations the Oakley team, led by Mike Neff, scored 5.07/290, 5.06/293, and 5.06/296 wins over Bob Gilbertson, Dale Creasy Jr., and Gary Densham.

Jeg Coughlin became the 10th

different winner in Pro Stock, stopping Greg Anderson in the final, 6.92/199 to 6.93/199. Both drivers left within .001-seconds of each other and stayed sided-by side for the entire quarter mile.

The margin of victory at the finish line was just three thousandths of a second.

Coughlin,in his third final of 2002, drove the Jeg's Mail Order Chevy Cavalier to earlier round wins over Bruce Allen, low qualifier Jim Yates, and Mark "^isnant on his way to career win number 24.

Anderson dispatched Troy Coughlin, Tom Hammonds, and George Marnell.

Angelle Savoie claimed her third

Pro Stock Bike win of the year when opponent Shawn Gann redlighted at the start.

The reigning series Champion had earlier defeated Sam Hurwitz, John Smith, and Antron Brown, posting low elapsed time in every round.

- DAVID OSTASZEWSKI Points: Top Fuel: Dixon 11K2, Bernstein 995, Sehumacher 777, McClc'nathan 739, Russell 619, Kalitta 615, Herbert 596, Grubnic 533, Hartman-Smlth 511, Cowin 479. Funny Car: Force 877, Densham 839, Pedregon 720, Worsham 710, Bazemore 678, Cannon 650, Capps 610, Gray 566, Johnson Jr 536, Wilkerson 513. Pro Stock: Yates 822,Anderson 720,Johnson 712, Coughlin Jr 651,Alderman 619. Pro Stock Bike: Savoie 703, Treble 604, Brown 545, Gann 492, Hines 476.

motortport newt

DRAG RACING

Willowbank windfall

by MARK GLENDENNING WILLOWBANK has secured the rights to host the Australian Nationals for the next three years (2003-5), after landing a substantial grant package from the Queensland Government.

"This is great news for drag racing," Willowbank President John Winterburn said.

"This (deal) gives us the chance to plan three years ahead, which will make things much easier when we're negotiating with sponsors."

Neither Winterburn and the track's benefactor, the Queensland Events Corporation, were prepared to divulge the exact size of the government's contribution, however rumoured estimates of just over $70,000 per year for a total of approximately $240,000 were dismissed by Winterburn as being high of the mark.

The facility has also been allocated an additional subsidy by the Department of Sport and Recreation's Queensland Events Regional Development Program.

Under the arrangement, the government has committed to match Willowbank dollar for dollar to a total of $365,000 to assist with a complete overhaul of the track's facilities.

The entire track surface will be resealed, and the concrete launch pad will be extended to

i

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half-track.

The concrete guardrails around the finish area will also be raised to comply with NHRA specifications. It is expected that the facelift will be completed in October.

"The Australian National Drag Racing Championships has now leapt from the regional program to major events status in the Queensland Events portfolio," said Minister State Development Tom Barton.

Winterburn also acknowledged that while the location of both the Nationals and the Winternationals in Queensland was obviously a bonus for Willowbank, it may not be seen as such elsewhere.

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AUSTRALIA'S longest-running drag racing magazine, Dragster Australia, has changed hands.

After running the publication for 23 years, founders David and Jan Cook have handed the keys to the office to ANDRA NSW Division Director Geoff Crisp. John Baremans will step into the role of editor. n In the wake of the ACT Government's backflip over promises to fund a drag strip in the area, Canberra racers and fans will take to the streets to express their anger.

A protest rally similar to that seen in Sydney a few years ago has been planned, with midday on August 20 currently looking like the likely date and time. The protest will finish at the ACT Legislative Assembly Building, London Circuit, Canberra, Final details are still subject to conformation, and the rally is also subject to the granting of the neccessary police permits.

More details will be provided as they come to hand, but in the meantime, if you're in the area then pencil the date into your calendar!

Sydney doesn't have to be the only success story... n Shannon Jenkins racked up his third win on the NHRA AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge tour.

Jenkins and his 'Iceman''68 Camaro posted a winning 6.29/221 to stop finalist Ed Hoover who slowed to a 6.58/210 in Paul Trussell's '63 Corvette.

The seventh stop on the AMS Pro Mod Challenge will take place during the MAC Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, August 29-September 2.

- MARK GLENDENNING/ DAVID OSTASZEWSKI

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"Without question some racers in other states will not agree with the move," he said.

"This decision took a degree of courage on ANDRA's part, but there is no doubt they ' looked at what was best for the long term development of what probably should be the sport's premier event."

The Nationals were run at Melbourne's Calder Park between 1992 and 2001, however increasing friction between ANDRA and track owner Bob Jane, which culminated with Jane dumping the 2001 event just weeks before it was staged, led to Australian drag racing's hallmark event moving north.

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69

Hip to be square

f n -^HE sound of popping H champagne corks coming JL from the direction of Sweden marks Volvo’s celebration of their 75th anniversary this year.

The first Volvo, designated the 0V4 and,for reasons unknown, nicknamed ‘Jackob’, rolled out of the factory on 14 April 1927.

Exports commenced a year later, following the appearance of the covered PV4.

Volvo has never built an all-out sports car (perhaps the stylish P1800 coupe came closest), and the company is better known for its stoic sedans.

At first glance, Volvo may not have seemed the sort of manufacturer to make a huge impression on the racing world.

For one thing, their early successes were recorded against the wishes ofAssar Gabrielsson,(a co-founder of the company along with Gustaf Larson), who feared that taking to the track might damage the company's safety image. Besides which, the cars did not exactly look the part. But race they did, and with considerable success particularly in rallying.

The PV444 appeared quietly on the scene with its 1420cc fourcylinder OHV engine in the 1952 Swedish Midnight Rally, and went home with the Ladies trophy.

The marque was destined for a great deal more success in ‘Ladies class’ racing over the next few years, with Ewy Rosquist taking out the European Ladies Championship in 1959 and 1961,and Sylvia Osterberg following suit in 1963.

The PV444 had grown to 1600cc and 85bhp in 1957, and it was at this point that the rally world began to sit up and take note.

Over the next eight years, the

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OzEmail, Euro-based car: John Bowe takes the wheel of the locally(Photo by John Morris/Mpix) prepared 240T at Oran Park In 1986. roundlbacked, two-door saloons (which became known as the PV544 after 1959)scored many important international rally wins, including the 1963 RAC Rally.

It was won by Tom Trana, perhaps Volvo’s most successful driver, who went on to win both the Acropolis Rally and the Midnight Sun Rally in 1964.

It was the following year though, when the Swedish machines really got into their stride.

Joginder Singh scored in the 1965 East African Safari, while Trana took the Swedish Rally and Carl-Magnus Skogh gave the PV544 back-to-back Acropolis wins.

By now the PV544 had reached the end of its competition life and was replaced by the 120/130 Series, but only modest results came its way.

In touring car racing, Volvo made some inroads in the US, where PV444s finished 1-2-3-4 in a saloon car race at Lime Rock, and followed it up a year later with a 12-3 result. But Europe,it was a

very different story. Gunnar Andersson won his class in a BRDC saloon car race at Silverstone in 1959, and Trana and Skogh were class winners in the 1963 six-hour saloon car race at Brands Hatch.

But that was just a curtainraiser, for in the 1980s Volvo climbed right to the top of the touring car tree.

A run of ominous showings in the European Touring Car Championship culminated with Gianfranco Brancatelli and Thomas Lindstrom taking the 1985 title in their Eggenberger 240 Turbo.

And let’s not leave Australia out ofthe equation. In 1986, Kiwi Robbie Francevic brought his Volvo 240T across the Tasman and proceeded to blow away the local opposition and take the Australian Touring Car Championship, much to the embarrassment of the locals.

Melbourne’s John Shepherd was manager of the Volvo Dealer Team at the time and remembers building up a second car which was

Swedes in the South of France: A P122 Is flagged away for the start of the 1959 Monte Carlo Rally offered to Francevic, who instead chose to drive the European car.

The local car was taken over by John Bowe.

Then there was the Bathurst 1000 in 1998, where Jim Richards and Rickard Rydell overcame the attentions of- and a post-race protest from - the Team Dynamics Nissan Primera GT of Steve Richards and Matt Neal to steer themselves into the record books with a win in their Volvo S40.

And they claimed victory by the narrowest ‘racing’ margin ever, crossing the line a scant 1.5s ^ ahead of the Nissan.

These days, Volvo’s serious racing efforts are restricted largely to the FLA European Touring Car series, where a S60 is being put to good use by Rydell.

- BRIAN REED/ MARK GLENDENNING

iWiiaai CSV WOW'

Rydell of your life: Rickard Rydell and Jim Richards steer the S40 to victory at Bathurst in 1998, left. Nowadays, you can find Rydell driving a S60 in the ETC series at venues such as Brno, above.

(Photos by Phil Williams and Sullon-Images)

motoriport news

HISTORIC5 Briefly historic

New-look Classic Adelaide SOME major changes are being implemented for this year’s Classic Adelaide Raliy which wiii bring it more into line with the FIA-sanctioned international Targa-type events in both its vehicie eligibility and format.

The 2002 Classic Adelaide Rally will now be one day longer, beginning on Monday 14 October, with a new field-seeding Prologue on Wednesday 16 for Classic competitors to determine their starting order the following morning. The rally proper begins Thursday 17 from the Hilton Adelaide and for four

THE Victorian Mini Club will host Australia's only auto salon show and shine concours and sound off specifically for Minis in August.

Minishow 2002 will open to the public on Sunday, August 11 from 10am till 6pm in the Melbourne Showgrounds Exhibition Centre, Epsom Road, Ascot Vale.

For further details, or to enter your Mini contact Jan Small on (03) 9744 7126, mobile 0412 039 863, or e-mail minishow@mini.org.au.

days loops into the Mount Lofty Ranges covering the Barossa Vailey, Adelaide Hills and Southern Vales wine regions of the state.

Some big names wiii be seen in action, including Indy winner and team owner Bobby Rahal, British Touring Car champion Win Percy, tripie Formuia One champion Sir Jack Brabham and South Austraiia’s Le Mans winner Vern Schuppan. n For more detaiis call (08) 8227 0666 or visit www.ciassicadelaide.com.au - BRIAN REED

n The Victorian Historic Racing Register has recently received a wonderful bequest from the family of the late Brian Torney, an avid follower of motor sport since the mid 1950s.

Brian gathered together an extensive collection of motor racing programs and motor magazines (including a complete set of English 'Autosport') and these have found their way to the VH RR clubrooms.

The club now plans to establish a motor racing library of magazines and books for the use of members, and other enthusiasts will be encouraged to donate similar reading matter to the collection.

I don’t think he’ll be driving this: Bobby Rahal is pencilled in to run this year’s Classic Adelaide.

Brabham in, Alta out IMEREO Dizane is still grinning after the arrival into this country of the ex-Emerson Fittipaldi/John Watson Brabham FI car - a welcome addition to his ever-growing collection of Brabham cars.

It's a BT42 which now means Nereo now has an FI, an F2 and an F3 Brabham plus Jack's Indianapolis 500 car.

Not a bad collection!

Also grinning right now is Melbourne's Graeme Lowe, whose 1936 Alta 2-litre racing car has just been sold at auction to Californian Tom Price for a record $308,000.

First raced back in the 1930s by a number of British drivers including Johnny Wakefield, who achieved several

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successes at Brooklands, it was brought to Australia in 1947 by Tony Gaze.

The Alta corripeted at major events at Lobethal, SA, and the Australian Grand Prix at Point Cook in 1948.

It also broke the outright record at the Rob Roy hillclimb the same year.

- BRIAN REED

n Australian Formula Junior Association member Kelvin Prior is currently compiling a register of Lynx owners and cars, and is keen to hear from anyone who has been associated with the marque in the past. He plans to make the register available to others once it is completed, and he can be contacted on (03)9707 1652, Meanwhile the AFJA is hoping that New Zealand will be able to establish a similar organisation across the Tasman; and that the Kiwis will bring their Formula Juniors over to compete against the locals ip a similar way to the current Formulaj 5000 relive of the Tasman Series. ' It would be a reciprocal arrangement with the Aussie FJs also crossing the Tasman to take on the Kiwis.

- BRIAN REED

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Epple invades the SpiderWebb

by PHIL BRANAGAN

THE honours were shared in the two Porsche Cup races at Barbagallo.

Jonathon Webb won a tense qualifying battle in his GT3 Cup car, taking pole by 0.0119s from local Walter Epple(GT2 Twin Turbo) and Webb went on to take Race 1, despite the close attentions of Matthew Coleman.

The Victorian, who dominated the first half of the season, challenged Webb hard, but halflost his GTS in the final corner to take the pressure off the Sydney rookie.

Race 2, run in damp conditions, was a much different kettle of fish.

After Tim Pritchard hit a spun Don Tryhorn on lap 3, the Safety Car stacked up the field, which

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had been led from the start by Epple from Webb and Coleman.

After 3 laps, racing resumed, Epple under seige from a charging

Hennig, who shot by on the final lap.

Coleman took third from Dean Grant and Martin Wagg, while

Dean Cook led David Giugni to the flag, Webb spinning away a good finish on the final corner and dropping to ninth.

Go West, MG l Photn hy Pirk-A/ynsmUh.

Stubber’s WA Stuff HISTORIC touring cars always prove popular at the Barbagallo round of the V8 Series, and this year's battle between the 'golden oldies' was dominated by Paul Stubber's monstrous Camaro, above.

The local took the first 12-lapper clear of the Ford Mustang of Chris Stillwell and the Torana XU-1 s of Ron Moller and Peter McLean, and followed it up with another win over McLean and Moller in the second race.

The final event was another Stubber win, but only by four-tenths over Stillwell and the Torana of Frank Viskovich.

72

Off and racing! A large field of MGs were at the Barbagallo round, above, but it was Grant Johnson, (Photos by Dirk Kiynsmilh) below, who did plenty of the dominating.

THE Kumho Tyres MG Trophy headed to Barbagallo for its latest round, with the ‘Chance of a Lifetime’ competi tion winners dominating.

Grant Johnson, currently impressing in the Konica V8 Supercar Series, took the first 10-lapper, while fellow competition winner Ben Morley got on top to take the second. ' The close racing that the series offers was one of the highlights of the weekend’s support bill, and, with drivers having had a few rounds on a variety of circuits to familiarise themselves with the open-top MGs,future rounds will certainly be worth watching.

Johnson was forced to settle for third in race two, behind Morley and former Volvo Super Touring and Nations Cup racer Mark Williamson. Yanis Derums’s Maxisteel machine took the runner-up position in the first race, ahead of Jamie Cartwright.

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motorsport news

NATIONAL

Arrow on Targot n The Walls of Jericho: Matt Wall, pictured racing Daniel Elliot, emerged unscathed from a nasty roll-over at (Photo by Paris Charles) Ipswich’s APS round.

by MARK WICKS ADAM Graham and Arrow karts have struck hack at round two of the APS CIK Australian Championship, winning the Formula A class at Ipswich recently.

Graham survived an actionpacked final that was red-flagged after just five laps when Matthew Wall(Tony Kart) had a frightening roll over, luckily without serious injury.

Graham qualified in the back half of the field, half a second off pole sitter and l ound one winner Barclay Holden (Trulli Kart).

In fact, qualifying in all three of the lOOcc classes was dominated

by Trulli Kart drivers, Holden (FA), Glenn Powles(ICA)and Ben McCashney(Junior ICA)all taking the orange frames to grid one, although none were to capture a win in the finals.

Holden did, though, take a couple of FA heat wins before Top Kart’s Andrew Tomlinson picked up the pace, winning heat three and the pre-final.

After the final was restarted, Richard McLeod (Azzurro)jumped into the lead and opened a gap, but Graham fought back to PI and it appeared the two were going to stage a huge battle for the win when McLeod rolled to a stop with a broken chain.

This elevated Holden to second with Michael Patrizi(Birel) third having started last.

Graham’s win moves him to the head of the points table (99),just clear of Holden (96) and the consistent Troy Hunt(93).

10 July 2002

It also takes Arrow to fourth in the AON Manufacturer’s Cup behind Tony Kart, Top Kart and Birel.

Western Australian youngster Hayden Patrizi(Michael’s younger brother) took his first CIK win, taking out Intercontinental A in a Birel/WA clean sweep, Paul Williams second after a difficult weekend.

New Zealand’s Colin Corkery was third, as championship leader and pre-final winner Luke May fell back to sixth with an engine problem.

Another to take his debut CIK win was Paul Laskazeski, winning the Junior ICA class for BRM. After Ben McCashney qualified fastest, it was former champion Andrew Thompson (Tony Kart) who won all the heats before Laskazeski took control in the pre-final.

Roddy Bellbowen (Top Kart) made it to the front of the final, but contact with Thompson saw him exit the event, Andrew recovering for second place and still holding the championship lead.

Third went to first-time JICA racer Ashley Walsh (Tony Kart) who put in an excellent drive from the rear of the grid.

The Intercontinental C class saw a number of‘names’ added to the field, William Yarwood (Arrow), Tyson Pearce(Omega)and Nick Agland(CRG)joining the regulars, but it was Jason Burns (MacMinarelli) who took his second win in a row.

Yarwood (Arrow) was second ahead of Peter Darmanin (Swiss Hutless).

The racing at the front of the

Biland class -was almost a mirror copy of round one, Reif Corbett (CRG) winning the heats before Luke Wood (Azzurro)reversed the positions in the final. Kiel Johnston (Azzurro) was third.

Round three of the APS CIK Australian Championship is at Raleigh on August 24-25.

Euro karting at loggerheads EUROPEAN kart and engine manufacturers are at loggerheads with the international karting authority,the CIK-FIA. In a letter addressed to the CIK president, the manufacturers basically a who's who list of chassis and engine companies - expressed a "total disagreement" with a number of the decisions made by the CIK in recent years regarding (among other things) the introduction of four-stoke, twin cylinder engines for CIK classes, future exclusion of two-stroke from CIK classes, the new low-cost World Formula, and the lack of financial support and television coverage that was promised for teams participating in the FSA World Championship. n Another brand of kart will be racing in Australia shortly, ICC competitor Daniel Busic is importing a couple of the Italian First chassis for he and team-mate Peter Darmanin to use in the final CIK round later in the year.

First enjoys a close relationship with the Pavesi engine company and is putting on a strong showing in the European Super ICC championship.

- MARK WICKS

June/July Event

QLD Raceway

July 12-14

Procar Championships

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73

Queensland Racev/ay

Gupr ana

by MARK JONES

Photo by Mark Jones

Bob The Builder

Can he win it? Yes, he can!

by MARK JONES

BOB Middleton,above, claimed his first Super Prix of the season with a focused drive to chase down the leaders at Queensland Raceway. Form throughout the day saw CAT team-mate Inky 'Tulloch win the day on points from Middleton and Luke Sieders.

Tulloch’s CAT Freightliner was the fastest of the rigs in qualifying, a whole second faster than Luke Sieders in the All-Thans MAN. Middleton was third in the CAT Volvo ahead of the returning Daniel Bajeema,John Bomberle and David Pitman.

The Top Gun sprints put Sieders on pole alongside 'Tulloch. The blue truck got the best start to lead Tulloch towards turn one, but Tulloch turned in first and built a small gap that Sieders could do nothing about. Middleton beat Bajema to third with Bomberle and Pitman leading the SBRs. Rob Russell, substituting for an ill Rodney Crick in the Shell Rimula Volvo, was ‘meatballed’for smoke from an exploded turbo hose.

The moment of the meeting had to be the start of the Reverse Grid race. The two Pitman trucks of Pitman and Barry Butwell were swamped off the line and for a moment the crowd was treated to the sight of the field running five

abreast as Bomberle split the front row and Bajema and Middleton dived to the grass.

Sieders capitalised on the chaos to jump to third ahead of the two CAT rigs. Sieders and Tulloch quickly disposed of Bomberle.

'Tulloch then took Sieders in a brave move into turn one as they both closed rapidly on Bajema.

Bajema held out until two laps to go when he was dropped to fourth.

Tulloch took the win from Sieders with Russell climbing to third.

The Super Prix saw Middleton lead the chase of the Light'Trucks initially. With most of a lap start, Graham Spencer and Stan Seton circulated at the front, trying to put off the inevitable.

As the big rigs came down the short back straight on lap one, Sieders got too close to Russell, the MAN climbing up onto the rear of Russell’s Volvo. The two trucks separated with damage and both were delayed. Also being delayed was 'Tulloch, squabbling amongst the Kenworths while Middleton chased down the SBRs. At half-distance, a tyre blew on the wounded Sieders MAN and with a few laps to go, Spencer slowed and succumbed to Middleton. Tiilloch climbed up to second at the end with Seton hanging on for third ahead of Bajema and the slowing Spencer.

-MARK JONES

!

ALAN Gurr continued his dominance of the Super Touring Series with three wins from three starts at Queensland Raceway in the SAE College BMW 320i.

Second fastest in qualifying, Gurr nnade the most of his front row position and the Beemer's rear-wheel-drive to race away to three race wins, virtually unopposed.

Pole position went to the invited Sports Sedan of David Waldon (Honda Prelude-Nissan) ahead of Gurr, then the Team Mondeo Fords of Peter Hills and Grant Johnson, Paul Leabeater (Toyota Camry) and Andre Morgan (Alfa 155).

Race One's start rapidly became a shambles when the late-arriving Malcolm Rea's Toyota Carina shed a wheel on the grid, aborting the first start.

As the field moved away for a new warm-up lap, Waldon and the Mondeo of Sam Dale refused to start. Waldon was pushed away, and Dale was re started. Hills then lined up well forward of his grid position, earning him a stop-go penalty.

At the start, Gurr bolted away from the field to lead Hills, Leabeater, Johnson and Andrew Haberfield (Nissan Primera). Up to sixth from the rear of grid was Luke Searle in the SAE team's second, ex-Playboy BMW. Johnson took third on lap three, which became second when Hills pitted for his stop-go, but was unable to do anything about Gurr. Leabeater was third from Haberfield, Searle and Hills.

In the second race Gurr again disappeared into the distance as the three Mondeos squabbled over the minors, with Johnson leading home Dale and Hills.

It was more of the same in the final race as Gurr was too quick.

Waldon returned to carve through the field to second only to retire just past half distance. Hills took second from Dale, Haberfield and Michael Kerslake in the muchimproved Hyundai Lantra.

Super Touring Points

Chasing the Buiider: John Bomberle and Rob Russell (filling in for an ill Rodney Crick) were among the chasers in Queensland. (Photo by RIGGPIXXX) 74

Gurr 163, Johnson 138, Hills 128, Morgan 123, Rea 119, Leabeater 95.

IN Future Touring’s first visit to Queensland, Ray Sidebottom, above,took the bright orange APS Commodore VX to a trifecta of victories over a thin field.

Reigning Champ Tim Shaw (Commodore VS)was second for the day with debutant Steve Wiiiiams(Commodore VX) immediateiy impressing with third for the round.

Sidebottom put his Commodore on pole with a 57.6543s lap, while sharing the front row was the EL Falcon of Kerry Wade, who settled into the new circuit faster than most of the field. Shaw was third ahead moiorsport news

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The yvay to do it and the way not to do it: Alan Gurr, above, racked up another three wins in the SAE Cottege/Searle BMW 320i at Queensland Raceway, while his rivals couldn't do anything about it. Malcolm Rea’s Toyota Carina, left, popped a wheel off, delaying the start of race one.

(Photo.’: hy Mark Jonc,s aiul RICGPlXXXi

Photo by Mark Jones

b

^

;■

The French Connection

RUSTY French, above, rejoined the Power Tour V8 Stock Car series with a bang, taking pole position and two race wins to top the pointscore, driving his brand new Chevy Monte Carlo.

Series leader Andrew Miedecke could only salvage a Race 3 win and equal second for the day with team-mate Chris Templer third.

French took pole late in the session after Miedecke set a time mid sessions and parked the Whiteline Chevy. Local hero Dean Wanless also pipped Miedecke for the front row. At the first race start Dick Howe spun the Thunderbird through the Turn 3 Dipper as Miedecke and Wanless chased French, with Wanless out on lap two with a broken gearbox. French held out Miedecke for the win, with Templer holding out Todd Wanless for third with another newcomer, Tony Edwards, fifth in the ex-Allan Grice Pontiac Grand Prix.

In the reverse grid race, Peter Nolan took the lead but was chased down by Todd Wanless and French. Wanless slowed with gearbox dramas handing the win to French ahead of Edwards and Templer, with Todd Wanless leading the wounded.

Race 3 was all Miedecke as the Monte Carlo bolted away to win oomfortably. Todd Wanless led the chase early until another gearbox problem claimed the Thunderbird. That brought Burrows up to second which he held to the flag with Templer third from Brooks and Edwards, with French spinning twice on his way to sixth.

-MARK JONES

C'

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tLilfliiSw

No bucket and spade: Andrew Parker took to the gravel at Queenslahd (Photo by RIGGPIXXX) Raceway.

of the second APS Commodore of Shannan Sidebottom, Mark Papendell, Andrew Gillespie, Geoff Parker and Williams.

Sidebottom got the better of the first start to lead away from Shaw, Wade and Papendall.

Some vicious dicing at the front of the field saw Papendall end his race in the sand trap at turn 6.

This brought Sidebottom Jr up to fourth, though several offs including glancing the wall between turns 1 and 2 would take him to the rear of the field.

Williams gradually hunted down Wade, taking him on the last lap.

Gillespie won the battle for fifth.

18 Illy 2002

For the reverse grid race, Williams led almost the entire distance but was hunted down by Sidebottom Snr with three laps to go. Sidebottom Jr took third winning a dice with Parker and Shaw, with Shaw establishing a new lap record.

The third race saw Sidebottom Snr again leave the field behind while Shaw three-wheeled his way to second place with Wade coming through the field to take third, upsetting a Holden clean sweep for the round. Sidebottom Jr was fractions behind Wade with Williams in fifth.

- MARK JONES

Triple Christian

REIGNING Champion, Christian D’Agostin took out the silverwear at the Commodore Cup round, controlling the big fiield of Holdens with three wins from three starts in the Strathfield Commodore.

Second for the day was Daniel Richert with another local, Greg Waters, third in the Corvette Queensland car.

In Race 1, D’Agostin led every lap, moving tenths away from second-placed Waters each lap in a disciplined performance. Marcus Zukanovic would come home third ahead of Daniel Richert, who took fourth from Geoff Emery early in

the race in what would not be a good weekend for the series leader.

Waters was caught out by the second start, dropping down the field, while D’Agostin cleared away to another faultless display with Richert and Zukanovic relatively untroubled in second and third.

Fourth has held by the Axent car of Andrew Mclnnes, but a spin late in the race dropped him to eighth.

Race 3 was a repeat of the previous when D’Agostin led every lap with Richert in second. Waters got the better of Zukanovic for third on lap four, with the recovering Emery getting into fourth a lap later.

-MARK JONES 75

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Sedans/Spoits Cars

Mustang '65 Group Nb, 289 High horespower roller cam motor, 48 Ida's, floating rear end, reshelled '99, ultra reliable, fully sorted, spare g'box, wheels, diff etc. Complete drive train freshened. Immac race ready cond. $58,000 Ph

HQ race car number 68, Top 5 in 2000 NSW state championship. Fresh engine only one meeting old. Spare wheels and tyres as well as other spares. Ready to race. Assistance to new owner. $5,500. Ph Garry on 02 96255918bh or 02 96257008 ah. 335

$12,000 ph 0438 217405or 03 9727 1828.235

round, LSD, spool and locked diffs, equipped with Fire Bomb,full instrumentation and centrelock wheels. Spares. New pyrometer, bump steer huage, camber caster guage, 20 x 10 ezy up shelter with walls, elearic winch trailer, new wets and drys, all you need to race this car except the dollars included. 473 hp, 860kg, $35,000 ono. Ph 03 9808 8966 bh, 03 9888 9298 ah or 0417 312 230. !3s

Cortina Mk 1, excellent original condition, suit Group N/Ciassic Rallyctc. Reg HS0001. $2,800 ph 03 6248 1248. 23s Xl-

0418 539 027.236

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2000 Nissan 200 SX Spec R, bond cage, new seat and harness, Motec M8, fresh engine, gearbox and diff. 12 wheels, spare engine and ancillaries. Ideal for Procar 24 hour race, Targa Tas etc. Only raced twice! Ring Darrell on 02 4578 3434 or 0403 333 204. 236

nekowii

5“

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Ford Escort Mk II 2 litre Sports Sedan. Pinto eng twin Webers 4w discs, new brakes. 5-spd Celica gearbox, locked diff, quick rack steering, moulds, many extras, $12,900 ph 02 6687 5355. 236

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Commodore Cup car, professionally built, new engine, gearbox, front rotors, tyres, ready to race with new MRT race trailer, $28,500, ph Cameron 0418 318 866.235

10 lull 2B02

Sports Sedan 6 litre Capri, w/ Chev 600-r HP, engine, Getrag 5 speed, everything brand new, state of art tube chassis, too much to list, $25,000 ph 07 5428 7384.235 Falcon EF Race Car. suit Improved Production club car, 530-t hp, Cleveland alloy heads, billet crank, big brakes, coil over suspension, Super T10, best of everything, all new, will separate engine, box. Could be modified for street. $21,000 ph 07 5428 7384.235 Gemini Coupe race cars, 2, ready to race, both competitive cars, $3000 each, ph 07 5428 7384.236

Torana SS hatch, 400+ hp 5 litre engine, fully studded, rollers, circuit tyre sump, steel/ lightweight flywheel etc, 4-spd, big brake conversion, braided lines, konis, race brushes, whiteline springs/bars, cambered diff housing, new 15x8 wheels, complete, never raced, travelled less than 100km since built, suit club sprints or improved production class, $15,000 neg, ph Jim 03 9795 1112 or 0416 281 054.236

my105.com

GTP XR6 AUll Falcon, ex Longhurst as raced at Bathurst 99/00. Upgraded to AUll spec as per Procar requirements. Perfect entry level car. List of spares. $35,000. Ph Guy 07 3343 1566.236 Datsun 1200 Coupe, racing preparation started, car drives and has excellent sound shell, ready for all the right bits, 100% genuine reason for sale, $2000, also second rolling car, sound string shell, minus gearbox, ph 03 9888 7992 or 0419 335 670.236

Holden Group Nc HQ, V8 Kingswood good car, heaps of potential, cheap V8 racing, $16,500 ph 02 9913 1919.236 MAZDA RX7 Club Car, Close ration 4-Spd, 4.8 diff. Kmac suspension, Haltec fuel injection. 13 B Bridgeport. Consistently top running car in Qld and best value for money at $13,500.

Would cost $20,000 to rebuild. Ideal car for this years nationals held in Qld. Ph Tony Dunn 07 3210 0244bh, or 0438 88 7791.236

HSV VT II SENATOR SIGNATURE, Phantom Mica (black), 5.7 V8 250kw, 52,000kms, 6-spd, 9/99, Coulson (shale)leather seats, sunroof, 10 stacker, luxury performarce pack inc: 18" Grange wheels, brakes, tints, mats etc, log books, Quik Trak secunity, Nokia phone kit.

Rego: 11/02. An immaciilate rarely driven vehicle. Must be sold. RtBR-440 (n/t) $55,000 offers 0411 101 977(5yd) 235

Datsun 240Z, Marque Sports, chassis no. 185, 2 engines, 2 gearboxes inci option 1, original body panels, discs all round, plus spares, $25,000 ph Colin 03 9836 2600bh or 03 9808 1525ah. 235 Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 6 GT Performance ciass, fresh engine and running gear,12 Speedline wheels race ready for Phillip Island, Sandown 500, Bathurst 24hr and 2003 series $54,000. Ph Adam 0402 127 243. 235

Qld Gemini Series race car, competitive and consistent, very reliable, 100% finishing history, fresh carbie, some spares, on-track technical advice if required. Ready to race, $5000, Ph Matthew L'Estrange 07 5494 5476 or 0412 566 276. 235

Ford Cortina TF Sports Sedan, 351 Windsor fresh engine, Alloy .heads, Roller cam, Roller rockers, Dry sumped. 600-ehp, big brakes, Koni adj shocks SuperTIObox, Full floater 9" Ford diff, fab front end big rose joints all round, Simmons wheels, All moulds. New paint, ready to race. $25,000ono Ph Frank Sola on 0412 328124 or 03 5940 2478. 235

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Torana Sports Sedan, 2.02 4 speed M20 adj shock all round, 4 spot brakes, 16 x 10 Simmonds wheels, fresh engines, turbo 400hp, ready to race, logbook, $6800 ph 0418 311 320. 235

Exa Sports Sedan, 2QB PP Triple Rotor, RWD LHD fuel injected, full space frame chassis, lift off front and rear, professional build and Under 2 litre. Sports Sedan, VW L series, everything new, ground up built, never raced, requires engine to complete, ring for details.

National Championship ready. Raced only 4 times since completion, suit new buyer. Fully adjustable double wishbone suspension all

964 RSR Replica, Road Registered, Ideal Classic

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Class in Targa Tasnnania, Porsche Cup, etc. 1/4 mile 12.75 sec, 1 st in class - Dutton, Strathfield Indy, $65,000 ono Full specs available, ph 03 9318 7515 or 0410 635 911. 235 1974 LA Lancer rally car, 2 litre Group G with big history, rebuilt over the last 12 mths features more extensive roll cage with double intrusion bars, brand new Ralliart 4.6 LSD new exhaust etc, comes with 4G32 complete with Np 5 works cam, new exhaust and twin Weber manifold to convert to PRC new harnesses Brantz rally computer. Club permits plates engine number 3A94604. $7000, ph Andrew 03 5443 0810 or 03 5442 3347.235 Welsor waggot sports 1300 Clubman built 1972 by Colin Waer, rebuilt from one end tothe other including new pait. Features 3K Corolla engine with new big valve head, Modena close ratio gearbox, new clutch, rebuilt diff and new" front shocks. 2 sets of 3 piece wheels new Avon a 40/45 hillclimb tyres, same compound wets.

Very quick and competitive, 3rd outright at Tarrangower last year, 1 outright Eddington Sprints last year. $17,500, ph Andrew 03 5443 0810 or 03 5442 3347.235 Commodore Cup cars and equipment, the very best available, several cars and heaps of spares including engines, gearboxs and diffs.

Contact Barry Cassidy on 0417 358 313 or 03 9336 191 1. 235

chassis, quick change diff, spare wheels, tyres, bonnet and doors. $7500 ono. Also 355 Chev methanol engine. $8500 ono. The lot $15,300 ono. Ph 02 6341 3710. 235 Modified Production VK/VL Commodore, all good equipment. Pro shocks, Autometer guages, Mallory pump, MSO, Charlyn power steer, heaps of spares, $8000 ono, ph 07 5598 5746 or 0417 738 229.235

Open Wheelers Original Elfin NG Vee, ideal car for newcomer from karts, midfield runner has lots of potential, includes fully enclosed trailer, tows well, chequer plate floor, selling due to move to other category, $12,000 ph 0425 261 315(NSW). 235

Elfin 623/F3, Historic race car (Group Q), genuine all steel gear driven Holbay engine (no expense spared), 5-sp Holinger LSD, wets, top hp, a very successful race car. $28,500 firm, ph Des Lamer 08 8272 5637.235

Datsun 1600, Stored 10 years, rust tree shell and panels, original black trim also 180B SSS motor 240K 5 speed $2000 ono Ph 0407 460 484(NSW). 235

XE Street Sedan, Imp Prod 351 3 spd steel bond cage, ground up build, 4 meetings old, 52.5 OP South 1st outing, full spares, motor and gearbox just refreshed, see F350 in Transporters, ph 02 6382 5927 or 0407 786 458. 234

557 056.236

heads, microtech injection, big h/p, big alcon brakes, aluminium radiator, steel cage, CAMS logbook, fresh A032's, $1600, ph 02 4351 2448 or 02 4352 2526h. 235

Sports 1300 Clubman, Haggis Toyota US 160 hp+/450kg. Hillclimb and circuit diffs.

Successful racing history. Log books. Eligable historic. Spare rims. Wets and slicks. Dual Modification, new paint, superb condition, ready to race. PDA. Ph Mark 0438 586 115 (Vic). 235 Haase go-kart, with ')' motor, good competitive kart with spares, won last time out and would be a perfect kart for a newcomer, $2000.235

Speedway 1 4

Ml CWRKOVAIS

Sprintcar - Sportsmans, 186 Holden methanol engine, 3 speed box, mags, fresh paint, Lukey exhaust, race ready, class still running at Drouin & Bairnsdale, good hillclimber. $1500, ph 03 5134 8438. 235

Sprintcar chassis, 1998 Avenger 'Safety Cage'.

Complete ,with lightweight motor plate, stainless steel crash bars, dash, floor, fibreglass panels with scoop, lightweight wing trees, plus more, 35 races, $2000, priced for quick sale, ph 0416 194 763.236

Super Sedan chassis, AU Falcon, fibreglass bodykit complete less running gear, excellent condition $1800 ono ph 0419 989 01 or 02 4730 3440.235 VW Quickchange, suit compact offset axle, one piece bircages, brakes, strengthened cage, $500, ph 0438 557 056. 235 Front and rear wings, suit Litre with kits, $500 ph 0438 557 056, 235

Sprintcar, 2001 Stealth Dash 12 Shaver. Good hp, never bent, all good gear, lots titanium.

Speedcar Pearce chassis, V6 Volvo, Lee steering, Gardniner long sipined moly axle.

Outlaw, Halibrand, Real, weld, splined pro stocks. Heaps of spares, race ready, $9000 ph 03 9308 3260 or 0425 793 334.235

Spares wings (Kelly Winfirld Racing). Last start winner. $49,500ono. Ph; Phil 0415 229 590 234

Sprintcar fuel tank, midget size, fuel safe bladder and new top plate, good condition, $500, ph 0416 194 763.235

Sprint car engine 372, genuine Chev Bowtie lightweight alloy block, Lunati l/w crank, l/w Oliver condrods, JE pistons, alloy Summer Bros gear drive. Gambler 4 stage dry sump pump, Moroso Pw alloy sump, Peterson tank and remote filter, KSE water pump and timing cover, Brodix I80 heads. Crane roller gear, Jessel rockers, 2 1/2 Kinsler injector, Moroso l/w alloy rocker covers with internal oilers, Don Zigg Magneto, PWR radiator, DSR fuel pump, MPD l/w crank drive new, complete engine with all water lines, oil lines and fuel lines with high speed and low speed and filter, Schoenfeld swept forward extractors, spin strap mufflers.

Engine has done 2 season from brand new and has just been freshened. EC. $37,000, ph 03 9728 4839 or 0410 493 242.236

Super Sedan Vic 33, IROC Camero, 350 Chev, Bert box, quick change, wide 5 all round, lots and lots of spares. 21ft custom built enclosed traiier/workshop. Nothing to spend, ready to race. $41500. Ph 0418 520 456.235

Engines

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EA Falcon, abandoned Saloon Car project, good straight car, rebuilt 5-speed, ail sound deadening stripped, ready for cage, $2400 ph Neil 0427 936 430 or 02 6760 8409.234 Saloon Car Falcon EA, 5 races old, fresh engine, ready for National Series. Latest spec, must sell, urgent, best offer, 07 3208 8633. 235 Commodore Improved Production, 355 Holden stroker motor, aluminium late model

BSSSS

Chev SB race engine, 600 HP, raised runner, bow-tie heads, steel crank, best of everything, brand new throughout, $15,000 ph 07 5428 7384.236 '

V street Stock, Current South Australia 1, best of everything, $8000, ph 0409 007 930.235 Compact speedcar NSW #47, Laser engine, McGee injection, Schroder box. Autometer gauges, Gardner bars arm & stops, BP quickchange, very quick car, trailer and all spares, urgent sale, $11,000 ono, ph Troy 0438

Super Sedan Commodore, ex-John Pyne

Race engine, Holden 202-40'bore.'The real thing' short motor. ACL race series pistons, shotpeened, rods, blue pwinted and balanced.

Decked block. Just freshened up (2 hrs old) $1800ono. Ph 02 6624 7593.235

THiwav to sell your gear!

77777 From lust $25* fust log on online classifieds

(*$25 rate applies to electronically-supplied advertisements)

CStBBOni: □ Sedans □ Open Wheelers □ Speedway DDrag □ Parts □ Engines □ Trailers □ Wanted □ Photographs □ Other

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MARKET PLACE Pans

$1500, Ford Boss manifold to suit 4 1 DA carbys $1000, Ford Boss 302, indy rods $200 each, Ford Boss set of 8 new rods with 8 new pistons to suit $4000, Carillo rods new set to suit Ford 302 $2000, 1 pair Ford Boss heads BARE $1600, 1 pair Ford high port heads 0 ringed new ported and matched $2000, flywheel steel to suit 7 1/4" clutch $400, flywheel Alo new Chev $500, Lola F5000 front uprights $400 each, Bell housing Repco Holden to DG300 $1000, brake calipers SCP 4 piston large from NASCAR $300 each, brake calipers Willwood, 4 piston new $1200 pair, 9" Ford crown wheel and pinions from $250 all ratios. Roller rockers Crane and Crown suit Ford and Chev, new and used from $50 each, V8 Supercar brake pads from $200 set, front or rear. Ford All bell housing $200, Lola 10" x 15" sports car wheels $250 each, plus many other Ford and racing parts, numerous cam shafts from $50 each, 31 spline axles $50 each. Ph 03 9510 7418, 0412 678 943 or fax 03 9529 5329.235

Skyline GT-R/S, RB 26/25 high mount Garrett R&D hybrid twin turbo's on prof, custom manifold, 3" exhaust to u/floor. K&N filters, all new $7000.00 ono 0419 485 525.235 Fuel pump and regulator, Holley Blue, GC $140, ph 03 9546 8342 or 0417 239 641. 236 Gearbox, 5 spd, close ratio Toyota, steel cage, 3.00/1,99/1.39/1.00/0,85, EC, $375, ph 03 9546 8342 or 0417 2 3 9 641. 236

l Race seats, top quality imported race seats at wholesale prices. Ph 02 6562 7762 or 0412 785 486. l Clutches, 7.25, 5.5, 5.0 single, twin, triple plate, sintered or carbon, AP-Tiiton-QM, new/used. Spare covers, rings, plates also available. CCI Ph 0418 925 767. l Pedals, brake/clutch, floor mount/hanging, new/sued. Also available, bias valves, bias cables, master cylinders, reservoirs etc. CCI Ph 0418 925 767.

Race seat, Sparco 'Pro 2000', hardly used, perf cond, cost $899, black, $600 firm, ph 03 9822 5034. 236 Brembo Four Spot Calipers, 1 Pair - perfect' condition $600 Ph 0418 729 732.236 Hewland FT200 Transaxle. Outboard brake model ex Ralt RT4. Lots of ratios. Only 2 meetings since overhaul. Ph 02 9949 3996. 235 RS 2000 body shell, minus front, mark 2 escort pedal box, brand new Momo steering wheel and Boss kit, ph 0416 166 215.235 Generator, 5.5 kva, good condition, $1200 ono ph 02 4933 4637.235 Seat belt, 5 point Pacific Scientific buckle.

Dominion 2 in webbing, 4 straps and ends, black. $80, ph/fax 02 6253 1028 or email ian.h@netspeed.com.au. 235 Dry Sump tank, alloy, ex-Clubman, 150 mm dia, 360mm h plus neck. 18 mm 1/0 pipes. $120. ph/fax 02 6253 1028 or email ian.h@netspeed.com.au. 235 Appendix J EH parts, 12 port head, Seton ext CAM abd roller rockers clutch and flywheel rollcage Konis frpnt adn rear springs and front bar. Locker diff and modified front seat. $2500 ph 02 4274 4498 bh or 0407 460 484.235 Chev Billet Oliver 6" Rods, exc cond $1500, Holley 750 genuine methanol carb $750, KSE rear mount power steer pump $450, 6x 035" JE Pistons 3 races, 6x 030" Ross Pistons both suit 3.48" stroke OFFERS? ph 03 6424 4544 bh or 0409 092 040.235

l Air jacks, new/used, large range, most applications, quick release handles available, top quality.'CCI. Ph 0418 925 767. l Brake calipers, discs, pads. Mega range, new/used, exc condition - AP, Alcon, Brembo, Outlaw, Willwood. Overnight delivery. CCI Ph 0418 925 767. l Hewland, DGB, 5 spd transaxle, top condition, new 9:31 CWP, ratio choices and spares available, $14K ratios, over 300 in stock to suit DGB, GFGB, TPT, FT200. CCI Ph 0418 925 767. l Oii coolers - heat exchangers, Earls, Setrab, Serck, 6-70 row, new/used, also used water to oil heat exchangers, over 100 in stock. CCI Ph 0418 925 767.

my105.com 10 inly 2002

Chev Suburban 1986, dual fuel, small block, turbo 700, 9 in diff, seats 8, a/c, powersteer, elec windows, alloy wheels, long range fuel tanks, Hayman Reese towbar, $19,000 ono, ph , 03 9761 7261.236

wm 7-

Car trailer, tandem, elect brk, winch, spare, 3.6m X 1.9m, never used, rego 12/02, $3000ono ph 07 3389 8293 ah. 236 Trailer, open single axle checker plate floor, 12 x 7.6, electric brakes, jockey wheel, suit Formula Ford, Vee, etcetc VGC $1275, Ph 0412 421 126 (Qld). 236 Trailer fully enclosed dual axle, 2 side doors, drop down rear door, flouro 240v safety switch bench 4 wheel brakes rego exc cond, rear opening 73”h x 76"w, $7000, ph 03 9308 3260 or 0425 793 334.236 Fully enclosed trailer, tri-axle 26' long with kitchen and power outlets, water tanks, new tyres and spare and annexe, $10,8000 ph 0438 128 287.236

l Uprights, fabricated/cast, fronts/rears, various sizes, new/used, also CVs, driveshafts, wishbones, rockers, pushrods, all top quality, exc condition. CCI Ph 0418 925 767. l Radiators, aluminium, new/used, single/dual pass, top quality, large range, various sizes, suit all applications, fr $300. CCI Ph 0418 925 767.

F250, Ground up rebuilt, dual cab, dual rear wheels, 460 bog block, auto, dual fuel (420 usable Itrs), power steering, (/locking, alarm, c/control, CD, 7'seater, quick sale, PZQ 814, $25000, ph 0418 520 456.235

M

F350, 4 spd, 66 classic beast, full spares, fast reliable immaculate, 35K ono for both (XE Sedan), selling due to health, will separate, ph 02 6382 5927 (bh) 02 6382 3510 (ah) or 0407 786 458.235

Trailer, suit open wheeler, semi enclosed, suit road race or speedway, brand new rebuild rego etc $1500 ph Colin 03 9308 3260 or 0425 793 334.236

Enclosed racecar trailer 18', absolutely first class in design and appearance, full internal fit-out including purpose-built parts cabinets, tyre and fuel, storage spare diff and front axle rack, bench, fluro lighting.

Australian Competition Yearbooks, 1971 (fair condition) $10, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978 (Good condition) $20 each, ph Greg 02 6040 3371 ah. 236 Car Craft magazine coilection for sale, all in very good condition, from 1974 to 1987 inclusive, $275. Also Hot Rod magazine collection from 1973 to 1987, ring for more details. Ph 0408 202 337. 236 Motorsport News, every edition, any offer, ph 02 9817 0678 or 0427 006 878. 235 Magazines and videos. Rare Racing Car News magazines from 1960s through to final years of publication in 80s/90s. Make an offer.

Also, BTCC Highlights videos from 1991-96 plus 2000 and 2001, Le Mans 1999, 2000 and 2001 highlights videos. Variety of other videos available, email noonz@mnews.com.au for a list or ph 0438 316 148. 236 Large quantity of Autocar magazines, 19481965, also The Motor 1948-1965, large runs available or by the year or single copies, ph 08 9279 7003 fax 08 9377 3939.235 Grand Prix International magazine, issue 1 (1979) to issue 105 (1986) plus comprehensive index. Rare. $800 ph/fax 02 6253 1028 or email ian.h@netspeed.com.au. 235 l SusProg 3D, Suspension By Design V4.ll (new version), a 3 dimensional automotive suspenion design program for design and evaluation of road and track suspenion. $275 inc GST. Australian produced and supported.

Demo www.bevenyoung.com.au or posted out on request. Enquiries/orders Beven D Young ph 08 8298 5548 all credit cards. 235 Annuals and Yearbooks, Automobile Year, Aust Motor Racing Yearbook, Aust Competition Yearbook, Bikeyear, Raceyear, Bathurst and James Hardie 1000 - The Great Race. Various prices from $35 each. Also Bathurst programs and Racing Car News. Ph 0411 404 560 ah. 235 Bathurst programs, 73, 74, 77($75 each), 8088 ($50 each) 93, 96, 97 ($40 each), 85 Sandown 500 ($50). Ph Glenn Auckland NZ 09 571 3341.2»

bag. Cost $1100 sell for $900 ono. Call Anthony on 03 52825776 or mobile 0417 3 1 0 3 7 1 236 Race suit /kit for sale. Revolution Racegear, Trans Am kit. Size M Triple Layer Nomex Blue and White suit, size 8 1/2 Le Mans high boots, large gloves, with full underwear set. Used for CAMS licence test only, never raced in. Call Ian on 02 49664434, mobile 0439081156. 234 ● Driving suits, top brand imported race suits, boots, gloves etc. Many styles & colours at wholesale prices. Ph 02 6562 7762 or 0412 785 486.

TransDorters/Trallers 5'..'

omer

Race Suit Package. Revolution Racegear ●Mondial - RPM 900" suit and kit. Size: Large double layer Nomex Suit (Yellow top half/ all black bottom) Size 10 black RPM boots, large gloves with full underwear set. Used once for CAMS licence test. As new condition in RPM kit

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. CCI Ph 0418 925 767.

● Bob Gill clearance sale: Celica body shell, complete with all moulds, panels, ali doors and wings $1500, Jericho gear rations from $400 per set, diff (9" complete drum to drum (no centre) $350, Harrop 9" complete fully floating brakes and calipers $2500,9" NASCAR housing and floating end $500, 8.5" Mustang diffs complete $200, /ixle tubes with fully floating ends $500, Oil coolers from $500 each.

Mustang 82 Model LHD complete Dick Johnson-style body $6000, magnetos LH and RH rebuilt by Bill Dudley from $800 each.

Weaver dry sumps from $600, dry sump tanks from $300, clutches triple plate 7.25" Ford and Chev, new and used parts, 14" and 13.5" Brembo and Harrop discs just bedded in from $200, NASCAR 351 engine block, 4 bolt Chev, sleeved back to standard and modified passages $3000, new 4ma crank rods and new pistons to suit $2500, Ford AUll bodyshell, ideal for Sports Sedan, started project $1500, Space frame with all pick up points, fuel tank and engine plates to suit Chev engine, just put your body over it $2000, V8 Supercar bell housing oil tanks, 1 Behag, 1 Stone Brothers Ford to Hollinger gearbox. Cobra engine, complete with 4 IDA'S Ali sump, Ali rocker covers, Ali manifold $10,000, Chev F5O00 McKay manifold, complete with 8 trumpets and linkages $3500, Chev manifold to suit fuel injection or 410As

ROH wheels with light truck tyres, aluminium cheq, plate floor and front stoneguard, electric brakes with breakaway, power points, safety switch, side door, nosecone. One owner, used for sprintcar. $15,000 ono, ph 0416 194 763

2 car transporter, ex GTP, Prime Scania single drive. Pantech 240v, benches, shelves, tyre rack, winch, belly bins, hyd, rear lifter, 11m x 6 m annexe, $25,000 ph 0408 275 187.235 Toyota Dyna, 1979 tilt tray 6 cyl 2H diesel. 5 spd manual PTO hydraulic tray and 80001b winch, working lights, alloy bullbar, spotlights, good tyres, 6 months reg and machinery. $12,000 ph 0417 716 577 or 07 3282 1404.23s Car trailer, dual axle, 4 good tyres, 1.9m x 4.4m, 12 months rego, $1800 ono, ph 02 4933 4637.235 Coach transporter 37ft midmount, 250 hp, turbo 'Volvo, 4 speed pre-selected gearbox, air brakes, tubeless tyres, excellent condition $14,000 ph 02 4730 3440 or 0419 989 010.235 Dual cab, beaver tail tray. Dodge D5N 400, 318 V8 on gas, $5000, ph Rob 03 5439 7296 or 0428 507 908.235

Wanted

WARNING: MNews has been made aware of an individual (using the surname Trees) who is responding to Wanted ads, demanding payment prior to the dispatch of goods and then disappearing once the money ha/Es been deposited into a Westpac account in Taree. NSW Police are on the case, but in the interim please be careful I Race quality conrods for early 4AG with 40mm big-end size. Race pads for Volvo 4 piston caliper. Ph Terry 07 3814 3762 or email tobeirne ©skillpro.com.au. 235 Toyota Corolla ex Williamson, surplus information as to its whereabouts, ring Doug Clark 0427 665 2OO.235 Girl Friday, woman wonder, to help organise paperwork, scheduies, drivers, coffee, lunches etc for expanding QLD Formula Ford team, 4 cars, Ph 07 5446 7611.23s Formula Fords 89 to 95, pref Swift or Van Dieman for immediate purchase, ph 0407 713 700. 235

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my105.com 81

OPINION

noiwsiMirt

Konica concepts

I have another possible solution for the Konica V8 Supercar Series.

EDiTORiRi snFr Why not have a non Editor: Phil Branagan championship round at all of l editor@mnews.com.au the rounds, and have some as Assistant Editor: Aaron Noonan l noonz@mnews.com.au championship rounds i.e.

Staff Journalist: Mark Glendenning Adelaide? l mark@mnews.com.au By having them with the main series, they get the PRODUCTION exposure to big crowds for Adv & Graphics Co-ordinator: Viv Brumby l viv@mnews.com.au their sponsors and other teams see them strut their ROVERTISING ’ stuff.

Advertising Manager: Brendon Sheridan Making most of the rounds l ads@mnews.com.au non-championship wouldn’t stretch the budgets too much, NDMINISTRNnON as the teams could run Managing Dirertor: Chris Lambden whatever rounds they wanted. l publisher@mnews.com.au It would also give Level 1 CONIRCTS teams an opportunity to give 357 Nepean Highway, Brighton East Vic 3187 yormger drivers or co-drivers (PO Box 7072, Gardenvaie, VIC 3186) the chance to do a race Ph: 03 9596 5555 Fax: 03 9596 5030 weekend and gain racing Email: mnews@mnews.com.au experience, with the whole team eONTRIRUTORS and equipment already there.

General: Grant Nicholas, Darryl Flack, Mark Teams that don’t qualify for a Jones, Jon Thomson particular main series round, with FI;.loe Saward, Adam Cooper the capping of grids, could run the Europe: Quentin Spurring, Gary Watkins Konica Races and still be out US: Phil Morris Speedway: Brett Swanson, Julie Pearce, racing and getting their sponsors Geoff Rounds, Wade Aunger, Tony Millard some exposure.

(UK), Greg Boscato Championship rounds of the Rally: Jon Thomson Konica Series could compose of, Histories; Brian Reed say, Adelaide, Winton, Eastern Drag Racing: Greg Ward, Jon Asher (USA), Dave Ostaszewski (USA), Nick Nicholas, Creek, and Canberra, then tracks Steven White, Ken Ferguson that don’t have main series rounds Super Speedway: Martin D Clark (USA) eg. Mallala, Symmons Plains, National; Mark Wicks, Sean Henshelwood, Calder, Wakefield Park.

Erin McCowatt This solution would make a V8 Photographers: Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Bothwell Photographic, race weekend better for fans, with Marshall Cass, Nigel Snowdon & Diana more V8 Supercars racing and on Burnett, AFl Images, Neil Hammond, track.

Slipstream Photographic, Phil Williams, Mitchell Adam Allsport, John lylorris/Mpix, Frank Midgley, mitchelladaml9@hotmail.com Peter Bury, Mike Patrick (UK), Peter french, Chris Carter, James Smith, Paris Charles, Bob Potts Cartoonist: Allan Schofield Motorsport News is published by Australasian Motorsport News - ABN 55 125 120 702 Publisher: C Lambden Printed by: Offset Alpine Printing Pty Ltd, Lidcombe, NSW. Distributed by: NDD Ltd Material published by MOTORSPORT NEWS is copyright and may not be reproduced in full or in part without the written permission of the publisher. Freelance contributions are welcome, and while all care will be taken, Australasian Motorsport News does not accept responsibility for damage or loss of material submitted. ●Opinions expressed in Motorsport News are not necessarily those of Australasian Motorsport News or its staff.

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82

the rest to do a better job.

Colin Marshall zerotoleranceSl6@msn.com

Be consistent!

converter Send US your thoughts: . mail: PO Box 7072, Gardenvale, VIC 3186 fax: 03 9596 5030 email: mnews@mnews.com.au streak, good to see that you finally got your way.

I feel Skaife was dealt with really harshly when he tapped Murphy in the secound race.

What was even worse was watching other drivers get away with the same if not worse Ambrose passing Ingall was a perfect example: hit him from behind and use that to your advantage. Or how about Garth Tander passing Skaife on lap 25 of Race 2- that was exactly the same as what happened with Skaife and Murph but, once again, no stop-go.

All the recent letters in your colum have been saying ‘stop Skaife winning’, but this is not the way to go about it. Don’t punish HRT for doing their job well, push

^. _

Cut the clutter I have been a spectator of motor racing in person in England, Ireland, France and Holland, and nowadays I continue via television.

I find the V8 Supercars interesting, but they would be much better with fewer cars than the usual 32 on the ‘Mickey Mouse’ circuits used nowadays.

Instead, they could be divided into two heats of 16 cars in each with a final of the eight fastest from each heat (or 16 fastest overall).

This would get rid of the twenty or so ‘moving chicanes’ of losers in the three races at present.

For the drivers, racing amongst the 16 without any clutter should be much more interesting, and it would give some of the ‘losers’ a much better chance of a placed

Where is the consistency from the people that run the race?

I^ile I was watching the races from Western Australia I was appalled to think of what is going to happen to the running of the V8’s over the next few years!

Now I am not the biggest Mark Skaife fan, but I have to admit that when he was penalised for tapping Murphy, he got the raw end of the deal.

But I wasn’t only annoyed at that, I was also annoyed at a few of the other incidents that happened over the course of the second race. Skaife crossing the yellow line on the exit of the pits, Ambrose hitting Ingall harder than Skaife hit Murphy.

Even the commentators picked these incidents up.

Are the officials blind? They have to be consistent with things like this, otherwise people are going to stop showing up.

Also, when are they going to put some good entertainment on between races? Or are the people that promote Touring Car racing only interested in the corporate people and not the TRUE race fan that has been sitting on the hill over the past few years watching the entertainment decline dramatically?

Melissa Potts Sydney, NSW

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finish.

A.G. Ryan North Canterbury, NZ

Dry your tears, crybabies

Well to all the crybabies that are whinging about Skaife’s winning

\ ●A Konica snapshot (get it?):The Supercar ‘minor league’ puts on a good show but, according to reader Mitchell Adam, they’d do even better (Photo by John Morris/Mpi x) if they got onto the programme of the V8 Supercars.

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